“Wow, my friend is Seiven’s Lee Dohee! This is freaking amazing~”
...My friends had changed somehow.
First, there was our Sohui, who used to be timid and small-animal-like, the kind of girl who was fun to tease and whom I adored almost as much as Doa.
“Hey, Dohee, let’s go take Life Four Cuts. Or should we go to Photoism? I heard the NND oppas got a new frame.”
She showed up with bright blonde hair.
“Um... Are high school students allowed to dye their hair?”
“Huh? Why wouldn’t we be? Is there a problem?”
“No... Doesn’t your school restrict hair dyeing or give demerits for it...?”
“Wow, what a freaking old fogey. It’s been ages since hair regulations were abolished. Dohee, you don’t know about that? Gender equality, freedom of hairstyle? Don’t tell me you’re a social outcast?”
“Uh...?”
And Sujin...
“Ah, whatever~ Let’s hurry and take the pictures! I need to post them on Instagram! Wait, Dohee, put your face over here.”
She showed up in the typical delinquent style.
Her skirt was shortened, her shirt was tight enough to burst, and she wore heavy eye makeup.
“Yay, a selfie with Dohee~ If I upload this, will I become an Instagram celebrity right away? Ah, what should I do? Am I going to end up filming commercials? Like, hahah.”
“G-Girls...?”
This couldn’t be happening.
Those innocent, untainted girls.
Those babies...
—Trilililil!
And when I opened my eyes at the sound of the alarm—
“Ah, fuck. It was a dream.”
I immediately reflected on myself for thinking it was a relief that I hadn’t been Doa.
Anyway, I was in a dark room with not a single ray of light coming in.
I secretly took out my phone and checked the time.
[7:44]
Since I’d gone to bed in the early evening yesterday, I seemed to have slept in bed for more than half a day.
And my KakaoTalk was overflowing with messages.
[KakaoTalk 999+]
Especially the group chat with the Seiven members.
[I miss you guys already ㅠㅠ] 300+
We had all just gone on a farewell trip together yesterday. How long had it been for them to already be acting like this?
If we wanted to meet up, we could always get together ourselves.
But my mind was too wide awake now, making it difficult to fall back asleep.
I got out of bed, opened the curtains wide, and left my most comfortable room.
And just as usual, Mom was cooking in the kitchen in the morning.
“Our princess is up!”
“Yeah, the princess is awake.”
Mom clapped like a seal and ran over to me, hugging and fussing over me as if I were a puppy.
“My little daaughteer~”
Mom still treated me like a child.
‘Though, in terms of physical development, I feel like I’m about a hundred times more grown-up than she is. Height included.’
“My daughter’s become quite the lady while I haven’t seen her~”
“Huh...? Oh, you mean my physical development?”
“...No.”
“Oh, it wasn’t that? Hee-hee.”
Right. There was no way Mom would willingly mention her own sore spot.
“Then what is it?”
Mom spoke in a slightly dejected voice.
“You used to come out rubbing your belly all the time, but you don’t do that anymore... It makes me feel a little sad.”
“Hmm, really? Did I do that...?”
I probably had, since I was more relaxed at home.
But after living at the dorm and being even a little conscious of the other members, my behavior had changed, so there was bound to be a difference.
Mom seemed a little sad that her daughter had come back changed, too.
“I don’t know. Give me food. The princess is going to starve to death~”
For Mom’s sake, I ostentatiously scratched my belly again.
Truly, for Mom’s sake.
I was a refined person. I didn’t normally do things like that.
“Good grief... All right, sit down.”
Mom smiled as she set the food on the table.
“I mixed up your favorite seasoned eggplant.”
“Excuse me?”
This treatment wouldn’t last more than a few days anyway.
She was only acting this way because she hadn’t seen me at home in so long, and her longing and happiness had put rose-colored glasses over her eyes.
Still, it felt pretty good to be treated like a child by Mom again after so long.
As soon as I sat down at the table, Dad came rushing out of the bedroom, already dressed in a suit.
“My daaughteer!”
Then he hugged me, too.
“Yeah, I’m Dad’s daughter.”
Just like Mom, Dad fussed over me.
For quite a while—almost until he was about to be late.
“Dohee, should Dad quit his job?”
As he approached the latest possible time he could leave for work, Dad made a face as though he had lost his country.
“Hmm... Do whatever you want?”
“No, I can’t... I need to make money to support my daughter for the rest of her life. Besides, people need to work!”
Dad nodded as if steeling his resolve.
‘Dad, I think I probably have more money than you now...’
Apparently, Dad hadn’t seen my bank account.
‘Especially since my individual advertisements and songwriting and arranging royalties pay pretty well... And the album was a million seller...’
“All right, then.”
“Should I quit after all...?”
“Oppa, you’re going to be late. Hurry up and go to work! You said you need to work if you don’t want to live off Dohee!”
And so Dad left the house with a deeply crestfallen expression. I escorted my admirable father all the way to the front door.
“Bye~”
“When I get home today, you’ll play with Dad, right...?”
“Confirmed~”
Now it was Doa’s turn.
I sat at the table and ate, looking forward to Doa hugging me when she came out.
But Doa still showed no sign of leaving her room.
I asked Mom, who was watching me eat from across the table.
I was a daughter whose eating face was entertaining, after all.
“Mom, isn’t Doa going to school today?”
“Of course she is~ She’ll come out on her own. More importantly, you must be happy since it’s your school’s foundation day.”
“Yeah, it’s super nice.”
“You’re lucky. Being born as my daughter was already a miracle, too.”
“...Was it?”
Since the company had given me two weeks of vacation, saying I had worked hard, all I had to do for a while was rest properly.
Of course, I still had to attend school every day with my manager.
Anyway, I barged into Doa’s room, where she still hadn’t gotten up.
‘Does she not even want to see her sister? How insolent.’
I flung the door open and found my little sister still sleeping with soft, wheezing breaths.
Pouring all my love into it, I climbed right on top of her and hugged her tightly.
Only then did Doa wake up and begin struggling.
“What are you doiiing!”
“Come on, a kiss from your big sister~”
When I brought my face to Doa’s lips, she stretched out her arms and pushed my face away.
That hurt a little...
Apparently, she was still sulking because I hadn’t gone to see her during my last vacation.
If she took after me, she would have no grudge-holding tendencies and would be understanding, generous, considerate, and polite.
How could she treat her own sister like this?
Still, she was young and simple-minded, so—
“Why don’t you skip school today and go to Lotte World with your sister?”
She was easy to coax.
“...I have to go to school, you know?”
“Hmm~ I could make it so you don’t have to.”
“...My friends are waiting for me.”
“I think I’ll be so sad without Doa that I might cry...”
After pretending to resist a few times, Doa nodded as if she had no choice.
The fact that she was secretly pleased was written all over her face, which was adorable.
‘...Could she have taken after me?’
While Doa turned on the lights and chose her clothes, I had to get Mom’s permission.
“Mom, I decided to go to the amusement park with Doa today, so write her a field-trip excuse.”
Mom was secretly childish herself, so she immediately gave us permission, saying she would come along, too.
Now, what should I wear?
I’d have to wear sunglasses and a mask, too. Should I just wear a hoodie?
Yeah, I’d go with something comfortable.
“Mom! Where’s my hoodie?”
“I threw it away because it was so worn-out~”
“Oh.”
I roughly put on my school gym uniform instead.
And that day, we—
“Shouldn’t we take a little break...? Doa, Dohee, you have to eat, you know?”
“We’ll get by on churros!”
As luck would have it, it was Monday, so the lines were short.
Besides, I had paid an expensive fee for priority passes for Doa’s sake.
So we had to ride the roller coaster, Gyro Swing, Gyro Drop, Bungee Drop, Viking, Atlantis, and so on without taking a break.
To be honest, I had been a little scared and nervous at first, but I ended up having a great time.
“Unni, unni, let’s ride that!”
“Hm? Should we~?”
“Mom needs to rest a little...”
Mom was the only one who got tired.
And the real problem was—
“I said you were going to play with Dad today...”
It was Dad, who saw us returning home that night, each wearing an animal headband we had bought at the amusement park.
“You went to the amusement park without me...”
Dad looked so heartbroken and aggrieved that I had to wipe away his sulking with a tearful kiss on the cheek.
* * *
While Dohee enjoyed her vacation by sleeping more than ten hours every day,
two exclusive reports were posted on internet communities an hour apart.
[Some Seiven Members Forming a Group Together, “In the Form of a Unit or a New Project Group”]
[Seiven’s Park Yeen May Sign an Exclusive Contract with Repro, NND’s Agency?]
Articles reported the possibility of a Seiven unit or a new project group, along with several members transferring agencies.
The first member to emerge into the spotlight was Yeen.
[Today’s Report on Park Yeen’s Transfer]
Even before Seiven suspended their activities, Korean entertainment agencies had been competing beneath the surface.
Among them were Eunsere’s company JS and Repro, the agency of the world-famous boy group NND.
─So she could go to Repro instead of JS?
└Honestly, there have been so many stories about transfers that I’d gotten used to it. But Repro too??? That’s insane ㄷㄷ
└If she goes to Repro, Seiven will be the top artist to debut under the fourth group from a major agency lol
└It’s not certain, but another article says several major agencies are involved. Besides JS and Repro, Haruna and ZY might be in the mix, too.
[Why the Big Four Entertainment Companies Are Participating in the Transfer Market]
(Photo) First, Repro CEO Ha Seokjin said in an interview last year
that he was deeply impressed after seeing Seiven’s first-week sales record last year.
It seems he made some kind of decision at that point.
My guess is that his goal was to absorb Seiven’s fandom.
Naturally, the other companies must have thought the same thing, since their results were utterly ridiculous.
Of course, Kwon Hana’s agency is unlikely to want to sell her.
The problem is that Park Yeen’s company is currently suffering from a severe deficit and is on the verge of bankruptcy.
They’ll probably pay a fortune to buy her, but it should be enough to prevent bankruptcy and put out the immediate fire.
That’s why I think there have been so many articles about Yeen.
[Is This a Sports Industry or What?]
─Feels like I’m watching the transfer market lol
└The entertainment industry has entered a market where they sell artists for transfer fees.
└For real, are the rich side going to sweep everyone up? NND does have a lot of money.
└This isn’t just based on the money they’ve earned anyway. It’s a capitalist system where they rake in money from retail investors’ IPO funds, so JS has plenty of money too. They’re a profitable company to begin with.
└The quality really should be good, though;
└Now I’m suddenly sad that Top East is debuting alone lol What does it matter if it’s Seoyun or Dohee?
└For real, the other companies are throwing money around at the Big Four agencies.
Not long afterward, a follow-up article was posted.
[Pudding Entertainment: “Please Refrain from Spreading Rumors Where Possible. However, We Will Always Respect Our Artists.”]
─So they’re saying they want a lot of money lololol
└Lol, but judging from how Hana kept mentioning Pudding Entertainment’s CEO in the past, I think they’re on good terms.
└Yeah, apparently he helped them a lot when times were hard, so she’s likely to stay.
└You never know. If she transfers for a lot of money, that would count as repaying him lol
Of course, nothing had been confirmed yet.
[ALF: “Park Yeen’s Transfer Contract with JS and Repro... Unable to Confirm”]
[JS: “We Cannot Confirm Kwon Hana and Park Yeen’s Transfers”]
[Repro: “It Is True That Discussions Are Underway.” Declines to Comment Further]
Still, it was certain that several companies had entered the transfer market.