Chapter 47

Today has brought another strength training session.

Even though it’s winter, the inside of the dance practice room was filled with heat.

The practice room was warm due to the heating system, meant to keep a cozy temperature.

While going through strength training, it was impossible to distinguish whether it was winter or midsummer in the practice room.

So, our debut group members always trained in light clothing for personal training, but… in the end, we all collapsed regardless.

As we sat on the floor, our personal trainer, Min-young Unni, yelled out.

“Hey guys, let’s do one more set. Fighting!”

Seo-yoon Unni, looking half-dead, said.

“Unni… didn’t you say that was the last set earlier…?”

“Seeing you talk, I can tell you still have strength left? Alright, let’s go for one last set!”

Seo-yoon Unni rolled her eyes as if to prove she was on the verge of death and pretended to faint, but Min-young Unni didn’t even look her way.

How tough must it be for Na-eun Unni, who usually practices diligently without complaints, to say in a voice that sounded like she was about to cry.

“Teacher… can’t we at least go to the bathroom once?”

“No, you can’t! We’re really finishing this time, so let’s get it over with. Everyone up! Aja aja!”

Ugh…

I had no choice but to get up.

The teacher played a song and shouted.

“Alright, let’s start!”

.

.

.

After the strength training ended, we once again collapsed onto the floor.

Min-young Unni approached me and said.

“Do-hee, why have you been struggling so much lately?”

“I’ve never not struggled…”

“No way. You didn’t put on some weight, did you?”

I could hear the voices of my teammates nearby.

“That’s right… She gained weight…”

“Do-hee… got big…”

Even while dying, they still had the energy to slander me.

The truth is, I have been eating a lot lately.

I’ve increased my exercise too, and it’s a growing period.

But can they really tell?

I lowered my head and looked at my belly.

There wasn’t an ounce of flab.

Sure, when I grabbed my stomach, a little ‘aegyo belly’ was pinched, but that’s really just cute.

“I’m not so sure about that…”

Min-young Unni observed my belly, which was clearly exposed in my crop top, and said.

“What do you mean you’re not sure? Let’s weigh you. Come here.”

I tensed my stomach and said.

“Unni, I really have no flab at all.”

“Right? Our Do-hee has no flab at all, I know very well. Now hurry up and step on the scale.”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

I had no choice but to step on the scale, and the LED displayed my weight.

– 54.1 kg –

“Do-hee.”

Min-young Unni was looking at me with a chilling gaze.

“Your chest has grown.”
” Seriously.

” What do you think I’m going to say? ”

” Teacher, I really have a killer chest. ”

” Oh really? Congratulations~ But you still need to lose some weight, right? Do-hee, let’s start dieting from today. ”

Ah.

Everyone cheered from the back.

Just a moment ago, they were dying, but now they’re acting like they’ve won the lottery.

” Teacher, I’ll seriously manage my diet from now on. ”

Min-young teacher said with a big smile.

” Yeah, yeah. Let’s keep it up even after you diet, okay? ”

” I’ll work out even harder. ”

” Really? You’re already good enough. Do-hee always puts in so much effort, that’s great~ ”

” Please. ”

” Fighting! ”

…Looks like they don’t plan on cutting me any slack.

” So… do I really have to weigh myself every day…? ”

Our debut group members had to check their weight every single day.

Except for me, since I was still in my growth spurt.

They said I could eat as much as I wanted during this period…

I just wanted to eat without worries…

How unfair…

” Of course. ”

” Ah. ”

The ideal weight for idols is their height minus 120.

When shot on camera, they tend to look heavier due to the lens, so they must appear overly skinny in real life to look good on screen.

Anyway, our management set individual target weights for our debut group as height minus 118.

With my height at 167.5 cm, my target weight is 49.5 kg…

Haah…

So I have to lose almost 5 kg.

I should at least make a deal.

” Teacher… then since I’m 169 cm, my target should be 51 kg, right…? ”

” You’re 167.5 cm. ”

Caught.

Min-young teacher sighed.

” Do-hee, what was your original weight? ”

” I was 51 kg. ”

Maybe I should have said 52 kg.

” Sigh, Do-hee is still growing, so we’ll let it slide. Let’s just maintain 51 kg, alright? ”

” Understood… ”

At least that’s a relief.

*

” Ugh, I really don’t want to eat this. ”

It’s been a week since I started living on my diet.

Today, my plate had a banana, a vegetable salad, and chicken breast.

Without even dressing.

If there was some sauce, at least it would taste better.

I mean, no dressing for the debut group? Isn’t that a bit too much?

Seo-yoon Unni, used to it by now, chewed on her chicken breast and said,

” After a week, it’s time to adapt. Just eat it. ”

” Just because it’s been a week doesn’t mean I won’t get sick of it now. ”

Only me and Seo-yoon Unni were over the target weight.

The other members had already reached their target weights during their trainee days and were adjusting their diets freely…
After achieving my target weight, I was free to adjust my diet…

Currently, my diet consists of:

For breakfast, half a sweet potato, two eggs, and some nuts.

For lunch, one banana, 100g of chicken breast, and a veggie salad.

For dinner, 100g of chicken breast, a veggie salad, two eggs, and some nuts.

It was a diet that covered all the nutrients I needed for growth. I’m really grateful to the company for taking care of my growth.

Really.

While I was eating my tasteless lunch, three people who had nothing to do with dieting sat down next to me and in front of me with food.

The smell of their food tickled my nose.

Suddenly, irritation surged within me.

I pushed Manager Chiyo, who was sitting next to me, and said.

“Ah, go eat somewhere else.”

“Hey, Do-hee, this is a food vlog to stimulate our appetite.”

“What are you talking about… just go…”

Unni Woo-ah seemed to feel sorry for me and looked at me with a sad expression.

But Woo-ah Unni is indeed the kindest.

“We can’t let our Do-hee be pitiful… but tteokbokki must be delicious, right?”

“Ah. Come on.”

As for Na-eun Unni, she just ate without a word.

But why is she eating so heartily today?

*

After practice, we returned to our dorm.

These days, once everyone gets back to the dorm, they just flop down everywhere.

I’m dead tired.

Manager So-young said.

“Guys, I know you’re tired, but hurry up and shower, then sleep.”

Unni So-young stayed with us as our rookie development team manager, taking care of us.

Thanks to her, we can’t even secretly eat midnight snacks.

I’m starving to death.

“I’ll be out soon~”

Unni Woo-ah went into the bathroom with her change of clothes.

It was just a day or two of fighting over the shower order.

These days, I’m so tired that I don’t even have the energy to argue, so we’ve been taking turns peacefully.

Today, I’m the last one.

Thankfully, there are two bathrooms.

I heard that groups with more than ten members just go to the bathhouse.

While my sisters were showering, I decided to lie on the sofa and do some ego-searching.

When I searched for Do-hee Lee online, there still wasn’t much about her.

And even if there was, most of it was from women-only communities.

Is it because I searched for Do-hee Lee?

I tried searching for ‘the sweat girl.’

Oh, here we go.

[Recent Transformations in Sweat Advertising Trends]

(Japanese historical sweat advertisement videos)

Japan has historically expressed youthful themes through young actors portraying school and student images, continuing the theme of youth.

(Photos of Korean historical sweat advertisements)

In contrast, Korea often used actors with pure images from the time, making it feel like a star-choosing portal.

(2017 ~ 2020 ads)

But since 2016, they’ve lost their direction…
Losing the castle

(Last year’s Eon Sweat ad photo)

Last year, they ended up using a kid who looked like an idiot.

Killing off pure-hearted girls, going for the youth theme.

(This year’s Eon Sweat ad video)

Once again, they ended up shooting another youth-themed content this year.

└Fact: There’s no pure-hearted girl left, so the advertising agency is smart.

└No wonder I can’t remember any ads these days.

└But the last one looks young, right? She’s still pure! She’s so damn pretty.

└I agree, younger is more appealing.

└Eon Sweat claims it’s the taste of high school girl sweat, I’m heading to buy it right now.

└Wow, who’s that in the last pic? So pretty, haha.

└My bride candidate!

└No comment.

└I wanna lick her armpit, haha.

Damn.

I should have just searched for Do-hee Lee.

I was happier when I didn’t know.

Still, most of the comments were about how pretty she is, so I continued my ego searching.

While doing that, Seo-yoon Unni, who’s next after Woo-ah Unni, has been in there for a while and still hasn’t come out of the bathroom.

Why is she taking so long?

I headed to the bathroom in the master room and knocked on the door.

“Excuse me.”

Seo-yoon Unni’s voice came through the bathroom door.

“What’s the matter?”

“What are you doing that’s taking so long?”

“I’m having a half-body bath.”

“Oh, what half-body bath? Hurry up.”

“You can just use another bathroom. Chiyo and Na-eun Unni have probably finished.”

“No, my toothbrush and makeup are in there.”

“Is that so? I didn’t know. Sorry~”

Sigh…

.
.
.

Once I finished washing up and came out of the bathroom, it was already 1 AM.

In the room, Seo-yoon Unni and Woo-ah Unni were chatting away.

“Aren’t you tired?”

I’m dying of sleepiness.

“You need to come out so we can turn off the lights and sleep.”

“Oh, you usually sleep first. What’s with the wait this time?”

“You were the only one. Just turn off the light already.”

“Okay~”

That’s how another tiring day came to an end.

*

The next day.

The Team Leader called us during practice.

“Hey, everyone, I have something important to tell you, so come up to the meeting room.”

The Team Leader’s expression wasn’t good.

I had a bad feeling.

When we entered the meeting room, Director Lee Jung-hye was there.

“”” Hello~ “””

“Okay everyone, just sit down.”

Once we all sat down, the Director paused for a moment, sighed, and spoke.

“Everyone, I think we need to postpone our debut to the year after next.”

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