At most, we were only heading to a nearby shopping mall.
But I had to prepare very thoroughly.
“Unnie, your sunglasses.”
That was how badly Doa wanted to keep her unnie all to herself.
“What a greedy little thing~”
“Unnie’s eyes are already too unnie-like.”
It must have meant she had a truly one-of-a-kind appearance.
After roughly putting on a baseball cap and mask, I rummaged through my bag for the sunglasses.
“Huh?”
Had I left them behind?
It didn’t really matter.
“Mom, where are the sunglasses that were in my room?”
There were spare pairs at home, after all.
“Those? Your brother would know. Oppa~ Where are the ones you wore hiking last time~ Dohee’s sunglasses!”
The smacking sound of my mother applying toner in the master bedroom came to a stop.
“…Your dad? Your dad wore them?”
“Yeah, apparently they’re his style. He wears them often when he goes hiking.”
Dad soon emerged from the master bedroom.
“How do I look? Daughter, do I look MZ too?”
Hmm.
“Sure. They suit you.”
“Right?”
But… surely my taste overlapping with Dad’s was a little…
There was no way my preferences were really that middle-aged-man-like, right?
Hmm…
Aw, whatever~
* * *
Dad grew tired from the long shopping trip and headed toward the home-appliance section, but—
“Isn’t that skirt too short?”
Mom and I were still holding clothes up against Doa.
“Even middle schoolers dress like this these days. You’re the one who says you’re going to be an idol.”
“Mooom, your voice, lower your voice…! People will notice…!”
“Ah, I’m an idol~?!”
“Unnieee…!”
‘It’s not like we’re going to run into anyone we know here. Why is she so anxious?’
Once I tossed off the cumbersome sunglasses as well, Doa had even more to worry about. But the other customers were all busy picking out their own clothes, so they wouldn’t have the time to spare me a glance anyway.
“But if the skirt’s too short, on our Doa… it’ll be so brazen…”
The line of Doa’s bare legs would be showing…
“It’s a little provocative… Ow!”
Seriously, why did she always hit me in the back?
And why did it hurt so much?
“There are things you can and can’t say about a fourteen-year-old. Brazen? Provocative? What are you talking about?”
“What did I do…? This is unfair.”
“Princess, shouldn’t you worry about your own chest?”
Consumed by jealousy, Mom poked me repeatedly in the chest.
“What about it? It just got a little bigger… It’s nicely, perfectly pretty…”
Mom would never understand this concern.
This charm that was embarrassing, yet that I wanted to keep all to myself.
She had no idea how much I avoided clothes that showed cleavage in the first place.
Nor how perfectly I kept most of it concealed with sports bras.
Onstage, I always wore a sports bra in case the movement was captured, and even in the practice room, if there were cameras around, I additionally wore oversized clothes such as boxy T-shirts.
Of course, the biggest reason was to prevent my breasts from sagging due to Cooper’s ligament injuries caused by intense choreography and performances.
‘They get weird if you don’t take proper care of them.’
Anyway, perhaps thanks to having managed them consistently since I was young, my current figure fit my aesthetic sense perfectly.
Every time I showered, a satisfied smile naturally spread across my face.
─Heehee
‘A little constricting now and then is tolerable.’
If anything, taking off the sports bra was what caused more pain.
“Oh, but I heard the newly released support bras aren’t constricting and are comfortable.”
Mom pretended not to hear me, running her hands over the fabrics of the displayed clothes.
“Mom, since we’re talking about it, should we go to the underwear section? It was kind of our traditional New Year’s event, you and me. We can buy Doa some underwear while we’re there.”
Our Doa was at an age when she was growing quickly, too.
…And now, to record the growth of our new Doa…
“I’m not going. Go by yourself now. Are you a child?”
Cold.
“Whine…”
‘Then who am I supposed to tease now…?’
It was incredibly sad to see a rival whose spirit had been broken.
‘I’ll tease Kim Seoyun…’
To think I’d become too old to go to an underwear store with Mom.
“But I can just stick with the same size anyway, so I wasn’t planning to go. Suck it.”
If convenience was what I wanted, I’d have to order online. Yay.
“There’s no filial impiety quite like yours.”
I continued rummaging through the clothes, looking for things that might suit Doa.
“Doa, come here and try this on.”
Perhaps satisfied, Doa took the clothes without a word.
“I always thought Doa looked best in something a little cool and demure like that. Kind of a student-council-president look. She has a somewhat cold appearance since she takes after Mom rather than Dad, who has a gentler face.”
Her eyes were a little sharper, and her nose a little higher, too.
“Not that I mean Mom looks mean or anything… You’re a cool beauty, Mom. Why are you trying to hit me again…”
“Really?”
“Yes… I mean it…”
Why didn’t she understand my feelings?
“Well… I suppose she would be pretty. Dohee didn’t suit that style, though. Right?”
“Me…? I was ranked first in the entire school from the age of eight to seventeen! I was totally the model-student, student-council-president type…?”
Mom raised both hands and made a questioning gesture.
“I became rebellious because of you, Mom.”
“What did I do?”
“You always forced me to wear pink clothes. You ignored my opinions.”
By then, Doa had already changed clothes and come out.
“See? My fashion sense is amazing. This is exactly a Doa outfit.”
“Sure, sure. You’re right.”
Even so, our shopping resumed in warm, cheerful harmony…
* * *
I had come all the way here wearing a mask and hat because I wanted to shop with Doa, but—
“Hello, Dayeon’s mother~ Doa, you should say hello too.”
“Hello, ma’am.”
“Hello. Oh my, you’re Doa? Dayeon talks about you so much, I wondered how pretty you must be, and you’re really incredibly pretty~”
“I told you. Doa is Lee Dohee from our school. She’s famous.”
“Oh? Now that you mention it, she really does resemble Lee Dohee in her atmosphere.”
Sob, sob… I had to hide alone inside the fitting room in front of Doa’s friend.
I peeked my head out of the fitting room.
Doa, whose eyes met mine, looked exceedingly stern.
…You want to keep your unnie all to yourself, don’t you?
…You don’t want to show me to anyone?
* * *
Since Japan celebrated New Year’s Day on January 1 according to the solar calendar, Chiyo unnie, who had surprised her mother with a visit for the New Year, had no need to go to her hometown.
Instead, she was enjoying a solo vacation at the dorm, with the boiler turned up nice and warm.
And on the morning after the holiday ended, the virtuous-wife Chiyo unnie—
“Welcome home? Food first? A bath first? Or—”
Wearing an apron, she greeted the members as they trickled back to the dorm.
“Oh, no. Get out of the way.”
At least she wasn’t wearing the apron with nothing else on.
I kicked off my shoes carelessly and collapsed face-first onto the living-room sofa. Then I heard the gentle voice of Naeun unnie.
“Dohee, let’s tidy up before you rest. We have a schedule this evening, so we should get everything organized beforehand.”
“Okay…”
“Your suitcase is new, too? Did you bring a lot?”
Her quiet voice sounded peaceful in the tranquil atmosphere of the dorm.
“Some new clothes—”
That was when Chiyo unnie stuck her face in front of me, filling my entire field of vision.
“I prepared breakfast very diligently…”
“Ah, move.”
“Miso soup is delicious… Really…”
I took out my phone and snapped a selfie.
“My smile is more filling.”
“Ugh, that’s such a low-class joke it isn’t even worth playing along with. Gross.”
“…?”
Then, from somewhere, came the hectic sound of a small trumpet.
─Toot toot toot!
“Is Lee Dohee here?”
Seoyun unnie burst into the living room, blowing an elephant trumpet.
“Yeah.”
“She lives the closest, yet she’s the latest one here, and she’s the youngest, yet she looks the most worn out.”
“It’s because my heart hurts… My heart hurts…”
“Ah, why are you whining after having a perfectly good New Year’s holiday? You and Chiyo were spouting nonsense together on KakaoTalk.”
“Seoyun doesn’t understand my heart…”
At that, Uah unnie, who had been eating breakfast with her miso soup, quietly muttered as if she had seen it coming.
“Let me guess. Something about Doa again, and how your heart hurts so much because of it.”
“Don’t guess… It hurts even more when you’re right…”
“So stop bullying Doa. She’s such an obedient kid.”
“I’m an obedient unnie too… Ugh, even my arms and legs are aching…”
“Why? Because you slept while hugging Doa all night?”
“…By the way, is that good? The miso soup?”
“It’s decent. Chiyo’s a pretty good cook, isn’t she?”
“I know.”
Back when we were trainees, everyone except me took turns being responsible for meals, and everyone was interested in baking as well, so we would all bake bread together. There wasn’t a single person in the dorm who lacked talent in the kitchen.
Including me.
Though none of them knew that.
‘They probably think Lee Dohee’s only flaw is her cooking.’
Meanwhile, Seoyun unnie, who had been blowing the fanfare, climbed onto the living-room sofa.
“Attention, everyone! I have some good news.”
Naeun unnie had told me to unpack my suitcase, so I should hurry up and do it.
Heave-ho.
“Miss Dohee, please take your seat quietly. This is truly wonderful news.”
“Do I really have to hear it? Why do I feel like it’s only good news for you, Seoyun?”
“We’re a team. Let’s share our joy and our love.”
“Hmm…”
─Thump
“Thank you for giving me this opportunity. It’s a beautiful night. Yes, Uah?”
“It’s daytime.”
“What a beautiful day. Yes, Chiyo?”
“The miso soup is delicious.”
“There seem to be a lot of interruptions, so I’ll get straight to the announcement. I, Kim Seoyun!”
─Toot toot toot!
The trumpet blared noisily.
“Have become a luxury-brand ambassador before Raheedorahee!”
─Clap clap clap
Along with the sound of Naeun unnie’s seal-like applause—
“Wow, congratulations~”
“Thank you. Thank you. Yes, Miss Dohee?”
“I was first.”
“Ah, if we’re being technical, Miss Dohee is in the jewelry category. I’m in the fashion category, which is arguably more meaningful?”
“Oh, really?”
Well, there were three kinds of luxury-brand ambassadors, after all: fashion, jewelry, and beauty.
But this unnie didn’t know.
That I had received a luxury-brand offer in the fashion category long before this.
I had simply turned it down for the moment so I could choose the better terms if I was going to do it anyway.
“Oh, what’s with that smile? Have you lost your mind, Miss Dorah-ee?”
“I’m going to unpack my things~”
* * *
In TopEast’s conference room, the company’s senior working-level executives had gathered, headed by CEO Kim Widong in the seat of honor.
Jeong Sohyeon, producer and director of Debonair, sat in the second seat.
Today’s agenda was a meeting about Debonair’s album—the group that would become the company’s biggest cash cow.
Considering the nature of a small-to-mid-sized entertainment company, and TopEast Entertainment in particular, this was an extremely important event.
The employee reviews posted on TopEast’s company-review site all said much the same thing:
─They claim to pursue a horizontal culture and welcome opinions, but in the end, the executives decide the direction however they want. Even if an entire department gathers to insist otherwise, it’s useless. They still seem to produce idols with a first- or second-generation mindset. The scandals ultimately come from the executives’ decisions as well. They’re talking about going public, but judging by their actions, there’s a good chance they’ll just run their artists as cash cows and never manage to list the company. There’s a reason Pastel Love and X-TEN received good songs and still ended up only reaching that level of popularity.
In other words, the company’s policy was to ignore feedback from below and make decisions according to the will of the executives.
That meant Debonair’s next activities, too, were likely to be swayed by their decisions.
─The real-time voting for the first week of February’s live broadcast of SBC’s Popular Songs has concluded.
─Who will take first place this week? Show us the results~
─Congratulations, Debonair!
And this was the moment when Debonair was wrapping up the final stage of their debut promotions with yet another first-place win.
Which was why there wasn’t a single member anywhere near the conference room.