BBC's Downfall

The Realization

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Kim Jiwoo, also known as Chuu. Growing up in Cheongju, South Korea, she moved to Seoul to pursue her dream of becoming a K-pop idol so she could go on a world tour. As a result of years and years of rigorous and intense training, Chuu finally made her world debut in 2018. Her debut music video "Heart Attack" quickly became viral for its LGBTQ+ theme, and Chuu became a widely known figure online. A couple of months later, she debuted in a 12-member group called 'Loona' with the album [+ +]. They continued making music together for the next few years, with a few tracks becoming known in the K-pop community, but without much success. Even though Loona was a relatively unknown and unpopular group, Chuu was a celebrity in Korea and abroad. She was famous for her one-in-a-billion personality that everyone couldn't help but fall in love with. Everyone knew who Chuu was and loved her to the moon and back (pun intended). She participated in various shows and events every year, even creating her own internet show "Chuu Can Do It". She was a household name and loved by everyone. She really had it all. Or, that's what it seemed like.

"Hey hurry up Jiwoo! We don't have all day! Get off your lazy behind!"

Chuu sighed and hastily got her things together and ran into the van. Did he say day? The sun won't rise for hours! Chuu hated it when the manager called her lazy. The previous night she and the members were up practicing to debut their new song until 2 in the morning, and she had to be in the car for the performance at 4 am. She knew that they did this every day of the week when they had a new song and that she should be adapted to not sleeping, but she wasn't. It was exhausting having less than an hour of sleep a night, plus practicing for 12+ hours a day! But everyone seemed to think that she was too tired and should be fine. Maybe she was just not a good enough K-pop idol. Maybe the manager was right. Maybe she was lazy?

"I don't know if I can do this anymore. I'm so scared. What if they hate me?"

Chuu's thoughts were interrupted by the conversation happening in the back of the van.

"Don't worry Yeojin, I'm sure you'll do amazing," Heejin said.

"I don't know... It's hard enough performing in front of the whole world, but with no sleep or food! Impossible," Yeojin said.

"Don't worry, you've done this a million times! And now that we're a full group with Haseul back from hiatus, we are at our maximum potential!" Chuu chimed in.

"No wonder she went on hiatus. We aren't even halfway through the week yet and I'm questioning all my life choices," Jinsoul said.

"Stop complaining. You guys have it better than most idols, you know? You guys are so spoiled and you don't even know it," the manager hissed from the front seat.

The members quickly apologized and went silent.

Later that day they went on to perform one of their best stages in Loona history, and the fandom went crazy for the return of Haseul and for Chuu's high note. In the dressing room after their performance, everyone was chatting about how good they did. Kim Lip was texting with her friend Jane when suddenly she had a thought.

"Hey guys, when was the last time we got paid?" Kim Lip asked.

The room fell silent.

Choerry answered, "I'm sure they pay us for every album,"

"No, I don't think we've gotten paid since our solo debuts a few years ago," Hyunjin said.

"That can't be true, that'd be crazy!" Haseul said.

"No, I think she's right. I asked our manager why he was upset a couple of weeks ago and he said it's because everyone's paycheck kept getting delayed for years and has never come. He says it's like that for most people in the company," Chuu said. "So I'm sure it's fine if it's the same for everyone else. It's not the company's fault that no one buys our albums, it's ours for not working hard enough!" But deep down, Chuu knew that wasn't the truth.

The members all thought about it for the next couple of weeks. Why hadn't they been paid? Would they ever be paid? They signed their contracts back when they were teenagers, and the fancy legal language was too complicated to understand. They signed the contracts anyway because they were finally getting a chance to live their dream, so no one really cared about the fine print then. Were they allowed to force pay? Were the members just greedy and this was actually normal and perfectly fine?