The Rabbit and the Mask
The judges were visibly impressed by the flashy action performance that Seong Jiyeong and I had put on. They started whispering among themselves, suddenly deep in serious discussion. It was either pass or fail—why were they getting so grave about it? Honestly, I couldn’t understand. And to begin with, wasn’t it kind of ridiculous to leave the applicants standing here while they huddled like that? There were still other candidates waiting behind us.
“Better than expected…”
“Maybe we should revise the original plan…”
“But right now the overall director…”
“They already have full authority…”
“Since the change is significant, we should get approval from higher-ups first…”
Two of the judges even hurried out of the room mid-discussion. From the way they were talking, it seemed they needed permission from above. It was absurd, but given the situation, I just kept my mouth shut and waited.
Roughly ten minutes passed with Jiyeong and me standing there awkwardly. One of the judges who had left came rushing back, nodding at the others. I didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it looked like approval had come down from the top.
“The person who came with Seong Jiyeong is also an idol trainee, correct?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
“Would you be interested in appearing together in Shining’s upcoming CF?”
“Me? But…”
It was a completely out-of-left-field offer. I wasn’t even an applicant for this audition. On top of that, I remembered the original Shining CF having no room for an extra character, which made it even more baffling. Were they planning to shoot an entirely different commercial? If so, that was a problem in its own right. Changing the future meant I could no longer guarantee success.
Honestly, it was far more important for the CF to succeed and make Seong Jiyeong’s name known than for me to appear in it. The company had wanted us in this CF to promote the group’s name in the first place. Of course, Jiyeong seemed to have stronger personal motives, but even those required the CF to be a hit. So even if it was a little disappointing, turning it down here was probably the right call.
But as I listened to what came next, it didn’t seem like that was the case.
“Oh, we’re not asking you to become the main character like Seong Jiyeong. It’s more of a supporting role, but it’s surprisingly important.”
“You don’t mean… you want me to play the counterpart to the protagonist?”
“Exactly. The chemistry between your action scenes was so good that we want to add a few more sequences. What do you think? It won’t be a very long appearance.”
“Hmm…”
So they were saying they’d tack on some extra scenes featuring me onto the existing CF? In that case, it probably wouldn’t affect the commercial’s success much. The original version would still air as planned. But that concern only lasted a moment.
The second judge who had stepped out returned as well. And this guy was carrying some weird mask-like thing. It was a bizarre silver mask with two black lines drawn across it.
“This is the mask Na Yeri will wear. You put this on and have an awesome fight with Seong Jiyeong.”
“…Wearing a mask?”
“Yes. Would you try it on first? And then strike a pose like you did earlier…”
The moment I saw the mask, my mood plummeted. These days, just looking at something like that gave me PTSD. Even a rabbit helmet stressed me out—did I really have to wear a mask here too? If it were up to me, I would’ve hurled the ridiculous thing straight at the judges’ faces, but since we were in a formal setting, I held back.
I put on the mask as instructed and struck a suitable pose. The reaction was immediate chaos.
“Oh, this is it. The aura is insane. Her face is so pretty that I wasn’t sure at first, but now it’s obvious.”
“We can really go with the original plan.”
“To think such talent was hiding right under our noses.”
What the hell had these people been eating?
“It looks like we’ll need both Na Yeri and Seong Jiyeong after all. To follow the original concept, both of you are necessary.”
Apparently the original CF had been split into two parts: the first half where the protagonist infiltrates and steals Shining’s new product, and the second half where she defeats the pursuing villain after the theft. But they had judged it impossible to find an unknown applicant skilled enough to perfectly portray the envisioned scene, so they had scrapped the latter half from the plan.
However, after seeing the synergy between me and Seong Jiyeong, they concluded they could proceed with the original idea. They had reported it to their superiors and even received approval.
Once I heard the explanation and looked at the mask again, I finally understood what the Shining people were thinking. That silver background with two black lines was the signature design of the most recent Mirinae model. In other words, they wanted to add a scene where Seong Jiyeong as Shining fought me as Mirinae—and Shining would win spectacularly.
It would probably piss off the Cheonji side, but that was just how advertising worked. Besides, Cheonji had shot several CFs with a similar vibe, so they wouldn’t have much ground to complain.
“Yeri, this seems pretty good.”
I had an immediate rejection response the second I saw that mask, but Seong Jiyeong’s eyes were sparkling brighter than before. She must have realized it symbolized Mirinae and gotten even more motivated. Since she had joined this CF specifically to screw over Mirinae, that reaction wasn’t strange at all.
Still, wearing the mask was… ugh.
“The pay won’t be bad either. Of course, I’m sure that’s not why you’d decide to appear…”
“Pay? Oh, the appearance fee. How much are we talking about…”
“We’re projecting the commercial’s lifespan at about six months. Of course, if the response is good we’ll extend it, but for now that’s the plan. Based on six months, it would be 30 million won. If extended, another 30 million will be added for every six months.”
Whoa. All that for a mere supporting role? Was this the power of the Shining brand? From what I remembered, this particular Shining CF had aired for nearly a full year. That meant at least two cycles, so just shooting one action scene would net me 60 million won.
It seemed Dream had judged that this role wasn’t something just anyone could handle.
“…I’ll do it.”
And honestly, that was too much money to turn down. Mask or no mask, if they were paying that well, I had to take it.
The audition wasn’t even fully over yet, but it already felt like our roles had been confirmed. In fact, right after we left the audition room, Manager Oh and Chief Cha—who had come with us—dragged us into a quiet room and had us sign contracts for both me and Seong Jiyeong.
Mine was only 30 million since it was a supporting role, but the lead, Seong Jiyeong, managed to secure nearly 200 million won in appearance fees. It was honestly an excessive amount for a complete unknown. However, when the audition itself became a hot topic like this, the scale of the pay also served as a promotional tool for Shining. From Dream’s perspective, this wasn’t the time to pinch pennies.
“I never imagined we’d be signing contracts before even debuting. You really are amazing.”
“I think I just got lucky.”
“It’s because you have the skill that luck follows you. The CEO will be very pleased.”
The managers watching from the side seemed even more excited than we were. Well, the company was in a pretty serious situation right now. There had even been a time when Black Dust’s disappearance threatened the company’s very survival. So for a new girl group to land a major deal before even launching was something any employee would celebrate.
I felt pretty good about it too. With this, I figured I could pay off a decent chunk of the debt I owed the company. Based on a one-year run, I’d get 60 million and Jiyeong would get 400 million. That was a huge dent in one go.
The settlement structure in entertainment companies is pretty complicated. Especially for idols, who often start out deep in debt. Our Cha Entertainment was no different. The settlement ratio itself wasn’t bad, but we had to pay back all the training costs one way or another, so we couldn’t expect any real settlement for a while. In my case especially, having been a trainee the longest, my debt was on the heavier side. The earnings from this CF would probably go entirely toward clearing that debt.
On the other hand, Seong Jiyeong had only been a trainee for a short time, so she barely had any debt. After receiving that much money, she’d clear everything and still have a huge amount left—which would then be split equally among all members. That was our group’s settlement principle: even personal activities were divided 1/N.
Absurdly enough, the members themselves had decided on that rule. I had opposed it, but lost 1:4 in a majority vote. The reason I opposed it was for the sake of the members’ mental health. I’d heard that splitting everything 1/N like this often damaged the bond between members.
But looking at the atmosphere, these girls didn’t seem to care about settlement at all.
It was more or less like that, so I had nothing left to say. Well, in the end they were the only ones losing out. I wasn’t particularly interested in personal activities anyway.
“Anyway, a good start is what matters.”
It really was a good start. Of course, the fact that I had to wear that ridiculous mask again was a bit annoying, but mental scars could be cured with financial treatment. If things continued like this, I wouldn’t have anything more to ask for.
…Yeah, right. As if.
That very same day, Seong Jiyeong called a team meeting. It seemed she was in such a cheerful mood after snagging the Shining CF that she wanted to go beat up some villains. Well, we had been lying low lately. Since it was something we couldn’t avoid anyway, I figured I’d just attend the meeting and take up space.
“First of all, I’m sorry for calling you together so suddenly. Especially because this matter overlaps with my personal issues, so I’m being a bit cautious.”
I had thought we’d just be beating up some wanted criminals, but from the very beginning the mood felt off. Had something happened? My previously indifferent heart sharpened a little.
“It’s not directly related to villains. It’s something I want to handle and move on from personally, so I gathered the members. Since this is entirely my personal matter, you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to.”
The introduction was longer than expected. What on earth was this about? Still, hearing it was Seong Jiyeong’s personal business made me more curious.
“Um… so, shall we mess up Seou Industries?”
The story went something like this.
Seong Jiyeong’s father, who had been very interested in technology development, had invested a lot of his own money into the field while he was alive. It wasn’t even through the group—it was from his personal funds, so he must have been quite an unconventional person. Maybe he wanted to build his own weapon that the group didn’t know about.
Anyway, one of the seeds he had sown back then had finally begun to bloom recently. A local research institute that had received investment under the name of Seou Industries started producing modest results.
But now that her father was gone, the rights had naturally transferred to Seou Industries, leaving Jiyeong with nothing to claim. Her father had conducted the investment under his own name from the start—probably because he wanted to keep it hidden from the group.
At this point it might sound like Jiyeong had been wronged, but that wasn’t really the case. Her father had passed away over a decade ago, and after his death, Seou Industries would have continued the investment on their own. A decade was a long time; if they had left it untouched for that long, it would actually feel unreasonable for Jiyeong to suddenly claim her rights now.
“Hmm, this is a bit ambiguous~ Of course I understand your position, but Seou Industries would feel incredibly wronged too.”
“So what exactly do you want to do? If you’re saying you want to reclaim the technology now, I’m against it.”
I agreed. No matter that she was our teammate, going after a company that had been neglected for over a decade was a bit much…
“What are you all talking about? Do you really think I’m doing this over some measly technology?”
But our expectations were beautifully off the mark. Seong Jiyeong had never been interested in the technology from the beginning. The reason she had gathered the members today was for a slightly different motive.