NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81
Seo Yoo-jin had never heard anyone say anything unpleasant to her in her life.
At home…, at school, there was no one daring enough to say anything to her.
Even at the company, she was treated with preciousness, almost like a queen in her own world.
But her world was merely a barrier surrounding her…
When the shield was lifted and she faced the malice of the world head-on…
“Huh…”
…she was too fragile.
Shiver.
Seo Yoo-jin picked up her smartphone with trembling hands.
‘Okay, I must have seen it wrong….’
There’s no way she saw it correctly.
“Oh, pushing someone off a rooftop… how could a person say such terrible things to another?!”
Thinking she must have misread it, she checked the screen again….
[Seo Yoo-jin you b*tch, I just want to push you off the rooftop.]
“……”
The result was the same.
“…Why, why? What did I do so wrong…?”
Even if they edited her scenes maliciously on the broadcast…, it wasn’t enough to warrant such a fate.
Tears filled Seo Yoo-jin’s eyes as she wondered why the commenter could think like that, and she nearly commented on the post.
[Login required.]
“…Ah.”
It was only when she was blocked by the login notification that she regained her senses.
‘…Pull yourself together, Seo Yoo-jin.’
She wiped away her tears and steadied her heart.
There are all kinds of people in the world. It’s foolish for one bad person to lose their reason over a little post.
‘Let’s read other people’s posts too….’
Surely there aren’t many people who would write such mean things. There must be posts that comfort her wounded heart.
Seo Yoo-jin scrolled down to find such posts.
And then….
[Seo Yoo-jin you fcking btch]
[Ugh, I really want to kill her while watching the show.]
[Isn’t she just a psychopath?]
[Seo Yoo-jin you b*tch, don’t harass our Seol.]
[Who do you think you are to criticize the Black Swan? What a pathetic b*tch?]
[Look at her personality, I can’t believe she’s the same kind of human as us.]
What she found were only posts cursing her.
“Ugh…, ugh….”
Even though she tried to hold back…, as she read the words, tears poured down her face like a turned faucet.
She never used SNS much before.
But when she did occasionally post something on Instagram….
– “What, where was that photo taken? So pretty!”
– “Yujin, let’s go together next time.”
– “You’re so beautiful! Are you perhaps an idol trainee?”
– “Wow, you’re so pretty. I’ll follow you!”
Compliments from friends and strangers had once poured in… but now….
[Ugh;; she really doesn’t know moderation.]
[I wish she would just disappear, or better yet, die.]
[Everyone, she’s from SAV~ You might get sued if you’re not careful~]
[Do you think SAV would sue a trainee who hasn’t debuted yet?]
[Yeah~ she’s already done for, SAV will definitely drop her.]
Now, there were only posts cursing her everywhere.
Even among them was….
[I went to the same middle school as Seo Yoo-jin, she was famous for being a b*tch back then. There must be a truckload of kids who got hit or bullied by her.]
[She was bound to fall into hell because of school violence. I just wish she would hurry and go to hell, lol.]
“No…! I never did school violence…! I never hit or bullied anyone…!”
There were so many malicious falsehoods directed at her.
But no matter how much she felt wronged and indignant, there was nothing she could do.
Even knowing that reading the malicious posts was a foolish act that would only hurt her heart, she couldn’t stop scrolling.
“Huh…, ugh…”
So, Seo Yoo-jin read the posts until her pajamas were soaked with tears.
“…Yujin, are you sleeping? …Yujin?!”
“Mom…, ugh…, h-how….”
“Yujin—!”
It was only when her mom came to check if she was asleep and opened the door.
“Mom…, p-people are saying….”
“Give me that right now…!”
Without needing to see more, Seo Yoo-jin’s mom snatched her phone away.
In the meantime, Seo Yoo-jin snuggled into her mom’s arms.
“Mom…, they’re telling me to just jump off the rooftop….”
“Yujin….”
“Sniff… ugh…, did I do something so wrong? But I feel wronged…, so very wrong…. Ugh….”
Seo Yoo-jin’s parents, who had worked hard to build themselves up from nothing while they were young, wanted their precious daughter, whom they had late in life, to not know the bitterness of society.
But was it a curse instead?
Seo Yoo-jin received a return of all the bitter tastes of society in one big blow, something she had never known before.
“I really didn’t say that… really….”
“I know…, Yujin. Mom knows everything….”
“Waaaaah…! Ugh…!”
That night was truly harsh for 17-year-old Seo Yoo-jin.
But…, the pain that day was not the end.
It was just the beginning.
From then on, Seo Yoo-jin’s screen time continued in a similar fashion as before.
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): Me! I also want to be the center!]
[Despite already being a leader, trainee Seo Yoo-jin raises her hand for the center ranking!]
[A tense atmosphere.]
[Q: Isn’t it burdensome to hold both the leader and center roles?]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): Not burdensome at all. I’m from SAV!]
Seo Yoo-jin always proudly proclaimed her affiliation, frequently flaunting her connection to SAV.
Until now, it felt like a symbol of her confidence, but with the editing, Seo Yoo-jin appeared truly arrogant.
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): Haa…, can’t you understand this? This?]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): (sighing) This is just so frustrating.]
Her anger towards the team members who couldn’t keep up with practices and were showing negative performances was highlighted in the editing as well.
And the climactic moment was….
[Yoo Seol (JJ): Sorry, guys. I’m not feeling well…]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): (glaring) Are you really sick? So sick that you can’t come to practice?]
“Aah…”
…a scene implying that Seo Yoo-jin doubted Yoo Seol’s condition.
The production crew added footage of Yoo Seol being unwell and getting diagnosed at the hospital.
Thanks to this, Seo Yoo-jin was assigned a villainess role reminiscent of Cinderella’s stepmother.
The production team seemed to think this Cinderella framing made for good TV and continued to add scenes of the beleaguered Yoo Seol and the bullying Seo Yoo-jin, all the way until the end of the second team’s performance.
And then came the final climactic scene in the broadcast.
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): …Honestly, it was a stage I was really disappointed in.]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): And I think the responsibility lies with Seol unnie!]
[Seo Yoo-jin (SAV): Despite being able to do so well…, Seol unnie used being sick as an excuse not to participate in practice…! She must have done that on purpose to stand out in the competition!]
This was akin to hammering the final nail in the coffin of Seo Yoo-jin’s already shattered image.
Thus, she ended with a grim atmosphere until the very last moment.
“……”
I watched the remaining broadcast with a vacant expression.
Perhaps because Seo Yoo-jin’s segments were so captivating…, none of the other people’s segments, including my own, caught my attention at all.
After that, Na Ah Ah’s fifth episode came to an end….
“Phew….”
Lee Ji-woo sighed as she glanced at me and spoke.
“The Na Ah Ah production team is too much. They’re making one person an outright villain…, this is like throwing people a morsel for a witch hunt….”
“……Shall we check the audience reactions?”
Originally, checking community and streaming comment sections while watching Na Ah Ah was part of my routine.
But this time, I couldn’t do that because I was too engrossed in Seo Yoo-jin.
When I finally decided to check on people’s reactions albeit late, Lee Ji-woo stopped my hand on the laptop.
“Ye-rin, wait a minute.”
“……Yes? Why…?”
“…That girl is your acquaintance, right? You might get hurt reading the comments…, let me check for you.”
“Oh….”
At Lee Ji-woo’s consideration, I weakly smiled and nodded.
“Yes, then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Okay, just wait a moment.”
Swish-.
Lee Ji-woo took the laptop and began swiftly browsing the internet.
And soon her expression became….
“……”
…seriously tense.
“…First of all, the reactions to you are good. Just like before. And…, for Yoo Seol… the opinions on her are explosive….”
In this episode of Na Ah Ah, the most favored contestant was Yoo Seol.
Even amid various criticism and oppression, she showed a legendary performance on the final stage, so it was all settled.
Surely her Cinderella story touched many hearts.
“And for Seo Yoo-jin….”
“…….”
“…Phew, it’s going to be tough.”
I nodded at the expected outcome.
It would have been strange if the reactions were good considering how the broadcast turned out.
‘Yujin…, I hope she’s okay….’
I hoped she hadn’t looked for the audience reactions for no reason.
With concern for her, I sighed.
That was when….
“…Huh.”
“…What? Is something wrong?”
Seeing Lee Ji-woo surprised by something, I turned to see her looking at the laptop screen.
Swish-.
The screen she showed me contained an internet article, and as I glanced at its content….
“…Ha, haha…, this is just ridiculous.”
I let out a hollow laugh.
[Nnet strikes again! Average viewer rating of 7.7%, peak rating of 11.2%. The highest ever for an idol competition program! Third place in all Korean audition shows!!]
Amid all that, Na Ah Ah hit those ridiculous numbers in ratings.
It was clear that people flocked to throw stones at Seo Yoo-jin, spurred by word-of-mouth.
This was undoubtedly what the production team intended for Na Ah Ah’s fifth episode.
“Really…, those Na Ah Ah production team….”
They were really filthy bastards.
…Masters at extracting viewer ratings.
…They would throw even a 17-year-old girl to the public as bait without hesitation for ratings.
‘Tomorrow…, I wonder if Yujin will be okay….’
Or rather, will she even come?
One thing was certain…, if we went on to shoot Na Ah Ah’s sixth episode like this, the production crew wouldn’t leave her alone.
The production team probably thought they hadn’t drained all of Seo Yoo-jin’s appeal yet.
“Sigh….”
…Why are there so many bastards around me?
Thanks to that, my already complicated mind grew even more painful…, and this unresolved tension lingered into the morning of the third team competition, Na Ah Ah week four.