Paper Dolls

Chapter 56

It's amazing how one night can change an entire industry, an entire country. Three books, all names and numbers, all incriminating and with new reports coming out everyday, it's obvious that most of the stuff in those ledgers are true.

Dalia was murdered for hiding these and we probably would have ended up the same way but there just so happens to be a DA on the rise and he latched on to our case before the higher ups wanted to bury it.

That and the fact that Hyeon leaked everything online before we handed our evidence over to the police. With netizens scouring over every piece of evidence, papers were copied, multiplied and spread all over the world to anyone who was watching.

The police could not have closed the case so quickly like they did Dalia's. Not this time. I'm back from break, already two weeks into preparing for our debut and to say life has been crazy would be an understatement.

I became the most hated person in Korea to the most loved in over the span of a week. I remember how serious the situation was, how I couldn't leave my hometown because of all the death threats against Hyeon and I.

People didn't understand what we had leaked in the beginning. Everyone thought their favourite public figures were being framed for something they didn't do, especially Taejun from TBT.

No one was supposed to know the information came from us but when we were brought in for questioning, netizens were quick to put two and two together. I keep telling Hyeon someone leaked our identities but he always brushes me off, telling me I'm overthinking. Sometimes I wonder if he did it himself.

I was suspended from practices and spent most of the early part of the week at the station. So many questions, so many statements. The police couldn't believe we'd solved something they never bothered about in the first place.

At one point I was afraid for my life. Every second outside was spent in fear and I honestly thought Firefly was going to drop me. There's no way they could debut such a controversial idol, everyone would sabotage our debut before we even made it to the stage.

But then just like that, the tide shifted. When the DA started charging the names in the ledger, when the victims started coming forward, peoples prerogatives started to change.

It happened within days, to Hyeon it felt like a blink of an eye, to me it felt like forever. The change in perspective was like whiplash as we suddenly became the most beloved in Korea. The international support has been even larger than locally.

Suddenly, Kang Jina is a hero who exposed a trafficking ring, the person who helped bring to light that Dalia's death had been a murder and a cover up. Suddenly, Kang Jina is the most popular idol to debut. The tickets to our debut stage have sold out, people line up outside Firefly to get my autograph and take pictures almost everyday.

The investigations are far from over, expensive lawyers have threatened to sue us for defamation but I finally feel safer with the public behind us. With so many people rooting for me, Firefly has no choice but to debut me despite all the scandals surrounding my name.

Even QBS has promoted Hyeon to a permanent position in their investigative journalling department. I can't imagine a more suitable role for him.

I've just finished a media training session for our first variety show scheduled next week. It's the most popular variety show in Korea and they never gave us a slot until this whole scandal blew up with me smack in the middle of it.

I take off the hair clips pinned to my head and wipe off the thick layer of foundation caking my skin. Rachel passes by and gives me a curt nod, before packing her stuff. The session is over but we have dance practice in about half an hour.