The incident with Jin-young lasted for 2-3 days, but because of the face-slap from the news, his agency begged him not to get involved with Y/N again. So he hid at home and refused to step out of the house.
He had to do this even though, deep down, he was extremely unwilling to accept defeat.
Since he was a famous male celebrity that couldn't afford to have people dig deeper into him, and his father was too preoccupied with a business failure to care, Jin-young's mood became more depressed.
Not long after, LM announced the release of highlights from their shoot.
This was the shoot that Y/N and the 'mystery man' took part in.
Jin-young sat in front of the TV drinking a bottle of red wine and shook his legs. He refused to believe there would be a man with a better body than his.
Of course, Jin-young's fans couldn't help but cause a commotion. They wanted to know who this man that stole his job was...
"Can't you drink less? Don't you think you've had enough scandalous photos taken of you?" Jin-young's manager warned.
"Hey, LM has already publicly provoked me, can't I drink a bit of wine?" he grabbed the bottle of wine and pointed at the TV yelling, "Y/N that slut! She should fucking die. Commercial highlight my ass. They stole my job and now they're showing off."
"Don't get angry too soon. From what I've heard from people within the industry, because of this incident, HYPE has seized the opportunity to place an internal ban Y/N. I also heard that the jobs Y/N previously signed have all been given to others. She no longer has the ability to challenge you," Jin-young's manager sat down beside him and shared all the details he had learned.
"Is this true?" he lifted his head and took another sip of wine as he leaned back on the sofa, "Have you confirmed this information?"
"It's pretty much confirmed."
Jin-young put down his wine and burst out laughing, "Let's see how that bitch challenges me now...But, I have a question: HYPE only just signed on Y/N, how did their disagreement already get to this point?"
"It's HYPE's internal battle, as outsiders, how can we understand?" A moment later, Jin-young's manager patted him on the shoulder, "Don't waste your time on fighting with Y/N, right now, she is as unpopular as a sewer rat."
Jin-young was ecstatic. Disregarding his manager's words, he immediately pulled out his phone and posted a message online, "Hahaha, I heard Y/N's been banned by HYPE!"
Y/N banned!?
Does Jin-young hate Y/N so much that he's gone crazy?
The media expressed their confusion. They didn't understand why HYPE had originally signed Y/N so proudly, yet now they were slapping themselves in the face so quickly.
However, as the information came from Jin-young's mouth, the media felt they had to follow up the issue and find out the truth. So, they directly made a phone call to HYPE's CEO's office.
Originally, Jennie wanted to quietly deal with Y/N and not blow up the situation, but she never expected Jin-young would expose everything just like that.
She wanted to ban Y/N!
But, she didn't want the public to know she was suppressing Y/N just because she was no longer of value. Above all, she especially didn't want them to know, after using Y/N, she was now trying to discard of her. It seemed, in her heart, she too was aware that what she was doing was shameless and embarrassing. After all, simply using the incident with Jin-young as a reason, was too weak and far-fetched.
However, what she expected even less, was that Y/N would actually fight back.
Even if Jennie was the opponent...Y/N did not give in.
.....
"Right now, everyone is spreading the word that HYP Entertainment has banned you. They've also found proof that Lisa has taken over a few of your jobs. The public are assuming you are out of luck and as a 26-year-old model, being able to get to HYPE has already been a good enough achievement for you," Jong-In sneered as he looked at the comments online.
"However, I must say, the idiot Jin-young, has really done us a huge favor this time."
Jong-In had originally intended to expose this news himself, hoping public opinion would be able to keep Jennie in check. But, if he did that, they would both suffer a loss. Now that Jin-young had presented them with this huge gift, how could they reject his token of goodwill?
Y/N sat in the van flipping through a magazine as she maintained a smile on her face, "He probably thinks of it as a joke, but he has no idea Jennie will be too afraid to admit to it. At the end, she will choose to keep her pride."
"Why must you go see Jennie?" Jong-In felt Y/N did not have the need to see her anymore.
"It's not that I want to see her, she is the one that wants to see me," Y/N corrected.
"What I mean is, you could have rejected her."
"It doesn't hurt to see her. Who knows, maybe she is feeling regret. Even if she doesn't regret today, she will eventually feel it," Y/N said with a deeper meaning.
Jong-In closed his laptop and fell into silence. After quite some time, he finally asked, "Honestly, has President Park not invited you to join JinHit? Tell me the truth Y/N..."
"Of course he has. But, I am not worthy yet!" She replied straightforwardly.
Jong-In shook his finger at Y/N; he felt regret on her behalf. How could she let go of such a great opportunity?
Half an hour later, the trio finally arrived at HYP Entertainment's headquarters. Reporter's quickly swamped around them, but Jong-In and Mina quickly shielded Y/N and cleared a path for her to get into the building.
Jennie's secretary was already waiting at the entrance. Upon seeing Y/N, she immediately directed her into the meeting room.
Y/N scrunched up her eyebrows as she headed for the meeting room with Jong-In and Mina. However, upon entering the room, she not only saw Jennie, she also saw Lisa and HYPE's other international model, Danni. The woman seemed to have noticed her as she gazed at her deeply; it seemed she wanted to say something, but with Jennie around she couldn't.
Y/N could sense she had good intentions.
So she looked at her and nodded her head.
She was a woman of foreign descent with a pure short hairstyle that framed her face. Although her features weren't amazing, it was well defined and extremely unique. It was no surprise that she frequented the international runways.
"Y/N, sit," Jennie gestured coldly. "I invited you here today so that you, Lisa and Danni can get to know each other. I can resume your jobs, but you must control your attitude."
"What part of my attitude is President Kim unhappy with?" Y/N questioned.
"If you were at least half as obedient as these two, you would not attract the mess that you have now," Jennie replied coldly. "In other words, as a model of HYPE's, your future is in my hands. I just hope for you to be a little more obedient and cooperative. Am I wrong to ask for that?"
"So this includes having dinner with male actors?"
"That was for the purpose of creating hype," Jennie couldn't take it anymore; she felt Y/N was way too arrogant. "Fine, I'm not going to argue with you. I just have one question: do you still want to become an international supermodel?"
"President Kim, you must have known I will not compromise. The only reason you invited these two here today, was so you could force me to quit, with them serving as witnesses," Y/N unmasked Jennie's true intention.
After hearing these words, Jennie felt she no longer had to care too much as she directly said, "Dannie and Lisa have already taken your jobs, what are you going to do about it? In fact, you guessed right, I indeed want to force you to quit!"
Jennie wanted to keep her pride...so she had no choice but to force Y/N to be a deserter!
"You will definitely come beg me not to leave," Y/N responded after a moment of silence. "Jennie, you will pay the price for what you have done today."
Hearing this, Lisa was dumbfounded. Of course, so was Danni...No one had ever spoken to Jennie this way - Y/N was the first!
She was the first model to tell Jennie she'd regret in such a confident and crazy way.
Lisa even mouthed the words: Is Y/N Crazy?
Jennie looked at TY/N with an extreme sense of ridicule as she crossed her legs to the other side casually. In the silence, she seemed to be hinting: Did you think a mere model like yourself could make me feel regret?
Lisa had a similar look of mockery on her face while Danni gave Y/N a slightly anxious look. Seeing Y/N facing off with Jennie, Danni felt herself sweating on behalf of her. It seemed she was worried that Y/N wouldn't be able to survive in HYPE, or worse, the entertainment industry.
"I guess I'll have to wait and see how you will make me regret. Originally, I was planning to give a few of the jobs from Danni and Lisa back to you, but it seems I don't have to anymore."
Y/N smiled slightly; she didn't seem to be affected the way Jennie expected. In fact, she was exceptionally calm, "If there's nothing else President Kim, then I'll be heading home."
"If you want, you can stay and listen as I brief these girls on the jobs they will be taking from you. I don't mind," Jennie looked away and spoke coldly.
Y/N did not allow these harsh words to make her uncomfortable. She simply gave Jennie a meaningful glance as she turned to leave.
At least when she first signed her contract, she had entered HYPE with high hopes.
At least...she once had faith in Jennie.
Throughout this entire time, Jong-In had been waiting at the entrance. Upon seeing Y/N, he immediately ran up and asked, "What did you guys talk about?"
"Haven't you already inquired about this mess?" Y/N questioned him back. She was sure he'd already asked the staff at HYPE.
"Did Jennie really treat you in such an extreme way?"
"I'm afraid something even more extreme is on its way," Y/N replied. Her voice was calm, but it seemed to contain a sense of bitterness.
"All I want is what I deserve, I don't steal nor snatch. I depend on my own abilities. Yet, why must things be so hard? I guess...if even my fiancee could become someone else's, what's so strange about a friend becoming an enemy?"
After hearing Y/N's words, Jong-In didn't know how to refute. After all, he was too familiar with the pain associated with a friend's betrayal.
"Kai, I think you might be out of luck, I've just threatened Jennie."
"What you've done is not a threat. You never say anything you aren't sure of and never do anything you aren't certain about," Jong-In looked at Y/N calmly; he had faith in her.
Frozen by the agency?
Can't she get herself out of it?
Jong-In looked at Y/N's comfortable expression, he didn't believe it would be a problem for her at all.
However, in order to improve her mood, he decided to contact Lu Che so he could notify Jimin of what had happened.
After finding out the whole story, Jimin's eyes were terrifyingly cold and piercing. Even Lu Che had never seen the president reveal such a frightening expression...
Before meeting Y/N, HYPE meant nothing in Jimin's eyes and he especially didn't care about provocation from others. However, Jennie was currently picking on the person he loved the most...
She was stepping on his precious wife...
He started thinking about the reason he had originally sent Y/N to HYPE; he wanted to help her find the perfect stairs to success. Who would have thought, he instead sent her into a living hell.
Kim Jennie...
However, according to Y/N's personality, until she got completely hurt, she would not give up on the slightest glimpse of hope. If Jennie really managed to send Y/N to his side - to JinHit - he would tolerate her for a few more days.
.....
7pm. Jimin returned home on time to find Y/N asleep on the living room sofa. He couldn't help but remove his jacket and place it on her. Only at times like this did he get the chance to see the delicate side of Y/N; the side that needed protecting.
Y/N wasn't being forceful towards herself; as a person, especially a woman, all she wanted was a satisfying job and a happy family. She didn't want to reap without sowing, she just wanted to work diligently. But her experiences so far had been heavy like lead.
Jimin's heart ached...
Maybe because she could feel the burn from Jimin's fiery gaze, Y/N slowly opened her eyes. As her eyes met with his, she smiled sweetly, "You're back."
"Someone's almost blocked your modeling pathway, how could you still smile?"
"No, they haven't," Y/N stood up and wrapped one arm around Jimin's neck. With her other arm, she stuck out her finger and pointed to herself, "Who knows, maybe tomorrow I will make a revival...Min...you need to have faith in me."
Jimin pulled her into his embrace and placed his chin against her forehead, "But I am worried; I get more worried by the day. I can no longer watch you being bullied. With your permission, I can be your sword; your weapon."
There are people in one's life that want to use them even though they would never allow it.
Yet there are people that refuse to use one no matter how much they want them to.
"Did you think without you backing me I would be brave enough to put all my eggs in one basket?" Y/N said in a serious manner. "No matter how independent I am...you are still my source of support; you determine my happiness."
His pride was satisfied as he hugged her without a word; peacefully enjoying the silence.
Even if Jennie still wanted to create problems for Y/N behind her back.
So what?
How could someone with a strong willpower get frozen?
.....
The next morning.
Jin-young's fans were in an uproar as LM was scheduled to release the highlights from their shoot. They wanted to know what type of man the director had found to replace him. How dare they accept a job that was originally Jin-young's?
"Oh, the fans are really putting in a lot of effort," Jim-young's manager said to him as he sipped his coffee. "They are all waiting to see what god-like person it is and are waiting to stick up for you."
Jin-young looked neat and tidy; he was about to go discuss his new movie with a film company. Just thinking about the highlights to be released by LM, his face was full of disdain.
"How is this kind of matter worth paying attention to? Let them complain. I used to hate these brainless fans, but now I feel they've come in use."
"Be careful what you say," his manager warned.
"Have I said something wrong? Those idiots believe everything I say. They even went to look for Y/N to tear her apart. Pfft..."
His manager couldn't control his outspoken personality. But, it didn't matter, because the climax they were waiting for was to see the man that filmed a commercial with Y/N.
Let's see you completely ridiculed...
At this time, Y/N was sitting on the sofa in Jimin's office watching LM's every move. In reality, she was quite nervous. Firstly, this was the first time her and Jimin would appear together in front of the public and they would be broadcasted to the entire nation. Secondly, she wondered if anyone would recognize him.
A few meters away, Jimin was sitting at his desk flipping through some documents; it didn't seem to worry him at all...
10:30am. The scheduled time had arrived. As promised, LM released their highlights right on time...
Y/N opened the video, it was a short 30 seconds.
She finally got to see how her expression appeared when she was filming the commercial with Jimin.
She looked like she had complete trust and was full of love; like she had forgotten the world around her. In her eyes, there was total devotion for him.
Seeing this, even Y/N couldn't help but blush!
Of course, in the video, all that could be seen of Jimin was his back. LM selected to end the highlights video with the last scene of them holding each other's hand and Y/N leaning on his shoulder. The scene was shockingly beautiful, so beautiful it made other's breathless, because the emotions were too touching.
LM even turned this scene into their promotional image, blowing it up into huge posters and light boxes and gradually popping them up in major shopping centers.
In an instant, Jong-In's phone almost exploded with calls from various people. Some wanted to know Y/N's schedule, other's wanted to know who the male model was; they all wanted them to either appear together on their magazine front covers or walk down the runway together...
Jong-In was at home at this time. He had no idea LM's commercial highlights would create such a stir. So, he pulled out his laptop to have a look.
Although he had already witnessed the scene at the resort, seeing the interaction between Y/N and Jimin on screen, made him finally understand why a short 30-second highlight video could attract the attention of so many people.
This commercial had the ability to stir up deep emotions within the viewer. After seeing it, it gave one a sense of satisfaction and happiness...
This was the message LM wanted to convey: marriage was not the end.
Online, everyone was full of praise, "OMG, even though I know this is a commercial, I am willing to be sucked in by them..."
"The highlights are already so beautiful. LM, hurry and place the entire commercial up! This is the first time I've fallen in love with a commercial, I've already repeated it 20-30 times."
"Y/N is a real beauty! I am set on my appraisal! Especially since her eyes are so clear that it feels like you can look through to her soul!"
"Oh! Most importantly is this back. Who is this man?"
"I'm about to explode! This man has such a charisma; he looks noble, mature and is bursting with manliness. Why are we only allowed to see his back? I want to become a fan of his back!"
"I hope Jin-young's fans don't get angry at me, but in all honesty, I'm afraid, even just this man's back is enough to sense his presence; from top to bottom, Jin-young can't compare at all."
"He is so handsome!"
"Lucky it wasn't Jin-young. I'm about to get married and after seeing this commercial I was determined to buy their rings - hoping for a lifetime of happiness."
"Please reveal the 'back-view dream man'!"
.....
No one expected, with a simple highlights video, Y/N and the 'back-view dream man' would become the hottest topic.
As for Park Jin-young, his name was only mentioned when being ridiculed or compared.
His fans were originally furious, but after seeing the highlights video, they were speechless. They couldn't find any flaws or anything to complain about...
In terms of figure, Jin-young appeared to be a weakling in comparison.
And in terms of presence...this man's king-like dominance, far exceeded Jin-young.
Of course, the only regret was not seeing his face!
The arrogance of the fans disappeared. While, a portion of the fans that liked Jin-young for his body, quickly diverted their obsession towards the 'back-view dream man'...abandoning him on the side of the road...
As for the topic: 'Lucky Jin-young was replaced', this quickly flew to the top of search rankings. And, of course, the comments were unanimous.
"Jin-young is rubbish...if I was the director and had such a great resource in front of me, I too would have replaced him. Well done!"
"Exactly, I completely agree!"
At first, because Jin-young was in a meeting with his agency, he did not receive the first-hand news. But, as soon as he came out of the meeting room, he lazily stretched his hand out to his manager, gesturing for his phone. His manager hesitated.
"What happened? Why aren't you giving it to me?"
His manager wanted to say something but stopped as he obediently handed the phone over...
His expression was originally one of mockery, he even placed his feet on the coffee table in a contempt manner; swaying it shamelessly. However, after seeing the video and the comments online, his expression completely changed. He was so angry he smashed the phone in his hand.
"Who is this person?" Jin-young asked as he pointed to the shattered phone, "Who is this man?"
His manager shook his head.
"More handsome than me? Are these people blind?"
His manager thought to himself: You are obviously the one that is blind.
Jin-young's manager couldn't be blamed for siding with an outsider. By simply looking at the back of the man in the commercial, it was enough to see how perfect he was. In comparison, Jin-young was far from being on the same level; this was obvious to everyone, except him. He still thought of himself as invincible.
"All in all, the winds have currently changed. Everyone is praising the director's choice..." They think replacing you was the best decision.
Of course, his manager was too afraid to say the last sentence.
Jin-young kicked the coffee table and flung the vase atop the table with one swipe of his arms onto the floor. He couldn't even compete against the back of this man...he was incomparable to a back...
Overnight, Jin-young lost 400,000 fans.
400,000!
Competing agencies immediately grasped onto the laughing stock and took advantage to humiliate him. He had caused such a huge commotion with the replacement incident and almost tore apart Y/N. Yet, what was the result?
Even Jin-young's fans were screaming, "Replacement well done!"
Clingy fans quickly clung onto the mysterious man. In just one day's time, they had forgotten who Jin-young was. Their curiosity was focused on the 'back-view dream man'.
Everyone was fixated on this back and started a mass investigation into how this man would look if he turned around.
However, even when scouring the entire entertainment industry and placing all male celebrities with similar backs together, they found they were either too feminine or too robust; noble without any power or powerful yet too old. They weren't 'just right' like the man in the commercial...
Since the fans couldn't identify the man, they directly contacted Y/N and the director. But...
How could Y/N reveal anything?
In the end, after 2 days of hard work, fans finally put together an irresponsibly vague list of names. Miraculously, amongst the list...there was actually Park Jimin's name. This was because the list included people from all walks of life - even international celebrities.
Y/N's popularity did not decrease. And because she knew the identity of the man, the media fought over who was to interview her; they wanted to get even the slightest clue from her mouth.
Seeing Y/N's popularity, Jennie's expression was deep and dark.
She had never imagined Y/N would pull through like this. However, did Y/N expect her to bow down to her relying solely on this point?
Impossible...this...was only the start.