diamonds

“oh, that’s a great idea! i should ask him,” luri agreed. “do you think i’d be able to get some sort of endorsement? i’ve always wanted to be the face of a makeup brand…”

“well, what you lack in brains, you make up for in looks. i’m sure you could secure something. especially since you’re a top tier idol,” sera answered bluntly.

“sera… you have to know there’s more to it than that,” solhee said, shifting awkwardly. she’d been excited to do this concept and really embrace herself, but she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t seen this coming. she had a hard time apologizing to her old friends, but their treatment had been terrible. this likely felt like salt in the wound.

“what more is there? i thought the fans wanted to see themselves in the media. now they are-- you’re here doing this. i swear, every single thing we do, people make it about sangsuk and her band of losers. it’s a headache.”

“it still would affect a lot of our image and public reputation– especially overseas,” he insisted firmly, biting back a smirk at her pouting. she was persistent to say the least. it was cute. “calculated risk. where there’s far more upside than downside. and i don’t think i see that here.”

“whatever. we’re both untouchable. and it’s not like i’m like...freshly eighteen or something! we met two years ago! it’s not creepy,” she cried, rolling her eyes. hands reached for his arm, tugging on it like a whiny child who wasn’t getting their way. “i’ll convince you someday. i know you-- you’re going to want your hands in spotlights pocket.”

“oh! i could be a great model! i’m really good at posing!” luri exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “how do i make that happen? who do i have to talk to? that sounds so fun!”

“uh, i can’t do everything for you luri! figure it out! i bet if you talk to our manager, he can do it for you,” she answered flippantly. “i have too much to figure out with the duo still, obviously.”

“it’s flawed,” he answered sternly. she was cute, but incredibly self-centered. it blinded her from the larger picture. “i’m not about to have my name dragged in the mud for being yet another predatory older male idol. even if i only met you a year ago, the optics are terrible for me. i’m nearly ten years your senior, and hugely more established than you. not to mention that a dating scandal is usually the end for a group as big as yours. iris would be done.”

“you’re not predatory! you’re a good business man! who’s cute! and obviously i am an adult and am making my own decisions-- if people are making up rumors, they’re the uninformed ones,” she whined desperately. she had it all-- the career, the connections. but not a huge powerful boyfriend. she wanted a big powerful boyfriend to flaunt! it was the last piece! “they can’t end me. i’m too important to their bottom line. just like my dad is too important for their financials. isn’t life all about risk?”

“i…. i don’t know about any of that,” jinjoo responded, admittedly regretting engaging with sera. “byul and gigi are legendary. and i know i’ve come a long way, but i wasn’t that bad…”

“you weren’t bad, you just weren’t good enough to really be in reign. they are a top tier, world class, top three company super group. and you were meant for dinky little groups back then. take it as a compliment-- you’ve grown a lot.”

“i…. whatever you say, sera. i trust you,” solhee conceded, sighing. “i am really proud of all we’ve done. i hope we can keep making great stuff together.”

“we will. i’ve talked with some of the execs-- i think we’re going to be able to branch out a lot this year. big things are on our horizon!”

“don’t you think it’s weird sometimes that you had such a big say, though?” solhee asked cautiously. “i feel like a group member picking the other members doesn’t really happen anywhere else…”

“please-- the group wouldn’t have happened without my dad’s wallet. we are a special case, because we’re special. we’re the worlds best girl group for a reason.”

“no, i agree. it’s nice. people talk about how after they graduate it’s hard to make friends because you don’t have that common place to meet people every day, but we’re kind of just…given friends, you know?”

“again, there’s a reason i picked you girls. i knew we’d be spending so much time together. i knew we were about to debut a sisterhood. i didn’t want to be stuck with people who sucked. we were built to be a family,” sera said definitively.

“Your opinion on whether I’m boring or not is about the last thing I care about, for the record. It’s in the minority, anyway,” Duri countered, then taking a deep breath, trying not to see red at what the other had to say about Beomsoo. “Well, I can’t say the same for Juno, but I’m pretty sure your group is only supported because you shoved Haze out of the picture. And you’re kidding yourself if you say that you don’t have a gimmick, because you’re chock full of them.”