Chapter 136: Hot Topic
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 136: Hot Topic
The online communities were on fire.
I’d expected it, but I never imagined it would blow up like this. I scrolled down the page.
[Rookie Actor Han Taemin Reveals He's a Pink Army.]
Embedded in the post was a clip from my 100 Questions Questionnaire.
The comments section was ablaze for all sorts of reasons.
A flood of protests from enraged members of the Pink Army poured in.
[Kill that deceptive bastard!]
[Wait. But wasn't he forced to do this? Why would a guy like him watch VTubers?]
[For real;; Isn't this just viral marketing for CLOSER?]
[Ah... so now we're even losing the otaku title to guys like him...]
If it had ended there, I would have just shrugged it off. But the more dedicated fans took it a step further, trying to play detective.
[But didn't Luka-tan say she enjoyed the drama Han Taemin was in? Isn't this related?]
[This is 100% it. Something smells fishy as hell.]
Unlike the school violence controversy, which was 100% fabricated bullshit I could laugh off, I couldn't do the same this time.
Because in a way, the rumors were an understatement of the truth.
The fact that I was dating Doah, a.k.a. Luka.
If that ever got out, the world would turn upside down.
I had no desire to cause that kind of trouble for Doah, who had already been through enough with the horror game incident.
Separate from my worries were the countless comments on the original interview video.
There were words of support, saying they looked forward to my future work, and many comments found the contrast between my real self and my character, Kim Eojin, to be charming.
Of course, since I spent more time on VTuber forums, my anxiety far outweighed any relief.
Sigh... I don't know. I just don't know.
The company approved this, right?
Sure, they never approved of me dating, but the content of this interview was all discussed and agreed upon beforehand.
That meant I had at least a minimal line of defense to protect me if things went south.
That’s enough comment-monitoring for now.
I picked up my phone, intending to just lie down and rest, but I had to rub my eyes and look at the screen again.
[11 Missed Calls]
[300+ Unread Messages]
What... the hell is this?
I’ve never had this many notifications on my phone in my entire life.
And the calls weren't from the company or Doah, but from other acquaintances.
There were friends from high school, and even middle school.
The most recent call was from Yoonje.
He seemed the easiest to deal with, so I called him back.
[Hello?]
[Hey! Taemin! You're a huge deal!]
[Huh?]
[Wow. You’re with YM Entertainment! Why didn't you tell me, man!]
Because you never asked.
Besides, I hadn't particularly wanted to tell Yoonje anyway.
[Why'd you call?]
[Because of the interview, of course! Dude, everyone in our major is going crazy right now.]
His excited voice made me frown.
Everyone at school already knows?
It's only been two days since the video was posted.
I was scared, but I asked anyway.
[Uh... who exactly knows?]
[It was shared in our department group chat, so probably everyone?]
Shit. I'm screwed.
[Hey, but are you still seeing Doah?]
[Ah, yeah.]
[Is it okay for you to be dating like that? Don't they say anything?]
[Ah...]
The contract I'd signed was only for three months.
It was such a short period that it would have been weirder if they had tried to manage my personal relationships.
[Well, not so far, it seems.]
[Really? That's surprising. Anyway, congrats! If you get into a famous drama or something, give me a heads-up next time!]
[...Yeah.]
I had no intention of doing so, but I said I would and hung up. This time, I opened my messages.
This level of activity usually meant a group chat.
And of all the group chats I was in, the most active one was...
[Hey, Han Taemin. Why aren't you reading the chat?]
[Doesn't Doah-ssi see this too? How can he act like that?]
[LOLOLOLOLOL if he'd pretended to be a normal person, I would've rushed to the comments to expose him. Too bad.]
My high school friends had exchanged over 200 messages among themselves.
I scrolled rapidly with my thumb, finally reaching the latest messages after a good while.
[I'm sorry. Please, just don't go around saying weird things about me anywhereㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
I hadn't done anything wrong, but I figured it was best to beg for their mercy.
They knew far too much about my ugly past.
[LOLOLOLOLOL if we just screenshotted all the bullshit you've said in this chat, your celebrity career would be over, right?]
[Wow, Taemin, but how could you not tell us such amazing news?]
[Still, congrats! Dude! To think we have a celebrity among our friends, holy shit.]
After being subjected to a barrage of questions that felt more like an interrogation, I answered what I could and once again begged them to forget my past outrageous statements.
[Luka's feet probably smell good too]
The moment I finished typing, a screenshot of my old message popped up.
[Please stop...]
I kicked my blankets off and buried my face in my pillow.
*
The only person who knew my identity and also knew my boyfriend's face.
Murin had been terrorizing me on Voicecord since the morning.
The moment I accepted the call, a pterodactyl shriek loud enough to shatter my eardrums blasted through!
[Unnie! This is huge! Huuuuge!]
[Murin... I'm wearing earphones... please...]
If I had to hear that again, I was pretty sure my ears would actually start bleeding.
[Wow! Taemin oppa really debuted with our company?]
[Yeah... it just kind of happened...]
[I thought he was ridiculously handsome back then, but I'm so shocked, you know?]
[Please keep it a secret from the other members.]
Everyone knew I had a boyfriend, but she was the only one who knew his real name and face.
[Ah, you bet. If I say anything, Jennifer unnie will...]
Remembering the scolding I got in the past, my face paled.
There hadn't been any negative fallout yet, but I had no idea what I'd hear if I got caught up in something that harmed the group again.
[My boyfriend is going crazy right now, saying Haeng-nim is amazing.]
[Ah... is that so...?]
[Yeah. He's all like, 'Our hyung-nim is the epitome of a chic city man,' and we even watched the drama together, you know?]
...That's just because you guys don't know him well.
Knowing the reality, I let out a hollow laugh.
Still, the interview seemed to be a pretty accurate portrayal of him.
[But unnie, are you okay with it?]
[With what?]
[The fan cafes and online communities are all buzzing about your boyfriend right now.]
They might be buzzing, but there wasn't much I could do about it.
It was our company that had approved Taemin oppa's interview, and it wasn't like he'd done anything wrong.
Frankly, it would have been the same even if it were some other male idol.
He said he was my fan and was cheering for me. What was there for me to explain?
[My stream later is probably going to be a bit chaotic.]
[If there are any trolls, just ban them right away.]
[I'm sure the moderators will handle it.]
I said that, but it was an unavoidable fact that it would be a rough stream.
Wow... the chat is going to explode again...
I wonder when this whole commotion will die down.
[But this is totally like a drama, unnie.]
[Huh? What is?]
[The meeting of a metaverse idol and a real-life actor! Doesn't it sound like a webtoon plot?]
[I guess so.]
...So that's how it must look to other people.
I thought back to when I first met Oppa.
Kim Doah, a small-time VTuber with a crush on a handsome upperclassman she knew nothing about.
Han Taemin, a super handsome hikikomori who callously rejected girls' confessions with an indifferent face.
Now, after all this time, we had both become something a little more amazing.
[Ah, you know how thrilling it is to be the only one who knows this?]
She really sounds like a young girl just from her voice.
But imagining her sitting in front of her computer with her lip piercing, freaking out like this, felt quite surreal.
[If this leaks to CLOSER, it's definitely you.]
[Ack! You're right! I'll keep quiet~ Sir, yes, sir~]
After ending the call with Murin, I sighed and moved my mouse to open Oppa's interview video.
Look at those views...
At this point, it was on par with one of my popular Luka clips.
The channel his interview was on already had a large subscriber base, but even considering that, the view count was high.
Over 500,000 in two days...
I'd already seen the top comments several times, so I sorted by "Newest" and scrolled down.
[Wow... a man who walked right out of a manhwa... a nerdy guy...! They really exist!]
[The ideal type for all women. The man himself.]
[The way he laughs at 11:24 is seriously killer. He's so cute getting all shy talking about VTubers.]
I clicked the timestamped link. There he was, my Oppa, answering with an awkward smile.
He was so flustered he couldn't even look at the camera properly.
[During my breaks... I mostly just... watch CLOSER videos in my room...]
...He really is cute.
I don't know whose man he is.
I'd always thought it was a shame that I was the only one who got to see this side of him, but now that everyone was seeing it and liking it, I felt... something.
[I miss you.]
Why do I suddenly feel the urge to be so clingy?
I sent him a text, pouring my heart into the words.