Chapter 55
“…”
Slurp.
“……”
Slurp.
I quietly sipped on my strawberry ade through a straw.
This place made a surprisingly good strawberry ade.
“Uh, Cheong…”
“I’m still eating.”
“Okay…”
After stopping Jo Hee-on from speaking, I refocused on my strawberry ade.
Seriously, why was the strawberry ade so good in a regular household?
Indeed, this was Jo Hee-on’s house.
After getting her number from PD Oh, I texted Jo Hee-on directly.
**Jo Hee-on**
Tell me your home address.
If she didn’t respond, I planned to start by releasing the memory card I had.
But knowing my personality, Jo Hee-on replied immediately.
**Jo Hee-on**
It’s 00, 123, 0000 Apartment, Building 203, Unit 1021…
Coming over now.
Now???
I didn’t reply to that message.
“What were you thinking?”
“!”
“Summarize it. I’m really angry right now and I’m about to release the video online.”
“I-I’m sorry!”
Jo Hee-on was about to kneel down immediately.
I couldn’t let that happen.
“I hate that kind of behavior. Just speak confidently.”
“O-okay…”
Eventually, Jo Hee-on started to speak.
“Before we went to the audience seats, Director Kim came to me…”
‘Step down voluntarily.’
‘Huh?’
‘Say it’s due to health reasons. If you step down now, you won’t debut this time, but I’ll put you in the debut group of another agency.’
‘No, that’s-‘
‘Do you want to never be able to set foot in this industry again?’
Director Kim looked down at Jo Hee-on with ice-cold eyes.
‘Even if I step down, Yoon Cheong… She’ll release the video. The camera was rolling at that time. Yoon Cheong has the memory card.’
‘We’ll debut Yoon Cheong. On the condition that she destroys the memory card.’
‘!’
‘I didn’t want to debut that thorn in my side, but it seems it would cause more trouble not to. We’ll grant her the debut she wants and cover this up.’
‘…’
‘So step down now. If you keep pushing, Yoon Cheong will only make a bigger fuss.’
Oh my.
The more I listened, the more outrageous it sounded.
Who was he to decide who gets to debut or not?
In a survival program watched by hundreds of thousands of people.
If I debut, it’s because of my own ability.
If anyone helps me debut, it’s the fans who vote for me.
Even if Colors contributes, what has Director Kim contributed?
Absolutely nothing.
He’s just the guy who sprinkled allergy-inducing powder on someone else’s food.
“I’m sorry.”
Jo Hee-on looked genuinely sorry.
However,
“I’m not interested in your apology.”
“…!”
Jo Hee-on seemed quite shocked.
Why was she shocked?
Did she think I would forgive her?
“I gave you a chance. But you ran away for your own benefit. Don’t say it was for my debut. I know it wasn’t. You ran away to debut yourself.”
As I finished each sentence, Jo Hee-on’s head lowered further.
“Until you confess everything, until you reveal that the root of all this is Director Kim and Kim Ryeo-yu, I won’t forgive you.”
“Then… are you planning to fight?”
Fight…
I shrugged.
“Director Kim said that if I expose everything, he’ll shut down the entire program. That would hurt a lot of people.”
“…Did he really say that?”
“My debut would also become uncertain.”
Jo Hee-on looked surprised.
Why was she surprised again?
She must have known he was that kind of crazy person.
“Yes. So, for now, I’ll endure it. I don’t want other trainees to lose their debut because of me.”
“…You.”
I remembered Lee Juseon crying her eyes out when she tied for first place.
They’re desperate too.
Saying he’d casually end such dreams for his own selfishness…
My hatred for Director Kim only grew.
“And I need to debut as well.”
In first place, no less.
I’m just as desperate.
“So, I’ll endure for now. But once I can fight again, I won’t hold back.”
Yes.
It’s just for now.
I’ll endure… and wait for another chance.
***
Director Kim kept his promise.
**[Jo Hee-on reveals reason for stepping down, “I feel only regret for my eternal MVP of MVP, Yoon Cheong…”]**
**[‘Make a New Color’ Jo Hee-on, stepped down due to health issues… couldn’t withstand the pressure.]**
**[No discord at all… It was the trainees’ friendship that kept me going]**
**[Jo Hee-on asks to stop rumors of discord… ‘Cheong is a really good friend.’]**
[Official SNS of Make a New Color, a glimpse into the endearing daily life of the Fingertips team]
[Colors terminates trainee contract with Jo Hee-on, but it’s a ‘Goodbye’ on good terms]
[Surprise! Jo Hee-on hints at a new agency on SNS… What’s her next move?]
I worked hard to cover the situation.
Fortunately, public opinion settled quickly.
[Hee-on: I’m sorry to leave like this, Cheong. But I’ll always support you. Thank you so much, Kyunga unnie, Bo-ra. I appreciate everyone.]
Subtitle: The <Fingertips> team hugging each other…
[Bo-ra: Hee-on unnie felt a lot of pressure about not being able to debut.]
[Ryeo-yu: Colors is the top agency in our country. Naturally, there are many great trainees. I think she felt small in the midst of it.]
[Cheong: I tried to be there for Hee-on whenever she struggled. We both faced extreme stress, which sometimes led to tension. But fundamentally, I support Hee-on.]
[Hee-on: Cheong was always by my side. The rumors about discord are not true. Really. There’s no one like Cheong. She was the kindest friend throughout our trainee days.]
Since the production team couldn’t broadcast this part yet, they hurriedly filmed an interview and uploaded it on Otube.
The third mission performance wouldn’t air for another two weeks, so this was a stopgap measure.
This video played the biggest role.
The trainees in the video seemed genuinely close to each other.
Who started the rumor that Cheong was a bully? Seriously;
Supporting Cheong and Hee-on. Go Korea…
Honestly, Koreans… Always trying to drag kids down with rumors?
Gossiping fans, please get a life.
Yoon Cheong rumor-spreading site
There’s this really notorious site called ‘Female Celeb Cloud’
Isn’t it a place for fangirling over female celebs?
Nope.
It’s a place for anti-fans to viciously target female celebs.
Look at the pictures below.
[Capture]
[Capture]
All the Yoon Cheong rumors started here. Please don’t fall for it.
No learning ability?
There’s a counterpart called Male Celeb Cloud… where they spread rumors about male celebs too. It’s awful…
└ Our idols have had terrible rumors made up here too… This place is still doing this.
Of course, some people didn’t believe these explanations.
Or they pretended not to believe them to make money.
Cyber leeching on Otube was a prime example.
▶ [Reasons why the Yoon Cheong and Jo Hee-on discord rumor is true]
▶ [Not debuted yet but already showing ‘great character’]
▶ [Make a New Color Yoon Cheong plastic surgery]
▶ [Make a New Color Yoon Cheong’s former agency testimony, really suspicious]
▶ [Historical chills; proof of Yoon Cheong’s ruined character]
Not only me, but Kim Ryeo-yu, Ryu Bo-ra, Kim Geum, and Jo Hee-on were major targets.
The more popular you are, the more you become a target for cyber leeches.
Especially me, since I had just gotten into fresh controversy.
I was like a fish on the chopping board.
“Do people actually believe this?”
All the trainees, except for Kim Ryeo-yu, expressed their anger on my behalf.
Especially Kim Geum.
Kim Geum had gone through many such situations, so she empathized more.
“Is our agency even doing anything? Why aren’t they suing these people?”
“They probably don’t consider me their artist yet.”
Frankly, I was still just a trainee.
“Wow, our agency’s character.”
“Agencies are always about profit. Don’t expect anything, Geum.”
I rolled around, lying down.
It was a rare day off.
There’s no reason to get angry watching cyber leeches on my precious day off.
“Stop watching that stuff and relax. We even have one less mission now. Let’s just enjoy the moment.”
That was true.
The reason we got a day off.
One of our missions got cancelled.
Originally, we had two missions left.
But due to the controversy over trainees’ overwork, Colors and Mnet reduced it to one.
Now, only the final mission remained.
The free time from the skipped missions would be filled with our daily lives and small events.
100% they’ll make us do some weird PPL promotion.
“That’s true, but… Aren’t you angry, unnie?!”
“I am.”
“Then why…!”
“But we shouldn’t let that anger control us. Just debut and then sue them.”
Those who make money through bad deeds get the most angry when they lose money.
That’s why financial treatment is the answer.
“Wow, you’re really mature, unnie.”
Kim Geum even let out a rare exclamation.
Yeah… I was technically an adult now.
“Anyway, stop looking at weird stuff and let’s do our homework. Bo-ra, come here. What have you been doing on your phone-”
I flinched seeing Ryu Bo-ra’s phone.
She was reporting every malicious comment on my article.
“…Uh…”
I didn’t know she cared about this.
“It pisses me off.”
“R-really?”
“I’m done. Let’s do our homework.”
“O-okay.”
I felt small for some reason.
The three of us gathered around the tablet PC.
We had homework from the production team.
“How can we get the best reaction?”
For the guerrilla concert!