Chapter 27
The members of this new group were living in the dorm to get ready for their debut.
Then, the day before their first show, the female member suddenly disappeared. The debut show had to be postponed and the agency searched everywhere to find the girl, but without success.
Three months later, the girl reappeared on TV as a solo singer from another agency. When the other trainees saw her on TV, they couldn’t believe their eyes. Her original agency got ready to sue her, and the other two male members of the group also decided to sue her separately for breaking up their group and destroying their chances of becoming an idol.
However, things didn’t go as expected.
The female member provided proof and evidence that changed the situation completely.
First, she released the contract she had to sign with her first agency. It was clearly an unfair slave contract. On top of that, the agency didn’t honor many of the things that were promised in the contract. Also, in the fine print, the contract stated that if either party broke any part of the contract, which the agency did, the other party, the trainee, had the right to leave the relationship.
Second, she claimed was that she was sexually harassed by the members of her old agency. She even had recordings as proof, and her new agency had hired two lawyers to back her.
Third, an incredible thing happened. Another female trainee, a pretty quiet girl, came out to claim that she has been bullied and harassed as well by the agency’s personnel. Soon, the truth finally came out, and it turned out that the agency’s CEO, managers, and dance and vocal teachers all treated female trainees unfairly, especially compared to the male trainees. The girls were often verbally abused regarding their weight. They were never given enough to eat and forced to practice all day. On top of that, if any of the girls fought back or argued, they were given fewer chances and were humiliated in front of everyone.
However, it wasn’t much better for the male trainees. A month after Hyojun and Kiwook joined the agency, there was one male trainee who quit all of a sudden. No one knew for certain why he left, but there was a persistent rumor about how it happened.
The CEO had a mistress, who was much older than him and was very wealthy. The rumor had it that she invested a significant amount into the agency and that was why the CEO was powerless against her. It was said that he was basically the lady’s gigolo. The trainees called her the ‘Lady.’
Everything about all the agency’s idol groups was decided by this lady.
This included the type of music, dance, the outfits, and the accessories the idol members wore.
There was a new girl group consisting of four members that were about to make their debut. They were in the process of making their first music video, and the rumor had it that the Lady made sure the girls were wearing only the clothes and accessories from her other fashion business.
Soon, it was found that this rumor was true, and it was only a few days later after this fact was confirmed that the male trainee suddenly disappeared.
One of the older trainees, who has been with the agency for 7 years, said during their break,
“He probably was forced to leave because he did something that the Lady didn’t like. He was the male lead in the music video for that girl group, right? He was picked because the Lady found him attractive. I heard a rumor that he was offered a condo in exchange for acting as her lover whenever she felt like it. She even promised to make him a star. I mean, who could refuse such an offer?”
When Hyojun first heard this, he didn’t believe it. Kiwook also thought it was just unfounded gossip and laughed. After a while, things settled down at the agency, and the girl who left the agency and joined another became a popular idol. The agency’s CEO was furious, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The other trainees continued to dream big, all secretly hoping to become just like that girl.
Then, about a month later, things became clearer. One night, the male trainee who left suddenly showed up to the practice room and revealed what really happened. Looking terribly thin, he explained, “I need to leave this industry.”
He looked very sickly, and he warned the trainees that all the rumors were true. He said that it could happen to any of them.
“It turned out that it was our CEO who orchestrated this whole thing. He was the one who made me ‘entertain’ that old lady so that she would be distracted while he took over the finances of this company. I had no idea what was happening…”
The other trainees nodded as they had expected this, but Hyojun and Kiwook stared in shock and disbelief.
He continued, “But soon after, that lady fell for another trainee. She told me to leave the condo this week, so I went to talk to our CEO and… he said that I needed to leave right away. He said I wasn’t needed anymore and that I won’t be debuting. He then showed me a contract, which stated… that I owed him 20,000 dollars! I don’t have that kind of money! I have been a trainee for the past five years, I have nothing!”
“So what are you going to do?”
When asked, he covered his face with his hands and started to cry. No one knew what to say to him. There was no way to console him, and everyone was afraid that they could be next.
He replied, “I have no choice but to pay him the money somehow.”
After a while, he finally stopped crying and continued, “He had a list of lessons I took over the years and the cost for each of them. They were all provided by the agency, right? He also charged me a rental fee for the practice room. And the deposit I received when I first signed the contract… I got a lot. You guys probably received about a thousand to two thousand dollars, right? I got ten thousand dollars, which I have to pay back. At that time, I was excited because I assumed that the agency valued me more than others. But now… all I’m left with is debt. Huge debt and my broken body.”
“… Are you ill?”
“The dance practice we do here… I’ve been doing circus-level choreography for five years, which left me with bad knees. I went to the hospital and the doctor was shocked. He said I had the knees of a 70-year-old. My joints are basically gone. And the constant diet we go through here… I now have severe arthritis and damaged liver. I think you guys probably know what I’m talking about, right? You guys must all feel pains here and there. I mean… how many high jumps do we do per day as part of the dance practice? There were days when I did a thousand of them in one day. It makes sense that our knees and ankles get destroyed after a while.”
He stood up slowly and continued, “The reason why I came here to tell you this is…”