Chapter 103: Exposure

The place where Tipple had just left.

The members collapsed together, wailing in unison.

Seo Haim slumped down like a balloon in front of a gas station, gasping for breath.

“Wow, I’m seriously so nervous.”

“I thought my heart was going to explode too.”

“Hyung, I felt like I was doing a Level Test all over again….”

They were such busy people that they didn’t stay long in the practice room, but in that short time, they completely drained our souls.

Honestly, it seemed like they were just filming for their own reality show to get a few heartwarming shots.

But considering who the guests were, there was no way we could stay sober-minded.

Especially that one thing Tipple’s main dancer Sung Jihoo casually threw out.

“You dance well.”

My lips twitched before I even realized it.

It wasn’t just anyone—it was Tipple’s main dancer telling me I danced well.

I couldn’t stop the silly grin from spreading on my face.

Right then, Cha Seongbin walked past, chuckling as he spoke.

“Hey, you like it that much? Your smile’s about to reach your ears.”

“I’m seriously… a fan of Sung Jihoo sunbaenim.”

Dance well… dance well… dance well…

Should I have recorded that and kept it as a family heirloom?

“When I joined Doubles, I even auditioned with a Tipple song.”

“No wonder, you looked like you were about to pass out.”

Judging by how fast my heart was still racing, that might’ve really been the case.

But then.

“What’s wrong with him now? Hey, Ian…?”

I wasn’t the only victim of Tipple’s home visit.

Seo Ian hyung, whose role model was Tipple’s Choi Yeonwoo, had his hand on his forehead with a deadly serious face.

“I should’ve done better….”

“You were in good condition today.”

“My hands were shaking…”

Actually, mine were too.

It didn’t feel like someone else’s problem, so I kept my mouth shut.

Seeing us like that, Jin Sehyun offered something that wasn’t quite comfort.

“Eh, you’ll probably see them often anyway since we’re in the same company.”

“That’s scarier…”

“Wouldn’t you get used to it after a while?”

Cha Seongbin brightly added.

“Yeah. Tipple are people too~ just people~.”

“Sunbaenims are people. We’re the aliens.”

“Seohan, you’re surprisingly committed to that concept, huh…?”

We were chatting about nothing much when Jin Sehyun, leaning against the wall, suddenly widened his eyes.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

He straightened up, frowning.

“Hey, that’s not the problem right now…”

“Huh?”

“Seohan, come here.”

“Yes?”

His serious expression made me gulp.

In Search King Jin Sehyun’s hand was a phone, along with one urgent sentence.

What was that statement?

That statement that felt like it was about to blow something up any second.

And sure enough—

Something huge had already blown up.

What the hell.

“Kang Ji-hyuk… JjaekJjaek secret account controversy?”

The Core’s leader had been caught getting friendly with a sasaeng.

Getting harshly scolded by the manager was one thing, but from the company’s perspective, they had to cover up the issue.

‘We’ll talk about the rest later—first, let’s clean this up.’

The fan who’d been given a luxury watch was silenced with an apology, proper compensation, and a warning to keep quiet.

He also wrapped up conversations with other sasaeng homepage masters he’d been personally contacting for days.

The company said they could block it.

I completely believed them.

But then—

A bombshell dropped from somewhere completely unexpected.

Ryu @ryujk38_2

Think I found Kang Ji-hyuk’s secret account.

The way he talks is exactly the same, and there are even unreleased photos.

Isn’t this undeniable?

[Photo]

└ Damn, that’s undeniable.

└Not bait, it’s real?

└Uh uh uh, I’m so shocked right now, that’s not photoshopped, right????

└Why does it look like it’s not photoshopped…

At first, people were saying it might be a photoshopped picture, but that only lasted for a moment.

As more fans claimed to have seen the post, public opinion slowly began to shift.

– Is Kang Ji-hyuk’s JjaekJjaek exposure real? I’m looking at it now, and if it’s true, this is the biggest boy group scandal of 2017.

└Why? What’s in it?

└Cursing out another group’s idol, befriending sasaengs, spoiling concepts… he went all out.

└???

└How did this even get leaked?

In the midst of the growing confusion, the original poster reappeared.

Ryu @ryujk38_2

Don’t ask me if I’m a sasaeng.

I really found out by coincidence, lol.

I was just lazily posting nonsense on a weekend afternoon when I got a notification. Some locked account liked my post, and the username looked way too familiar… (thread continues)

└I kept wondering where I’d seen it, and it turned out to be Kang Ji-hyuk’s LoL ID, lol. That’s when I realized I’d already caught his account, and decided to dig into his secret account. I admit this was my fault and creepy….

└I’m the type whose head’s full of flowers, so I thought Ji-hyuk would be following and liking fan accounts.

The worst-case scenario I’d imagined was him dating through a secret account and getting caught, leading to a dating scandal. But I never imagined he’d be chummy with homepage masters.

└Ji-hyuk, isn’t it crossing the line to spoil your music video outfits and concept to certain homepage masters just a month before the comeback? Are non-sasaeng fans not even fans to you?

└It took me a while to gather evidence, and the account’s gone now, but I screenshotted everything anyway.

└Looking at it again, there’s a ton of cursing about some group member;; what is this?

While Ray, who didn’t really know how JjaekJjaek worked, was fiddling around, he accidentally liked posts from some fan accounts, and the notifications went to the account owners.

A fan noticed that the locked secret account’s username was almost identical to Kang Ji-hyuk’s known game ID, dug into the account, and that’s how this mess started.

The photos revealed in the screenshots had more than a few problematic points.

3twi @ooQbee24

On set [photo]

That’s the set in the back, haha.

Spoiling the set and outfits in advance was nothing compared to what came next.

Just before the Starf final, there was an even worse post from a few months back.

3twi @ooQbee24

It’s Friday, lol. Surely none of you are watching Starf, right?

└What, lol, are you jealous?

└Not jealous, haha. There’s just one person I don’t want debuting.

└?? Who?

└ㅅㅇㅇ

└Why? What’s your deal with them?

└That person’s a former KJ trainee, haha. Every time our eyes met, they’d shrink back, lol.

3twi @ooQbee24

I don’t care about anything else, but saying ㅅㅇㅇ can sing well is a bit much;;

TBN sure does a lot of post-editing.

└They couldn’t sing originally?

└They didn’t have the skills, so they couldn’t make the debut team and got cut, lol.

Naturally, the community exploded.

[Did you see The Core’s ㄱㅈㅎ secret account leak?]

Is the ㅅㅇㅇ Ji-hyuk cursed at Stardust’s Seo Ian?

Why does he hate him so much?

Even if it’s just personal feelings, is it right to bash him like that on a secret account?

– It’s Seo Ian. How many Starf contestants are there who came from KJ…?

└The initials match perfectly.

└What dried-up squid-legged jerk is badmouthing our Sundubu?

└Hahahahahaha.

└Dried-up squid legs, lol, insane.

└All the Dusty fans around me are furious right now.

– Isn’t Kang Ji-hyuk a Manager’s Pick? Guess something happened between them in the past.

└Ah, so because he’s a Manager’s Pick, he got pissed when that controversy blew up.

└That must be it.

└But what does “shrunk back whenever our eyes met” mean? Did Kang Ji-hyuk bully Seo Ian?

└That’s a very plausible theory.

└Did he just want to act tough in front of homepage masters? I don’t understand why he’d say something like that.

└Whether it’s true or not, it’s still off-putting, and if it is true, it’s even more controversial.

– Wow, but an active boy group member publicly sniping another boy group member on JjaekJjaek… unbelievable. This is why I want to quit K-pop.

└It’s just not logical.

└I’m so dizzy right now.

Setting aside everything else, posting insults about Seo Ian right before the final was the biggest problem.

Public opinion was terrible.

To make it worse, rumors had been circulating that Kang Ji-hyuk was a Manager’s Pick, and it was known that Seo Ian had been treated unfairly at KJ. These combined to turn it into a full-blown issue.

“Shit…”

How do you clean this up?

“Aaaargh!”

Kang Ji-hyuk slammed his laptop shut in frustration and grabbed his head.

No matter how hard he racked his brain in every possible direction, he couldn’t come up with a way to break through.

Among The Core’s fans, some had already begun calling for Kang Ji-hyuk to leave.

“Just wait and trust the company? Now what…”

They’d told him to wait, so he’d been quietly reflecting.

But now, the company he’d trusted so firmly was no longer any help.

Kang Ji-hyuk bit his lower lip until it bled, then looked up.

No choice.

“…I’ll have to meet them.”

There was only one option left.

In front of Stardust’s dorm.

Leader Kang Siwoo quickly checked tomorrow’s schedule before getting out of the car.

“So tomorrow morning we have the mini album meeting, then the self-content filming in the afternoon… it’d be nice if we could go live on Yui App in between.”

“Oh, I’ll let them know about the live. You know the meeting’s at 8:30 tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, yes.”

Manager Lee Jaeyoon, who was behind the wheel, nodded.

The members had worked hard practicing again today.

“Go in safely. I’ll be waiting at 7:50 tomorrow.”

“Yes, got it!”

“I’m going in now~!”

Finally, the dorm.

Today, we’d really done nothing but practice all day.

Seo Haim bolted out like a bullet to close the van door, and I crawled out behind him like a zombie.

“Ugh… I’m so tired.”

“Let’s just go in and sleep.”

Seo Ian patted my back and turned toward the dorm.

Everyone’s bodies ached all over. Wailing could be heard here and there.

“Wow, I’m gonna pass out as soon as I get in.”

“Me too. Ugh…”

We grumbled like that as we arrived in front of the dorm side by side.

Huh?

“What the…”

Spotting a shadowy figure in the darkness, I froze in surprise.

At such a late hour, seeing someone standing in front of the dorm made me think it was a sasaeng at first.

But only for a moment—when I saw the face in the dark, I frowned.

‘Kang Ji-hyuk?’

A man with his face half-covered by a black mask and a cap pulled low.

The shadow loitering while obviously looking around was none other than Kang Ji-hyuk.

“…!”

Seo Ian’s face went cold as he noticed him a beat later.

Kang Ji-hyuk lifted his cap and spoke.

“Oh, you’re here.”

“How did you know to come here?”

“Seo Ian, let’s talk.”

We weren’t exactly on terms to be exchanging friendly greetings.

Seo Ian instinctively took a step back. I stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

“What do you think you’re doing right now?”

“I’m in a hurry, so move, Seohan.”

“Are you kidding me? You think you can just show up here?”

Just as Kang Siwoo was about to step in to mediate the tense atmosphere, Kang Ji-hyuk backed down first.

“I didn’t come to threaten you.”

“What?”

“I didn’t come to fight either.”

With a twisted expression, Kang Ji-hyuk bit his lower lip hard.

His gaze locked on Seo Ian.

“I’m sorry.”

“…Huh?”

“I’m really sorry. I came to apologize to you, Seo Ian. I admit everything I did wrong to you back when we were trainees… just forgive me once.”

He was apologizing all of a sudden?

“W-what did you say?”

Seo Ian froze on the spot.

It was the apology from Kang Ji-hyuk he’d wanted to hear dozens of times over the past two years…

“My secret account got exposed… you must’ve seen it too. I admit it, I cursed you because I didn’t want you to debut… but just spare me this once.”

This was not the reason he’d wanted to hear those words.

“I’m going to explain it as a joke I made because you were like a close younger brother, so just back me up once.”

“…”

“I’m really desperate here.”

Kang Ji-hyuk swallowed dryly, looking anxious.

“You don’t want to get dragged into pointless gossip again either, right? What good is it if this thing drags on for years…”

“Excuse me.”

Unable to take it anymore, Kang Siwoo cut in.

Is this guy serious?

Is he even human?

Realizing Kang Ji-hyuk’s true purpose, Seo Ian’s face hardened coldly.

It was an apology years in the making. If it had been sincere, he would’ve still been angry, but now he’d come all this way just to make such a ridiculous request?

‘…Do I look that easy to him?’

The absurdity made him laugh.

Before, he might have trembled…

But strangely, in front of the members, he didn’t shake anymore.

He was just angry.

With a twisted expression, Seo Ian opened his mouth.

“Pathetic.”

“What?”

Kang Ji-hyuk’s eyes filled with bewilderment.

Seo Ian drove the nail in.

“Get out of my sight.”

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