Chapter 99: 22nd Floor: Checks and Balances
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 99: 22nd Floor: Checks and Balances
As expected, we were the first to receive the Girl Group of the Year award at the Lanet and Apple Chart awards ceremonies.
But there was an unexpected twist...
With the exception of the MAC Broadcasting Station, which we were on bad terms with, we won the grand prize at every single one.
"Huh...? Us?"
What's the point of all the favors I did, then...?
I thought it would be difficult since other girl groups had better records overseas, but it seemed our domestic recognition was high enough to overcome that.
I was bewildered amidst the thunderous applause, while the other members, except for Rain, burst into tears.
"Sob...! Thank you so much for this incredible award... hic! I guess if you never give up and keep working hard, you can seize the opportunity when it comes. In the future... sniff...! We'll become a Serenia that works even harder!"
The year ended with Sua's tearful acceptance speech.
Sua and Rain were now adults, and they had matured a little, not just in appearance but in spirit as well.
And then, the long-awaited concert was finally announced.
[February 22nd. Serenia Announces Halo Sky Dome Concert!!]
[Will Serenia Break Through the Idol Group Ceiling?]
The Halo Sky Dome had a capacity of a whopping 30,000 people.
It might sound small, but it was a venue that even the most high-flying, top-tier idol groups wouldn't dare to attempt.
No matter how large a fandom was, it was rare for them to exceed 20,000, and if the concert didn't sell out, you'd become prey for malicious idol fans, who would mock you for your "empty concert." On top of that, it would be a financial loss for the company, so it was rarely attempted.
The only idols who had succeeded were either truly global groups or those considered legends.
And now, we were throwing our hat into the ring.
But as expected, it wasn't easy from the start.
Having swept the year-end awards, we began to face attacks from the toxic fandoms of groups that had expected to win. And when it comes to toxic idol fandoms... it goes without saying that they're famous for being completely insane.
*
This was the meeting room at Aurora Entertainment.
Thump!!
"How dare they do this... We can't just let this slide!"
The enraged manager shot up, slamming his hand on the conference table.
"Should we just sue every single one of them?" our company's lawyer asked.
It was a meeting attended by me, the manager, the CEO, and several others who knew my secret. In essence, this was where most of Serenia's future direction was decided.
"As for suing... a lot of it is true, so we'd be at a huge disadvantage if we went with defamation by stating facts."
The manager, having calmed down, sat back in his seat.
"Then let's start by tackling the false information first. Which of these are true?"
[Allegations of Lee Do-hee's padded breasts]
[Allegations of Lee Do-hee providing sexual favors]
[Allegations of Im Sua's nepotism]
[Rumors of Lee Rain being an outcast]
[Allegations of Lee Do-hee's womb tattoo]
[Allegations of Hye-ri's father being a criminal]
Half of these are about me?
"Umm... wouldn't it be faster to list what's false? Everything except the rumors about Rain being an outcast is..."
The allegation about my breasts being fake was technically the opposite of the truth, but it was a fabrication nonetheless. Someone had apparently done a detailed analysis of a swimsuit photo and discovered that what they saw wasn't skin but something I was wearing underneath.
As for the sexual favors, on the day I met with the Apple Chart CEO, a nearby car unfortunately got into an accident. When they reviewed the black box footage, I was captured on camera wearing a revealing outfit and heading somewhere strange.
I was wearing sunglasses and a mask, so it was still just an allegation whether it was me or not, but since there weren't many women in Korea with pink hair and tits and an ass as big as mine, I was pretty much identified as the culprit.
But in that case, shouldn't this automatically clear up the padded breast allegations?
It seemed the trolls hadn't even considered that the two claims were contradictory. They were probably just throwing anything at the wall to see what stuck.
The nepotism allegation concerning Im Sua was nothing major.
"Me creating a girl group for my own daughter isn't exactly nepotism, is it?"
I had wondered why he cherished Serenia so much, but it turned out Im Sua was the daughter of Aurora Entertainment's CEO. The manager was the CEO's younger brother, eight years his junior...
So that's why he wasn't fired back when he was incompetent?
Something that had seemed strange was finally cleared up.
As for the womb tattoo, it had faded slightly when I took a tumble during an old variety show appearance. It was so faint that even the editors missed it, but someone had apparently spotted it.
They claimed that by adjusting the brightness and using some kind of AI analysis, they connected the visible parts like a constellation, and it formed what looked like a womb tattoo.
"Do-hee, do you have a womb tattoo?"
"Haa... It's something I got a long time ago. It wasn't my choice; it was forced on me. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."
Right, this was the work of that damned succubus.
"Ah..."
"Oh... you have nothing to be sorry for."
"So that's what happened..."
The rumors about Rain being an outcast were just a misunderstanding due to her quiet personality, and Hye-ri had cut ties with her father long ago after her mother passed away.
"Alright, let's start by suing over the outcast allegations. In the company announcement, we'll just state it's for spreading false information and not specify what we're suing for. That should make them back off a little."
"And... what about the padded breast issue? Should we address it right away?"
"Let's leave it for now. We did deceive people, so we'll decide based on public opinion. Even if we do, a direct announcement would be a bit much. I'll look for a way to reveal it indirectly."
Tsk, and here I thought I could finally take off this suffocating compression bra...
*
January 16th.
Ticket sales for the Halo Sky Dome concert began.
I was in my room at the dorm.
Please, please, please!!!
"Please, please, please!!!"
I was watching the ticketing site with Hye-ri, who was voicing my inner thoughts right beside me.
3... 2... 1!
Ding!
The ticketing site opened.
I could see the empty seats disappearing at a rapid pace.
"Ooh...!!"
10,000 seats were gone in the first ten seconds.
"Whoa!! Are we gonna sell out?!"
"Aaaah! Oh my god!"
Honestly, it was bound to sell out.
Anticipating that many people who don't usually go to concerts would show up for this one, we had priced the tickets about 38% cheaper than usual. Even if it sold out, we'd basically just break even, but the decision was made because the title of 'The Idol Group That Sells Out the Halo Dome' would remain.
But one minute later.
Only another 2,000 seats had been sold.
The momentum had completely died.
"Huh...? N-No!!!"
"It's okay... we still have over a month left..."
"R-Right, let's not watch this. The general public will probably buy tickets slowly after seeing the promotional materials..."
Hye-ri and I slowly closed the laptop.
*
Contrary to our expectation that things would quiet down after the company posted the legal notice, the trolls were actively posting on overseas sites where it was difficult to sue them.
[Hampul Bird]
---
[Title: No matter how you look at it, Lee Do-hee's boobs are fake]
[Content]: Look at the color difference around her armpit in the swimsuit photo.
It becomes even clearer if you increase the contrast.
Also, the other members wear a lot of off-the-shoulder outfits, but Lee Do-hee always wears clothes that cover her chest and shoulders completely. Her concept is sexy, but she's never once shown her back.
The only times she does are in edited videos and photos.
And most importantly, there's no way a Korean woman has breasts like that lol. With a size like that, she'd never be able to dance like she does, and she'd be living with chronic back and neck pain for the rest of her life.
Even if they're real, it's 100% surgery!!
[Comments]:
- Ugh, people like this still exist... (Link) This is a video of Lee Do-hee before her debut, take a look.
└ What the, they're huge? Isn't this proof she got a reduction? lol
└ Kinda sad watching her practice in a coin karaoke booth lol
└ Hater debunked!
- Guys, there's more proof here. (Link) It's a video of Lee Do-hee's audition and interview with another agency. YK Entertainment released it out of pity.
└ What the hell, her boobs are actually massive?
└ Yeah, this proves it. She got a breast reduction lol
└ Ah, so that's why they looked unnatural?
- An idol who gets a breast reduction?
└ She must have failed auditions because of her breast size...
- Sigh, I feel sorry for people like this.
- Wow... the science of 1 post, 0 comments is real.
---
I didn't directly address the controversy about my breasts.
The manager did some lobbying with other agencies to get the interview footage, and someone shared a secretly filmed video of me dancing in a coin karaoke booth back in the day. As a result, the narrative shifted to suspicions of a breast reduction.
However, this only gave more credence to the sexual favor allegations.
---
[Title: So that means the sexual favors part is true, right?]
[Content]: One of the two has to be true, right? But if her big boobs are real, then the person in that black box footage is definitely Lee Do-hee. Who wears a hostess dress at night and wanders around like that?
The timing is weird too.
Originally, Serenia was blocked from all broadcast appearances for some unknown reason. How did the path open up as soon as Lee Do-hee joined as a new member?
And why are they on such bad terms with MAC?
The way I see it, there's definitely something shady going on.
[Comments]
- You're just making shit up.
- Wasn't she just going to meet her boyfriend?
└ Boyfriend vs. sexual favors, both are career-ending...?
- Look at you writing your own little novel.
- Just leave them be. These are the same people who draw lines in their delusions and insist it's a womb tattoo.
- Now that they're really successful, all the haters and trolls are crawling out of the woodwork.
└ It's probably because of the dome concert lol. Serenia is doing what their idols can't.
└ Yeah, right~ Enjoy your empty concert~ It's half empty~
└ It's almost sold out, you idiot lol
└ What ancient history are you looking at?
└ I'm going to the concert just because of you haters.
- Wow... but they even posted a legal notice. Why are people still attacking them so viciously?
└ For idols, the Halo Dome is like the ultimate dream concert. And it's almost sold out, so they must be seething.
└ It's just jealousy.
---
Unfortunately, this was the company's first time dealing with something like this, so they failed to respond quickly, and the issue blew up. But at the same time, it served as automatic promotion for our concert. And because so many trolls were running rampant everywhere, some people started buying concert tickets out of sympathy.
- I bought a concert ticket just because of you fucking trolls lol
- For real, I was planning to watch it comfortably online from my room, but I bought a ticket instead.
- I heard it's over 30% cheaper than other concerts?
- Wow, so is it going to sell out after all?
└ Not yet, but it looks possible.
- If I go to the actual concert, can I see the original choreography for that song?
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
It's almost over. The success condition is 90%, so I've basically achieved it...
Whatever controversies arose, it didn't matter anymore. Once this concert was over, I would say goodbye to this place.
Hoo... I feel kind of restless...
And then, February 21st.
The day before the concert.
I could have skipped everything until the concert, but I decided to participate in the final practice myself. The preparations were tough, but they proceeded in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
On the last night, we all gathered in the living room, laid out our blankets, and slept together. Hye-ri crawled into my blanket, happily hugging my chest as she slept peacefully.
Sua, Rain, Somi, Hye-ri...
And my Serenia.
Tomorrow, it would be time to say goodbye. I had already made the final plans with the manager. All I had to do was enjoy my last performance as an idol and leave.
I told myself not to get invested, but I've gone and done it again...
And so, the final day arrived.