Baek Ji-hyuk.
Unless you lived walled off from the media, few people in South Korea didn't know that name.
Baek Ji-hyuk, who started out as the leader of a small-agency boy group that was second-tier at best, steadily built up name recognition through all sorts of dramas and variety shows, armed with his natural star quality and looks.
Then, starting from the moment the first film he was cast to lead became an unprecedented hit, his popularity would skyrocket.
'PLUTO,' the group he belonged to, also got a chance to ride Baek Ji-hyuk's buzz and make its name known to a wider public.
Past activities that had failed to draw attention and been buried just like that gradually began to see the light.
At the end of steady, stair-step growth built on stable skills, they even graced the year-end stage, the so-called dream of every small agency.
The fans who had been cheering for PLUTO rejoiced, saying the idols they supported were finally being rewarded for their efforts.
However,
>DEAR_PLANET @dearplanet
CLOSE.
Thank you for everything.
Their good fortune would come to an end just ahead of their contract renewal period.
>Wolfcat @h0r1z0nS2 🔒
What's that shady trending topic? Why is our kid's name stuck next to something? Assault? What the hell is this
⤷Bada🔒 Wolfcat-nim, go read this article right now... https://...
⤷⤷Wolfcat🔒 Wait, is this real?????
>Guys, did you see the hot post? What is going on, seriously, I'm so thrown
⤷F—ck............
⤷I've heard plenty of school violence and bullying rumors while stanning idols, but I've honestly never heard of anything like this
⤷If it was just the reporter's word I wouldn't know, but the members' testimony... this is depressing
⤷Dunno, I'm keeping it in neutral until JH's statement comes out
⤷⤷You shift into neutral for hearsay, but that's nailed-down evidence
⤷⤷Did you even read it? Drive like that and you'll crash~
⤷⤷Yeah yeah, live like that. From now on if you get beaten up somewhere, don't feel wronged, and stay neutral, since you say we have to hear the attacker's side
>[HOT] '[Exclusive] Baek Ji-hyuk Verbally and Physically Abused Group Members for Years... "A Seven-Year Record"' (1972)
...Due to none other than a 'whistleblower from inside.'
At first there were dissenting opinions that it might just be the usual entertainment-industry tabloid rumor.
Baek Ji-hyuk's solo fans in particular even raged that Baek Ji-hyuk was the one being ostracized and that he should sue the members.
But people who checked the testimony and various materials included in the article soon recognized the seriousness of the incident.
A statement from Baek Ji-hyuk's side did go up the next day, but it had little effect, since it was just a list of excuses with no explanation of the most important parts.
In the end, Baek Ji-hyuk left the team, suspended all activities, and entered a period of self-reflection.
As for what happened to the other PLUTO members after the exposé.......
Well. I don't really know either.
Because not long after, along with the news that their contracts wouldn't be renewed, they all disappeared from the stage.
As if it had never been their place to begin with.
***
I didn't say I didn't want to join this group for nothing.
Become a member of a group that got blown apart by an inside whistleblower? Is there any reason I should stand as a witness in that whistleblowing, too?
But Baek Ji-hyuk, the central figure of the incident, had suddenly vanished somewhere.
And I'd ended up snatching the debut team spot in his place.
The presumed reason... 'because our faces look alike.'
How absurd. Looking alike doesn't mean our abilities are alike, too.
And while I've been beaten before, I've never hit anyone, so it's not exactly pleasant to be mentioned in the same breath as that thug because of this damn face.
Strictly speaking, it's a case of one muck-smeared dog scolding another, though.
Either way, there was no disagreement that it was that Baek Ji-hyuk who had pulled PLUTO's popularity along.
The group's leader and its number-one popular member, with star quality outstanding enough to break through the limits of a small agency.
I had no idea whether PLUTO, starting without such a core member, could stay active through the full seven-year contract. It wouldn't be strange for them to disband after five years of activity at most.
The rapidly rising elevator announced its arrival before I knew it.
"You're going to have a quick meeting with the CEO now, but it's closer to a formality before you officially become a trainee, so relax. With you, Seol-han, she'll probably be satisfied if you just sing the national anthem and say to put you straight in the debut team, you know?"
...Is it okay to pick a debut team like that? Were all the evaluations the trainees went through just decoration?
The moment the elevator opened, Kim Ji-su cheerfully led the way and knocked on the CEO's office door.
When we then opened the door and went in, CEO Seon Yeong-ran, who had been sitting on the left-hand sofa, sprang up and came all the way to the door.
'Friendlier than I thought.'
The CEO's office was an ordinary workspace, with a work desk in the center, a small table, and two sofas facing each other across that table.
Laid out on the water purifier and steel desk against the left wall were all sorts of tea bags, snacks, an electric kettle, and so on. The wall-mounted TV and the orchids placed here and there looked like they were worth a fair bit, but everything else had a homey feel.
Following Kim Ji-su's guidance, I sat on the right-hand sofa. Seon Yeong-ran, bustling back and forth between the steel desk and the water purifier, asked.
"Seol-han, do you like green tea or barley tea? There's coffee too."
"Water is fine for me."
"Water's great! How healthy!"
A moment later, a paper cup of lukewarm water and one of green tea were set down in front of me and Kim Ji-su.
"Haha! Where on earth did you find a guy like this? Team Leader Kim really is capable, I tell you."
Seon Yeong-ran, who had been letting out a hearty laugh, settled into position as if she were about to get into the real purpose of the meeting.
"Seol-han, have you ever been a trainee anywhere else? Or learned singing or dancing?"
"No."
"Then can you tell me why you accepted the casting?"
"I've always had a lot of interest in idols, so I've always had a vague curiosity."
"Oh? Who do you like?"
Seon Yeong-ran was still smiling, but there was weight in her words. The mood said that if I approached this carelessly, I'd be kicked out on the spot.
Hey, Team Leader Kim Ji-su. You told me to relax. You said she'd be satisfied if I just sang the national anthem.
When I glanced to the side for a moment, Kim Ji-su was desperately avoiding my gaze. Look at that irresponsible adult.
Can't be helped. If I think of this as a kind of job interview, it's not like I can't handle it.
"...Colorize sunbaenim. So honestly, I was very surprised when you first made the casting offer. It's a place I know very well."
Seon Yeong-ran's face visibly lit up.
Seon Yeong-ran, who had been with Colorize, the first idol group Solar ever raised, from the planning stage, treasured the members as if they were her own daughters.
It wasn't for nothing that fans called her 'Colorize's mother.'
Who would dislike hearing that you liked a group she cherished that much?
A CEO who steadily pays attention to and cares for her own company's artists. That's a good thing.
However, to me, who knew what would happen in the future, it wasn't an attitude that inspired much trust.
'So a person like this ran PLUTO into the ground like that.'
Doing good things for others is no guarantee that she'll do good things for me too.
Could Seon Yeong-ran really have known nothing about what Baek Ji-hyuk did to the members?
No way. If you're dull enough not to grasp an internal problem of this scale over a long seven years, you should close up shop right now.
She must have known and turned a blind eye. The company would have wanted to keep its contract with Baek Ji-hyuk going for a long time.
Seon Yeong-ran turned her head toward Kim Ji-su.
"Didn't you say you gave him a brief explanation, Team Leader Kim?"
"Yes, CEO. I told him the part about joining the debut team right away if he signs."
"Got it. Then I'll tell him the rest."
Having finished talking, Seon Yeong-ran looked at me again.
"As Team Leader Kim said, if you come in as a trainee, Seol-han, you'll join the debut team we're currently preparing right away."
"May I ask one question?"
"Of course. Go ahead, feel free."
"Is it really okay for someone like me, who hasn't learned singing or dancing, to go straight into the debut team?"
Before blurting out 'I'll work hard at anything,' I should point out what realistically needs pointing out.
If they glossed over it now and later suddenly kicked me out, blaming my lack of skill, I'd be in trouble.
"As long as you're willing to learn, we'll build up your skills. What matters most is your intention."
How confident. What if I'm a hopeless tone-deaf klutz?
"Now that I look, your posture is good too. And from the way you talk, you don't seem like the type to go cause trouble somewhere."
"Right? He's seriously polite and nice, you know? When we met at the street food tent earlier, too, when I said I'd pay, instead of going 'yesss~' he said he'd definitely pay me back!"
Keeping pace with Seon Yeong-ran's praise, Kim Ji-su delivered an impassioned speech. Stop it. Anyone watching would think I told you to do that.
"In exchange, you can't give up halfway."
Seon Yeong-ran's attitude was quite firm. Because of Baek Ji-hyuk's record of running off?
"The debut team is really hard. You have to practice every day from morning to night, and you have to control how much you eat, too. And that's not all. In between practice, you also have to receive all sorts of training you'll need for activities after debut. Restrictions on your private life go without saying."
I know the hardships of idol trainees well. It's something the idols I've interviewed all said with one voice.
When you ask questions for a story, the conversation tends to drift naturally to the past.
When I asked 'what was the hardest part,' in most interviews—from small-agency idols on the verge of flopping to those called first-tier—the thing they named first was 'trainee life.'
Success stories of people who work hard move everyone.
Why would that be? Probably because it's something that hard to pull off with an ordinary mind.
Idols are the same.
Surely I'll be able to debut someday; surely the moment will come when everyone recognizes my efforts.
How could it be easy to throw yourself into practice believing only in that pinhole-sized hope? And a life of being constantly compared and controlled at a young age can hardly be fun.
"So if you think you can't do it, tell me now. We'll cleanly give up too and look for another kid."
Honestly, if I could quit right now, I'd want to quit. Why should I go looking for hardship? My role is writing the articles, not being the subject of them.
But the underdog had no choice.
If it's a balance game of picking one—jump into the fires of hell yourself and roast your body nice and toasty (※some chance of survival) or just die—you go into the fires of hell, even if you end up popcorn.
And.......
Whatever karma I may have racked up in the past, being controlled like this, with my life squeezed and loosened at someone's whim, honestly pisses me off.
Until I properly find out who is trying to manipulate me like this and for what purpose, I have no intention of closing my eyes in peace.
You sure ran your mouth, going on about how figuring that out is my job as a reporter and whatnot.
Fine, let's do this.
I'll find out somehow and make sure to beat the hell out of you with my own hands.
"I'm not sure yet whether you'll like my skills, but I want to do it. If you just give me the chance, I'll work hard to learn."
Hearing my answer, Seon Yeong-ran finally relaxed her expression and smiled.
"Your eyes are sincere. I like it."
Yes, I'm sincere. About catching that sh—tty bastard.
Finally, after singing one song all the way through as a test, I wrapped up the meeting with the CEO.
Let me say this up front: I didn't sing the national anthem.
Seon Yeong-ran's verdict was 'his physical skills are still lacking, but he doesn't have any bad habits, so it looks like he'll be worth raising from here—pass.'
When I came out of the CEO's office with the CEO-certified stamp of approval, the now-familiar internet window appeared on its own.
The article content written in the window began to be erased bit by bit as if someone were pressing backspace, and before long it filled up with new content.
Preparing next feature article.......
...What, that's it?
Aren't you going to hurry up and work? Making other people slave away while you're off goofing around.
No, hold it in. I'm the underdog. An entity with this kind of power, who knows what bizarre stunt it'll pull if things go sideways.
As I was diligently trying to calm my mind, Kim Ji-su took the lead, saying the practice room was in the basement and she'd show me the way.