episode_0010
by admin
#10
“You seemed to be going somewhere in a car—is this related to that?”
Eunchae sharpened her gaze and stared at me.
Her eyes said: *I already know everything. Don’t even think about lying.*
Of course, this wasn’t the first time I’d faced Eunchae’s piercing stare.
Early on, there were a few times I panicked and got tangled in my own words… But I’ve been through this enough times. In moments like these, the best thing to do was—
“It’s unrelated.”
—to play dumb with a straight face.
“Really?”
“Harin had some family matters yesterday, so I drove her.”
“…Is that so?”
“As for the music show. The PD there had taken an interest in Harin before, so we got a special slot. So, you should thank Harin.”
“Hmm~.”
She stared hard into my eyes, trying to discern whether I was lying. I didn’t avert my gaze and met hers head-on.
After all, Park Dong-chul had genuinely known Harin for a while, so it wasn’t a complete lie.
“If that’s what the manager says, then it must be true.”
Luckily, she seemed to buy it.
“Then you should be grateful to Harin unnie too. Even though we’ve made a comeback, we haven’t had a single music show appearance until now… Thanks to her, we finally get to go.”
“……Right. I am grateful.”
What I was thinking was slightly different, but everything she said was technically correct.
“Are the other preparations going well?”
“Of course. The announcement’s up on Instagram and YouTube, the dance teacher’s agreed to help us drill intensely for the stage, and I’ve been looking into some fancam shooters too.”
“…Fancams?”
Her voice dropped slightly at the mention of fancams.
“Yeah.”
“……Will they really help?”
“We can only hope.”
“Hmm….”
Eunchae fiddled with her phone, looking slightly displeased.
“Look… I know it’s tough, but fancams and photos are promotional tools. You know that better than anyone.”
“I mean, yeah… But honestly, it feels weird.”
“…Because of that… *hidden camera* incident before?”
“Bring that up one more time, and I’ll pluck every last hair from your head.”
“……Right. Sorry.”
Though *she* was the one who went viral in those photos, *she* was also the one endlessly harassed by sasaengs afterward.
And then some bastard even took photos of her changing in the waiting room… She became the center of controversy overnight.
Of course, the photo was of her in a see-through bra, which—for all the wrong reasons—blew up into a massive scandal.
The company fought tooth and nail to take those pictures down, but even now, they occasionally resurface online.
…………Truth be told, I have one saved on my phone too. I look at it sometimes.
“…Still. We have to do it, right?”
Eunchae bit her lip lightly and muttered.
“We can’t stop people from taking pictures anyway.”
“That’s true, but… It’s all for , isn’t it?”
“…….”
She’s grown so much.
Sure, Eunchae could be oversensitive and sharp-tongued, but she wasn’t a bad kid at heart.
Not as much as Harin, but she still cared deeply for the team.
Over these six years, she’s matured a lot.
Back in her trainee days… Let’s not even go there.
Between puberty and everything else, we suffered *a lot*.
“If we’re doing it, then do it properly. Find people who take really good fancams. Who knows—maybe things will turn out like before.”
“If only that were possible, I’d have no complaints.”
Now, it was finally time to get to the main point.
I sighed softly and spoke in a low voice.
“Speaking of those photos, there’s something else.”
“…?”
I placed two business cards in front of Eunchae.
*Venus* executives with model selection authority:
Director Burajang
VP Baek Pan-su
“Eunchae, how would you feel about modeling?”
“Modeling? For what…?”
“An… advertisement. Yeah, an ad model.”
“An ad? …Me?”
Eunchae’s eyes widened dramatically.
Even more than when I told her about the music show appearance.
And rightfully so. Ad models aren’t just *anyone*.
For an idol, at the very least, you need to be mid-tier or higher—good public image, recognizable name, the whole package.
*Sepia*, fortunately, still had name recognition, but… that was from years ago.
If not for Eunchae’s scandal keeping us momentarily relevant…
“What kind of ad? Is it for the whole group?”
“Yeah. All of *Sepia*.”
“Th-then…?”
“But. The ad itself is kind of….”
“……?”
My eyes shifted to the business cards on the table.
The distinct *Venus* logo gleamed.
A sensual emblem symbolizing the contours of a woman’s body.
*Venus* was… a lingerie brand.
The last place you’d expect an innocent idol to endorse.
“……Oh.”
Eunchae stared at the cards for a long moment before covering her mouth in realization.
“No way. It can’t be… The company I’m thinking of…?”
“Yeah. That one.”
“……Are you insane?”
Her face twisted instantly.
And honestly, I had no comeback.
“Eunchae.”
“Manager. Please tell me this is for some side business of theirs. Or something *other* than—”
“……It’s exactly what you’re thinking.”
*Venus* had proposed an ad campaign featuring their lingerie—with her as the model.
Eunchae remained frozen, her expression crumpled, glaring at me.
“*Manager.*”
“Yeah.”
“You *know* what I went through, right?”
“……I do.”
She was the one who suffered after being secretly photographed in her underwear.
Ironically, the underwear she’d been wearing that day was also from *Venus*.
“And you still want me to do *this*?”
I knew better than anyone how absurd this sounded.
Especially for Eunchae—after the hidden camera incident, she developed severe trauma around exposure and filming.
Early on, if fans even pointed a camera at her aggressively, she’d panic and collapse.
She’s gotten better since… but she’s still sensitive about it.
“……Yeah.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Don’t even mention this to the others.”
Eunchae snatched the business cards off the table, fists clenched, crushing them.
“Eunchae.”
“I’m holding back from punching you right now.”
Her trembling hands squeezed the cards tighter.
I’d expected *some* resistance—but not this much.
I knew what I was proposing was unreasonable.
Just like with Harin.
But I *had* to propose it anyway.
“……The CEO requested it.”
“……What?”
“He asked me to get this done.”
“…….”
Eunchae cautiously sat back down.
Her face darkened as she studied my expression.
“You know how the company’s doing, right?”
“…It’s always been bad.”
“You know how much money was poured into this album, too.”
“……Yeah.”
The CEO never said it outright, but rumors swirled—selling shares, even taking out shady loans.
Our desperation for success wasn’t ours alone.
“We *need* the ad deposit.”
“…….”
The exact figure wasn’t disclosed, but it was enough to cover *Sepia’s* entire fourth album production—with money to spare.
For a low-tier idol group like us, it was an unimaginable sum.
“That’s… a lot. Enough to make a difference.”
“Yeah.”
“And in exchange… I model underwear.”
“……Right.”
Put bluntly—yes.
“But if you really can’t do it, then……”
“No. I *can* do it.”
She cut me off firmly.
“Modeling… I can do that. For real.”
“Wait… Really?”
I hadn’t expected that.
Eunchae, the one I thought would refuse most stubbornly, gave in *this* easily?
“But, Manager. We’re idols. Has any idol *ever* modeled underwear? Is this even *okay*?”
“Precedent-wise……”
I wracked my brain.
There *was* none.
“I… I’m not scared of being photographed or standing in front of people in underwear. I’ll do it. For *Sepia’s* sake, I *will* do it. …But is this *really* for *Sepia*?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if people only see *Sepia* as *those* models after this?”
Her concern was valid.
Even when innocent girl groups merely pivot to sexy concepts, fans and public perception shift drastically. But underwear modeling? That was uncharted territory.
No matter what *Sepia* did from then on, the label “*those* idols” would follow—
Eunchae’s own scandal from years ago still got brought up today.
Her question was simple: *Is selling *Sepia’s* future worth this?*
“That… You don’t need to worry about.”
“…Huh?”
“It’s not *direct* advertising.”
“……?”
I leaned in and whispered the ad’s details into her ear.
Her eyes flickered as she listened.
“…You want me to wear *Venus* lingerie *on a music show* and let it *slip* mid-performance?”
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