With sharper instincts than anyone, Miso immediately saw that Choi Yeon-Mi was fake crying.

Caught off guard by Miso's unexpected callout, Choi Yeon-Mi raised her voice and cried even louder. "No! I'm crying because it hurts where Eun-Seo hit me!"

At Choi Yeon-Mi's shrill tone, Miso startled and quickly hid behind me. She clutched my leg tightly.

I gently patted Miso's back. "It's okay, Miso. I believe you."

Miso's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes."

When I nodded, Miso clasped her hands together and let out a relieved sigh. "That's a relief. I thought I was going to become a liar."

"Why would you be a liar? The real liar is over there."

I knew Choi Yeon-Mi was lying, not because of what Miso said but because I had experienced her before my regression.

In the previous timeline, Choi Yeon-Mi debuted under Ace Entertainment as a member of the girl group Lovely & Glory. From her debut year, she built a successful fandom by promoting a pure image—an angelic face and saintly behavior.

But at a CF shoot, a staff member who had suffered from her power abuse secretly recorded her swearing and exposed it. Within a year of her debut, she was expelled from the group and fled to the U.S. under the guise of studying abroad. Lovely & Glory never quite recovered and eventually terminated their contract with Ace Entertainment.

So even without Miso's insight, I already knew Choi Yeon-Mi was a master of performance. More importantly, the very fact that Go Eun-Seo had hit her was proof that something serious had happened.

Go Eun-Seo was arrogant and aloof, yes, but she was not someone who resorted to violence. This meant something had crossed even her line.

I turned to Go Eun-Seo and said, "Eun-Seo. Lower your hand and tell me why you hit Yeon-Mi."

Go Eun-Seo hesitated. She wasn't used to explaining herself to anyone and didn't know how to begin.

"I—well, it's just—"

At that moment, Choi Yeon-Mi abruptly wiped her tears, jumped to her feet, and protested first. "Mr. Jung! This is unfair. I'm not lying! And why are you listening to the attacker first? No matter how much you favor Go Eun-Seo, isn't this too much?"

"I favor Go Eun-Seo, you say?"

"Yes!"

A dry laugh escaped me.

'Me? Favor her?'

Go Eun-Seo was the one who had been scolded the most since Project I.O.A. began. Well, she had improved a lot lately, and I did find that commendable. However, if we were talking about favoritism, Sung Na-Ra, Song Hyun-Mi, or Han So-Won would be closer to that category. Those were the girls I had personally brought in, after all.

Kang Dae-Woong also looked confused. "That's right, Chief Jung. Why are you pressing Yeon-Mi instead of Eun-Seo, who hit her? And calling her fake? Even if Miso said that... isn't that going too far? We should hear Yeon-Mi out first."

Choi Yeon-Mi had been polite and sweet on set, earning favorable responses from staff. On the other hand, Go Eun-Seo's mother, top star Han So-Ye, had tried to apply pressure on the show. Her father, Assemblyman Go Joon-Taek, had also attempted to interfere.

For this reason, the production team of Project I.O.A. didn't exactly view Go Eun-Seo in a positive light. To begin with, Go Eun-Seo wasn't the warm, sweet type.

So Kang Dae-Woong clearly looked more inclined to believe Choi Yeon-Mi. He was someone with basic goodwill and tended to trust people easily, but wrong was wrong.

"Mr. Kang. Managing the contestants falls under our responsibility as talent agents. We'll handle it properly, so I'd appreciate it if you could step back for a moment."

Kang Dae-Woong glanced around and let out a sigh. "Fine. But make sure you resolve this properly. You know how many eyes are watching, right?"

All 64 audition participants had stopped what they were doing and were staring at us. Not to mention the Project I.O.A. production staff, who were holding their breath and observing.

"I know."

"Alright. I'll step back then."

As soon as Kang Dae-Woong withdrew, Choi Yeon-Mi's expression faltered.

Leaving her there in shock, I turned back to Go Eun-Seo. "Eun-Seo, tell me exactly what happened. There's no need to defend yourself. Just tell the truth."

Go Eun-Seo bit her lip tightly and pointed toward Oh Hae-Nim in the corner. "Yeon-Mi tried to take Hae-Nim's necklace, saying it was hers. Someone saw Hae-Nim wearing that same necklace from the first day." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"The same necklace?"

"Yes. Minatsu saw it."

Kudo Minatsu shot her hand up. "Yes, Mr. Jung. I clearly saw it. Hae-Nim brought that necklace with her when she first came to the dorm. If I'm lying, I'll seppuku—I mean, I'll disembowel myself."

Minatsu wasn't the type to lie either, even if she could be snide. Still, an idol trainee casually talking about seppuku was absurd.

"Don't throw around words like that. You've got a forehead flick coming later."

Minatsu drooped her shoulders with a pout. "Okayyy..."

I turned back to Go Eun-Seo. "And then? Go on."

"So when I tried to help Hae-Nim, I got emotional and swung my hand. Yeon-Mi was threatening her."

"Threatening?"

"She said that if the higher ups came, they'd believe her more, and that if Hae-Nim got accused of stealing and received penalty points, she could be eliminated. Since Hae-Nim's in Team 9 and barely hanging on today, she got scared and stayed quiet."

Oh Hae-Nim was eighteen this year, a second-year student at Incheon No.1 Arts High School. And she had grown up in the Incheon Sunflower Orphanage. There was a prejudice that orphans didn't have money, which made it hard for her to call talent agents even when she was being accused of theft.

However, orphanages had a designated sponsor system. Sponsors could support a specific child with gifts or money. If she had a sponsor, receiving a necklace as a gift on a special occasion wouldn't be unusual at all. Since I had once been an orphan myself, I knew that better than anyone.

So I gently asked Oh Hae-Nim, "Hae-Nim, I know how the designated sponsor system works. Is what Eun-Seo said true?"

Oh Hae-Nim finally seemed relieved and nodded. "Yes. The necklace is mine."

"I see. But one thing. Why did you come to Team 2's table? Team 9's table is on the opposite side."

Oh Hae-Nim took a lip gloss out of her pocket. "Eun-Seo lent me this yesterday. She told me to keep using it, but when I looked it up, it was really expensive. So I came to return it."

Go Eun-Seo quickly added, "Yes. I gave it to her yesterday."

"And the necklace Yeon-Mi is holding was a gift from my oppa. It's expensive, so I kept it stored safely. But since today's a competition day, I wore it as a good-luck charm. It's true!"

Her reason for being at Team 2's table was clear, and there was someone who had given her the lip gloss.

That was when Choi Yeon-Mi suddenly shouted upon seeing that I appeared to believe them. "Mr. Jung! She's an orphan! How could someone like her wear a three-hundred-thousand-won necklace? And she said she got it from her oppa! What oppa does an orphan have? The real liar isn't me. It's her! Her!"

Inside an orphanage, there were always a couple of people who felt like real family to each other. Knowing that, I was about to say something myself.

But before I could, Yoo-Jin stepped forward first and scolded Choi Yeon-Mi in a sharp voice. "Do you even hear yourself? Huh?"

Choi Yeon-Mi's eyes widened in shock. "W-what did I say?"

Yoo-Jin fired off her words without pausing for breath. "What did you say? You just implied that anyone without parents is a thief and a liar. Don't you get that? Hey, Mr. Jung and I don't have parents either. So what? Does that make me and Mr. Jung thieves and liars too?"

Only then did Choi Yeon-Mi realize what she had said, and her face drained of color. "Ah..."

At the same time, the staff and contestants began murmuring.

"Was Yeon-Mi always like that?"

"Is she out of her mind? Saying that in front of Mr. Jung?"

"She's in serious trouble now."

"Didn't Jung Yoo-Jin sunbae-nim lose her parents in high school too?"

The noise was growing, so I calmed Yoo-Jin first. "Yoo-Jin, stop. If you push further, this becomes a major incident."

"...Okay."

Yoo-Jin took a deep breath, hugged Miso tightly, and stepped back.

Only then did I turn to Choi Yeon-Mi, my voice cold. "Choi Yeon-Mi. When did you lose your necklace?"

"M-Mr. Jung, that's not—"

"Answer the question."

"I-I was wearing it when I left the room earlier."

"Alright."

I immediately turned to PD Ji Yung-Sik. "Mr. Ji, have the production team check the security camera. Review Yeon-Mi's movements from the moment she left her room."

"But we're ten minutes from rehearsal."

I gestured toward the contestants staring at us. "What rehearsal can we possibly do in this atmosphere? And if we're not careful, Hae-Nim will be branded a thief just because she's an orphan. Do you want people saying SBC discriminates against and looks down on trainees from orphan backgrounds?"

Ji Yung-Sik's face went pale. "Absolutely not!"

"Then please check it immediately."

"Okay!" Ji Yung-Sik grabbed the intercom. "Monitoring room. Team 2's Choi Yeon-Mi. Review everything from the moment she left her room. Check if she was wearing the necklace. If you can't confirm it, there's no rehearsal today. Move!"

-Y-yes, sir!

Everyone looked at me nervously, but I stood firm under their gaze. With issues like this, the resolution had to be clear and undeniable in front of everyone. Otherwise, rumors would never end.

A moment later, Ji Yung-Sik received a response through the intercom. "What? Really? Send me the footage. To the admin account."

He checked the video on his tablet, and his expression went stiff. "Mr. Jung, take a look at this."

I took the tablet. On the screen, Choi Yeon-Mi could be seen leaving Team 2's dorm. However, she wasn't wearing a necklace.

I raised the tablet so not only Choi Yeon-Mi but everyone present could see. "You left without the necklace."

Choi Yeon-Mi's eyes widened. "That can't be... I definitely took it out of my room and put it on today..."

"Did you?"

I immediately logged into the app's administrator account and pressed play on the live camera feed pointed at Room 2.

At that moment, a silver swan necklace lay clearly visible on Choi Yeon-Mi's personal table.

Flash.

I lifted the tablet again. "Yours is right here."

Choi Yeon-Mi's face drained of color. "W-why is that there..."

At that moment, behind us, Oh Hae-Nim covered her face and began to cry for real. "Sob..."

Then Miso, still in Yoo-Jin's arms, pointed at Oh Hae-Nim with a pitiful expression. "Mom. That unnie is really crying."

'Yes, Miso. Now everyone knows. So, Choi Yeon-Mi. It's time you paid the price for your lie.'

***

Yoo-Jin and Miso hurried over to comfort Oh Hae-Nim, and I fixed my gaze on Choi Yeon-Mi.

Choi Yeon-Mi returned Oh Hae-Nim's necklace and lowered her head toward me. "I-I'm sorry, Mr. Jung."

"Reward and punishment must be clear. Do you remember what I said when Project I.O.A. began?"

"B-But this... it was just a simple misunderstanding."

"Because of what you call a simple misunderstanding, Hae-Nim would have been branded a thief. Her mental state would have been shattered, and she wouldn't have been able to perform properly today."

"That's—"

"I'm not finished."

Choi Yeon-Mi shut her mouth.

I stared at her, then turned to Ji Yung-Sik. "Mr. Ji. By my authority, deduct twenty points from Choi Yeon-Mi."

"Twenty points?"

In an audition program scored out of two hundred, a twenty-point deduction could instantly drop her from Team 2 to Team 5, or even Team 6. With bad luck, she could fall below Team 8 altogether. That was how fierce the competition was.

At that, Choi Yeon-Mi, who had been looking apologetic until now, suddenly shouted. "That's too much!"

I ignored her outburst and turned to Team 2's Chinese member Liu Lan and Japanese member Nagai Haruko.

"Liu Lan. Nagai Haruko. Ten points deducted each."

They both looked stunned. "Why us?"

"For joining in and harassing Oh Hae-Nim without properly confirming the facts. If you feel wronged, we can upload today's incident to the [PROJECT : I.O.A] app and let the public decide. Would you like that?"

If the footage were uploaded, viewers across Korea, China, and Japan would see exactly what they had done. Their eyes widened in horror. In the end, they lowered their heads.

"We're sorry."

"Please... don't upload it."

I nodded. "Fine. I'll record the penalty under a different reason. But if I see this kind of behavior again, I won't hesitate to make it public. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

Finally, I turned back to Choi Yeon-Mi. If she felt it was unfair, we could let the public judge through the app.

But at that moment, Choi Yeon-Mi pointed at Go Eun-Seo and shouted. "Th-then what about Eun-Seo? She hit me!"

So she wasn't planning to go down alone.

'But it wouldn't go the way you wanted, Choi Yeon-Mi.'

I gave a faint smile. "Wait a moment."

I turned to Go Eun-Seo, who looked apologetic toward me. "Go Eun-Seo. If something like this happens, you report it to the adults first."

Go Eun-Seo lowered her head. "I'm sorry. When I saw her belittling Hae-Nim, I just snapped. You can upload it to the app and let the public judge if you want."

"That won't be necessary. Still, you were in the wrong too, right?"

"Yes. I was."

"Fine. Minus ten points."

Go Eun-Seo accepted it calmly. "Yes. I'm sorry."

She then turned to Choi Yeon-Mi. "Sorry for hitting you."

Even Go Eun-Seo's straightforward apology seemed to irritate Choi Yeon-Mi further.

At that moment, Oh Hae-Nim, who had stopped crying, urgently called out to me. "Mr. Jung! Eun-Seo stepped in to help me. The penalty is too harsh! I'll take the deduction instead!"

"What did you do wrong to deserve a penalty?"

"She helped me, so—"

Go Eun-Seo cut Oh Hae-Nim off. "You're barely scraping together every single point right now. Why are you worrying about someone else? I'm going to get first place today and make up for the lost points, so just focus on yourself."

Her words were sharp, but there was warmth underneath. She really had changed a lot.

I almost smiled at how proud I felt, but I kept my expression neutral and added, "And Go Eun-Seo. Plus ten points."

"I'm sorry?"

"You stepped up bravely when someone weaker was in trouble. The public watches an idol's character and conduct. Your method was clumsy, but your action wasn't wrong. Next time, report it to the adults. Or to me."

Go Eun-Seo's eyes filled with emotion. "Yes, Mr. Jung!"

Just then, Chief Lee Dong-Min stepped quietly beside me. "I'll add five more points under my authority. Admitting one's mistake honestly is a virtue every entertainer should have. On the other hand, Yeon-Mi still hasn't properly apologized to Hae-Nim."

Go Eun-Seo awkwardly bowed her head again, and Lee Dong-Min smirked. In the end, Go Eun-Seo walked away with a net plus five points. However, it wasn't over.

Lee Dong-Min turned to Choi Yeon-Mi, who was trembling with frustration. "Choi Yeon-Mi! Are you still not apologizing? If you keep this up, I'll deduct another five points."

Only then did Choi Yeon-Mi reluctantly bow her head. "Hae-Nim... I'm sorry."

A simple bow wouldn't erase the anger she felt from getting accused of being a thief.

Still, I gently spoke to Oh Hae-Nim. "Hae-Nim, rehearsal is right around the corner. For your own sake, accept the apology."

Oh Hae-Nim needed to let it go to focus on today's performance. After all, surviving this audition mattered more right now.

"...Okay." Oh Hae-Nim let out a sigh and glared at Choi Yeon-Mi. "Fine. But don't ever do that again!"

After snapping back at Choi Yeon-Mi once, Oh Hae-Nim accepted the apology.

With everything settled, I clapped my hands. "Rehearsal starts in ten minutes. Get ready. Everyone, back to your positions!"

"Yes, sir!"

The contestants who had been watching us scattered back to their tables. Even Team 2 returned to their seats.

I used the moment to speak to Go Eun-Seo and Oh Hae-Nim. "Eun-Seo, Hae-Nim. Come see me for a moment."

I stepped outside to steady their nerves.

"Yes, Mr. Jung."

"And Yoo-Jin, come with us."

Yoo-Jin took Miso's hand. "Okay."

At that moment, my phone vibrated.

Buzz.

I checked the screen, and it was a notification from Everyday.

[Notification: April 12, 2021. A new schedule entry has been registered for Jung Yoo-Jin.]

"Everyone, hold on a second."

I glanced at the details. However, what I saw made no sense. The schedule entry listed something related to Go Eun-Seo.

'Go Eun-Seo... gets eliminated?'