The next morning, Jisoo woke up feeling like a flattened pancake.Her phone was vibrating nonstop on the nightstand, threatening to fall off.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
She peeked at the screen through one sleepy eye—
48 new messages.
12 missed calls.
3 death threats.
"Ah… I'm so famous now," she muttered dryly, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow.
Apparently, someone on campus had uploaded a blurry photo of her carrying Jinu bridal-style.The caption?
'Mystery Girl Kidnaps Rising Idol Park Jinu?!'
The comments section was a battlefield.
"Who's that beast??""That's his manager maybe?? No, too ugly.""She looks scary…""Aww maybe his sister?""No way, his sister would be hot too."
Ouch.That last one hurt.
Jisoo sighed and dragged herself out of bed, throwing on her oversized hoodie and sweatpants — her default armor against the cruel outside world.
"Okay, Jisoo. You can do this. You've survived middle school nicknames, bad diets, and your mom's training. This is nothing."
She stared at herself in the mirror.Her bangs were a mess, her cheeks puffier than usual, and her T-shirt said 'Don't Touch My Snacks'.Perfect.
At the bus stop, people were already whispering.
"Isn't that her?""She's huge!""I heard she punched a sasaeng fan for her brother!"
Jisoo ignored them all and quietly put on her earphones.The music blasted—ironically, one of Jinu's songs.
"Ah, oppa, you're making this worse," she groaned, lowering the volume.
When she arrived at campus, her best friend Minji came running like a panicked chicken.
"JISOO!! WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER MY MESSAGES?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING?!"
Jisoo blinked. "That I'm secretly Hulk's daughter?"
"YES! And also that you kidnapped your brother and forced him to marry you!!"
Jisoo nearly choked on her own breath. "WHAT THE ACTUAL—?!"
Minji held up her phone, showing a fan-edited photo of Jinu and Jisoo in wedding attire.The caption:
Forbidden Love: Idol Marries His Own Sister?!
"…I give up," Jisoo muttered. "This is why I should've dropped my phone into a blender."
Meanwhile, in the recording studio across town, Park Jinu sneezed.
"Ahchoo!"His manager glanced up. "You sick?""Nah," Jinu said, rubbing his nose. "Just… someone probably cursing me online again."
"Did you clear up the rumor about that girl?"Jinu smiled lazily. "Why bother? It'll disappear in a week."
Except it didn't.Because someone had just leaked another photo — of Jinu smiling at Jisoo.
The internet exploded.
By lunch break, Jisoo had officially become a meme.Her face was everywhere — cropped, captioned, photoshopped.There was even a fan edit of her turning into a dragon to protect Jinu.
Minji tried comforting her between bites of tteokbokki."At least they didn't find your SNS account."
Jisoo froze mid-chew. "Minji… you didn't…"
"…I might have accidentally tagged you in one of the comments."
Silence.Then Jisoo let out a scream so loud it startled three pigeons and one security guard.
That evening, as she dragged herself home like a zombie, her mom greeted her with a cheerful grin.
"Welcome back, my precious scandal maker!"
"Mom…"
"Don't worry! I told everyone at the bar that it's all fake."
"That's good, right?"
"Well, I might have also told them Jinu's actually adopted, so people won't think you two are blood-related."
"…WHAT?!"
Her father popped out from behind the counter in a frilly apron."Sweetheart, your mom's PR strategy is unique."
"Unique?! You basically called my brother an orphan!"
Mr. Park smiled proudly. "Better than people thinking you're dating him, right?"
Jisoo covered her face. "I can't do this anymore."
That night, she wrote in her diary again.
Day 2 of being public enemy number one:
Still fat. Still alive. Still not dating my brother.
PS: if God is watching, please hit 'skip chapter' on my life.
She closed the book, sighed, and fell asleep with her earphones still playing her brother's newest love song.The irony was almost poetic.