Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

"I'm sorry. I can't do that."

As soon as those words left my mouth, several eyes glared daggers at me. They probably wished they could throw real daggers at me.

The foul smell of alcohol tormented me and clouded my brain but not nearly enough for me to not recognise the silent and resentful gazes of the agency’s CEO and members*.

*He refers to them as 형동생들 in the raw, indicating that they were close. 형(hyung) is what younger(동생) males refer to older males as well as their blood older brothers. 동생(dongsaeng) is what older people call their close but younger friends/relatives/siblings.

The CEO of our agency, who was seated right next to me, struggled to force a kind smile and grabbed me by the shoulders as if to signal his intention of giving me a chance to rectify my rejection. 

"You… can't do it?"

"Yes, I can not."

I shook his hands off, muddled eyes followed my movement, and stood up to in turn signal that I did not intend to rectify anything. 

"No, you have to think carefully about this Haeje-ah*."

*-ah is attached to a name due to various reasons but in this case, the president is using it as an attachment of endearment(yuck) as it is often used between those with close relationships to show affection.

"What is there to carefully consider about this sir?

"Listen, if you give in just this once, you'll be able to live free from then on. Do you not remember what I said about everyone in the agency being one big family? Can you not even do this for us? Doing things that you dislike is a part of social life. I want you to know that you will never be able to set foot in this industry again if you leave like this. Don't you want to become a singer Haje-ah?

He really should stick to either threatening or persuading me. 

Cynicism crept into my heart as I stood there listening to the blabbering of the drunk man before me.

"Yeah, I did want to become a singer sir, but I was never desperate enough to stick with this path even if it meant selling my body."

At his unfiltered words, the expression of a wealthy and powerful directress seated with them shifted slightly.

The hyung who was our leader had picked up on the shift and immediately rushed to my side and started begging me desperately. 

"Please, you know I've been a trainee for 10 years Haje-ah. You know what our debut means to me so please, please just do it."

"Do you hear yourself hyung? Do you think I can just do something like that?"

"You, you selfish bastard. Don't you think that a guy who made it to the debut team relying on his face like you, should at least do this much to compensate the members who worked themselves to death to cover for you?"

I glimpsed at my face reflected on the soju bottle in front of me. It was easy to see I was handsome despite the reflection being unclear.

'So what if I'm handsome.'

I was momentarily stunned at the expression the fool* in the reflection was wearing. He looked completely unfazed and detached.

*hajae referred to himself as a 호구 which means pushover but I translated it to fool because it didn't seem right to describe him as a pushover when he was making such a strong stand for himself.

'How have I even managed to live such a pathetic life with a face like this?'

The thought crossed my mind but I was quick to put an end to the self-blame. 

Why should I sit here and berate myself when I should be berating this predatory company that's selling innocent minors to the powerful for rewards?

"You're right, I joined the debut group because of my face. Wasn't appearance a skill too in this cesspit anyway? How could you say that when you know it was the company that ignored my every request for proper lessons?"

The more I thought about this, the more speechless I became.

"Who's calling who selfish? How did I ever consider a douchebag like you a hyung? If you're that desperate to debut then why don't you go do it yourself!"

My head was cool, as though ice water had been poured over it.

Harsh and hurtful words that I would've otherwise never uttered, smoothly rolled out of my mouth in this situation. 

'This must be why it's said that life is not the rehearsal, but the performance.'

This was no time to be swept away by satisfaction, however. I still needed to get away from here.

I wore the coat that I had hung up and nodded to everyone in goodbye.

"Since we've all said our pieces, I'll be off now."

"On Haje! Don't you dare!"

"Tsk."

When I turned around, taking my hand off the half-opened door, I could see several relieved expressions as though they thought they'd finally succeed in convincing me at the last moment.

I could only laugh at such a sleazy sight.

'Life truly is the performance.'