275. Scandal (2)

Obviously, I hadn’t told anyone I was going to Japan, except for the three people I went on a trip with.

It was the same for the part-timer babbling in front of me right now.

Of course, I didn’t necessarily go around telling people, but that doesn’t mean I acted meticulously enough that they couldn’t possibly guess.

Anyone who knew what kind of relationship I had with which women could have easily predicted it.

Likewise, Hwang Soo-ah, trembling right in front of me, seemed to have caught on.

…In the first place, I didn’t even think they wouldn’t know.

It was just an implicit agreement to pretend we went on a trip to Jeju Island.

“…Who’s saying that?”

“There’s an account that targets famous people and spreads weird rumors, and from there…”

“Show me.”

“Ah, just a moment…”

So, without bothering to argue back and forth with her, I got straight to the point.

Perhaps flustered by my attitude of not denying it, the screen she hastily pulled out her phone to show me showed the car I’d been driving in Japan.

The image quality was so terrible that my face wasn’t captured, but my sleeves and the back of my hands were visible, and Seo Jia and Hinami getting into the back seat were clearly captured.

Of course, this alone wouldn’t cause any problems.

Logically, for two women barely around twenty years old, hiring a chauffeur would be much more realistic than driving themselves on a trip.

However, the problem was.

It was the added rumor, touted alongside that ridiculous photo as evidence.

｢Recent updates on ‘that female idol’ who tested positive for drugs

Seems like she’s having a great time in Japan with her ‘real friends’

Looking at the driver’s wrist, maybe the three of them were doing it?

If they were high, it must have been fucking awesome lol｣

“…What the hell are you babbling about with this?”

“R-right…? I was dumbfounded when I saw it…”

…Compared to the media outlet that published those rumors about me and Seo Jia last time, this was incomparably more low-class and completely baseless nonsense.

I would have preferred if they had linked me and spread even a remotely plausible rumor, my heart would have pounded, but this was beyond ridiculous; I was purely angry.

I sometimes wondered where the baseless slander floating around the internet came from, and it turns out it was places like this.

But what was funnier than that absurd nonsense was that, surprisingly, this bullshit was popular.

Every time I refreshed, the retweet count visibly multiplied.

Like bacteria left on a petri dish, exponentially.

“Don’t people like this get sued?”

“Ah…, this person hasn’t just targeted one or two people, and since they haven’t been caught yet… they’re probably overseas…”

“I know. …I was just saying.”

However, unlike bacteria that die when sprayed with alcohol, unfortunately, there was no good disinfectant for the bullshit being spewed on Twitter.

If it were that easy to catch them, when Seo Jia secretly uploaded those explicit photos to her private account, she would have been caught long ago.

So, even though it was absurd nonsense, I couldn’t just laugh off this rumor that was getting retweeted left and right, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it either.

“…Just so you know, neither I nor they were on drugs. The one reported in the news was a different member of the same group.”

“Uh…, that, you can tell me that…?”

“Anyway, since they tested positive and it’s already in the news, their real name will probably come out soon. …You know something even more dangerous, right?”

“Ah…”

“…And even if I talk to you about it, it’s meaningless.”

Talking about it here with Hwang Soo-ah in real life was truly meaningless.

It would be the same no matter who I talked to instead of her.

No matter what was said in reality, there was no way to stop the rumors spreading on the internet.

Even if the reporters lurking everywhere were persistent and disgusting, they were people who wrote under their own names, so you could demand ‘corrections’, and in some cases, even use the power of the law.

But anonymous individuals who spread rumors purely for the pleasure of dragging someone down had no substance, making them impossible to root out.

Only a few careless ones could be caught by luck, but if they decided to hide, it was practically impossible to catch them.

What’s more frightening than people maliciously fabricating things to destroy someone is…

“Yeah…, that’s right. Even if we talk amongst ourselves, it doesn’t mean much…”

“No. You can shut your mouth, but how on earth are you going to stop Twitter?”

“…Yes.”

They were the public, casually throwing stones without much thought.

It was still just nonsense circulating on Twitter, but with the clear bait of a news article, it was bound to spread elsewhere eventually.

Eventually, at first, people who disliked Seo Jia and Hinami would flock, accusing them of being witches and making a loud fuss.

Then, the common folk who came to watch after hearing about it would chatter amongst themselves, split into two factions-whether they were witches or not-and fight amongst themselves.

Although not innocent, they, who weren’t quite witches, would be unjustly burned at the stake, pelted with stones.

Of course, the real witch was someone else, and who it was would be revealed soon enough, but even that wasn’t very important.

Once people had excitedly thrown their stones, there would be plenty of people who needed them to be witches.

“Ah, but, I’m asking just in case… Is the person driving here really the boss…?”

“If I said no, would you believe me?”

“…”

“I won’t bother answering, so think for yourself.”

“…Yes.”

Even the part-timer talking to me face-to-face right now didn’t even believe my story about going to Jeju Island.

To think I could persuade those countless people was arrogance itself.

Rumors that have already started spreading cannot be stopped.

I could only hope that more sensational rumors would spread and cover them up.

But even that I couldn’t do myself.

The sensational rumors I knew of were all about them.

To protect them, I couldn’t sell them out.

To prevent extreme choices, other than contacting them, there was nothing I could do.

An individual, compared to the masses, was truly powerless.

…Enough to make my teeth grind.

**

**

Seoyoung unnie, who had disappeared, called.

She said she felt so wronged.

She insisted she thought it was a cigarette, and that she didn’t remember because she smoked it while drunk.

She said she didn’t know it would turn out like this.

She said she wanted to kill that bastard.

While cursing the man she was so obviously fond of with all sorts of harsh words, she poured out her grievances to me, someone she wasn’t even close to.

But no matter how much my senior and unnie sobbed and beat her chest, strangely, I didn’t feel sorry for her at all.

…Thanks to your name not being mentioned right now, I’m unfairly taking the heat too.

If you’re really so confident, just reveal yourself now.

Just post on Instagram saying how wronged you are.

Why should I get swept up in this bullshit rumor?

…I’ll hang up now. Thanks for listening, Jia….

“Yes, unnie.”

Of course, I only thought the harsh words in my head, I didn’t speak them aloud.

I understood well why she couldn’t do that either.

The moment her identity was revealed, it was a death sentence as an idol.

This wasn’t something that unnie could decide on her own, nor could she stop it alone.

Even if smoking marijuana while drunk could somehow be overlooked, if the drugs were given by her boyfriend, regardless of whether she felt wronged or not, she couldn’t get away with it as an idol.

If you’re not an idiot, any adult would know.

What men and women do when drinking and getting high.

Actually, it doesn’t even have to be drugs.

Alcohol isn’t even necessary.

It’s an obvious story even if they just share the same bed.

“Haha…”

As soon as the call ended, a hollow laugh escaped me.

I really couldn’t imagine that unnie would cause such a mess.

Sometimes she’d tease Hinami, pretending to be professional, and act like a woman who could balance work and love.

In the end, the result is this mess.

This isn’t the early days of our career anymore, and we’re not a group that can just snip away a member like with scissors.

It’s over overnight.

The achievements I gained by giving up my childhood memories have crumbled down.

“…Fuck.”

I don’t usually use explicit curses, but today, I couldn’t hold back.

…It felt so empty.

No matter what we do from now on, my group will only be known as drug addicts.

Thinking about it, the days I worried sick over Hinami seemed laughable.

What’s the big deal about dating a guy?

If you think about it, the unnies had already been dating multiple people long ago.

Compared to that, she’s practically clean.

She only meets one person.

The fool offering pure love to the man who already had a girlfriend was so ridiculous that when I searched her name, she had various unfair accusations piled on her.

Hinami might have smoked e-cigarettes, but she never touched drugs.

Even if she did lewd things with men, she never dated women.

Even though we kissed, we were definitely not dating.

Seeing anti-fans who hated us, mixed with fans with strangely twisted fetishes, spreading baseless rumors, made me feel borderline misanthropic.

…If I told those idiots the truth, would they shut up?

Ha, as if.

If I explained everything in detail, then at least 90% of the people would curse me, asking what I was doing with my unnie’s boyfriend.

Seoyoung unnie would get cursed out for her part, and Hinami would get cursed out for hers.

With the voice she used to charm fans with cute aegyo on stage, they’d ask if she was seducing men in bed.

“…”

As I kept having negative thoughts, my head started to hurt, so I threw my phone and collapsed onto the bed.

…Anyway, what is our company doing?

Our artist is being harmed by baseless rumors, yet they remain suspiciously silent, and I have no idea what they’re doing.

Could it be that they think it won’t end with just one unnie, so they’re acting like this?

Then again, the one that unnie smoked must have been brought in by someone, eventually reaching her.

If you follow the chain upwards, it wouldn’t be strange if a few high-ranking people were involved.

It might not be something that can be covered up, but it’s understandable they’d try.

Then will I be ruined overnight because of those bastards?

Of course, the ‘Seo Jia’ brand itself isn’t damaged, so even if I manage to survive alone….

…It’s just too unfair.

Even if nothing else, this isn’t my fault.

My fault is…

“…Ah.”

…Except for the mistake I made with him, who contacted me just in time.

If only I had made a mistake.

If I fell into ruin by my own choice, wouldn’t I at least feel relieved?

To those idiots, giving them the middle finger.

After cursing them out to my heart’s content.

…At least I wouldn’t feel wronged.