Chapter 239: I Just Had a Feeling

[Is this really Stardust’s new song?]

There’s a rumor going around that their new song got leaked—is it true?

It sounds like an unfinished 10-second chorus snippet, but the song is insanely good.

– ???? Is this really a leak?

└ I’ve never heard this song before, so maybe?

└ Hmm… I’m not good with songs, so I can’t tell. It’s too short.

└ The beat is amazing, it’s killer.

└ It’s not confirmed to be Stardust’s new song, but the leak coming from Doubles is a fact. It’s definitely an unreleased track.

└ Who’s the composer?

└ Dunno, I heard it was an outside composer.

– But how the hell did this even get leaked? LOL Doesn’t Doubles have any security?

└ They’re saying it got leaked from a song camp.

└ If it’s true, they’re probably tearing through the list of attendees trying to find out who leaked it.

└ I know a composer who was at that camp, and yeah, it’s definitely leaked. Apparently, it was the song with the highest votes at the camp.

└ Damn…

└ Still, the song’s seriously fire.

└ Why would they give such a god-tier song to Dust? Why not Tiple? Doesn’t Doubles believe in seniority?

└ This opinion is not representative of Tiple fans….

└ stfu

└ Everyone just ignore this.

– Everyone’s freaking out about the leak, so I ran to check it out, and it’s literally just 10 seconds LOL. The chorus cuts off awkwardly, what the hell LOL

└ Exactly LOLLLLLL

└ Feels like getting yanked out of a highlight medley

└ It’s practically just humming, can’t even hear the lyrics

└ Still, that beat is straight-up killer

└ It’s a god-tier song. Please drop it ASAP ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

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.

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The leak of a new song in preparation at Doubles.

A track that was reportedly fixed as Stardust’s next title track had leaked from a song camp, causing an uproar in the community.

To the public, it was just a lightweight piece of gossip that would be chewed on for a day and forgotten.

But for someone, it wasn’t.

“……”

An anxious gaze scanned the community post up and down.

Following the attached link, he listened to the leaked song over and over again.

At first, he had just wanted to jump on the trend, curious to hear this supposedly amazing leaked track….

But the Pandora’s box that had opened without warning revealed a truth he wasn’t ready for.

“You son of a bitch.”

The small-framed man’s shoulders trembled. His reddened eyes quivered beneath fluttering eyelids.

Only 10 seconds of a leaked track. The lyrics weren’t even finished—more like humming than an actual song. But the original composer knew.

Composer Hyukwon clenched his fists so tightly that no blood could circulate through them.

“Haah….”

That was a song he had composed.

Even though the subsequent chords were slightly altered and the beat was chopped differently, the chorus part was a blatant copy.

Would this count as plagiarism in legal terms?

If it was that obviously copied, then maybe.

The problem was, he couldn’t think of a solid way to prove he had composed that song first.

He was planning to send the final version to agencies next month, but at this rate, he’d end up looking like the copycat.

He could already see the future where his song would be rejected for allegedly plagiarizing the one leaked from Doubles.

For all he knew, the other party may have leaked it first, knowing this.

It was unfair—and he couldn’t do anything about it.

What kind of fight could an inexperienced rookie composer put up against a giant company like Doubles?

Hyukwon pressed his temples hard with both hands as he tried to regulate his ragged breathing.

Stay calm, stay calm… he muttered under his breath, trying to cool his overheated mind.

There was one person who came to mind.

“Senior Junghwan….”

He should’ve realized something was off the moment he came into the studio that day and swept his monitor with that fishy look.

He’d once taught Hyukwon how to compose, and because of that, Hyukwon had let his guard down.

Junghwan was someone with a burning desire for success. He was the kind of man who would do anything for money.

And Hyukwon, knowing that, had still let it happen.

He bit down hard on his lower lip.

“I’ve let you get away with so much already. Why… why even now….”

There had been so many times he let Junghwan’s name take the main credit for songs he himself had written.

He accepted laughable royalty splits and remained under him for years.

Now that he had finally escaped that shadow and was ready to fly on his own—did he really have to be dragged down like this?

A man with no shame and no conscience.

“Phew.”

At last, his head cooled down.

Hyukwon, who had barely managed to calm his boiling emotions, turned his gaze toward the email tab.

Then.

As if resolved, he placed his hands on the keyboard.

“Yeah.”

Let’s confront this.

There’s no way I’ll let them steal my song.

[Hello, this is composer Hyukwon. I’m sending this email regarding the song that was leaked from Doubles….]

A lengthy email filled with earnest, detailed explanation.

As she scrolled through it, Chief Song Jinha’s eyes darkened.

An email had arrived at the company from a man claiming to be the original composer of the leaked song.

Attached was a file containing the track he composed and a screenshot showing the original work date.

It was clearly dated before the song camp.

The song had already been sent to A&R team experts, and their response was that it was undeniably plagiarized.

Chief Song Jinha slowly parted her lips.

“…It’s real.”

Do Seohan’s words that the third track might have a different original composer.

The first suggestion he made when he walked into the office had been fairly shocking.

‘I think I heard this song on SoundCloud before.’

‘It feels too off to just use it as-is.’

That much could be brushed off. But then came—

‘What if the company leaks the song on purpose, as if by mistake?’

‘You want us to leak it?’

From that point, it was beyond Chief Song Jinha’s authority.

Leaking a song that might end up as the next title track?

If that stirred up trouble, it would be a huge problem.

Stardust was now far too big of a group to benefit from noise marketing.

Naturally, she had opposed it at first.

‘No matter what, we can’t leak it.’

‘Ten seconds is enough. We’ll disguise it as humming so it’s unrecognizable. The public won’t know, but the original composer will. He’ll recognize his own work.’

The tone was confident that the song had been plagiarized.

He said he heard it on SoundCloud, so she went along with it for now….

Chief Song Jinha scrolled down and swallowed hard.

[I’ve never released this song publicly before. Composer THE-H came to my studio and listened to my work, so the song shown at the song camp is definitely a plagiarized version of mine….]

He said he had never made the original track public.

“Seohan, did you ride a fortune stick or something….”

Chief Song Jinha muttered in confusion.

What Doubles decided on was a face-to-face confrontation.

Although Chief Song Jinha seemed to lean more toward believing Hyukwon’s side, since both parties insisted they were the original creators, they decided to settle things in the meeting room.

Doubles wanted that song. It was too good to throw away, but too risky to keep.

They likely wanted to clean up the issues surrounding the song and sign an official contract.

“…Hoo.”

Hyukwon let out a deep sigh, swallowing dryly.

His nails were so chewed from nerves that they were already tattered since yesterday.

He wasn’t normally the nervous type. But to be honest, he was scared.

He had jumped into a battle where he had to defeat the senior who was once his idol and mentor.

Since the song he poured his blood and sweat into was about to be stolen by a thief, he had to stake everything to prove it was his.

Hyukwon wiped his sweaty palms on his shirt.

While waiting for the scheduled time, he aimlessly wandered the hallway,

and just then, a familiar face walked out of the room next door.

“……!”

It was Stardust’s main dancer, Do Seohan. He recognized the face from seeing him on TV a few times.

As expected of a celebrity, he drew attention even in a dull hallway.

Normally, Hyukwon would’ve simply admired his aura, but not today.

The image of that group stealing his song to use as their title track was deeply embedded in his mind.

Of course, this encounter was not going to be pleasant. Still, he couldn’t just pick a fight with an innocent group.

He tried his best to ignore Do Seohan and walk past.

“I believe in you, Composer.”

A quiet voice pierced his ears.

Hyukwon turned his head sharply, startled.

Seohan smiled faintly with an incredibly calm expression.

“M-me?”

“You wrote the song, right? Then the rightful owner should come claim it.”

Was this the same person?

He had seemed like the cheerful youngest on TV, but seeing him in person, there was a mysterious aura about him.

“I believe you’re the rightful composer of that song.”

Seohan looked back at Hyukwon and spoke calmly.

“I’ve heard the full version of that track, and they didn’t just copy the chorus.”

A solid card to use against Doubles.

Hyukwon’s eyes widened at the unexpected tip.

“There’s this pop song called ‘…’ and they copied the verse from that too.”

“T-that… do you… do you have the full version?”

“Yes.”

He was so flustered, he even started to stammer.

“I’ll let you hear it.”

Seohan coolly played the downloaded file.

A part of the verse that hadn’t been leaked.

When hearing the full song flow, it wasn’t immediately obvious, but it was clearly the exact same chord progression from the verse of ‘…’.

“It’s similar….”

Since it was a mash-up of K-pop and a classic pop song, even the A&R team probably hadn’t caught it right away.

Seohan continued in a composed tone.

“No plagiarist just steals one part.

He took the chorus and tried to build a verse on it, but his skill wasn’t enough, so the song’s tension dropped. That would lower its chances of being selected, right?

So in the end, he probably attempted a patch job.”

Sharp.

Even as the composer, Hyukwon would’ve missed that point if Seohan hadn’t pointed it out.

Since it was such an old pop song, just borrowing the verse wouldn’t have triggered recognition easily.

You’d need a wide listening spectrum to catch that.

With a trembling voice, Hyukwon finally spoke.

“…How did you know?”

To that, Seohan answered with a faint smile.

“I just have pretty good instincts.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep