Yuri was stressing about what to do next. The struggle was, like, super real. Right now, absolutely no one wanted to give her a chance. No one would hire her for a show, newspapers completely ignored her, and those online platforms? Seriously, forget it. Even her own company was treating her like a hot potato, way too much drama to touch.
"I have to get back out there in front of everyone. Otherwise, all this planning is just a waste of time," she told herself. That was the only thing that mattered. She needed chances to be on camera, to show off what she could do, and to fight back against everyone who doubted her and those silent haters.
"Plus, I have to keep an eye on SSV Entertainment. They were the ones who started all this mess, and they are definitely not going to stop trying to crush me," she added, her voice totally firm.
Yuri felt completely trapped, caught between a rock and a hard place, or, like, wolves in front and tigers behind. She was stuck in the worst possible spot. Staying still meant she was definitely doomed, but moving forward felt just as scary.
Her phone kept buzzing nonstop with texts on Kakaotalk. Scrolling through them, she saw how the original owner had been pleading for help, desperate calls and texts that were mostly ignored or quickly hung up on. Everyone around her seemed way too scared to get involved, worried they'd get dragged into the chaos, so they just turned their backs and vanished.
Only a few people actually tried to help, but they couldn't do much. Yuri was careful to save the names of the few who showed even a tiny bit of kindness, but she quickly deleted and blocked the ones who ditched the original owner the second she failed. She knew they'd totally regret refusing to help later.
"Seriously, a bunch of white-eyed wolves," she muttered, and her eyes were basically on fire with anger.
"Just you wait, you guys. Once I'm famous again, you'll be crawling back, begging me to take you in. But I'll practically spit in your faces! BAH! You won't even get my leftovers, losers," she hissed, her fingers shaking as she deleted contact after contact.
There was one contact, though, that the original owner had pinned. The nickname was "My disciple," and they had sent a ton of messages. It was weird; this person wasn't just a random fan, they seemed to genuinely care. The nickname itself felt kind of close.
She read the first text from June 10th: [Unni, I checked and that 'rich old man' rumor online? He's only the director of a tiny company. He doesn't have the contacts, money, or anything to support a popular star. As for that guy who said he was your secret husband, I haven't found anything yet, but I really believe you were framed.]
June 13th: [Why didn't the company speak up the second those bad rumors started?]
June 16th: [There's a problem with your company, Unni. If they posted an explanation right away or even threatened to sue, at least it wouldn't be all one-sided.]
It was like this disciple was silently putting together a puzzle to clear Yuri's name, standing by her through all the rumors and suspicion. Then the messages turned from helpful tips to super warm support.
June 20th: [If you want, you can come visit my hometown. Not many people in Jeju, and the scenery is really nice. You could relax here, and maybe it'll help you get ideas for your comeback song.]
The original Yuri was way too depressed to text back. Still, the message stayed pinned at the top of the chat. A quiet reminder that someone still believed in her when everyone else had given up.
She thought, 'I guess the bad times show you who your real friends are.' The next step in her plan was finding a chance to be in front of a camera, which seemed almost impossible right now.
"I have one last secret move that the original owner didn't see," Yuri thought. She pulled up Sister Dan's phone number. No one picked up the first time, and after ten minutes, there was no call back. She dialed again, and after about ten rings, someone finally answered—
"Sorry, I was just in a meeting, so it was hard to answer the phone," Sister Dan said, sounding apologetic.
"Got it," Yuri said, getting straight to the point.
"Sister Dan, can the company get me a job? I really hope it's something where I can sing."
It went dead silent on the other end. Then, she heard a sigh. It was soft but tired, like she wanted to talk but couldn't find the right words.
"It's not that I don't want to help you," Sister Dan said quietly.
"But how can you be on a show with all this drama?"
Another heavier sigh followed, and then her voice suddenly got a little too cheerful. "Didn't I tell you before? The company will totally arrange something for you, once everything is quiet and clear. You're still young! Let's just wait and focus on writing new music first, okay?"
Yuri rolled her eyes internally but couldn't really blame her. Cancel culture in Korea is so intense that artists rarely ever come back or get famous again. Some were completely kicked out and never seen in public again.
"I can choose to end my contract with the company myself, but only if the company gets me that job," Yuri replied simply.
The usual boring contract stuff meant that if an artist messed up and lost the company money or ruined their reputation, the company could fire them and even sue them. But when Juson Entertainment signed Yuri, she was the biggest deal, the "Goddess of Tomorrow." To impress her, the contract was favorable for her. One special part allowed Yuri to quit whenever she wanted, but the company couldn't fire her.
Now that Yuri was getting attacked by trolls all over the internet, she was a total liability. The company desperately wanted her gone but was stuck because of that dumb contract. Knowing this, Yuri planned to use the situation to her advantage, trading her contract for one last shot at a comeback.
Sister Dan was silent when she heard this. She wanted to say something, but couldn't. Only the quiet sound of her breathing filled the line.
"I'll ask President Kim for you," Sister Dan finally said.
"Thanks for doing this, Unni," Yuri replied before hanging up.
She opened her delivery app and ordered chicken and jajangmyeon (black bean noodles), she was quiet curious about the popular dish. Of course, she got some gochugaru (Korean chili powder) ready, hoping to earn extra star points.
Half an hour later, the food arrived, but Sister Dan still hadn't called back. Yuri felt a tiny bit nervous but quickly chilled out. She knew that dealing with this stuff takes time, especially since no show would be excited to hire her right away.
The delivery guy left the food outside the door. Yuri waited until he left before super carefully opening the door. She was relieved her address hadn't been leaked, that would have been a disaster! She walked to the dining room and put the food on the table. First, she drank a glass of milk to soothe her stomach before totally digging into the noodles.
Adding a little gochugaru, she mixed the jajangmyeon. It looked amazing and smelled so good. Despite the waiting and all her worries, this moment felt like a small win.
...
Just as Yuri figured, Juson Entertainment was having a crazy emergency meeting. All the big bosses were crammed into the small conference room, yelling about the crisis. Voices bounced off the walls, making the tense room even louder.
"It's better to just end the contract right now before this screws up the company's other artists," one executive said firmly.
"But can the talent department even do their job right? Our biggest money-maker has turned into a nightmare!" another one complained, sounding totally frustrated.
Suddenly, a louder voice cut through the fight. "Hey! What does that have to do with the talent department? The real problem is the PR team, they couldn't stop the rumors or even make a plan! Why are we paying them if they just watch bad stuff spread like crazy?"
The room got even noisier as everyone jumped in, yelling louder and louder, trying to make sure their opinion was heard.
After a long, exhausting meeting full of heated arguments and a ton of tea, Mr. Kim finally spoke. The room went silent; the restless executives all looked at him.
"I think we should agree to her deal," Mr. Kim said calmly.
"We already made the money we should have over the last two years, so the company hasn't lost anything. It's the right thing to do to find her a good chance and end the contract nicely. That way, the company's reputation won't get any worse."
The second he finished talking, the room went completely silent. All the yelling and blaming stopped, and no one wanted to take the blame anymore. Mr. Kim looked totally calm, but inside, he was thinking that these old executives didn't want to make the hard choices, they just wanted to relax and count their cash.
The department that handles jobs quickly got moving. Sister Dan, who had the latest news, immediately called Yuri. When Yuri answered, Sister Dan said, "The company has arranged for you to be a substitute guest on a show called 'The singer-songwriter.'"
Yuri responded quietly, "The company needs to find a time for me to sign the contract termination papers."
Without even hesitating, Sister Dan set it up: "Come to the company tomorrow to sign the contract for 'Singer Songwriter.'"