FAMILY IDOL

Justina's POV:

"LXD!"

"LXD!"

"LXD!"

"Minji! MJ!"

The crowd cheered so loudly that my eardrums throbbed. This was my dream.

My moment.

My debut.

Well, our debut, but still...

I wasn't going to let last night's nightmare ruin it.

As adrenaline flowed through me, my heart beat with excitement as I dripped with sweat.

Still, I realized my dreams of being an idol had finally come true. No one really knew my name, but I was famous.

"Minji! MJ!" they screamed, following her as they referenced her Korean name to the short form of MJ.

Last night in my dream, MJ did something horrifying... and they cheered her name. In my dream, they cheered for her, even though she was a monster and only I could see it.

They basically already referred to her as the queen of the group, and if they even dared, a rookie queen of K-pop.

Someone stretched out their book from the crowd and I reached out to sign it. "Not you, MJ!" The fan snapped at me and I flinched, withdrawing my hand.

"MJ, can I get your autograph?" Fans scrambled around MJ, trying to get her to sign for them.

Seems fair since she finished the survival show in first place. She was the leader of the group.

"You are so pretty," someone said, and I looked left and right, waiting for the other girls to move forward since we were all basically waiting for MJ to attend to her fans.

Well, it would be better if we were called MJ and the girls.

Then it wouldn't be so obvious, I laughed to myself.

I felt someone take a picture of me, and not the normal pictures everyone was taking; this one gave me a chilling feeling.

"Justina?" someone called my English name, and I turned to see them, slightly alert.

"You know my name?" I asked in shock.

"Yes. You are the prettiest girl in the group. I'm hoping they make you the visual. It would be amazing if you got brand deals because you are so pretty. What skincare do you use? Can you sign your autograph on my Shinel eyeshadow palette? I just got it from Paris?" the pretty fan said to me, and my heart felt light.

I nodded and took the eyeshadow palette. "What is your name?"

"Lim Sujin, but you can call me Ava," she said, and I signed it.

Who knew that name would later change my whole life that night?

I decided to put my crazy dream behind me and focus more on my fans.

"Girls, stop wasting time and walk faster," MJ said in a soft voice, and we quickly left our fans, waving and following her.

We entered our dressing room, and our manager was ecstatic as he popped a bottle of wine.

"Well, girls, that was incredible. Your performance was amazing. I'm proud of you all, especially you, MJ. You were the best. That's why I'm having such a hard time assigning places. You could be the leader, center, and visual of the group if possible."

MJ grinned at the compliment, which made the other girls uncomfortable.

"Oh, stop it, Manager Lee Jaemin. I believe we all deserve our roles as a group, and I'm proud of all of us. Especially you, Justina."

She said, and I forced an awkward smile.

"Of course."

We all sipped the wine, but not much. We were on a diet, and drinking was under strict guidelines.

I sighed, dropping the barely touched wine glass as I packed up my things for the day.

"Justina, I noticed you had a fan today," MJ pointed out, and I smiled.

"Yes, she was very nice," I acknowledged as I zipped up my bag.

"She said you deserved to be the visual. Do you think so?" MJ asked.

"I don't know. It's the company's decision to make, so it's not in my hands."

She held my gaze through the mirror as she took off her earrings.

"Oh?" She gave me a discomforting look. "She's just a fan anyway. You're so lucky to have one."

She turned and walked toward me, then whispered as she walked past me:

"Try not to get your hopes up."

"Minji has such a fake personality," Bellari rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath. She was still dressed in our stage outfit as she threw a hoodie over it.

"She's right though," I said, turning to Bellari.

"Wanna go eat some tteokbokki? Bill's on me," MJ announced, and everyone squealed in excitement.

Except me. I paused because those were the exact words I heard in my dreams last night.

"You're coming, right, Justina?"

I nodded in a daze, and Bellari, who was my best friend and group member, looked at me with irritation.

Something made me turn around, like something was behind me.

"You okay?" she asked, and I nodded before she began complaining.

"Must you do everything she says? She basically controls you like a puppet. You're my best friend. I know you freaking hate her guts."

Bellari bombarded my phone with messages as we sat in the group van.

"Please don't nag me, Bellari," I replied to her text.

"Well, I know I want to go back to the dorm and rest. Are you with me?" Bellari texted back.

"I don't want to piss MJ off, so just go along with it. It's just dinner," I texted, then shut my phone off.

Throughout the ride, no one noticed, but Minji stared at me intensely. When I moved a hair strand over my shoulder—even though she didn't have a stray hair strand—she did the same gesture and slouched into the seat exactly how I did it.

Our hair and outfits were so similar it was nauseating.

We arrived at the small private restaurant, and they served soju. We cheered MJ as she mixed the drinks.

"Ah, it seems people liked Justina's make-up today. How about we switch her make-up artist with yours?" the manager commented as he took shots of soju.

"Honestly, I think Justina looked so beautiful and deserves to be visual. Her talent is more her face than voice," she said, and I actually bit my cheek.

The manager beamed. "You are so kind, Minji. I will consider it."

The advantages of being a nepo baby.

Unlike her, my dad wasn't a politician. My mom wasn't a shareholder of an entertainment company.

My dad didn't formulate a whole K-pop group and survival show just for me to debut.

No, unlike her...

I was an ordinary orphan who left the orphanage and competed tooth and nail, with hours of leg-throbbing practice and raw talent, to reach the top.

And guess what?

With all my effort, I came in second place. I was irritated the whole dinner; I couldn't shake off the bad feeling I was having.

Perhaps my ulcer was catching up to me because of my poor eating habits. I rubbed my stomach and forced a smile.

My discomfort didn't matter because I sat upright with a false happy face, as long as I could live in peace, achieve my dream, and be able to provide my basic needs.

I didn't dream of more.

More didn't exist for people like me. I noticed two or three figures outside the window; two seemed to be having a full-blown argument while walking away, the other two followed.

"Cheers to the successful debut of LXD, the future of K-pop's second-generation girl group!" MJ announced, and everyone celebrated, drinking a shot of their soju.

I didn't drink, though, because I was a horrible lightweight drinker, and I had my image to protect.

Minji observed me like a roach under a magnifying glass as she laughed with everyone.

Even Bellari had to pretend to laugh at her jokes because no one dared to defy the almighty MJ. "Was the joke not funny, Justina?" she asked, and I froze, laughing hard.

"Oh no, it was hilarious," I replied nervously, feeling like I was suffocating because breathing could end my career.

After hours of drinking and hotpot, our managers hoisted most of the group members into the van.

As I stood up, Minji also stood up.

"You didn't drink, did you?"

"You know what I dislike about you? It's that you think you are perfect. You pretend to suck up to me, but I know how you really feel. Hypocrite."

She accused me, bumping into my shoulder, and I staggered back as she left the restaurant.

"Justina... we gotta go," the manager called.

"One second. I gotta pee," I excused myself, going out the back door.

I took a deep breath and did a silent scream.

A sound startled me, and I realized how dark it was outside.

Something drew me to the corner where the trash cans were. A figure was walking away in a dark coat.

Every step I took toward it told me to turn back, but I couldn't shake it off.

As I looked over the trash cans, I spotted two bodies with familiar faces covered in blood.

My body shivered erratically as fear slid through me. I took slow, quiet steps backward.

I collided with the door, and the man stopped.

I didn't wait for even a second. I turned and ran without looking back.

"Justina, we've been waiting!" the manager scolded me as I rushed past him into the van, settling into one of the seats.

MJ gave me a suspicious glare, and when Bellari touched me, I flinched.

"You okay?" she asked.

I was panting, and my hands were trembling.

My reply came out tight.

"I'm fine."

I avoided MJ's gaze, but I was sure of one thing.

One of the bodies was my fan... Ava.