KIM GARAM
April 27th,2022
It had been around 1 month since Eunseo threatened me. I told my manager about her and she told me to not get worried about it since I did nothing wrong.
We were practicing as usual in the practice room for our comeback "Antifragile". It was something I was looking forward too, a lot actually.
In our debut album, we were all nervous so sometimes we weren't able to do our best.
Also since Antifragile is such a bop song. The b-sides are also great this time. My favourite one being Impurities.
"Chaewon-ah, put more pressure on your hands. Yunjin you should be able to do the body roll smoothly. Kazuha remember to hold your leg with your hands when you hold it up. Garam make sure your expressions are on point. Eunchae make sure that your hands are aligned well" said our dance instructor, Park Yujung.
We were practicing hard even though our come back was not for another 6 months.
"Garam? Can you please go to the meeting room?" Asked one of the staff members.
"Oh yeah, of course" I replied with a confused expression.
The members all gave me concerned looks.
"Did anything happen?" Asked Yunjin
"No, not really. I don't think I've done anything" I said
"Maybe it's about some magazine cover?" Said Eunchae
"I don't know, but hopefully it's nothing bad" I replied.
Saying this, I left the practice room and headed to the meeting room at the corner of the floor and opened the door to see 12 pairs of eyes blinking at me.
In the meeting room
"Come in,Garam" said the Directing Manager in a calm tone.
I didn't have any clue why I had been asked to go to the meeting room.
"Your manager informed us about Eunseo." Said another one of the staff members.
"Oh" I replied. That was all I could think of at that time to say.
"There has been an anonymous account posting proof that you bullied a girl, called her vulgar words and beat her up. It has been viral in Twitter and other social media platforms" said the Head of the marketing team.
"Huh? I never bullied anyone, I was the one who was bullied!" I replied.
I was confused. I never bullied anyone. Eunseo often wrote mean stuff on my desk and forced some other of my classmates to do the same. Some of the did it because they were scared of Eunseo, others just to get back at me.
"We are throughly conducting an investigation on this but because of this scandal it's affecting the group's popularity a lot. You do know how seriously South Korea thinks of bullies right?" Said one of the staff from the marketing team.
"Yeah I do but I never bullied anyone so why are people believing whoever is behind that account?" I asked confused.
"Because this person has proof apparently, that you bullied her. She said she will post the proof exactly 2 weeks from now" said the staff with a grim expression.
"Oh okay?" I replied, I didn't know what proof they were going to give when I did nothing.
"You will have to remain in hiatus for the time being as you being and promoting in the group will be harmful to the groups popularity and its fan base. You cannot publicly appear anywhere. You must stay at your dorms all the time. Wear a mask, a cap and whatever it takes to make you look like a normal human being and not an idol. You must call your manager in case you need to go anywhere." said the CEO of Source Music.
"Okay but I'm innocent, i have proof that I was the one bullied not Eun-seo" I said frantically.
"We are thoroughly investigating the matter, for the time being, for the group and your wellbeing it's better you don't join in any promotional activities and remain in hiatus" said one of staff members in a grim tone.
"You may leave, Garam" said the managing staff.
I nodded and left the room.
I don't know what I felt at that moment but I could literally feel the tears swelling up in my eyes. I felt sad that anyone actually believed Eun-seo. I hadn't had much time to check any of my instagram or social media since I was so busy attending schedules and practicing as much as I could.
Instead of going to the practice room, I went to the bathroom. I couldn't face the members right now. I felt like I dissapointed them since I knw how hard it was for them to debut again.
As I entered a stall and locked the door behind me, tears streamed down my cheeks, and I couldn't hold back the flood of emotions any longer.In that moment, memories of the bullying I endured flooded my mind.
I remembered that day in particular.
The day I could never forget.
28th September,2018
One of my friends, Yoona had asked me to go to the basketball court and make sure all the equipment for PE where ready.
As I closed the door, and turned to look, I was shocked.
I started trembling.
It was none other than Eun-seo and her minion friends.
But that's not what bothered me.
It's Nara.
Her sitting on her knees.
Her hands covered in bruises.
Her head down.
She was crying. Definetly.
"Oh I see your best friend arrived Nara?" Asked Eunseo with a sly smile.
Nara slowly looked up.
When she saw me, she immediately looked down.
Her face was fully red and puffy, her lips were bleeding and one of her eyes were swollen.
"What the fuck are you doing Eunseo? How are you here again? You got expelled right? I asked confused and feeling angry at the same time.
"Oh save those questions for later Garam-ah, I will never forget the day you hurt my pride in front of everybody else in this school. How you made me change schools because of that stupid photo" said Eunseo with a rude tone.
"Nara what happened? Did she hurt you" I asked my voice full of concern.
She didn't respond.
She finally looked at me.
Her eyes were filled with shame and embarrassment.
"I-I'm ss-s-sorry.. Ga-Ga-garam.. I didn't mean to..." Nara said her voice barely loud.
"You didn't mean to what?" I asked confused and concerned.
"Your dear friend right here wants you to be hurt that's all. I gave her two options. Either she gets hurt or you get hurt and guess what? She chose you to get hurt" said Eunseo with a smirk.
"What?" I asked, I didn't understand anything that was happening right now.
"Stop it, Eun-seo. You ca-"
Before I could finish my sentence, everything became a blur. My sight blurred. I couldn't see or feel anything.
When I woke up. Every part of my body hurt.
I slowly opened my eyes to find Eunseo staring at me happily along with her minions with Nara by her side.
"Oh thank God you woke up. Now I can finally begin with my revenge" said Eunseo.
I was about to ask what she meant when I noticed my hands and my legs were tied to a chair and my head hurt like hell.
That's when I tasted blood on my lips.
Eunseo came towards me.
She slapped me.
Not once.
Not twice.
Not thrice.
10 times.
Each time, the sound echoed in my head.
I counted each time she hit me.
Each time it hurt.
"You are a bitch, you know that? What do you think? Just because you're pretty everyone is going to love you? No you fucking slut. If they did, would your 'friend' be watching you get tortured like this?" She said in between slapping me.
After she was done slapping me. One girl came towards me and punched my nose.
" I always hated you, you know? You always pretended like you were perfect. I hated it. I hate you. You're a whore" she said.
I did not get why everyone was calling me a slut or a whore.
After her, each one of her minions either punched me in my stomach or my eye.
After that she made Nara stand in front of me.
Nara was holding a cigarette in her hand.
"Do it" said Eunseo.
I wanted to ask "Do what?" But I didn't have the energy to ask that.
With trembling hands, Nara held my hand and with the cigarette she thrusted it in my hand. It burned my hand.
It hurt.
But not as much as it was hurting me emotionally.
My own friend was doing this to me.
My Nara.
I wanted to cry but no tears came out.
That's when I felt water in my hand where my hand had burns because of the cigarette.
It was not my tears.
It was Nara's.
After that I felt my vision go black.
I couldn't fight the pain I was suffering.
The only thing I remembered was ambulance siren and my name being whispered a hundred times.
To be continued...