Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: What’s a Dazzling Thigh Anyway?
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It was the first time since debut that Ji-woo was getting flak for her weight.
Starting with the Shorts I'd seen yesterday, various YouTube channels had uploaded before-and-after videos of Ji-woo from before she gained weight. Now, even the entertainment reporters were starting to run stories.
📰 Breaking News
- LUNIQUE's Park Ji-woo: "Image Makeover?"... Overflowing with Healthy Charm
- LUNIQUE Adds a Spoonful of 'Sexiness' to Innocence... Park Ji-woo Unleashes Her Appeal
- LUNIQUE's 'No More Starving' Park Ji-woo Shows Off Her Unexpected Curves
Every article focused on Ji-woo's physical changes.
Claims like the innocent idol turning into a sexy girl group member, or whatever.
It might seem like positive press at a glance, but it was anything but.
'Just look at how the comment sections are blowing up.'
💬 Comments
— asf****
Wanna know her hamstring measurements....
— tpr****
Ji-woo, wanna lick that pussy lol
— Kim****
↳ Reply
Take your sexual harassment elsewhere lol
— tpr****
↳ Reply
Whatever lol
— Cpf****
What kind of idol doesn't manage her body? What was her agency doing while she ballooned up lol
— Lee****
↳ Reply
Lmao???? How is that ballooning? You ignoring how seriously bony other girl idols are lol?
— Cpf****
↳ Reply
Why should I care lol? That's on them lol
— sac****
For real lol
— Lee****
Idiots
Whether it was news comments or Shorts comments.
Everywhere I looked, the coliseum was wide open.
My situation wasn't any different.
3 a.m.
As I was getting ready to head to the LUNIQUE dorm for their schedule, Department Head Choi Hyeong-gyu called to chew me out.
- Sung-woo. You saw the news about Ji-woo, right?
"Yes, I did."
- Take good care of Ji-woo's mental state. Don't let her touch her phone. ...No, just confiscate it outright. Seeing the comments right now will only shatter her more.
"Got it. I was planning to take her phone the moment I got to the dorm anyway."
- Good. Get her to lose the weight fast. If one girl in the team gains, the rest will follow before long. You know that, right?
"Yes. I'll pay extra special attention to Ji-woo."
The department head ended the call after one last warning.
I headed out immediately and grabbed the wheel.
Destination: LUNIQUE dorm.
They had a stage in Ilsan today, so it was time to start prepping.
Waiting at a signal, I thought of Ji-woo. Ji-woo, who had suddenly ballooned several kilos.
Had I ever seen her eat anything in front of me?
She must have eaten something to gain weight, but strangely, I had no memory of her consuming high-calorie foods. Not at the company, not on set.
'That means the only answer is she's eating at the dorm.'
Maybe I should inspect the fridge soon?
About 30 minutes later, I arrived at the dorm.
As I punched in the code and stepped inside, the dark interior greeted me.
But something felt off.
"......?"
Oddly, light was leaking from the kitchen direction.
Someone up? But the sounds were so cautious, it didn't seem like it.
Sensing something strange, I crept toward the kitchen.
There, the open fridge came into view, and against its light, I spotted a woman's silhouette.
The silhouette—plump chest and thigh lines in all the right places—stood blankly, munching on something.
Every time her chubby arm lifted food to her mouth, her breasts jiggled, and she kept mechanically spooning it like she was entranced.
......So who the hell is that?
None of our girls have a body like that, thick and curvy.
If I had to pick the closest, hmm.
'Chae-rin?'
But Chae-rin has way wider hips. No contest.
The sleek silhouette was thrilling to see, but wary it might be an intruder, I flipped the kitchen light switch.
-Click.
"Who's there?"
"......!"
The kitchen lit up bright in an instant, revealing the silhouette's identity.
"M-M-Manager oppa?"
"Ji-woo. What are you eating right now?"
Ji-woo jumped once at the sudden brightness, then again seeing me at the entrance.
Regardless, my eyes went straight to the brown jar in her hand.
Thicc sis...... No, so that's what she'd been shoveling down.
'Isn't that fucking Nutella?'
Nutella. You know, the number one culprit for diabetes if you don't have health insurance?
The kind so clogged-artery delicious-looking I'd never even tasted it myself.
And Ji-woo was scooping it straight with a spoon?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
'Ah.'
Peace settled in my heart.
'I was worrying for nothing.'
Seeing with my own eyes that Ji-woo wasn't about to go hardcore dieting after all eased my mind.
A happy smile crept onto my lips.
To Ji-woo, it must've looked like an angry grin, because she timidly tried to sneak the Nutella and spoon into the sink.
I spoke up just before.
"Ji-woo. Didn't you say you could handle losing it yourself?"
"...I was feeling dizzy from low blood sugar, so I ate this."
"Nutella?"
"......"
Ji-woo blinked at my point, then nodded with a straight face.
If I hadn't witnessed her devouring it or seen the Nutella smeared on her lips, I might've actually bought the low blood sugar excuse. Her acting was that good.
'Master actress.'
"Where'd you even get this?"
The cleaning lady keeps watch. How the hell did she find it?
"......Can't say."
That was when I shot her a sharp glare.
"I just heard Manager-nim's voice..."
"When did Sung-woo even get here?"
Ha-neul and Cookie were up, mumbling from outside the kitchen.
Ji-woo startled like a bolt from the blue.
She hurriedly screwed the Nutella lid shut and chucked it into the lower sink cabinet.
So that's where it was?
Basically telling me where she hides it from the others.
Oblivious to her slip-up, Ji-woo rinsed her jam-smeared mouth and spoon under the tap.
The whole process took mere seconds.
She wiped her wet hands on her pajamas and made a small request.
"Keep it secret from the others, please."
"Why?"
"I don't want to disappoint them."
Says the one scarfing Nutella at this hour?
Ye-rin was like that, and now Ji-woo too. Their words and actions just didn't match on a whole other level.
"Please? Pretty please."
As I stood silent, Ji-woo pleaded with the most desperate eyes.
But to me, her expression took a backseat to the dark circles under her eyes.
She must've stayed up egosurfing, reading the comments about her, and drowned the stress in a Nutella mukbang...
That still didn't add up.
Wasn't Ji-woo the type who always put LUNIQUE first and obsessed over self-management? Why the binge eating all of a sudden?
'Not that I'm complaining. Opportunity knocks.'
Just then, the living room light flicked on. Footsteps approached.
"Manager oppa......"
Ji-woo's face grew even more pitiful.
"...Fine, for now."
"Really? Thanks, oppa."
I nodded, and her face lit up instantly. Her plump cheeks bunched cutely.
But when I held out my hand, she tilted her head.
"What's up?"
"In exchange, one condition."
"Condition...?"
I nodded toward her smartphone on the sink.
"No phone for a while. You can't pull all-nighters like this."
In other words, this was a deal to keep her Nutella binge secret.
"......Okay."
Ji-woo smartly handed over the phone. At the same time, the others arrived in the kitchen.
Cookie and Ha-neul shuffled in, rubbing sleepy eyes.
"Huh?"
"Ji-woo unnie. What're you doing up?"
"Yeah. I heard Manager oppa come in."
She's a pro at lying.
Since we'd already agreed with the phone confiscation, I didn't correct her.
Around then, Ye-rin and Chae-rin woke up too. Ye-rin spotted me first thing and gave me a dirty look.
As I've said before, keep messing with me and it's your loss, not mine.
"We gotta head out early for the Ilsan schedule today, so wash up and get ready. Wake the rest too."
"Yes!"
"Yesss."
Chae-rin answered loudest, while Ye-rin ignored me half-deaf and went to wash up.
"Got it."
Ji-woo replied casually, like nothing happened. Her nonchalance only piqued my curiosity more.
How the hell did her weight management go off the rails?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Afternoon, Ilsan.
The LUNIQUE girls were watching the stage on the monitor. Their turn was later, so they had some downtime.
As they watched, my eyes were on Ji-woo.
Once I clocked her weight gain, her clothes fit totally different.
Before, her slim frame made any outfit look sharp.
Now, even small movements hiked up her top, peeking lower belly pudge or side fat.
Her thighs were thicker too—wrap around those, and I'd pass out dreaming happy dreams.
'Jackpot.'
I thought I liked slender types.
Glamorous Ji-woo ain't bad either!
'Still, girl group life means she needs to manage it.'
⚔ STATUS ⚔
⚡ Controllable Target:Shin Ye-rin
The reason I'd hinted at helping Ji-woo was this status window.
But the slot was still just one.
'How do I increase these?'
No matter how hard I tried, no clues. It even spawned new questions.
What were the criteria for adding slots that Shin Ye-rin became the first one, etc.
'Come to think of it, I don't know shit.'
Somehow I'd been using it thriftily without knowing jack.
"LUNIQUE! Please standby for stage!"
Lost in thought, their turn was almost up.
"Do great out there."
I cheered, and they responded one by one.
Cookie first.
"Sung-woo! Guard our waiting room well!"
Then Ha-neul and Chae-rin.
"I want that smoothie."
"Banana shake for me."
Ji-woo's turn.
"You know you can't eat that, right?"
'Says the Nutella fiend.'
Ye-rin, predictably, ignored and breezed past.
I watched their stage from backstage.
Stage lights on, fans' cheers pierced my ears.
-♬♪
I watched LUNIQUE quietly, then KakaoTalk pinged. I checked my phone.
[Kang Min-jae: Hyung. Girls on stage rn? Article just dropped.]
[Kang Min-jae: (link)]
Article?
I tapped Min-jae's link, and an entertainment article filled the screen.
📰 Breaking News
[Life&] Ilsan KINTEX, LUNIQUE Stage… ‘Park Ji-woo’s’ Dazzling Thighs
(Photo)
Girl group LUNIQUE’s Park Ji-woo is performing at Ilsan KINTEX right now.
Aggro-bait title, short content, fresh photo attached.
In the pic, stage lights gleamed off Ji-woo's firm thighs, making her look several times glammier than in the waiting room.
'Still, come on. What’s a dazzling thigh on a girl anyway?'
......Nailed the title.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After the stage.
The Carnival carrying LUNIQUE sped down the road.
Members dozed off sipping iced Americanos inside, but Ji-woo's eyes darted busily.
She glanced at the others' arms and legs.
Then looked down at her own hands and feet.
"Hmm......"
'I've put on a bit.'
Ji-woo furrowed her brow slightly.