“You don’t even feel sorry for your fans!”
Destroy Six’s Ian heard the voice of his fellow member, Chae Seonu, shouting as he entered his hotel room.
Of course, he answered as calmly as ever.
“So hyung went to a club again?”
Chae Seonu grinned and flopped down on his bed.
“Man, Western girls are seriously… The mix of perfume and sweat is absolutely disgusting, absolutely disgusting. I thought my nose was going to kill me. I guess I really do prefer Asians.”
“That’s not what I asked. Don’t you feel sorry for your fans?”
“Feel sorry, my ass. As if sasaengs are anything new… Every time I run into them on a plane or see notes stuck in front of the dorm, I get goosebumps. Fuck.”
Ian nodded, but he couldn’t agree with Chae Seonu’s habit of visiting clubs as casually as if they were his own home.
“The girls who give themselves to this guy and that guy at clubs aren’t any different from sasaengs. They’re equally empty-headed.”
“Their faces and bodies are different, asshole. Damn, now I’m thinking about last week again.”
“You went to a club last week too? You really are something, hyung.”
“What are you talking about? How many schedules did I have last week?”
Chae Seonu spoke as though he was about to throw up.
“You know her. Her, Pinky.”
“Pinky?”
Ian thought he knew who Seonu was talking about as soon as he heard the description.
“Ah…”
The female fan who had come to Destroy Six’s fansign.
The one who had worn a pink fairy costume and even an angel headband.
The one who looked like she easily weighed over a hundred kilograms.
“Yeah, Pinky, that fucking bitch.”
The worst part was that, in the middle of getting her autograph, she had stood up, saying she had prepared a dance, and performed some cutesy girl-group choreography.
Of course, Chae Seonu had smiled brightly and clapped enthusiastically for her.
“I was honestly impressed. I acknowledge your professionalism, hyung.”
“Yeah, fuck. People like that are ruining my mental health, I’m telling you. I only go to clubs to maintain my professional mode, that’s all!”
Chae Seonu chuckled, then sprawled out flat on his back in his drunkenness and turned his head.
“Hey.”
He grinned.
“Don’t turn your face this way. You smell like alcohol.”
Ignoring him, Chae Seonu flipped open the closed laptop.
“Don’t you feel sorry for your fans~”
On the screen was YouTube, showing a video of Lee Dohee.
Her lovely appearance at the after-party, speaking French.
“So, did you get Lee Dohee’s number like you said you would?”
“…I used my little brother’s name, but it didn’t work.”
“Ugh, idiot. I feel sorry for your brother too.”
“You’re dragging my family into this now?”
“Sorry about that. I’m drunk… Kheukh.”
“She used my name to get attention when she debuted, so why can’t I use hers a little? Right?”
“That’s true too. I admit it, I admit it.”
After a brief silence, Chae Seonu crawled over to the refrigerator, took out another beer, and drank straight from the bottle. Then, his face flushed red, he asked again.
“She really is nice, though, isn’t she?”
“My little brother?”
“Your brother is pretty nice too, but I mean Lee Dohee. She really seems to have a good personality. She’s eighteen, but she doesn’t act like a completely immature kid. There’s a reason your brother genuinely likes her.”
“Exactly. That’s why I like her even more. When girls like that fall in love, they can’t live without the person. They go straight to marriage.”
“Wow, you were serious. Don’t tell me you siblings have the same type?”
Since Seonu was so drunk that he could say any nonsense and get away with it, Ian grumbled to his clearly addled companion.
“What are you talking about? But still, you need some sort of connection before you can even talk to someone. At this rate, my brother might never even get to speak to her… Her number, damn it.”
“You’ve even got a thing for pure love? Nice.”
That was when it happened.
As Ian began openly searching Lee Dohee in front of Chae Seonu, article after article concerning her contract began appearing and refreshing on the screen.
“Wow, what’s this now?”
Seonu glanced over the articles, his face filling with surprise.
“If this is real… wow, she’s getting treatment almost comparable to ours. Then again, it makes sense, considering she’s already being mentioned alongside Rira.”
Destroy Six might have been less prestigious than NND.
But they were still one of the top three boy groups.
“Where did this even leak from? Seeing all the reporters jump on it, it seems like it’s been verified to some extent.”
Ian wasn’t particularly surprised by the situation.
He understood it intuitively.
“Hyung, we’re in our seventh year already, right?”
“Yeah.”
“When you reach this many years in the business, there’s something you naturally learn through experience.”
Chae Seonu looked too drunk to think straight, but—
“This industry lets even promiscuous people like you, who go clubbing all over the place, live on without a single rumor.”
“Listen to this guy. What about you? Your ex-girlfriend glares like hell every time she runs into you.”
“Even so, I’ve only had two. At this point, I’m pretty clean. What can I do if I hate empty-headed girls? How was I supposed to know she’d be that stupid?”
“Anyway, what’s your point?”
Ian scanned the articles on the screen for a moment before answering.
“The public only hears the endless rumors about the entertainment industry, which people casually call a kingdom of animals. They don’t know whether they’re true or not.”
“But isn’t that all case by case? There are plenty of people who are damn innocent.”
“That’s true, but it’s strange that even K-pop veterans can’t name a single specific example.”
“When you put it that way, you’re right.”
“Why do you think that is? Because the industry is small. Entertainment companies are ready to throw out staff who interfere with their business, and the staff are afraid of getting fired, so everyone watches everyone else’s reactions. That’s how the unspoken rules of this industry came about.”
“That’s true too.”
“Actually, someone like you is relatively fine. Abuse of power, drugs, assault—what have you done? You gained some seniority and started going clubbing. That’s about it, isn’t it?”
“Damn~ You’re only saying things that make sense today.”
“But the amazing thing is that even pieces of trash completely incomparable to you don’t rise to the surface in front of the public. Once their outline is exposed, the rumors would spread like wildfire, though.”
Chae Seonu now even applauded in agreement.
“Exactly. How many people have an image of being transparent, clean, kind, and all that in front of the public? That kid from next door, Rookie? I heard she secretly did drugs overseas.”
“So that’s what I’m saying. My conclusion is that almost no scandal explodes for no reason.”
In the end, most scandals were malicious disclosures made by a third party seeking to profit, or aiming to bring down the person involved.
Unless the person was stupid enough to step forward and do something idiotic during a live broadcast, of course.
“Still, the timing of a contract like that suddenly appearing was pretty perfect. So is this reverse viral marketing?”
As Chae Seonu had said, it was reasonable to see it as reverse viral marketing.
There wasn’t a single entertainment company that didn’t engage in it.
Anyone who believed otherwise was simply naïve.
It was an inevitable practice in a competitive market.
If anything, whether it was cell phones, beverages, automobiles, semiconductors, or anything else—
It was harder to find an industry without viral or reverse viral marketing.
Especially in the K-pop market, where the pie was even more limited.
Naturally, the competition beneath the surface was fierce.
Even the fans of each group sometimes stepped in to add their firepower.
“Come to think of it, Lee Dohee really hasn’t had any scandals. If people were going to attack her, it would probably just be over photoshopping her appearance or something.”
“Exactly. They must’ve thought they finally found something to use. Our company’s probably helping too, but JS, Haru, and Repro—the big four entertainment companies—all of them are probably doing reverse viral marketing right now, aren’t they? On online communities?”
“Is it really that serious? You know that girl at our company, the one preparing for her solo debut.”
“Gong Chaerin?”
“Yeah. She’s close to Lee Dohee.”
“Well, of course they’re close. But why would that matter to the company? Doesn’t JS have members of Saven? Doesn’t Haru? I’m telling you, it never reaches the final decision-makers. The viral-marketing teams the companies set up just attack first. It has absolutely nothing to do with personal feelings.”
As Ian urged him to face reality, some of the alcohol seemed to leave Chae Seonu’s system. He fell silent for a moment and stared at Ian.
“Come to think of it… We’re pretty close to NND too, but our company probably ran reverse viral campaigns against them. Of course, they probably ran even more against us… Yeah.”
But Ian seemed to already be thinking about something else.
“But, hyung. You don’t think this issue alone will have much effect on Debonair’s group performance, do you?”
“You think so? Maybe not.”
“Of course, their growth will probably slow down for a while. But I have a feeling they’ll get back on their feet quickly and end up doing even better than us. That’s my feeling.”
“It won’t be easy, but… that could happen.”
“Exactly. But, hyung, you know…”
“What?”
Ian eventually spoke with a miserable expression.
“If that happens, doesn’t it mean Lee Dohee and I might never have any connection for the rest of our lives?”
“What?”
“Damn it… I should’ve been a music-show MC.”
He even began scratching his head furiously.
“So, hyung, I want to ask you for a favor.”
“A favor?”
“It’s nothing much. Once you sleep and sober up a bit…”
Ian began clicking open the memo pad on his laptop.
“Read this script I wrote. If I take a shot at her, she’ll only hate me. Later, apologize on my behalf, comfort her, and try talking to her for me. Okay? Pleeease~”
Chae Seonu hesitated slightly as he read the crude script displayed on the screen, then laughed in disbelief.
“This bastard is seriously fucking insane.”
* * *
[Destroy Six’s Mass Attack on Other Idols—整理]
1. On the day Destroy Six finished their overseas tour, member Ian went live with fellow member Chae Seonu, and when fans asked how they felt, they began talking about staying true to their初心.
(Full transcript)
Chae Seonu: As you all know, our group started out under the title of ZY, one of the big four agencies, but our initial results were lower than expected, right? Of course, compared to our seniors. Still, I think that allowed us to live more humbly and hold on to our初心. After finishing our overseas tour today, I suddenly found myself thinking about the day we stood onstage for the first time…
Ian: Ah, this hyung is emotional today. He cried a ton all by himself.
Chae Seonu: Hey, hey! Don’t tell them that.
Ian: His eyes are swollen because of that too…
Chae Seonu: Anyway! I sometimes wonder if I would’ve developed celebrity disease and become arrogant if I had succeeded from the very beginning and people around me had constantly encouraged me by telling me how special my circumstances were… (laughs) I’m glad that didn’t happen, though.
─After hearing this, fans in the livestream—especially international fans—started mentioning other idols one by one in the chat.
[Reading comments]
Ian: Please don’t make reckless guesses.
Chae Seonu: I’m just saying that there are people like that, is all… I only hope everyone can live while showing each other basic courtesy. I know it may seem like we’re from different generations… Maybe they’re simply embarrassed because of their individualism. Perhaps they’re also unable to properly express their feelings.
2. The broadcast abruptly ended not long afterward.
3. But foreign fans who saw this began searching for every idol who had had any contact with Destroy Six over the past few months.
4. After seeing Lee Dohee’s challenge, they irrationally decided that she had definitely been the target of his remarks and began attacking her.
5. Perhaps realizing that something was wrong, Chae Seonu posted an apology within a few hours, saying he was sorry for making a sweeping attack and that the artist in question was absolutely not her.
6. But the foreign fans instead claimed that Seonu had been forced to apologize, then began raiding Lee Dohee’s Instagram and Debonair’s YouTube channel and hurling abuse.
* * *
Jeong Sohyeon had briefly stepped out of the chilly conference room and was listening to the words of Debonair’s rookie road manager, who had contacted Team Leader Yoo Yeongho.
“Dohee is apparently coming straight to the company building after finishing the commercial shoot.”
“What about her phone? You made sure she couldn’t see it, right?”
“According to the team leader, she’s probably already seen it…”
Jeong Sohyeon drew a deep breath.
Her head hurt.
Given the nature of foreign K-pop results, which depended on a limited number of niche listeners rather than the mainstream audience—
Being singled out by the fandom of Destroy Six, a group among the top three, was a serious matter.
Perhaps because most of them had such niche tastes, a disturbingly large number of them were vicious.
There was also a high possibility that they would interfere throughout Debonair’s upcoming promotions.
However, Jeong Sohyeon stopped thinking about it.
‘For now…’
“…The rest of the members are all at the dorm, right?”
“Yes, I believe so…”
“Have them stay at the dorm. Tell them I’ll be there shortly.”
Dohee, of course, was directly involved, but so were the other members.
Calming all of them down was the first thing she had to do as their guardian.