Chapter 151: Toy (3)

[Newbie male idol who dropped an ‘Ah really?’ at a fan signing]

Subject: Stardust ㅅㅎㅇ

Taken from JjaekJjaek

Judge for yourself.

It had been a while since the last fan signing, so I went with my heart pounding really hard.

But after coming back from the fan signing, I felt like I understood what it meant when people said they left the fandom afterward, haha.

It was like the testimony of someone who had been left with an empty heart.

I think ㅅㅎㅇ was the 4th turn.

The moment I sat down, his eyes looked tired.

I could understand since my turn was a bit later in the lineup, haha.

Me: Who are you the closest with among the members?

Haim: The members… I’m close with all of them.

Did I ask something uncomfortable?

From there, he openly showed a hint of annoyance, and I froze up a little at first.

But I didn’t care and continued chattering with all my might.

I felt like it would be a waste if I said nothing, so I tried my best.

But then—

Me: On my way here, I stopped by this famous muffin shop in Seoul, and it was really good.

You should try it after the fan signing ends!

Haim: Ah… really?

Recording

I was at a loss for words then.

No matter what I said, it felt like his mind was somewhere else.

Before I knew it, the staff was telling me to move on to the next turn, haha.

I just stood frozen for a moment before getting up, heh.

And after it was over, haha…

A lot of thoughts came to me.

How much money did I even spend just to come to this fan signing?

Do I really need to struggle and attend while worrying about the members’ moods?

I think I won’t apply for fan signing events for a while since this reality check hit me, sob.

So the subject is Stardust’s Seo Haim??? I didn’t think he was like that, but this is insane.

└ Wait;; wasn’t his image supposed to be someone who treats fans really well?

└ He did live streams often and even sent private messages every day….

└ Was he just too tired during the fan signing? Ah, but still disappointing… Don’t they know how much fans spend just to attend, haha.

└ Can’t defend him.

If a rookie idol already acts like this, that’s the end, haha. Busy schedule? Not feeling well? All just excuses, haha. He’s just reserving his seat as a dead-eyed idol~

└ How long has it been since they debuted, and he’s already acting like this, haha.

└ Must be because he’s from a big company, so he lacks desperation.

└ He blew up since Starf. Got a taste of money too early, that’s why.

└ If a less-than-one-year-old idol acts like this… there’s no future.

└ Yeah yeah, if it’s true, he better wake up. This industry survives on fandom sales. If you don’t treat the fans who even come to fan signings well, what are you even doing?

I actually went to that fan signing as a Dusty, and after seeing this post, I was like ??? so I’m leaving a comment….

Haim really looked at me with sparkling eyes, listened to everything I said, and even did all the challenges I asked in that short time.

He even went overtime, signing slowly while listening to all I had to say….

I don’t know what happened, but it seems like there’s been a misunderstanding, sob.

└ Misunderstanding? Someone already said he acted like that to them.

└ Leave proof.

└ There’s a recording, it’s undeniable.

└ Dustys coming to defend, haha. If it were me, I’d dump a dead-eyed idol and find another bias.

└ Hey, wake up, haha.

“…What happened?”

Jin Sehyun, looking flustered, shoved the post toward me.

Kang Siwoo took Jin Sehyun’s phone and muttered under his breath as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Dead-eyed idol fan signing review…?”

“Yes, it got uploaded.”

It was a fan account saying they had been hurt by Seo Haim’s insincere responses at the fan signing.

Some Dustys who had also attended left rebuttals underneath, but the cold public opinion drowned them out.

Seo Haim?

Of all people?

As someone who had been sitting right next to him, it was not something I could easily accept.

“Where’s the original post?”

“Here.”

The original poster even uploaded photos from the fan signing site along with a recording, which only stirred things up more.

Seo Haim, the person in question, looked completely shocked.

“I… don’t really remember….”

“Haim, did you say anything that could have come off as insincere?”

“I’m not sure. I thought… I was doing my best?”

Normally, Seo Haim never stopped chattering no matter what topic of conversation came up.

That he had shut his mouth because he had nothing to say?

That he gave a fan the cold shoulder because he was annoyed?

Seo Haim?

No way.

“Couldn’t this be a misunderstanding?”

“Did you maybe doze off during the fan signing?”

“N-no, I didn’t fall asleep.”

Seo Haim waved his hands frantically and shook his head violently.

“I was sleepy, but… I think I was lively during the fan signing….”

The schedule had been utterly exhausting.

Kang Siwoo looked seriously worried that his energy might have run out, leading to insincere replies.

I had already ruled out that possibility in my head.

That guy was the type who would float with only his mouth above water even if he drowned.

“Can I see the photo?”

“Huh, photo? Want to take a look?”

“Yes.”

The photo the poster uploaded as proof.

Jin Sehyun quickly pulled it up on the screen, and I scanned it with my eyes.

In the picture taken holding a placard, a sleeve was visible too.

It gave me a sense of déjà vu.

“Ah.”

Got it.

The angle was obvious now.

I let out a hollow laugh and spoke.

“This is edited.”

“Edited?”

“That recording they left as proof—play it again.”

Jin Sehyun played the recording in question.

Seo Haim swallowed nervously and listened closely.

A slightly altered voice flowed out of the recording.

‘On my way here, I stopped by this famous muffin shop in Seoul, and it was really good. Haim, you should try it after the fan signing ends!’

‘Ah… really?’

“Do you remember this conversation?”

“Yes, it sounds familiar….”

I remembered it clearly.

“I know who it was.”

That beige knit sweater.

I hadn’t heard their conversation at the time, but the moment I saw that sleeve, the person instantly came to mind.

“Who was it?”

“Ms. Lee Chaekyung in the beige knit.”

She had been poking at Seo Haim and picking a fight, and in the end, she must have pressed the button on her own.

“Ah!”

At my words, Seo Haim’s eyes widened.

“I think I know who it is….”

Of course he remembered.

There weren’t many people who came all the way to a fan signing just to vent their emotions like that.

I patted the shoulder of the dazed and frozen Seo Haim as I continued.

“So that’s why this was edited. Listen closely.”

“O-okay.”

Haim, you should try it after the fan signing ends!

Right there.

There was a brief cut after the woman’s words.

“Huh?”

It sounded like the conversation flowed together at first, but it seemed like two completely different conversations had been spliced together.

The level of editing was quite cunning.

“Yeah, you’re right. It sounds cut off.”

“But when you listen carefully, you can hear it, right?”

“But why would someone do this…?”

Kang Siwoo bit down on his lower lip with a grave expression.

Jin Sehyun let out a deep sigh and pressed his throbbing temple hard.

“I don’t know. Ha, this is ridiculous….”

“Exactly.”

They even spent money to come all the way to the fan signing event, yet I couldn’t understand why they were doing this.

There were people in the world whose actions simply couldn’t be understood with common sense.

“What was the original conversation?”

“I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was some awkward questions… but the kind that were in a gray area?”

Questions that were ambiguous for staff to intervene, but difficult for the person being asked to answer.

It seemed the situation wasn’t much different from what I had experienced.

So, that one reluctant “Ah, really?” must have been taken and inserted into the edited version.

The person involved looked quite wronged.

Seo Haim, with a tearful face, asked carefully.

“Should I at least make a clarification?”

“A clarification?”

“And what would you even say?”

For him to personally respond to such a trivial issue….

It was basically admitting he had been monitoring everything.

That wouldn’t help public opinion at all.

Jin Sehyun immediately shook his head at the idea.

“I think it’s better to stay quiet. It’ll get buried once positive reviews start going up anyway.”

“You think so…?”

That was my thought too.

More than anything….

“This isn’t the kind of issue that will last long.”

I could be sure of it.

If even my ears could pick it up in the recording….

“It seemed like it was edited pretty sloppily.”

Chaechae @cheche77

Stop sending me DMs saying the recording was faked ㅋㅋㅋㅋ it’s not, believe whatever you want if that makes you feel better ㅠㅠ

Chaechae @cheche77

The part where it sounds cut off?

That’s because I accidentally pressed pause for a moment while secretly recording during the fan signing.

Isn’t it obvious that’s ㅅㅎㅇ’s voice?

That “Ah, really?” was totally real.

└So you’re saying the “Ah, really?” came right after that conversation, right? That’s the important part.

└Why’s that important ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ even from the recording alone the tone sounds super hostile

└Not hostile, more like he was caught off guard. You said something weird to him, didn’t you?

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ wow Dusty fans are insane, blinded by shielding their idols

The first JjaekJjaek post that Lee Chaekyung had uploaded in her beige knit sweater had already become a complete mess.

Now that the possibility of the recording being fabricated was raised, opinions began to split.

Seorodi @rody33_d

Since when did “Ah, really?” become a banned phrase for boy idols… if someone heard, they’d think it was a curse word.

The phrase Koreans use the most is “Ah, really?” though….

└Really?

└Fuck off

At that very moment when opinions were divided.

A mention appeared under Lee Chaekyung’s JjaekJjaek.

It was from a well-known name who had already made quite a reputation as Do Seohan’s homepage master.

Hamseo @SEO_28

└Hey, you’re that beige knit girl, right?

.

.

.

.

“Hey, did you see the chaos right now?”

In less than half a day, public opinion had completely flipped.

It was after the famous name @SEO_28 showed up on JjaekJjaek with a fan signing event account.

[So you’re saying Chaechae is a Kang Siwoo akgae (malicious solo fan)?]

She was picking fights with the members to get reactions?

If that’s true, that’s seriously malicious, and the recording was faked too.

-Hamseo-nim took a picture of Haim talking to that Chaechae, and they were holding hands and smiling so brightly.

└And yet they accused him of being a dead-eyed idol? Ha…ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└Haim is such a sweet chick-type, I’m so worried he got hurt ㅠㅠ

└Fans who misunderstood Haim, all of you should reflect.

└ㅇㅈ bow your heads

-According to Hamseo-nim, even when Chaechae was talking to Seohan, it looked like she was picking a fight.

His expression seemed a bit flustered, apparently?

└If the recording was fake in the first place, then Chaechae’s credibility is completely destroyed.

└Damn, if that’s the case, they should’ve given that fan sign slot to me instead ㅠㅠ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└Even trash like that can attend fan signings? Did your brain freeze during the Starf era?

-That person’s well-known as a Kang Siwoo akgae ㅋㅋㅋ.

Back in the Starf days, they spread tons of rumors about the other members.

└Is that true?

└Insane ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

“Thank god. Looks like public opinion completely flipped.”

Jin Sehyun, while live-broadcasting the situation, shoved a chocolate bar into the downcast Seo Haim’s mouth.

“Here, eat.”

“Mm.”

“Siwoo-hyung, looks like it’s settled. The reaction’s good!”

“Ah, really?”

At that one phrase, silence fell instantly.

“…….”

Hmm.

So basically.

“Please be careful with that phrase. Haim-hyung’s got PTSD from hearing ‘Ah, really?’ right now.”

Kang Siwoo quickly covered his own mouth.

“…Sorry.”

Kang Siwoo glanced at Seo Haim and shifted the topic.

“What about the live?”

“I’ll do it.”

There was an opinion that it would be good to naturally go live while public opinion was favorable.

It would be the final blow to silence the accusations of fan-baiting.

The company had already given permission, so there didn’t seem to be any problem.

“Seohan, do you want to join?”

“Yes.”

Since a solo live would seem too obvious, the maknae line decided to go live together on Yui App.

Since it was around mealtime, we decided to prepare a simple mukbang.

Kang Siwoo volunteered to cook himself.

“What should we title it?”

“What are you going to make?”

“Soy sauce egg rice!”

Seo Haim thought carefully, then quickly typed the title.

[Chick’s Soy Sauce Egg Rice Mukbang]

“How’s this?”

That title sounded weird.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep