The Conditions for Becoming a Perfect Idol Leader
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The public image wasn’t bad—quiet, if nothing else. But anyone who knew him knew he was rude as hell, lol. He’d subtly look down on other people and secretly bully them from behind their backs, but maybe because there was no evidence, it never turned into a real scandal.
Seeing stuff like that really does make you think image-making is everything. He’s on TV these days, and it feels oddly off for no reason. If people knew what he’d done, they wouldn’t be able to stan him so easily... lol.
Comments: 139
Posting this without any proof just makes you sound like a troll. At least say who it is.
[Author] lol think whatever you want. If I name him, people would freak out, so I didn’t. I wrote this because it’s so frustrating keeping it to myself when nobody knows what’s true.
That’s fucking hilarious. If you knew it would cause a scene, why write it in the first place? lolllllllllllllllll
So you’re saying the public reputation is good? Then it’s not a scandal, and you’re just seeing what you want to see, right?
[Author] Not really, because I saw it with my own eyes lol
What exactly did he do?
[Author] Just... ignored people? It felt like “I’m different from you guys,” and he had this disgusting habit of acting superior.
???? That’s it? How exactly did he ignore them? Sounds like you’re just wildly overthinking it by yourself.
Are you bored, author? Or do you just want attention?
[Author] I’m telling the truth. Whether you believe it is up to you.
Female idol? Male idol?
[Author] Male idol
Wait, I think I know who this is lol
lol I’ve got a classmate like that too. But he never did anything openly, so I’ve just kept my mouth shut haha.
Usually, dozens or even hundreds of unverified anonymous posts like that would pile up in a single day.
Most celebrity posts uploaded anonymously online were made-up stories anyway. So the comments were usually full of people telling the poster to stop spouting nonsense.
You can’t even say who it is, and you’re already begging for attention. So obvious. Delete this, it’s pathetic.
[This comment has been deleted by a moderator.]
I looked it up and it’s actually real.
What was the comment above?
Second comment from the top, I’m curious too, tell us.
The author must’ve gotten their feelings wrecked after getting cursed out, because they posted proof of their yearbook and even their school name and graduation class. Then they probably deleted the comment out of fear.
Before long, the post was buried and became just another meaningless thread.
The reason that post resurfaced was, absurdly enough, because Who’s the K was airing that Thursday evening.
The broadcast was still a mess. Though in a bad way, once it had made the news, more and more people came looking out of curiosity, wondering what kind of show it even was. It was accidental noise marketing.
For the existing viewers, it was fair to say nothing had improved. If anything, they were so used to the chaos that they just sighed and thought, There they go again.
— [ON AIR] The more I watch this show, the more it feels like getting eliminated is actually the better deal...
— [ON AIR] Wow, Triple Shot No talent, singing’s bad, dancing’s bad, and they’re still surviving. If this were a debut audition show, there’d be a ton of guys who should’ve crashed out in the lower ranks.
— [ON AIR] P.D. pick, fucking lol. Their consistency is insane. Even if there’s a member who got kicked out over character controversy, the producer just saves them somehow.
As viewers watched the show live, someone suddenly brought up Triple Shot’s personality scandal out of nowhere, and the conversation started drifting away from the actual program. That was the spark.
— [ON AIR] Look at Triple Shot’s leader. This isn’t the kind of thing you can just turn a blind eye to and move on from. And he’s not even from an older group than the member who got verbally abused. Lmao, funny and not funny at the same time.
— [ON AIR] Ugh... every time I think about the V app incident, I still grit my teeth.
— [ON AIR] Stop obsessing over a single slip of the tongue and making such a huge deal out of it. They already posted an apology, what’s the problem? You guys are worse than the hate commenters.
— [ON AIR] Of course the fans of the member with the scandal are the ones making the biggest fuss, lollllllllllllll
— [ON AIR] That one’s gonna get called a fake fan defending them. Any real fan would shut up, quietly disappear, or just leave by now, lol.
— [ON AIR] Fuck, if you guys are gonna fight, at least change the headline and do it somewhere else. Let us watch the show—ugh.
-No matter how you look at it, they came out to film, and if they’re blatantly doing that to another group behind the scenes, there’s no way the other members wouldn’t know. Either from YWH or from TPS.[28]
-Seriously, they wouldn’t... YWH doesn’t exactly have much presence anyway... [7]
-For TPS, it’s because YWH is the leader, right? But isn’t Jeong Hae basically the center? Even their screen time says so.[10]
Jeonghae’s personality-angel marketing had gotten a lot of traction early on too, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe the edit saved him, lol.[53]
I don’t even know why Triple Shot pushes Jeonghae so hard. There’s nothing there. He’s terrible at the job... [44]
After YWH, is it Jeong Hae? So which one’s the more popular member?[89]
You people really never get tired, do you? Running around Who’s the K, then bashing one stone, then bashing another... busy little lives.[6]
Honestly, the saddest person in this whole mess is probably Zero One’s Go Young-in. He got hated unfairly, and because of the trolls, that old incident keeps getting dragged back up. Only the fans are suffering.[119]
Zero One really is pitiful. They got every kind of hate imaginable, and looking at it now, they were just used as a convenient target for the praise-editing.[63]
Why is my Go Young-in pitiful? Explain the school violence rumor first.[198]
What kind of troll suddenly comes out of nowhere and starts barking? [2]
And just like that, the post that had been buried by someone’s offhand remark was dragged back to the surface.
-[Anonymous Entertainment Gossip] My classmate is an idol, and every time I see fans stanning him, I can’t help wondering whether they know what he’s really like. It makes me feel weird.
I was scrolling live and got frustrated, so I clicked the link and just blurted out whatever came to mind. It was genuine nonsense, so fans don’t need to worry.
Comments: 290
Can someone please tell me where in that post it says Young-in’s name?
2222222 Seriously, how are you supposed to know the subject is Go Young-in when they wrote it like that?
I was on live when it was posted and saw the deleted comment. The school and graduation class matched Go Young-in’s exactly, so I guess that’s why.
Then again, if that’s the standard, there are two other people from the same school and the same class. Why are you so sure it’s Young-in?
For one thing, it’s probably not Kyeon In-woo.
Why not?
Look at his face. If it were really him, he wouldn’t sneak around—he’d do it right out in the open.
Fuck, I know I shouldn’t laugh, but that’s fucking funny
It’s not school violence. Even if his personality really was like that, it just means he’s different from the image we knew. Linking that to school violence doesn’t even make sense.
But the post said he ignored and bullied people.
It’s just funny, lol The fact that they suddenly dragged Go Young-in into it is funny, the content they dragged up is stuff even fans are hearing for the first time, and the whole situation is just funny as hell
Still, judging by his looks, he does seem like he’d have some personality. He doesn’t exactly give off a quiet vibe.
Not really.
Eh, not much.
The people writing comments like that are the worst kind of bastards.
But even if it isn’t Go Young-in, isn’t it definitely one of the three?
There are so many fake posts even when people submit proof. Why are there still people saying this kind of bullshit?
After that, an out-of-nowhere controversy erupted over whether the main subject of that post was Go Young-in, Jeonghae, or Kyeon In-woo.
There was no clear evidence, but inside the community, people seized the chance to spew more hatred, dredge up old incidents, and joyfully reproduce the rumor by tying everything together.
Most people naturally ignored it or corrected the misinformation and, in turn, drove away the ones doing the shouting. But as always, no matter the numbers, the side screaming mindlessly and most loudly was the one that stood out.
-Kyeon In-woo seems the most likely, doesn’t he? Jeonghae just looks flashy, but he doesn’t have that shambling, trashy vibe. Kyeon In-woo feels like the real deal, yeah.[99]
-Wow, but with what kind of confidence do they even think about going on TV? Aren’t they just going to get exposed someday? There’s a limit to how shameless you can be.[8]
-Zero One again? Figures. Wasn’t there already a whole thread about their rude maknae last time? They really have everything—school violence, personality, the works.[189]
-No, not that one. I saw an old post where classmates met up, said it was fun, and uploaded a proof photo on Insta.[53]
-This isn’t even a proper victim post with evidence attached, and these trolls are still going fucking feral, lol [28]
-J☀ has always been said to have great relationships with classmates. He was class president for three years.[55]
-But the one with the highest odds is probably Zero One. I’m a graduate from that school too, and I heard rumors that Zero One was a rude bastard. We weren’t in the same class, but the rumor spread like wildfire. He’d ignore people even when they tried to talk to him. That part is a real fact. (+ I added a proof photo in the comments, check before you start cursing me out)[286]
-? Bastards, knock it off. Do you want to die or something? 〰️?? Bastards, knock it off. Do you want to die or something? 〰️?? Bastards, knock it off. Do you want to die or something? 〰️?? Bastards, knock it off. Do you want to die or something? 〰️?? Bastards, knock it off. Do you want to die or something? 〰️?[6]
-It just looks like certain people are thrilled to finally have a reason to hate someone.[37]
-Ah... my bias search is totally screwed today. Guess I’ll come back later.[11]
...
— Oh shit, guys (zero people), Who’s the K live audition applications just opened.[57]
In the end, it was only after the broadcast ended and the official website posted the live audition application notice that the board finally went quiet.
* * *
[Clause 65│A perfect idol must be careful of the eyes watching at all times, wherever they may be.]
That was the status window he saw most often during live broadcasts. With eyes watching from every direction, it was hard to tell exactly who he was supposed to be careful of.
Fuck. Is the status window bastard not updating?
Judging by the fact that the list of clauses had grown, it didn’t seem impossible. But he still had no idea what the standard was.
Wouldn’t things like this need to say something specific, like which direction, what time, and who exactly was watching, so be careful? Only then could he prepare and avoid trouble in advance. What was the point if it only showed up right before something happened?
It’s not like we’re doing much besides practicing and getting ready until waiting time anyway. He won’t get separated and end up in trouble on his own, right?
Nothing special happened before the live stage began. The members kept themselves from going off the rails with periodic verbal prodding, and everyone stayed buried in practice until it was time to go on.
In the middle of that, they gathered the members in the waiting room, calmed them down, took a group photo, and uploaded it to social media.
“Young-in. In-woo.”
Right before heading backstage, the manager, who had been running around helping staff all over the place, suddenly called the two of them over.
What is it? There shouldn’t be anything separate to call them for. The other members didn’t even care whose name had been called, since it wasn’t theirs, and even Kyeon In-woo, who was the one actually called, looked indifferent.
“Hang on. I need to ask you something quickly before we start. You two go on ahead to the stage area.”
With a more troubled expression than usual, the manager pulled them aside and led them into a sparsely used hallway.
“What is it, all of a sudden?”
At Kyeon In-woo’s question, the manager checked the time on his watch and looked at them.
“You two didn’t get into any trouble in high school, did you?”
“......”
“......”
“...Why aren’t you answering right away?”
It was awkward to call themselves innocent, because it wasn’t quite accurate to say they’d been completely quiet. As for Kyeon In-woo... well, maybe he was hesitating because he had something to hide. Come to think of it, there had been a while when he didn’t attend school very faithfully.
Manager Kwon Je-won pressed a hand to his forehead like someone with a splitting headache. His voice, as he asked as if assuming the worst, was seriously grave.
“You really didn’t? For example, did you hit somebody or something?”
“No.”
“Hey! Do we really look like those kinds of guys to you?”
“Then that’s fine.”
No, seriously, that was unfair. What exactly had he heard to make him ask that? Only after checking their reactions did the manager explain the situation in rough terms.
“So, there’s talk going around on a community site that one of us was a school violence perpetrator.”
“It wasn’t even that serious. It just seems like it came up for a bit. There was no solid evidence or testimony, so it fizzled out, but I asked just in case. You know stuff like this can explode at any time, right? It’s better to know in advance so we can prepare.”
“Seriously. It’s not like we haven’t already had one or two ridiculous rumors like that.”
Kyeon In-woo still looked unhappy. Fair enough. It was the kind of story anyone would hate being lumped in with.
“Sorry. I asked because I had a bad feeling for some reason. Go back now. I’ve got to help the staff. You can find your way, right?”
“Yep. I’ll manage.”
What was the point of asking now? Why had something like that started circulating in the first place?
Even on the day of the live broadcast... somehow, it felt like there hadn’t been a single quiet day during filming.
“Go Young.”
On the way to the stage, Kyeon In-woo, who had been quiet the entire time, suddenly called Go Young-in’s name.
After calling him, Kyeon In-woo just stared at him in silence. He looked like he wanted to ask something, but all he did was move his lips without actually speaking. Seeing that, Young-in remembered what An Tae-yeon had said.
After that, there was no other conversation.
Since Go Young-in didn’t react much, Kyeon In-woo had nothing to say either. The walk back was silent all the way. Young-in didn’t know what was on Kyeon In-woo’s mind, but he simply didn’t want to bring up the topic.
Bored by the silence, Kyeon In-woo started playing a phone game midway through and muttered a curse under his breath. He jabbed irritably at the screen, then suddenly stopped and just stared at it.
Seeing him stand still like that, it looked like he might have received an important call or message from someone. His harshly twisted face snapped around.
“Hey, go in first. Don’t wander off somewhere else.”
What the hell was he talking about, the crazy bastard? At this point, how much recording time was even left?
“What about you?”
“Yeah. Someone’s looking for me for a second. I should go see their face.”
Well, he couldn’t exactly argue with that...... But still, the status window had been acting up from the start, and this whole thing felt wrong. Should he just follow him if nothing else?
“In-woo, you—”
While he hesitated for a split second, Kyeon In-woo had already left without even hearing the answer.
Fuck. He couldn’t even wait one second before just taking off?
Go Young-in slowly scanned the area around him.
The hallway was quiet.
...Well, everyone was probably busy running around behind the stage, so there wasn’t much reason for them to be hanging out in the hallway near the waiting rooms.
Only the faint sound of rain drifted through the still corridor. Through the window along the outer wall, he could see heavy rain pouring beneath a sky packed with dark clouds.
Young-in paused for a moment and leaned against the wall away from the window, looking up at the sky.
Rain, huh. Maybe that was why his nerves felt even worse. He thought it would be best to head back quickly, and just as he started moving again—
—Ding.
...For some reason, this feels like deja vu.
[Clause 65│A perfect idol must be careful of the eyes watching at all times, wherever they may be.]
Right. This was probably a signal that something was about to happen.
The moment he thought that, someone’s hand suddenly shot out from the wall side of the hallway.
I swear to God,
Before he could even step back, the hand caught him by the collar and yanked him forward. Someone was inside the door to the emergency stairs. Dragged hard inside, Go Young-in was slammed against the wall with a bang.
“Ugh.”
The sudden pain forced out a groan before he could stop it.
I knew it......
Even though he’d noticed, he still couldn’t move properly out of fear that the status window would throw a fit and call it excessive force. Fuck. At least the fact that the status window bastard wasn’t screaming meant he wasn’t in immediate danger.
The metal door to the emergency stairs rattled with a loud clang. The area near his shoulder blade throbbed where he’d been slammed hard. The hand still gripping his collar pressed down with its weight, and it felt like his throat was being crushed shut.
Slowly, he looked ahead.
Creeeeak—
The emergency stairwell door, fitted with a door closer, began to shut slowly with the scrape of metal against metal.
The bright light from the corridor beyond the door gradually disappeared. Shadows fell across the other person’s distorted face, which had been caught in the light spilling from overhead.
Bang!
The sound of the door closing echoed inside the narrow space. Once it shut, only silence remained, aside from the faint sound of breathing.
“Go Young-in.”
Even under the dim lights, the other person’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“Hi.”
It was a familiar face.
“I’ve been waiting a long time.”
Jeonghae was smiling.
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