Chapter 111
After three weeks of music broadcasts.
This album’s promotions were all wrapped up.
The total album sales exceeded 500,000 copies and we got first place four times.
The song was still competing for the top spot with Burn Ash on the charts.
Of course, we had to give up the music broadcast first place to Burn Ash.
They achieved much better results in album sales than us, so it couldn’t be helped.
I didn’t feel particularly bitter about it.
Neither did the other members.
We were all just grateful for the success we achieved.
—
**PUBBLE**
**Ryu Bo-ra**
Voice Message
**Ryu Bo-ra**
“Hello, Everblud!”
“Did you sleep well? We’re resting since our activities are over today.”
“But we’ll see each other again soon. I’ll come quickly.”
**Ryu Bo-ra**
“I like you a lot.”
Everyone kept sending messages to our PUBBLE fans.
They thanked them for loving us.
We told them we really liked them too.
—
**PUBBLE**
**Jjoong♥**
“Our Everblue!! Did you sleep well?”
“Hing, I’m so sad that we won’t be seeing each other at music shows for a while.”
“But I have good news!!”
**Jjoong♥**
(Selfie picture)
“I can come to PUBBLE more often now (๑˃̶͈̀∇˂̶͈́)و⁾⁾˚*”
“I’ll be your good girl Juhong or your good sister Juhong!”
**Jjoong♥**
“What?! Be your good unnie?!”
“Bro. How old are you? Grandma, stop teasing.”
“Hahahahahahahahahahaha”
“Yes, unnie (•ɞ•)”
—
**PUBBLE**
**LateBuyGold**
“Sad that our activities are ending?”
“I’m really sad too.”
“Thinking about not seeing Everblue already makes me tear up.”
**LateBuyGold**
“Who just asked me to speak with my soul? Come out, lol.”
“I really mean it with all my soul.”
“If it doesn’t seem sincere, it’s because I already gave my soul to Everblue.”
**LateBuyGold**
“Who just booed me? Come out, and I’ll kiss you.”
—
**PUBBLE**
**DebutMom^^**
“What am I doing?”
“I’m preparing meals for the members, haha.”
“Since our activities are over, I’m cooking for them after a long time.”
**DebutMom^^**
“Have breakfast.”
“I want to prepare it for you… How many servings should I make?”
**DebutMom^^**
“Alright, haha. I’ll make two servings. Come eat soon.”
**DebutMom^^**
“You know the password to our house, right?”
—
I felt the same. However, I was determined to win next time.
The best would be not overlapping at all.
For a rookie girl group to achieve this Everblue of success was truly remarkable.
But.
We had to jump into a new competition again.
“Just escaped, and now it’s another survival. What sin did I commit in my past life?!”
Yeon Juhong grumbled, slumping over the dining table.
“At least we only have to do one. Cheong has to do two.”
Seo Baek-young started bringing out food to the table.
When we were busy, a housekeeper helped with the chores and meals, but now that our activities were over, Baek-young wanted to cook for us at least once.
Thanks to that, we were all busy from the morning.
Yeon Juhong and I cleaned.
Seo Baek-young and Ryu Bo-ra made breakfast.
Kim Geum rested with special privileges as a patient.
“Unnie, your OST response is really good.”
Ryu Bo-ra said, bringing out side dishes.
“Yeah, it’s pretty good.”
Indeed.
The OST was pre-released the day before yesterday.
The ranking was decent. 14th place.
The problem was.
[<Let’s release a solo song!>
Reward: 500 points per song]
This didn’t show as completed.
I stared at my phone,
[Baek Nokha: The OST was released, so why isn’t the mission marked as completed?]
[Baek Nokha: Can’t you at least tell me if it succeeded or failed?]
I politely complained to the cotton ball, but the mission window didn’t change.
And that wasn’t the only issue.
Currently, since the total album sales reached 500,000 copies, an additional 120 points should be credited.
Also, since we got first place four times, an additional 200 points should be credited.
Given the smaller missions I had also completed in between.
The total points I should have now amounted to 1,250 points.
This was more than enough to buy the vocal cord shield item.
However, the points displayed on the screen were different.
[Current Points: 380 points]
It stopped there.
[Baek Nokha: Hey, do the accounting.]
[Baek Nokha: You cotton ball worse than an evil agency]
[Baek Nokha: Are you an entertainment company? Not doing the accounting?]
In my past life, during the early days of my debut, I had been so frustrated because I couldn’t get my payments.
And here I was repeating it again.
I had thought that since it was a large company, there wouldn’t be any issues with the accounting, but I hadn’t anticipated not getting the credits here.
It was truly ridiculous.
I even sent messages to the cotton ball in the chat window.
But all I got was,
[Unavailable at the moment, please wait a moment!]
Hey.
This is urgent.
My voice kept sounding raspy.
I could feel that I was on the verge of losing it.
Luckily, I had managed to get through the album promotions, but now I had to join two survival competitions.
Quitting due to vocal cord nodules in the middle of a survival show?
I could live with that in <Dear My Diva>.
It was my personal activity after all.
But <Top of Idol> was different.
It wasn’t just because it would be problematic if the main vocalist was absent from group activities.
It was because Shin Yuhwa was there.
Currently, Shin Yuhwa was popular with the public and had an image of a ‘cheerful and bright young man.’
His skills were decent, his appearance kind, and he had the ‘meeting-the-parents’ kind of face that Koreans loved.
The group <ZetaA> he was part of had a precarious standing.
It was a group solely centered around, by, and for Shin Yuhwa.
Not that they weren’t popular, but they heavily relied on Shin Yuhwa.
If you asked why I was so worried about Shin Yuhwa.
[‘Steel Blue’ rookie girl group involved in dating rumors… Jo Hee-on♥Shin Yuhwa]
[Shin Yuhwa’s side ‘Not true’, Jo Hee-on’s one-sided crush…]
[ZetaA’s Shin Yuhwa, ‘Sorry for worrying fans… but I’m the victim here’]
[Colors denies Jo Hee-on♥Shin Yuhwa dating rumors, no response from Shin Yuhwa’s side]
He was a guy like that.
Jo Hee-on was a member of a newly debuted girl group, and Shin Yuhwa was a popular member of an established boy group.
Naturally, the public sided with Shin Yuhwa.
Had it been just an ordinary dating rumor, they might have endured it somehow.
But Shin Yuhwa made the worst response when the pictures with Jo Hee-on surfaced.
He did a ‘cut-off.’
He said he had never shown any interest in Jo Hee-on, and that she had been following him one-sidedly.
Since paparazzi photos had surfaced, he couldn’t deny having been together, but he had to deny the dating rumors.
So, he made the worst choice.
But.
It didn’t end there.
[HiHiHo Pia confesses feelings amidst Jo Hee-on♥Shin Yuhwa dating rumors… the real girlfriend?]
[HiHiHo Pia claims Jo Hee-on♥Shin Yuhwa is false, ‘I’m the real girlfriend’]
[HiHiHo Pia reveals stress from ZetaA Shin Yuhwa’s stalking, perpetrator is ‘Steel Blue’s Jo Hee-on’]
It turned out he was two-timing.
Ironically, another victim was related to Yoon Cheong.
HiHiHo.
Just hearing the name was laughable, this girl group was the one Yoon Cheong was supposed to join.
But Yoon Cheong couldn’t withstand the pressures and was ejected from the debut team.
While Yoon Cheong’s stage fright played a significant role, the members of this group were also at fault.
“Are you a parasite? Do you want to debut by parasitizing us?”
The members of HiHiHo completely broke down Yoon Cheong, who was already struggling.
It wasn’t that I didn’t understand their feelings, but their method was utterly wrong.
They might have hated Yoon Cheong.
But bullying her out of spite was never justifiable.
Harassment and ostracism until she left couldn’t be justified by any means.
So.
Jo Hee-on ended up being labeled not just a stalker, but someone who stalked Shin Yuhwa while he had another girlfriend.
In reality, she wasn’t stalking at all.
They had just gone on a few dates, but it turned out like that.
Of course, if you asked what a rookie was doing dating, there wasn’t much to say.
It’s not like Jo Hee-on did anything praiseworthy.
But no one could deny Shin Yuhwa was a bad guy in this story.
So, I couldn’t let my guard down.
Fortunately, Jo Hee-on, the victim in the past life, was no longer with Steel Blue.
But there was no guarantee of safety.
Shin Yuhwa might approach other members.
And in my Baek Nokha days, I had read those dating scandal articles.
No matter how you looked at it, it seemed more like Shin Yuhwa was stalking Jo Hee-on rather than the other way around.
There were some reactions pointing this out, but Shin Yuhwa’s public image was so good that it was quickly buried.
Moreover, since Shin Yuhwa preemptively struck, public opinion solidified in his favor.
I had to be cautious.
That guy might stalk our members too.
Even if we rejected him, if he decided to pursue us, it would be like stepping on a landmine.
Suddenly, I felt angry.
Why are there so many villains we have to fend off?
I felt sorry for the Yoon Cheong of my past life.
How did that weak-hearted girl endure in such a situation?
She probably couldn’t even get close to the members.
What kind of mindset did she have to withstand it?
Is she watching me now, feeling a bit comforted?
The more I thought about it, the less I understood.
Normally, I don’t question what needs to be done.
I don’t indulge in unnecessary thoughts either.
However, I couldn’t erase my thoughts about Yoon Cheong.
What kind of determination did she have to entrust me with her dream, even giving up her soul?
When I recalled her heart, I could stand up again.
Despite the constant onslaught of anxiety and anger, thinking about Yoon Cheong’s resolve made me feel like this was nothing.
I could sense how immense her desperation must have been.
The more I followed the traces of her life, the more I felt that urgency.
“Cheong, aren’t you eating?! Unnie cooked bacon and Vienna sausage after a long time.”
“She even made steamed eggs.”
“To think she made kimchi stew too, is Seo Baek-young a deity?”
The members unanimously praised Seo Baek-young.
Yeah.
I don’t know about anything else….
But it’s clear that my heart is finding solace now.
Even if there are many villains, it’s okay.
We’ll just defeat them one by one.
Even if I can’t be a hero, I can be a leader for someone.
So,
[~A small mission sent personally by Yoon Cheong~
Achieve first place in the final ranking of <Top of Idol>
Reward: 1000 points]
Let’s go, everyone.