Chapter 81

Back home, Hyunwoo told his mother about Sungrak.

Hyunmin gladly chimed in a hand, saying, “Oh, Brother Sungrak is a really good man. He ended up being in that kind of situation because his chicken house went bankrupt. Everybody here will love him once he moves in.”

“If you mean it, I think I can trust him. I trust you, Hyunmin,” said Hyunwoo’s mother.

The next day Sungrak moved in. His moving was so simple. He carried just one bag, so that small room he was supposed to move into looked rather large because he had such few belongings.

“Are you sure that’s all your things?”

“Yes, I’ve got nothing except for a few clothes. I didn’t want to buy anything since I might have to move out anytime,” replied Sungrak with a big smile.

“You won’t be kicked out of here until you fine a nice home,” said Hyunsoo’s mother.

“Thanks so much.”

Sungrak and Jaegyon worked really hard as the director boasted. They organized the inventory of the warehouse less than a week after the products were stored in it.

In the meantime, Hyunwoo ran into an unexpected problem out of the blue. When he was taking a break at home during the weekend, Jihun Kang with the Anifan animation club of the orphanage called him and said something very surprising.

“Was Uncle Kyungsu a bad man? Or did he change all of a sudden?”

Hyunwoo, taking a call on the bed, stood up suddenly and asked,

“Uncle Kyungsu? Bad man? What are you talking about?”

“Uncle Kyungsu took our animation, Garbage World. I wondered why he stopped coming here, and I think I know the reason.”

Hyunwoo couldn’t understand what the heck he was talking about. Did Kyungsu steal Garbage World? As it was Hyunwoo who introduced him to the orphanage, Hyunwoo was really shocked to hear that. He felt this was not something he could talk about over the phone.

“Wait a minute. I’ll come and see you shortly.”

Hyunwoo hurriedly went to the orphanage, where all the kids of the Anifan animation club were gathered in the room. They all looked very upset.

Kang Jihun pointed his finger toward the computer screen.

“Look at this. This is our creation, Garbage World. Somebody submitted the animation work to the arts contest after changing its name.”

“Arts contest?”

Hyunwoo carefully watched the screen. There were several prize-winning works in the UCC arts contest hosted by the Environment Ministry as part of its environmental protection campaign. He noticed one of them, in particular. Titled U CAN DO IT, it was similar to the characters of Garbage World. When compared with the original Garbage World, it was a carbon copy of it.

U CAN DO IT was selected as the third best contest after the grand prize and the best prize.

The thing was that the presenter of that work was not Anifan, but Imagingpia that Kyungsu used to work for and got fired from recently.

“Why did Imagingpia submit it?” asked Hyunwoo.

Jihun talked back angrily, “That’s what bothers me, too. This is stealing. I liked Uncle Kyungsu, but this is too disappointing.”

Hyunwoo tilted his head and said, “He doesn’t work at Imagingpia any more. He got fired there and started a new business with his friends.”

“Then, did he sell Garbage World to Imagaingpia?”

Hyunwoo thought he was not that type of person. Suddenly, he recalled the episode about what happened during his travel to Seoul Imaging College recently. At that time, Kyungsu said he lost a USB containing Garbage World, and according to Hyunwoo’s advice, he was supposed to register its copyright.

“You have had its copyright registered already, right?” asked Hyunwoo.

Jihun nodded, saying, “Yes, at that time Uncle Kyungsu suddenly asked me to register its copyright, so I did.”

“Who is the copyright holder?”

“Of course, it is us, Anifan.”

Then, it was clear that Kyunsu was not responsible for that. He would not have sold a copyrighted work to somebody else or submitted it to the arts contest. When Hyunwoo thought as far as that, he recalled the time Kyungsu was fired, which happened right after he lost the USB.

Ah, the representative of Imagingpia misunderstood him.

That’s why the representative fired Kyungsu after taking Garbage World from him, but it was only his speculation.To find out the situation more accurately he called Kyungsu.

Though it’s Saturday, Kyungsu was in the office for his start-up business.

“What’s up? I’m a bit busy now, so let’s be brief, dude.”

“Brother, Garbage World by Anifan was selected as the third best arts work of the UCC contest hosted by the Environment Ministry.”

“Really? Congrats! I thought it was a good work.”

Kyungsu’s voice was bright, clearly suggesting he knew nothing about its participation in the contest in the name of Imagingpia.

Hyunwoo informed him about it. Hearing from Hyunwoo about the whole thing, Kyungsu screamed, and seemed to figure out what had happened at that time.

“Oh my god, the representative blamed me for finding a new job, and I wondered how he found it out at that time. Now, I see he said that because of Garbage World.”

“What should I do?” asked Hyunwoo.

“What are you talking about? Just talk to them and take back the copyright. It has nothing to do with me, but I just feel sad and bitter. It all happened because of his misunderstanding, so solve the issue in a mutually satisfactory way.”

Kyungsu’s response was a bit unexpected. Wasn’t he fired because of the representative’s misunderstanding? Nonetheless, Kyungsu was taking side with Imagingpia.

“You’re too generous, brother. Aren’t you upset?”

“As a matter of fact, I’m partly to blame for it, too. Actually, I was seeking a new job while I was there. Someday, I may have to see the representative as we’re in the same business, so I don’t have to make an enemy of him.”

“You’re right, brother.”

After the call Hyunwoo explained to the Anifan kids about what happened between Kyungsu and Imagingpia. Only then did they understand the situation, nodding their heads.

“Why don’t you call Imagingpia now? We have to solve the issue before it’s too late.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Hyunwoo called Imagingpia.

Daeyong felt as if the sky was falling down.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe it’s talent donation.”

The animation work contained in the USB in question was not Kyungsu’s creation. It was the work of the Anifan kids with the House of Happiness. If Kyungsu created while on company time it, it was definitely the property of Imagingpia, but if the creator of that work was Anifan, it’s a totally different story. Moreover, they already registered its copyright.

Imagingpia also registered its copyright on its own. So, Daeyong could engage in a legal fight over the copyright of Garbage World, but that would be go against his own conscience.

Daeyong called Kyungsu to verify the whole story, but it became more obvious that it all came from his perfect misunderstanding.

Anifan’s demands, as communicated by Hyunwoo, were simple. They had no intention to sue them, but on the condition that they could not engage in any commercial activity related to Garbage World. They also demanded the prize money be returned to them.

In Daeyong’s mind, that was not a good idea.

Of course, he didn’t care at all about the prize, which was only one million won. He could add one million more if they wanted. He didn’t want to have such a good work returned to somebody else. He found out the creator of that animation was the ameuteur animation club called ‘Anifan’ of the orphanage. If that’s the case, they would not be able to make commercial use of it even if they had a good animation.

When he thought as far as that, a good idea flushed through his mind.

Sure, let me buy the copyright.

He felt he could persuade the Animan kids to sell the copyright at a discount.

After lunch, Hyunwoo went back home with his parents. A little later he had a call from Jihun Kang, the eldest of the Anifan kids.

“Uncle, I spoke with Imagingpia.”

“Really? What did they say?”

“They want to buy our copyright. What should we do?”

In Hyunwoo’s mind, it was wise to accept Daeyong’s proposal. As it started from misunderstanding, they didn’t need to react emotionally. Above all, if Imagingpia made the Garbage World a box office hit, it would be greatly beneficial for the kids’ future.

When Hyunwoo expressed his opinion, Jihun agreed, too.

“I think so, brother. How much do we ask for that?”

“I’m not that familiar with the animation market,” said Hyunwoo.

“Can I ask Uncle Kyungsu? As he is in the business, he might know better.”

“Yea, I think so.”

Kyungsu also did his best to help out the Anifan kids. Though he was hectic busy working even on weekends, he went to the trouble of visiting the orphanage when he got a call from them.

“If you can’t sell your animation on your own, it’s absolutely right you should make a contract with Imagingpia, but you had better not give them an exclusive right.”

“Don’t give them exclusive rights?”

“In fact, Imagingpia’s not such a profitable company. In my opinion, they don’t have the ability to make it a box office hit, so you had better make a clause in the contract that allows you to make a contract with another company.”

Kyungsu also advised on the period of the contract.

“Once they give you a draft contract, please show it to me before you sign it. Then, let me change some unfavorable clauses. Don’t forget you have the upper hand in this contract. Ask for a lot of money. As long as it’s not excessively high, Imagingpia has no other choice to accept it.”

“Thanks so much.”

“No problem. Anway, you guys confirmed that Garbage World has potential. Congrats!”

Kyungsu and Hyunwoo walked out of the orphanage. It was already dark outside. They headed for a beer house, though they had already dinner.

Filling up Kyungsu’s cup, Hyunwoo asked, “How about your new business?”

“Well, I can’t expect any outcomes in a couple of months. I’m working on three animations simultaneously, and two of them will be completed soon. Let’s see how the market reacts.”

“Do you think you’ll get some good outcomes?”

“Who knows? For example, I thought certain animations would generate lots of attention because of great fun while I was working on them, but they didn’t get any traction in the market. On the contrary, some works that I felt skeptical about got really good reaction from the market.”

Hyunwoo nodded his head. He seemed to know Kyungsu’s difficulties in the field.

At that moment, an idea flushed through his mind.

“Is there anybody who can instinctively find out whether any animation work can gain popularity or not?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep