Chapter 124
Yoon Seon-woo, the fan manager of On Raon’s personal home ‘To You, My Whole World,’ squinted his eyes as he watched the chaotic scene unfolding on Music Pangpang’s way to work.
‘That one is still at it.’
At the end of Yoon Seon-woo’s gaze, a fan manager of Pluto was climbing over the fence.
Yoon Seon-woo was famous for achieving the triple crown of sasaengs, chummy fans, and malicious individual fans even in the field he had entered years ago, but now it seemed he had moved his base to Pluto.
People don’t change easily even as they age.
‘Of all times, right after our kids…. They must not get hurt.’
The concern of the Orca fans on site, including Yoon Seon-woo, became a reality.
Yoon Seon-woo saw On Raon staggering and then falling after being pushed from the side by a rather large male proxy photographer who was following Pluto inside.
“Raon-ah!”
Members and the manager, who were next to him, were startled and surrounded the fallen On Raon protectively.
If the people who still weren’t aware of their surroundings stepped on or kicked On Raon as they passed by, it would be a real disaster.
Considering that someone had fallen, one might think nobody would act like that, but rather than calming down, more people were following Pluto.
Fans of other groups, already furious with the chaotic situation, began shouting loudly when they saw On Raon fall.
Yelling and swearing flew around.
The atmosphere on site became much more violent than before.
“Are you okay?”
On Raon, who hadn’t once grimaced from the moment he fell until now, nodded as if he was fine, brushing off his clothes as he stood up.
“Your hand….”
The lower part of his palm, which had hit the ground when he fell, was scraped and bleeding.
Just being scraped was already something.
Thinking it was no big deal, On Raon clenched his fist and turned his head, giving Yoon Seon-woo, who met his eyes, a reassuring smile.
Getting pushed, standing up, and managing his expressions were not new experiences, nothing to him.
“Let’s just go straight inside.”
“Yeah. You guys stay put for a moment and stick together.”
The path, now somewhat empty though still noisy, had cleared after a throng had swept through.
Gwak Sang-hyun pointed at On Raon’s bleeding hand and shouted to the nearby broadcasting station staff, asking if they could skip the interview.
The staff, seeing On Raon’s bleeding hand, gave a sign of approval, and Orca followed Pluto’s trail inside.
[Pluto’s Joo Yeon-ho, stern face in the chaos of fans (Music Pangpang’s way to work)]
[SS side “Attention to Pluto’s ‘Mupang’ way to work safety accident please”]
[Orca’s On Raon, falls in a clash with Pluto’s fans]
Journalists, who had a lot against Pluto’s fans, rushed out articles about the morning’s incident.
– Blame Pluto. Their fans are known for being reckless even among reporters. There’ll be another video of this morning’s nuisance uploaded on WeTube with the kids’ names tagged. Do you like that?
– If you saw their expressions, please keep order. This isn’t the first or second time they’ve caused trouble on the way to work. This time, another singer even fell #NIX_Apologize
┗ Why are you posting a hashtag that will make them criticized? Don’t prove you’re thoughtless, just take it down.
– Their fandom is particularly notorious. Orca fans probably won’t even get a proper apology, so pitiful,,,
– But the one who caused O-R-A to fall was a male proxy photographer, not a NIX fan.
┗ So what ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Not just the proxy photographers but other NIX fan managers trampled over them too (gif)
– Orca’s manager and one member blocked them when Pluto fans swarmed over.
┗ Who was the manager and member protecting On Raon when Pluto fans swarmed over?
┗ It was Moon-gyeol.
– S.I.D. needs to bolster its staff.. It’s clear they won’t respond properly if something like this happens again to the kids ㅜㅜ
– If it were me, I’d have cursed when I was pushed, causing a personality controversy. On Raon was just briefly startled and then smiled. Idol life is extreme.
* * *
Music Pangpang’s waiting room was spacious enough that even newcomers like us were given a slightly cramped but private room.
Thanks to that, we could sit down and catch our breath comfortably.
“All done.”
Gwak Sang-hyun finished treating the injury by disinfecting the scraped area and applying an almost invisible bandage on my palm.
“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”
“Yes. It’s just a slight scrape on my palm. Everything else is fine.”
My hand stung a bit, but it wasn’t serious enough to need hospital care.
No matter how I thought about it, there was no need to go to the hospital.
“For just a slight scrape, there was quite a bit of blood.”
Gyun Seong-ha said with a frown.
“When you get a scrape, it’s not serious but tends to bleed a lot.”
“You could have strained a muscle when you fell. Be careful with your ankle too. It might hurt later even if it’s fine now.”
“Moon-gyeol is right. You think this is no big deal……. We have time, so it would be better to just go to the hospital.”
[Note! Gyun Seong-ha worries about you. Gyun Seong-ha Affection +0 Current Affection +100]
[Tip! Affection is displayed up to a maximum of 100.]
Looking at the affection notification, I briefly considered going to the hospital, but the thought quickly disappeared.
“No, it’s better to rest than waste energy going back and forth.”
“Ridiculous……”
Ban Yo-han’s words were interrupted by a knock.
“Yes! Come in.”
As we all fell silent and Gwak Sang-hyun gave permission, Joo Yeon-ho from Pluto opened the door and entered.
“Hi.”
Joo Yeon-ho held a large paper bag with a café logo on it.
The sweet smell suggested it contained cookies or bread.
“Hello!”
As if by telepathy, we all stood up together to greet him.
“Hey, don’t stand up, just stay seated.”
But it wasn’t really possible to stay seated.
When we insisted on standing, Joo Yeon-ho, with an awkward smile, revealed his intention.
“I heard Raon fell……. Are you okay?”
Joo Yeon-ho’s eyes scanned the bloody alcohol swabs and other trash from the treatment on the desk before settling on my hand.
Although Gwak Sang-hyun had tried to cover it well, the bandage was still visible up close.
I replied with a smile.
“I did get a bit scraped when I fell, but it’s not serious. It won’t affect my performance on stage either. Thank you for your concern.”
“I’m sorry this happened because of us.”
“It’s not your fault, Joo-an.”
When I repeatedly assured him that it wasn’t his or Pluto’s responsibility, he finally relaxed his shoulders.
“Pick Heart is over now. What’s this about being your fault?”
That’s true too.
Joo-an wasn’t a professional trainer anymore. As he mentioned yesterday, he was now an idol like us.
“Oh, right. Then should I call you senior Joo-an…?”
“Just call me hyung.”
Speaking amiably, Joo-an sat in an empty chair and took out a box of cookies from the bag he brought, offering them to us.
“I’m sitting down, so you guys just sit and listen.”
With him saying that, we had no choice but to sit. Bowing our heads, we each found a spot on the empty sofa or chairs.
I wondered what he intended to say by settling down like this.
After opening the cookie box and putting one in his mouth, Joo-an started to talk about fans without any manners.
Surprised by his unexpected stories, we listened quietly as three-day-old newcomers in the industry, following the hierarchy.
“…Of course, not all fans are like that.”
After recounting many shocking incidents, Joo-an concluded his story, handed out coffee to our staff, and left.
It seemed he had eaten almost the entire box of cookies he brought by himself.
“……”
I couldn’t understand why he shared those stories with us.
Was it to warn us to be careful of such fans? Or was it to gain our sympathy because he had endured similar hardships?
Based on my experience with Joo-an from Pick Heart until now, he wasn’t a bad person with severe flaws, but he did seem somewhat frivolous.
“Do you think what he said was true…?”
Gyun Seong-ha murmured in a shocked voice.
“Which part? The hacking of accounts and leaking chat contents? Or the part about following to an isolated island for a private schedule with a camera?”
Ban Yo-han, who had grown to despise sasaengs the most among us after suffering from them since Pick Heart days, was ready to recount every incident Joo-an mentioned.
That guy might have developed an even greater dislike for thoughtless fans after today.
“Well, he probably didn’t lie.”
Kang Ji-woo said with a bitter smile.
“Not all fans are like that.”
“Moon-gyeol is right. You shouldn’t think of fans in a negative light. There are many more fans who support you with good intentions.”
Gwak Sang-hyun spoke in a slightly stern tone, almost as if reprimanding us, and we nodded in agreement.
Indeed, not all fans are like that.
Although we had heard many shocking and disheartening stories in a short time, I decided not to generalize all fans based on that.
‘Let’s think positive. Think positive.’
I took out another box of cookies from the paper bag Joo-an had brought and chewed thoughtfully.
I remembered the fans who worried about me when I fell earlier.
If I had been in their place and saw my favorite singer fall, I would be very concerned and would want to know if they were okay.
Eventually, everyone would find out that I’m fine during the music show performance, but…
“Excuse me.”
Hearing my words, Gwak Sang-hyun said he would check and went outside to find the fan manager.
* * *
That afternoon.
A tweet was posted on Orca’s official account, causing the hearts of enraged fans to skip a beat.