setting: exclusive gala, main room, 27 december 2021
with: @fmdduri
“duri babes, do me a favor and hold this for me.” yena slid into her friend’s space, pressing a glass of champagne into his hand, very much still holding another one in the other hand, bringing it up to her lips to take a sip. in most contexts, it wouldn’t have been that weird of a display, giving a drink to a friend, nothing weird about that. considering that duri didn’t drink though... that suddenly made matters a little bit more uncommon, especially when unprecedented like this.
realizing she had so far failed to give him any explanations, a gentle ring of laughter escaped yena. “oh, i’m not expecting you to drink it, don’t worry. just, hold it for me yeah?” she instructed, letting her eyes sweep the ballroom for a second before continuing her explanation. “i don’t want anyone on my case about burning through my drinks too fast and when you’re holding a drink, no one else will come bother you about how you should drink.” she smiled triumphantly, like she had come up with the masterplan of the year. “i figured it would be a win-win for us both. just, look natural yeah?”
she means it literally, figuratively — anyway dispersed when she buys her time with a formidable conversation. too many people passing by, empty faces with even emptier souls. they all serve as the stars wandering around in the lost space of a company event, maybe herself included.
but she doesn’t touch much on the theme, just the company provided next to her when everything becomes a placeover brushed over throughout the night.
her eyes fall to the stranger next to her, brows raised. it’s like second nature letting her body fall into autopilot, the words leaving her lips left with no afterthought. “or if you don’t want to share your brags of riches for the night, do entertain me with a nice tmi of your day. how many drinks did you swoop or how many rumors did you whisper? too many drinks have tossed me in a frenzy, and now i’m like the lone wolf crying my way back home. so, my ears are ready.”
famed exclusive gala — today seoul rumor drops list
this will continue to be updated as submissions are made.
ooc notes: most submitted rumors that were used ended up being blind items because of their factors (request to be a blind item, the rumor was false, or it wasn’t clear what the source would be, etc)! that said, all blind items were written with hints (such as song titles) so that muns could say that it was widely assumed to be about their muse if they wanted to so it could affect their development even without them being outright named.
today seoul would be posting rumors about other celebrities too, not only idols or people from the three canon companies, so muns are welcome to also say their muse isn’t really narrowed in on because a blind item also matches an npc or npcs.
ic notes: today seoul’s website and social media will be taken down about twenty-four hours after they make these posts without immediate information available as to why. this will not occur during the run of the event, but i’m sharing it in case muns end up wanting to write about any fallout that takes place shortly after the event as non-event writing.
Time of Drop
10:00pm
Rumors claim that Singer J would have done anything to stay in the debut line-up of the group she went on to debut in. She went so far as to physically fight another trainee who was in the running to debut. It wasn’t a dumb decision, because the trainee left the company and J was able to debut instead.
Singer T is nothing short of a loose cannon behind the scenes. Some of his bad behavior has gotten out, but it’s gotten so bad that his agency has been forced to use their power to mask it all as him working too hard. The reality is that T likes to do things he shouldn’t when he’s overseas and thinks no one recognizes him. When he gets close enough to getting caught, his agency has to take him out of the public eye to quell rumors. Everyone’s bound to catch on at some point and then what little company-concocted sympathy there is left for him will run dry.
10:30pm
Girl group member M would rather not be known by that label. She’s not a rookie anymore and recently made the decision to continue on with her group, but it’s all for appearances at the behest of her company. She doesn’t get along with any of her members and would rather break out as a soloist in the face of her recent success in that field. How did her company convince her staying with her group wasn’t a dumb dumb decision? With special treatment.
Idol M is a miracle of a natural beauty in the idol industry. Or so she and her company would like everyone to think. Find the right plastic surgery clinic, and their records wouldn’t remember the same. She got work done young, when nobody knew her name. She’s far from the only one who’s gone under the knife in her industry, but a source was so sick of the lying.
Celebrity H has gotten into some controversies over the years. He’s gotten a number of big opportunities of late in spite of this. In truth, H secretly comes from a chaebol family with plenty of money and influence behind their name. Could it be possible H’s family’s influence has allowed him to continue his career unscathed without his company and the public sending him on his way back home despite his downfalls?
Boy group member J is in a group pushed for their skills and his company has a good image, so their fans like to boast about how perfect they are as idols and as people. It looks like J has them fooled because according to a former classmate, he was known for his bad behavior in high school. He didn’t make friends due to his attitude and classmates recount him making their time in school with him a living nightmare, going so far as to get into physical altercations with other students. Looks like J really is a fighter.
Idol Y is a part of a group that still has some way to go to get closer to the top of the industry. According to staff, Y doesn’t care about keeping up the hardworking rookie attitude because she never takes work seriously. Instead of practicing hard to help her group rise, she spends most of her time sleeping, eating, and playing games. Staff are growing annoyed with her because she’s old enough to know better. There are plenty of other girl groups willing to take her group’s spot, so Y should stop flying so close to that red sun with her behavior.
11:00pm
Girl group member A is in a group known for their sweet images, but the way A acts behind the scenes has staff wishing she would cheer up. She apparently has an attitude problem when she’s unhappy with what’s given to her. Idol A has been seen arguing with stylists about her outfits backstage because she was unhappy with their choices, according to an anonymous witness. A must be sending a signal she thinks she’s too popular to respect staff now.
Singer E’s company was quick to push her into a solo singing career not long after her group debuted without waiting for them to get closer to group success. She’s become a budding singer-songwriter, but it’s alleged that all of her inspiration comes from her serial dating lifestyle. She may look innocent, but her looks make her a liar liar because underneath, her secret is that she’s a fox who’s known for dating men only to write songs about them. They’re lured in by her soft and sweet looks and persona, but are left heartbroken when she runs dry of songs to write about them.
Idol L and Idol M were in a long-term relationship until M’s debut brought their relationship to a close. Idol L was already debuted during the time they dated, and had found some automatic success in her group due to her unique situation. It’s unclear whether L and M ended on good or bad terms, but if there was any ill will it’s gone now, because sources close to the pair say they expect the two to get back together. They’re both still young, so maybe this time their relationship will be just right.
11:30pm
A source claims to have proof that they overheard Ultraviolet’s Lux loudly complaining about Gold Star Media seemingly having little interest in the songs they’ve submitted for a solo debut they badly want. Ultraviolet might be only two years post-debut with the kind of success most of their peers can only dream of, but seemingly, that isn’t enough for Lux when others are getting more opportunities.
12:00am
Former idol A who debuted under BC Entertainment in the early 2000s has come forth to share evidence with Today Seoul that her former company blackmailed her for years to keep her out of the industry. A was a jewel in BC Entertainment’s crown, but chose to leave the company with plans to join a smaller agency. After she left BC Entertainment in the late 2000s, not only did broadcast stations, agencies, and brands not want to work with her for fear of getting on BC Entertainment’s bad side, but the company gathered information from her former managers and threatened to out details of her personal life and background, and even to spread false rumors about her, to the media if she continued to try to work in the industry. Instead of continuing her career as planned, A was forced to retire from the industry.
According to documents acquired by Today Seoul, Dimensions Entertainment is at risk of facing a lawsuit. According to sources with knowledge of the investigation, Dimensions Entertainment is being investigated for fraudulent debt calculation and fraudulently high penalties toward trainees who terminated their contracts early and left the company. The former trainees claimed Dimensions Entertainment specifically targeted a few of the trainees they had no plans of debuting with harsh behavior from employees to pressure them to terminate their contracts so that the company could demand they pay back fraudulent expenses from their training. One former trainee also accuses Dimensions Entertainment of stealing a song they wrote and not crediting them on the song when it was released after they left the company. A group of former trainees have recently been in contact with lawyers to discuss suing Dimensions Entertainment.
An investigation into tax evasion by high-ranking Gold Star Media executive B recently spread into a larger investigation of the practices of the company. There is reportedly suspicion that Gold Star Media has been evading taxes and high-ranking executives such as B have been embezzling money through the use of paper companies they claimed were set up for the furthering of their artists’ global activities outside of South Korea. B is allegedly the mastermind behind the scheme and was questionably brought onto his position through a close personal connection to Gold Star Media CEO Bang Sunyoung, despite having no job history that qualified him for his position. Some sources with insight into Gold Star Media claim B is in a romantic relationship with the Gold Star CEO and she has also benefitted from the embezzled funds.
“do you think whoever came up with the theme of this gala was smart enough to catch the fact that among the stars could be a reference to the starry decorations as well as the guest celebrities or do you think i’m overthinking all of this and giving them too much credit?”
initially, jaein hadn’t given much thought to the theme of the gala. hell, she barely gave any thought to the gala itself other than noticing that it was just another addition on her schedule board. once she stepped in, however, she’s noticed that this wasn’t just some regular company-held event. no, it seemed quite clear that it was more than that. the amount of money that must have gone into the venue was insane, and she could imagine so many better ways that money could have been spent.
“i took a peak at the garden, and it’s clear that they’ve put a lot of thought and money into this. the whole ceiling looked like it cost more than my yearly salary,” she confessed with a scoff. she hadn’t spent too much time there because every second she stayed in the garden, the more she realized that it was bathing in crystals. a little too much for her poor eyes.
too many stars in the black sky — whatever, he’s turned into a shitty sap drunk. one that sits, wobbly when his body sways back and forth to the frigid rhythm of the air. it’s cold, but not enough that the alcohol doesn’t pack a punch when he feels the literal heat raising from his chest into his ears.too many people, no. too many assholes he doesn’t care about when his friends lie small and few, and the crowd leaves him to find each and everyone like a needle in a haystack. too bad he’s given up when he finds himself outside of the garden with that lackluster energy to even take the two steps in.
what he wants to do is lie down and sleep, but he knows that reckons another hour lecture and greater repercussions if anyone catches a glimpse of a blacked-out member, alone sulking away outdoors in solitude.
but he remains anyways for a few more seconds, realizes maybe he’s so drunk that he recognizes another figure approaching him — or maybe, that’s just his damn loneliness talking. what the hell, and he greets out into a void, no expectation of any call back. “you hear any good rumors today? or maybe, i’m the rumor and nobody told me. but that’s not the point — did you ever see these many stars in seoul? i call bullshit.”
so this fit would be mostly gucki, going off of the ‘meeting with good feelings’ sung had w gucci earlier in the year. and it’s mostly based around the concept in the jongin pic used, so like the feather vest over a suit, with the chain collar (the full version it chains down to belt level. call it commitment to chained up’s concept < 3) the shirt under the suit jacket would likely be sparkly, thinking of the sequins pictured above, blue and black coloration, but probably more dainty than phat sequins. n that gucki ring fit the theme so i tacked it on. this aesthetic is v much more a Vibe than exact pieces. if it wasn’t a gala where sung had to b v professional like this, i would have put him in [x] and honestly ! i wanna find an excuse to use it anyway it’s iconic
okay before we turn up the skepticism LISTEN to what i have to say !!! when joohwan heard about the theme for the gala being among the stars, she immediately thought sci-fi/futuristic concept and she called her stylist to exchange some ideas about it. they thought about doing something more discreet and whatnot but they came to the conclusion that this was pretty much the only chance hwan would have of actually doing something slightly more avant garde (for an amab person), SO hwan gave the name of the one designer she thought she’d never be able to wear something of: iris van herpen.
iris is like... a fucking genius and joohwan is obsessed with her. there’s not a lot that hwan could wear from her collection (and it’s not like she has enough pull to get a commission lmao) BUT iris has a couple of jumpsuits that joohwan’s stylist managed to grab and adjust to fit hwan in a way that isn’t too scandalous. so obviously it’s not fitted the way a woman’s jumpsuit is, and in this case the fabric was made less transparent with a cover underneath. hwan didn’t give up on the cape though!!!! the cape is important!!! not very practical and people would step all over it several times but you know what hwan doesn’t care.
basically hwan is treating this like a mini met gala. the shoes are from scry and not as scandalous as hwan wishes she could wear because it would be Too much if she showed up in heels i’m sure, and the jewelry is also as basic as possible especially because the jumpsuit is already doing a lot isn’t it. the picture on the top left is more for reference of hairstyle and make up since hwan has chopped off her hair post break up as one would. anyway. yeah. hwan understood the assignment.
𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒊’𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚... i’m missin’ out, i know.
━━━━━━━ ❝ 𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒉 finds himself all alone in the gallery;
he feels wistful, blue, & exhausted all at once; his mind a blur. ❞
→ open starter written for 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆. location, 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒂.
for someone so lonesome, he sure knows how to isolate himself from the crowd. from afar, he can still hear the extraordinarily loud chatter of the other partygoers; their conversations, their whispers, making it seem like he’s trapped in the middle of them even though he’s in a different room. while he knows that connecting with everyone will drastically improve his mood, there’s some part of him that gets overwhelmed being around so many others. he’s had to do that so often over the last few months that, for once, he wants to find a quiet place to collect himself; to take a deep breath & center himself before engaging with anyone. it’s unfortunate that his schedule has been so insane as of late, & it’s because of that, that he hasn’t had much time for himself—much time to 𝒏𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 & care for the boy who has no one else to care for him. it sounds depressing, but it’s tragically true. ever since he moved into his own apartment, he returns home after each commitment with a sense of emptiness that he cannot fill on his own, & in all honesty, it’s starting to cripple him. more than anything, this feeling just makes him angry—just so frustrated at himself.
he made a big deal about wanting to be trusted to live on his own, & he felt ready enough to take that step forward, but now that he’s attempting it, he’s realizing that it’s a lot more difficult than it seemed. as someone extroverted, contact is crucial for rioh—& he’s received little-to-none over the last few months. it’s sad to him that it affects him so much, but he can’t help how he feels. sighing out of stress, his boot-clad feet saunter through the mostly vacant gallery, his sights suddenly setting on a painting that looks like two individuals 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈; its style more abstract & eye-catching than some of the others.
pausing, his pupils fixate on the exquisite detail that the artist used when creating it; the subjects’ arms being intertwined in such a complicated & beautiful fashion. his chest starts flooding with warmth & heaviness, a sensation he’s not sure is good or bad in this moment.
wanting to distract himself, he peers down into the glass of wine that he’s holding, & once he does, he watches as a few tears fall into it; his free hand hastily reaching upward to dab at his eyes due to the surprising rush of emotion that overtakes him. what makes all of this worse is that he hears a set of footsteps coming up from behind him, & all he can do is hope that they didn’t see him lose his composure for a split second. the last thing he wants to do is talk about his emotions & end up 𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 someone’s night by sobbing on their shoulder.
