“Do-hee, let’s eat soon. They have eel rice bowl today. You like that, right?”
“Eh… Really?”
Even Kim Na-eun Unni, who usually smiles no matter what, has gone into the vocal room and hasn’t come out.
Chiyo must not be into this either, as she skipped off to the café on the 5th floor with Woo-ah.
They say you can’t stop a nuke with another nuke.
It would be better if Chiyo were here.
‘This is when we should at least hang out a bit…’
“Or do you want to order something?”
“Really, really?”
It’s been almost an hour, I think.
After finishing school, Do-hee has taken my side and is practically glued to me, following me into my vocal room.
“Yup, really.”
Do-hee opens her eyes wide and covers her mouth with her hand.
“Really…? It’s surprising that there’s a student who never got a single question wrong from elementary to high school. And there’s an idol who’s visually a genius? Heeek…!?”
“Why is it only me you’re fixated on!?”
I just asked if her exam scores were good once.
Why does she keep doing this?
“Eh…? Is there really such a person~↗?”
“What did I do so wrong!?”
Suddenly, Do-hee puts her finger up to her lips and tilts her head slightly.
“Eh…? You don’t know~??”
“Is it because I was joking while you were studying? I won’t joke next time when you study…!”
That innocent look with her clueless tone is infuriating.
“Ugh… Fine. I’m sorry for stealing your bread the other day! I can just buy it again!”
Guess that was the right answer.
Do-hee’s expression softens, and she looks at me as usual.
“Yeah. So, now let’s eat…”
“What the heck.”
No, she was being serious.
“Was that you, Unni?”
Seo-yoon squints her eyes tightly.
*
When I wake up in the morning, I press the button to draw the automatic curtains.
When the bright sunlight comes in, it helps me get up, even if I don’t wake up immediately.
Then I briefly check my phone.
Dol Ahyee @dol_Ahyee
“Did our Laihee get first place in the entire school again? If you study this well, I can’t tease you for being the youngest.”
“Damn Laihee Unni…”
Dol Ahyee @dol_Ahyee
“What the hell, should I add that I’m 10 years older?”
Docacola @docacola
(photo) Suddenly, this silly face seems to have a lot of backstory… They act dumb in front of others, but when alone, they feel calm and pitiful, creating a tragic genius vibe ㅠㅠ
“Hah… So do they finally recognize my loneliness? A genius… is lonely.”
Dol Ahyee @dol_Ahyee
(photo) For real, even just watching Seven’s farewell concert, the way they look at Seo-yoon suddenly feels grown-up… Turns out, Laihee Unni, who’s first in the whole school and our student council president, is just a piano genius playing with her sister…
“Yeah. Finally, the world acknowledges me… even that I entertain Kim Seo-yoon.”
Seo-yoon Hae @jonna_seoyoon
“I can hear Seo-yoon’s voice crying out in frustration from here…”
Seo-yoon Hae @jonna_seoyoon
(photo) The Seven sisters who entertain each other…
Dol Ahyee @dol_Ahyee
(photo) But seeing her bragging all day in the bubble after getting 100 in French, she’s just a bit of an idiot.
Petit Babu Do-hee
“…There won’t be a bubble for today because of this.”
With that, I rub my eyes while goofing around, and my mind gets cleared up, ready to go out to the living room.
I sit on the yoga mat laid out on the floor, stretch my legs, lay my back flat on the ground, and do some simple stretches.
Stretching with some simple movements.
“Ugh…”
I need to maintain this flexibility regularly.
You never know when you might get hurt dancing.
I have to be careful with my neck and back too.
Squeak…
As I was loosening up, the unnis started coming out one by one.
Today’s schedule brought Seo-yoon Unni out first.
Usually, Na-eun Unni is up early.
“Good morning…”
Seo-yoon Unni waved at me with her disheveled face.
Her hair was all over the place, and her cheeks were puffy.
Her eyes were swollen, looking like they’d borrowed a face from a ‘-.-‘ emoticon.
Did she munch on late-night snacks without us knowing?
“Who are you?”
Seo-yoon Unni rubbed her eyes, looking rather dazed.
“Don’t do this so early… I’m really tired…”
“Who the heck are you! Where’s our cute and charming Seo-yoon Unni gone!”
Hearing that, Seo-yoon Unni broke into a silly grin.
“Hehe, I admit I’m cute…”
Guess that’s a compliment.
While Seo-yoon Unni went to the bathroom for her morning shower, I finished my stretching.
“Do-hee! Towels, please!”
“Dry your hair~”
The bathroom door opened just a crack as Seo-yoon Unni reached out to slap the floor.
Slap, slap
“Hurry up…”
Sigh.
It seems like I’m always replenishing towels, but villains using two towels at once makes them disappear quickly.
As I went out to the balcony to grab some towels, Na-eun Unni was rummaging through the kitchen fridge.
“Oh? Do-hee, you’re already awake?”
“Yep.”
Na-eun Unni smiled gently while opening the fruit compartment.
“Aren’t you going to school today?”
“I’m on break…?”
“…Right?”
It was filled with various fruits.
“Do-hee, do you want an apple?”
“No, I want Chex Choco.”
“I’m collecting it!”
Oh, right.
“Is Seo-yoon awake too?”
“Yeah. She has a variety show schedule this morning.”
I dropped the towels in front of the bathroom.
“Put it in front~”
The bathroom gap opened.
Giving a thumbs-up, she took the towel in.
Sitting in the kitchen, eating cereal with milk, Na-eun Unni handed me a sliced peach.
“Who brought this?”
“I did. It was on sale at the mart yesterday.”
“It’s delicious. Good choice.”
As we chatted casually over breakfast, a voice came from behind me.
“I want a peach too…”
A villain appeared.
“I am the peach…”
Towel villains, here we go.
“Come on, let’s use just one towel each. Or at least put them back after using.”
Seo-yoon Unni was shaking off water.
“Yeah, yeah, everyone sit down.”
Still, mornings were quite calm for everyone.
*
Director Jung So-hyun of the Debonaire was pondering how to handle the distance with the public.
Initially, she was determined to stick with a mystique concept.
The essence of Debonaire itself was built on mystique.
One successful example of mystique marketing comes from ZY, one of the big four entertainment agencies.
ZY focused on the members’ stage presence rather than showing their practice processes when producing their content.
Even when showing members eating, sleeping, and playing, they emphasized a standardized celebrity image set up in a scripted content rather than in their dorms.
Most importantly, the text marketing from articles and magazines was crucial.
Street marketing.
Such viral posts have been officially quoted on the agency’s account, building an image of ‘they ripped it, as expected of ZY.’
This method is simple but has been effective so far.
However, the problem is that reporters are already writing articles about Do-hee, even without using viral marketing.
[Meanwhile, netizens who heard Do-hee’s study tips…]
[And the girl group idol who ranked first in the school…]
The public was exhausted to the point of feeling it was all viral.
In fact, I suspect that other companies are instigating this.
But the truth is, it’s true.
Even good news can get boring if you hear it repeatedly.
So rather than working hard, a bias of ‘she’s a natural genius’ is being reinforced.
Such an image tends to induce a sense of isolation.
‘Do-hee isn’t an actress.’
In the entertainment industry.
Especially for idols, building a connection with fans through star power and image is key, and it requires showing the real side of the members to approach fans with ‘please support our member.’
Therefore, sticking to a mystique as initially drafted would be a bad move for Do-hee.
It’s better to get a little messy.
To worry about image consumption is unnecessary because Do-hee’s character is unique.
So I’m sorry for Do-hee…
But I think she’s going to be a bit busy from now on.
‘First, let’s handle this. Later, maybe send her to some physical entertainment shows…’
*
At a restaurant with a private room.
Even before entering the place.
“Do… Do-hee!”
At the entrance, Sara Unni ran over and jumped into my arms.
“Oh wow.”
Fortunately, I managed to catch her because Sara Unni is light.
If it had been Woo-ah Unni, I would’ve fallen over.
Now that I think about it, Sara Unni seems to have gotten lighter.
It seems like she lost some weight.
“Unni, did you lose weight?”
“Yeah… a little…”
“Is it because you’ve been worried?”
“Uh-huh…”
“Well, a re-debut is tough. It’s natural to feel anxious about it.”
“Mm… yeah.”
“If you were with me, it would definitely go well, right?”
“Yeah!”
Then, Seo-yoon Unni, who got out of the car, pouted her lips.
“Hey, Eun-sara. What about me?”
“Oh, it’s Seo-yoon…!?”
“What’s with the reaction, Eun-sara?”
“Oh, it’s Seo-yoon! Hello!”
“Sigh…”
I often meet with the members of Seven as a group.
And today, I was meeting members of JS’s debut group.
Unlike Ha-rang and Chae-rin Unni, our two teams were scheduled for re-debut within six months, so I made separate plans because we might not have much time to meet in the future.
“Oh, you made it?”
“Seo-yoon Unni! …It’s Do-hee.”
As I entered the store, the two were already sitting there.
I gently let go of Sara Unni who was in my arms for a moment.
“…Hmph.”
I approached Ye-eun Unni.
“Why, why…!”
“Are you not happy to see me?”
“It’s Do-hee…!! Oh…! I’m so happy to see you…!”
“Right.”
“You’re… what a bully…”
*
Even when feeling down.
“These days, Ye-eun Unni is doing well, right?”
“Yeah, she’s been doing great hosting Melody Bank.”
So, as I praised and encouraged her,
“Hehe, right? I’m doing well…? I worked hard…!?”
“Ye-eun Unni, with a grin stretching from ear to ear, said, ‘So, the music show MC is the trend of all trends~’
‘Right! I’m totally the trend…!’
It’s always easy to understand.
‘But Do-hee is going to start as an SBC music show MC in three weeks.’
Honestly, I didn’t want to, but…
Even if I wanted to hand it over to Seo-yoon Unni, she’s already out there doing variety shows.
I guess I have to work too…
‘…What?’
She quickly became sulky again.
As expected, Ye-eun Unni sees me as a rival.
‘Oh, she must not know that I made her a person.’
I exaggeratedly teased her.
‘Ha~ The world just won’t leave me alone. Seriously. Cartier is begging me to be their ambassador…’
Ye-eun Unni’s face turned even gloomier.
‘Begging? That wasn’t it.’
‘Ah, Seo-yoon, have some awareness.’
Meanwhile, Sara Unni just kept giggling as if she found something amusing.
‘So, if we go on the SBC music show, we can see you…!?’
‘Well, that’s true?’
‘Huh…! We have to debut quickly…!’
Can’t we just meet separately in private?
Is she stupid?
‘So, what’s it like working at the company, Hana Unni?’
‘Big companies are big for a reason. The cafeteria in our company is really delicious. I’m so moved—.’
I bit the bait.
’23-year-old Hana Kwon, who swore eternal loyalty to the CEO of Pudding Entertainment, is already referring to us as “we” for JS Entertainment.’
Seo-yoon Unni, who caught onto my talk right away, gave a thumbs down with both hands.
‘Wow, bat-like person, wow.’
‘Wait, suddenly?’
‘Wow.’
‘I mentioned it before, but our CEO actually liked having us go first. I still keep in contact, what the…’
‘Newsflash. 23-year-old Hana Kwon has pledged eternal friendship with the members of Seven. In the future, the only people she will refer to as “we” will be Seven.’
‘Wow, bat-like person, wow.’
‘Wow, look at them? Even though they are not in the same group anymore, it doesn’t matter, right?’
Ye-eun Unni’s expression stiffened.
‘…R-Right! Our Hana Unni isn’t a bat…! We’re both “we!”‘
Does she stress herself out when Hana Unni gets stressed? Hehe.
Sara Unni, seemingly flustered, turned pale and changed the subject.
‘D-D-Do-hee, what’s your group name…?’
‘I won’t tell you. You tell me first, Unni, and then I’ll think about it.’
‘We won’t tell you either.’
‘We? As the leader of Seven, that’s us, wow.’
‘Wow, Hana Kwon was bad.’
Hana Unni shook her head, as if tired of it all.
‘Hah, do they never change?’
I’m satisfied.
Soon enough, Sara Unni and Ye-eun Unni will start crying during practice.
Sorry to the other friends who are debuting with us, but it’s not malicious.
‘Ah, but if I give you a spoiler, there’s a strange person in our team.’
‘Right, really strange.’
‘You know that.’
Hana Unni, with a tired expression, looked at us.
‘Why are you looking at us?’
‘We’re not looking at you; we’re looking at Do-hee.’
‘What do you mean? It’s you Unni who’s strange.’
‘Wow, that’s really ridiculous. Did you not see that post on Twitter? Who looked more foolish between the two of you? You clearly won overwhelmingly.’
‘What are you talking about? That was made by Unni’s individual fans, okay?’
‘Wow, fabricating it. Even your fans admit that!’
‘What are they admitting? They even admit that I’m playing with Unni today.’
‘Huh? Wow, look at her?’
‘Wow… they really are consistent.'”
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