Loving A Triple Threat

Mr Tong was sitting up straight in one of the school's wooden chairs. Gi had to smile, it was funny seeing an a.d.u.l.t and manager like him at the school. It was a YG feeder academy, but it was rare for a manager to be seen on the grounds.

He saw her in the doorway, "Miss Reyn, please come in, sit."

Gi bowed and moved to a chair on the opposite side of the table to the two a.d.u.l.ts.

Mr Tong began, "Miss Gi Reyn this is Pio, who you know very well, but have never met. He is from marketing, and is assigned to the new group in which you are slated."

Pio bowed his head but did not say anything. He was tall and very thin, it looked like a breeze would knock him over. Pio was her main mod, there were others, but he made the decisions if the policy wasn't straightforward or the correct answer was not clear.

Mr Tong smiled and asked, "Miss Reyn, how is everything? Training, life, whatever you want to talk about."

"Ahm," Gi was surprised by the question, "everything is good. I am maintaining an A in every subject. I have been working hard at learning new dances, songs, raps and our play went very well last term. All three performances were sold out."

She had more to add, but Mr Tong jumped in as soon as she took a breath, "Miss Reyn, Pio has mentioned your repeated requests to add a …" he paused waiting for Pio to supply the name.

"Ren Byun," Pio stated.

"Yes, to change your status on Facebook with this young man to boyfriend."

"Yes," Gi said apprehensively. It was obvious where this way going.

"Miss Reyn, you cannot do this. You need to focus on your training. Boyfriends are a distraction and like it or not, you have in a sense already debuted. Pio can you please update Miss Reyn on her stats."

Mr Tong gave her no opportunity to argue, Gi wondered if this was on purpose.

"Ahem," Pio began, "Miss Reyn's followers are now increasing at an excellent rate with frequent updates and professional moderation. She has over four million followers across all platforms, daily views are approaching one million and comments are up twenty percent since moderation began."

"Wow," Gi said in astonishment.

"Miss Reyn," Mr Tong said seriously, "you are an important asset to YG. We need to protect you, not only from negative online influences but from scandals and negative impacts to your persona."

"My persona?" Gi asked.

"Yes," Mr Tong continued, "like it or not, when you danced for Blackpink it was like a debut. Although not in any traditional sense. But now the public knows you and they can see you are managed by YG. We are in this together. As partners. If you succeed, we succeed. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mr Tong, I understand," she replied, and she did. What he said made perfect sense, her success was their success. They wouldn't work against her. And they were experienced, she decided to take what he said seriously.

Mr Tong nodded, "I am your manager. When we form a new group, you will be its spearhead and this group is in my charge. Miss Reyn, your success and my success are intertwined. All I wish is for you to succeed because that means I do. You are off to a better start than anyone we have previously signed. You even have appeal outside of Korea, which is unheard of at this stage in someone's career."

Gi nodded slowly. She was following him, but she could sense where this was leading. And it wasn't necessarily a good place.

Mr Tong lowered his tone, "I am concerned Miss Reyn. Because you are not in a dorm, you are not being protected by us. I wish you could leave school now and join the dorm, but due to your parents, our contract and your age this is not possible. So please, heed my advice. Will you do as I ask?"

Gi felt like she was trapped if she said yes, he would then make any demand he wished. If she said no she would seem disrespectful. She was not a straight-A student for no reason, she said, "Mr Tong, I will always listen to your advice, I respect you, I respect YG, but I cannot agree to do as you ask without hearing first what it is that you ask."

Mr Tong hung his head in disappointment. Pio merely looked blank, he was a junior in comparison to Mr Tong.

"Miss Reyn," he said softly, "it is my great concern that you will not make it to a debut because you are headstrong. And this will lead you to a mistake. And that mistake will end your career. You will need to follow my directions, or you will lose my support, do you understand?"

Gi was scared. His words held tremendous weight. But he was wrong. She knew it in her heart. She may want to be an idol, but why did that give him say over every aspect of her life including whether she had a boyfriend or not.

"Mr Tong," she replied seriously, "I work hard. I work very hard. I let nothing stand in the way of my training, studies and dieting. Do you have any criticism in this regard?"

"It's more than that," he said softly in his deep voice, "image is everything. Young men want to be with you, but if you have a boyfriend they will be jealous. And to them, you must always be available in order to enhance your appeal."

Gi shook her head, "This is ludicrous," she said disrespectfully, "do boys have the same restrictions?"

Mr Tong started to go red in the face, "Do you think I am stupid? Do you think I give bad advice? Do you think I do not know this business? It is not my wish, I have no say in the matter. It's a fact. A fact of life. And fortunately, girls are more forgiving. They will still dream of a male idol even if he has a girlfriend. This is not my fault. It is what it is."

"So," Gi said, a tear coming to her eye from the attack from Mr Tong, "I am to be single. Forever, while I am an idol? Is this a sacrifice I have to make?"

He relented slightly as she relented, "Not forever. Once your brand is established and you have followers, both male and female and international you will be able to spread your wings. This usually happens in your early twenties if all goes to plan."

Gi stood, outraged, "Early twenties? Like twenty-one or twenty-four?"

"Closer to twenty-four," he replied savagely. "Sit down young lady, we are not finished."

Gi sat back down under the pressure he was exerting.

"You're already known as troublesome. Were you aware of this?" Mr Tong asked.

Gi shook her head and began to cry.

"If you do not learn respect YG will cut you no matter how many followers you have. We cannot invest millions into an idol to have them do as they please and ruin our investment. Do you understand?"

Gi hung her head, "I understand."

"No boyfriend. You work hard. You go home. Simple." Mr Tong stated.

"Ahem," Pio broke the tension, "a few social activities at the café with snaps are important too. But only with your girlfriends. Do not worry about photos with Jordan, we cannot use him."

"No boyfriend and no Jordan!" She cried. "He's just a friend, probably the best friend I have because he's not a rival."

Then she tweaked.

She looked up at Pio.

"Why not Jordan?" She asked seriously.

"If you are his friend, you know why," Pio said.

"You people," Gi was distraught, "you make me sick."