Chapter 276
Chapter 276
To be honest, dating in this industry is an open secret; those who want to do it, do it.
However, this case was a bit different.
A guy who hadn't even debuted through the audition yet was already trying to collect girl group members' phone numbers.
‘I guess taking first place twice went to his head.’
He seemed to be drunk on his own success, but I decided to double-check just to be sure.
“Did he ask for the number with personal intentions?”
—Well... um, our members said they could ask more questions if they had any while giving feedback on the stage.
The voice over the phone sounded hesitant.
—Then he asked if we could ‘check his interpretation of the song one more time’ and requested to follow our Inheart accounts.
I let out a short laugh. I got the gist of it.
“But we don't have personal accounts due to company policy.”
—Yes. Since we don't have personal accounts... the conversation naturally shifted toward exchanging numbers.
His technique wasn't bad.
“So, did you exchange numbers?”
—No! I stepped in and gave him our manager’s number!
There was a hint of pride in Park Min-ha’s voice. I considered praising her, but decided against it, thinking it might come off as strange.
—But thinking back on it, I feel like he knew we couldn't make Inheart accounts and intentionally steered the conversation that way.
“Hmm. I see.”
That was a sharp observation.
‘So she reported it to me immediately because she felt uneasy.’
It’s annoying to get entangled with a guy who’s hitting on people before he’s even debuted, especially when your career is on the rise.
However... in my opinion, I didn't think Chae Seo-dam was particularly interested in any specific member of Mirinae.
‘He didn't pick a target; he was just fishing for any contact info he could get.’
This wasn't about actually dating; it was for bragging rights.
A way to prove, ‘I’ve made it big enough to get involved with a girl group of this caliber.’
There was a faint scent of contempt in that sentiment.
Contempt for the profession of being an idol.
‘Was he someone who never really cared about this job?’
To include a romantic relationship as an option for showing off... it was an idea that trainees who had spent years grinding would have dismissed the moment it crossed their minds.
But this guy seemed to think, ‘I’m allowed to do this.’
‘He’s definitely someone who knows how to calculate things realistically, though.’
Chae Seo-dam had wiped his SNS more than six months ago. And looking at how he acted and framed himself for the edits, he was clearly smart.
Despite that, doing something like this... was no different from looking down on his own fans and the idols who would become his competitors.
‘He thinks he can get away with it.’
And that tendency seemed to have intensified with recent events.
‘He felt like everything was in the palm of his hand after taking first place, but then Seon A-hyun rained on his parade. But if he takes first place again after that...’
It seemed anxiety and arrogance had formed a wonderful collaboration.
“Hmm.”
I thought of a few scenarios, then shrugged and spoke.
“Just leave it be.”
—Pardon?
I smiled.
“You can just leave it. I don't think you need to worry.”
Looking at the internet, other guys were catching up fiercely. I was quite looking forward to seeing what kind of backlash a guy who lost his mind over two first-place wins would face.
Following Seon A-hyun’s example, I decided to let it go without touching the guy directly.
‘Let’s see how he trips over his own feet.’
A few days later, a post appeared on an internet community board.
[Chae Seo-dam’s Private Couple Inheart Account (713)]
The post was a meticulously organized collection of screenshots from a private account with a handle similar to the one Chae Seo-dam had deleted last autumn.
=========================
(Screenshot)
Chae Seo-dam’s previous Inheart account. Seemed to be mainly for updates.
Account name: ‘ChatiD1130’
And look at this.
(Screenshot)
‘ChatiU0417’
This account was created recently.
The pattern of the numbers at the end being the creation date is similar.
And this account’s following and followers are both just one person. LOL.
It’s this model’s account.
(Screenshot)
Anyone can see it’s a private couple account for dating. LOL.
=========================
The post claimed that a suspicious private account, linked only to a popular model’s account, belonged to Chae Seo-dam.
“Did they find it, or did they make it?”
According to the explanation, the model had recently dropped subtle hints on her account about dating a contestant from Idol Inc., which led to the reverse tracking.
The internet got noisy, but not many people believed it.
Most fans started damage control, and the speculative post without solid evidence quickly lost credibility and disappeared.
Just as the controversy was about to die down, an additional post went up as if on cue.
[The account from earlier is Chae Seo-dam for sure (1415)]
Someone had hacked the private account.
And while there were no direct photos of his face inside, there were plenty of photos of hands or shadows that could be identified as Chae Seo-dam.
In all of them, he was standing side-by-side with someone or holding their hand.
“Oh.”
Opening a private account like that in the middle of an audition program.
It was exactly the kind of behavior I expected.
“He let his guard down.”
And seeing that the partner was a model confirmed my suspicion that it was for ‘showing off,’ which was interesting.
However, the timing was even more intriguing.
‘Is someone working him over?’
Looking at the speed of the leaks, it seemed like someone had planned this, dug everything up in advance, and was now releasing it frame by frame.
‘Hmm... Could it be Gold 2’s side?’
That guy’s leadership had been highlighted in the last team battle, and even though he was already at the top, he was climbing even higher.
First place was within his reach.
It meant it was obvious what Gold 2’s fans would do if they saw a chance to crush the current number one.
‘Well, whoever did it, or even if it’s a coincidence... the timing is killer.’
Due to the provocative element of hacking and the photos, the comments were going wild as if the dating rumors were confirmed.
The plea to ‘wait and see’ didn't work, as usual. Neither did comments like ‘How is dating deception?’
The fans seemed flustered and caught up in the mess. It was easy to imagine the internal chaos.
‘It’s draining.’
They spent money and time to gather stocks for him, only for a real-time dating scandal to break out.
If it were an incident involving ‘careless words or actions,’ they might have rallied together, but this was the kind of thing that cooled the atmosphere.
I could already see fans leaving after posting one last comment like that.
‘With just this much, first place is out of the question this time.’
People who lose interest because ‘he doesn't seem desperate since he’s busy dating’ are bound to appear.
It meant his momentum was broken.
I flicked my smartphone screen down.
I could easily guess Chae Seo-dam’s current state of mind.
‘He must feel like he’s been struck by lightning.’
The best move would be to delete the account right now and announce that the hacking was fabricated...
But could a guy with his head in the clouds reach that cold conclusion as quickly as before?
‘It’ll be tough.’
As expected, it took about a day for Chae Seo-dam’s side to release a statement saying the rumors were ‘groundless.’
However, they couldn't make a specific mention of the photos.
‘I guess he couldn't convince his partner properly.’
There were enough shots they could have turned around by explaining they were misunderstandings or fabrications, but in his anxiety, he seemed to have missed the timing.
“Oh boy, that friend is in trouble~”
Keun Se-jin walked past, grinning as he glanced at my smartphone screen. It meant he was screwed.
A rebound would be difficult. I shrugged my shoulders.
His only hope now was to get a heart-tugging edit in the latter half of the broadcast to win people back...
‘Given how his head works, he might snap out of it and try even now.’
But that wasn't the end of it.
A few days later, an article broke.
[(Exclusive) “We were the scapegoats”: The cries of eliminated contestants in a cruel audition program]
An interview conducted anonymously by contestants eliminated from this season of Idol Inc. was released in the form of an exposé.
It was mainly about the production team’s cruel treatment and conflicts among the participants, but ‘that incident’ was also included.
=========================
B: A high-ranking participant would intentionally frame other participants to get them eliminated... (That sort of thing happened.)
B: Since our positions overlapped, he used his influence to tell lies and make someone look like a bad person. (Sobbing)
=========================
Normally, this post would have been suppressed as a ‘baseless rumor’ by the fans’ offensive, but it spread like wildfire on a field already scorched by the dating scandal.
The moment this speculation moved from anonymous sites to the mainstream, Chae Seo-dam took a massive hit.
Until then, there were still quite a few people thinking rationally that Chae Seo-dam was a victim of hacking.
But this was a clear call-out of a perpetrator, and other fandoms competing with Chae Seo-dam never missed this opportunity.
“Hmm.”
He really dug his own grave.
Soon, Chae Seo-dam’s side issued a statement saying they had ‘no knowledge’ of the matter and would ‘take legal action,’ bringing things to a temporary close. But now, his debut... well, even if he tried, wouldn't it be touch and go?
Now that scandals had erupted in both the areas of passion and character, the damage would be irreversible.
‘It’s over.’
I was about to turn off my smartphone screen with a shrug, but then I paused.
‘Wait a minute, this...’
“Oh boy, he’s in trouble again, real trouble~”
I caught Keun Se-jin as he tried to walk past while looking at my phone again.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Isn't this going a bit too much according to our expectations?”
“...”
Keun Se-jin looked at me, and his expression changed as he realized what I meant.
“No way.”
Keun Se-jin sent a private message to Gold 2.
[Hee-seung, by any chance?]
He was checking the bait he had laid out.
A reply came back before long.
[LOL, what? I just gave them some courage.]
“...”
I could feel his determination that he couldn't debut with such a crazy guy. He must have experienced some real personality issues while filming this time, just as he had warned.
“That’s insane.”
Keun Se-jin and I let out hollow laughs. It seemed Gold 2 had subtly encouraged the eliminated contestants as soon as the opportunity for a consultation arose.
“Wow... how did all the bait he laid out explode like that?”
“He was excited, anxious, and arrogant. That’s probably why.”
“Hmm, an accurate assessment~”
I willingly high-fived Keun Se-jin.
“Oh, A-hyun, you too!”
“G-guys?”
Keun Se-jin also high-fived Seon A-hyun, who looked bewildered as he walked out of his room.
“A-hyun, big news~ That bad guy’s run at number one is over.”
“Huh?”
After checking the post on the screen I held out, Seon A-hyun nodded with a dazed face.
“I-I see. Still, I thought he had a cautious personality...”
“Well, the position makes the man.”
“Right. And looking at it, it doesn't even seem like he really wanted to be an idol.”
“I-is that so...?”
Seon A-hyun seemed to get a bit tense at Keun Se-jin’s nonchalant addition, then he swallowed hard as if he had made up his mind and spoke.
“U-um...”
“Yeah?”
“A-actually, I... was like that too. It wasn't that I absolutely had to be an idol... I just wanted to keep dancing, so I came out.”
“...?”
The conversation suddenly jumped to a personal matter.
I answered for now.
“To Idol Inc.?”
“Yeah.”
“You were already doing dance before that.”
Seon A-hyun lowered his head deep.
“I couldn't... stay there anymore...”
“...”
“I-if I kept doing dance, I was afraid I’d keep running into the people I was scared of... I couldn't bear it... so I... I quit.”
Since that world is smaller than one might think, it seemed like people of a similar age would inevitably keep bumping into each other as they built their careers.
“But even so, I wanted to dance so much... I-I thought I’d try this just one last time, and that’s why I came out.”
I suddenly remembered that Seon A-hyun’s answer had been particularly vague when we talked about our reasons for participating in Idol Inc. early in our debut.
...Was it because he couldn't speak properly, judging his own motives to be impure?
“Everyone came out with such serious intentions, but I felt like I didn't... S-still, now... I really wanted to say that this is precious and enjoyable to me.”
“...”
I stared at Seon A-hyun for a moment, then shook my head.
“No.”
“...!”
“I also just came out because I was cast and then found it interesting. I don't think you need to think of it that way.”
In the first place, it was a field I would have had no connection to if it weren't for the ‘Death’ status effect. I massaged the back of my neck.
“You were serious enough. You worked hard.”
“...”
With his head lowered, Seon A-hyun bit his lip and nodded. Keun Se-jin grinned.
“Exactly. If someone who works as hard as A-hyun says that, then everyone who came from a different job to be an idol would have to quit.”
“...What?”
“We’re talking about A-hyun~”
Bae Se-jin, who had overheard and realized it applied to him, called out from across the living room. Keun Se-jin smoothly moved past the situation.
Then he patted Seon A-hyun on the back.
“We’re just happy that we became a cooler group thanks to A-hyun gathering the courage to participate. Moon-dae thinks so too, right?”
“Yeah.”
“...U-huh.”
Seon A-hyun nodded repeatedly.
He sniffled a few times, but he didn't end up crying.
“Good job.”
It was a story of him finally being completely relieved of a burden he never needed to carry.
Even though we had a schedule the next day, we stayed up until night, drinking light beers and talking about our time on Idol Inc.
And after that, we decided to stop paying attention to whatever happened to Chae Seo-dam.
We had collected all the bait anyway, and we had seen all we needed to see.
‘It won't matter anymore.’
Seon A-hyun would no longer be affected by that guy in any way.
After the incident passed, it was early May, and the weather was getting quite warm.
“Phew.”
I was jogging along the trail built within the apartment complex at dawn to avoid people and the sunlight.
It was a bit foggy, but it wasn't a problem for moving around. No, rather, it was good because it blocked other people’s view.
‘I hear a dog barking in the distance, so there must be someone else out for a walk.’
Originally, I mainly did indoor exercises using equipment, but I thought I’d try changing the pattern for once.
‘I should do some bulking up while I have the leeway.’
Because when we release the next album...
—Woof!
“...?”
Suddenly, the sound of the dog barking in the distance grew much closer, and a dog wearing a harness burst through the fog and appeared at my feet.
“...!”
Wait.
I knew this dog’s face.
“Kong, wait a second.”
It was the one Cheong-ryeo raised.