Keun SeJin smiled bitterly.

-My agency is... "Happy Friends".

-Oh.

In that instant, the boys who aspired to be idols understood the atmosphere. I, who in the past was a photo and video seller who researched the entertainment industry very well, also understood it.

"That agency...is famous because it never responds to controversial issues."

Come to think of it, even though it's been three months since we started filming for the show, SeJin hasn't received any calls from his agency. It has been more than an hour since the article was published that has caused a great chaos in all kinds of social networks, but they have not yet contacted him to verify the information.

If he had been in a small agency, they would not have taken long to contact him to prepare his defense.

-Well... I joined that agency because they always release good albums. Haha.

SeJin smirked and got up from his bed.

-Th-then, how about you ask a fri-friend to post it? Y-you have many friends.

-Hmm... we're not allowed to do official internet activities during filming, so ask your acquaintances. If you send them the photo and ask them to upload it, I think they will be encouraged to help you in that way. I have some friends who could do it.

-...

"I should let him decide what to do."

I don't want to intrude too much on his problem, but I also didn't want him to be careless, so I wanted to give him some advice.

-If you post it yourself, then it will be recorded and used in the editing of the show. Better let the staff know that you will upload it yourself.

"I think that the culprit of that publication is one of his acquaintances. I hope you will be very careful."

SeJin nodded to my advice, it seems that he had also noticed what he was thinking.

-That would be the best. Well, I'll see what I do...

He opened the notepad on his phone and smiled at the rest of the team, who had gathered around him.

-Everyone must be tired, but... thank you for worrying about me. I'll write my statement myself, so go rest in your beds.

-Hey, we don't want to leave you alone in this situation, it would be weird if we slept now.

Sejin seriously responded to Oro 1's concerns.

-If you don't go to sleep, then tomorrow you will suffer from all the accumulated tiredness...

-...

We had too many things planned for the next day, so he convinced us that it would be best to rest.

Finally, we return to our beds. I also fell asleep, but woke up before dawn because I was thirsty.

"I think I talked too much before sleeping."

I quietly got up and went to the sink to get a drink of water, only to find SeJin sitting at the foot of the table, looking at his phone.

-Huh? Why aren't you sleeping, MoonDae?

-Because I'm thirsty.

-I see.

After confirming that SeJin hasn't slept yet, it seems that he hasn't finished his explanation or is still checking the public opinion on the internet.

In itself, neither was a good sign.

-Did you finish writing?

-Hmm... Yes, I wrote it.

SeJin looked at his phone with a conflicted look on his face and took some time to continue.

-I thought I would have a different kind of reaction if I uploaded my statement myself.

-What reaction?

-Well, you know it's a privilege to communicate directly on social media during filming... If my explanation is firm, the audience would say something like "I didn't know his real personality was like that." On the contrary, if it were nice, they would say, "It's because he feels guilty."

It was very likely that he would receive such reactions.

-So I was pretending to be an anonymous acquaintance and tried to write it down, would you like to see it?

He handed over his phone to me to read his message.

----

The photo of the complaint published today has been edited. Among the photos I had, I found the original photo.

(Original photo) (Edited photo)

The second photo was made by cropping the original photo.

-----

-...

-What do you think?

I don't know what I should do.

If this were the answer to a problem of some subject that we are studying, this would be a good solution since it is well explained and the verification is visible to everyone.

The problem is that this was not suitable for anonymous Internet sites.

I looked back involuntarily, my bed was waiting for me.

But if I tell him to post that answer, it's very likely that everything I did at midnight was for nothing.

"Uh..."

I'll go to sleep... Tomorrow...

-Not that way.

-What?

-No.

I ended up crying like I had eaten mustard and reluctantly brought my phone.

After all, I am going to cut off the head of whoever made that accusation.

* * *

It's 3:30 a.m.

It was time for everyone to go to bed, there were only the best Internet users who woke up talking nonsense.

It was time to remove the accusation towards SeJin once and for all using intermittent conversations.

At that time, an article was published anonymously talking about the aspiring idol trainee.

—

-

(Edited photo) Isn't this the original photo? (original photo)

----

It had attached a group photo of Keun SeJin and other students whose faces were blotted out so they wouldn't be recognized.

It was a short post written with the IP of a common telecommunications company, but comments from dawn users who reviewed the content quickly increased.

Oh, wow

What?

Where did you get it?

Hey, I think this photo is the real one;

Is it time to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land?

So they cropped that photo

How did you know about the original photo?

L I found it while searching through my friend's photo albums because he was SeJin's classmate

L Isn't that harassment?;

L You would do the same if you were in my place

L Haha that's true

L Wow, you hid the other guys' faces, were you afraid of being blamed? hahaha

NT: The pilgrimage is usually done to demonstrate faith (in this case it is SeJin's innocence), atone for the sins committed (having thought that SeJin was bullying) or to thank the miracles granted by the religious figure in which the believer has faith (thank you for the miracle of cleaning SeJin's image).

The atmosphere of the comments became more heated when the writer of that article responded to other comments. Finally, a person who reviewed the article, came to precisely compare the photo.

Yes, Sejin was cut out of that photo. It's the same pose. (Photo)

L Ah!

L lol

L How crazy

Hahahaha what kind of nerd dared to manipulate the photo and information like that?

Wow, I thought Keun SeJin would be removed from the show, but he had a team perform a rescue operation

L What madness lol

L So, buy his shares right now ㄱㄱ

The number of comments increased faster and faster.

It wasn't long before someone found out that the original photo was taken when SeJin was running for student council president.

I searched the "Cheongsol High School" website and found similar promotional photos. I think they were taken when he campaigned for president (Link)

L Wow, that's a real wonder

L The one who accused him invented everything, he made us believe that the fact that SeJin was running for president was false when it was true haha

L Wow, the fake must be clenching his jaw in rage

L As we already found out, he must have tightened it so much that he will no longer have teeth hahaha

By this point, screenshots from this article were circulating on social media and in communities supporting the contestants and other idols.

Just like when the article with the original photo was published, the amount of comments increased in an instant.

This article seemed more sincere for the added excuse that it seemed to have been found by chance. Public opinion quickly supported SeJin's innocence and turned to ridicule the accusation of bullying.

SeJin's fans, who couldn't sleep, quickly joined in posting screenshots. They fought all the people who commented things like "Stop talking nonsense", replying "the photos were doctored, this is the real proof".

Information that the accusation was fabricated quickly captured public opinion on the Internet.

It happened even before the end of the rush hour of the day, when the population went to their jobs or studies.

* * *

-He deleted it.

Keun SeJin muttered.

When public opinion completely changed after it was revealed that the photo had been manipulated, the person who wrote the accusation deleted the article about him without saying a word and disappeared.

He wouldn't have done it if there weren't so many supporters of SeJin, but public opinion seemed to have reverted so much that he gave up.

-Really, that's a relief.

SeJin let out a deep sigh of relief and rested his head on the table. As the tension eased, he seemed to have been overcome with fatigue.

-Thank you. I'm so... ashamed of myself.

No wonder he was grateful. If he had uploaded what he originally wrote, he wouldn't have caused a response like that.

"The idol data vendor won the first game..."

I never thought that I would use all my experience in researching internet movements on idol-related issues to know what prices would be appropriate to sell my materials... Let's just say that this suffering we had... is paying for that karma.

-First of all... if I hadn't smoked a cigarette, I wouldn't have caused this disturbance.

He muttered sadly. He seems to know that it was a stupid act too.

-Why did you smoke?

-Ah, at that time... I was about to debut in a group, but I was eliminated from the final lineup. I even got to record a demo of the title song... My companions debuted, except me. They made a good debut and their album sold very well.

-A group of "Happy Friends"?

To my recollection, they haven't debuted a male idol group with top trainees in the past 5 years.

-No, in another agency... After that, for a while, I didn't want to debut. But I changed my mind and now you find me here.

-I see.

Come to think of it, there were only one or two male idol groups that debuted in the past, maybe three or four years ago and they did well with their first album. Both belonged to large agencies.

"Wouldn't it have been better if he had waited a little longer at his old agency so he could debut?"

Assuming that this could have happened when he was 17 years old and 5 years had already passed, he would be 22, a good age to debut as the oldest member of his group. It would have been more reasonable to stick to the lineup of his previous agency than to start over at Happy Friends.

NT: It is only an assumption considering that the maximum age in which a man can debut (and be well accepted by the public) as an idol is 22 years old. Don't forget that Keun SeJin is actually the same age as MoonDae, 20 years old.

-I was assured that I would be a rookie idol that year, so I signed a contract with the new agency... But it's already been four years since I signed. Haha...

-...

So that was why.

He shouldn't have believed those words so easily, but since he had been mentally shattered after eliminating him from his previous group's debut, he didn't think it through and clung to false hope.

-As you can see, there are no Happy Friends agency trainees other than me left on this show who have a chance to debut right away...

-...

-That's why I thank you very much for preventing me from resigning. Thank you so much, Park MoonDae.

This is the first time that this boy exposes his true feelings and criticizes not only himself, but also someone else.

"He is being sincere in his way."

-Yes. Thank me very much.

-What? Hahaha!

Sejin Keun laughed and hit his head on the table. I wanted to laugh too, but I think I'm too tired to do so.

I reflected bitterly.

"...I was too self-conscious before."

I was trying to keep some distance because I thought he might be a drug addict, but at some point we got too close.

"Considering everything that has been happening to us, I think the chances of SeJin being a drug addict are very low."

It was also possible that he hadn't debuted due to the accusatory scandal in my past life, he may have given up continuing on the show. Even if he hadn't quit, it wouldn't have been easy to change public opinion like we do now, so it would have been difficult to debut.

"But Lee Sejin, the child actor, doesn't seem ready to debut either."

Perhaps the public image and actions of both boys have been influenced by the variable "Park MoonDae".

"Anyway, this is not an important topic right now."

I'll leave Schrödinger's drug addict in his box. The most urgent thing was the team battle that we will have in two days.

Baba Bamba Bam Bam Bam Bam!

-Uwaa!!

-Uuh...

The morning alarm sounded on all the speakers installed in the dormitory to wake up the participants, so our team members woke up writhing from the noise in their beds.

"Another restless day has begun..."

As he stood me up to clear my drowsiness, SeJin spoke to me again. It seemed like he was continuing our conversation from earlier.

-No, I... I'll buy you something to eat after we finish the presentation. What would you like to eat?

-Beef.

-You don't mind if it's homemade, do you?

-No, as long as it tastes good.

We had exactly 50 hours left before the rehearsal of the crews on the film set.

* * *

The third team battle took place on a large stage, one of the sets of "Music Bomb," Tnet's signature music show.

It was a stage where real senior idols stand and put on great performances, but in fact, it seemed like the production team chose it to film our reaction cuts.

-Three days ago, VTIC recorded their performance for this very show!

-Woooow!!!

Upon hearing the MC's words, the contestants cheered.

In fact, the VTIC sets were completely different and had nothing in common with ours except that they occupy the same space. However, the contestants seemed excited just to use the same space as the top idols of the moment.

Still, I didn't feel bad either.

"VTIC... is a pretty good idol group."

It was worth having taken pictures of them because the unit price at which they were sold was very high.

-Just like your senior idols did, please show your skills to the fullest!

After the MC finished the script, preparations for the rehearsal began in earnest.

-Guys! You will rehearse in the same order that you will appear on the main show!

-Yes!

In an instant, the stage became noisy with instructions and music.

As there was a long way to go until it was their turn to rehearse, the "Moon Rabbit" team gathered in a corner of the set.

-How about we cheer up before going on stage? We've done a great job, so let's show them a great presentation.

-Oh God, yes.

-Let's do it.

The team members nodded nervously. But it was clear that the tension came from expectations, not anxiety.

-Team "Moon Rabbit".

We all put our hands together.

-Fighting!!

We scream loudly.

"Oh wow."

Although there were no cameras following me closely, it was strange that I was willing to participate in this. But it wasn't a bad feeling.

-Go!

In fact, the stage was right in front of us.