Chapter 39
What a truly unexpected and rude question.
Did she wait until we were the only ones left?
“Really? How do you think I’ve changed?”
“Ah, don’t misunderstand.”
Jo Hee-on chuckled.
“I mean you’ve changed for the better. I like your current personality more than your old one.”
“…Did you not like my old personality, Hee-on?”
“Kind of? It wasn’t just me who thought that, everyone probably did.”
I knew I had to manage my expression, but I wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
“Honestly, you were a bit timid in the past. You couldn’t even speak properly.”
“…I hadn’t been there long, so I hadn’t fully adapted.”
“Weren’t you like that at your previous agency too?”
Jo Hee-on took out her lip tint and applied it while looking at the practice room mirror.
Of course, Jo Hee-on’s eyes were on me, reflected in the mirror.
Her giggling and laughing from earlier was really annoying.
“You were at KQ before, right? I know a girl there. No, I was just curious and asked. The you we knew was a very kind and passive girl, but then you suddenly changed. We wondered if we had misunderstood.”
Even though she was making excuses, it was ultimately self-justification.
I didn’t answer and just listened in silence.
“That girl said you were a bit passive there too. You didn’t get along with the other trainees and even though you made it into the debut group, you ended up dropping out. And then you came to our agency.”
The only reason she would bring up this kind of story in a practice room with three cameras running is to tarnish my image.
If this conversation goes on air, everyone will be surprised.
The current Yoon Cheong doesn’t have a particularly passive image.
Even though I’m not a talkative or variety show member, I’m doing my part, so she wants to pour cold water on that?
“I’m sorry… Hee-on.”
“?!”
I couldn’t just let it go.
“Back then, I was too young and scared… I was like that…. Could someone like me… debut….”
I spoke slowly.
Not crying, but as calmly as possible.
“But… I really want to debut… and I don’t want to be a burden to you guys, so I tried to change my personality to be more proactive…. But it seems to have bothered you a lot….”
“No, I-”
“I’m sorry. I should have adapted well from the start…. I didn’t know anyone and it was so hard… so I was like that.”
Jo Hee-on looked completely flustered, probably because she didn’t expect me to come out like this.
Really, me.
I was speechless. Honestly, it was such a low-level provocation that I wasn’t even that angry.
“Hee-on, you too… At first, you must have felt like you hated me who suddenly came in…. I thought it was only natural that you would hate me. I’m a rolling stone….”
“I never hated you…!”
What do you mean, never.
I have all of Yoon Cheong’s memories.
And I also know that Jo Hee-on and Kim Ryeo-yu laughed and sneered behind Yoon Cheong’s back all the time.
Jo Hee-on was the type I hated the most.
Strong against the weak and weak against the strong.
She was really petty and gloomy, so I hated her.
“I know I can be hated…. I know all that but even now… I’m really trying hard…. Can’t you understand me a little?”
Jo Hee-on seemed to finally understand the situation.
She tried to screw me over, but ended up screwing herself over.
Who told you to snoop around people’s pasts…?
“No, Cheong. I think there’s some misunderstanding. I didn’t mean-”
Suddenly.
“I’m here!”
Just then, the practice room door opened at a good timing.
Lee Kyunga paused as soon as she entered the practice room with a strange atmosphere.
“What’s wrong, Cheong?”
I deliberately didn’t answer.
Because-
“No, sis. You know…!”
I knew she was going to blow herself up.
As I expected, Jo Hee-on told Lee Kyunga everything.
Lee Kyunga listened seriously from beginning to end.
And finally, when Jo Hee-on’s story ended, she glanced at the camera.
“Hee-on.”
“Yes?”
“Why is that story necessary now?”
“…What?”
Jo Hee-on asked back with a face devoid of any laughter.
She probably thought Lee Kyunga would take her side.
That’s understandable, because Lee Kyunga had been strictly neutral until now, or had no interest in Yoon Cheong.
Lee Kyunga also wanted to debut just as much, so she didn’t want to go against Kim Ryeo-yu’s wishes.
But Lee Kyunga was also not laughing.
“Cheong is part of our team, why are you talking about how Cheong used to be a bit passive now…? Do you want to bring Cheong down?”
“Huh?”
“I’m not the type of person who likes to badmouth a teammate. I think you should apologize to Cheong.”
Jo Hee-on had made a mistake in her thinking.
Perhaps Lee Kyunga might have taken Jo Hee-on’s side as well.
If it weren’t for the last mission.
Lee Kyunga had her main vocal position unfairly taken away by Kim Ryeo-yu in the last mission.
Anyone could see that Lee Kyunga should have been the main vocal.
But because Jo Hee-on and Park Ha-eun supported Kim Ryeo-yu.
At that time, Lee Kyunga must have had a wake-up call.
Until then, she might have just gone along with Kim Ryeo-yu or Jo Hee-on because she was scared of Director Kim.
But Kim Ryeo-yu was going too far.
There was nothing good for Lee Kyunga in pleasing the two of them, as was already proven in the last mission.
“Let’s stop talking about useless things and just practice. Cheong, you should also cheer up now.”
And more than anything, Yoon Cheong is now a popular trainee who is likely to debut.
There was no reason to attack Yoon Cheong in front of the camera.
“….”
Now was just the first moment when Jo Hee-on finally realized that fact.
Other people were already realizing it little by little.
***
Meanwhile, PD Oh was screaming in joy while watching the footage.
“…Why are you so happy, PD?”
“No, they didn’t even write a script, why are they doing so well?”
PD Oh chuckled.
His VIP had been doing a great job for the past few days.
His VIP had a strange ability.
Even if he was still, the surroundings would automatically attract aggro and create footage.
But he didn’t refuse to eat it, he ate it perfectly and made it more fun.
But the true ability of the VIP was elsewhere.
It was politics.
“Hey, she’s really a rascal.”
“Yoon Cheong? Why?”
Writer Kang looked at the person PD Oh was pointing at and tilted her head.
“She knows exactly that the one who gets the sympathy vote first wins in the broadcast.”
“Did he get a sympathy vote?”
“Jo Hee-on tried to bring down Yoon Cheong once but she slipped instead.”
Writer Kang flinched after watching the footage PD Oh showed.
“If this is edited well….”
“It’ll be fun, right?”
“But will Director Kim allow it? He will definitely say no.”
“What if I say it doesn’t work out? She’s not even Kim Ryeo-yu.”
“Still….”
“And.”
PD Oh spun his chair around.
“More than anything, Colors is a mess these days. Didn’t you know? CEO Hong came back.”
“I heard that. She came back to pressure Director Kim.”
“A close reporter told me, this time CEO Hong went all out. It’s famous now that he told Kim Ryeo-yu to stop shielding.”
Writer Kang nodded.
CEO Hong was not an easy person.
Could an easy person succeed like that?
“So are you targeting Kim Ryeo-yu?”
“That depends on what she does. First, let’s put Jo Hee-on on the chopping board once, and see the reaction of the four.”
“They’re still young… Isn’t that a bit harsh?”
“Writer Kang.”
PD Oh chuckled.
“Am I making a scene out of nothing and sending it out? They said they would cut out some of the extra words they said. If they didn’t want to get on the chopping board, they should have done some character control themselves.”
“Still….”
“Writer Kang. We’re not doing a One Day Two Days broadcast.”
But PD, your character is really out of line.
Even so, Writer Kang couldn’t continue her words.
From his point of view, Jo Hee-on was a bit harsh.
“Then let’s watch it together. Don’t cut the front and back.”
“Ah, then follow me.”
PD Oh chuckled and headed to the editing room.
He indeed had filming luck.
Writer Kang followed him with a deep sigh.
She indeed had no boss luck.
I’ll try my best to stop that.