Chapter 42

If I can't debut, I'll get a disease that will kill me 042

Daesejin smiled bitterly.

“I’m with… HappyFriend, you know.”

“Ah.”

At that moment, the aspiring idols roughly grasped the situation.

And I, who used to be a data dealer, also caught on.

‘That place… is known for its inability to handle controversies in their early stages.’

Come to think of it, even though this scandal is happening, there’s been no contact from the agency. It’s been over an hour since the post went up, and now it’s chaos on all kinds of SNS. If it were a larger, more agile agency, they would have already made contact with Daesejin.

“Well… at least they release albums well, so I joined them. Haha.”

Daesejin laughed a few times formally, then got up from the bed.

“W-Well, how about asking a friend to post it? Y-You have a lot of friends, right?”

“Hmm… According to our rules, official internet activities are prohibited during filming, so I could ask some friends. If I send them the photo and ask them to post it, some of them would be excited to do it.”

“……”

‘Maybe I should just leave it.’

I’m already regretting getting involved so much. But since I’ve already opened my mouth, I decided to see it through and gave some advice.

“If you contact them directly, it will leave a record. It might be better to tell the production team to post it themselves.”

I subtly hinted, ‘I think there might be a culprit among your acquaintances, so be careful.’ Daesejin nodded as if he understood immediately.

“That’s a good idea. Let’s see….”

Daesejin opened the notes app on his smartphone and then smiled at the other team members who were still huddled together.

“Everyone must be tired, but thank you for your concern. I’ll write this quietly on my own. You all should go to sleep now.”

“Hey, it’s a bit much to leave you here while we all go to bed.”

Gold 1’s worry prompted Daesejin to answer seriously.

“If we all can’t sleep, won’t tomorrow really be hell…?”

“……”

Tomorrow is indeed going to be a nightmare with all the things we have to do.

It was a very convincing argument.

In the end, the other team members returned to their beds with weary faces.

I also lay down and fell asleep.

However, unfortunately, I woke up again in the middle of the night due to thirst.

‘I guess I talked too much before bed.’

I quietly got up and headed to the sink. Daesejin, who was still sitting at the table looking at his smartphone, reacted.

“Hey, aren’t you sleeping?”

“I’m thirsty.”

“Ah, I see.”

Judging by the fact that he was still awake, it seemed Daesejin hadn’t finished writing his statement yet, or he was still browsing the internet for opinions.

Neither was a good sign.

“Did you finish writing it?”

“Hmm… I did write it, but…”

Daesejin looked conflicted as he looked down at his smartphone, then continued after a moment.

“I thought if I posted it myself, it would just cause more trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“Well, first, people might say it’s a special privilege to communicate via SNS during filming… If my statement is firm, they might say, ‘I didn’t know he was like that,’ and if it’s too soft, they might say, ‘He’s acting this way because he’s scared,’ or something like that.”

It was a plausible scenario.

“So I tried writing it as if it were from an anonymous friend. Do you want to see it?”

Daesejin handed me his smartphone.

=========================

[From a friend of Daesejin]

: The photo in today’s accusation post is a fake. I have the original photo.

(Original photo) (Fake photo) The second photo was made by cutting the first photo.

=========================

….

“……”

“What do you think?”

What can I do with this?

If this were a normal college activity, it would be a decent explanation. It covers all the necessary points and is straightforward and easy to read.

The problem is that it’s not suitable for an internet anonymous site.

I involuntarily looked back. My bed was waiting for me.

But if I tell him to post this, there’s a high chance that all my efforts at midnight will be in vain.

‘Sigh…’

Sleep… I’ll do it tomorrow.

“…This won’t work.”

“What?”

“It won’t work.”

In the end, I reluctantly brought out my smartphone.

I guess I’m doing it, Xiiib.

* * *

3:30 AM.

It was a time when most people would be in bed. Only hardcore internet users would be up, chatting about trivial matters.

The timing was right for Daesejin’s school bullying controversy to have subsided and only intermittent chatter to remain.

At that moment, a post appeared on an idol-related anonymous site.

=========================

[Hey, I think I found Daesejin’s photo.]

: (Fake photo) Isn’t this the original? (Original photo)

=========================

The post included a group photo of Daesejin and other students with their faces roughly blacked out.

Although it was a casual post from a common IP address, the comments from the early morning users exploded as soon as they saw the content.

-Whoa

-What?

-Where did you get this?

-Dude, this looks real;;

-Is this a pilgrimage?

-Did you cut this photo?

-How did you know?

└I found it while digging through my friend’s feed.

└Isn’t this creepy stalker behavior?;;

└Well, you’d do the same if you had it.

└Haha, you’re hitting the nail on the head.

└Wow, this guy even blurred out the faces. Is he scared of being sued? Haha.

The comments heated up even more as the original poster responded, and soon someone who saw the post created a precise comparison shot.

-It’s the same (photo)

└Eek

└Wow

└Crazy

-LOL, it really was a fake. What a joke. I thought he was some weirdo, but this is ridiculous.

-Wow, I thought Daesejin’s career was over, but it was just a strategy.

└Crazy hahaha

└We should buy all his stocks now.

The comments grew even faster.

Soon, someone found out that the original photo was taken during Daesejin’s school council election campaign.

-Found a similar promotional photo on the Cheongsol High School website. It seems to be from the election campaign. (Link)

└Wow, he was really angry.

└It was suspicious from the moment the accusation mentioned the election.

└Wow, the accuser must have clenched their teeth while writing this.

└They must be grinding their teeth now that they’ve been caught. Haha.

As the situation developed, screenshots of the post began to circulate on SNS and community sites.

=========================

[Mysterious Justice.jpg (feat. Daesejin’s school bullying is fake)]

=========================

-Daesejin’s school bullying photo is fake.

-Someone found Daesejin’s original photo.

Like the first post, the comments grew rapidly.

The post seemed more genuine because it had the nuance of being found by chance.

Public opinion quickly turned to mocking the accusation post.

Daesejin’s fans, who couldn’t sleep, quickly joined in by posting screenshots.

They aggressively commented, chasing away those who tried to muddy the waters by saying, “The photo is fake, but the content might be true.”

In this way, the information that the accusation was fake quickly dominated public opinion.

It all happened before the end of the workday.

* * *

“It’s been deleted.”

Daesejin muttered.

Once it was revealed that the photo was fake and public opinion had completely turned, the person who wrote the accusation post quietly deleted it and disappeared.

It could have gotten messier, but it seems they gave up because public opinion had completely turned against them.

“…Thank goodness, really.”

Daesejin let out a deep sigh of relief and buried his head on the table. He looked exhausted as the tension drained from him.

“Thank you. I really… feel ashamed.”

He had every reason to be grateful. If he had posted the draft as it was, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.

‘Data dealer, 1 win…’

I never thought I’d use my time like this while trying to check price trends. I guess this is my way of paying off my karmic debt.

“…If I hadn’t even touched a cigarette, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Daesejin muttered with a tone of self-loathing. He seemed to realize it was a foolish act.

“Why did you smoke?”

“…Ah, at that time… I was dropped from the debut group. We had even recorded the demo… but they replaced me with someone else who debuted successfully and sold a lot of albums.”

“…At ‘HappyFriend’?”

They haven’t produced any successful male idols in nearly five years, right?

“No, another place. …But they said they wouldn’t form another team for a while, and they connected me here.”

“I see.”

At this point, only a few male idols who debuted three or four years ago and did well from their first album existed.

And both were from major agencies.

‘…Wouldn’t it have been better to wait, even if it took longer?’

At 17, he would still be 22 after five years, a good age to debut as a senior in a group. It would have been more rational to be with a major agency than to join HappyFriend.

“…They promised to debut a rookie this year, so I signed the contract… but they haven’t done it in four years. Haha.”

“……”

I see.

Verbal contracts shouldn’t be trusted, but as a high school freshman, he probably didn’t have the mental capacity to handle such things.

“You can see for yourself, but there’s no one among the HappyFriend trainees who’s ready to debut immediately. So I have to debut through this show….”

“……”

“So, I’m really grateful that you stopped me from leaving. Park Munde.”

This is the first time he’s been so open about his thoughts and evaluations.

‘Is this his way of showing gratitude?’

“Yeah, you should be very grateful.”

“…What? Haha!”

Daesejin laughed and then buried his head on the table again. He must be exhausted, even though he wants to laugh.

I pondered uneasily.

‘…Am I being too familiar with him?’

I tried to keep my distance because he’s a potential drug user, but somehow we’ve become overly close.

‘But based on his past, the probability seems low.’

Daesejin would have likely been forced to withdraw and miss his debut if the school bullying scandal had broken. Even if he hadn’t withdrawn, it would have been difficult to turn public opinion around like this and debut.

‘Hmm, but the young actor Lee Sejin’s chances of debuting don’t seem high either right now.’

Still, Lee Sejin’s screen time and image might have been influenced by the variable ‘Park Munde,’ so there’s a possibility.

‘Anyway, this isn’t an immediate concern.’

I’ll just put the Schrödinger’s drug user in a box for now. The urgent matter is the team performance stage in two days.

Papapapapapapapapa!

“Hooooo!!”

“Ugh….”

Just as the morning wake-up alarm sounded, the team members started to stir in their beds.

‘Another day without rest has begun…’

With a heavy heart, I stood there, and Daesejin spoke again, continuing our earlier conversation.

“No, really… I’ll buy you a meal after this. What do you want to eat?”

“Beef.”

“…Does it have to be domestic?”

“Just make it tasty.”

It was exactly 50 hours before the team performance rehearsal.

* * *

The third team performance stage took place on a large stage, one of the sets of Tnet’s flagship music show, ‘MusicBomb.’

The meaning was to show a great performance on the same stage where senior idols perform, but it seemed they also liked to get reaction shots.

“This stage, just four days ago, was used for the pre-recording of VTIC!”

“Wow!!!”

The participants cheered at the MC’s words.

In fact, the stage set was completely different, and the only commonality was that they were in the same space.

However, the participants seemed excited just to be in the same space as top-tier idols.

I wasn’t in a bad mood either.

‘VTIC… they were pretty good guys.’

It was worth the high cost to film them.

“Like the senior idols, please show off your skills to the fullest!”

After the MC finished the scripted lines and left, the rehearsal preparations began in earnest.

“Everyone! We’ll follow the same order as the broadcast!”

“Yes!”

The stage area quickly became noisy with instructions and music.

The participants still had a bit of time, so the ‘Dal Ttoori’ team gathered in a corner.

“Why don’t we cheer each other on? We’ve worked really hard, so let’s show a great performance and come back.”

“Ah, that’s a good idea.”

“L-Let’s do it.”

The team members nodded with tense faces, but it was clear that their tension came from excitement rather than anxiety.

“‘Dal Ttoori’ team.”

The team members put their hands together.

“Cheer!”

The shout was almost combative.

‘My goodness.’

Even without a camera nearby, I found myself participating in this, which felt strange.

But it wasn’t a bad feeling.

“Let’s go!”

Really, the stage was just around the corner.