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SG-Pop

Written by Akane :: [Friday, 24 March 2023 00:05] Last updated by :: [Saturday, 25 March 2023 13:23]

Proofread and edited by Delta7447

Art by PressingSomeButtons


“...and we’re clear!” 

Super Goddess Ha-neul flashed an OK sign to her production team, then she got off her futuristic, elliptic air walking machine. The device, empowered to superhuman durability with a heavy coat of AME over its steel frame, was still struggling to properly handle the power of her sculpted legs. And speaking of uncontainable legs, her thighs were threatening to tear her tight spandex pants, as many holes were already appearing in them. She had to be careful with her muscle mass increase while exercising.

“That went well,” she commented as she untied her sporty ponytail. “I hope some people learn from this. If I see one more person getting hurt because they don’t know how to operate an air walker, then I’ll have to take matters into my own hands!”

Rebecca, her manager and producer of many of her shows, chuckled. “Oh, for sure.  People tune in to your show purely for its educational value.” The fact that it involved an extremely voluptuous deity exercising, moaning, and getting all sweaty and horny had nothing to do with it, not at all.

“What sharp tongue you think you have~” Fortunately for him, Ha-neul was a mature lady with a developed sense of humor--she took comments like that in stride, especially from people who weren’t even a seventh of her age. “How are the numbers this morning?”

“As per usual, we remain the most watched matinée program in America both in TV and stream, beating second place more than three times over. Our ConcepTech VR numbers reached two million, as of the wee hours of this morning.”

“Those fancy toys are proving to be quite popular lately, huh? Maia might make me even richer~” 

Rebecca snarkily replied, “Like it or not, they’ll probably become ubiquitous for communication and media in a decade, so you’d better get used to it.”

Ha-neul groaned. “Don’t make me feel that old, please. Could you treat me like I’m…I don’t know, 45 instead of 212? That’d be great, please and thank you.”

Chuckling, Rebecca adjusted her glasses. “Anyway, a Bae Seul-gi from the music industry is scheduled to meet with you in five minutes. She’s in Los Angeles.”

“Music? Hm, that’s a new one. I hope it’s not another one of those Christmas specials with dances and songs. Last time’s reindeer costume was outrageous.”

“Ah, I remember. Your nipples got so hard they had to censor them in post!”

“Hey! It was cold and I was half-naked.”

“More than half by the time the first scene had finished.”“Mrs. Claus’ actress was cute, okay? Anyway, lemme get ready.”

The Korean beauty got out of the recording studio and spun on herself, creating a vortex with blue sparkles. In a few seconds she had morphed into her usual outfit: a tight, sporty, dark tank top coupled with almost skin-like yoga pants of the same color, separated by her delicious tummy and well built six-pack abs, accompanied by designer sneakers, cap, and vest all emblazoned with the logo for her own brand: Lambda-11. What better way to market your merchandise than wearing it? Anyone would love wearing what a goddess wears.

The manager could notice the sheer gravitational attraction her trademark black hole earrings were generating at every moment but thankfully she could hold that weight with her ears without collapsing the universe around them. Needless to say the many galaxies that were encrusted as tattoos on her skin were even safer by virtue of belonging to her indestructible and unassailable body.

“Hm, going for a laundry day look?” Rebecca snarked.

“I love you too, Rebecca~ Let’s go.”

Ha-neul gestured at the air before her, as if swiping on a dating app, causing the world around them to shift into a blur. Ha-neul’s independent studios in Houston immediately morphed into a much more ornate and warm-colored locale: just outside the door to a big shot’s office in Los Angeles.

Rebecca knocked on the door. Her muscled frame’s contour was appreciable below her tightly fit jacket and pantyhose, betraying her otherwise nerdy and professional appearance. “Ms. Bae? It’s Rebecca Wingard, representative of Super Goddess Park Ha-neul. We’re here for the meeting.”

A beautiful voice boomed from behind the door. “Of course! Please come in!”

Bae Seul-gi was the owner of Blue Jewel Records, the American division of her discographic label back in Korea. She had put her heart and soul into producing top-tier idol groups in her home country, later venturing into exporting idol culture to the other half of the world. She had been quite successful so far, as evidenced by the many golden and platinum discs hanging from her walls and blatantly expensive white jumpsuit and exquisite jewelry.

Despite being 46 years old, she easily looked half that thanks to how well she took care of herself. Her makeup and youthful hair styling also helped, giving her a look not too dissimilar to that of the idol groups she produced. She was a lot of woman, but even then she paled in comparison to the goddess in front of her.

Bae swallowed, losing her usual businesswoman composure for a second before extending a hand. The sudden combination of punchy Super Pheromones and Ha-neul’s exquisite body of work almost awakened the lesbian inside her. “Glad to meet you, Ms. Park. I am elated that you have accepted my invitation to negotiate.”

“Likewise,” Ha-neul responded, shaking Bae’s hand firmly. “...Though I have to admit, my manager here just informed me about it. I’m not exactly sure what you want out of me, but you should know that music is... honestly the only part of showbiz that I’m not interested in.”

Bae proceeded behind her desk and sat down.  Ha-neul and Rebecca followed suit, sitting down at the opposite end. “Oh, but I’m sure this will spark your interest, Ms. Park! I have heard you are into experimentation!”

“Yes, that’s correct. Please don’t misunderstand, though--I don’t intend to reject you on the spot. I always hear out offers in full and give them all serious consideration.”

The light from the window reflected in the thick lenses of Rebecca’s prescription glasses, making her expression unreadable.

Bae continued, “It so happens that I heard from very credible sources that you had a brief stint as an idol in Korea two centuries ago or so. I was flabbergasted to learn that you didn’t actually keep up with it. It’s hard to imagine someone with your power, beauty, and talent would abandon a career with such prestige in favor of traveling overseas out of the blue. I don’t doubt you had your reasons, but the whole music industry in Seoul considered and still considers it a waste. You could have been the greatest idol to have ever performed on a stage.”

Ha-neul took a moment to compose a response before speaking up. “There is a complicated emotional layer to my decision that I would rather not divulge with someone I just met.”

“Very well,” Bae sighed. “Since I suppose our first option–hiring you as an idol–is out of the question, what do you say about coaching?”

“I’ve coached singers, dancers, news presenters, comedians, athletes, and many others, but never anything like idols. I do have some experience with the business but even if some of my current skills translate well into coaching Korean idols, do you really think I’m the best option for this? Please bear in mind I’ve been away from the industry since I was a kid.” The reluctance in her voice was palpable but she didn’t want to be disrespectful.

“I appreciate your honesty but we are out of options. My parent company back in Korea has spent a prohibitive amount of money in raising a very particular idol group and they aren’t up to their expected performance a few months away from their debut. Our investors are worried and desperate.”

“What seems to be the problem?”

“Well... it’s an ambitious project--in my opinion, very risky too.. We are using un-Enhanced girls for this idol unit but they are supposed to compete for the Enhanced market. It’s all about testing the gimmick that people without powers can somehow compete with Enhanceds and carve a whole new niche.”

Ha-neul chuckled in disbelief, bewildered and even slightly offended. “You must be joking. Your company surely understands what Enhanceds are. After all, they run Enhanced bands. Do you have any idea how much harm can be inflicted on a girl’s self-esteem if she’s compared to an impossible standard? It doesn’t matter how good they are if they can’t really compete athletically or aesthetically. It’s a fool's errand--unless you expect me to cheat and warp reality for you. If that’s it, then what’s even the point?” 

She stood up, her abs suddenly coming into frame and getting another unintended blush out of Bae. “Your industry really does treat girls like products. Even after two hundred years, the industry hasn’t changed one bit. Gimmick? Project? Experiment? Are those terms you should use to define Human beings? Artists that put all their passion into their craft from the moment they can dance and sing? And since that wasn’t bad enough, you intend to throw them to the wolves...!”

Ha-neul was getting genuinely heated by the conversation... but she was better than that. She was a seasoned Super Goddess--among the wisest people to have ever lived. She was over childhood grudges... or at least she thought so, in this case. She stood there in silence, letting herself calm down with a long, slow sigh.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Bae replied. “but what I’m asking you is the opposite of demeaning these girls. They are very motivated and would like nothing more than to triumph against the odds. It would be devastating to see them fail or not even have the chance to prove themselves.”

“But you have so little faith in them that you’ve decided to ask for divine intervention from the local goddess.”

“You don’t need to accept, but the girls need guidance, rigorous physical training,  dietary regimes. We know full well you could work the miracle others couldn’t.” Trying to be as manipulative as possible, Bae produced a holographic image of the group. They were all late teenagers or early 20-somethings. Just looking at their poses, they were overwhelmingly green--reasonably acceptable for un-Enhanceds just starting out, but nowhere near their actual objective.  “They need your help. Will you take on the challenge? You will be handsomely compensated.”

Ha-neul reminisced back to her first years in Seoul, before leaving her parents’ house to succeed in American show business and achieve global stardom. She closed her eyes and hardened her expression. “I don’t like being emotionally coerced like this. You know full well what my Super Empathy can compel me to do.”

“You don’t want those girls to end up like you. Isn’t that right, Ms. Park?” Bae finally blurted with a gentle smile that hid her true cold and predatory intentions, the mind of a heartless profiteer and businesswoman behind her warm and approachable exterior.

“I said I’d give your offer serious consideration, and I will. Good day.”

Rebecca stood up and the two teleported out of Bae’s office, leaving her confident in the result of her negotiations with the goddess.

Super Goddess Ha-neul couldn’t believe it, but here she was again, in Korea--not enjoying the great culture, cuisine, or inspecting her various sportswear stores at Seoul, but standing in one of the girliest, tackiest, and least tastefully decorated lofts she had ever found herself in. All the shades of pink bombarding her senses from all angles  would hurt her eyes if she wasn’t omnipotent. There were so many beanbags and plushies... though strangely, no kitchen anywhere.

She immediately recognized this kind of setting, even if it was a modernized version: the living quarters of a Korean idol group, housed on the 123rd floor of the staggeringly tall SongCorp Building. The whole skyscraper was devoted to all sorts of SongCorp operations, including living space for close to a hundred other idol units produced and managed by the corporation.

As a matter of fact, K-pop idol culture had become so rooted in Korean society that even a couple centuries after the modern concept’s start, the genre was running popular enough still for the one of the biggest businesses in the country to possess this monstrous monument to monopoly in the middle of the city and basically lord over its citizens, both Enhanced and Unenhanced.

Ha-neul had a natural distaste for these kinds of practices, treating young girls as products to market and sell and slave their lives away in exchange for food and housing as long as they turned out talented and profitable. Indeed, if they had called her to save this unit instead of just disposing of it like they usually did, it was probably because they had already invested way too much money to just throw it away.

She once lived in a place like this before, excelling at all the singing, dancing, and acting lessons they threw at her, outperforming her contemporaries with ease, and making them feel jealous and uncomfortable at how she didn’t even gain a single ounce of fat no matter how much she stuffed her face. This was way before she obtained a taste for fitness and sports, and the expectations the people in her life had about her were…a bit different.

The unit itself indeed looked like a disjointed mess. They were all occupying their own spaces, physically separated and not looking at each other for a moment--certainly easy, given how huge the loft was.

They had noticed her and Ha-neul knew it but they hadn’t said anything yet. Maybe they weren’t contractually allowed to do so at their leisure? It was possible. 

She could tell at a glance that the least skilled and confident of the bunch were just scared and in awe of her presence while the main primadonna listening to her own recording sessions on her retro Discman was emitting an aura of hate and jealousy. This kind of competitive person really didn’t enjoy the presence of someone able to upstage them; she was probably the source of all the negativity in an otherwise pleasant-looking and well-arranged home.

She was the nastiest and haughtiest but Ha-neul could also tell at a glance that it was honestly more or less deserved. She had the greatest natural talent of the bunch and was the tallest and most conventionally beautiful--within the industry’s restrictive beauty standards, of course. It probably didn’t hurt that she bore a passing resemblance to an Enhanced. Then again, that was the goal of the project, it was just that the other four members weren’t quite on her level.

Needless to say, this invoked an inferiority complex in the others, diminishing their motivation. They tried to live up to the task but couldn’t. Compounding the issue was the strongest wolf of the pack being entirely uninterested in her alleged ‘peers’, wanting desperately to be free of them so she could work on a solo career instead.

Ha-neul’s original attempt at an idol career had stepped on so many people’s dreams that they felt like a heavy burden, still on her shoulders after all those centuries. Where were her rivals and unit companions now? She knew well none of them ever reached stardom and her only respite was that some of them were still alive and happy, living their lives as ageless Enhanceds out there in Korea. Time permitting, she should pay some of them a visit eventually.

“Good morning, ladies!” They were all startled and suddenly fixated on her. Some blushes came up immediately, the figurative punch to the face that Ha-neul’s sheer gorgeousness and powerful pheromones caused was hard to handle even for beauties like them. Besides, her voice was confident and commanding, like that of a drill sergeant. It was like they had expected her to not actually address them and leave without saying a word. 

“Uh… what’s a Super Goddess doing here?” One asked, raising her hand. “Are we that much of a lost cause already that they forced your hand into this shitty deal?”

“What is your name?” Ha-neul asked.

“The contract says it’s Gumi. Pleased to meet you, I guess.”

“Likewise, Gumi. I’m Park Ha-neul and I have been hired to help you girls work as a unit.”

Gumi had short, stylized hair, goth makeup, and her stage name emblazoned on her black tank top. She popped her chewing gum and swiftly retorted, “Yeah, sure thing, Sisyphus. We’re only several months off the mark and none of us can stand each other.”

“I can see that. But that’s something you can work on.” Ha-neul was actually hating this, though she didn’t show it. It was the exact atmosphere she had expected, and the memories coming back up to the surface weren’t helping matters, never mind their rancid attitudes.

The talented primadonna stood up and sauntered towards the shorter Super Goddess. She walked cute little laps around her with eyes full of disdain, like she was inspecting her, analyzing her, giving her a value, a ranking. Comes from experience, Ha-neul figured.

“Even someone as disgustingly perfect as you couldn’t do shit to help these losers over there.”

“Hey!” All the other four yelled, obviously offended but perhaps not surprised by it.

“It’s true. My name is Soo-Wong, by the way. I’m by far the only competent one here, but these untalented hags only slow me down. I doubt you can shape them into proper form in time unless you use your powers. Ah wait, did I read your mind? Is that the plan?”

So she was also the youngest. Ha-neul found that interesting. Not much had changed in 200 years, indeed.

“Nah. What’s the point then? I’m going to train you in my own way, Soo-Wong. If it doesn’t work, I’ll take all the responsibility for your failure as a unit. I’ll even let you join my harem--no more worrying about your next meal ever again. Do we have a deal?” 

They all looked at each other, weirded out. They gradually arrived at the same conclusion and nodded....

...all except Soo-Wong. “Why do I have to deal with you anyway? I’ll just call my agent and--”

Ha-neul pressed the shorter and thinner woman against the wall. She let out a scared gasp, abundantly aware that the Super Goddess could murder her with a simple glare if she wanted but still surprised that a person with such a high level of empathy being able to be that aggressive and forward.

Poor Soo-Wong stared in awed shock as Ha-neul’s body grew larger and stronger, giving her a rather terrifying yet even hotter appearance. Her tits inflated on their own, now making hers look like mosquito bites in comparison despite being the bustiest of the unit. By the time Ha-neul’s hair had grown into a long and silky mane practically trailing on the floor, Soo-Wong had been pushed up to the point where she wasn’t touching the floor anymore, her whole weight being supported by Ha-neul’s godlike tits as her legs pathetically dangled in the air.

She felt inferior, inadequate, as the worst thing that could happen came to be. One of the other girls approached Ha-neul from behind, entranced by her mane. 

“Wow! How do you get your hair to be this beautiful?”

“It smells like cinnamon…” Gumi added.

Ha-neul placed her hands under Soo-Wong’s arms, then stepped back and gently lowered her to the floor. In literally any other situation she would have retaliated or escalated her brattiness but the message was clear. Ha-neul was on another level impossibly beyond her and she should respect her. It was the alpha bitch’s turn to shut up and learn.

The Korean goddess chuckled, feeling ticklish at the smaller girl caressing her hair. “And who are you?”

“I’m Kim, Ms. Park, but everyone calls me Kay because my name is so common.” Her smile was like sunshine. It was strange to see someone so optimistic and happy to see her, considering how tense the atmosphere was at the beginning.

“Nice to meet you, Kay! Your hair is gorgeous too but I’m sure I can make it shine even more on stage.” 

“That might be difficult for one of us in particular,” Gumi interjected, gesturing towards the shorter, pudgier girl in the corner. She was hugging a pillow, sitting on her bed. She was easily more attractive than the majority of the population--even back in Ha-neul’s youth--but nowadays, she didn’t cut it anymore, unfortunately.

“Who’s that?”

Soo-Wong snarled. “That’s Eun-U. She doesn’t deserve to be in this unit and is the greatest problem we have. If you ask me for advice, we should get rid of her.”

“We are not going to do that. You four are going to get along and achieve great things together. Isn’t that right, Eun-U?” Ha-neul approached but she turned her back. Ha-neul didn’t even need Super Empathy to pick up on her lack of confidence and desperate wish to give up. 

“Soo-Wong is right. I can’t dance, I can’t sing and I can’t keep my weight down and look good. I’m a hindrance at best.” Ha-neul hated this aspect of idol culture, the imposition of rigid beauty standards and exploitation of humans like they were assets. This poor girl wasn’t allowed to act Human just because she had to live up to a nebulous standard of perfection.

She had to save her before the industry chewed her up and spat her out. “I’m sure we can work it out together,” Ha-neul replied, offering her a hand.

Eun-U seemed unsure. She had been instructed by coaches before and none of them made a difference. SongCorp already considered her a lost cause and were considering replacing her with a younger, more apt idol. “I have been given a warning. They say that if I don’t perform up to standards in the next evaluation they will expel me from the idol academy and stop covering for my expenses.”

“You signed a contract that had that clause? Ah-- no, of course not.” Ha-neul sighed. “Your parents read and signed it for you when you were a kid.”

“Give the lady a prize,” Soo-Wong interrupted. “And because of that fuck-up not only her livelihood but all of ours are in peril.”

“Oh, what are you so worried about, asshole?” Eun-U snapped with a defiant glare. “They will just find some obedient backup dancers for you when they ditch the others.” This was clearly the result of months or possibly years of repressed anger towards Soo-Wong finally coming to a head.

“What was that? It almost sounded like you were asking for a beating, fatty!”

Kay got between the two. “Come on, girls. No need to fight, a Super Goddess is here to help us!”

Ha-neul was happy that there was at least someone that helped de-escalate. “Alright, as your coach, the first thing I’m doing is naming Kay here the unit’s leader. Her positive attitude will carry you far.”

“Oh god, no. Not only are you going to side with the loser but you are stealing the leadership from me for this talentless asskisser?”

“Enough!” Ha-neul snapped her fingers and her skin turned into divine light, radiating more than enough power to leave the group temporarily blinded and thoroughly awestruck.

“W-What was that?” Gumi asked, stunned.

“I can already see you have serious problems in communication and cohesiveness. Regardless of how much I can improve your baseline skills as idols, we won’t get anywhere if you don’t cooperate. The only way that’ll happen is with a unit leader.”

“Well then, what now?” Kay asked for guidance.

“I want to gauge your skills first.” Ha-neul formed a square with her fingers, angling them to mimic the perspective she had of the floor. A bit of unstoppable reality-warping magic caused her perspective to become reality, expanding the loft to match the idea in her head. It quickly grew beyond the apparent bounds of the skyscraper’s outer walls, but really, what business did a mere building have to interfere with a Super Goddess’ desires? Space-time was her bitch, not the other way around. 

She stretched the newly-expanded floor into a fully-featured and -functional concert stage. She began looking around, making a pop sound with her lips, like kissing the air. Each time she did, new items appeared on stage: tripod-affixed microphones, assorted instruments, a mixing room off to the side, and, of course, bigass hi-fi concert speakers stacked atop each other to form a wall up to the ceiling.

“You built us a personal studio just like that?” Gumi was surprised. She was used to traveling across town for live practice at SongCorp’s studios.

“Yes. I think it’ll prove beneficial--not to mention more efficient--if you all live and train in the same place. What you learn will stick in your mind via association, making it easier to help your fellow unit members if they lag behind.”

“Oooh, excellent idea!” Kay chimed in.

“This shit will only further drag me down to their level,” Soo-Wong scoffed. Despite that, she had to admit, seeing a stage this grand and well-equipped got her in a performing mood.

“I can’t believe I actually agree with you,” poor Eun-U muttered.

Once everyone was on stage, Ha-neul dressed them in beautiful reverse bunnysuits, as called for by their hopefully-hit-single-to-be, Pyon-Yang. Duplicates of Ha-neul manned each of the instruments, ready to perform a flawless accompaniment.

“I want Eun-U in the center,” the original Ha-neul ordered. The Super Goddess could smell the poor girl’s fear and nervousness as she was put into the spotlight for once. Soo-Wong stared daggers at her while the other two were rather worried and not confident that she could pull it off. Despite being objectively the least physically qualified as an idol, she now had the mission to take over the most important duties of a unit.

Ha-neul popped a chair into existence and watched them silently as they performed their cherry pink idol song about the power of friendship, the bonds made along the way, the beauty of youth, and other plastic--and hypocritical--themes, considering how they treated each other. Soo-Wong was a hyper-competitive bully with a superiority complex and Eun-U’s lacking confidence caused her singing and dancing alike to suffer. By comparison, Kay and Gumi weren’t as flawed, besides their feigned ignorance of their precarious situation and toxic workplace environment.

From their test run performance just now, it became clear that Eun-U was not only not on par with the others, but also her distinct lack of leadership skills dragged the rest of the group down. They weren’t synchronized and the end result was below average even for non-Enhanceds. Back in Ha-neul’s day, when her country wasn’t as wealthy, a unit this bad would have been disbanded right here and now.

“I won’t sugarcoat this--you girls are extremely green.  With only one month and no reality warping, this might actually be a challenge!”

A beat. Kay broke into laughter, the tension having dissipated in a matter of seconds. “I, uh... I dunno, boss.  I think you’re more optimistic about us than even I am.”

“That’s because you don’t have the right mindset. Your mistakes are mainly due to your bad mentality and the fact that you can’t stand each other, but that can be worked on.”

Son-Wong clicked her tongue, glaring at Eun-U as if she were garbage. “Oh yeah? What about this mess here?”

“Frankly, Eun-U, you are the weakest link. I’m not saying that to be cruel, but so we can focus on what’s important.”

“And what might that be?” Eun-U snapped, making no effort to hide her bitterness.

“Bringing you to the same caliber as the others, then helping you elevate each other further, so you shine as brightly as Enhanced idols.”

“Yeah, sure,” Soo-Wong scoffed. “Whatever you say, sister. I’m taking a shower--may as well do something productive today.” She stormed out of the loft.

“I have to agree with her,” Gumi added. “I can’t see a Super Goddess like you carrying us to greatness, as much as I would like to.”

“Eun-U. Do you love being an idol? Does singing and dancing to make others happy make you happy?”

She answered without hesitation. “Absolutely. I have been fascinated with idol culture practically my entire life--since I was a toddler. I may not be very good now, but I want to do better.”

“Then that’s enough for me.”

Kay appeared from behind the other two. “What does that have to do with anything, though? Of course we love being idols. Why else would we be here?”

“Who knows? People do stuff all the time. Sometimes it’s not stuff they really want, but stuff they are forced to do or feel compelled to do to fit in. Maybe you just want to please someone in your life, to prove them your worth.” Ha-neul sighed. “But that’s neither here nor there. We’ll be doing another test run next week, so you all should practice together in the interim. I will send you all some diet and exercise tips--be sure to follow them so you’re in top form and your baseline will improve over time. We won’t achieve anything if you at least can’t do the bare minimum.”

“W-what?!” Gumi exclaimed, flabbergasted. “We only have a month, and you want us to waste a whole week?! Is this some kind of sick joke?”

“Nope. See ya!” The various Ha-neuls magically coalesced back into the original, who then  dissolved into particles of sunset-colored light. Her ethereal voice remained to give them a last message. 

“Kay, you are the temporary leader. Keep them all together and follow my instructions.” She continued speaking, but only within Kay’s mind.  “In particular, take special care that Eun-U follows the physical regime and cheer her up whenever possible.

“Uh, sure?” Kay replied out loud.

“What did she tell you?” Eun-U inquired.

“Nothing special. But...” she flashed a smile. “I think we’ll get tired of skinless chicken breast and broccoli before long.”

Days later, Ha-neul presented herself once again at the building, this time waving at the idols with a happy smile from outside the panoramic window, flying unaided. After phasing through the glass and touching down on the floor, she received a warmer welcome from her new protégés... with the exception of the still-angry Soo-Wong. It was nice to see Eun-U smile, though. That was a bit of progress.

“How’s everyone doing today?” she asked.

“I actually do feel healthier!” the weakest link admitted. “Makes sense that a fitness guru would know her stuff.”

Kay chuckled. “I feel faster and more coordinated too. Gumi’s improved a lot too! I didn’t even have to wake her up so she wouldn’t be an hour late again!”

“Hi, right here in the room with you,” Gumi grunted.

“Excellent! Keep in mind that you still have a long way to go, though. A week of good eating and exercise is a nice start, but that alone won’t make you world class.” She side-glanced at Soo-Wong, who hadn’t spoken a single word since Ha-neul’s arrival. “Now then, let’s get right to today’s test.”

Ha-neul prepared the stage and the girls got right to it. Their performance was a vast improvement over last time, exuding more cheerfulness and love for the craft. There was still a shitload of synchronization and pacing errors that dragged the whole thing down, but the unit was at least ready for coaching now.

Something unexpected had arisen--though Ha-neul saw it coming.  Soo-Wong was struggling to keep up with the others, despite her greater natural talent. It seemed that she wasn’t in the habit of pushing herself, usually carrying the others as opposed to them carrying her.

By the end of their performance, the whole group was sweating and panting. “How was that, Ms. Park?” Kay asked.

“You and Gumi have performed way over baseline, surpassing Soo-Wong in both pace and precision.” Ha-neul smirked, knowing that, if the haughty idol wasn’t offended yet, she would be now. “Even Eun-U has done slightly better than her pace-wise, only falling behind in precision. Seems someone is slacking~”

“What the fuck?! No, I won’t accept that, especially not from you. It’s one thing to give the others your doped food, but Eun-U? You must be out of your mind!” Soo-Wong’s pride had been dealt a blow. How could someone so inferior beat her at anything, let alone being an idol?

“Ah, I see: the others took my advice while you defiantly refused it.”

Gumi nodded. “She repeatedly told us she didn’t want to follow your advice.”

“Well, I hope this has been illuminating. Now you see that your ceilings weren’t as limited as you thought you were. As a matter of fact, none of you are even close to reaching your potential. If an improved diet and exercise regimen resulted in enough progress that even Eun-U is challenging Soo-Wong, imagine what we could accomplish before the month’s end.”

Soo-Wong exploded. “Oh, isn’t it so convenient that your asinine methods just so happened to make them unnaturally talented all of a sudden. What sort of fool do you take me for?! I can tell you’re using your powers here to make me look bad! Where did this vendetta you have against me even come from?!”

Ha-neul giggled, retorting, “You have an impressive vocabulary for a 19 year old.”

“Come on, Soo-Wong,” Gumi interjected, “Take the L and grow from it. I’m sure you would still be the best of us if you just followed her instructions.”

“The fuck?! The only reason I lost against you is because I didn’t try my best. Yeah, that’s right, I’m so used to being dragged down by you people that it would take me a while to get back to my level.”

Eun-U found the confidence to chuckle. “Well, which is it? Are we too good or are you bad?”

Livid, Soo-Wong’s nostrils flared up as she grabbed her partner’s shirt collar. “Say that again, you fatso bitch!”

Kay got between them and stopped the clash. “Break it up, you two! We’re supposed to be a unit and get along! This is destroying us! Can’t you see that?” This made Ha-neul smirk.

“Ah, very subtle--make your obedient pet the leader to stifle opposition! Brilliant move!”

Kay insisted, “Being adversarial won’t help us keep our careers. Ha-neul is here to help us.”

“Blind optimism won’t either. Also, speak for yourself. The moment this unit falls apart, I can focus on my solo career. It’s you three who’ll be screwed, not me.”

“At our current levels, you’d probably be the last one of us who’d be considered for a solo deal,” Gumi said matter-of-factly.

“Just wait, you stupid trust fund kid. I’ll be dancing laps around you in a week.” Despite Soo-Wong’s bravado, Ha-neul perceived substantial distress underneath it.

Ha-neul finally interceded. “Soo-Wong, do you really think that attitude is how idols become successful? The others performed well, but you ain’t seen nothing yet. What say I show you the level of mastery I expect of you all at the bare minimum?”

“What?!” she barked.

“That goes for you three too. You were better than last week, yes, but I’m not impressed. We’ve only just begun.” Ha-neul’s eyes were intense now. “How about a taste of what could be?”

The group was either too dumbfounded or entranced by Ha-neul’s odd behavior to respond. She paid that no mind and walked over to a big mirror. They all couldn’t help but stare at her perfect, toned ass swaying from side to side as she inspected their reflections with intent. There was something about how Super Goddesses and Enhanceds acted when they wanted to flex their powers--mortals like them rarely understood it.

Casually defying reason once again, the Super Goddess reached into the mirror, passing through it like liquid. On the other side, a startlingly real and physical hand took hers. She then guided a duplicate of Eun-U from the mirror. The facsimile emerged from the reflection and waved at the awestruck idols. She looked identical to Eun-U, but the way she carried herself instantly gave her an intimidating presence.

The girls watched in dumbfounded awe as Ha-neul pulled more of these copies out of the mirror. They noticed that their own reflections somehow no longer appeared in the mirror. Ha-neul wasn’t simply using it for theatrics--she was pulling their literal reflections out of the mirror, manifesting them as physical beings.Each member of the group was face to face with themselves.

 Soo-Wong seemed unnerved by how determined her mirror clone looked. “What is this?”

“These are projections of your potential. You will compete against them.”

“This is ridiculous!” Soo-Wong barked. “How is this even a good use of our time?”

“Come on, give her a chance,” Kay pleaded.

“I’m too used to seeing myself in the mirror,” Gumi commented to shift the mood. “Seeing my face flipped again like this just doesn’t look right.”

Eun-U remained silent. She didn’t want to agree with Soo-Wong but the idea of comparing herself with another Eun-U and the possibility of falling short was terrifying. Yeah, becoming better in the last week was a boost of confidence... but not enough to prepare her for a leap like this. Her mind was still not in the right place. She swallowed hard as everyone walked onto the stage, which also gained a mirror image of itself--letting the two groups face each other.

As each idol got into their positions there was an ominous feeling in the air, even Soo-Wong felt like this despite her self-confidence and arrogance. A two-sided scoreboard floating overhead tracked their performances in excruciating detail.

The differences between the two became evident in the very first seconds. Their expectations were quickly confirmed as their mirror versions were moved flawlessly, even timing their breathing with clinical precision. The reflections didn’t seem to get tired either. As the song went on, they struggled to keep up against them, slipping up along the way. They were trying their best, but not even Soo-Wong’s greatest weapon, her singing voice, was faring well as their collective stamina drained.

As their reflections became even more brilliant as the climax approached, the originals’ anxiety and desperation came to a head. They had resorted to clumsily winging it, fighting to avoid collapsing on the spot.

Adding insult to injury was the clones’ perfect teamwork, reaching levels of coordination and synergy that put the originals to shame. Even in a competition against another un-Enhanced idol unit, they knew the result would be the same. They had no cohesion as a team and hated each other's guts. The situation was grim. Could Ha-neul really fix this somehow?

By the end of the song, the unit didn’t even need to look back at the screen to know who won. They all knew that their overwhelming defeat wasn’t due to Ha-neul augmenting their reflections’ capabilities. They weren’t superhuman at all, just simply better.

Ha-neul’s expression became decidedly more serious--not quite disappointed, but more like ‘I told you so’.

“That was your current potential.” With a wave of her hand, their reflections returned into the mirror, becoming their literal reflections once again.

“Do you think we could win if we perform like them?” Kay asked.

“I’m afraid that wouldn’t be enough. Enhanced idols are on another level. If you perform like that in a month’s time the company would fire us all. You have to become much better than them if you want to pass the test.”

“Better than that? I’ve never seen a non-Enhanced sing and dance that well....” Even Gumi was beyond broken by their inferiority to themselves.

“Do you understand now, Soo-Wong?” Ha-neul asked, testing her resolve. 

At this point, Soo-Wong secretly respected the Super Goddess and her methods, but she was too scared to admit it. For the first time in her life, her ego had been shattered like glass.

“I... excuse me, I need some time to myself.” She quickly left, heading to her room.

“Holy shit... I’ve never seen her like that before....” Kay whispered.

“Eun-U, this is going to be a difficult enterprise for everyone involved--you will all have to give beyond your all to succeed. It’s up to you if you want to continue or not.”

She remained silent, avoiding all eye contact on her way out of the loft.

“M-Ms. Park...” Kay was begging her to do something with her body language and eyes.

“We’re done for today.” 

Ha-neul had been spot on since the beginning. The problems in the unit were far beyond physical conditioning and skill, going down to even their mindset. She certainly had her work cut out for her.

Soo-Wong was living in a trance. For the last several years the disciplined idol trainee had avoided all bad life habits like the plague, including love--strictly prohibited by her contract unless the relationship was conceived and carefully supervised by SongCorp.

What she was doing now would cost her her job if photos or videos were taken of it as her lithe and athletic body gyrated seductively against a pole, surrounded by a hunky man and a formidably hung futanari. As she danced, they rubbed on her ass and perky tits as a circus of strobe lights washed over them in a myriad of colors.

Ha-neul watched from afar, disguised perfectly as an unremarkable blonde woman in a bikini and sunglasses, magically designed to not stick in others’ minds.. She was as sexually liberated as anyone else but seeing someone as professional, competent, and driven as Soo-Wong throw in the towel like that and give herself to harmful vices... It was a waste of talent and potential.

It definitely came as a surprise to Soo-Wong to find a woman with an apparent iron grip grab her out of nowhere and drag her out of the club, kicking and screaming.

“Let go of me, you bitch! Who even are you?!”

Her abductor abruptly stopped, putting her hands on her hips. “Soo-Wong, what do you think you’re doing? You should be training.”

“Huh?! How the fuck do you know my name? For that matter, why do you even care? That’s not your business!”

“Hmm... gonna have to disagree there.” The disguise evaporated, melting into a paste and revealing the much more voluptuous and muscular frame of the Super Goddess, who now filled out her bikini much better.

“Oh, it’s you. What is thy bidding, Super Bitch?”

“I want you back. The unit needs you--they can’t do this without you.”

Soo-Wong grunted. “Fuck you and fuck them. Why would anyone want me back, though? I’m the worst, ain’t I? My attitude ruins the mood and makes teamwork impossible.You probably think they’re better off without my ego issues anyway, don’t you?” She had unveiled spite in her voice alongside more than a little self-hatred and self-doubt. Her  drunken slurring only added to her pitifulness. 

“I don’t think so. Yes, you have attitude issues, but those can absolutely be worked on and resolved. You don’t have to throw it all away just because you aren’t living up to your standard.” Ha-neul sighed. “You might be the youngest, but you’re also the most talented, without a doubt.”

“Maybe you weren’t paying attention, but even Eun-U is beating me now. Some talent.”

All of a sudden Soo-Wong felt the warm and cushiony embrace of her coach. In any other situation, she would have pushed her away--or tried to--but such an earnest and sudden attempt at connecting caught her entirely by surprise. The haughty alpha of the pack was silent for a moment and let the magical healing capabilities of Ha-neul’s essence detoxify her, removing every single bit of alcohol and drugs from her body, letting her brain work at 100% again.

She was too overwhelmed by emotion to actually think at the moment, even though her mind was now thoroughly cleared up. Tears began flowing from her beautiful eyes as she sobbed her worries out in Ha-neul’s motherly bosom.

“You had a much worse time than you let on, correct?”

“I didn’t want to make everyone hate me… I just wanted to be the best…”

“I can tell. Why is that? Why must you be always on your guard?” Ha-neul was feeling terrible for Soo-Wong right now. She was certainly a handful but her Super Empathy was too strong for her not to understand the pain of wanting to be the best for a strong reason.

“If I’m not the best, then I won’t make my dream come true…” 

That sounded tragically familiar. Ha-neul helped Soo-Wong out of her plentiful chest and wiped off her tears with her finger. “Your dream, huh?”

The Super Goddess stole one of Soo-Wong’s cigarettes before she could even react and lit one with her magical fire-producing finger.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

She smoked and puffed. It was a lifetime ago, way before she had embraced her obsessive fitness and health habits. It wasn’t a high point in Ha-neul’s life, but quite nostalgic regardless. Then she inhaled again, this time allowing the smoke to escape through her nostrils. This wasn’t regular smoke, though, it was far darker and grew in size as it abandoned the goddess’ body.

Soo-Wong recoiled as it started twisting around her like it had a mind of its own but before she could do anything about it, the whole street was covered in a dark gray cloud that devoured everything. Despite the fact that she couldn’t see anything around them anymore, she found she could breathe perfectly and Ha-neul was still at her side.

She stopped smoking. “Observe.”

A cloud of lighter, white smoke appeared in front of them as the maelstrom continued around them, locking them inside some kind of mirage dimension as images from another time manifested within it.

Three people were in an old-fashioned living room: two parents and a decidedly younger Ha-neul.  Even at middle school age, she was already huge and muscular--contrasting with her schoolgirl’s uniform. Despite being built like an unstoppable tank, she looked timid and vulnerable, since her parents were reprimanding her.

As the scene dragged along, Soo-Wong noticed that despite being orders of magnitude more powerful than any other creature in the universe, Ha-neul was still very much wrapped around her parents’ finger--she couldn’t say no to them. That was par the course for Korea back in this time, emphasizing respecting your elders over all else. She was obsessed with pleasing them, making them proud of her--as if being an omnipotent goddess wasn’t enough.

“Father, Mother! The track coach has said today that I’m far beyond any of the other girls and even the boys! He said I could go to the Olympics and win everything this very year!” Little Ha-neul was so enthusiastic. The Olympics had captivated her from a very early age.

“That’s great, darling,” her mother said, blatantly disinterested. “But don’t let track distract you from your studies.”

“Well... I finally got my medical degree last week and finished first in my class, but SNU said I’m ineligible for more degrees until I turn 14. So I guess I have to spin my wheels for a while longer.”

Her father rapidly cut the conversation and moved on to something else. “Know what I learned today? My boss’s nephew’s daughter got into an idol program. She’s gonna become a star! Isn’t that something?” And then he chuckled as he ate, making the young Super Goddess increasingly discouraged to pursue her passions.

“What? I can’t believe this. They have an omnipotent daughter and they care about idols?!” Soo-Wong interjected.

“Sometimes that’s how it is,” the adult Ha-neul answered. “Nobody is ever prepared to have something like that happen to them. Some would rather go back to the normal world they were born in. Besides, K-pop had become the most popular music genre in the world by 2030. Everyone was obsessed with it. Parents would throw their children at the labels just to try their luck, since even a barely successful idol could lift you out of poverty.”

“The world before you girls appeared sounds scary. I just can’t wrap my head around it.”

The smoky mirage in front of them skipped a few days ahead. Ha-neul was now on her own, training hard... while watching videos on how to be the best idol possible, even going as far as to rehearse dance moves and singing. “Notice something similar?”

Soo-Wong was stunned.  It took a minute, but she finally uttered, “Y-you could tell?  The whole time...?” She rubbed her arm, feeling rather uncomfortable but also liberated by telling someone this. “I’ve been working so hard to be the perfect idol just for them, so they’d be proud of me. It’s been hard…  and I think it has taken its toll on me…”

“Sometimes we do stupid things and stray away from our path because we want to please the people in our lives.” She said as she pointed to her younger self having a terrible time in the idol selection. Naturally she was breezing through the process and being better than everyone else, but she was visibly miserable while her parents were proud of their perfect idol daughter. 

“I guess this is why you eventually left--migrated to the US on your own, like the history books say.”

“Exactly. There is no need to continue with something if it doesn’t make you happy. You don’t have to live for others.”

“But I do want to continue! At least... at least to prove a point. Not just to my parents, but to myself.” Her demeanor was much more agreeable like this. For the first time since they met Ha-neul saw her ridiculous cuteness potential underneath all that edge and daddy issues.

“Then let’s try to complete that test as best as we can. Your teammates need your talent. And after that, even if you realize you never liked being an idol to begin with, you can always start anew.”

“Thanks…”

“Hm? For what?” Ha-neul smiled slyly.

“For making me realize how wrong I was. When we first met, I wouldn’t have even considered that a Super Goddess would have problems like mine.”

“Yeah, some people think that being all-powerful makes me not Human.” Ha-neul chuckled nervously.“I’m afraid I did too at first.”

“Well, I hope that misunderstanding has been cleared up and we can be friends now. I intend to help you become the brilliant star I know  you can be!”

“Thanks. Ha-neul?”

“Yeah?”

“Did your relationship with your parents get better later?”

Ha-neul smiled tenderly and put her hand on the smaller woman’s shoulder. “Yes. And yours will too. They always come around~” 

Soo-Wong nodded happily with a gentleness that almost conquered Ha-neul’s heart. After a long, firm embrace, they eventually teleported back to the loft.

That night, Soo-Wong apologized for her behavior in the previous months and reconnected with Gumi and Kay. They even rehearsed together with Soo-Wong, showing a renovated cheerfulness for the craft. It became less a matter of working for her own pleasure and more to help her peers achieve their goals.

Eun-U, however, was still lost somewhere in Seoul. Ha-neul perceived her essence in the outskirts with a heavy depressive aura lingering above. Thanks to the combination of a Super Goddess’s Super Empathy and her limitless senses, Ha-neul was able to both locate her and understand the situation.

“I believe I’ve found where Eun-U has been all day: she seems to be at a restaurant right now,” Ha-neul told Kay. “You know her better than I do--should I... go check on her?  I don’t want to invade her privacy.”

“This is typical for her. Sometimes she gets sad and goes on an eating spree. That’s why she has trouble keeping her weight down.”

Gumi added, “I think you should talk to her. I fear something bad will happen to her one of these days, and she might not listen to us since we never stopped Soo-Wong from bullying her.”

“S-sorry…” The former ice queen timidly shrank, feeling responsibility for Eun-U’s lacking self-confidence and eating disorder come down on her in waves.

“We’ll have time for apologies later,” Ha-neul promised. “I’ll go to pick her up.”

Eun-U was sobbing and eating naengmyeon at a mom and pop’s street restaurant. The owner tried to ignore her as she down her third serving of delicious cold noodles. He had never seen such a beautiful girl devour food like that, but such was the unfillable pit in Eun-U’s heart, nurtured by years of feeling inadequate due to bullying and unachievable expectations. If she didn’t eat like a cow, she would have probably resorted to something worse to cope with her depression by now.

“Another, please,” Eun-U mumbled, with the empty bowl in her hand. 

The owner and cook hesitated a bit before nodding and getting to work. All of a sudden, a shadow was cast over the stand--the very image of perfection itself. The most important person in the history of his country was right there in front of him, causing him to instinctively scramble and make the best naengmyeon of his life. Meanwhile, Eun-U was still buried in her thoughts.

Ha-neul sat down as the poor cook finished his masterpiece. Eun-U gave a small nod of thanks and reached for the bowl... only for Ha-neul to snatch it away.

Eun-U instinctively snapped, “Hey! That’s my order, asshole! Wh-- wait, Ha-neul? What are you doing here?”

Instead of responding, the goddess devoured the noodles like a starved pig, starkly contrasting her fitness guru image. As off-putting as it was, both the cook and Eun-U couldn’t help but stare, quickly noticing the inherent eroticism present. Curiously, the bowl never ran out of food. 

She eventually paused for a moment to inspect her bowl. She gestured around it, causing it to double in capacity.

“Hey, do you have any recommended dishes?” she asked.

“Uh...” The cook wasn’t sure how to answer.

“You know what? Good thinking--surprise me! Anything you have ready now would be ideal!”

He was still a bit awestruck, but the request eventually sank in and he got to work. Ha-neul likewise went back to work on her bottomless naengmyeon. She made no effort to be quiet or polite as she ate, even letting out a long belch that shattered a couple windows.

“Mm, excuse me.” A quick gesture with her chopsticks repaired the damage.

“What’s gotten into you?!” Eun-U yelled. Ha-neul’s out-of-nowhere binge broke her out of her depressed trance.

“Nothing. This stall’s noodles are just that good. I’m a regular at Tiger and Dragon over in Hong Kong, so that’s high praise.” She materialized a handful of 50,000 won notes and handed them to the cook, whose eyes instantly lit up. “Excellent food, boss--keep the change.”

“I get it,” Eun-U said. “You’re here to convince me to be an idol again.”

“Again? I didn’t know you stopped.”

“Ha. As if I ever was one. I never had the talent or the determination. An obese loser like me doesn’t have what it takes.”

“Obese? Hm. You don’t look it to me. And even if you were, it’s irrelevant.”

“You’re just saying that because it’s your job. You all know that I’m a liability. If I wasn’t, you wouldn’t have used me as an example to make Soo-Wong angry and motivate her.”

“I didn’t want to motivate Soo-Wong, I wanted her to see I was right. And I wanted you to gain some confidence. Haven’t you seen what you can achieve? You might think you have no potential but you are clearly destined to be great.”

“It doesn’t matter. The other girls are much prettier and more in shape than I could ever be....”

“Even if that was true, do you think eating yourself to death would fix it?”

Eun-U’s tumultuous state of mind caused Ha-neul’s words to come across as empty platitudes. She very suddenly snapped, standing up from her stool and confronting Ha-neul head on.

“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME! STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOU DO! You’ve always been a perfect omnipotent goddess who can do no wrong! Anything you want just happens, just like that! You’ve never come up just short of realizing your dreams! You never endured bullies and instructors alike telling you day in and day out that you’re no good, you’ve got no potential, no hope. Even if you could have an eating disorder, you just demonstrated that you’d never gain even a single gram of weight! I don’t need your patronizing when you have no idea about what I’ve been through!”

Ha-neul didn’t expect the outburst, so she remained silent and allowed Eun-U to let everything out--and pin her against the wall on the other side of the street. She was right--they weren’t the same, but that didn’t mean that Ha-neul had never felt those feelings of inadequacy and estrangement that bothered the idol so much. “I was an idol trainee like you once. For about a year.”

“Huh? So what? Don’t tell me, you were far and away the best your company had ever seen.”

“That’s right. They even gave me a solo gig in a heartbeat.”

“This is my shocked face.”

“Even so, I was utterly miserable. I stopped keeping track of the number of parties and social outings I wasn’t invited to after 50. I didn’t have a single friend in the idol industry. My unit hated me since they knew it wasn’t fair for a Super Goddess to compete with regular people, and the adults saw me as nothing more than an endless money fountain.”

“So? If it got you money and prestige, couldn’t you just deal with it?” She was growing impatient.

“I didn’t like being an idol, period. As if the fakeness and exploitative nature of the industry weren’t enough, I was all alone--no friends, not even anyone who could sympathize with my unique situation. My colleagues were jealous of me and objectified by everyone else. I ultimately concluded it wasn’t worth it just to please my parents.” Ha-neul sighed. “So... I quit. My parents were so disappointed in me and we parted ways. That proved to be the hardest decision of my life, since I loved them so much, despite everything. Things turned up for me later, but only because I left Korea to do the things I loved.”

“American show biz isn’t exactly the moral high ground.”

“Perhaps not, but at least I was doing what I loved and I did try my best to change it from within these last two centuries. Meanwhile, Korean idols like you are forbidden from having unauthorized relationships or sex with the people you love. How is that fair for beautiful women like you? You are 21, Eun-U--in the prime of your life! You shouldn’t waste away your youth just because some suit who’s completely out of touch with reality tells you you’re contractually obligated to.”

“I could try and hide behind my contract, but... honestly, no one’s been willing to date me. Not even before I became an idol. Never mind romance, I don’t even have fans. How can I have self-confidence if it’s obvious that I’m simply unlovable?”

“I don’t believe that even for a second.” In a flash, the two women switched places. Ha-neul slammed her palm against the wall, sending a seismic shockwave comparable to a magnitude 6 earthquake radiating across Seoul. Fortunately, all buildings and infrastructure these days were reinforced to absorb kinetic energy from even powerful earthquakes with ease. As a result, absolutely no damage was inflicted--no one was even injured beyond a few scattered startled individuals.

“W-what are you doing now?!” Eun-U blushed as her heart rate increased dramatically. Her time as an idol, surrounded by angelically gorgeous women every day, had a significant impact on her tastes, leading to a quiet but intense obsession.

The goddess whispered in her ear, “I know why Soo-Wong has rubbed you the wrong way all this time. You find her attractive, don’t you?”

“N-- no... we both hate each other.”

“Wrong answer. You can’t lie to me. But, fortunately for you, even if Soo-Wong won’t reciprocate your feelings, I will.”

“W-what? Why would you do that?” She turned away. Even if she liked Soo-Wong, Ha-neul was also impossible to resist and nothing but kind to her since she started as their coach. There was no denying that she also had a crush on her, but who wouldn’t fall for a Super Goddess?

“I like people with character. Honestly, it turned me on so much when you got all emotional back there~”

The mood had changed. How the fuck did Eun-U get into this situation? She felt strange--her depression was gone, outright replaced with hot lust. She desperately wanted Ha-neul’s sexy and built body. “Haven’t you loved idols ever since you were little? Well, I’m the best there is.” And the hottest too.

With her last bit of restraint, she managed to utter, “I-I’m not pretty enough for a goddess…”

“Oh, but you are. You have been chosen by a Super Goddess for your first time~”

The restaurant owner wanted to stop them, but he felt interfering with a Super Goddess wasn’t a good idea. Eun-U was so overwhelmed and awestruck that she let out an adorable squeal. Her hands immediately flew to cover her mouth. “I-I’m sorry, I....”

Ha-neul’s voice softened. “It’s okay. I know you’re a virgin--don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”

Just like that, Eun-U realized Ha-neul was being extremely genuine. Her desire was very real and very carnal, but her decency kept her absolute power in check. She would only use it with consent and trust.

An exhilarating shiver ran down Eun-U’s spine. She managed to let out a nod. Smiling, Ha-neul felt up her delicate body, pressing their breasts together. Her touch felt incredible--Eun-U’s breathing accelerated, becoming frantic. This experience wasn’t nearly as rare now as it used to be, but even so, basically everyone’s dream was to have sex with a Super Goddess.

Some nagging part of her mind still insisted this was too good to be true. How could anyone find her attractive, let alone a perfect, omnipotent goddess? That lingering thought lost strength as the reality of her situation reinforced itself more and more.  As Ha-neul’s lips took over hers, all her inner doubts about her adequacy and her weight vanished from her mind, replaced by blissful fluffiness and love. Her lips were so soft and luscious,she almost felt like she had no choice but to let Ha-neul have her way with her. Even so, she let out an instinctive shriek as Ha-neul’s exploring hands found their way into her jeans.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.” She took Eun-U’s hand--gently but firmly. “You’re so wet down here... Steady your breathing--you’ll love this.” Ha-neul’s gentle smile took on a note of teasing smugness.

Ha-neul put her unmatched super speed to use, swiftly and flawlessly stimulating Eun-U’s untamed pussy. She was easily the most skilled Super Goddess when it came to pleasuring women (a fact she adamantly defended) so she was easily able to get the virgin idol into a horny, panting and moaning mess.

A crowd gradually formed surrounding the two lovemakers. Public sex had become normalized and legalized in many countries, with the caveat that at least one of the lovers had to be magically powerful enough to cast an illusion spell and protect the youngest and weakest of heart from seeing it--child’s play for someone like Ha-neul.

Eun-U struggled to focus on anything as supreme pleasure shot through her body like lightning, generated en masse from the unreal skill and power of Ha-neul’s tongue. Even so, she was just lucid enough to utter between moans, “W-wait, where did this crowd come from?”

“Talk about a turn-on, huh? We’re so unbearably sexy that they can’t help but watch and take pictures and videos of us. I certainly can’t blame them--what about you?”

“I... I love it!” Eun-U exclaimed, both in response and as self-realization. “I love it so very much~!” All the eyes and cameras trained on her felt incredible. It only made sense for an idol to enjoy exposure.

Addressing her oglers, she continued proudly, “Look at me, everyone! I’m getting eaten out by Ha-neul!” The Super Goddess took advantage of the moment to intensify her speed, sending Eun-U into overdrive with such ferocious intensity that she climaxed with the force of a bolt of lightning, sending her into ecstatic convulsions.

Ha-neul cooed, “You’re doing wonderful, cutie~” She moved her attention upwards, phasing through the fabric of Eun-U’s shirt and bra to get direct access to her nipples. Eun-U’s breasts weren’t particularly impressive size-wise, but Ha-neul was firmly of the opinion that bust size didn’t matter. Texture and taste were much more important, and the young idol excelled on those fronts. This whole exercise was mainly to give Eun-U more confidence and experience--Ha-neul wasn’t expecting to get this invested in it.

Eun-U was legally intoxicated thanks to all the pleasure roaring through her, but even so, she still leapt to action at the sight of Ha-neul spontaneously baring her tits and letting them dangle like pendulums. They took turns kissing and sucking them and occasionally stepping away to breathe and kiss on the lips, with increasing intensity as Eun-U became more accustomed to the act.

“H-Ha-neul, I…” She was so euphoric that she couldn’t find the words. She did, however, find plenty of joyful tears.

“Shhh... you don’t have to say anything.”

Naked and trembling from an ongoing orgasm, Eun-U flashed two V signs with her hands and smiled preciously at her captivated audience with a healthy blush on her cheeks. She was embarrassed, nervous, but also grateful that so many people were appreciating her body and sexual skills. She felt popular for the first time in her life, liberated! “Guys, please enjoy watching me scissor Super Goddess Ha-neul!” The crowd howled and applauded.

All of a sudden, Ha-neul teleported right under her, causing her to yelp in surprise. The fully naked Super Goddess lifted the idol with a single finger, effortlessly supporting her body weight. She then threw her into a spin, causing her clothes to evaporate and leave her both nude and on top of the Super Goddess.“B-but Ha-neul…” She was so taken aback by the goddess’ impeccable body that it didn’t even occur to her how she wasn’t dizzy after all that hyper-fast spinning. More pressingly, why did Ha-neul put her on top? Shouldn’t she, an experienced lover and literal god, be on top instead?

“Not at all,” Ha-neul cooed, as if reading her mind. “I trust you with this. Give me a good time, darling--one I won’t forget.”

Eun-U the sex noob had her work cut out for her. Pleasuring a Super Goddess seemed like an impossible feat for someone like her--how could they ever be satisfied with lowly mortals when they routinely fuck demigods, cosmic entities, and even each other? Still, the petite Korean girl found a strong resolve within her and took the challenge head on.

Eun-U began dutifully grinding against Ha-neul’s slit. The feeling was glorious and the smaller girl had to grab Ha-neul’s huge boobs to keep her balance. She squeezed them, causing some delicious milk to spurt out and land in her mouth. It tasted like ambrosia--possibly even spiked with aphrodisiacs, seeing as she was compelled to push even harder, extracting as much pleasure as she possibly could. She was definitely coming around to seeing the perks of being on top. “F-fuck, t-this feels so good…” she moaned.

Ha-neul smiled calmly, despite already reaching a series of outrageously powerful orgasms. “Excellent, keep at it. You’re doing great...”

That encouragement was all Eun-U needed to ease herself into the dominant role. Before long, she and Ha-neul alike were thoroughly flushed and continuously cumming, hard enough to block out the crowd surrounding them and the whole world beyond. Nothing else mattered right then. In contrast, the crowd was unable to focus on anything but them, thanks to the triple threat of their exquisite bodies, all too erotic moaning, and Ha-neul’s irresistible pheromones. Practically everyone in a five-kilometer radius was unbearably horny, threatening to turn the spectacle into a full-blown orgy.

Ha-neul and Eun-U happily joined in, occasionally switching partners to whoever was closest without a care in the world. The orgy kept going for a while as more people joined in. Post-nut clarity offered the sexed out participants enough energy to order food from the restaurant, making the owner another fortune. Eventually, Eun-U collapsed on top of Ha-neul, thoroughly exhausted. Both women were disheveled messes, surrounded by piles and piles of people having fucked each other into unconsciousness.  There was a permeating smell of sex in the air, compounded by the thick miasma coming from the cum puddle beneath them, adding a swamp-like humidity to the air around the street.

“Ha-neul… I-I...”

The naked goddess smiled gently and pulled Eun-U in close. “That’s what an idol does.” She looked over the sexual massacre they had committed. “She inspires others to love, to be better, to live life at their fullest.”

“H-Have I been a good idol?”

“The best kind. And now, everyone has seen how beautiful and talented you really are. Still think it was a mistake to join the unit?”

Eun-U chuckled, blushing a bit. “There’s no arguing with a Super Goddess, huh? Um... Thank you for helping me believe in myself, Ha-neul.  Oh, and for teaching me how to have sex--that too.”

“Anytime, darling. Let’s head back to the loft; the others are missing you.”

“Right.”

Upon Eun-U’s return home, she finally made peace with and confessed to Soo-Wong. She admittedly didn’t reciprocate at the moment, but regardless, she was happy to begin working together to become the best idols and friends they could be. Since Kay had done great work as the unit’s leader so far, Ha-neul opted to keep her there. Gumi started to get her hopes up and put more effort into her practice routines.

As the days went by, the idols got better and better at their job, mimicking the pace and ability of low-end Enhanceds, far beyond any normie had ever gone. They didn’t quite realize that at the time, since they reached their new physiques so gradually and organically that it didn’t seem unusual to them. Ha-neul’s dieting regimen and supplements were doing wonders for them. She explained that they were cultivated by Paige back in Potsdam, and swore they were normal and not magically augmented.

Their physical training was exhausting and intensive, as expected from their tight deadline. Ha-neul would often ask the impossible from them, like using barbells ten times their size for bench pressing. Of course, Ha-neul could fetch something so huge and unwieldy effortlessly, but the idols had to make do with substantially smaller and lighter ones. Even then, however, they were still proving to be quite a bit stronger than most Humans before the emergence of Super Goddesses.  Even Eun-U, being the weakest and shortest, managed to bench press two tonnes after she saw Soo-Wong swoon at the sight of Ha-neul casually lifting a dumbbell containing the weight of two galaxies. She loved both and wasn’t jealous, but damn if she didn’t want to impress her beautiful co-star.

The same went for endurance and flexibility training: Ha-neul teased them with impossible goals and the idols would inadvertently go beyond conventional Human limits in an effort to catch up. They realized the futility of trying to meet or even exceed the boundless capabilities of the Super Goddess, but they at least wanted to narrow the chasmous gap even a little. As a result, they ended up unaware of just how impressive the feats they were pulling off actually were.

Not everything was sweat and blood, though. Ha-neul was very aware that her presence was extremely alluring and distracting, so she offered her body to the idols... on more than a few occasions. Starting out, only Eun-U and Gumi had sexual interest in women, but the rest of the group was very quickly coming around to it as well. It ended up doubling as stress relief and group bonding--after each time they had an orgy, their synchronized performances improved noticeably. It even got to the point that they were finishing each other’s sentences at times.

One day, Ha-neul took them on a brief vacation to California. The girls had their fun visiting Los Angeles and San Francisco for a bit but then Ha-neul teleported them to their destination of Redwood National Park, where her hellish regimen began. The Super Goddess sauntered over to the largest sequoia tree that she could find nearby and gave it a feeble kick--the amount of force one might use to lazily kick a soccer ball a short distance. That negligible blow was somehow enough to slice the tree clean off, leaving a huge stump in the ground and the tree itself balanced perfectly in her hand.

She tossed it straight up into the air, freeing her hands. A swift roundhouse kick sliced a decent-sized boulder in half. She kicked aside one half while sitting down at the top of the newly-formed ledge, about a meter and a half above the ground. Meanwhile, the tree began its descent, having rotated about 90 degrees, making it about parallel with the ground. The girls watched like deer in headlights as Ha-neul positioned her legs right in line with the falling colossus. When it finally landed atop her ankles, the resulting boom was felt kilometers away and heard outside the edges of the park. “Alright girls, give me a hand here! I’m gonna work on my abs and ass, while you work on your upper body strength and breathing!”

Her many years of martial arts training taught her that the oft-overlooked way for regular Humans to surpass their limits was to master their breathing technique. The girls had done excellent work so far, enough to even be considered superhuman. This was their final test.Ha-neul pretended to struggle to lift the sequoia log--futilely, or at least that’s how it looked to the girls, who instinctively hurried over to help her.

“Alright, on three,” Kay said. She and the others took positions along the tree’s massive length and prepared. “One... two... three!” They strained and struggled, managing to raise it a bit, but they had to give up before long.

“This doesn’t seem possible for us,” Soo-Wong uttered between gasps for breath.

“It isn’t,” Ha-neul was insistent despite the apparent strain in her voice. “Remember your breathing exercises. You can do this. Give it another try, and don’t think even for a second that it’s beyond your capabilities.”

Not without skepticism, they complied. It was still a herculean endeavor, in part since Ha-neul was managing to do crunches even with the huge weight balanced on her ankles, all the while keeping her legs stationary but elevated. Recalling their previous successes proved surprisingly effective, allowing them to summon newfound strength. Weeks of intense physical and mental conditioning made the impossible possible. They hadn’t even realized the tree was above their heads until they saw Ha-neul had hopped down from the ledge and was now smiling at them.

She wasn’t helping them keep it up--it was all them.

Stunned silence reigned supreme for a long moment. Eun-U finally uttered, “W-we did it?”

Ha-neul nodded. “You are ready.”

The much-anticipated audition was the next day. As they were shown the way to their green room, they were given a rubric of KPIs on par with low-level Enhanceds. It certainly wouldn’t be easy for them to meet those lofty criteria, but they were all confident enough in their abilities to not get nervous at the last minute.

Having put their outfits and makeup on, the four idols stared at themselves in the large full-body mirror of the silent green room. They almost didn’t recognize themselves, compared to a month ago. They were infinitely more fit, with solid postures silently conveying raw confidence that just wasn’t there before. They even put their mirror clones from weeks ago to shame. They were a proper, formidable unit now.

“Well...” Soo-Yong said, breaking the tense silence, “D-Day has arrived.”

“That it has,” Ha-neul replied. She was just as determined as the four of them, if not more so. “Do your best.”

A stagehand entered the green room briefly, saying, “You guys are next up.”

With a nod, the four moved as one out the door and onto the stage, where the judges were awaiting them. The time had come to save their futures--it was in their hands now. 

The stagehand added, “Uh, I’m afraid you will have to stay in here for the time being, Ms. Park. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all--I understand.” No doubt his higher-ups were concerned she might try interfering. There was literally nothing they could do to stop her, but she was well aware of the significance of the occasion and didn’t object. What sort of mentor would she be if she stole her students’ special day from them at the last second?

Not long after, Ha-neul heard the recorded accompaniment begin from the stage just across the hall, even through the soundproofing. She made a conscious point of not using her Super Intuition to know what was happening just outside the door. She would learn the outcome just like everyone else.

20 minutes and 47 seconds passed--five songs, each one averaging about three and a half minutes, with a consistent 30 seconds between each one. Ha-neul counted the seconds, noting the negligible differences in song lengths.

She had never thought of 21 minutes as a long time until now. Finally, the four girls who had stepped out the green room door came back in.

They looked satisfied, at least. At a glance, Ha-neul couldn’t tell if their faces were wet from tears or sweat--they were understandably drenched from their performance just now.

“Ha-neul, you’re still here?” Kay asked.

“I guess they were worried about me interfering--I was asked to wait here. But more importantly, how’d it go?”

Eun-U grinned. “We impressed them. They have decided to not dissolve the unit.”

“Well that’s wonderful--congratulations! For all the effort you all put in, you deserve it and then some. In that case, I imagine you’ve decided to go through with becoming an idol, Soo-Wong?”

She blushed. “Ah, um... yes. And, at the end of our last song, we, um... we....”

Eun-U held her hand tight. “We improvised in a kiss. It was... amazing.”

“I couldn’t help myself,” Soo-Wong added, smiling warmly. “We were in the climax of the song--very emotional stuff, and then one thing led to another.... I think, as long as Eun-U is with me, I want to keep going.”

Gumi said, “I’m afraid there’s some bad news too.”

“What do you mean?”

“I... I didn’t make it. They said my dancing was okay, but my singing wasn’t up to par. I’m supposed to leave the unit.” She avoided eye contact while her idle hands fidgeted with the frilly end of her skirt. The other three became somber, each of them feeling personally responsible for her rejection.

“Oh... I’m so sorry to hear that, Gumi…”

“Don’t worry about it, Ms. Park. It’s true that I never had the makings of an idol. Besides, what good is an idol who isn’t cheerful for her fans?” She reminisced on everyone’s perception of her as a gloomy, passive person--always bored and with a sharp remark at the ready.. “I’m really happy for everyone else, girls. You deserve it.”

“You deserve it too!” Eun-U interjected. “You worked as hard as us!”

“Sure, but my voice isn’t pretty enough. It’s only good enough for swearing and sarcasm.”

“Don’t say that, Gumi!” Kay was on the verge of tears.

“Sorry, but this is for the best, I think. I can’t believe I will miss all of you, even Soo-Wong.” The formerly haughty diva smiled with sadness and hugged Gumi.

Ha-neul asked, “Gumi, you like idols, right? You like being an idol?”

“Yes, absolutely, but if SongCorp won’t have me, there isn’t much I can do. I’ve been here since I was 12. This has been my home away from home--they housed me, dressed me, taught me basically everything I know, but as it turns out, that wasn’t enough. Now I have to leave and see if the skills I’ve gained here can translate to some other career....” She sounded so defeated, it was breaking the Super Goddess’ heart.

“There are other companies that would be more than happy to take someone as talented as you in.”

“Allow me to introduce you to the concept of blacklisting. SongCorp will tell the other companies in the industry that I’m shit, and they’ll see to it that I never work as an idol again.”

Ha-neul put her godly supercomputer of a brain to work to solve this conundrum. She grew to love this woman after working with her for the past month--she knew Gumi was built for idoldom. Where would her talents be given the appreciation they deserve? A bright smile formed on her lips as she asked, “Care to come with me?”

“W-what?” Despite her visible confusion, a tiny glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. Her usual gloomy and apathetic expression gradually changed into one of surprise.

“Girls, I have an idea. Wait up for me before the celebration--Gumi and I are going on a quick little trip!”

The other three were no more informed than Gumi, but they agreed regardless, confident in Ha-neul’s ability to solve problems. The Super Goddess took Gumi’s hand and the two spaghettified for the briefest of moments before vanishing entirely, sucked into one of her black hole earrings, which then collapsed on itself, effectively bringing the earring along with her. 

Wasurenagusa Maid Café had come a very long way since Shizuka first opened it 193 years ago. It was now a chain with locations across the planet and beyond. The original in Akihabara had undergone a full-blown transformation into a gigantic all-in-one venue with anything and everything a person’s heart could desire: cafes, restaurants, a huge variety of entertainment options, all staffed and tended to with the finest care by the best maids in all of Asia. Despite her other job as Empress of Japan, she still lived in an apartment upstairs from the café--though nowadays its status as an apartment was debatable, since she had warped its physical space so dramatically, even linking it with the Tokyo Imperial Palace over in Chiyoda.

When Ha-neul appeared in the middle of the café, the whole venue went silent within a few seconds--certainly jarring for Gumi. Even the idol up on stage and in the middle of a song stopped dead in her tracks. Several nearby maids, including a few Sakimori, approached Ha-neul and knelt before her with absolute respect and submission.

“Aw, come on girls, you don’t need to go to all this trouble for me. I’m just here for a personal matter. Is your boss available?

“Yes, right this way, Lady Park.” Gumi was somewhere between dumbfounded and petrified, but Ha-neul had brushed it off effortlessly. Ha-neul had been treating her and the others like good friends for the past month, but to see her treated like the omnipotent goddess she is made Gumi feel important in a weird and somewhat unnerving way.

A Sakimori maid who stood two heads taller than Ha-neul walked them over to the main office. Ha-neul appreciated the more genuine decorative tastes of its owner, who swiftly spun around on her chair to greet her guests.

“Hey-oh!” Shizuka Hirose was clad in the same style of maid outfit as her employees. A quick two-finger salute indicated to the Sakimori that she was dismissed and could return to her work. “Well, Ha-chan, what brings you here today? And who is your lovely companion?”

Gumi blushed profusely. Being in the presence of a being as supremely feminine and radiantly gorgeous as Shizuka was difficult enough, but being complimented by her caused a short circuit. She had no choice but to let Ha-neul do the talking. “Good morning, Zookers. I need a little help with my friend Gumi here. She is a very talented idol but her agency has chosen to not include her in their project.”

“Oh, is that so? Well, their loss--she’s very cute! I love her alt vibes~” She stood up and phased through her desk towards Gumi, inspecting her from all angles. Gumi couldn’t believe the empress’ gigantic tits--the way they bounced and jiggled was so perfect and captivating, almost rhythmical. . “So what’s the catch? She is, in all respects, perfect~”

Gumi managed to clear her throat and shyly answer, “They say I can’t sing, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“Oh please, we’re friends! Call me Shizurin! And even if that’s true, it’s no problem whatsoever. You can dance, right?”

“They didn’t mention it, so I assume I’m proficient..”

“Well, how’s this sound? I could hire you here at Nagusa as a dancer. Once you prove yourself and improve, I just might promote you to a full-time idol performer~ It’s a pretty good deal, if I do say so myself~”

“Y-you would do that?”

“You bet! Anything for my old pal Ha-neul. Besides, I can tell you have a relentless passion for your craft~” Her lively crimson eyes shone for a moment, reflecting the boundless wisdom and mystery beneath her cheerful appearance.

“Isn’t that great?” Ha-neul patted Gumi on the back. “If this doesn’t work out, just give me a call and I’ll figure something out for you. Okay?”

“O-okay. Thanks for this, Ha-neul. A-and thank you, Your Imp-- I mean, Shizurin. Um, when do I start?”

“Right away! Think you can be out there dancing in 20 minutes~?” Shizuka snapped her fingers, producing a swirl of crimson light to envelop Gumi, enrobing her in the most beautiful idol dress she had ever seen. It was  an excellent fit and matched her aesthetic perfectly, almost like Shizurin reached into her mind to find her dream outfit.

Wishing Gumi and her Super Goddess sister all the best, Ha-neul left, about to head back to Korea for the party with the other girls. She imagined it’d last long enough that Gumi could head over after her first shift and find the party still going strong.

Though before that, she received a call through her ConcepTech interface. “Oh, it’s you. How did you even get my contact info, Bae?” As if she hadn’t deliberately left herself wide open.

“I have my ways.” Her voice sounded a little confrontational. “I understand you have had some success with your task. Three of the idols passed the test and are ready to record their first industry album and prepare for a launch tour.”

“Yup. They exceeded my expectations. Is that really only ‘some success’ for you?”

The voice became more irritated. “Per our contract, it is literally ‘only some success’, Ms. Park. You were to carry all four of them to the finish line, but you ended up one short.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, some idols just don’t like the nature of that sort of career path? That even the ones who make it through are only able to while picking up heaps of trauma along the way? It’s honestly a miracle they didn’t all go indie. If you want to keep them, you’re gonna have to learn how to really appreciate them. Treat them well or they’ll slip through your fingers. Let me tell you, miracles like them are by no means common.”

“Ah, so Gumi abandoning the company was your doing,” she hissed. It sounded like she felt Gumi belonged to her and had personally betrayed her. “Spare me the sermons, I don’t have the time for them. You can forget about getting any compensation. I suggest you be content that I don’t plan to sue you for your abysmal performance.” Ha-neul was honestly surprised someone could be so megalomaniacal towards an omnipotent being of all people. It was a curious blend of admirable and sad.

“Gumi is better off without you. If you’d like, I can put her on so she can confirm.” Bae hung up without another word. Ha-neul had a feeling the other girls would eventually also go their own ways to find success and triumph on their own terms. 

Well, glad that’s over. Now to head back and celebrate with the girls! I hope Gumi will join us later tonight.

Meanwhile, Gumi danced with fervor on Nagusa’s main stage like a woman reborn, quickly becoming popular with many of the cafégoers. With the eagerly attentive eyes of Empress Shizuka on her, her path to stardom was only beginning.

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