After finishing all her Fashion Week schedules, Dohee headed straight to the airport that night and boarded a flight to Korea.
[Dohee, you worked so hard. Hurry up and get some good rest!]
But Bae Hayoung, in fact, could not.
She was utterly dumbfounded.
“What is this?”
Because articles she had never expected began pouring out one after another.
[(Midnight Entertainment) Chanel Head Aveline Cassel... “K-pop Holic?” Becomes Hot Topic After Mentioning Lira and Lee Dohee Together!]
[Chanel Chief Designer Aveline Cassel: “Chanel’s ideal was to become a woman of dignity. I was delighted to meet such young ladies today...”]
[The Irreplaceable, Unshakable Chanel Muse Lira, and a New Muse, Lee Dohee?]
There were even rumors going around that Cassel had sent the two of them separate gifts.
Naturally, Bae Hayoung and the fans alike could only be flustered.
─What is this, is it for real?
─I’m confused right now too lololol
After all, Debonair had not even begun a full-fledged push into the global market yet.
“It’s not like TopEast has an overseas base like the Big Four agencies!”
But the real buzz began a few hours later, when a video reported by local media was uploaded.
[(Video) After-party Lee Dohee Proves Herself a “Sexy Brain” Woman, Fluent in English, Japanese, and Even French—“Capable of 4 Languages”]
[Lee Dohee Shows Off Adorable French Skills During Meeting with Chanel Head Cassel]
[Lee Dohee, Said to Have Learned French During Her First-Year Arts High School Curriculum—As Expected of the Top Student in Her School... Hot Topic]
“What the hell, what is this now...”
Even the original video was being flooded in real time with countless English comments.
─It’s obvious she learned her French at school! It’s very textbook-like and sweet :)
─Dohee’s gestures while speaking such clear French are so lovely ❤️
─The two-shot of Lira and Dohee looks like a meeting between a queen and a princess!
─I didn’t know their name, “De bon air,” could be interpreted in French! Just like the group name, definitely good air!
─She is definitely an icon of the 4th generation
─The look Cassel gives her is full of affection
It was the sort of pride that any fan could not help but feel swelling up. Bae Hayoung could not hold back either and rapidly posted on her homepage.
Dol-Ahyee @Dol_Ahyee
─Her sexy French has me going insane from how high-spec she is first thing in the morning... How is my idol a genius, a prodigy, a walking encyclopedia idol?
She even brought up the messages Dohee had sent last year, when she had ranked first in her entire school as a first-year high school student.
Dol-Ahyee @Dol_Ahyee
─(Photo) A look back at Petit Dohee, who got 100 on her French test and sent French Bubbles all day long
└Meanwhile, the fan girls couldn’t even understand and were desperately searching and running translations, but turns out it was all just her bragging about herself lololololol
└How she studies French: first, try bragging about herself in that language
Moreover, the fans were not the only ones delighted by this situation.
ChocoladoCola @Docacola
─(Video) Ah, fuck lolololol the patriotic hype content vultures are plastering everything with Lira-nim and our kid right now, I’m losing it lolololololol
The patriotic YouTubers.
Because this issue was top-tier material for them as well.
Their thumbnails were all more or less the same.
An after-party.
A two-shot of Lira and Dohee.
And Aveline Cassel, with the caption and a speech bubble saying, “Just what kind of country is Korea?” in shock.
As a bonus, Westerners around them were clutching their mouths and holding their heads with captions like, “Lira and Lee Dohee?” and “This mysterious beauty is... Korean?”
The titles were also...
[Lee Dohee’s Sudden Action at the Paris Chanel Show That Bewitched the World’s Top Luxury Family—Why Foreign Netizens Are Currently Going Wild]
[Chanel and Westerners Already Knew. The Head of Chanel Recognized the Genius of Koreans]
[Why a Brand’s Chief Designer Was Shocked by One Word from a Korean at a European Luxury Fashion Show ㄷㄷ]
[Lira? Lee Dohee? Calm Down, They’re Korean—The One Word That Shocked Trembling Westerners]
It was suffocating patriotic clickbait.
Thanks to that, the view counts, at least... were the best.
[(Captioned News) “Superstar” Shakes France... Brands Enter Competition / TTN]
To the point that even broadcasting station news channels uploaded videos with similar titles after them.
As a result, it took no time at all for ordinary people with no interest in idols and middle-aged YouTube viewers to learn about it too.
─Back in the Saveen days, the army one-pick was a bit divided, but these days the one-pick has to be her ㄷㄷ She just keeps getting prettier
─I became a fan late in life after hearing Miss Dohee’s dignified piano performance. With her politeness, kindness, and even her beauty, Miss Dohee and Miss Lira are truly wonderful as Chanel ambassadors. I will always support you, fighting~^^
─The era of the Magi and the children that we longed for so much is finally coming... Peace like a river unto me
─Kya... People all over the world are going wild and being moved by the quiet and elegant beauty of the Republic of Korea! My heart grows hot and full!
─I think I understand exactly what they mean by the feminine ideal Chanel pursues. Lira and Dohee both have that kind of atmosphere
And it did not stop there. The scene was edited into Shorts, Reels, and the like, appearing constantly, and for days on end Dohee’s name heated up all kinds of communities and social media.
As if people were acknowledging that she could be compared to Lira.
─I think I get why Cassel said that. Lira and Lee Dohee lolol
─Wow, she even speaks French? Seriously, has there ever been anyone like her among idols—no, in the entire entertainment industry?
─The fact that she’s eighteen years old...
But as the saying goes, the moment of victory is the most dangerous.
The moment when everyone was paying attention, her stock was soaring to the ends of the sky, and the fans’ pride had reached its peak was, conversely, also the most vulnerable moment.
An out-of-the-blue suspicion surfaced then, as if it had been timed.
[(Info/News) Leaked Contents of Lee Dohee-TopEast Contract]
Of course, at first, since no one could know whether it was true or not.
It was no different from passing tabloid gossip.
─They signed a really favorable contract with her, huh. TopEast really cherishes Dohee lolol
─But is this real?
─Someone just wrote their own brain fantasy again, what else lol
Rather, most people were of the opinion that with conditions better than expected, if it was Lee Dohee, then it made sense.
[There was apparently a lot of talk about them signing contracts that discriminated between the members]
[From her trainee days, Lee Dohee was basically confirmed for debut]
However, little by little, posts written in a tone that seemed to borrow the words of insiders appeared on anonymous sites.
It looked as if they had even used overseas IPs to avoid lawsuits.
─What are they saying? So the contents of Lee Dohee’s contract and the other members’ contracts are different?
─What does it mean that only Lee Dohee got paid when she was a trainee? Every month?
Even so, they were only community posts at best.
There was no way people would believe them.
[It’s not like posts like this have only been around for a day or two lololol]
As if only Lee Dohee would have a different settlement ratio, realistically?
Even if it’s true, Kim Seoyun is probably the same
Please just leave Dohee alone, you psychos lololol
─It’s called a sliding contract. Once you build up years, the ratio gets adjusted from time to time, so Seoyun is probably the same. Both of them were in Saveen, after all
└Yeah, the two of them would have made new group contracts when they debuted as Debonair anyway
─Do you even believe that in the first place? It’s obviously fabricated. Who pays someone from their trainee days?
└For real. I’ve heard of the Big Four entertainment companies giving top-ranked trainees a few hundred thousand won as an “appearance maintenance allowance,” but several million won every month? Does that even make sense lolololol
But contrary to the mood in the communities, the speed at which articles were being published was not normal.
As if they were confirming it as the truth.
[Was TopEast Wise? Idol Settlement Ratios Seen Through Past Disputes Between Agencies and Singers]
[7:3 Contract Immediately After Debut, “An Unusual Case”—TopEast Recognized Lee Dohee’s Star Quality]
[1/N? Individual Settlements?... Different Settlement Ratios by Member, “Differentiation Based on Popularity”]
[Former Executive of Company T Laments to Colleague at Drinking Gathering: “Differentiating Between Members Is Not Good”]
It was blatant, and intentionality could be seen.
But since all of this unfolded in the span of only a few hours, regardless of whether it was true or not, the issue could only spread and catch fire quickly.
Moreover, it was Dohee, whose stock had been at its absolute highest.
And the Debonair members, who had been on a steep rise.
On top of that, it was gossip the public would likely enjoy.
And the ones fanning the flames in the process were.
Malicious commenters who had been stewing in frustration all this time because Dohee had never once given them even the smallest excuse.
[Wow, but if that’s true, the members must feel so betrayed...]
[Breaking news) The atmosphere among Debonair fans is really bad right now lololol Looks like the akgaes are about to start fighting]
[As expected, the reason a small-trash company fails is also small-trash... Ailee, Pure Girl, and 3M will become the top three again lololololololololol]
[Lee Dohee is just someone used to special treatment. Ever since she was young, everyone only pampered her, so she clearly developed a severe celebrity disease]
Finally, the first issue that all of the public seemed likely to sympathize with!
The malicious commenters began dragging up issues the public might have forgotten and fitting them together one by one.
[Now I finally understand why the production staff made Lee Dohee spend money in Debonair’s self-produced content... They knew too, that Lee Dohee had a different contract and was getting paid a lot more alone...]
[Wow, come to think of it, isn’t it strange that not a single person saw Lee Dohee at the Hanseong Arts High entrance exam site? With that face and those proportions? I’m telling you, she definitely got in through special admission]
Of course, the fans did not sit still.
They quickly began refuting them.
[The PD forced it too far trying to be funny. Then do you guys go to the hospital and ask the doctor to pay your medical bills because you know doctors have a lot of money?]
[How many times have they said she got into Hanseong Arts High with her middle school grades and grand prize awards? Hanseong Arts High even verified the admission process lolololol? Ah, you just don’t want to admit it, do you?]
It was actually effective.
They could not cover the articles as well, but it was enough to prevent the malicious commenters from creating baseless rumors.
However, the incident that tipped the scales in this situation happened that evening.
▶I’m on an overseas tour!!! Are all the Desties asleep, by any chance...?
It was a livestream by Ian of “Destroy Six,” who had recently tried to get Dohee’s number only to be indirectly rejected.