Dopamine (3)
I never expected to get the chance to step inside a building belonging to such a massive entertainment agency in my life. Of course, I had nothing much to discuss with the director. Those people had already decided how they were going to handle the gossip article anyway, and all I needed to do was add a little extra flavor to their story. The simple tale that Seo Jia and I weren't in any kind of relationship, that I was dating her older sister, and that I had some personal connection with the younger sister as well. Truthfully, I could have added that much without even coming here, but when I saw the venom in the director's eyes, it was clear he was determined to crush at least one reporter even if he couldn't take down the entire media outlet. He was probably just taking out insurance in case they twisted my words later and I ended up causing trouble.
“…”
While the director and I chatted away, Seo Jia sat quietly beside us, simply listening. Maybe she found it absurd that I was shamelessly claiming we had no relationship at all, or maybe she felt guilty watching the director take my words at face value. It could have been both. Either way, her silence worked in my favor. If she started causing a scene here the way she had to sabotage Hinami, it would only end up giving me a headache too. In this day and age, an idol fooling around with someone wouldn't send her straight to the bottom of the Pacific, but there were plenty of other ways to make someone's life miserable without resorting to violence.
“Yes, yes. Understood. Thank you.”
“We're the ones who should be thanking you.”
“No, no, it's fine. I have work to get back to, so I'll be on my way…”
“Ah, of course. Sorry for taking up your time.”
After smoothly agreeing that they could use my name however they needed, I left Seo Jia behind and walked out. If those people had any brains, they wouldn't release a rebuttal article. It wasn't some major outlet's exclusive scoop, just another run-of-the-mill internet gossip piece. They would probably be satisfied with intimidating the site into taking the article down. I didn't think the rumor would surface again unless some other outlet desperate for clicks started spreading it everywhere. Of course, I had acted extremely worried in front of her, but back then I hadn't known exactly where the story originated. I never imagined some trashy media site that scraped communities and churned out articles would specifically target me. I thought it was some paparazzi outfit or something…
“…Hmm.”
Grumbling to myself, I rode the elevator down while trying to figure out how to soothe Haeun. On a whim, I opened the community where my personal information had first been exposed. I figured I might need to file a complaint depending on what I found. The moment I entered the site, though, a chill ran down my spine.
The atmosphere felt like a festival. The number of posts had increased dozens of times over. A minor gallery with few subscribers shouldn't have this many posts even if the view count was decent. And no matter how explicit the comments got, this place was originally where Haeun's fans gathered. Yet there was almost nothing about her. These people must have had way too much free time on a Monday morning to flock to this obscure corner after seeing the gossip article. Normally I would have laughed it off, but the more I read, the more I realized how serious the situation had become.
The story was heavily exaggerated, but it wasn't completely baseless. Comments demanding proof piled up beneath it, followed by a Twitter link showing a photo of Haeun walking right beside me. It was just a background shot of someone else, but with Haeun's outfit that day and my height, it was undeniable evidence. That single photo made the rumor about him dragging around five or six women seem credible.
Thanks to these baseless rumors, even my past—when I had genuinely tried to live decently—was being dragged through the mud. Heat flared in my chest and I almost typed out a furious reply telling them to shut the hell up, but I held back. Instead, I got in my car, turned on the air conditioning, and tried to cool my head.
…What the hell was wrong with these people? Why were they doing this here of all places? Who dropped the coordinates?
“Haa…”
Even if the gossip spread widely, there was no reason for it to blow up in this particular community. There were plenty of larger sites, and the rumor had nothing to do with Haeun in the first place. When I checked other communities to trace where it started, I was shocked to find posts featuring both my face and Seo Jia's all over the place. This was the kind of trash gossip that shouldn't even be usable as tabloid fodder. It had only been half a day since the article dropped, yet someone had already spread it this far. Who the hell was doing this…?
“…Ah.”
Reading the comments on the trending posts, I found the answer far too easily.
…It was fans of other idols. Fans of other girl groups, not the one Seo Jia and Hinami belonged to. The upvote and downvote ratios were perfectly balanced, with comments insulting Seo Jia sitting at the top. Hundreds of replies stacked beneath them, feeding more fuel into the fire.
“This is insane…”
Clutching my throbbing head, I tried to figure out why the flames had spread to Haeun. I scrolled past the comments where people were now fighting among themselves and searched for Seo Haeun instead.
…As expected, this time the rumor had spread from internet broadcasting circles. Haeun's promotional appearance on a stream must have been the trigger. Viewers who had hated the male streamer that tried hitting on her were now aggressively spreading my gossip to mock him. They posted titles like “The Difference Between a Pathetic Simp and an Alpha Male.jpg,” pairing an unflattering photo of the streamer with a handsome shot of me, and spammed it across every board. I couldn't understand the logic, but they were clearly using me to ridicule him. Realizing the sheer volume made it impossible to delete, I felt dizzy and leaned my head against the car seat.
“…Are these people actually insane?”
…I couldn't find any other way to describe it. How the hell did the single fact that “Seo Jia used Kang Juhyuk's gym” spiral into this? I knew the internet loved latching onto the smallest things and tearing them apart. I'd experienced it myself when players got roasted for chewing gum too loudly. But this was on another level. Nothing had even been confirmed, yet they were dragging me into their petty wars. It was disgusting, really.
Of course, I couldn't deny that I had felt a sense of superiority while sleeping with Haeun and Hinami, looking down on these kinds of people. But the way these bastards were raging now felt completely different from what I had imagined the public's reaction would be. It was far uglier, more insidious, more malicious. And it was a fight that had nothing to do with me. They were just using me to tear down someone they hated. The sight of it made me sick, so I sent Seo Jia a DM and turned off my phone.
- Taking the day off and heading home…
The director would probably allow at least this much once he saw what was happening in the communities. He had already grasped the dating rumor in a single day, so he would notice this much larger community issue even faster. In hindsight, driving Seo Jia from the company to her house had been a mistake from the start. There must have been eyes watching at the agency. I couldn't risk taking her home in my car anymore.
“…Hoo.”
Unable to swallow the sheer absurdity of it all, I let the sigh escape and stepped on the accelerator, speeding onto the road toward home as fast as I could. With the air conditioner blasting and the windows wide open, I let the wind whip my hair into a mess until I finally felt calm enough to think again.
…It might not be as serious as it seemed. My relationship with Hinami hadn't been exposed, and for Haeun, this could even work as noise marketing. Besides, they were crossing the line over a baseless gossip piece, so the director—who was already furious—would definitely swing his blade. Just like how the manager who had stalked Seo Jia had vanished without a trace. …Though that bastard was probably still badmouthing her from the bottom of the Pacific or somewhere across it. As long as this ridiculous incident could be contained, it wouldn't turn into a real scandal. Except for the massive impact it would have on Seo Jia. Now there was no one left beside her to shield her from the flood of malicious comments… except for someone like me who would curse right back at them.