[ izumi just... blinks at zhongli's reaction. on one hand, the idol industry is pretty rotten in its core, especially when one has to explain it to the uninitiated. but like - ]

I mean, yeah, it's pretty brutal. The industry would eat the inexperienced alive and some of them might never recover from it. But I'm not one of those people. I worked my ass off to get to where I am today and even if I got stranded here, I won't give in to whatever the hell they're doing over there.

[ except the part where he's going to join leo's temporary group later on but SHHH ]

And that is why I'm not drinking with them, Zhongli-san.