Rumors

Rumors.

SNS.

Other people's lavish lives have a way of breeding envy.

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Well. Of course they would.

None of it looked like money a normal person could casually throw around.

Reasonable suspicion. It wasn't strange for people to feel that way. And sometimes, it was even true.

The pretentious clowns of SNS would do anything to keep the flex alive. And flexing, of course, costs money.

Sponsor.

It meant maintaining a personal relationship with a pretty woman in exchange for financial support. It thrived around SNS. Because it was women's business, women understood it better than anyone.

A staple topic on female-dominated communities. It was also a weapon for attacking people they disliked. Raise the suspicion first, ask questions later. They tore people down behind their backs and called it stress relief.

Suhyeon had been a target for a long time. Her flashy style ran completely against the tastes of those communities. Lately, it had only gotten worse. As hit pieces kept going up one after another—

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People who genuinely believed it started to appear. They spread the posts across communities and tried to wage a war of public opinion.

It wasn't entirely someone else's problem, either.

Dream Girls. Even though the show had ended, it had been a nationwide hit. Interest still lingered. What the contestants were up to now was what fans wanted to know most.

After the show ended, Suhyeon had only grown more popular. Unlike the other contestants who'd vanished without a trace.

Because her SNS activity was so lively. Anyone could peek into her daily life whenever they wanted. That wasn't always a good thing.

Things no one would have thought twice about under normal circumstances.

Once it became a topic, people started wondering. More and more began to harbor doubts. The controversy grew on its own. And the fire spread to her SNS as well.

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Exactly as the female communities intended. The issue reached the general public.

Suspicion. If it never arose, fine — but once it did, it couldn't simply be brushed aside. It would flare up again and again. Until it was completely explained away.

No — even an explanation wouldn't matter. If people refused to believe it, it was the same as never having explained at all. That was how female communities buried celebrities. They thought it would work this time too.

Until one photo went up.

Sponsoring. It was a real thing that actually happened.

There are people who do that kind of stuff.

Paying for sex got old. There was also the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fundamental limitation of dealing with prostitutes. The desire to sleep with ordinary women. That demand had found its answer.

Instagram was a shopping mall for picking out women. Girls lining up to get fucked. Because it was easy money. Because they could avoid the label of prostitute. Because it ended cleanly as a private arrangement. That was why pretty women took sponsors.

Maybe I should sample one for old times' sake.

A market sustained by the law of supply and demand. If you had money, you were the boss. Pocket change like that was more than affordable. He'd been thinking of treating himself a little.

"Oppa, hurry up!"

"Ugh, you're so annoying."

Going forward, that might not be possible anymore. The nagging, bothersome noise. It wasn't Sora's. Suhyeon had quite a temper of her own.

Just look at how she fights with Heon-u.

The blank expression was only on the surface. She was the type who couldn't stand hearing criticism from other people.

"Hello. I'm an oppa who knows Suhyeon."

An explanation had become necessary. And he'd agreed to help with it. Via Instagram Live, no less. To be fair, some of it was his fault.

It's not exactly a place you'd visit often.

Luxury. He'd drilled it into her until it became everyday life. She'd simply been posting her ordinary days. Enough to raise some netizens' suspicions. Even claiming she was a rich kid would have been hard to sell — but.

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You just had to deliver an impact beyond all that. Because fights on the internet—

Whether something is true or false doesn't matter at all.

REEEE! I'm right and you know it! If Bill Gates dug in his heels, there was no answer. Logic and reason never came back into play. You had to make them not even dare to fight.

"Unfortunately, we're not dating — he's just a close oppa. Sometimes we hang out together."

"He's just an oppa I know."

"'Just' kind of hurts, you know."

The fact that it was embarrassing. Making them feel that. Planting PTSD deep in their hearts.

The rest is the lawyers' job.

They'd hush each other up on their own. Since this had started because of him, he could at least do that much.

"I've had a bit of work going on lately. Since I've only got one body and can't handle it alone, I've been leaving it to a dear junior of mine."

The full context. He explained why Suhyeon had been using hotels like her own house. There was no more solid guarantee than this. The explanation itself went smoothly enough — but.

Minor side effects came with the territory.

The issue surrounding Suhyeon.

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One photo and one live stream cleaned it up completely. No further statements needed. You could tell from the SNS comment sections — the atmosphere had flipped a full hundred and eighty degrees.

It was enough of a relief to make anyone clutch their chest. But—

Wh-what the hell.

For Heon-u, it was nothing short of absurd.