34: Chapter 34 The Difficult Senior

The corridor backstage at KBS for "Music Bank" always permeated with a unique scent, a mixture of cosmetics, hairspray, sweat, boxed lunches, and a faint smell of disinfectant.

Today was the music promotion day for the new week; the air still held the lingering, brief relaxation from the end of the previous live broadcast, but it was quickly tightened again by the impending countdown to the next live broadcast.

People were coming and going in front of every waiting room; managers, assistants, makeup artists, and TV station PDs walked with hurried steps.

The sounds of greetings, urging shouts, and music leaked through the cracks in the doors, interweaving into a busy and oppressive background noise.

Inside the exclusive waiting room for Girls Generation, the atmosphere was relatively quiet, yet it was permeated with a different kind of tension.

The nine of them had already changed into their performance outfits, another set featuring white and gold as the main colors—a more gorgeous and dreamy "Genie" look—and were each making final preparations before taking the stage.

Some were touching up their makeup in small mirrors, some were stretching their limbs, and others were silently memorizing their choreography formations.

Kim Taeyeon sat in front of the vanity mirror, with a makeup artist fixing her hair for the final time, but her gaze drifted from time to time toward Im Yoona, who was sitting on the sofa nearby.

Im Yoona didn't seem to be in a good state today; her complexion was somewhat pale, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes.

A moment ago, she had brewed a cup of instant coffee to refresh herself, and she was now carefully holding the cup with her uninjured left hand, sipping the scalding liquid in small mouthfuls.

On the back of her right hand, the wound from being accidentally scratched by a prop during last week's rehearsal had just scabbed over and was still covered with a transparent waterproof bandage.

"Yoona, does your hand still hurt?" Kwon Yuri walked over and asked in a low voice.

"It's fine, Unnie, it just feels a bit tight."

Im Yoona shook her head and gave her a reassuring smile, but the trace of lingering fatigue and faint unease between her brows was still caught by the observant members.

With "Genie" taking first place for several consecutive weeks, as their popularity and attention skyrocketed, invisible pressure and criticism were also breeding in the dark.

Discordant voices began to appear online, ranging from questioning "How can the Black Ocean group make a comeback?" to nitpicking stage details and member performances.

There even started to be anonymous posts making insinuations about groundless malicious speculations such as "backstage deals" or "climbing the ladder by relying on the new president."

Although Song Tianhao's company promptly conducted public opinion monitoring and guidance, those malicious snippets of words were still like tiny poisonous thorns, piercing the girls' already sensitive hearts.

The air conditioning in the waiting room was set very high, with cold air hissing out, making the temperature quite low.

But strangely, fine beads of sweat were faintly seeping from the foreheads or noses of all nine girls.

It wasn't from the heat; it was a physiological tension mixed with the excitement of going on stage, the expectation of continued success, and the hidden worries about the invisible pressure from the outside world.

In the air, beneath the scent of high-end perfume, hairspray, and foundation, there seemed to be a lingering trace of unease.

Just then, the door to the waiting room was pushed open without warning, somewhat rudely.

No knocking, no asking, as if they were walking into their own living room.

A group of women wearing performance outfits, with flamboyant makeup and appearing significantly older than the members of Girls Generation, walked in—about five or six of them.

Leading them was a woman who looked about thirty-five or thirty-six, well-maintained but with fine lines at the corners of her eyes.

She wore a sequined tight-fitting dress that outlined a still-decent figure, with heavy stage makeup on her face, and her eyes carried a condescending look mixed with scrutiny and disdain.

On her wrist, she wore a bracelet with an intricate design, inlaid with diamonds.

As she moved, it reflected a cold, blinding light under the pale lights of the waiting room, emitting a faint, crisp clinking sound.

This was the senior girl group "Jewelry."

It was a group that had debuted many years ago and had a glorious period, but in recent years, their popularity had clearly declined, and they were in a semi-faded state.

The leader, Kim Hye-rim, 35 years old, was one of the well-known "difficult seniors" in the industry, notorious for her long seniority, bad temper, and love of putting on airs.

The nine members of Girls Generation stood up instantly and bowed in unison to the seniors who had entered, greeting them: "Hello, Seniors!"

Kim Hye-rim acted as if she hadn't heard, her gaze sweeping around the waiting room and finally landing on the nine members of Girls Generation, especially on their brand-new, expensive-looking performance outfits, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Oh, so this is the 'Girls Generation' that's been so popular lately?"

Her voice was somewhat sharp and thin, with a deliberately drawn-out tone.

"It really is different now. After changing to a new company, even your waiting room has become more spacious. Tsk, these clothes... I never saw you wearing anything this expensive during your S.M. Entertainment days."

These words were filled with barbs, implying that they were relying on their new agency for support.

The members of Girls Generation changed expression slightly, but they all kept their heads down, not daring to respond.

The entertainment industry in South Korea has a strict hierarchy; juniors must be absolutely respectful to seniors, especially someone like Kim Hye-rim, who has long seniority and rumors about having unclear connections behind the scenes, making her someone not easily offended.

As the leader, Kim Taeyeon bit the bullet, stepped forward, and bowed again, her voice as steady and respectful as possible: "Hello, Seniors, we are Girls Generation. Please guide us."

Only then did Kim Hye-rim seem to notice them, her gaze landing on Kim Taeyeon, then scanning the others, and finally, fixing on the cup of steaming coffee in Im Yoona's hand.

"So nervous? You still need to drink coffee to refresh yourself?"

She suddenly smiled and walked toward Im Yoona.

Im Yoona's heart tightened, and she subconsciously hid the hand holding the coffee cup behind her back, but this small action seemed to infuriate Kim Hye-rim.

"What's the matter? A senior is talking to you, why are you hiding?"

The smile on Kim Hye-rim's face vanished instantly, her voice suddenly rising with an unquestionable harshness.

"Don't you know any rules at all? When you see a senior and greet them, don't you know to put down what's in your hand?"

"I-I'm sorry, Senior!"

Im Yoona apologized in a panic, scrambling to put the coffee cup in her hand onto the table nearby.

However, the moment she turned, Kim Hye-rim seemed to "inadvertently" raise her arm, and the diamond bracelet on her wrist traced a blinding arc in the air.

"Clap—crash!"

Her elbow, extremely "coincidentally," slammed heavily into the wrist where Im Yoona was holding the coffee cup.

The coffee cup flew out of her hand, and the scalding, dark brown coffee liquid splashed into the air, with most of it pouring onto the back of Im Yoona's right hand, which she hadn't had time to fully pull back, while some splashed onto the hem of her white performance skirt and the clean floor.

"Ah—!"

Im Yoona let out a short cry of pain and jerked her hand back.

Her right hand turned red at a visible speed, and immediately after, the skin around the wound covered by the bandage, which had been directly doused by the boiling coffee, swelled up with several shiny blisters, mixing with the previous scabbed wound, looking shocking to the eye.

The piercing pain made tears well up instantly, but she bit her lip hard, not daring to make another sound.

The waiting room was deathly silent.

There was only the sound of the coffee cup hitting the carpet and the sight of the coffee liquid slowly flowing on the floor.

That pool of dark brown liquid spread out on the carpet, forming a twisted, ugly pattern.

The other members of Jewelry stood by with their arms crossed, watching coldly, some with gloating smiles on their faces.

Their manager stood at the door, as if they had seen nothing.

"Yoona!"

The members of Girls Generation exclaimed and wanted to rush over, but they were stopped by a stern look from Kim Taeyeon.

Kim Taeyeon's face also turned pale, but she took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

She stepped forward quickly, bowed deeply to Kim Hye-rim again, her voice trembling with repressed emotion and self-reproach: "I am very sorry, Senior! It was our mistake for not holding the coffee properly and dirtying... disturbing you, Senior. We will clean it up immediately!"

As she spoke, she squatted down without hesitation, not even caring about her own expensive performance outfit, picking up the coffee cup from the floor with her bare hands and using her sleeve to wipe the coffee stains spreading on the carpet.

Kim Taeyeon moved quickly, her posture humble to the extreme.

She was using the most direct way to try to calm the situation and protect her team members.

Seeing their leader like this, the other members' eyes turned red, and they clenched their fists, but they held back and stood still.

Jessica Jung looked at Kim Hye-rim with cold eyes, her hand quietly reaching for the phone she had placed on the vanity table.

Choi Sooyoung rolled her eyes, turned her body slightly, and secretly reached into the pocket of her performance outfit with her other hand, taking out her phone, screen facing down, the camera quietly aimed in the direction of Kim Hye-rim and the crouching Kim Taeyeon.

Kim Hye-rim watched Kim Taeyeon, who was crouching at her feet, kowtowing and cleaning up the mess, and that extremely uncomfortable smile reappeared on her face.

She slowly, deliberately, moved her high-heeled shoe—which was inlaid with rhinestones and had a few drops of coffee on the toe—forward, almost touching the hand Kim Taeyeon was using to wipe the carpet.

"Apologies..."

She drew out the sound, her tone carrying a cat-and-mouse playfulness.

"Just saying it with your mouth isn't enough sincerity."

She paused, and under the bated breath of everyone watching, she clearly spat out a few words:

"To apologize, you have to kneel. Didn't your company teach you that simple rule?"

"Boom—!"

The sentence was like a bomb, exploding in the minds of the nine members of Girls Generation.

Kneel and apologize?! This was no longer just ordinary harassment; it was blatant, insulting bullying!

Kim Taeyeon's body trembled violently. Her wiping motion froze. With her head bowed, her expression was unclear, but one could see the knuckles of her fingers pressed against the floor turning white from the force.

Im Yoona clutched her stinging, swollen hand, tears falling in large drops—not because of the pain in her hand, but because of the humiliation and the guilt of implicating their leader.

Just then, the waiting room door was knocked. A staff member wearing a TV station ID badge poked their head in and said in a relatively polite tone, "Everyone from Jewelry, it's your turn for rehearsal. Please get ready..."

Everyone thought this was a chance to be rescued.

However, Kim Hye-rim didn't even turn her head. She just gave a cold "Hmm," her gaze still pinned on Kim Taeyeon, showing no intention of leaving.

The staff member seemed unfazed by this scene, or perhaps he didn't dare to interfere. He smiled sheepishly, said "Please hurry," then pulled his head back and closed the door. Before leaving, he didn't even dare to take another look at Kim Taeyeon, who was crouching on the floor.

This detail made the hearts of the Girls Generation members sink completely. Even the TV station staff accepted Kim Hye-rim's arrogance and dared not intervene, which undoubtedly confirmed the rumors about her having a "backer."

A cold sense of despair and suffocation gripped the hearts of every member of Girls Generation.

What was even more infuriating was that Kim Hye-rim's middle-aged female manager stepped forward. Instead of feeling any apology for her artist's behavior, she frowned and pointed at Im Yoona's scalded hand and the coffee stain on her skirt, saying in a tone of disgust:

"Oh my, how could you be so careless? Look, you've dirtied our Kim Hye-rim's shoes! I don't even know if this carpet is clean or not. Honestly!"

The villain making the first complaint, shifting the blame. The Girls Generation members were trembling with rage. Seohyun, in particular, widened her eyes in panic, looking at this scene of black-and-white inversion in disbelief.

Just as the atmosphere reached an extreme point of oppression, and Kim Taeyeon's shoulders were trembling more and more violently, as if she were truly considering whether to submit to that absurd demand, there was a faint sound of something being kicked.

"Click."

Kim Hye-rim lifted her toe and lightly kicked the coffee cup that Kim Taeyeon had already picked up from the floor. The cup rolled a few times, landing perfectly at the feet of the youngest, Seohyun, who was standing a little further away. The remaining coffee inside splashed out, nearly dirtying Seohyun's shoes.

Seohyun shrank back a small step, her face turning pale with fright.

"Hehe," Kim Hye-rim chuckled, as if that malicious action had just been casual, "I'm just joking. Look how scared you are. We in Jewelry are very 'kind' seniors."

This sounded like an attempt to ease the tension, but paired with the malice and mockery that never faded from her face, it only made people feel even more creeped out. Because of her words, the atmosphere shifted from extreme tension into a fake, more unsettling kind of "relaxation."

Just then, Jessica Jung, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, seemed to have made up her mind. Taking advantage of the moment when Kim Hye-rim's attention seemed to be drawn to Seohyun, she quickly picked up the phone from the vanity, swiped to unlock it, and wanted to call Song Tianhao or Jang Se-hoon.

However, her actions were still discovered.

"What are you doing?!" Kim Hye-rim's assistant, a sturdy woman, was quick-witted and agile. She lunged forward in one stride and snatched the phone away before Jessica Jung could dial the number!

"Give it back!" A look of anger finally appeared on Jessica Jung's cold, aloof face as she reached out to grab it.

The assistant raised her hand, and in the stunned gaze of everyone, she actually smashed the phone hard onto the floor!

"Crash—!"

The phone screen shattered instantly, parts scattering everywhere.

"How rude! Seniors are talking here, who allowed you to play on your phone?!" The assistant glared viciously at Jessica Jung.

The atmosphere tightened to the limit once again! From the fake relaxation, it instantly plunged into an even deeper ice cellar! This was too much bullying! This was no longer just harassment; it was blatant humiliation and destruction of property!

Kim Taeyeon suddenly raised her head. There was no color left in her face, only the anger and humiliation of someone forced into a dead end. She slowly stood up from the floor. Her knees were a bit weak from crouching for so long, but her back was held straight.

She looked at Kim Hye-rim, at the assistant who smashed the phone, at the indifferent or mocking faces of the other Jewelry members, and then looked back at Im Yoona clutching her hand and crying, Jessica Jung with her face ashen, the panicked Seohyun, and the other younger members who were filled with grief and indignation but dared not act rashly...

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes were filled with a dead, calm stillness. She shook her head slightly at the members and made an extremely small, downward pressing gesture.

Don't move. Don't resist. Endure it.

This was the helpless law of survival at the bottom of the entertainment industry. Especially when the other party clearly had powerful backing.

The phone in Choi Sooyoung's pocket had been recording the whole time. But just after Kim Hye-rim's assistant smashed Jessica Jung's phone, she scanned the room with a sharp gaze and quickly noticed Choi Sooyoung's unnatural posture and slightly bulging pocket.

"You! What's in your pocket? Take it out!" The assistant pointed at Choi Sooyoung and barked.

Choi Sooyoung's expression changed, and she subconsciously covered her pocket.

"Secretly filming your seniors? You've got some nerve!" The assistant strode forward, intending to snatch it.

Choi Sooyoung turned to dodge, but her path was already blocked by another Jewelry member. The assistant roughly reached into her pocket and pulled out the phone that was still recording.

"Hmph, trying to be clever." The assistant glanced at the screen, sneered, pressed stop, and then, right in front of Choi Sooyoung, deleted the video file and casually shoved the phone into her own bag, "Confiscated! We'll talk about this properly when someone from your company comes!"

With the evidence destroyed, the last shred of hope seemed to have vanished.

In the waiting room, all that remained were the heavy, suppressed breaths of the nine members of Girls Generation, the cold reflection of the diamond bracelet on Kim Hye-rim's wrist, the puddle of coffee on the floor that had long since cooled but was still glaringly obvious, and the suffocating scent of perfume and fear permeating the air.

Kim Hye-rim seemed very satisfied with the result. She admired the pale faces, red-rimmed eyes, and forced humiliation of the Girls Generation members, as if watching a wonderful play.

She lifted her chin, just about to say something more to further enjoy the pleasure of controlling others' emotions, when a loud noise, far heavier and more sudden than any before, rang out!

"Bang—!!"

The not-so-sturdy door of the waiting room was suddenly kicked open from the outside! The door slammed against the wall with a thunderous sound, even shaking off a bit of the accumulated dust from above the door frame.

The light from outside and the noise of the corridor flooded in instantly.

At the doorway stood a person.

It was Song Tianhao.

He was wearing a dark suit again today, no tie, the top button of his shirt undone, looking as if he had just rushed over from some formal occasion.

There was no expression on his face, one could even say he was calm, but his eyes were as still as the deepest, darkest sea before a storm—without a ripple, yet containing a terrifying pressure capable of swallowing everything.

His gaze swept calmly over the chaotic scene in the waiting room.

The dried and wet coffee stains on the floor, the shattered phone parts, Im Yoona crouching on the floor with her hand swollen and blistered and tear tracks still wet on her face, Kim Taeyeon with her pale face, stained skirt, but straight back, and the other Girls Generation members full of grief and indignation with tears in their eyes.

Then, his gaze slowly landed on the face of Kim Hye-rim, who was standing in the center with a trace of lingering triumph and arrogance still on her face.

Behind him, the six members of T-ara—Park So-yeon, Ham Eunjung, Park Hyomin, Park Ji-yeon, Lee Qri, and Jeon Boram—were all present, not one missing.

They had clearly heard the commotion just now, and everyone's expression was extremely ugly. Park So-yeon's eyes were cold, Ham Eunjung clenched her fists, Park Hyomin's eyes were full of anger, and Park Ji-yeon was so angry her face had gone pale. They stood behind Song Tianhao like a silent and solid background wall.

Song Tianhao's gaze finally fixed on Kim Hye-rim's face. His tone was so calm that there was not a single fluctuation, yet every word was like an ice pick, striking into the stagnant air:

"It seems that my people have indeed not learned their etiquette lessons well enough."

He paused, took a step forward, and entered the waiting room. As he entered, the air pressure in the entire room seemed to drop a few degrees.

He looked directly into Kim Hye-rim's eyes, which had instantly become somewhat stiff and uncertain. His voice remained steady, yet carried a biting chill like a storm about to break:

"However, I'm afraid this lesson will have to be made up for you first."