Chapter 5

# Chapter Five — "Best Frenemies"

### 5.1 Dam-Bi

We didn't get far through the audience before hearing a voice call out in our direction.

    "Dam-Bi, is that you?"

    Despite mentioning me by name specifically, all four of us stopped progressing and looked back, scanning for any familiar faces in the thinning crowd. Junko was the first to breathe a sigh of relief, recognizing the source of the voice a moment before I did - which is impressive since I could only recall a couple of times the two girls had met! The somewhat sultry voice belonged to a girl with fair skin and long silvery hair she let flow loose, pinned around her temple with an elaborate hair clip shaped as a clutch of delicate baby blue flowers inlaid with what looked to be tortoiseshell, which perfectly matched her dark amber eyes. She was wearing a cream-coloured Hyogo leather jacket over a distressed, bright ocean blue tee with black leather pants and an over-long silver belt which, much like her hair, she let hang freely. Small blue floral charms dangled from her ears, and more than a few silver buckles and zippers adorned the ensemble. All of this was carried aloft by a pair of tall, sleek black flare heeled boots.

    "Tae-Eun! Ahh! Come here immediately!" We exchanged a brief hug and kisses on our cheeks, a perfectly chic greeting for two girls like us. Tae-Eun is my best… Well, she's my best Korean friend in Japan. Her and I have a bit of a friendly rivalry, and it kind of kills her that I debuted as an idol before her, especially given her head start doing modeling, fashion shoots, and other things that are definitely idol-adjacent. Not that I would ever do something so low as to flaunt that in front of her. "I love that jacket! It's authentic too, isn't it? I can tell! And your makeup skills have really improved! You pull off the androgynous look so well!"

    "Thank you! Yours have too! And I see you've branched out beyond that boring juvenile purple phase you'd been stuck in! You've moved onto… pink!" I laughed curtly in reply. This is just how we are with each other. It makes us both up our game though, so it's all in good fun. Plus, I'm currently winning!

    "Oh! Tae-Tae! Have you met my friends? We're forming a whole idol group! This is Rinko - she's our extremely talented leader - and these are Junko and Megumi, two of our extremely talented group mates!"

    "I believe I've met some of you before, but it's always a pleasure to meet Bibi's friends! Look at you all! She could learn so much from you about coordinating a look. You're positively gorgeous tonight, especially you with the apple. You look positively delicious! I'm here with some friends too… um…" My best frenemy looked around for whatever imagined friends she was here with while Rinko soaked in the compliment, giggling and smiling warmly. Junko mostly looked impatient at the delay - though on the bright side, Tae-Eun *had* brought Rinko back into arm's reach - but smiled politely and waved hello anyway. Megumi… looked like Megumi, just passively absorbing everything she could from her surroundings. "Oh! Hey! Ai! Over here!"

    The "friends" that she was "here with" - and was frantically waving to - pushed through the lingering crowd. Two girls dressed in disappointingly mainstream clothing moved into place on either side of Tae-Eun, greeting her with a little bit of confusion. Not that they were dressed *poorly*, but for all the ribbing we give each other I had expected her "friends" to be more stylish. One, a slender girl with orangish hair cut into straight bangs, was wearing a somewhat juvenile pullover covered in a bleed of bright pastel tones, along with a rather plain mid-length white skirt, and could have looked at home in any number of decades long past. The other - a girl with strikingly smooth dark skin who very obviously had a killer skincare routine - wore a simple black button up with a yellow bow, accompanied by a short, matching plaid skirt. They seemed amusingly surprised to be addressed by Tae-Eun.

    "Dam-Bi, these are my good friends from Starsphere. Ai, a fellow entertainer, and… uh…"

    "Hi! I'm Kohaku! I've mostly been doing modeling so far but this was amazing! Are idol concerts always like this?!"

    "No! They aren't! Hi, Kohaku! I'm Rinko! Eimi is extra amazing, right?!?!"

    "Right?! It was like real magic was happening onstage! I can still feel it in the air! This was-"

    "Extra amazing!"

    Those two got wrapped up in an Eimi Inagawa feedback loop, screaming back and forth about how great the concert had been, eventually exchanging contact information and bouncing in place as they practically squealed in delight over what they had witnessed.

    "Hi! I'm so happy to meet you! I'm Dam-Bi! These are Rinko, and Junko, and Megumi, my fellow idols extraordinaire! It's nice to finally meet some friends of Tae-Eun!" The pastel girl looked like she was overexcited from everything happening. Or maybe just embarrassed at the attention. A color not dissimilar to the prevailing shade of her shirt crept across her face.

    "Hi… Dam-Bi? I'm… I'm… I… Ai…"

    Rinko giggled, pausing from her mania to give the girl a goofy military salute. "Aye-Aye Cap'n? I'm Rinko, reporting for duty!" The poor thing looked like she wanted to crawl under a seat and try to hide. My impatient friend tried to diffuse the situation, offering her a friendly handshake, which she accepted reluctantly.

    "I'm Junko. I really like your shirt. It's very colorful."

    "J-Junko… like you…" I laughed quite suddenly at that unexpected humor. Juney was a bit confused until Ai pointed at her hair. "I really like your… I mean… You're so pretty… I'm… I'm Ai…"

    "So, as you can see, I came with friends as well. Very good friends. We're thinking of starting an idol group too, but I don't know. The Japanese idol scene is lagging so far behind our home market, you know? It almost seems like giving up to make that leap before I'm back in Korea. We may just stick to modeling and recording sessions."

    "Oh no, it's essential to keep your skills sharp. You don't want to fall behind. Now *that* would be giving up! Hold on a second." After her burst of frenetic energy, Hanarin very quickly seemed to lose interest in the peasantries being exchanged, glancing repeatedly at the empty stage as she kept shuffling back and forth just a few steps. I beckoned her to lean in with a single finger. I made a mental note to ask her later what scent she was wearing today, as I found I was really enjoying it, then whispered lightly in her ear.

    "Go on ahead without me. I'll meet you out front in a little while. Good luck in there, leader!" She nodded at me twice, then hurried off in a rush. I looked around to do the same with Junko, but she was already out of my field of vision. Strange, but that's Juney for you. It was just Megumin and myself left. I was, in a way, relieved. I was ecstatic to be here tonight. The concert was amazing, and both of those girls are tons of fun to hang out with. Getting to play dress-up with Hanarin, especially, was a highlight of my day. She looks as amazing as I always imagined she would once she puts a little effort into it. But, as far as trying to convince Eimi Inagawa to join our nameless group is concerned, I'm not sure I would be offering much more than some nice clothes and a killer smile. And I'm pretty sure it'll take more than that… So my time is probably better spent getting to know Tae-Eun's friends even better.

    "Hey Tae-Tae, did you guys have to buy your tickets? Were they as expensive as people say?"

    "Of course not! Like I wanted to be here badly enough to pay for a ticket. I recorded backup vocals for a girl at Kikyo last weekend and she gave it to me for doing such an amazing job, and it seemed like a waste to not use it. I'm not sure about these two though."

    "Oh, I got the tickets for both of us. I couldn't believe Kohaku had never been to an idol concert even though our agency handles so many, so I looked for a good deal." The quiet redhead spoke up for the first time of her own initiative. "I have a friend at Kikyo, Tsubasa… She's in Eimi's class and they all get free tickets to each other's concerts. But it sounded like a bunch of the girls weren't able to attend and just sold their tickets cheap. I managed to scoop two up for about ¥2000 and some old manga I had lying around. And she had a really good time, right?" Kohaku threw her arms in the air in solid agreement with Ai's assessment, giving two big thumbs up.

    "We *need* to do this again. It was magical."

    "Oh! That's how we got our tickets too! Hanarin must have a hookup in your friend's class!" Though, thinking about it, with our four tickets, plus yours… "Strange. My class only has eleven people in it, and Eimi's is even smaller. Not counting Eimi herself… is it eight? Six of those eight people didn't want their tickets?! Why on Earth could that be? The concert was amazing."

    Megumi made a choking sound like she had just swallowed wrong, before fanning her face and sputtering.

    "Are you ok, Megumin?"

    "Yes, I'll be fine Ms. Han. It just struck me as especially shocking that so many of my classmates declined to be here tonight to support Ms. Inagawa."

    "Umm…" Ai frowned. "Remember that joint seminar our schools held last semester? I didn't really hang around her, but… supposedly, according to some of the other girls who were there, she can be a little bit of a… well, you know…" Ai held her hand up with her tiny fingers splayed out in imitation of a claw, then cutely swiped the air a few times, though her intent was clear. "Even more than… um… nevermind…"

    "More than *who*?" The look on Tae-Eun's face would have been hilarious, as would the look on Ai's, had I not suddenly been overcome with a feeling of dread.

    "Oh. That's such a shame, she looks so sweet." My smile remained fixed on my face - by now I'd rehearsed it so much that I wouldn't be surprised if I could smile my way through absolutely anything - but a bead of nervous sweat tickled my face as it trickled down my cheek.

    *Oh no… Hanarin!*

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