Paper Dolls

Chapter 47

I try my best to drink as little as possible, spitting most of my drink back into the frosted glass Loona handed to me. 

The next hour feels like an alternate reality, everything about it is so bizarre, if someone told me I'd be sipping drinks with two Sweet Poison members, a TBT superstar and famous rapper months ago I would have laughed in their face. 

But here we are, cheering - me constantly trying not to drink anything - with each other, everyone huddling closer on the couch, eager to meet the new comers. 

Loona introduces me to the rest and I quickly learn that the two older men in the room are angel investors. They've put big money into PT entertainment and many others. 

She tells them that I'm a budding Kpop idol, soon to debut under Firefly. I appreciate her optimism and resist pointing out that my position as an idol hasn't even been finalised yet. 

"You know I'll be there for your showcase right?" She leans in, her breath smelling like vodka and cranberry juice. 

I nod furtively. "Yes, management told me." 

Loona cackles suddenly making me jump in my skin. She can be so unpredictable. "Apparently our photos together at the Blue Diamond got leaked and now everyone thinks we're besties. What a coincidence, don't you think?" 

She eyes me in a telling manner, making it known that she knows I leaked those pictures. Well maybe not me directly but she definitely knows. 

"Are you two close?" One of the investors who was introduced as Mr Ha Joon sidles up to me, our knees now touching. 

I shift my legs, feeling uncomfortable but he doesn't seem to mind, the glass in his hand almost empty. I wonder how many of those he's had already. 

Hyeon seems to notice this and I watch him join us on the couch, his fingers clutching his thighs tightly as he eyes Mr Ha's legs. 

Loon simply flicks her long platinum blonde hair over a bony shoulder. "Everyone wants to be close to you when you're famous but the truth is I only have a handful of people I truly consider friends and family." 

At hearing this Jungseok looks up from his phone, meeting my eyes for an interminable second. 

"Jina here is a baby, barely out of her diapers. I consider her a lost lamb I stumbled upon, in need of guidance and the fame our association offers." Her face is taut as she looks down at me with such condescension, it makes my ears burn. 

"In need of guidance, you say?" Mr Ha Joon purrs, leaning so close I can feel his breath tickle my neck. Hyeon looks like he's about to murder him. "It would be crime not to offer such a pretty young thing some help." 

My stomach is roiling, acid crawling up my throat and I hope the disgust I feel isn't evident on my face. 

I look at Loona and notice her beaming at our interaction. 

"I'm a friend of Dalia's not Loona." I answer the first thing that comes to mind and only then do I realise how childish it sounds but Loona's face pinches like I just threw acid on her. 

The investor who had been looking down the neck of my dress leans back, a slight frown marring his face. I notice Maria and Taejun have moved to the end of the sofa, both leaning in and listening to our interaction. 

Jungseok appears to be listening as well but he seems more interested in Hyeon. I notice him studying my partner in crime subtly and pray to God that he hasn't recognised him from the bar we followed him to. 

"Such a waste of talent," The other investor next to Mr Ha speaks for the first time since we got here but the way he stretches the word 'talent' is off, like he is implying something else. "Do Yun really lucked out."