Jiwoo smiled as wide as she could, flinching a bit as the bright lights hit her. She wasn’t used to being onstage, but she hoped it wasn’t obvious. She needed to make a good impression if this was going to work.
“Hello everyone and welcome to (F)K-Pop news! I am your host, Park Jimin, and today we’ve got some exciting news for you!”
Jimin stood triumphantly as the audience in front of them cheered. Not only was this being broadcasted all over the world, but it was also being done in front of a live audience. That thought didn’t help Jiwoo’s anxiety, and a wave of panic hit her.
As Jimin sat down across from her, Jiwoo forced herself to breathe and look as professional as she could. They were on a cozy house set, with two white arm chairs facing each other, a coffee table in the middle. On the coffee table were two cups of tea that neither person had touched yet, as they were just for decoration.
“As you can see, I’ve got here with me Seo Jiwoo, former CEO of PREP Entertainment!” the audience began screaming, and Jiwoo politely waved to them. Her large smile was making her cheeks hurt, but she didn’t falter. She couldn’t, not when everything was riding on this.
Jimin gestured to the audience in an attempt to quiet them. Once they had gone silent, he turned to Jiwoo. “How are you today, Jiwoo?”
She let out a breath and turned to look at Jimin. “I’m doing wonderful! How about you?"
He laughed. “I’m doing pretty good. But enough of the small talk. I’m sure the audience is impatient to know what this impromptu interview is about. So why don’t you tell them, Jiwoo?”
Jiwoo turned her gaze to the audience. It wasn’t large, only about 50. But 50 people looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to give an amazing answer was still daunting.
“As you all know, I used to be the CEO of Korea’s most famous entertainment agency, PREP Entertainment,” Jiwoo said. Some members of the audience clapped politely, and Jiwoo smiled. A real smile this time, not the forced one that she’d had earlier. “We were the creators of several popular groups, such as WHAM!88, RUBIX and Forever Winner. I’m sure you’ve all at least heard one of those names.”
More cheering came, and Jiwoo knew she now had them hooked. Now she just had to deliver the killing line before they got bored.
“As of yesterday, I have opened a new label called RE:VENGE Entertainment."
The crowd began whispering to one another, but Jiwoo was lost for what to say next. She had delivered the news, but she wasn’t sure how to sell it. She knew people would be skeptical in hearing that she was now the CEO of another entertainment agency, two years after her last one had gone bankrupt.
“Exciting news, isn’t it?” Jimin piped up, noticing Jiwoo’s hesitance. “I know I’m ready to see whatever the brilliant mind who came up with Forever Winner’s storyline can come up with now.” Then he leaned in close, like he was sharing a secret. “Tell me, Jiwoo, what prompted you to open up another agency after your last one went bankrupt?”
She took a breath. She knew the answer to this. “When PREP went bankrupt, I was devastated that my hard work went to waste because of the bad decisions made by KoolDown's employees. I used what little I had left to build myself back up. I was betrayed by my best friend, but I'm not going to let myself be vulnerable like that ever again.”
She inwardly winced, feeling like she had gone a bit too deep. The answer had been honest, yes. The reason she had come back was because she knew the bankruptcy hadn’t been her fault. If she had never trusted Dohee, things would’ve ended differently.
Why had she ever trusted Dohee?
Jimin nodded, and the audience watched them in fascination. “So you’re telling me that the bankruptcy happened because of your subsidiary label? Tell me, how did that happen?”
How did that happen?
Jiwoo winced as the memories came flooding back.
A gap-toothed Dohee hanging over the fence between their houses, smiling at Jiwoo. Dohee playing a game with Jiwoo and her siblings, laughing at every funny comment made. Dohee and Jiwoo dancing together at their school’s winter formal, because Jiwoo’s date had left her for a different girl. Dohee at Jiwoo’s graduation, Jiwoo at Dohee’s. Dohee had even been at the grand opening of PREP Entertainment. She had been with Jiwoo for so long, so what had happened between them?
“You’ve inspired me, Jiwoo. I want to open up my own label, too. I’m calling it ‘KoolDown Entertainment’!”
The way Dohee had grinned at Jiwoo had melted her heart. It was impossible to say no when Dohee smiled like that. So Jiwoo had taken her hands and said:
“I’ll help you however I can.”
“She used me,” Jiwoo blurted in response to Jimin’s question. “Park Dohee, the founder of KoolDown Entertainment. I helped her create and build KoolDown Entertainment, using my own agency as its backbone. But it was always obvious Dohee didn’t know how to run her own label. Her groups slowly began to fall as mine rose. I tried to help her, but in the end, it was her incompetence that destroyed both of our labels. She put every last penny in our accounts into making her groups successful, but it didn’t work. When her company failed, my company was too weak to uphold for much longer so mine crumpled with it.”
Jimin nodded slowly. She could see him analyzing her story, deciding if he believed it or not. She knew Dohee had shared her own version of events months ago, but she had flipped all the blame onto Jiwoo, like she always did. Most of it was exaggerated, most of it was lies. But she knew people believed her and hated Jiwoo because of it. She just hoped Jimin wasn’t one of them.
Sure, she had left some things out of her story. But those were the personal things that didn’t apply to this scenario. Dohee and Jiwoo had been friends since we were pre-teens, so it was only natural that there would be personal trauma related to their professional lives.
But Dohee hadn’t told anyone about that stuff, so neither would she.
Finally, Jimin nodded, and Jiwoo let out a relieved breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
“It appears we’re almost out of time. For my last question, I wish to know…” Jimin paused to add a dramatic effect. That was his favorite thing to do during interviews, and one of the reasons people found him so entertaining. “What are your plans for RE:VENGE Entertainment?”
That answer was easy. “I'm going to rebuild what was taken from me. I will debut groups just as popular as before, and we will make it to the top.”
Jimin raised an eyebrow. “Is that your final answer?”
“Yes.”
“So… What is the purpose of RE:VENGE Entertainment, other than to be, you know, revenge?”
This question caught Jiwoo off guard. “I thought you said that you said that question was the last question.”
The audience gave a laugh, and Jimin chuckled along with them. “Yes, but I’m curious now. How do you wish to win back the hearts of your old fans?”
“Well…” Jiwoo began, then ran with her practiced answer, since she knew this question was going to come up eventually. “The purpose of RE:VENGE Entertainment is simple. We wish to let our idols tell their stories through their music. No one is silenced here.”
Jimin slowly grinned as her words sank in. “I really like that, Jiwoo. I think you have an enticing offer here, and I’m definitely excited to see how this plays out. Hopefully this new company will have as much success as PREP did.”
“Thank you,” Jiwoo said softly. Jimin stood up and made some closing remarks to the audience, but Jiwoo didn’t pay any attention to them.
She thought the interview had gone well, but she couldn’t be sure until she saw people’s opinions about it.
Once the interview was over, she did the formalities, gave her goodbyes, then stepped outside. She had come alone and would leave alone. Any friends she had once had she’d lost, and her company was still empty. It consisted of Jiwoo and Jiwoo only.
She walked over to her car and slid into the driver’s seat. She pulled out her phone, which had received two notifications over the past five hours she’d been away from it. The first one was a calendar reminder for her interview, the second was a link to a newspaper article sent by her sister. She opened it, knowing it would either lead to news of a K-Pop group disbanding or going on tour. But the heading surprised her.
“Kim Dohee, former CEO of KoolDown Entertainment, opens up a new label, sources say.”
Dohee? Seriously? Jiwoo groaned and rubbed her head. How was she always two steps ahead?
She threw her phone into the passenger seat and ran a hand through her messy brown hair.
“Well, it looks like the game has begun,” she whispered to no one in particular. “And I will do all I can to win.”
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The streets of the Parallel World were cold, dark and empty. Penni appeared on a side street next to an old garage. She shivered in the cold, damp air and wish she had brought a jacket. She'd forgotten how cold it got in the Parallel World.
She made her way out onto the street and looked around for any signs of life. When she determined that there were none, she hurried inside the old garage.
The old garage smelled of sweat and saw dust. Everything that had been left behind was rusted. Penni covered her mouth with a hand to try and keep the dust out of her lungs.
At the very back of the garage, three symbols had been painted onto the wall:
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Penni groaned when she realized she had teleported to the wrong place. This hideout had been infiltrated, according to the code. They had moved elsewhere, but the symbol of their new location was one Penni didn't recognize.
She figured finding the Dimension Jumpers after all these years wouldn't be easy, but she also hadn't expected it to be this hard. How did one lose their main characters this quickly?
She groaned and pulled out her pink crystal. She walked outside and held it up to the sky, then quickly realized that it was too cloudy for her to get any sunlight.
She cursed and pocketed the crystal, then made her way down the street. It was a good thing Jiwoo wasn't expecting her back until later. Firing Yeojin had definitely made Penni's life a lot harder. How was she supposed to be a group manager and the one hunting down trainees?
She loved Jiwoo, but that girl needed to get her priorities straight.
Shaking her head, Penni almost didn't notice that another person had appeared on the street. Wrapped up in her thoughts, Penni slammed into the person.
"Oh! Well excuse you- Wait, Penni Lynn?"
Penni looked up to see a blonde girl with a crooked grin staring at her.
"My, I didn't think I would ever see you again!"
Penni scoffed and dusted herself off.
"Well, it turns out I need your guy's help."
The girl gasped, an amused look on her face.
"Oh, really? You need my help? How cute!"
"I don't need your help specifically," Penni amended. "I came here for Jennie."
The girl's face fell. "Excuse me?"
"You're excused."
The girl rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll take you to her. But just know that I'm not happy about it."
"Yeah, because my life revolves around making Aurelia Gail happy."
The women regarded each other in silence before they both burst into laughter.
"I wish you came around more, Penni! You are so fun to mess with."
"Mess with me any more than that and you're dead," Penni cast her a distrustful look. Aurelia just smirked as she grabbed Penni's elbow. She pulled out a pink crystal and a light. When she cast the light at the crystal, both girls disappeared.
☆☆☆
"Now she's giving the girls solos while I'm out here scouting for new talent," Penni finished her story as Aurelia helped her navigate the catacombs under Steel City. They had been traveling for about an hour and Penni was starting to believe Aurelia had gotten them lost. The crystals could only teleport people to places that had access to the sun, so they had to find their way to the Dimension Jumper's current hideout by themselves.
During the search, Penni had started to tell Aurelia about her need and why she had come to them for help. Aurelia listened with mild interest, occasionally inserting her own comment. When Penni finished her story, Aurelia laughed.
"I could see Wendy going for it. I'm not sure about anyone else, though."
Penni sighed. "Yeah, that's the problem. I want to help Jiwoo, but convincing you girls to do this is the hard part."
"Hey, I'm convinced."
"I thought you just said you weren't."
"I was talking about everyone else. The hardest to convince-"
"Will be Lottery and Yumi," Penni sighed.
"Exactly. Get one sister to join and the rest will as well. May will go anywhere Lucy goes. Those two are the wild cards."
Penni scoffed. "If anyone is a wild card, it's you."
Aurelia just shrugged. "Guilty as charged!"
"I bet I can find something to convince Lottery. I have access to worlds beyond this one and Earth, there's got to be something on one of them that would interest her."
Aurelia shook her head. "No, I want to convince Lottery! I have a very good persuasion technique."
"Do you?"
"I do."
Penni sighed. "Alright. You can ask Lottery. Just please try and be civil with it."
"I don't make promises."
☆☆☆
"Aurelia! Where the heck have you been?" a Russian-accented voice greeted the girls when they finally arrived at the new hideout. Aurelia fluffed her hair and shrugged.
"I've been around. Hey, Marina, meet you friend-"
"Penni Lynn," the woman crossed her arms over her chest. She was older, with short blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Her posture was confident and she glared at Penni fiercely as she asked, "What do you want?"
"Wait, you guys know each other?" Aurelia looked back and forth between the two, confused.
Penni shrugged and twirled a piece of hair around her finger. "I get around."
"That you do," the woman agreed.
Aurelia gave them each one last confused look before grabbing Penni's arm and leading her deeper into the camp. Due to some run-ins they'd had with the government of the Parallel World, the Dimension Jumpers had to move their operations to a secret base located underground. It was a tight space, but large enough to fit them. Blankets were hung up to make rooms for people. In the very center was the main place where people mingled. Steel walls rose up around them, left behind from the original Steel City, before it had been destroyed, buried and forgotten.
"The sisters are in that tent," Aurelia pointed to a larger tent made up of pink blankets at the front of the tents. "I know Jennie is here, but I'm not sure about the other three."
"What about everyone else? Lottery, Yumi and May?"
Aurelia shrugged. "I'll deal with those three."
"What?"
"I'll be your advocate!" Aurelia shoved Penni towards the tent. "Good luck, you'll need it! Seems like one mom already doesn't like you, so you should at least try to make a good impression on the other!"
"Marina has never liked me," Penni shrugged.
"I want the lore dump on how you two know each other later," Aurelia said. "Now go! We don't have all day!"
"This is my operation, not yours!" Penni seethed as Aurelia ran off. Then she sighed and stepped inside the tent.
It was hot and stuffy inside. A brown haired girl was sitting on the bed and reading a book. Two other girls were sitting on the ground and playing a game. The first girl looked exactly like Marina, right down to her piercing gaze. The younger girl had the same blonde hair of Marina, but her green eyes and round face matched that of her sister sitting on the bed.
The young blonde girl was the first to notice her.
"Who are you?"
Penni took a second to contemplate her response.
"My name is Penni Lynn. I'm a friend of your mother's, and I've come to talk to her about something."
The three girls stared at her in silent confusion. Penni stood there awkwardly, unsure of what else to say. She hadn't seen Alexia since high school, and lots of events has transpired since them. Events Alexia didn't know she knew, but someone had to write their story.
"How did you find this place?" the older blonde girl asked.
"Aurelia."
"Of course," all three girls groaned at the same time.
"So, can you take me to your mom or not?"
The girls were taken aback by her blunt statement, and they took a minute before responding. It was the young blonde girl who spoke. "She's not here. She's out with Wendy and Yumi. I'm not sure when they're getting back."
Penni sighed. "Alright, then… I also have a proposal for you girls. This would've been easier if I could've spoken to your mom first, but I can adapt."
The sisters all shared a look.
"What proposal?" the older blonde asked.
"How would you girls like to be in a K-Pop group?"
Notice: FikLive is shutting down temporarily, but members of FMC will begin putting their posts on here. We'll make an archive of past FikLive posts on here and continue to use the same formatting to continue giving Protagonists content.
(A/N: The content I'm posting in the FikLive thread isn't getting much attention and it feels like it's just me posting there so until other people start to use it again everything will just be put on here )
Have you been patiently awaiting FMC merch? Well, the wait is over! Now you can purchase official FMC photocards here: https://forms.gle/73N1sKCAAzPsmrAx6 Each pack ordered comes with five randomly chosen photocards Happy collecting!
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