Episode 5: Beware of the 4D Person
The truck accident video from yesterday came from SemoGirl.
But the video that just popped up was from another entertainment-focused channel I’m subscribed to, JoGunTV.
[JoGunTV] Shocking Revelation: Girl Group Member’s Past Exposed!
“Hello, this is JoGun from JoGunTV.
Girl groups are loved for their pretty and cute images.
But fans rarely know about their lives before debut.
From school bully rumors to underage swearing, smoking, and drinking…
This time, a scandal broke out that left fans deeply disappointed as a girl group member’s past was exposed.
From Potenstar Entertainment, ChanceMaker was launched with high expectations as the successor to WhyNot.
They seemed poised for success after their debut, but a massive obstacle appeared.
It was due to a shocking exposé by a man claiming to be the ex-boyfriend of member Jung-hee.
Let’s take a look at his interview from an online broadcast.”
[She was notorious for being a total delinquent even before we dated. She worked as a hostess at karaoke bars as a middle schooler by lying about her age, dated older guys left and right, mooching off them…]
“Of course, girl group members are human too.
Not every girl group has a past like this.
Fans can forgive minor mistakes to some extent.
But ChanceMaker’s Jung-hee crossed a line, shocking fans and the public alike.
It’s hard to comprehend how someone with such a past thought they could become a girl group member.
The agency that marketed her as a pure, innocent country girl from Gangwon Province is just as baffling.”
[She even forced her juniors to work at karaoke bars and took their money. She called it ‘service fees,’ but she was basically a pimp. She scammed me and my friends and then ghosted us. So when she suddenly debuted as a girl group member, I was dumbfounded. There are plenty of people who want to ruin her, but I’m the one stepping up to expose her.]
“After this interview, the agency quickly denied the claims, but within hours, photos and videos uploaded by another acquaintance confirmed the truth.”
[(ChanceMaker Jung-hee’s actual voice) “I don’t care if you sell your body or strip, just bring me the damn service fee. Before I call my older guy friends to gang up on you…”]
“Ultimately, the agency admitted fault and expelled Jung-hee, but fans had already turned their backs.
Among rookie groups debuting around the same time, ChanceMaker was gaining the most attention and was on the rise. But just two months after the scandal, they released a new album. Perhaps anticipating the controversy, broadcasters have kept them off music shows.”
Holy crap, this is wild.
This isn’t just career-ending—it’s a full-on social crucifixion.
Reality is proving to be more insane than fiction, that’s for sure.
Anyway.
Unlike yesterday, I checked the upload date before the video ended.
It was about three months from now.
A video from the future…
Having experienced the truck incident, I was certain this wasn’t fake.
What the hell is happening to me?
–“This has been JoGun. We’ll be back with fresher, more exciting content. Subscriptions and likes are love!”
The video ended with the closing remarks, and just like yesterday, it vanished without a trace.
I tossed the burnt-out cigarette butt into the trash and searched for ChanceMaker articles.
As expected, nothing came up.
The video’s upload date was three months away.
According to the video, ChanceMaker released an album two months after the scandal broke.
That means Jung-hee’s exposé will likely happen within the next month.
I glanced at the tent waiting area shared by our girls and ChanceMaker.
I’d exchanged greetings with them earlier.
Following Team Leader Jeon’s advice to avoid getting too friendly with other artists, I hadn’t paid them much attention since. But as the video described, Jung-hee had a pure, almost naïve charm.
Even knowing her past, I couldn’t reconcile it with the Jung-hee I saw.
What was she thinking, becoming a girl group member?
Then again, if she had a normal mindset, she wouldn’t have done those things in the first place.
Maybe she’s a psychopath or sociopath.
“This is a bit much. I’ll head over there now.”
As I tried to collect my thoughts and return to the waiting area, Team Leader Jeon stepped out of the tent, talking on the phone.
Sigh… “They’re completely ignoring us.”
From the tone, it seemed like there was some issue with the staff, but I didn’t bother asking for details.
After finishing his call, Team Leader Jeon told me to stay in the waiting area and stormed off toward the front, clearly annoyed.
Back in the waiting area, I immediately checked out Jung-hee from ChanceMaker.
Knowing her true colors made her seem oddly fake now.
She was whispering something to one of her members while glancing at our Free Sense girls, and to me, it looked like she was sneering, “Do you know who those nobodies are?”
Was it my bias, or was she actually saying something like that?
But why do our girls look so intimidated?
Unlike the lively ChanceMaker members, the Free Sense girls had gone quiet, their confidence visibly drained.
They were already pushed to the corner of the waiting area, outmatched in numbers.
It probably had something to do with Team Leader Jeon storming out.
I quietly asked Yeon-jeong, the stylist.
“What’s going on? Team Leader seemed pissed…”
She glanced at ChanceMaker’s female manager before whispering back.
“They asked to switch performance times.”
“Why?”
“They’re busy, so they want to go first.”
“Oh…”
According to the cue sheet, we, the less-known group, were set to open, while ChanceMaker, who were gaining popularity among soldiers, was slated for the middle.
“Is that even possible…?”
“Since it’s a recorded broadcast, they can edit the order for airing.”
“Oh.”
It’s like a drama set where big-name or lead actors shoot first, and supporting actors go later.
Since this morale-boosting event was pre-recorded, the broadcast order could be rearranged through editing.
From what I’d overheard earlier, major artists like Leopard and Yeon-young didn’t even rehearse—they’d show up right on time for their performance.
Moving on a minute-by-minute schedule, they often waited in their vans instead of the waiting area and went straight to the stage.
ChanceMaker wasn’t at that level yet, so they figured they could pull a fast one by swapping times with us, the easier target.
If things went as planned, ChanceMaker would have to wait over an hour longer than us, so they were cutting corners.
From our perspective, it was understandably infuriating.
According to Yeon-jeong, ChanceMaker’s manager didn’t even ask for our consent—they just informed the production staff directly, which pissed off Team Leader Jeon even more.
I glanced at ChanceMaker’s two managers.
The head manager was a sharp-looking woman in her mid-30s.
The road manager, unlike me, was a burly guy in his late 20s.
They knew Jeon was upset because of them but were giggling among themselves as if it didn’t matter.
Yeah, they must be thrilled, riding high on their group’s success.
With WhyNot already established and ChanceMaker showing promise, they’re probably dancing on cloud nine.
The military Is the ultimate gauge of a girl group’s popularity.
Even if they’re not a top-tier group with a solid fandom, soldiers have an instinctive knack for spotting who’s rising and who’s not.
The current “soldier’s pick” was ChanceMaker and their new song, ‘Bongga Bongga’.
Even the MCs’ scripts showed the difference in treatment.
For ChanceMaker, it was, “We hear their popularity among soldiers is no joke these days.”
For us? Just a generic, “The more you see them, the more charming these three lovely girls are.”
No matter how much seniority Free Sense has, in the idol world, popularity is king.
From the production staff’s perspective, they naturally prioritize ChanceMaker over us, and that subtle hierarchy was palpable even in the waiting area.
Sigh…
A bitter scoff slipped out of me.
It was partly the petty chuckle of a GraceOne fan, basking in their status as the reigning queens of the girl group scene, and partly the smirk of a seer who knows ChanceMaker’s future.
If I were alone, I might’ve added, “These nobodies are acting like hotshots.”
Maybe he sensed my vibe, but ChanceMaker’s road manager shot me a displeased glance.
Catching his look, their head manager turned to me as well.
Spotting an empty chair near us, she asked,
“Sorry, if you’re not using that chair, can we take it?”
It’s rude to judge someone by their looks, but she really had a fierce vibe.
Tall and lanky, with sharp, slit-like eyes and no double eyelids.
I don’t know if she’s married or not, but she’s the textbook image of “hysterical spinster.”
There were only three plastic chairs on our side.
Kwon Ah-hyun and Baek Jin-ah were sitting, so one was free.
But with six people in our group, we were already short on seats.
Meanwhile, ChanceMaker had five chairs.
I deliberately spoke loud enough for them to hear, addressing Lee Seung-ah, who’d been standing the whole time.
“Sit down.”
“No, I’m fine standing. Yeon-jeong unnie, you sit.”
“Then you sit, Yeon-jeong-ssi.”
“I’m okay…”
Ugh, why are they both so conscious of ChanceMaker’s manager?
Annoyed, I grabbed Seung-ah’s shoulder and made her sit.
That’s when ChanceMaker’s road manager spoke up, his tone dripping with condescension despite the polite words.
“You must be new, huh?”
His arrogance was top-tier, even if he used honorifics.
I replied calmly.
“Yes, yesterday was my first day.”
“Have you worked at another company before?”
“No, this is my first time.”
“You look young. Does VIP Entertainment hire a lot of newbies?”
As he spoke, ChanceMaker’s head manager chimed in, acting like she knew our company’s inner workings, like some smug panelist on a debate show.
“They’re super busy with GraceOne these days. They probably sent all the experienced staff to their team and stuck newbies with this one.”
Then, with a patronizing tone, she turned to me.
“Right?”
Ugh…
GraceOne is an unspoken taboo in our circle.
No one explicitly told me, but I’ve got enough sense to pick up on it.
Neither Team Leader Jeon nor stylist Yeon-jeong ever bring up GraceOne in front of Free Sense.
Being in the same company with overlapping work, it’s impossible to avoid the topic entirely, but they only mention GraceOne when the Free Sense members aren’t around.
What else could it be but a tacit taboo?
That’s why I’ve been keeping my GraceOne fandom—and the fact that I joined the company to see them—under tight wraps.
The atmosphere was getting tense, like something was about to go down.
Both ChanceMaker and our girls went silent.
I gave a small scoff and answered the head manager’s question, slipping in a bit of informal speech.
“I wouldn’t know about that. I’ve only been here two days.”
“It’s probably true. Your current team leader used to be a road manager, right? The original head manager got moved to GraceOne. They must need experienced staff over there.”
This woman was skating on thin ice.
She should’ve read the room after my response, but she kept bringing up GraceOne.
She wasn’t saying it outright, but her attitude was clearly mocking Free Sense, like, “You guys are flops, lol.”
I was starting to lose control of my expression when—
Skreeek
The youngest, Baek Jin-ah, stood up, her chair scraping loudly.
She walked lightly toward the head manager.
Then, placing her index finger on the manager’s lips, she spoke in her characteristic clipped tone.
“Shh. Your voice. Is really loud.”
Whoa, what’s with her?
Even so, this is too much.
Everyone froze, speechless.
The head manager swatted Jin-ah’s finger away, glaring at her in disbelief.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
As expected, Jin-ah was a full-on, unapologetic 4D Person.
Without blinking, she stared straight into the manager’s face and replied.
“Just asking. You to be. A bit quieter.”
“Is this how you ask for something?”
“From my perspective. This is my best. Attitude.”
The vibe was completely ruined.
I didn’t expect Jin-ah, of all people—not the leader or Ah-hyun—to go off like that…
Okay, I kind of saw it coming.
But I didn’t think she’d be this unhinged.
This is exactly why I can’t stand 4D types…
[TL Note: In Korean slang, calling someone “4D Person (4차원)” refers to a person who is quirky, unpredictable, or acts in a strange and unique way — basically, someone who’s “a little out there” or eccentric.]