The "Eight heavenly ladies" part didn't pan out. So far, it seems there was only Choi Soonsil; I dunno, there might be seven stupid ladies who believed they were important just because they were Choi's friends.

Yeah, but others are more or less factual. And that doesn't even begin to address the more odd bits, like Choi's friend Ko Young-Tae, who is a former Asian Game medalist who became a gigolo, made friends with Choi, and then reportedly had a fallout with Choi over a puppy owned by Choi's daughter...