Korean Showbiz: The Rebel

Content warnings:

The timeline is messy, and all idol scandals are treated as true. Not suitable for MMR readers or anyone with a favorite in the Korean entertainment industry.

The author's writing quality is inconsistent, and this is a self-indulgent work. It might fall apart as it goes on.

OOC is inevitable in fanfiction. The protagonist is loved by everyone. If that's not your thing, feel free to leave.

Shin Eun Suk was born amid a soft, lingering drizzle, so her life was written through with rain. She was a plant shaped by constant watering, accepting the sudden twists of fate without knowing or noticing.

A transplanted plant needs soil to protect its roots. People are no different.

After nine years of living as an outsider in America, she was stripped bare and tossed back to Korea. Perhaps everything that followed was already decided the moment Shin Eun Suk set foot in Korea.

Shin Eun Suk, Korean American, the fifth member of Moke, not a good-and-true heroine. Born October 23, 1998, Scorpio.

Question: How did Moke 5 manage to have friends around her in the early days who were a complete set of the five vices, yet still come out squeaky clean? If she'd been a female idol, she'd have been dragged through the mud ages ago, right?

Thanks for the invite. It's because she was clean to begin with. Nine years since debut, zero scandals. Instead of judging a female idol's friends, why not go after male idols with mountains of scandals?

(Privacy screen)

Back to the point: there were really only two people outside the group whom Moke 5 was close to in the early days: Bindu and Malong. You can draw your own conclusions about why. I'll just say this: Shin Eun Suk wasn't always the person Moke made her out to be. In fact, if you look at discussions of Moke 5's early days, there's not much you can figure out about her personally. She's good at putting on an act. It was only after Moke grew popular that Moke 5 started seeming less fake.

Moke 5 was closest to Bindu before debut. After they debuted, no one knows if the two had a falling-out, if Bindu was no longer useful, or if Moke 5 kicked Bindu to the curb to avoid getting burned. There are all kinds of theories. I lean toward them having argued. Say she's fake, but she's extremely grateful to those who've helped her. Say she's a good person who values loyalty, but she also keeps score. Once she's repaid what you gave her, your relationship is over. Moke 2 is the exception, of course.

There is less debate about her falling out with Malong. They first met because of Moke 2, and they fell out because of Moke 2 as well.

Since the person Shin Eun Suk presents to the world is an impostor, if you list her early and later friends together, you'll find that the only relationships that stayed just as close from beginning to end were with Moke 2 and her childhood friend outside the industry. Her friends outside the group changed completely. Ultimately, that's because Moke 5 wasn't sincere when she first befriended them.

As for why she was never dragged through a major scandal, Moke 5 is smart. She doesn't actually have any substantial scandals, and she's popular. Who'd dare bring it up unless they had a death wish?

[Warning: The idols in this story are all bad people. The fact that no scandals have been written yet doesn't mean there won't be any later. Not recommended for readers with a favorite in the Korean entertainment industry. To keep the forum posts entertaining and readable, they take shots at every idol equally.

I generally won't write about fan wars between fans of female idols, DFXR, or some especially vile gossip. Gossip about female idols that appears in the main story, outside of forum posts, will only be used when the plot calls for it. The main story won't involve female-idol gossip based on pure speculation, though that doesn't mean it won't appear in forum posts. Male-idol scandals are all treated as true. I'll use whatever comes to mind to serve the plot.]

Theme: Strive and fight hard