Keep calm and damage control

Ji-ho, now Jessica, opened her eyes and beheld the messy room that she was sleeping in. She was still in the company dorm and at the timeline where her pictures were already out on the internet. In fact, it was the morning after the big reveal had happened online.

"What a horrible time to be alive," Ji-ho grumbled. She was going to get chewed out by the big bosses of the company.

The door to her dorm room was flung open by a trainee who was only to happy to gloat at the unfortunate circumstances that Genesis had fallen into. The group that she would be joining was being given all the resources and attention that Genesis would have reserved if the group hadn't performed so badly.

"Jessica," the trainee named Jina stood at the door and smiled maliciously at her. "Have you seen what they're all calling you online?"

Ji-ho scoffed. Did the still wet behind the ears trainee think that she could hurt her with such a juvenile technique?

"Slut, whore, homewrecker," Ji-ho began counting down on her fingers. "Bitch in heat, prostitute, loose woman, that's it, isn't it? Or am I missing something?"

Jina's smile turned into an ugly frown. "You have no shame, unni. The company should have never allowed someone like you to join. You haven't just ruined your own name and reputation but you've also ensured that none of us trainees of this company would ever get any respect from the public!"

"You kinda do make a good point there, but respect is earned kid," Ji-ho said as she stood up and leisurely stretched her muscles. "If you work hard and smart, respect and adoration will find you. And don't ever share your nudes with losers like Chung-Hee. Scratch that, don't ever share your nudes with anyone. My mistake is a teaching moment for you and all the other trainees."

Chung-Hee?! It was him that did it?! Jina was at a loss for words. And how was Jessica remaining so calm despite the storm she was weathering? The paparazzi were outside, waiting for a press release from the company and from Jessica, but the perpetrator of the entire fiasco was going about her morning like it was just another Tuesday. And how dare she think herself good enough to advise Jina?

"I hate you!" Jina yelled at her before running out and slamming the door behind her. Jessica was acting very strange it unnerved her.

At that very moment, Jessica's phone rang, the caller tune being the debut song of Genesis. Ji-ho looked at the caller ID. It was their manager.

"Hello," she answered the phone and had to put it away from her ear because the man on the line was screaming at her through the phone.

"-crazy! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"Manager Choi, calm down," Ji-ho told him. "Do you think that my naked pictures will get erased from the net if you scream at me?"

The shouting began anew and Ji-ho hung up the phone. There was no sense in talking to someone who was yelling for the sake of venting his temper. It was a terrible way to go about such business with a teenager who was soon going to have to face the full ire of the public.

When the phone rang again, Ji-ho answered it. "Manager Choi, if you start yelling again, I'll just hang up."

The manager couldn't understand how the soft-spoken and timid Jessica had grown a spine overnight.

"Come to the office," he simply told her and hung up. The CEO had already given out a tongue lashing to all those in charge of handling Genesis, and now the fire was trickling down to the lower levels. Never in the history of the country's music scene had a pop star experienced the leak of her nudes. It was a disaster of epic proportions for the company.

Ji-ho sighed at the phone and began tossing her clothing into a laundry bin. The room looked like the aftermath of a typhoon and she couldn't find any clean clothing that wasn't too flashy. In the end, she found a black shirt and a simple pair of jeans that smelled clean enough for wear.

_______

"Because of your stupidity, we're all going to get fired!" Manager Choi slammed his hand down on the table as he yelled at her.

Ji-ho was seated in a nice looking office where four men and two women had been waiting for her. They all quietly watched the young girl get disparaged and called foul names by the manager who should have been doing damage control right now.

"Do you not have anything to say?!" He continued.

"What do you want me to say? Sorry?" Ji-ho answered.

Jessica had done a stupid thing and Ji-ho was in agreement with the manager about it. But it shocked her that none of the adults in the room even cared to enquire about her well being. This was the reason that Jessica had ended up dying of an overdose. She was a lost soul looking for something, anything to fill the hole in her heart. The teenager had lived such a miserable life surrounded by selfish adults whose only intentions were to make money from her. No guidance, no empathy, no bonding, no love. It was no wonder that the members of Genesis were all messing up in one way or the other.

"Look at her," one of the women said with anger. "She is unrepentant! A disgrace to the company!"

The woman stood before Ji-ho and moved to slap her but the girl was faster. She moved her head back and avoided the palm that swatted the empty air.

"How dare you?!"

"How dare I avoid your slap? How dare I talk back?" She coolly asked. "What a bunch of useless adults. Are we going to do something about the pictures or are you all here to stand and gawk at me while you take turns yelling and doing nothing about the problem?"

Ji-ho's calm delivery of logic silenced the manager who had been about to yell at her again. He took a cigarette out from his pocket and lit it up.

"She's right though," the other woman in the room spoke up. "It's time for damage control."