Chapter 275 - Life Of An Idol

After visiting Magnolia PR, Avaleigh returned to the exhibition center for her stage rehearsal. 

The other members of her group were waiting for her to return and they all had mixed reactions to her scandal.

"Ava, what have you done? You're the leader of this group. You're the most iconic representative of our group. How could you get yourself into a scandal like this?" one of the members complained. "You know better than anyone how hard we've worked to get here. It took me 5 years of working as a trainee before I even got the chance to debut! This could ruin us all!"

One of the other members quickly tried to calm the young woman down, "Mimi, it's not Ava's fault. We all know she's not in a relationship and she's never been a flirt. This must be a misunderstanding."

"This is Hong Kong. Who knows what history she has here..." Mimi replied with doubt.

Sue quickly rushed over to calm the girls down, "That's enough. You are meant to be a team. You've already worked together for 3 years and you live under the same roof. You should understand each other."

Avaleigh frowned, "Yes, others can doubt me, but you girls can't. After all that we've been through, how could you believe those reports? Besides, we're only human. Even if I was to have a boyfriend, you girls should be helping me cover it up, not turning on me." 

She then took a quick glance at one of the members and the member quickly agreed, "Ava's right. We've only got each other."

The other members quickly nodded while Mimi frowned. Mimi had always been the feisty one in the group and the other members were often scared of her, but when they teamed up against her, there was nothing she could do.

So, she stormed off towards the stage, "Let's start practicing for the concert. The show must go on."

The girls quickly gathered on the stage and stood in their usual starting formation. There were 7 members in the group and their names corresponded to each letter of the word 'Macaron'. Thus, the name of their group.

Avaleigh was the leader and she always stood in the center, representing the 'A' in the middle of the word. On her right, stood Mimi, Ara, and Chu; on her left, stood Ray, Olivia, and Nana.

Soon, music started playing and the girls started dancing perfectly to their practiced choreography. It was fun and addictive to watch and each girl played up to the image they had created for themselves, whether it be s.e.xy, feisty, feminine, or cute.

After their stage rehearsal, the girls moved to the backstage to try on their costumes. While Avaleigh was trying on a dress, Chu crept up next to her and asked, "Was that really your boyfriend?"

Avaleigh looked at herself in the mirror, unphased by the question, and shook her head, "I don't have time for a boyfriend."

"Who was that guy then? How did you end up kissing on the metro?" Chu asked curiously.

"He was just a stranger I met. It was an accident. He tripped and fell on me," Avaleigh replied.

Chu giggled, "I'm kinda disappointed. I thought I wouldn't be the only one hiding a secret from now on."

Chu was the youngest member of the group, but she was also the bravest and most reckless. Even though all the members had signed a contract stating that they couldn't date, she secretly had a boyfriend that no one except Avaleigh knew about. Avaleigh had accidentally run into them kissing in the agency's stairwell one day. He was also an idol...

Fortunately, for both of them, Avaleigh was understanding and agreed to help them keep it a secret. Otherwise, they would have both been kicked out of their respective groups and banned from the agency. If that was to happen, what would they do then? Both of them had already dedicated their entire youth to becoming idols. They had no other skills to help them survive in society.

"Did you accept the variety show I recommended you for?" Avaleigh asked. As the leader of the group, she wasn't the oldest, but she often felt like she had the responsibility to watch out for her other members, so she tried to find them opportunities outside of music wherever she can. Not only was that a good way to promote the group, it also helped them boost their profits. Whenever any member appeared on a variety show or commercial, the profits were split evenly amongst the other members and they could then use that money to pay off any debts. 

However, some members did not see it that way, especially not Mimi. She was often jealous that the other members were more popular than her and got more exposure than her. She was especially jealous of Avaleigh who had received a few commercials in Hong Kong and China as an individual and not as part of the group. Since she didn't use the group's name, Avaleigh got to keep all the profits to herself and didn't have to split them. Thus, she was the first one to pay off all her debts to the agency and was financially better off than her other members.

But, never did Mimi consider that Avaleigh could have just left them to fend for themselves and continued accepting jobs overseas if she didn't care about the rest of the group. Why did she recommend them for shows and opportunities?

"Yes, I saw the producers and they asked me to go on their show after we return from these concerts. It will be a good chance for me to promote how popular we are overseas. Our fans in Korea will be proud of us," Chu replied.

At that moment, Sue walked in and interrupted the conversation between the two, "Your pre-concert press conference will be starting in an hour. Get changed quickly and come out. Avaleigh, come here for a second, there's something I want to show you."

Chu nodded and rushed off to get changed while Avaleigh approached Sue. "Any update on the scandal?" she asked.

Sue pulled out her phone and showed Avaleigh a video, "Magnolia just released a statement on your behalf, explaining that it was all an accident, and they attached this video to it as proof. It's CCTV footage from the metro."

Avaleigh played the video and saw the man running into the train just as the doors closed. His suitcase was caught on the door and he stumbled forward, pushing her against the other side of the train and accidentally kissing her.

The man's face couldn't be seen in the video, but it was obvious that the incident was just an accident.

Avaleigh watched it and couldn't help but laugh. It was almost like slapstick comedy.

She then scrolled down to the comments:

"Poor Ava, that was obviously an accident. She's lucky she had a mask on, or she would have really kissed him."

"People really need to stop rushing for trains like that. Lucky no one was hurt."

"I knew Ava was innocent. No one can steal my wifey."

Sue smiled, "It seems like Danson Qian did not disappoint, he really did manage to resolve this matter before the press conference..."

Avaleigh smiled as well.