Free Web Novel"Lee Sion, why are you shaking like that?"
"Gahyeon, isn’t this unfair?"
"What?"
I wasn’t just trembling.
[This isn’t simple anger. It’s a scream bursting out from inside you.]
If I had to describe how I felt right now, it was exactly that.
-Pre-recording’s done, good work. Now you need to stay at the station until the live broadcast stage ends. Meals will be boxed lunches. Try not to go outside the waiting room.
What we got after finishing the pre-recording wasn’t freedom. It was confinement.
After we finished filming perfectly with no mistakes, just in case, the Iam members and I did the stage about two more times.
Back then, it still felt like a warm, wholesome ending: filming wrapped, the director and staff even told us we did great, and we traded friendly words and good wishes.
But after that, the members and I had to get locked in the waiting room right away.
"This is the tradition."
"This isn’t the military."
"Even famous singers with some seniority have to practically beg for permission to leave. We’re rookies, and we literally debuted today. How are we supposed to skip the first place announcement?"
"And besides, after the stage ends, we have to greet the PD in the station hallway, so we have to wait anyway."
"What?!"
When I questioned this unreasonable situation, Seo Ryujin and Lee Gahyeon spoke like it was obvious.
Aside from me, everyone was accepting this waiting-room confinement without a fuss.
The music industry was scarier than I’d thought.
It was the kind of place where, if the military of the 2020s—armed to the teeth with “barracks culture reform”—saw it, they’d ask if a place this absurd could really exist.
'Was that a lie?'
Anyway, because of this rotten music-industry tradition, my hands and feet were trembling.
After the last stage, all the singers who participated in the broadcast had to gather and applaud to congratulate first place, and as if that wasn’t enough, we had to stay at the station just to greet the PD on the way out.
Since I had no schedule today besides Music Count’s pre-recording, I was going to climb the Rift after we finished for the first time in a while.
That plan got completely wrecked.
"Then what’s the point of pre-recording?"
"Stop saying spoiled things. Other rookie groups would love to stay at the station all week if it meant they could film a pre-recorded stage."
"Huh?"
At my question, Seo Ryujin let out a deep sigh and answered me.
"Music show ratings used to be good, but lately they’re in the one-percent range."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Then why do singers cling to a stage on a show like that? Because the ripple effect those music shows still have is different."
After that, Seo Ryujin casually said something terrifying: whether you did or didn’t appear on the so-called four major music shows determines a singer’s “tier.”
"More than anything, those four major music shows edit the stage videos themselves and upload them to YouTube, and that’s a hugely important factor for pulling in new fans!"
"That’s true. When I’m studying and looking up other groups’ stages these days, I search YouTube first."
"And if a stage on those YouTube videos was filmed as a pre-recording instead of recorded live in real time, the quality is different, so any idol group can’t help but want a pre-recording!"
Hmm.
After hearing Seo Ryujin and Shinyu explain it, I finally understood why Producer Raon had kept stressing over and over how important this pre-recording was.
I guess I couldn’t help but reflect for a moment on myself—on how I’d been thinking, without any thought, that we’d just film early in the morning and then go climb the Rift back at the dorm.
But still,
[You must be really pissed. Your anger is justified. Today, do whatever you want. I support you.]
AI Sion spoke for what I was thinking inside.
Even so, having to stay at the station for nearly ten hours was horrifying.
Checking community reactions on my phone is only fun for about an hour. What was I even supposed to do with that much time?
'No, Lee Sion. You’re an adult. You can’t be unable to endure a measly ten hours.'
I steeled myself.
-Please, just behave!
I remembered the way Manager Kim Yunsik had begged us as he locked us into the waiting room.
For today, I thought I should at least try to honor his request.
***
"Senior, I just have to stand guard in front of the waiting room door, right?"
"Yeah. I’m going to walk around the station, greet people I know from before, and hand out some albums."
"Yes!"
Holding a box loaded with Iam’s debut albums in her arms, Jiu watched Kim Yunsik’s back as he walked away, and she hardened her resolve.
'I have to protect this. No matter what!'
Rookie manager Park Jiu, only one month into the job.
Ever since school, she’d loved idols, and with nothing but the thought of wanting to meet celebrities in person, she’d applied to a college arts management major, graduated, and became who she was.
After graduating this year, she jumped straight into the brutal job market—and by luck, she got hired right away.
"Mom, I got into KJ Entertainment!"
"KJ? The place that makes dumplings?! Oh my, our daughter made it!"
When a job posting went up, Jiu applied to KJ Entertainment’s manager recruitment without much expectation, then got accepted on the spot.
To adults, it was famous as a place that makes dumplings and sugar, but KJ was a major corporation in Korea’s media world, and KJ Entertainment was its subsidiary.
The day Jiu proudly joined, she learned what kind of treatment the top scorer on the state exam must have received back in the day.
But the reality she learned afterward was cruel.
'Low pay and overwork until you build your career...'
Sure, there probably isn’t any industry that isn’t like that, but the entertainment world was especially harsh on rookies.
After joining KJ Entertainment, Jiu learned that a manager is a job with a mystical work schedule where commuting and clocking in happen at the same time during an artist’s promotion period, and the salary is almost at the convenience-store part-time level.
And maybe because of those conditions, there was always a staffing shortage, so when she learned you didn’t even need to graduate from an arts management major—just having a driver’s license was enough—Jiu’s shock was beyond words.
Still,
"You’re lucky. If you get stuck with the wrong artist, it’s so hard you won’t even remember those downsides. Compared to that, our kids are nice... yeah, they’re nice."
Jiu had to take comfort in Kim Yunsik’s words: just avoiding dehumanizing treatment, one of the things that makes managers suffer, put her work environment in the top 1%.
Knock knock.
"What?"
"Jiu, I think the waiting room is too cold. Please open the door."
"Lee Sion, if it’s cold, you should be closing the door more. Why are you asking me to open it? And it’s May right now!"
"Tsk."
At Jiu’s cold answer, she heard a disappointed tongue-click.
The Iam members Jiu was in charge of had good personalities—not just as celebrities, but as people.
It was amazing how seven kids this kind could all gather and become one group.
But—
"Freedom!!!"
The owner of the shriek coming from inside the waiting room, which Jiu was blocking with her whole body.
Lately, that voice had been teaching Jiu firsthand that being nice doesn’t make the job easy.
-First, stop Lee Sion.
KJ Entertainment employees’ work rule.
[Lee Sion Control Plan]
Dorm escape attempts 5 times, practice room escape attempts 13 times, company break-room occupation incident 1 time, dorm internet additional installation attempt 1 time.
In just one month, Lee Sion had built up a long list of offenses, and she was a major surveillance target for the company.
A time bomb—you looked away even for a moment, and you never knew when or where she’d cause an incident.
Even now, she was trying to charm Jiu into letting her out of the waiting room, breaking the instruction to stay put until lunchtime passed and until it was time to go greet seniors.
'I can’t fall for it!'
Normally, this big one was Kim Yunsik’s responsibility, but while he was gone for a moment, it was on her to block the great evil known as Lee Sion.
That was why Jiu was using every nerve in her body to keep Lee Sion sealed.
After several attempts at persuasion, Lee Sion finally went quiet, and Jiu let out a relieved sigh.
But only for a moment.
"Jiu, then what about the bathroom?"
"The bathroom?"
"Yeah. I need to go right now."
Jiu hesitated.
It definitely felt like a trick, but ignoring it could trample the artist’s human rights, which made it a serious issue.
"While I take Lee Sion to the bathroom, Ryujin, make sure the others don’t do anything weird."
"Yes."
In the end, Jiu had no choice but to release Lee Sion from her seal.
Of course, Jiu wasn’t stupid enough to make the insane call of sending Lee Sion to the bathroom alone.
"Doesn’t this feel like going to the bathroom with your friends during break time?"
"You’re just going, and coming right back out, okay?"
"Come on. Jiu, you don’t trust me way too much!"
Sticking right beside Lee Sion as if escorting a prisoner on parole, Jiu headed to the bathroom with her, and she felt an inexplicable anxiety.
'Lee Sion wouldn’t be this excited just because she said she needed the bathroom.'
Jiu suspected she was plotting something, but it was an ambiguous situation with no evidence.
Still, as she watched Lee Sion quietly follow her guidance toward the bathroom, Jiu started to wonder if maybe Lee Sion really did just need to go.
Then—
"Hello! I’m Lee Sion from the rookie girl group Iam, and we debuted today!"
Hearing Lee Sion greet a group coming down the hallway, Jiu bowed too on reflex without even checking who it was.
"Ah! You’re from Iam? Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Jeonghwa, the manager in charge of LYNX from TSP. And this is LYNX member Lee Jia. Jia, you have to say hello too."
"...Hello. I’m Lee Jia from LYNX."
Jiu knew who they were even before the introductions.
'That’s LYNX’ youngest.'
TSP’s rookie girl group LYNX, currently rising as Iam’s biggest rival.
[Second half of the year’s hottest rookie girl group showdown! Traditional powerhouse TSP versus newcomer KJ in a head-to-head match!]
It wasn’t just KJ thinking that. The public and the media had set up the two groups as rivals too.
So as Iam’s manager, Jiu couldn’t not research the competitor LYNX.
Jiu already knew the members’ faces and names in detail.
"Ah, did you come because you need the bathroom too?"
"Yes."
"I still don’t really know my ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ way around the station yet, so I came to bring Jia like this. Then it’ll work out if Jia and Sion go together."
Unlike Jiu, who was tense, LYNX’ manager Kim Jeonghwa looked very relaxed.
While Jiu was floundering at Jeonghwa’s suggestion that they send the members in and chat briefly—
"You two talk, Jiu. I’ll go with her."
As if easing Jiu’s worry, Sion readily slipped into the bathroom with LYNX member Lee Jia.
'Still... Lee Sion is dependable when it counts.'
She caused the most incidents, but when it really mattered, Lee Sion showed the most adult response out of the members, and Jiu felt reassured deep down.
"But wasn’t Iam’s manager Yunsik?"
"You know Senior Kim Yunsik?"
"Of course. This industry is insanely small, so managers all know each other."
"Ah! Is that so? I’m still pretty new, so..."
Once the members went to the bathroom, Jiu got pulled into a conversation before she knew it as Kim Jeonghwa spoke to her in a friendly way.
***
"Ah! So you’re a LYNX member? Seriously beautiful. You look exactly like a doll!"
Jia glanced sideways at Lee Sion, who was making a huge fuss right next to her.
'That bitch!'
Jia knew Lee Sion very well.
Because Jia was a devoted viewer of Idol Ground 100, the survival program where Lee Sion took first place.
Of course, Jia didn’t watch Idol Ground 100 because of Lee Sion.
'If it weren’t for you, Ayeon would’ve come to LYNX.'
Ryu Ayeon.
Among TSP trainees, she was a legendary figure.
Her debut was practically guaranteed, to the point she’d even appeared in a senior boy group’s music video, and among trainees, she was basically an idol.
Sure, because of her particular individualistic personality, the older trainees didn’t like her.
But—
'That’s what makes Ayeon cool.'
To younger trainees like Jia, even that side looked awesome.
From looks to skill, she was outstanding, so people who’d just become TSP trainees all came down with “Ryu Ayeon disease.”
"Jia, are you okay? Why do you have such a weird expression today?"
Trainees who tried to imitate Ryu Ayeon because she looked so cool ended up creating their own personal dark history—there wasn’t just one or two.
And one of Jia’s goals was debuting in the same group as Ryu Ayeon.
But—
"Ayeon joining LYNX is off the table. Instead, we’re adding two more trainees and debuting as nine."
That dream didn’t come true.
'Why did Ayeon choose those giggling people instead of us...?'
When she heard Ryu Ayeon might join, Jia had gotten so excited.
But then, hearing that Ryu Ayeon personally decided not to join, Jia couldn’t believe it.
And whenever Ryu Ayeon was with Lee Sion—the one acting friendly next to Jia right now—Ryu Ayeon didn’t look sharp like before.
Ryu Ayeon showed a side Jia had never seen in her life, and Jia hated that.
"Hmph."
Was that why?
Without realizing it, Jia was reacting sharply to Lee Sion.
"Um... did I do something wrong, Jia?"
"What do you mean, Jia. We debuted only a week apart."
Maybe because Jia felt like Ryu Ayeon had been stolen, Lee Jia’s words came out crooked in a way they normally wouldn’t.
"Ah, so you’re not my senior."
"Don’t act friendly with me..."
Smack!
Jia couldn’t keep talking.
Lee Sion’s palm suddenly flew fast, brushed past Jia’s head, and slammed into the wall.
"How old is our Ms. Jia? You look younger than me."
"W-what is this all of a sudden..."
"Answer."
Jia tried to protest in shock, but Lee Sion’s expression had turned 180 degrees from when she’d been smiling and talking earlier, and Jia had no choice but to answer.
"Seventeen..."
Crack.
In an instant, Lee Sion’s expression changed completely.
At first, she was smiling.
Then, midway, she went blank.
And now, after hearing Jia’s answer—
"Today, let’s learn about the proper order between elders and juniors for a bit, kid."
