The next morning, the entertainment news was doing a live broadcast of the spectacle at Incheon airport. TV broadcasters were at the scene reporting live.
"I'm afraid this is the first time I've seen such a scene, not only in my entire career - but in my entire life. A huge number of fans have gathered here today, not because they like someone, but because they dislike them."
"We can see live at the scene, plenty of banners and signs; they are all trying to express anger towards the model, Y/N.",
After speaking, the reporter looked down at her watch before looking up again, "From what we know, Y/N's flight will be arriving at 10am, which is less than 20 minutes from now. Right now, the airport is urgently preparing security. On behalf of all the reporters present, I hope Y/N will be able to get out safely without getting hurt."
After seeing the news, Mina lifted the remote and turned off the TV. She then turned to look at Y/N. She was currently standing beside the square dining table pruning some flowers.
"I've already organized for the lawyers to send out your contract termination letter. I am assuming, at this time, it has arrived in Jennie's hands," Mina said.
Y/N remained silent as she continued what she was doing.
"Y/N...did you know last night, I looked through all the abuse online? Do you know how upset I was? Look! my eyes are swollen from crying..." Mina sulked as she pointed to her walnut-shaped eyes.
"You deserve it," She replied calmly.
"Didn't I do this all because of you? You sure stand out from the rest. While other people's fans are waiting at the airport to greet them and serenade their love for them, look at your fans - they are holding banners telling you to get lost, demanding for you to apologize and cursing you to die..."
"It seems, after this battle, my name will go down in the history books," Y/N continued to prune the roses in her hands before arranging them beautifully in a glass vase.
She could guess what Mina was trying to do; she was simply trying to check on her emotions.
After all the ups and downs she had already been through, she honestly did not care about the damage caused by rumors anymore. Once upon a time, she endured the pain - these days, she simply did not care.
At this time, Mina decided to change the topic and talk about something more uplifting. However, Y/N suddenly received a phone call from Jennie.
After seeing the caller ID, Mina asked Y/N if she wanted to pick up. She put down the scissors in her hand and answered.
"Have you already returned?" Jennie asked. She knew, if Y/N was still on the plane, there was no way she'd be able to pick up the phone.
Jennie had just received Y/N's contract termination letter, so she assumed Y/N was already back in the country. This was expected of her; as if she would give anti-fans the opportunity to surround and obstruct her.
"I got back last night!" Y/N replied calmly without trying to hide anything.
The two people who had once played a long game of tug-of-war, under such circumstances, unexpectedly conversed calmer than usual.
If from the start, Jennie had not decided to classify their relationship as one between a higher level and lower level - if they were simply friends - perhaps, they would have never gotten to the point where they were today.
"I've received your contract termination letter..." Jennie looked over the letter again; she had mixed feelings. Actually, she did not know what she should say to Y/N at this moment. But, as the CEO, she had the responsibility of expressing the agency's standpoint, "Y/N, are you aware that you've caused HYPE to suffer a huge loss?"
"You should go speak to the person that exposed the information," Y/N hinted at Hyunjin.
"Regarding this matter, HYPE has indeed been useless and have not carried out its responsibilities. So, between you and I, mistakes have definitely been made, this can't be denied. Hence, I have already approved your contract termination."
"Thank you," Y/N replied.
"After this, HYPE will announce that they have expelled you from the agency. I have no choice but to do this, after all, I am a business person."
"You don't need to find an excuse for your shamelessness." After a moment of silence, Y/N found something suitable to say, "Seeing me get to this point, you must be happy. After all, you've won and destroyed the career I have worked so hard to build."
Happy? Jennie did not feel happiness at all.
"Y/N, I am aware that it is wrong for me to be so competitive, but your personality is also not suited for the entertainment and fashion industries; you stand in too many people's way. You make people around you appear dirty and shameful. As a result, there are plenty of people that want to see a model with high morals do something indecent, be tricked and receive humiliation. So, the result today - you deserve it!"
"I guess you're excited to imagine how I will live my life like an unwanted sewer rat. Did you think I've been destroyed without a chance of revival?" After asking this question, Y/N was silent for a moment before smiling.
"At least you can still live your life in hiding...That's why I've decided not to chase you for the losses you've caused the agency. Think of this as a token of my friendship."
Y/N suddenly started laughing, in fact, her voice started resounding as her stomach began to hurt from the laughter, "In that case, I must really thank you for letting me off in the end."
"HYPE will make their announcement in the afternoon!"
At that time, Jennie expected the announcement to be a destructive attack on Y/N.
"Do as you please," Y/N did not sound defeated, in fact, she sounded fearless.
Jennie assumed Y/N was holding back her anger. She thought she understood her; even if she was to lose everything, she was the type to maintain her pride.
After hanging up the phone, Jennie turned to look at Hyunjin who was sitting beside her and reluctantly said, "Y/N's contract has been terminated. Go handle what's remaining. After all, it seems there is no difference whether this agency has me or not."
"I never intended to force you. I simply did not want you to go soft."
"Keep telling yourself that. If that's all, then leave." After speaking fiercely, Jennie placed her focus on the documents in front of her.
How could she be willing to accept that the agencies fate had been placed in the hands of an Artists Director?
Hyunjin was aware that, this time, he had not only tread on Jennie''s bottom line...he had also tread on her icy cold heart.
"Although you may feel disgusted by my actions...all these years in HYPE, I have never thought of betraying HYPE nor you. Even though I have done many things for my own self-interest, don't tell me you haven't noticed that I indeed care for you as a friend?"
Hearing this, she was amused, "I am extremely disgusted."
"I think you better focus on handling this matter with Y/N. Or else, I won't believe a single word that comes out of your mouth."
****
Inside the busy airport, the anti-fans waited for 2 hours without any sign of Y/N. Finally, they guessed that she may have already returned in advance. As a result, in the eyes of these people, she gained a new nickname: 'Tricky Cheap Model!'
Sometimes, it was difficult to understand the dark mentality of these people; just because she didn't want to mess with them, couldn't she at least hide from them?
Was she so stupid to walk into their attacks even though she knew they were waiting for her?
However, in the hearts of these people, they thought: if you do something wrong, you should receive our judgment. If you are to hide, it means you feel guilty and are wrong and cheap.
No one cared about the truth.
Since the anti-fans couldn't find Y/N, they directly headed over to HYP Entertainment and completely surrounded the building. However, the people at HYPE expressed that they had not seen Y/N.
Eventually, they revealed that HYPE would be making a simple announcement in the afternoon and reassured everyone to remain patient.
"If HYPE continues to protect Y/N, we will unite to boycott them until they close down!"
"Although we understand that the entertainment industry is dirty, we still hope that you will at least maintain your bottom line and get rid of people like Y/N..."
"All I know is, a cheap model that goes into hiding, will forever live life in the dark."
****
At the same time. JinHit Entertainment, CEO's office.
Jimin held a simple meeting and told everyone he had already prepared a contract and would be signing Y/N with JinHit
The higher-ups looked at each other. They were surprised that the Jimin that always rejected the worst artists would suddenly want to sign on Y/N.
"President Park, I'm sure you've seen how Y/N's incident has stirred up the entire of South Korea. How could we allow someone like that in JinHit?"
Facing his staff's questioning, Jimin gave him a piercing stare before replying coldly, "A person like you who talks before thinking, how did you get into management? Is this your first day in the entertainment industry? Just because the outside world says it's true, will you blatantly believe it? Why don't you go be an anti-fan instead of staying in management? Who is this guy's superior? After leaving here, I want him to write a 30,000-word report to reflect on his actions. I want to see it on my desk tomorrow. There will be no next time!"
The man suddenly stopped making a sound. Of course, he was too afraid to make a sound.
As for the other people in management, after years spent in JinHit and their understanding towards Jimin's methods, they knew that if Y/N was really how they rumoured her to be, there would be no way he'd consider bringing her into JinHit. So, towards Jimin's decision, they had no objections.
"We trust in the president's arrangements."
Everyone else expressed their support. In reality...most of them had already seen Y/N on the runway and had long been impressed by this genius model. Many of them had wanted to suggest Jimin poach Y/N for a long time, but because she had been through so much, they were afraid Jimin would dislike her, so they were too afraid to mention it.
Who would have imagined, Jimin would actually announce signing on Tangning at a point like this!
"Then it's decided. Lee Taemin stay behind, everyone else is dismissed."
The higher-ups slowly got up and left the meeting room, leaving the Artists Director, Lee Taemin, behind.
Jimin handed the information prepared by Lu Che to Taemin and put him in control of organizing the press conference.
After flipping through the contract in his hands, Taemin froze, "President Park, her manager..."
"I want to personally manage Y/N. Do you have a problem with that?" Jimin asked as he lifted his head, "However, don't let anyone know about it. Including Y/N herself. When I have time, I will tell her personally."
He couldn't understand why Jimin would give Y/N such special treatment and privilege.
Perhaps, Jimin could sense Taemin's doubt. So, he firmly answered his query, "Because she's worth it!"
"Understood President Park, no need to worry."
After spending some time looking through the information, Taemin discovered everything that had happened to Y/N since joining HYPE. But, the thing that made him surprised was, all these small details, how did Jimin find out about them? Unless...he was involved from the start.
No matter what, HYP Entertainment were indeed shameless. Especially during the incident with Jeon Soobin; their methods were completely despicable.
Perhaps, because of his sympathy towards Y/N, he began to anticipate what was to come. He couldn't wait for HYP Entertainment to make their announcement because he'd then have his chance to satisfyingly slap them in the face.
****
3pm. After discussions amongst the higher-ups, HYP Entertainment finally got Hyunjin to accept interviews from the media at the entrance to the building.
While surrounded by the media and anti-fans, Hyunjin started off giving everyone a bow before turning to look at the cameras and speaking, "Firstly, on behalf of HYP Entertainment and our model, Y/N, I would like to apologize to the public regarding the recent Jeon Soobin incident."
"After clarification, we have concluded that our company's artist, Y/N, has indeed made a promise to Jeon Soobin. But, regarding the rumors that are spreading online, we also do not know the truth. Because of Y/N's continued denial and refusal to cooperate with investigations, plus arrogance in writing a contract termination letter to the agency, from now on, her name will no longer be associated with us. We can no longer tolerate having an artist with attitude problems continue to give our agency a bad name."
"Here, HYP Entertainment would like to appeal to the general public. Towards corrupt public figures, we should unite and boycott them. As for Y/N, she will be the first artist HYP Entertainment publicly bans from ever working with."
"Thank you everyone for your support towards HYP Entertainment, we will continue to work hard and make appropriate changes. I hope everyone can continue to monitor us."
Mina watched the news and the words that were spouting out of Hyunjin's mouth. Every word felt like a slap from Jennie.
"Y/N will be the first person to be banned by HYP Entertainment."
At this time, Lu Che was also at Hannam. Upon seeing the news, he started complaining to Mina, "This kind of shamelessness really makes me question their values."
"Pfft...Do they still have values?"She rolled her eyes. "I really pity our Y/N..."
Pity?
Lu Che turned around and looked at Y/N. After leaving HYPE, she would be entering JinHit, what was there to pity about?
"That jerk Hyunjin is still talking...and talking...I really want to strangle him. How could he be so annoying?"
On TV, he was still answering the reporter's questions, "You want more insider information about Y/N?"
"All I can say is, she is nothing like she appears to be. People like her, every time we come across one, we will ban them."
The netizens were all cheering and clapping at this result. They felt, by banning Y/N, HYP Entertainment were pretty much putting a life sentence on her. But, when did HYPE call the shots in the entertainment industry?
The thing that no one expected was, during this short 10-minutes of interview time, another piece of news exploded on the entertainment scene.