"Sooyoung I want you to get out of there NOW."

Haseul's tone didn't leave any room for discussion but there was also a hint of panic. Their CEO was always calm and collected so what could possibly be the thing that's making her voice rushed and nervous?

"Jiwoo called us to wait in case anything–"

"I don't care what Jiwoo told you. I'm telling you to get the hell out of there. Police are on their way and soon after reporters with a camera team big enough for an award show. If they catch a glimpse of the van they might follow it and cause a bigger mess. I will take care of everything but I care about Go Won first."

Sooyoung then realized the gravity of the situation. If they see an idol van and try to go home, they're going to put two and two together and say that Loona was at the scene even if she has nothing to do with the dirty deeds. If that gets out it can taint Loona's name with the public for life, nothing will return her clean image to the way it was even if she was proved to be innocent.

Sooyoung had already hung up and jumped over the divider to drive. Jungeun and Go Won had never seen her move so fast.

"Seatbelts on NOW. We gotta go," Sooyoung the ignition and didn't even give time for the van to warm up.

She stepped on the gas pedal all the way, making the two girls in the back tumble in their seats with an abrupt jerk. The van's tires screeched as they let out smoke and Sooyoung almost hit an oncoming car from the sudden merge onto traffic.

"Wait, where are we going? What about Hyejoo!" Go Won yelled as she tried to hold on for dear life.

Sooyoung looked at her through the rearview mirror. "The CEO's on it. She said police and reporters are coming soon to crash the place. We had to get out of there."

Jungeun and Go Won shared looks of disbelief. Holy , it's actually happening. Go Won had talked about it with Haseul on the day she went up to see her. Not only did she have contacts in the news industry but also the legal justice system. For the CEO to be able to bring the police at an already corrupt event she must've pulled major strings. It was so fast too. The secret artist thought it would take the woman a long time but it was barely anything.

The link between the music and industry is about to get exposed to the entire country. This might even make worldwide news. They have no idea how Haseul managed to put things together so perfectly but once this got out there's no going back. Worry still didn't leave Go Won, however, as she still feared for Hyejoo's well-being. She hoped she would be okay and she would be able to get out of this with as little damage as possible.

—☆★°•°•°★☆—☆★°•°•°★☆—

Hyejoo didn't want things to repeat again. She didn't want to cater to the selfish demands of disgusting older men with enough filthy money to buy their way out of consequences. She was about to scream for help when she noticed she was dragged along by someone completely different than she was expecting.

The girl was ready to come face to face with an older, sleazy man with a greasy smirk and predatory eyes and give her a piece of her mind. Instead, she was met with a woman wearing attire was similar to hers. Hyejoo easily deduced that her situation must be the same, forced to work against her will.

She must be a normal citizen that got roped into the ion industry like many other young girls wishing to improve their economic status. They get promised a good job and a life of glamour only for their hopes and dreams to get crushed and be met with the cruel reality that people are disgusting liars and exploit women for their own nasty profit.

The woman had her ear against the locked door, attentively listening for something Hyejoo wasn't sure of. She looked to be older, so late twenties perhaps, and slightly shorter than herself even with the killer heels the woman had on. Was she then perhaps waiting for someone else? Had she been waiting for another person to pass by and pulled Hyejoo in by mistake? Regardless, even if she didn't know Hyejoo had been in trouble, she still came to her aid. The rookie would always be grateful for the rest of her life.

Her questions would soon be answered as the beautiful woman stepped away and turned to look at her with a gentle smile. Now that Hyejoo had a better look of her face she could tell that her looks weren't Korean at all, she was a foreigner. Her hair was a subtle red color that was closer to being brown and she had expressive eyes that made a wave of relief wash over her as soon as they locked with hers.

Something about this woman gave Hyejoo a sense of peace without having exchanged a single word and having just met for the first time today. Maybe this woman was just like her and she was hiding. She wouldn't put it past her that she would want to stay away from the outside.

"You're Olivia Hye, correct?"

Truthfully Hyejoo wasn't expecting the woman to be able to speak Korean so well but that was stereotypical on her part. In fact, there was no trace of an accent at all, the words coming out naturally.

Hyejoo nodded and swallowed dry from not expecting someone to recognize her, let alone a stranger.

"My name is Vivi and I can't tell you all the details now but you're gonna have to trust me, okay?"

The older woman, Vivi, went back to attentively listening against the door.

Okay sure, you know, just trust a random woman even though something in her gut told her she wasn't a bad person. And just what does she keep trying to listen out for? Is something going on outside?

"How about you give me more insight on why I should trust you while you try to play telephone with the door?"

Vivi let out the corners of perk up at the little jab. They were right when they described the rookie singer to her and told her that she would certainly know she got the right girl.

They described Olivia Hye as aloof but bold from first impression. Her strength was sarcasm and she used snarky remarks as a way to hide her inner feelings and emotions, what, in this case, Vivi could deduct was fear. And she didn't blame her. The situation she found herself in was horrendous and something no girl her age should ever have to go through.

"This room has a camera watching our every move adjacent of the tacky disco ball on the ceiling at about a sixty-degree angle from this door. The model, however, is outdated and doesn't contain a voice recording feature, but that doesn't mean there aren't other microphones hidden in this room. I was only able to find three, and maybe I'm giving them too much credit, but I don't want to risk it if they actually have more mics hidden in more strategic places I wasn't able to find." Vivi told her as if she were some kind of superhuman robot.

That's when Hyejoo looked behind her and sure enough, saw the camera (but she had no clue if it really was at whatever angle). Then her eyes moved to the bed and she saw a mess of wires, or the microphones she talked about, she hadn't noticed before when she entered the room. The rookie looked back to the strange woman in utter disbelief.

What the hell? Who is she?

"I told you, you're just gonna have to trust me on this. All I can tell you is I'm not the bad guy here."

Hyejoo had nothing to lose at this point. At least her nausea from earlier was disappearing and only the feeling of crippling anxiety was left. In this room, she could let it show for a bit as she paced relentlessly back and forth. Vivi was clearly waiting for something to happen and not paying much attention to her (or so she thought) so she could carelessly allow her body to shake and let her breathing come out in short uneven breaths.

She didn't get to panic for long before Vivi snapped her fingers at her to get her attention. "Hey, sweetie. Calm down for me, please. You got nothing to worry about."

Hyejoo scoffed. Her relaxed attitude pissed her off even more. "Easy for you to say. I literally have no idea what's going on," she said as she stopped pacing but her leg bounced in place instead. Her nervous ticks were starting to show.

Vivi walked up to her and looked at her at eye level. "You're okay. Nothing's going to happen to you. Everything's going to be alright," the woman continued her words like practiced speech and it wasn't making Hyejoo feel any better.

"You're not making any points. That's literally something the police says to people so they don't freak out even if the situation is bad."

Hyejoo was expecting the woman to spout more pseudo reassurances but all she received was a knowing smile and a wink. And right away it dawned on her.

No ing way.

Was Vivi with the police?!

Was something about to happen at the party tonight?

Is that why Vivi keeps having her ear stuck to the door? Because she was waiting for some type of cue?

If Hyejoo wasn't losing it before she was completely losing her mind now. But instead of pacing in circles like a wired toy, she marched to the bed and flopped down in shock. She took her time to scan Vivi up and down once more and nothing about her screamed police until she opened .

Was she trying to pull her leg? There's no way right? Had the woman been working for so long that this life finally turned her crazy? It was a high possibility. There's no way this lady is with