No More Roses [Entertainment Industry]

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[Coming soon: My Dragon-Taming Days in the Entertainment Industry. Please add it to your favorites. The heroine is a little wicked, and she cheats on her cage.]

To everyone, trainee Li Ciyou was a silly, sweet, pitiful girl. After her parents divorced, she returned to China with her mother, was left alone to live by herself, and had to work at a convenience store to cover her living expenses.

[I'm obsessed with beautiful, strong, tragic characters. Give me more!]

[She's my pick. What a poor kid.]

Then Li Ciyou made her debut as the undisputed center in a PD survival show, joined the group as its permanent center, and secured a place among the world's most popular stars. Her fans proudly held their heads high.

[Another name for this group: Li Ciyou and the Eleven Dwarfs]

[Waaah, my baby, you make your mama so proud!]

After H-country authorities released the news about vote-rigging on PD, the media reported, "Li Ciyou was once replaced as a candidate for the theme song's center position." The official statement said, "All votes except Li Ciyou's were found to have been falsified."

After Li Ciyou was hospitalized due to the incident, not only her fans but the public as a whole felt heartbroken for the fifteen-year-old girl. Her beautiful, strong, tragic image was only further cemented.

[Just hearing about her being sabotaged breaks my heart. How upset must Quinn be?]

[Can this kid even cope with this kind of pain? A teammate she was close to took her place as the theme song's center. My God, thinking about Quinn living so long with the thief who stole her chance and her position... It gives me chills.]

But gradually, the fans started to feel that something was off.

They saw the gemstone ring worth 600 million won on Li Ciyou's hand, and heard her say that she had mooched off her parents to get the 10-billion-won mansion in Hannam-dong. Then they watched her leave the group, join CJ Entertainment as a favored artist, enjoy a cushy solo career, and star as the female lead in a movie. The fans began to question everything.

Where did my beautiful, strong, tragic, silly, sweet, pitiful girl go?

Li Ciyou: Huh? (blinks innocently like a silly, sweet girl)

#I'm done pretending. I'll come clean: I'm a chaebol heiress.#

Fans:

[At first, I thought I was stanning a beautiful, strong, tragic, wildly popular star. Turns out I got a privileged artist with powerful connections whom everyone hates?!]

[Once beautiful, strong, and tragic, now a privileged, wildly popular star. She's not Li Ciyou anymore. She's ascended the throne. She's Li Million, who will never fall!]

[Incredible skills + popularity + royal treatment + endless resources, your Q is the real deal!]

[Friend, want to stan someone born into privilege? This is a kind of happiness you've never experienced!]

Don't be a rose defined and planted by others. Be wild grass, growing freely as you please.

The heroine is 14 from the start. She seems silly and sweet, but is actually a high-functioning, demanding, spoiled, and calculating little menace. She has no group loyalty and leaves halfway through to go solo. Her career comes first; she's not a hopelessly love-struck fool. (If that's not your thing, click away.)

Reader's guide:

I have no writing skill or literary talent. I wrote this by rolling my face across the keyboard.

The heroine isn't based on a real person. Don't make weird assumptions.

Everyone is out of character. These are fictional characters, so don't compare them to real people. The names are sound-alikes.

The timeline isn't researched. There are plenty of shameless forum posts, so don't get emotionally invested.

Theme: Reject anxiety. Grow freely and be your most authentic self.