BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 70: a turn for the better

"Well, I won't know."

"They find any way to get rid of us," Jungkook said simply with a small shrug. "They'll give fans excuses like disagreements with the company, injuries, health issues and other stupid reasons that don't even make sense if you think about it - the usual nonsense you see on the news. But quite simply... they'll just terminate our contracts on their terms."

Jieun's jaw dropped. "They're allowed to do that?"

"Are they not?" Jungkook shook his head with a cynical smile. "It doesn't matter, either way. They're rich. They can do anything they want. We can refuse to terminate the contract and they'll say... sure. But we'll end up with no comeback or activities for the next few years before we know it. I've seen plenty of seniors that end up like this... It's pretty messed up, if you ask me."

"That's awfully messed up," Jieun exclaimed. "How can they do such horrible things? People like you just want to chase after your dreams after all."

"And they just want to make profit from us chasing after our dreams-" Jungkook shrugged. "There's nothing much we can do about it. Of course, before we sign on, we're promised many good things - we're promised a debut, a chance to chase our dreams, a chance to become popular. Being young teenagers with nothing but hope for the future, we are easily fooled into thinking that perhaps this company is different from the rest. Perhaps, I can really debut and achieve my dreams. But reality is so different from what we were initially promised. All entertainment agencies just want is to exploit the dreams of young people, quite frankly."

"What about you?" Jieun asked curiously. "Do you ever regret your decision of signing on with your company?"

Jungkook sighed as he paused to think for a while. "Well... Years back, I chose to sign on with BG Entertainment because at that time, I was desperate to debut. As someone who already loved self-composing my own music back then, I wasn't asking for much. I just wanted a platform to showcase my music for the world to listen to. In the process, I feel like I got tricked into this world to become a useless little puppet with with no freedom."

Jieun nodded, listening to him intently.

"But somehow..." Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows. "I feel like even if I knew, I would still have made the same decision I made five years ago."

"Oh?"

"It's my dream after all-" Jungkook smiled a little. "You know what I mean?"

Dreams... Jieun knew full well.

"I'm sure you didn't have a easy time training to become a makeup artist as well," Jungkook commented. "But no matter how hard your life is, you persevere. Because if it's for our dreams, it's always worth it."

Jieun nodded slowly, a small smile playing at her lips. She could totally understand that feeling.

"Whenever you do my makeup, I can see how much you enjoy it," Jungkook noted. "The glow on your face... it's unavoidable."

"Really?" Jieun raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I really glow when I'm doing your makeup."

"Mm."

Jieun didn't know how she looked like as a reporter.

Did she glow too...?