Episode 19: When Five Gather, There’s Always One Piece of Trash
Thud!
Seung-ah toppled sideways, frantically pulling her T-shirt down as she crawled over on all fours.
“O-oppa, did you record that?”
“Didn’t save it.”
“Ugh, why did my shirt fall like that?! And I’m not even wearing a cute bra!”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got two XX chromosomes at home, so I don’t have any illusions about women.”
“Sniff, that’s not the same! I’m a girl group idol!”
“Nah, we’re all just humans. At home, I walk around in stretched-out boxer briefs. My little sister even borrows them sometimes ‘cause they’re comfy.”
Just stating facts, but Ah-hyun recoiled in horror.
“Ew, no way! What kind of sister wears her brother’s underwear? I hated when my brother’s clothes got mixed with mine, so I did laundry separately. You’re not real siblings.”
“It’s true. At first, she thought they were just shorts, but after that, she kept stealing them, saying they’re comfy. Whenever Mom buys me new ones, she intercepts one.”
“Wow…”
Jin-ah jumped in.
“Hyun-jong-ssi, you don’t wear tight briefs? You go for loose boxers like a dad?”
“People who wear boxers can’t handle briefs. Besides, it’s not like I’m showing off my underwear to anyone.”
“No girlfriend?”
“Thanks for thinking I’m the type to have one.”
“What’s wrong with you? You’re not that bad.”
Has anyone ever validated me as a man like this?
Jin-ah’s a bit quirky, but she’s got a good heart.
Ah-hyun asked, “By the way, oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“That girl you scouted on the street, what’s she like? Seung-ah unnie said she’s pretty.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty. Classic center material.”
Seung-ah, slurring her words, added her take on Seon-yu’s looks.
“Her proportions are great, and she’s got a nice vibe. Like oppa said, total center visuals. Kinda like Han I-seul unnie or Soyuna unnie…”
“Oh, like an actress vibe. Finally, a visual member for our team?”
“Hey, you’re all visual members too.”
“Come on, we’re not exactly center-level pretty.”
“Wanna see a picture?”
“You have one?”
“Yeah, her KakaoTalk profile.”
I showed them Seo Seon-yu’s profile picture.
She had nearly 100 profile pics saved, going way back.
Keeping her profile history intact screams confidence in her looks—my ‘Goong-ye’ interpretation.
“Wait a sec,”
Ah-hyun said, grabbing my phone to look closer.
“I know her…”
“For real?”
“Seo Seon-yu. She’s a trainee at Jeje Entertainment.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Ah-hyun knew her.
But her expression wasn’t great.
“How do you know her?”
“After I won ‘The Singer’, I took vocal lessons at Jeje for a bit, and we trained together.”
“Oh, really?”
“Hmm… so it’s her…”
Ah-hyun brushed her hair back, looking displeased.
Seung-ah asked, “What, is her personality bad?”
“I didn’t see it myself, so it’s hard to say, but…”
I jumped in. “Bad rumors? Just tell us what you know. I’ll filter it.”
“I don’t know if her personality’s bad, but she’s super competitive and jealous. They say she puts down trainees who are better than her and divides people into cliques.”
“So she’s got a bad personality then.”
“Is she still at Jeje?”
“She said she left a month ago.”
“Oh…”
No wonder she stood out—she was a Jeje Entertainment trainee.
Jeje is a 1.5-tier agency, just below the big four.
But this is a problem.
Seo Seon-yu has to join Free Sense.
This isn’t about my likes or dislikes—it’s a done deal, confirmed by the future video.
“But rumors are just rumors. Unless you’ve seen it yourself, it’s just speculation,”
Ah-hyun said, wrapping it up maturely, though I couldn’t shake my unease.
The teamwork among the current three Free Sense members is stellar.
Despite tough times, they’ve stayed tight-knit without major internal issues.
But if Seon-yu, no matter how talented or good-looking, disrupts that teamwork, it’s a serious concern.
From a capitalist perspective, an idol group is just a workplace, but teamwork is critical in any organization.
Given that idols live, eat, and spend 24/7 together, team cohesion is even more vital than in a regular company.
Big agencies supposedly consider personalities when forming debut teams, but group dynamics can still fall apart.
If, as Ah-hyun says, it’s just rumors, that’s fine.
But if Seon-yu’s personality is genuinely toxic to the team, what should I do?
The future video only shows the public-facing result.
It doesn’t reveal what’s behind the curtain.
Plenty of groups hit Tier 1 only to crash and burn due to member conflicts and exposés.
“Oppa.”
Seung-ah snapped me out of my thoughts.
Her glassy eyes tried to focus as she continued.
“Look… I’m saying this assuming what Ah-hyun heard is true.”
“Yeah.”
“We don’t care if someone’s not skilled or not pretty. But we can’t deal with a member with bad character. Jealousy or cliques between members? That’s the worst.”
“Yeah, nobody likes a toxic coworker.”
But Seung-ah wasn’t just talking about general workplace rules—her expression hinted at a story.
Ah-hyun filled in the blanks.
“The original members were like that.”
The founding members: Jung-hee, Ji-an, and Min-ji.
Jung-hee, the eldest and leader, left right after the debut album. Ji-an and Min-ji left after the first mini-album.
Jin-ah joined afterward.
I’d read about their departures in articles, but there were no details—just a brief company statement confirming the exits.
Through Seung-ah and Ah-hyun, I learned the hidden truth behind their departures.
Ah-hyun didn’t even call Ji-an and Min-ji “unnie.”
“Ji-an and Min-ji formed cliques and bullied Jung-hee unnie.”
Both were a year older than Seung-ah, and Jung-hee was two years older than them, but because Ji-an and Min-ji started as trainees first, they completely disregarded the leader.
“They’d say right in front of Jung-hee unnie that idols should have an age limit, and whenever she tried to do something, they’d undermine or ignore her.”
Jung-hee couldn’t handle their toxicity and left.
To Ji-an and Min-ji, who’d even driven out the leader, teenage Seung-ah and Ah-hyun were mere maids.
Seung-ah and Ah-hyun took turns exposing their behavior.
“They smoked and drank in the dorm like it was nothing. After the managers left at night, they’d invite male trainees over for drinking parties. We couldn’t sleep, and our condition was ruined…”
“They were total psychos. When they messed up in practice and got scolded, they’d come back to the dorm and hit us, blaming us for throwing off the balance.”
“What? They got physical?”
“Yeah, at first it was just playful head taps, but later they straight-up hit us.”
“Crazy…”
“Total psychopaths.”
Ah-hyun nodded vigorously, grateful I was cursing them with her.
It went without saying that Seung-ah and Ah-hyun handled all the dorm chores.
Unable to take it anymore, they recorded the duo’s awful behavior and reported it to the company.
Thankfully, the company didn’t sweep it under the rug.
Instead of pushing for reconciliation, they cut out the rotten parts.
But even after Ji-an and Min-ji left, Seung-ah and Ah-hyun were harassed via KakaoTalk for a while.
The messages they sent were vile—full of curses, threats, and even insults about their parents.
Hearing this, I fully understood why Seung-ah and Ah-hyun were wary of Seon-yu.
Sure, Seon-yu probably isn’t that unhinged, but it’s natural for the two, with their trauma, to be sensitive.
Knowing the full story, I could see why they’d been so subdued.
With the group already struggling and taking constant hits from those two lunatics internally, it’s a miracle they’ve stayed sane at all.
“You guys really went through a lot.”
“Now that we’re talking about it…”
Seung-ah, eyes brimming with guilt, looked at Jin-ah, her voice trembling.
“When Jin-ah first joined, we didn’t take good care of her. After nearly two years of being tormented by those unnies, we got scared of people in general and looked at Jin-ah with prejudice. We should’ve treated her better… I’m sorry, Jin-ah.”
“Yeah, we kind of put up walls…”
Ah-hyun mirrored the same apologetic expression toward Jin-ah.
But Jin-ah, surprised, stared back at them.
“Huh? Really? I didn’t feel that at all. You guys were super nice to me.”
“Even if you’re just saying that, thanks…”
“No, I mean it. I really like you guys.”
It was a relief they could openly share their feelings like this now.
Whether it’s a girl group or a boy group, no group is immune to conflict and discord.
Even families who live together their whole lives have issues, so expecting a bunch of young strangers to get along perfectly is unrealistic.
Some people are likable for no reason, others unlikable for no reason. Some will like you, and some will hate you—it’s inevitable.
For guys my age or older, the military teaches you this through experience.
What matters is mutual understanding and communication.
Sure, some people are so impossible that normal conversation doesn’t work, but generally, sincere dialogue can prevent things from rotting completely.
Ji-an and Min-ji were just the type that normal communication didn’t reach.
Anyway.
Even if Seo Seon-yu has a bad personality, I can only hope she’s within the bounds of common sense.
For now, all I can do is ease the members’ worries, even if it’s just empty reassurance.
“Alright. If Seo Seon-yu is really like that, I’ll make sure to cut her out.”
Of course, that’s a problem for later.
First, it’s not even guaranteed she’ll join our team.
Realistically, a former trainee from a major agency like Jeje joining a group on the brink of disbandment like Free Sense makes no sense.
The only reason she showed interest was because we’re under the same agency as GraceOne.
From her perspective, she’s probably thinking about joining a new group as a trainee.
Even if we’re lucky and she agrees, a bigger hurdle awaits: getting the company’s approval.
The first strategy meeting, filled with hope and ambition, ended like that.
Despite the lofty talk, nothing has concretely changed.
All we can do is pour in our all and wait for the company’s judgment.
***
Two days later.
Jun-ho: [Damn, first edit’s done]
Jun-ho: [Slept 4 hours in two days]
A message came from my friend who edited the alumni event video.
Me: [Thaaaanks]
Jun-ho: [Even if their recognition’s trash, idols are idols. They’re pretty]
Me: [Yeah, the girls are pretty and sweet]
Jun-ho: [You hit that?]
Me: [What the hell, you lunatic]
Jun-ho: [Any chance with the purple-haired one? She’s my type. Ah-hyun]
Me: [Is this guy actually insane?]
Jun-ho: [Harsh words for a friend who worked for loyalty pay]
Jun-ho: [Delete the video?]
Jun-ho: [(Photo of a mouse hovering over the edit folder’s delete button)]
Me: [Do it, idiot. You’re the only one who suffered for two days]
Jun-ho: [Our Hyun-jong’s gotten bold since entering the workforce]
Me: [Just send it. I’ll buy you drinks later]
The first edit arrived.
While the Free Sense members were firing up their determination in the practice room, I played the video.
[The Unknown Girl Group That Turned an Alumni Sports Event Upside Down]
Jun-ho’s got a knack for this.
I was worried it might lean too much into a tearjerker vibe, but he balanced it with just the right mix of heartwarming and touching.
It’s packed with internet memes and quips to spark chuckles.
After showing it to the members, I sent it to Team Leader Jeon Min-yong.
A few minutes later, he called.
“Not bad. Did you make it?”
“I asked a friend. He’s an aspiring YouTube editor.”
“For what it is, it’s better than our PR team. He’s got skills.”
“Can we upload it?”
“No harm in it. I’ll put it on the company account. Give me his contact info.”
“That’d be great. I plan to keep asking him for help.”
Unable to hide my excitement at the praise, I perked up.
But Team Leader’s tone suddenly dropped.
“Do what you want with that. But have you given out your contact info anywhere?”
“Huh? What contact info?”
“Some girl called the company asking if you really work here.”
“Oh…”
Seo Seon-yu…
She even made a verification call.