Chapter 225

Chapter 225

It wasn’t as hard as I expected to persuade Ahyeon.

“It’s been quite a while since I stopped keeping an eye on things online. I haven’t gone back on my word or been difficult about it, have I?”

“N-no. You’ve been fine, Moondae!”

“I think I was only using the internet as a way to handle my stress. It probably wasn’t an addiction in the first place.”

“Huh? What”

“As you said, it could become stressful if I let it get excessive… but I’ve gotten a good grip on it during my break.”

Ahyeon gaped, perhaps not having expected me to come to this conclusion.

“I think I’m capable of enough restraint that I won’t stress myself out.”

“O-of course. I’m sure you’ll do just fine, but…”

I threw him a curveball. “And that’s all thanks to you. Thank you.”

“N-no! You’re the one who did the work, Moondae!”

“Yes. And I’ll continue to do so. And I can now monitor the situation online without getting stressed.”

And that was that. Ahyeon had the look of a swindled person as we went about our schedule for the rest of the day, but he soon recovered. I’d successfully reclaimed my ability to monitor things freely during my breaks.

“The staff will start setting up for the concept photo shoot at seven tomorrow. Let’s not sleep too late.”

“Right!”

It was night, and our activities for the day were over.

It’s been a while. I started reading through the communities relevant to my interests as soon as I lay in bed, starting with past posts and working my way to more recent ones.

K-NOW, which we’d finished filming a while ago now, had stopped being such a hellish experience for the contestants, slowly becoming something more uplifting. This gentle transition seemed to have been very effective in holding viewers’ attention. TeSTAR was still getting a lot of good attention thanks to the show as a result.

- It’s so exciting to see Seon Ahyeon doing his special stage with other idols. I thought he was a graceful little deer, but look at how tall he is. He’s more like an elk

- T_T I’d like to sue Lee Sejin, please. He’s kind even to attention-hungry foreigners, making Loviewers’ hearts flutter

- Bae Sejin’s pictorial with the sunglasses is wild. Did you Americans see that? This is the impressive result of an actor becoming a K-pop idol (photo)

Because we’d been so clearly superior to the amateur contestants, in both skill and attitude, everything about our appearance on the show, including the editing, had filled viewers with pride. There wasn’t much change in opinion regarding me personally, since I’d made most of my appearances early on in the show. But with the release of the behind-the-scenes footage… many people were saying I was cute.

- Moondae is so eager to learn. He is so serious about his craft that he never misses an opportunity to get better at what he does.

- I wonder what’s on his mind as he stands there cutely like that? (screen capture of Moondae in the corner during a break)

- It’s so cute to see him perk up his ears every time a senior idol speaks. What’s that? You can’t see him perk up his ears? Of course, you can (GIF of Moondae with dog ears)

I would have liked the fan’s response better if that behind-the-scenes footage hadn’t been from the practice session I’d done with Cheongryeo.

- They made a variety show appearance together as well, didn’t they? They must be close. Maybe we’ll give them a nickname—the super genius prodigies? (Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself)

They took it too far., I thought, regarding the editing of the behind-the-scenes footage, not the fan’s comments. I quickly skimmed through anything from the day this video was released, moving on to the posts regarding the GED test. Probably mostly thanks to the people who’d uploaded photo evidence and the like, most people were surprisingly encouraging.

But what the hell is up with these guys?

- Moondog, you’re reading this, too, aren’t you? Look at you, you’re so desperate

I had no idea why they were being so combative, but I could see that there had been many attempts made to try to rile me up, all of which had inevitably failed and left them exhausted.

This was an easy win for me, I guess. Ahyeon’s timing had apparently been perfect. I glanced over at his bed. Our eyes happened to meet, so I didn’t have to call out to him to get his attention.

“Is there anything you’d like to eat?” I asked.

“Huh?”

“As a late-night snack.”

Ahyeon seemed confused for a moment about what I was saying. Then he sat up quickly, surprise registering on his face. “Oh, M-Moondae, do you need a snack?”

I stared at him.

He’s kicking himself because he thinks I’m hungry and he failed to notice. I decided it would probably be better to make him something in the morning instead as thanks. I soothed Ahyeon, putting an end to his rambling, and resumed my hunting through the TeSTAR forums. Nothing of note seemed to have happened after that.

Because we were on hiatus, the fan’s reactions to our roommate and moving content were the most notable ones. But when I started going through the more recent posts, the underlying mood was drastically different. It all began with one post in particular.

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[I saw TSuns in the hospital. Nice!]

: I went to the ER with an upset stomach. On the way back, I saw some guys with long legs getting out of a van. They were so tall, and there were so many of them, that I suspected they were idols. I got closer and realized it was TSuns. I could tell because Kim Raebin didn’t have his mask on. He was pretty clumsy haha. He didn’t look particularly happy, though. Does he have a family member who’s ill? That’s what’s happening, if I had to guess

(shaky photo)

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This post had gone up in a community that believed that celebrities didn’t have a right to privacy. The post earned no criticism, only a variety of nosey responses. I withheld a sigh.

I guess we really weren’t that careful about not being seen, were we? However, none of us had the capacity to give any thought to stuff like that at the time. We were facing a potential death in one of our member’s families, after all. I did a search for posts that had gone up after this date, using keywords like Raebin, hospital, and so on.

- Wait, someone saw Raebin at a hospital??

- I’m blocking anyone who talks about this. I’m not interested in hearing about it until Raebin mentions it himself

- So all of them went with him… I know I probably shouldn’t be reading stuff like this, but I feel bad for him all the same.

Most people had accurately guessed that one of Raebin’s grandparents had to be ill. Most fan communities, however, banned any mention of it.

It spread faster than I expected. This was probably because the first post I’d seen had gained a lot of traction before anyone was able to get it deleted.

The company reacted pretty slowly. No doubt they hadn’t been paying attention, busy as they were with organizing the schedule for our album prep and trying to ready future press releases regarding the situation. It was the perfect environment for the stalker fans to run amok in. They seemed to feel a strange sense of superiority because they had information a lot of people probably wanted to know.

- They rented a van under one of the manager’s names. Are these bastards sneaking off to have fun? Where’s our content? Has your love for your fans already disappeared? T_T

- Did they have girls with them? Did they? Someone look into it quick

- Gosh, their holiday was ruined because of KR. Moondog and CE are staying in Gangwon Province to look after him!

- He should just focus on making songs. God, how annoying

It seemed that people who’d heard details from someone in the agency or hacked one of the staff’s phones were eagerly spreading what they knew. Worse still, some people had the audacity to call themselves Raebin’s fans while spreading misinformation and hunting for reasons to criticize him.

- Hey, KR is about to lose his mind. F*ck, why did this have to happen right before the full album was meant to drop? LOL. I knew something like this would happen at some point, though

- Nobody’s dead or anything. Why are they abandoning their work? Hello? KR, why haven’t we heard anything about you returning to the dorm yet?

- KR, you’d better start putting your career first

- So the full album is going down the drain so you can spend time with some stupid sick family member? I had no idea he was such a family man

Reading their vile vitriol was sickening.

So no one’s done anything to put a stop to this, either. Things had only been allowed to get this bad because I hadn’t been paying attention.

F*ck, let’s not go there. I didn’t have the time to waste beating myself up.

Shut up and use your brain. I could immediately think of a few strategies I could employ immediately.

I should start by sharing a screenshot of our chat room. I would upload our responses to Raebin’s work in the chat room to social media to tease the upcoming comeback. It would prevent people from jumping to strange conclusions about Raebin’s current state and head off any anxiety the fans might be feeling regarding his participation.

Doing so would be useful even in the worst-case scenario—Raebin being unable to participate in promotions. There would be less needless criticism leveled his way. Some would refuse to miss out on an opportunity to kick him while he was down, but for now, my plan dealt with the problem neatly.

We need to warn these people that we’re going to bring lawsuits against them if they carry on like this. That was the first thing I’d ask our dedicated management team to deal with once it was finally up and running. And that team is going to be ready before our promotions are over—even if it means I have to go without sleep to make it happen. F*ck it.

But first, I should focus on anything I can address immediately. I read through our chat history and found snippets of our conversations regarding Raebin’s music, taking screenshots as I scrolled. Then I asked the group chat for permission to upload them. Raebin usually didn’t go to bed until late at night, so he was likely to still be awake.

[I think the fans will like it if we upload some screenshots of us talking about our new album. What do you think?]

[Big Sejin: (agree emoji)

[Cha Eugene: Make sure I’m in them!]

The night owl members responded right away, just as I’d expected they would. Raebin’s reply came through before long, but it was odd.

[Kim Raebin: It’s ooookeee]

“…?”

It wasn’t like him to make a typo. It almost seemed like he’d slipped and fallen over while trying to write “okay.”

Is he sleepy? I crossed my arm over my chest and tried not to imagine the worst, waiting to see if he would say anything more.

Raebin didn’t scramble to correct himself, even after I waited for several long minutes. This meant that Kim Raebin had left the chat without bothering to correct his spelling mistake. This was alarmingly out of character for him.

I think I can guess what’s happening… It was horrible, but a strong suspicion took root in my brain. I tapped my fingers against my arm.

Did his grandmother pass away? If this was the case, calling him right now was not an option. I would only be getting in the way during a difficult time. I easily made the most reasonable call I could.

I’ll check tomorrow morning. By then, the outcome would be clear… whether good or bad.

[Big Sejin: Raebin?]

A few of the other members messaged Raebin in the chat room, but they soon also fell silent one by one. They’d figured out what was going on—or rather, what was about to happen. My brain was spinning, trying to come up with something to say or do.

I can’t upload something so casual on our social media and have it overlap with news of his grandmother’s passing. I decided to wait. Putting my phone down, I lay down.

“M-Moondae, are you going to sleep?”

“Yeah.”

I should just sleep, and not waste my time and energy on pointless worrying. We didn’t have the luxury of wasting time or energy. I wasn’t particularly sleepy, but my fatigue won out in the end. I fell asleep a little past midnight.

Raebin didn’t get in touch with us again, even after the sun had risen.

***

We convened in the living room a little past eight in the morning.

“We should call him.”

“W-we don’t know what’s happening. Wh-why don’t we wait a little longer—” Ahyeon said.

“Let’s call him!” Eugene insisted.

“Wait, we’re already running late. We can talk about this on the way.”

The apartment was noisy, as each member offered their opinion about the situation.

We should have left for the practice room ages ago. I sat on the edge of the sofa, head thrown back against the headrest.

Goddamn it. My brain felt foggy.

Is it because of a lack of sleep? I knew I was making excuses. My Energy Drink trait was working just fine. It wasn’t fatigue—my brain was just not coping well. I exhaled.

We should probably check in with him… If we delayed it any further, it would seem like we were avoiding dealing with the situation. It was time to call Raebin. As if in answer to my thoughts, my phone vibrated in my hand. Someone was calling me.

“Is it Raebin?”

It was. I accepted the call instantly, pressing the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey!” Kim Raebin’s voice sounded… excited and cheerful.“M-my grandmother regained consciousness during the night… I was able to speak with her!”

No one had died. Relief coursed through me, like fireworks were going off in my head. I felt like I was coming apart at the seams. It wasn’t a pleasant sensation, and I couldn’t stop myself from shouting,

“You should have contacted us right away!” I said.

“S-sorry! I didn’t want to wake any of you up, so I wanted to wait until nine!”

This was so in character for him that I didn’t even know what to say. I took the phone away from my ear as the strength drained from my body. The members crowded around me.

“Is it Raebin?” Eugene asked.

“Is he all right?” Chungwoo asked quietly, “Moondae, do you want me to talk to him?”

“Yes…” I said, handing the phone over.

The members gathered around, talking excitedly.

“Raebin! You sound good!”

“H-how are things?”

As for me… I felt like a weight had lifted off my shoulders. I wasn’t sure if all this emotion was hitting me because of Raebin, the call, the awful state of limbo we’d been suspended in, or because of the status window.

I’m just in my feels, damn it. I suddenly didn’t feel so exhausted anymore.

Have I lost my mind? I massaged my brow roughly, an incredulous laugh escaping me.

“Raebin’s coming back tonight!”

“The timing’s perfect!”

Yeah. I guess sometimes things do work out for the best. I logged onto our social media as soon as my phone was returned to me.

We have to get back to work. My hands were itching to get stuck in, as was my brain.

***

That morning, less than an hour after Kim Raebin called Park Moondae, a short post appeared on TeSTAR’s social media account.

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Excited (photo)

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There was no indication of who had uploaded it, but the post included screenshots of their friendly banter in the group chat, as curated by Park Moondae.

- Oh my gosh, they’re coming T_T

It was the first public sign that they were getting ready for their comeback.