Ch 35: Why Can't We?
Murmurs and whispers were exchanged across the room as the sounds of frantic keyboard typing filled the air.
Smile Day's stunt had thrown the office into a panicked mess as they worried about how to handle the company's first scandal.
Minami sat at Makoto's desk, shaking nervously and eavesdropping on the staff's whispers as she awaited Makoto's arrival.
Two staff members that were relatively close to Minami leaned toward each other as they expressed their pity quietly.
"I feel so bad for Minami…"
"I know, how could they do that to her…."
Another staff member whimpered at the thought of Makoto's attitude.
"I want to go home….Takada-san is going to be so angry….."
The others seemed more occupied with more important matters at hand.
"Do they not realize what a burden this is on the company?"
"Hey….do you think we can survive a hit like this?"
"Luckily no one knows Minami is under us, so the damage won't be on us…it's really all on her."
Minami's heart sank to the depths of her soul, causing her to reach for a tissue as tears started to overwhelm her again.
It was true. Sun Media would most likely not suffer from any damage over this, or if they did it would be minimal. The one taking it all…the one whose reputation was dragged through the mud. Even if Sun Media announced she was an artist, the stain that had been left wouldn't be completely erased.
Her eyes were already red and swollen from the two days of crying, the new tears falling out of her eyes felt like tiny pricks on her eyelids. Her nose was already red and rubbed raw and it burned as she dabbed the tissue against it while trying to capture any snot that tried to escape.
Makoto finally entered, stomping to his desk. His lips were pressed in a tight line, and he wore a pair of dark sunglasses which hid his exhausted eyes.
'I should've worn sunglasses too….' Minami thought as she watched him walk over
He slammed himself into his chair, causing a loud 'THUD' to resound throughout the office.
For a moment, there was silence between then, with only his furious typing on his computer breaking it.
'What is he typing I wonder? It's too long for log in information. Is he pulling up additional stuff? Oh gosh….is there more than just that site?' She felt a pit in her stomach and glanced towards the bathroom, measuring the distance in case she got sick.
Makoto glared into his computer screen, hesitant to talk to Minami. This wasn't as simple of a situation as it seemed. If he could only just do what HE wanted to do, so many things would be resolved.
If it were up to him, he would just explain that Minami was newly signed and teasing her debut, while Smile Days were also teasing a version of the track, but Smile Days was not aware that Minami had her own version. Sun Media would take a hit but it would be minor. People would wonder why management wasn't up front about it with their artists, but both Smile Days' and Minami's reputation would've been saved.
He glanced at Minami who had her eyes shut tight, tears falling from them, and sniffling into a soggy tissue.
"Here…" he said, handing her a new tissue.
She accepted the new tissue gratefully and blew her nose into the soggy one, tossing it away into the trash bin next to Makoto's desk as the new one took its original place.
"C-can't we just announce that the two of us are under the same company? Won't that clear everything up? It'll make sense that we have the same song….that we're both performing it….can't we just announce it already?" Her voice was a higher pitch than usual and it cracked here and there due to instability and exhaustion.
What she said was true, it would clear everything up, but he wasn't sure that route was an option right now, otherwise he'd have done it already. His heart went out to her, he wanted to help her, he just wasn't sure how. The best he could do was hope the situation would blow over.
"We can't do that." He placed his elbows on his desk and shook his head. Clamping his hands together, he pulled them upwards, resting his mouth against them as he tried to hide his uncertainty.
"Why Not? Just something simple like 'Actually, Minami has recently signed with us and both of them are releasing the song,' right? Why can't we do that?" She pleaded as she struggled to hold back more tears.
Makoto sighed, "And then what? Tell them, 'Miki posted a lie about Minami, we're sorry.' What would they think of her? Then you'd ruin Smile Days' reputation? Ruin the group for the other members who didn't do anything wrong? Or how about 'Hello, we're Sun Media, we can't control our artists.' How does that sound?"
Minami hung her head in defeat, "What do we do then? The situation is gaining traction online, and the comments are getting worse….I've even lost some followers…."
Shaking his head again, Makoto leaned back in his chair, "You'll listen to me. Just do nothing for now and don't worry about it. I've already had their manager unpin the post on their account and scheduled them some new activities in the mean time. That post will be buried soon. Besides you've already gained a few followers from this."
"No! They're not followers for me. They follow Smile Days….they've just been sending me hate comments and DM-ing me threatening messages…So I lost my actual followers and gained haters instead."
He wasn't sure what to say and hated that he couldn't be of any more comfort, "Is it not exciting? That there are people that are so consumed with what you're doing they feel the need to say those things? Think about it. They're obsessed with you. Isn't that a good thing?"
She was almost too stunned to speak. "W-What? I don't want them to be obsessed with me…I want them to leave me alone…."
"If you want to be an idol, then you need to have people obsessed with you. At least you've got that down, although it's better if they like you."
Her hands fell to her lap and she balled her fists up while tightly clutching onto the hem of her green pineapple dress. Frustration welled up within her and her body began to shake as she fought to keep it shoved down.
The tears that had stopped momentarily, began falling again, starting off with one or two drops before escalating to a complete flow. She was losing it, she was losing her grasp on her emotions.
"But…people are accusing me of stealing it! They're saying I'm a thief and saying really horrible things about me! They're telling me to die, they're telling people not to support me! WHY CAN'T WE JUST CLEAR THINGS UP?!"
Her hands flew up to her face as she hunched over and broke down into a full on sob.
The sudden outburst had caught the attention of the other staff members whose attention were now Minami and Makoto.
None of this made sense to her. Was she not also one of their artists? Wasn't it the job of the company to protect their artists? Why was she not being protected? Why were they casting her aside and giving her the cold shoulder? Why was she being treated as though she were some random person on the street? Why were they turning their backs on her?
"Keep. Your. Voice. Down." Makoto said in a stern and low voice, glancing at the office workers who were staring.
He turned his attention back to her shaking shoulders, hearing her gasping for air and sniffling.
Everyone was still staring.
"Get back to work!" He snapped, causing them to quickly turn back to their stations.
'What an inconvenience.' He thought as he rolled his eyes.
"Listen to me. They're nothing okay? Smile Days AND those people online. They're nothing. You're beautiful, sexy, you have a great voice, and you shine while you sing. You're going to make it big and they're not. They don't have anything on you, so just listen to me and do nothing. Consider this training on how to get thick skin because you'll need it in this industry."
He hated Smile Days with a burning passion. If it were his decision, he would've never signed them in the first place. The artist he really wanted was Minami.
Minami couldn't give any other response other than a nod.
Makoto pulled out a few tissues and leaned over his desk, shoving them into her hand.
"Go home, don't come back here until I call you again, alright? Stay off the internet, just attend your dance classes and practice your skills at home. I'll take care of it, just trust me."
Minami nodded again and stood. The tears were still flowing and she held the handful of tissues up to her face as she walked out of the building.