If it weren't for Floor7 Entertainment, I wouldn't be standing where I am today. They scouted me out of nowhere, introduced me to the other members of a rising boy group called VIRE, and told me something I never thought I'd hear as I would be the center and main vocalist.
That was despite me being the last member to join.
My name is Mitsu, but when I stepped onto that stage for the first time, I took on a name that felt bigger than life as Mitsunari. I've always loved the elegance of a one-name identity. At just sixteen, I'd spent years training myself for this dream, never letting go of the fire inside me.
And just like that, I debuted as one-sixth of VIRE.
Our debut single, "Code Nineteen," was a sensation overnight. Suddenly, we weren't just a rookie group as we were the next big thing. Every screen, every stage, every social feed had our name on it. We were selling out venues, doing interviews, building a fandom. But in the middle of all that, I still had to wake up and go to school.
And school? School became my nightmare.
I'd daydream in class about choreography, lyrics, and fans chanting our name. I started flunking. My passion was my escape, but it was also ruining the parts of life I couldn't ignore.
Then one morning, I dozed off again. The next thing I knew, my teacher was screaming at me in front of everyone and assigned me a partner for a class project. A girl with deep brown eyes and long, dark hair: Mizuha Uno.
Great. Just great.
She turned toward me, clearly unimpressed. "What topic should we do the project on?" she asked.
I panicked. I stood up and walked right out of the classroom. No plan. Just panic.
She ran after me. "Mitsu!" she called out.
That stopped me in my tracks.
"I don't care how famous you are or how pretty your face is," she snapped when she caught up. "You're not getting out of this project. I'm not doing it all myself!"
That's when it started.
Later that day, as I made my way to the studio, I ran into our leader and rapper, Shuta. He looked at me, concerned. "You need to check online."
I was trending.
Not for music. Not for VIRE.
For a video.
It was the clip of me and Mizuha with the argument, the panic, the walkout. The way people twisted the story made it look like I was some arrogant idol bullying a girl into doing work for him. The comments section became so toxic that they had to disable it entirely.
A week later, our company held a press conference to address the situation. I could barely stand behind the mic. My name was being dragged through the mud, and no matter what I said, people heard only what they wanted to.
To make matters worse, it turned out Mizuha had finished the project and added my name anyway. People spun that into another lie: I bullied her into doing the work.
After the conference, we dropped a new song called "Monster." It was a powerful, emotional track about inner demons and public perception.
It went viral.
But instead of saving me, it became a curse. Suddenly, I was the monster.
Then came the blow I didn't see coming as I was being removed from VIRE.
Just like that.
A year of blood, sweat, and music. One full album. One mini. A charting single. All of it was gone and I wasn't just dropped, I was erased.
I walked home in silence, watching as every news outlet reported on my contract termination. Fans were furious. They started trending hashtags in my defense, but their voices didn't matter. None of ours did.
I had no label.
I was a solo artist, in name only.
"Where do I go from here?"
"How do I recover?"
"Am I really… a monster?"
Those questions haunted me.
Technically, I was allowed to promote music on my own. But what was the point? Part of me wanted to disappear. Another part still wanted to sing.
But none of it mattered since Mizuha never said anything. She never cleared the air. Never told the world it wasn't what it looked like.
No one returned my calls. I felt like I was drowning.
So, I did the only thing I could, and I went back to school.
But school wasn't school anymore. It was a prison.
Dirty looks. Whispered insults. Silent judgment.
And still somehow, I couldn't stop thinking about Mizuha.
Then, one afternoon, as I turned a corner, someone grabbed my wrist and yanked me into a classroom I'd never been in before.
It was her.
Mizuha.
She looked right at me.
"Look… I know we have a lot to talk about," she began. "I'm sorry you got kicked out of your group. I never leaked that video, Mitsu. I don't even know who did or why. I know this won't make up for it, but… can we at least be friends?"
I stood there.
Frozen.
I didn't know what to say. Part of me wanted to scream, to demand why she didn't speak up sooner. Another part knew that deep down, she wasn't the villain in this.
Just like I wasn't the monster.
I looked at her.
Still silent.
"Can Mizuha and I really become friends again?"
"Or is this just another trap?"
I didn't have the answers.
But this was the first time anyone had looked me in the eye and said, "I'm sorry."
Maybe… that was a start.