Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 152
In truth, getting criticized was one thing. Or, strictly speaking, he kind of deserved it.
In this industry, getting attacked for even the slightest mistake was a frequent occurrence… and when your job was to put your face out there for the public, you had to get used to this kind of public opinion.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t as if Kim Haejun hadn’t done anything to earn the backlash. The sudden slip of the tongue was one thing, and failing to pull himself together during the subsequent encore stage was another.
One might wonder what the big deal was, but looking at the video, there were certainly disappointing parts. Unlike Lee Unha, who was delivering a tearful, wailing live performance, the camera caught Kim Haejun standing still. The editing was so malicious that it almost made it look like Kim Haejun found the encore stage a nuisance or unwelcome.
There was even footage of him refusing to move despite me practically dragging him over and trying to get him to dance with us. Meanwhile, Lee Unha was crying his heart out while also looking flustered, so from an outsider’s perspective, he ended up looking rather pitiful.
And that wasn’t all.
‘To be fair, Kim Haejun always has a blank expression.’
His usual resting face, which was easily misunderstood, was perfect material for people to pick apart. In fact, hadn’t he already been at the center of several controversies before?
Considering that his most recent issue was a physical scuffle with Jung Taehee, it would actually be strange if he wasn’t misunderstood.
But despite all that….
Despite all these circumstances….
‘Isn’t this a bit too much?’
The sheer amount of hate Kim Haejun was receiving made it obvious that something had gone terribly wrong. Judging by the atmosphere, you’d think he was involved in illegal activities or school bullying.
‘Talk about withdrawal is going a bit too far, isn’t it?’
I was so flustered I didn’t even know what to say.
Regardless of what the actual public opinion was, this group targeting Kim Haejun felt like they were pushing the [#KimHaejunWithdrawal] hashtag with everything they had.
And with such ridiculous fake news, too.
‘Seriously… who’s making all these absurd lies in the first place?’
And why did they keep getting posted, reposted, and reposted again?
At first, I couldn’t understand how people could act based on posts that didn’t even cite a proper source, but once I considered the possibility that an individual—or even an organized group—was deliberately coordinating this, it suddenly became much easier to understand how people were being manipulated.
‘These guys are no joke.’
Maybe it was only about five people actually moving. But by repeating the process of reposting each other’s content across main and alt accounts, the scale felt significantly larger.
Since their followers were also joining this festival made of provocative news, as time passed, this ridiculous fake news was spreading as if it were the truth. Even other news outlets and posts quoting them were spreading incessantly.
↔ Reposted by Acorn 1 minute ago
[Ham-tol @HAMHAM14013: I heard he did the same thing in [TOP9] before leaving. My heart still aches when I think about our boys ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Seriously, as a [Nines], I have so much to say. I’m just holding it all back.]
‘What exactly happened? Really? Do these people even know that TOP9 bullied JH first? Do they even know that Haejun left because of that?’
↔ Reposted by Acorn 1 minute ago
[Ham-tol @HAMHAM14013: No, I have to say it all this time. ^^ I’ll expose what Kim Haejun did in [TOP9] in the thread below.]
‘Seriously, are these people not afraid of being sued?’
↔ Reposted by Acorn 1 minute ago
[Yakitori @YAKITORI999: Didn’t everyone know Kim Haejun was problematic? He was a nuisance in [TOP9] and then ran away; he got caught drinking and socializing with rappers; he was photographed with an e-cigarette; he got caught drinking with a woman; he pushed Unha in Idol Class System and hit Jung Tae-hee. I don’t get why people who like Kim Haejun turn a blind eye to all of this.]
‘Was the thing about him getting caught drinking with a woman ever actually confirmed? And Kim Haejun doesn’t even smoke.’
↔ Reposted by Acorn 1 minute ago
[Yakitori @YAKITORI999: The excuses the defenders use are always the same. ‘It’s all a misunderstanding’. ‘Our Haejun isn’t that kind of kid’. Isn’t it time to retire that same old repertoire? I feel like the world is uniquely lenient toward Kim Haejun. I’m sick of it now. Sick of it.]
‘See. Just a quick glance shows they’re definitely from the [TOP9] fandom.’
↔ Reposted by Acorn 1 minute ago
[Tori-Tori @TORI999222: If you want to make an album you like so much, do it alone. I don’t know why you’re dragging <Fantasia> into it. If you want to be an artist, get out of the idol world and do your own thing. Why do you want to make money while looking down on fans?]
‘I mean… the artistic ambition is coming from the company, not Kim Haejun… Haejun hasn’t even mentioned the word art. And Kim Haejun has never looked down on the fans.’
It struck me once again that it only took one sentence to spread propaganda, but refuting it required dozens of pages of evidence and documentation.
These accounts would probably be caught soon enough. At the very least, the accounts created solely to spread fake news would most likely delete themselves and disappear almost immediately. The solution wasn’t complicated. All The World had to do was announce legal action, and that would be the end of it.
A lawsuit announcement would create another wave of attention, of course, but in this case the posts were outright fabrications from beginning to end, leaving no room for debate.
However.
Despite that, this kind of manipulation was a fatal blow to us.
People remembered it.
Even if the posts were eventually deleted, the damage to someone’s image remained. In fact, it was already spreading to other communities. No, it looked like those systematically trying to bury Kim Haejun were spreading it. Every single top comment had been taken over.
[Anon: Kim Haejun’s behavior being talked about on SNS]
[[Video of Kim Haejun encore controversy] [SNS post content] It looks like an internal staff member of <The World> exposed him because of the broadcast accident on today’s music show. Circumstantially, it seems Kim Haejun caught Artist Disease and insisted on a full album, and when things didn’t go well with the company, he just blurted it out on the show.]
↳ [Anon]: Honestly, I’m not even surprised. Kim Haejun’s Artist Disease isn’t a new thing; everyone who has followed him knows.
↳ [Anon]: 22222222 Everyone just knew but didn’t say anything.
↳ [Anon]: 333333333333 I totally relate to having a lot to say as a [Nines]. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. Seriously ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋI thought he’d blow up eventually ever since he shamelessly appeared on Idol Classism after acting like he’d never be an idol again.
↳ [Anon]: I’m watching the encore stage, and this guy is the real deal. It’s my first time seeing an idol catch Artist Disease less than a month after debut. He looks like he has no will or thought of working hard, it’s so disappointing.
It was exactly that kind of vibe.
Occasionally, comments like:
↳ [Anon]: But why do people swarm to attack only when it concerns Kim Haejun? To be blunt, how do we know if the posts on SNS are true or false? And everyone says the same thing: ‘I knew it all along but I stayed quiet’ㅋㅋㅋㅋ . ‘I’ve watched Haejun for a long time’ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. If you knew, why didn’t you say it sooner? Why are you popping up now?
↳ [Anon]: No matter how I look at it, it just seems like a bunch of obsessive haters.
Public opinion had already tilted in one direction, and when the all-important top comments on every post had already been occupied from the start, there was never any chance of turning things around.
This….
‘They’re right. It really is obsessive haters.’
That description fit perfectly.
I’d seen it since the Kim Haejun/Jung Taehee incident, but Kim Haejun was definitely hated. The people who had blamed the spectacular failure of the flop group TOP9 entirely on Kim Haejun were now charging in with keyboards, determined to destroy him.
‘How frustrating must this be for them?’
From their perspective, Kim Haejun—who was no different from a traitor—was hitting it big in <Fantasia> and succeeding, so they couldn’t stand it any longer.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
An even more serious problem was that even the <Aeher> were being influenced by these few toxic antis. Since some of them were even pretending to be Aether fans while relentlessly attacking Kim Haejun, it was impossible for the real fans not to be affected.
Even worse, among the <Aether>, specifically the solo stans who loved Lee Unha, many seemed genuinely angry. As expected, my image of struggling on the encore stage must have looked very pitiable to them.
‘Should I… should I just openly post that we’re on good terms?’
“…….”
‘Should I get permission from the company and just turn on a livestream?’
“…….”
‘Should I try doing something with Kim Haejun too?’
Naturally, I couldn’t help thinking that, beyond whatever measures the company took, the members themselves needed to find a way to help Kim Haejun together. I remembered Kim Haejun once telling me his stance on dealing with hate comments….
But the situation now was different from the past. The probability was high that he viewed himself being hated and him causing damage to <Fantasia> as entirely different things. The reason he felt pressure regarding this full album was likely the same.
I concluded that I had to create more situations where I actively stuck to him, talked to him, or supported him.
With that, I got up to my feet. I had just spotted Kim Haejun and Director Oh finishing their conversation and was about to walk over.
Suddenly, Director Oh opened his mouth.
“Alright, alright. Let’s talk for a second before we go.”
It was another one of his usual speeches.
“I’ve already talked with our Artist Kim Haejun, but the company will handle the situation that happened on today’s live broadcast, so don’t worry too much… It’s awkward for me to say this, but everyone was going to find out soon anyway. It wasn’t our Artist Kim Haejun’s fault. So don’t fight among yourselves or let this hurt your feelings, alright?!”
‘I mean… no one is fighting, Director Oh.’
“Just think of it as an incident—a little mishap! Oh, of course, aside from that, we’ve decided to be a bit careful with interviews. For the time being, our <Fantasia> leader, Artist Lee Unha, will be in charge of them….”
‘So that’s what it came to, huh?’
“And! Our! Artist Lee Unha….”
“Yes. Pardon?”
“Take this.”
“Huh? What is this?”
“What else? Read it!”
“…….”
“…….”
“Pardon?”
“It’s a script that came for our ‘Actor Lee.’ A script.”
I looked down at the thick book he handed me; large letters entered my vision.
‘What…? A historical drama?’
“…….”
‘And… it’s a lead role….’
“…….”
‘The role is a slave?’
“…….”
‘Where the hell did this come from? How am I supposed to act in a historical drama?’
Furthermore,
‘The situation in <Fantasia> is a total mess, the group is on the verge of falling apart, and you want me to leisurely read a script? Does that make any sense?’
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