Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: 10. Heavenly Demon, Are You... Gonna Leave? (2)
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[Evidence that Gupailbang's Heavenly Demon Wei Hwajin is planning to leave.jpg]
The rumor that Heavenly Demon was planning to leave the group—his so-called departure—suddenly started spreading across the community.
I came across the post sparking the controversy the next morning.
At that point, the content was so absurd that it didn't seem like much of a problem.
Clicking into the post, the first thing that popped up was a screenshot of a previous post Heavenly Demon had made on Insutcha.
A red underline was drawn under the hashtag '#AdminNextTimeNoYangMaratang'.
Beneath the screenshot, the following was added in red text:
[1. Heavenly Demon likes maratang.
2. He's a rare Wei surname in Korea.
3. During U-Live, when asked 'Are you a Chinese chaebol heir?', he only denied the 'chaebol heir' part.
Given these circumstances, Heavenly Demon is definitely Chinese.
And what happens to Chinese members on the survival show? They leave.
So, Chinese Heavenly Demon? He's gonna leave soon.
Agree?]
"......"
I stared at the screen with thoroughly cooled eyes.
The "evidence" claiming Heavenly Demon was Chinese was ridiculous, but the leap to "he's leaving because he's Chinese" was such a logical fallacy that hardly anyone took it seriously.
[I like maratang too—does that mean I'm secretly Chinese?]
[I'm a Wei surname too—secretly Chinese? lololol]
[Spouting bullshit and admitting he's gonna leave? What a clown lololololol]
[Chinese member hate is insane, get a grip, go outside for a walk or something]
[Even if Hwajin is Chinese, so what? He's the one who said at the fanmeet he'd be an idol forever. Watch this. Gupailbang fanmeet legendary fan cam link]
[Jaha fans at it again lololol]
[Writer: I'm not even a Jaha fan?]
[Delete your old posts and say you're not, you sound just like your fave, what a dumbass lololol]
[I thought you were bald!! .gif]
Because it was such low-level bait, Jaha's fandom ended up facing backlash.
But Heavenly Demon, upon seeing the controversy, flew into a rage.
"To think they say this seat likes maratang—such utter deception! I've never even touched the stuff!"
This reaction only came to light because Heavenly Demon was in the terminal stages of internet addiction. The other members were so unaffected that they didn't even know the controversy existed.
Even Jaha seemed oblivious to his own fandom stirring things up, just grumbling about why they went to take four-cut photos without him.
That morning's schedule was filming the 'Murim Merits' relay dance for Nutube.
It's content where the members line up single file and take turns dancing the choreography.
Due to the nature of relays, there are times when you end up dancing another member's part instead of your own.
That's when Namgung Jun and Heavenly Demon made a pact.
If they had to dance each other's parts,
they'd step out of line to dance together or pull a little prank to show off their closeness.
It was bait to plant the idea that the two were close when fans watched the relay dance video later. But once filming wrapped, the relay dance PD showed unexpected interest.
"I noticed earlier—Jun and Hwajin seem close. You two joined late, right? You must get along well."
It was the reaction we wanted, but jumping at it eagerly would lead to distortions.
Like rumors that the existing members were bullying them, forcing the two to bond.
In cases like this, you respond mechanically, soullessly.
"We're close. We're teammates."
"Jun's always been a bit shy around others."
"He's just reserved, but we're all close."
"I know, I know. Still, you two looked especially tight—how about appearing on 'Cheocheoso'?"
'Cheocheoso' was a variety segment called [Introducing My Favorite's Favorite], short content showing idols stanning each other.
Jaha and Taegeuk had already done it once.
Besides them, there weren't many close pairs left among Gupailbang members, so seeing Heavenly Demon and Namgung Jun even a little buddy-buddy must've screamed opportunity.
But 'Cheocheoso' was a small-scale show just for fans.
Heavenly Demon's schedule was curated with top-tier programs thanks to the CEO's influence, so we could skip something this minor.
Namgung Jun, on the other hand, only had unpopular variety gigs lined up.
He needed exposure on fan-facing shows.
The PD must've known that and pitched it.
"Our guys would love that. We'd be grateful if you have us."
I could've negotiated terms, but instead of playing hard to get, I accepted right away.
'Cheocheoso' was small, but fan-oriented, so no sensational editing.
Best of all, since it was mutual stanning content, no one hogged the screen time.
Namgung Jun had steadily appeared on variety since debut but always got overshadowed, turning into air. 'Cheocheoso' would let him film stress-free.
After passing the 'Cheocheoso' schedule to Namgung Jun and Heavenly Demon, I turned on my smartphone for a quick monitoring session and felt an odd sense of unease.
The Heavenly Demon controversy should've died down by now, but it was still raging.
Scrolling up through the posts, one title caught my eye.
[But isn't Heavenly Demon kinda sus?]
'ㅊㅁ' was probably Heavenly Demon's initials.
Another sus post.
Clicking in, the content read:
[Not because he's Chinese... just the vibe?
Honestly, from his first variety, spilling ST E's private life felt off?
But at the fanmeet, they played Parangmun disciplez song, and someone said ST E was the only one missing.
Heavenly Demon's getting pushed by the CEO these days—maybe he excluded members the CEO hates?]
ST E was Sin Tae-eul.
Until recently, this community trashed Sin Tae-eul.
Now Heavenly Demon was the clearly thriving idol getting agency push.
Sin Tae-eul was a flop actor who couldn't even get airtime.
Framing it as strong vs. weak, perhaps.
The post was flooded with agreeing comments almost immediately.
[I felt sus too—being chummy with the leavers from the start was weird]
[I was at the fanmeet—atmosphere was insane when the leavers showed up, original members couldn't even control their faces... And they singled out Heavenly Demon to thank? Felt like a Heavenly Demon fanmeet, not Gupailbang]
[People believing Heavenly Demon's 'idol forever' line are so naive...... 80% of what idols say at fanmeets is fan service lolol]
Some fans commented 'I was at the fanmeet too... wasn't that the vibe?', but increasingly provocative replies piled up below, drawing all the attention.
It was a Gupailbang fandom community, but tons of people had flooded in from Heavenly Demon's recent viral dumbass quote memes, overheating the mood.
They came to gawk at Heavenly Demon's antics anyway— it'd be weirder if they didn't enjoy it.
Clicking the latest Heavenly Demon-related post, I let out a hollow laugh.
[The 'Heavenly Demon's Chinese so he's leaving' post this morning was bullshit, sure. But think about it—he dodges origin questions with 'from the Central Plains.' Why hide being Chinese? Makes him more suspicious, right? Must have something to hide if he can't admit he's a Chinese member.]
By that logic, Jaha and I Nahin went around saying their hometowns were Huashan and Songshan.
Of course, that never got called out.
My ironclad rule for controversies like this: 'Never engage at all.'
Showing you're watching just makes it worse.
Heavenly Demon wouldn't bat an eye at this anyway.
His fandom, the Heavenly Demon Faith, was all 'not our problem.'
The issue was Heavenly Demon and Namgung Jun's closeness info was about to leak.
They'd film 'Cheocheoso' together— if Heavenly Demon's image tanked now, it'd hit Namgung Jun too.
As I said before, the world has that magic phrase: 'birds of a feather.'
When I vented this worry to Heavenly Demon, he gave me a look like 'why fret over that?'
"I saw the mortals' complaints."
"You saw it, huh."
"So, I tried writing one of those 'ink ink letters' they mentioned."
"...What?"
"They say it's what idols write to appease fans amid scandals."
With that, Heavenly Demon handed me rice paper scrawled with ink.
This rice paper and ink were bought by the CEO for Heavenly Demon to use on Murim Merits lyrics.
I shouldn't, but a pointless thought crossed my mind.
'Real ink-ink letter...'
I shook my head briefly, pinched the corner of the rice paper with my index finger, and unfolded it.
The still-wet ink formed stunning calligraphy.
Heavenly Demon wrote hanja flawlessly, of course, and Hangul with elegant skill.
He was decent at writing, so this might actually work.
Handwritten letters go over well with fans.
The calligraphy could even flip his image.
With such naive thoughts, I read the ink-ink letter.
[To my Heavenly Demons.
There is a misunderstanding about this seat, so I pen a few words.
This seat and that Jongnam Sect bastard have gone to saunas together.
I've seen his naked body twice, and we share intimate secrets of the flesh.
And you mortals, you're overlooking something about this seat's origins.
This seat was born before the Tiananmen Incident...]
I nodded and tore up the ink-ink letter.
"Rejected."
"Should I have just kept it concise with 'Taiwan Number One'?"
"I'll confiscate your smartphone for two weeks too."
"What?!"
As I pocketed Heavenly Demon's confiscated phone, it suddenly started ringing off the hook.
Weirdly, not just his—mine too.
Frowning, I checked my phone.
'It's not calls...?'
Turns out, so many messages had piled up it felt like calls.
Sensing trouble, I opened Namgung Jun's message first.
He almost never initiated chats.
[Namgung Jun: Hyung, you need to hear this.]
Clicking the attached link with the message took me to an anonymous site Namgung Jun would never visit.
For a split second, I thought phishing.
But the auto-playing file started, and I didn't hit back.
A familiar voice, a familiar conversation flowed out.
-Then you won't interfere with our work.
-Whether you seek revenge on the CEO or not is none of my concern.
The recording quality was poor.
But I could clearly tell who one of them was.
-I told the admin too, but this seat wants to know how to return.
No one in modern Korea talked like that except Heavenly Demon.
With a stiff face, I listened to the rest.
-Are you planning to go back?
I already knew the answer to that question.
-Someday.
I thought to myself.
We're fucked.