“Happy New Year, PD-nim.”
“Oh, Seungbin, you’re here? Happy New Year to you too. And congratulations on becoming an adult!”
Ju Seungbin knew that, as an idol, he would inevitably be judged and evaluated solely by the image reflected through the media.
But the idea that everyone’s behavior in real life matched their media image was obviously nothing more than a fantasy.
When you worked as an idol, you actually witnessed it.
Someone who claimed they had never even held hands before.
Yet was a promiscuous lecher behind the scenes.
A female idol with an image of being an angel without equal.
Not only foul-mouthed, but also known throughout the industry as a complete personality disaster.
An influencer famous for having connections everywhere.
A gossipmonger who spread slander and rumors all over the place.
That was why the image presented through the media wasn’t particularly trustworthy.
Especially if the person belonged to a large-scale entertainment company.
Creating an image was easy.
Unless the person in question constantly revealed their true nature,
made countless verbal blunders and displayed countless bizarre behaviors,
or had an ugly past—school bullying, for example—come to light,
it was ultimately something the public had no way of confirming.
How could they know, when the company had written their story through image consulting before their debut, then coordinated with them to fabricate anecdotes?
Of course, Ju Seungbin was also benefiting from that system.
His company, Lepro, had the highest market capitalization among the Big Four entertainment companies,
and they took care of him constantly.
But what Ju Seungbin himself trusted was nothing more than the conduct he had witnessed with his own two eyes and the reputations he had heard circulating throughout the industry.
That was why Ju Seungbin made an effort starting with himself.
Even if it was all an act, he greeted every cast member and staff member as politely as possible, and enthusiastically congratulated every singer who took first place.
“Hello, writer. Happy New Year.”
“Ah~ Seungbin’s here? You were amazing at the year-end performance! Awesome!”
But there was one girl whose personality he still couldn’t figure out, even after watching her for half a year.
After exchanging polite greetings with the staff, Ju Seungbin headed down the hallway toward the MC waiting room.
They were happy to see each other after nearly a month apart because of the year-end broadcast hiatus, but—
“Oh, Seungbin. It’s been a while, huh?”
Lee Dohee was speaking informally again today.
“Yeah, it has.”
What was more, she was reading a thick book that looked difficult even at a glance.
Her impossible-to-predict personality showed itself in things like this, too.
“What book is it this time?”
One day, she would sprawl across the sofa and endlessly ask for strawberry lattes, while on another, she would deliberately sit in an uncomfortable chair and concentrate on a thick book.
“This? On Duties. Ah, Cicero’s, not Kant’s.”
Ju Seungbin plopped down onto the sofa, picked up a bottle of water, and asked out of habit,
“Is it interesting?”
If it wasn’t, then why was she glaring at him?
“I’ll lend it to you later, so make sure you read it, too.”
He nodded despite not being particularly eager.
“Sure, whatever...”
There was no harm in reading it, after all.
The books Lee Dohee read were surprisingly informative, to begin with,
so he had been looking them up and reading along with her.
“But you seem to have come early today?”
“Yeah, because of Sanok. Don’t tell me you didn’t know I debuted?”
As if he could not know.
She was already number one on the music charts.
“I know. I watched the showcase, too.”
Lee Dohee smiled proudly.
“Good. I trust you practiced the choreography. Seungbin, you’re doing the hard version of the challenge.”
“Haah...”
“...?” I’ve been working hard to do your group’s challenge, too! What an outrageous...”
“If you teach me, I’ll try my best.”
Seungbin let out a faint sigh without making it obvious and changed the subject.
“But can’t you just wait with your members today? You must have a waiting room.”
Lee Dohee let out a deep sigh and pointed at the book.
“Our members are really noisy... They’re distracting...”
He wanted to ask if she meant noisier than him.
He didn’t, though.
“I can’t read... If I don’t finish this week’s assigned pages... I’ll have to stay up all night...”
‘To the point of staying up all night? Can’t you just not read it...?’
Anyway, in the silence that had settled over them once more,
Lee Dohee began turning the pages one by one.
Even in the middle of all this, she sat with her back perfectly straight.
It was nothing new, but sometimes he found that posture impressive.
It seemed to reveal how strict she was with herself.
Thinking that he had much to learn from her,
Seungbin straightened his own back to match Lee Dohee’s and asked,
“But isn’t it uncomfortable to sit like that?”
She shrugged.
“Don’t know. I’m used to it now.”
“Is there a reason you deliberately sit like that?”
Along with the soft sound of a page turning, Lee Dohee answered casually,
“Because my ideal type is someone who sits with their back straight.”
“Ah...”
It was the first he had heard of it.
As far as Ju Seungbin knew, Lee Dohee had always answered that she didn’t know whenever she was asked about her ideal type, whether on television or in private.
There was a simple reason he knew that.
A member of his group, Ailis, named Seonghan, was interested in Lee Dohee.
Not long ago, he had even badgered Seungbin to give him her number.
Of course, Seungbin had neither intended to give it to him nor actually done so.
‘That guy needs to be reined in...’
It was quite irritating having to work with a member who had such a thug-like personality.
More importantly, this was a surprisingly fresh and specific criterion.
Her ideal type was someone who sat with their back straight.
He suddenly grew curious.
Such specific, realistic conditions for an ideal type usually came from a real person.
Perhaps a first love, or something like that.
So Ju Seungbin asked very carefully,
“Is there... someone who fulfills those conditions?”
Lee Dohee’s ensuing action was entirely without hesitation.
With great confidence, she pointed at herself with her thumb.
“...Right.”
He wondered if he should have asked.
“Ah...!”
“...?”
“There’s one more! One more person!”
“Who?”
“My little sister!”
“Haaah...”
“No, but our Doa pretends she doesn’t, but she secretly copies everything her older sister does. Want me to show you a picture? I have videos, too. She’s seriously adorable.”
Seeing how excitedly she chattered about her little sister, he did grow a little curious.
“Yeah, sure. Show me.”
“Absolutely not. I’m the only one allowed to see them.”
“...Haaah.”
“Huh? What’s with that expression? Are you about to curse me out?”
He truly couldn’t make heads or tails of her.
* * *
Dohee’s fansite master, whose account name was ‘Dorahui,’ beamed.
[As you all know! Our Debonair is performing their debut stage today~ Ahem!]
[Ah~ That’s right. I’d forgotten about that.]
[Excuse me?]
─Dohee is genuinely flustered lol she’s so damn cute
─It doesn’t even seem like acting lol
Dohee always got a great response as an MC on Popular Songs.
[Honestly/Literally/Debonair) Dohee and Seoyoon’s variety skills are insane even normally]
─Lol I really hope Dohee and Seoyoon get invited onto variety shows often
─Those two will probably get regular gigs one after another
The variety show she had appeared on with Seoyoon not long ago had also received an extremely positive response,
and—
[Debonair reaches number one on the daily chart just one week after debut... Their rise is insane]
Debonair had also reached number one on the music charts from the moment of their debut, breaking the jinx that derivative groups from survival projects always failed, following Ailis.
From the perspective of a passionate fan, dopamine was flooding through them no matter which community they browsed.
But while looking around a K-pop community, the fansite master quickly caught wind of an undercurrent of public opinion.
[Debonair’s future is already clear]
It was an argument that had been forming for several days before this post appeared.
─Lee Dohee and Kim Seoyoon kept showing their faces even during the hiatus, and now that they’ve debuted, it’s still only the two of them appearing together...
└They do seem pretty greedy. The other members should be given opportunities, too.
└Dohee especially. Of course, it could be a good thing since she’s an entertainer, but should I say she’s just too inconsiderate?
└Agreed... She wants to hog the spotlight no matter what.
─Looks like the two members of the Book Club will take all the spotlight and leave the rest as nobodies...
└They’re only raising the two guaranteed ones. Giving all the benefits to the popular members.
“I knew this would happen.”
The public-opinion campaign was perfectly in line with what the fansite master had anticipated.
─Lol?? They appear because they’re popular and people invite them. Top East isn’t one of the Big Four—how could they force them into everything right after debut?
There was nothing to be done about the fact that people who envied a successful group would continue to appear.
But still...
“They haven’t even been debuted for a week, you bastards.”
The fact that public opinion was already trying to divide the members from the very beginning was a little premature.
“Haah... This is why survival groups are no good. You have to drag the vicious fans along for the rest of your lives.”
They were probably the same people who had prayed for Seiven’s downfall.
They must have been incredibly annoyed, too.
The derivative groups Ailis and Debonair.
Both had reached number one on the music charts immediately after debut, proving the value of Seiven’s name.
Even so, the fansite master was secretly worried.
─Groups where only a few members get the spotlight go under quickly.
└For real... It’s way too familiar. This happens constantly in the idol scene.
It wasn’t an incorrect statement.
Having reached number one on the charts,
the group was already beginning to attract group fans.
Just as Dohee’s fansite master had done,
individual fan accounts for U-ah, Chiyo, and Naeun were gradually appearing.
But due to the nature of idols, the atmosphere within a fandom was highly susceptible to public opinion.
Rather than developing solidarity from the start, the fandom could splinter into individual fanbases,
and even the members themselves could end up falling apart from within.
Honestly, it was difficult to understand Top East for giving people material to work with.
─You can just tell Top East has no experience. Newly debuted groups with former trainees should be appearing everywhere as a group at first.
└Exactly... They really don’t know how to take care of them lol
It was the moment when they should have released their own YouTube content alongside their debut, established the relationships between the members, and strengthened the influx of fans.
Instead, they had released variety content featuring only Dohee and Seoyoon, which was why people were talking.
‘Surely Shock Entertainment isn’t going to turn out to be the good one here...?’
One of the reasons Seiven had succeeded, despite everything,
was the in-house television variety show that had aired on Channel Mwave with the support of the conglomerate LE.
The members’ lively chemistry had bound together even the vicious individual fanbases.
‘Besides, those kids at least had the process of becoming friends while competing on the survival show...’
As Top East’s members were a group making their debut fresh from the gate, they might be awkward with one another.
‘It’d be bad if the kids got swept up in this and their teamwork suffered. Haaah...’
Carrying those worries with him, the second week of promotions finally began—the week in which they could win first place on a music show.
It was the week when variety shows on several terrestrial channels would be released, allowing them to earn broadcast points in earnest.