[Title: Didn't Kang Ichae Plagiarize This Song? It’s literally the same melody as that rookie idol group's track. Kang Ichae’s fan song video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThEDa1wN_oRB1T Rookie idol group Re:Koon’s track video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1kUN=Ne?W LMAO the rookie idol track came out on July 29, and Kang Ichae’s fan song dropped on September 19. The controversy took a while to gain traction, since the other group in question was a lesser-known rookie and the track wasn’t promoted—it was just a B-side on their album. But once people started picking it up, the reaction snowballed. Similar chord progression. Similar structure. Similar melody. Anyone could hear it and think plagiarism. [Wow lol this is honestly identical. No way Kang Ichae can talk his way out of this. What’re all those fans who called him a genius gonna do now? ㅜ] [Holy shit lol. He called it a fan song and all the fangirls went crazy, but turns out it’s plagiarism—ugh, gross 🤢 (vomit emoji)] [Kang Ichae kept pushing that unbothered genius image and now he’s totally ruined ㅜㅜ] The comments exploded in an instant. And the impact hit hard. [Wait, what?? Kang Ichae plagiarized??] [Is that real? I thought he was a genius.] It didn’t help that The Dawn was on a sharp upward trend—and that most of their songs were produced by Kang Ichae. The whole “genius composer” narrative surrounding him only fueled the flames. [LOL not going anywhere now. Goodbye.] [Shouldn’t we stay neutral for now? └ It's obvious plagiarism, what’s with the “stay neutral” crap lol. Are you a The Dawn fan? └ LMAO it wouldn’t be a scandal without a neutrality dude showing up.] The plagiarism controversy caught fire like dry kindling, endlessly recycled across YouTube and social media. [Popular idol plagiarism scandal! What’s the real story?] From clout-chasing YouTube channels feeding on celebrity dirt, to fresh new SNS accounts popping up to ride the wave. Kang Ichae became their perfect bait. [Honestly, that whole piano performance is starting to look suspicious too lol.] [Come on, it was obviously just a marketing stunt ㅜㅜ It felt so over-the-top. I’m not even sure he really played it.] [He’s never played again since then either lol. And he kept his past hidden so tightly—pushing that “mysterious genius” vibe? No one does that anymore.] [Wait, if he’s playing mysterious, was that overseas study story fake too? └ Nah, more likely he’s just hiding a sketchy past lol. └└LOL yeah, that actually makes more sense ㅜ I’m so disappointed.] And the scandal reached my ears before I even had time to fix my jet-lagged sleep schedule after coming back from Europe. With our packed schedule, basic practice, and rescheduling for that Riel interview we just secured, all I managed was a few scattered naps. I’d only caught a short doze after coming in at dawn. And then this was the bombshell I heard after dropping off a gift for Seo Hojin that I’d bought in Europe. “Kang Ichae just got called in to the company.” I hadn’t even taken off my shoes when Kim Sunghyun told me. “What the fuck? Why didn’t anyone call me?” “I already met with the CEO, but... the management team said they wanted to speak to him alone—hey, hey!” I cut Sunghyun off mid-sentence and shot up, rushing out of the dorm. I waved him off when he tried to follow and headed straight to the company. With my temples pounding, I kept playing the two songs on loop—the fan song and the other one that sparked the controversy. ‘...Yeah, that’s a dead giveaway.’ They sounded ridiculously similar. But something about it felt off. Not just because I’d practiced, recorded, and performed the fan song. There’d been this strange sense of déjà vu from the beginning. I reached the company and headed to the floor with the conference room. When I threw the door open, the first person I saw was Kang Ichae, arms crossed awkwardly and eyes wide. Our manager was nowhere in sight—probably called in by the CEO again. Inside, it was just two staffers from management and Kang Ichae. I greeted the staff and dropped into the seat next to Ichae. I could feel his gaze on me, but ignored it for now and focused on the situation. One of the staff spoke carefully but firmly. “Um, Hoyun-ssi, we think it’d be better if we spoke with just Kang Ichae right now.” Since the situation was sensitive—and potentially a big issue if the plagiarism turned out to be real—they clearly didn’t want other members involved. But whether they labeled me a nuisance or not, I had no intention of leaving. “...It’s not just ‘really’—Ichae-ssi even said earlier he’d rather speak alone...” I shrugged, staying put. Then, Ichae leaned forward with a cheerful smile. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” “...Huh? But you said—” “I was actually thinking it’d be good to have one of the members here. Works for me.” The staffer looked a little thrown, frowning slightly, but Ichae just tilted his head innocently. Then he glanced at me again and added, “Where were we? Oh yeah, you said you wanted me to be honest, right?” “...Yes. The fan song does sound very similar to the other one in question...” “Hm.” Ichae tapped his fingers lightly on the table. “Do you watch all of The Dawn’s live streams?” “If not, you could’ve checked with the A&R team before calling me in.” The staffers blinked, completely lost. But that was when I finally figured out what that déjà vu had been. ‘It’s one of Ichae’s unreleased songs.’ Ichae pulled out his phone and brought up a live broadcast clip. [Shouldn’t we let Noeul hear this one too?] On screen, Ichae wore a mischievous smile, clearly in a good mood. Then he started strumming the guitar and humming the melody to one of his unreleased tracks—and it was instantly recognizable. The same melody as the fan song. The staffer flinched and asked, “I don’t know the exact date, but the YouTube upload is from four months ago. Looks like it was around the time I was working intensely post-Shining Star.” “So... May? That’s earlier than either of the other two songs in question!” The management team scrambled to check the dates on their work tablet. Sure enough, the live clip came before “Orbit.” “If I’m not satisfied with a track I’m working on, I usually shelve it. Then later, I take the good parts and reuse them when composing new stuff. I didn’t think it’d cause this kind of problem though.” “So, it wasn’t that Kang Ichae plagiarized someone else—he got plagiarized?” The staffers, visibly tense until now, finally let out long breaths of relief. “Haha, did you really think I’d plagiarize?” In short, Kang Ichae had already played the song on YouTube back in May. And honestly, it was so similar, it felt like whoever made that other song was possessed by him. Still, it was a sensitive issue, so we couldn’t jump to conclusions. But one thing was absolutely clear: Kang Ichae had done nothing wrong. ‘As if someone like him would plagiarize.’ Not because I trusted his ethics—but because I trusted his pride. I stayed silent and listened carefully. I could feel him glancing at me again. When I raised an eyebrow and locked eyes with him, he turned away like nothing had happened. “Kang Ichae-ssi, in that case...” One of the staffers, who’d been summarizing things on the tablet, finally spoke. “We need to release a statement ASAP. We can’t just let this slide—it’s way too unfair.” Just as it seemed like the whole mess was about to get resolved— “Ah. But the thing is, it was never officially released.” Ichae rolled his eyes and murmured almost to himself, “What do we do now...” And in that moment, everyone understood what he meant. The song wasn’t registered under copyright. A long sigh of deep regret echoed through the room. Probably because of a strong premonition that we were in for overtime—and a quiet calculation that this mess would turn out to be a lot more complicated than it seemed. Even though the song hadn’t been officially released, it had been performed during a live stream and the video was still up on YouTube, so the false accusation could be cleared. But without a registered copyright, it held no legal weight. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveI(F)ire.net I sighed and started wrapping things up while the staff sat there dumbstruck. “Anyway, the best move is to make a statement as soon as possible. Dragging this out will only damage his image further.” “Y-yeah, of course...” “At this point, fans might even remember the live where he played the song. Still, it’d be good to post something, even if just for appearances.” As I exchanged remarks with the management staff, I flicked my gaze toward Kang Ichae, wondering if any of this bothered him. But he looked completely unfazed. Now that I thought about it, ever since I’d arrived, everyone around him had been panicking—but the guy at the center of the whole thing was the calmest of us all. “Thanks for the hard work. I’ll leave it in your hands then.” “Yes! We’ll be in touch again.” As the emergency meeting ended and we stepped out into the hallway, Kang Ichae trailed behind me, grinning like an idiot. I already hated the way he was talking. He brushed his bangs aside and tilted his head slightly. “I thought you went out to see your little brother... but did you come running for Ichae instead~?” “I came here in a cab, like a normal, lazy person.” Half ignoring his annoying remarks, I started organizing my thoughts. ‘Where do I even begin looking?’ The biggest factor right now was public opinion. Even if Kang Ichae was completely innocent, once the mood tilted against you, it was hard to swing it back. ‘Damage control is all about early response... did we miss that window?’ “What’s on your mind~?” ‘Judging by how he’s been goofing off this whole time, his mental state’s fine.’ I looked up, met Ichae’s gaze, and froze. Something weird flashed in his eyes for a split second. Before I could figure out what it meant, he relaxed his expression and smiled. “I’m fine, hyung. Don’t worry too much.” “What, and if I wasn’t, are you gonna fix it for me?” “You got a plan or something?” I had a few ideas. But was there any need to tell Kang Ichae about them? ‘Why drag him into it?’ The deliberation was brief. “Nope. What could I possibly do?” I maintained my blank, shameless face as his smirk twitched. When I didn’t say anything, he just nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s get going for our next schedule.” He talked like the controversy would die down any minute, but I knew better. The fall of a “genius.” No way people were letting go of a story that juicy and dramatic. “Kang Ichae-ssi, um—” And my prediction was proven right not long after we arrived at the venue for our next interview. “There’s been a lot of chatter around the fan song ‘Orbit.’ Could we hear your thoughts on that, Kang Ichae-ssi?” See? They went straight for the throat. The one who shot up from his seat wasn’t Kang Ichae—it was Jung Dajun, his face written all over with injustice. Just as the maknae was about to speak up, Ichae gently pulled him back down into his seat with a laugh. “Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised at all. But at the same time, I’m kinda curious.” “To see how this plays out.” Everyone—from the interviewer to the other members—stared at him with wide eyes. ‘What the hell is wrong with this guy??’ “Sorry, can we pause here for a second?!” Before Ichae could say anything else, our managers bolted in, flailing. Normally, Kang Ichae would’ve sidestepped a question like that with practiced ease—redirecting, blaming the company, or laughing it off. He might seem free-spirited, but he was damn good at knowing what to say, when to say it, and when to shut the hell up. So for him to just blurt that out? Something was off. “This question wasn’t part of the agreed script!” “I told you we might include a few additional ones at our discretion!” Voices rose, and the shoot turned into chaos. And in the middle of all that, Kang Ichae stayed perfectly calm. I’d done my research before this interview, and honestly, things weren’t looking good for us. Even when fans posted the live video as proof, public opinion didn’t budge. Guess Kang «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Ichae really was popular—so many people wanted to tear him down. ‘Then there’s only one way out.’ Introduce a bigger story to steal the spotlight. “Thank you for your time.” After some intense negotiations between the interviewer and the managers, the rest of the interview continued with only the pre-approved questions—and ended without further incident. Kang Ichae immediately started whining, clinging to the maknae. “Dajun-ah, hyung is soooo tired~.” “R-really?! What should I do? Want me to help?!” So he was acting calm, but it still got to him. Even if he was professional and quick on the uptake, he was still a 22-year-old kid. Being slandered for something he didn’t do—and maybe even having his work stolen? Anyone would be shaken. Ichae wiped his bone-dry eyes and made fake sobbing sounds. “Tell me I’m the best.” “Hyung is so cool and amazing!!” “And say I’m the most handsome and precious in the whole world.” “...That one’s a bit...” ‘...Okay, maybe he’s fine.’ In any case, I had no intention of letting this scandal just fizzle out while The Dawn’s reputation sat in the gutter. With a borrowed conscience and a short internal debate, I pulled out my phone the moment we got in the van. I scrolled to a certain number and sent a message. Normally, this person would’ve cussed me out for even texting. But this time, the reply came almost instantly, like they’d been waiting. [Lim Hyunsu: Why the fuck are you only texting now] If anyone knew how to handle this kind of mess, it was her. [Lim Hyunsu: Get your ass over here immediately]