Fictional Feud [JJK] ✓

- How it all started -

Chaerim sat at her desk, finishing the final strokes of her masterpiece that consisted of her original character, Hailey with her love interest, Winston. The story was of her own imagination, put together by her hard work and talent of drawing, the strokes creating soothing patterns and beautiful sceneries of cherry blossoms and park benches. She loved drawing the characters, their smiles, the little details on their clothing. It was an amazing feeling of accomplishment.

The webtoon had started about a year ago but was only officially published two months ago. However, there was already a huge response. Many loved the cute fluffy romance between the couple she drew, the struggles they went through in the webtoon were realistic and not dramatised and she was careful not to mislead any of the readers too much. She wanted everyone to have a comfortable reading experience.

Her story told of a young girl with caramel brown hair and freckles dotted on her cheeks named Hailey who worked at a tea shop in which served Japanese tea in New York. She was often tired and restless due to the busy lifestyle of the Big Apple but that never stopped her from working days and nights. One day, a young chap of the name Winston strolled in to have a cup of tea. The both started conversing and became great friends, leading to the sweet relationship only months later. There wasn't any specific drama or suspense in the webtoon which made it exciting and heart-stopping but that was what made it special. It was made purely for the reader's comfort and expectations of love. It made one feel warm inside.

Leaning back, Chaerim stared at her artwork in bliss, happy with the outcome. The newest chapter would speak about Hailey and Winston going on their very first road trip. There, they would realise how much they really meant to each other and how much they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with each other.

However, before Chaerim could flutter her eyes close to take a short break, a notification popped up on her laptop screen. An email.

To whom this may concern,

Good evening,

My apologies for disturbing your rest,

My name is Jeon Jungkook and I am a webtoon artist. It has come to my attention that your story plot for "TeaTales" seems suspiciously similar to the one for my webtoon "Coffee Trails". Just a short explanation : my webtoon tells a story of a man named Jungsoo who meets a girl named Reina who works in a coffee store in Korea. She accidentally spills her coffee on his shirt and agrees to go on a date with him as compensation. The following scenes also seem suspiciously similar to mine. Please clarify this matter.

Regards,

Jeon Jungkook

Below his name, he had written his address and phone number for contacting purposes. Chaerim's eyes widened as she read the message. She couldn't believe that this man had accused her of plagiarising. Quickly, she flicked through her screen, looking for the said webtoon. She soon found it. Like hers, the webtoon was fairly new, a little older than hers but definitely one of the newer ones. As he said, there were indeed a few similar scenes but most were pretty cliche ones, such as cuddling in a bedroom, fluffy talks as they walked next to a river and so on. All these were common "couple scenes" and the story was a pretty common storyline all in itself. However, she couldn't deny that even the drawing styles were in fact quite similar. Could all this just be a coincidence? Two people with similar drawing styles drawing webtoons with similar storylines?

Looking at his artwork, she was hypnotised by the way he drew the characters. The way the main character's vibrant red hair flowed in the wind and the happiness in the male character's eyes were portrayed beautifully and she couldn't help but gape in awe. Still, the matter of this 'plagiarism' had to be settled somehow, although she was pretty steamed at the fact that he could accuse her of plagiarism so simply, without actually speaking to her first.

Flustered and frustrated, Chaerim picked up her phone and texted the number on the screen.

Chaerim : Hello? Is this Jeon Jungkook?

Accuser: Yes, this is Jeon Jungkook. Who is this?

Chaerim : Hi, this is Kim Chaerim, the person who you've accused of plagiarism?

Accuser : Well, hello Miss Kim. I must say, it's been a struggle to get to you, having to find your email through.....various sources.

Accuser : Also, I haven't accused you of anything. It's plagiarism and you know it.

Chaerim : Mr. Jeon, I believe this is all a simple misunderstanding. Can we talk about this?

Accuser : Sure. I've heard you're a webtoon artist from Seoul. So am I. Can we meet at Mont Blanc at 7?

Chaerim : Will do. Good day, Mr. Jeon.

Chaerim smiled at the texts, she was going to show that stuck-up guy once and for all who she really was, someone who was not to be dealt with easily.

Back at his own house, Jungkook scoffed at the messages, almost slamming his phone on the table. His eyes glowed with fire as he stared at the screen of his laptop, at the picture of the person who had downright copied his work . Sure, she was pretty, but that wasn't going to get her out of this mess easily.

- - - - - -

I thought I should publish this because this story has been ignored for soooo long.

How is it?

- Juverine