I Became An Idol To Pay Off My Debt

“Ye-rin….”

“…….”

Lee Hye-jeong looks up at me with a face full of confusion, and I look down at her with pitying eyes.

“…….”

“…….”

The bathroom was filled with silence.

What can I do for Lee Hye-jeong?

To find that out, I first needed to understand why she’s in this state.

The anxiety of not being able to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming an idol.

And the self-blame that it’s because of her body, leading to these compulsions.

I’m not a doctor or a counselor.

Even if I were, I couldn’t just heal Lee Hye-jeong right away.

So, I pulled out what I had tucked into my pocket since I made plans with her.

“…Unnie, take this.”

“…What is this?”

It was none other than…

“Digestive medicine.”

“…….”

“It’s Japanese. It helps when your stomach hurts.”

…It was digestive medicine.

This was given to me by Lee Ji-woo.

As soon as I heard from Na Han-na that Lee Hye-jeong had anorexia, I told Lee Ji-woo about it, and she handed this to me right away.

Lee Ji-woo said that among idol trainees, there are more people suffering from anorexia than you’d think.

Even among Lee Ji-woo’s students, there were many, and she gave them this digestive medicine in those moments.

If you vomit on an empty stomach, your stomach acid gets released a lot, and taking this helps instantly.

Whether Lee Hye-jeong knew this or not, she accepted the medicine from me and gave a small, weak smile.

Then she ripped open the packaging and…

“Thank you, Ye-rin. I’ll take it.”

“Ah…, but you need water…”

“Just turn on the tap and drink it.”

Swoosh.

She cupped the tap water in her hands and swallowed the medicine.

Gulp.

I wondered if the medicine would work right away when, shortly after swallowing it, Lee Hye-jeong seemed a bit more relaxed.

But the bathroom was soon filled with silence again.

And then…

“If you brought this, you must have known somehow… How did you know?”

Breaking the silence, Lee Hye-jeong asked with an awkward smile.

“Han-na told me. She thought you were bingeing….”

“She didn’t seem like it. She picked up on it pretty quickly. I thought I was hiding it well….”

“When did this start for you? Was it from that time?”

“…….”

Lee Hye-jeong weakly nodded and quietly continued speaking.

“At first, I just stopped eating to lose weight. If I didn’t eat the usual amounts for days, I lost weight.”

“…….”

“I only drank water for three days, then had oatmeal three meals, then only water for two more. I held on like that every week when Na Ah Ah wasn’t shooting. Then I collapsed once during Na Ah Ah, and you were watching me closely when I tried to increase my food intake.”

That’s right.

During the first competition of Na Ah Ah, Lee Hye-jeong collapsed, and I accompanied her to the emergency room.

“After that, I felt the seriousness of it and tried to gradually increase my food intake again…but….”

“…….”

“I couldn’t keep it down. When I eat, my stomach churns… I think that’s when it all started. I’d start to vomit as soon as I ate anything.”

Lee Hye-jeong spoke calmly, but it was something that couldn’t be heard calmly.

When I stared at her seriously, she waved her hands as if to lighten the mood, gently placing her hand on my shoulder and said.

“Don’t look at me like that, Ye-rin. I’ve searched and found that this is just a temporary symptom caused by stress and anxiety.”

“…That stress and anxiety is due to Na Ah Ah, right?”

“Probably….”

As soon as Na Ah Ah was mentioned, Lee Hye-jeong’s eyes dulled visibly.

But not wanting to show it, she slightly raised the corners of her mouth and said.

“I had high expectations, but it seems my grades aren’t good enough. …It’s okay. Once Na Ah Ah is done, if I find a good company, I can debut quickly.”

“…….”

From Lee Hye-jeong’s answer, I could tell she had already half-given up on being picked for the Na Ah Ah debut team.

…And honestly, who could blame her?

Her current ranking was 11th.

To debut in Na Ah Ah, she needed to be in the top 6, but neither the production team nor the public had any interest in her.

…There was no longer any driving force to boost her vote count.

“…Huh.”

I let out a small sigh and picked up my phone.

Then, tapping on the screen, I said to Lee Hye-jeong.

“…Unnie. This isn’t like you at all. You seem to have already given up.”

“…….”

“If you were given one last chance to flip the rankings… could you give it your all?”

“…What do you mean?”

Slide.

I showed Lee Hye-jeong, who tilted her head, the phone screen.

It was….

“Ye-rin… what’s this?”

“I just created a new Instagram account!”

It was my newly opened Instagram account after staying away from social media for so long.

And the first post was a picture of Lee Hye-jeong and me in front of a movie poster.

The reason I opened an Instagram account and posted a picture with Lee Hye-jeong was that it was the method Lee Ji-woo told me to help her.

“Ye-rin, there’s a way for you to help that friend of yours….”

“What way is that? Please tell me!”

“Well, it’s… showing off your friendship with her on social media to the fans. Then, through a trickle-down effect, maybe the attention on you will flow to her too.”

I walked closer to Lee Hye-jeong, who was staring blankly at my Instagram account, and wrapped my arm around her shoulder with a whisper and said softly.

“Unnie, let’s follow each other. Please?”

“Uh, umm…”

“Yay! Then let’s hurry and go play pool. We can take another picture while playing and post it on Insta. Oh, and I’ll tag you in everything I post today. Is that okay?”

“…….”

I said this and pulled Lee Hye-jeong’s hand, leading her down the stairs.

Seeing me, Lee Hye-jeong asked with a bit of a dazed expression.

“…Ye-rin?”

“…Yes?”

“…Why are you going out of your way for me? What have I done…?”

In response to Lee Hye-jeong’s question, I just smiled and replied.

“You’re my dear Hye-jeong unnie.”

“…….”

Honestly, I didn’t know if this would work.

Just making an Instagram account, following Lee Hye-jeong, and posting pictures with her and tagging her—would that really matter?

…It might be pointless. I might not be able to help her get her debut rights.

But…

With the actions I took today, I sensed a new emotion of hope in Lee Hye-jeong’s eyes.

I had a feeling that this might help her anorexia get a little better.

Thus, I felt a sense of pride and spent a joyful day with Lee Hye-jeong.

And I…

Within two hours of opening my Instagram account, I gathered 100,000 followers.

The two weeks that seemed long flowed by faster than expected.

I met Lee Hye-jeong a few more times while commuting between school and the company during those two weeks.

Every time we met, I posted on Instagram, and as a result…

“Ye-rin! You’ve already surpassed 1 million followers? Wait, it’s not even been a week since you made the account. How is this even possible?”

I was looking at my Instagram followers, which had exceeded 1 million and was eyeing 2 million.

Lee Ji-woo, who seemed shocked, continued speaking after seeing something else.

“Looks like this friend, Hye-jeong, has also gained 10 to 20 thousand followers in the meantime? Wow….”

“Yes, Hye-jeong unnie’s followers have increased a lot.”

All the posts I made until now were only of me with Lee Hye-jeong. Plus, the only account I was following was hers.

So, it made sense that my fans were also following and supporting Lee Hye-jeong’s account since it seemed like she was close to me.

It was quite the trickle-down effect.

Lee Ji-woo, who probably didn’t expect such a result even after giving me advice, stared blankly at her phone and then playfully said to me.

“…Ye-rin, can you follow me too? I also want to grow my Insta following…!”

“Well, I can do that after Na Ah Ah ends.”

“Aww.”

If others start following me now, it will reduce the momentum towards Lee Hye-jeong.

That’s why I had already refused Seo Yoo-jin and Park Yoo-jung’s requests to follow them back.

Reluctantly rejecting Lee Ji-woo’s request, she lowered her head and shifted her gaze to the monitor.

“Okay… I understand… It’s already 10 o’clock, so let’s watch Na Ah Ah now.”

“Yes.”

Today was finally the day Na Ah Ah aired.

Due to the previous week’s cancellation, the audience’s anticipation for today’s Na Ah Ah broadcast was through the roof, and I stared nervously at the screen.

‘This episode is important.’

Tonight’s episode contained the 1-on-1 match between me and Yoo Seol.

Moreover, it was also the first episode airing after I had a shouting match with Shin PD.

‘Is Shin PD going to maliciously edit it as revenge…?’

Thus, I began watching the broadcast, nervously concerned about my screen time in Na Ah Ah.

And then….

“…Huh?”

Not long after I started watching, I quickly noticed something strange.

“…Yes, yes. Director. Haha, that absolutely wouldn’t happen. Yes, please go ahead.”

After being humiliated by Ha Ye-rin and Han Si-woo last time, Shin PD tried to somehow penalize Ha Ye-rin on air.

But he couldn’t do that.

Starting the very next day after the argument with Ha Ye-rin, accusations of participant hijacking began to emerge through major advertisers of Na Ah Ah.

Bang!

“Damn it!”

After getting hit again by the director, Shin PD couldn’t hold back his anger and slammed his desk.

‘Brotherhood Planning bastards…! What the hell are they?’

Thinking back, Ha Ye-rin was set up as a parachute at first too.

At that time, it was just thought she had a small connection with an advertiser, but that was not the case.

It was clear that the relationship between Brotherhood Planning and advertisers was extremely close given that they could apply such direct pressure.

“Damn it… damn it…!”

If he directly does malicious editing on Ha Ye-rin now, he would be receiving flak again.

Shin PD couldn’t touch Ha Ye-rin with the editing anymore.

“…Damn.”

But staying still took a toll on his pride.

How dare some unimportant participant… even an un-debuted trainee, touch him like that?

He had to exact revenge. It had to be repaid.

But there was no way to do it.

Just then, as Shin PD nervously bit his nails, a voice came up.

“Oh? Ha Ye-rin made her Instagram account.”

“…What?”

Currently, Shin PD was in the Na Ah Ah editing room.

As the importance of Na Ah Ah increased in the latter half, he was there to personally direct the editing.

When a junior writer mentioned Ha Ye-rin, Shin PD rushed over to look at the phone with him.

“…She didn’t even have a social media account before. But suddenly, she made an Instagram account?”

“Yes, here. Wow, looks like we’ve properly produced a star. The speed at which she’s gaining followers….”

The junior writer was looking at the posts Ha Ye-rin had uploaded when he found something odd and tilted his head.

“But all her posts are pictures with Lee Hye-jeong. The only account she’s following is Lee Hye-jeong’s… Were those two that close?”

“…….”

Shin PD reminisced back to the many occasions where Ha Ye-rin had been seen with Lee Hye-jeong in Na Ah Ah.

It was likely they had become friends due to being in the A-class group together early on in Na Ah Ah.

Then…

‘Aha.’

Shin PD quickly realized the implications of the posts on Ha Ye-rin’s Instagram account.

‘Ha Ye-rin is trying to support Lee Hye-jeong.’

Seeing this, he smiled with a sense of delight and commanded the junior writer.

“Hey.”

“Yes, manager.”

“Reduce Lee Hye-jeong’s screen time as much as possible for this episode.”

“…Pardon?”

The sudden command from Shin PD caused the junior writer to lose his composure and tilt his head in confusion.

“Why? Is that difficult?”

“No, it’s not that….”

“Then do as I say.”

“…Okay.”

The method of hurting an opponent isn’t limited to striking them directly.

Tormenting their close associates is also an effective way to inflict pain on them, and Shin PD understood this well.

If he couldn’t touch Ha Ye-rin because of her backing, he would bury her close friend, Lee Hye-jeong.

Feeling proud of his grasp on the situation, Shin PD chuckled to himself.

‘Let me show you exactly what happens when you provoke a director. You may debut, but Lee Hye-jeong will never debut.’

As Shin PD reveled in his vile thoughts, a junior writer quietly raised his hand from the corner.

“Um, manager. It’s the second half of the program now, so shouldn’t we stop the malicious editing? There are only a few contestants left now, and the viewers will catch on to our antics. There will certainly be backlash….”

Malicious editing is something to use in the early part of the program to attract interest, not something to execute in the latter half.

In the latter half, with fewer contestants, it becomes evident that the production team deliberately did malicious editing.

Moreover, Lee Hye-jeong, being a graduate of K-Star audition, had many core fans, even if her total follower count was lower than other top contestants.

‘Those fans would surely struggle to comprehend why Lee Hye-jeong’s screen time is decreasing even further….’

This wasn’t a decision made from rational thought.

But Shin PD replied, “Junior.”

“……Yes.”

“We have never finished a program without any backlash.”

His gaze was firm, as if he couldn’t care less about the reactions of Lee Hye-jeong’s small fan base.

“The PD is me. So, follow my orders. Or you can just resign.”

“…No, I’m sorry.”

With that, Shin PD’s eyes were already filled with malice.

And the junior writer had no choice but to edit according to Shin PD’s intentions.

…Even though they thought it was wrong.

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