Chapter 182. The Earth is Round (6)
On the very day that I decided to release the statement.
As soon as Kang Hajin hung up the phone with Ji Suho, he immediately made another call.
“Hello…?”
“Lee Hyun-il.”
The person on the other end of the line was Lee Hyun-il, whom I had parted with just a few hours ago.
Without any preamble, I got straight to the point.
“Do you really want to help me?”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking if you’re really going to help me. Answer quickly, I don’t have time.”
“Ah, yeah. I already told you that’s why I reached out to you.”
As Hyun-il hurriedly answered, I nodded and responded concisely.
“Then, just do one interview. That’s all I need. I’ll guarantee your anonymity.”
“An interview?”
“Yeah. Since we have the recordings, just stick to what was said. I’ll contact you through the company with more details.”
“……”
“If you can’t do it, tell me now, so I can call someone else.”
After a moment of hesitation, Hyun-il finally agreed. Satisfied with his answer, I jotted something down in my notebook and made one more request.
“And if you have the contacts of others who were also bullied by them back then, send them to me. Even if they weren’t bullied, just anyone who was around at that time.”
“Ah. Okay, I’ll send it by text.”
“Alright.”
After hearing his response, I was about to hang up.
No, I intended to hang up and sever all ties with Hyun-il for good.
But a small thorn lodged in my heart kept nagging at me. In the end, just before hanging up, I called out to him in a low voice.
“Hey.”
“Huh?”
“I understand.”
“Understand what…?”
“I understand you. Maybe not forgive you.”
This wasn’t the twenty-year-old Kang Hajin speaking, but the twenty-nine-year-old Kang Hajin.
Lee Hyun-il was both a perpetrator and a bystander to me, but he was also another victim of Park Shin-wook.
While the real perpetrator, Park Shin-wook, was likely sleeping peacefully by now, I, as a victim, didn’t want to take out my anger on another victim, Hyun-il, and burden him with guilt.
“So, don’t do that anymore.”
“……”
“If you’re really sorry for what you did to me, and if it was tough being targeted by Park Shin-wook, don’t hide behind another victim out of fear of being bullied again.”
“……”
“Let’s not do that, alright? …I’m hanging up now.”
Without waiting for Hyun-il’s response, I hung up.
What kind of life Hyun-il would lead from now on was entirely up to him.
He could learn from this incident and become a better person,
Or he could remain trapped in fear, living as someone who perpetuates the cycle of abuse.
Just as I had desperately tried to become a better person after that incident.
“Maybe… some of the hyungs’ KakaoTalk profiles are still there.”
From middle school until now, I’ve never once changed my phone number.
Although I switched phones when I entered high school, I continued using the same contacts and accounts. So unless someone like Hyun-il blocked or deleted my number, a few of the contacts from when we were trainees at KD Entertainment would still be in my messenger list.
I found the name of a hyung who had left the company before “that incident” and who I had kept in touch with occasionally after leaving the company. I immediately sent him a message in the chat window.
<Hyung>
<Long time no see, haha>
Luckily, the reply came quickly.
<Seo Gureum ‖ What’s up?>
<Seo Gureum ‖ Kang Hajin, right?>
<Seo Gureum ‖ Superstar Kang Hajin!>
<Seo Gureum ‖ (silly emoticon)>
“This hyung hasn’t changed at all.”
I chuckled at reconnecting with someone who felt like a long-lost friend, and with a slightly trembling heart, I continued the chat.
<Hyung, I’m really sorry for reaching out after so long, but>
<Can I ask you for a favor?>
I had tried to be a good person, but whether I truly was or not was not for me to decide.
And the same would go for Park Shin-wook and Yoo Gwang-chae.
<Seo Gureum ‖ You’re asking because of Yoo Gwang-chae, right?>
<Seo Gureum ‖ I figured that bastard would slip up someday>
<Seo Gureum ‖ What do you need me to do?>
<Seo Gureum ‖ As long as it doesn’t involve being a guarantor or giving up an organ, I’m in>
Let’s see who’s lived a better life.
My eyes sparkled more than ever.
* * *
The article by E-Dispatch caused a massive stir.
◎Mixed-Up Timeline, Reversed Cause and Effect
‘Among the hyungs we trained with, there was one who quit because of conflicts with Kang Hajin and gave up on his dream of becoming an idol.’
This was the claim of the whistleblower, B.
However, according to the timeline organized by our investigation, the facts are unclear.
The conflict between Kang Hajin and the trainees began in September.
And in December of that same year, Kang Hajin terminated his trainee contract with KD Entertainment.
The trainee hyung (hereafter referred to as C) left KD Entertainment in February of the following year.
And in July, KD Entertainment declared bankruptcy.
By September, there was no further interaction between Kang Hajin and C, and if other trainees’ testimonies are true, it’s hard to believe that Kang Hajin threatened C in any other way.
Additionally, according to our research, C continued to apply for auditions at various entertainment companies after leaving KD Entertainment and even passed the audition at a small entertainment company, where he continued his trainee life.
On the other hand, after leaving KD Entertainment, Kang Hajin stayed away from the idol industry for nearly three years.
Until last year’s public audition with Renes, which led to his appearance on ‘Miro Maze,’ he showed no interest in pursuing a career in entertainment. In fact, some of his high school classmates only learned he had been a trainee and aspiring idol after seeing him on ‘Miro Maze.’
(Interview with one of Hajin’s high school classmates)
….
So, who really quit being a trainee and gave up on their dream of becoming an idol because of conflicts? Was it C or Kang Hajin?
The article combined facts and storytelling in a way that felt like revealing a hidden ‘twist’ in a mystery movie. People began to take an interest, shocked by this ‘revelation.’
[Summary of Kang Hajin E-Dispatch Article (Fact-Checked)]
1. Kang Hajin’s verbal abuse > Partially true. (He acted a bit harsh while playing drill sergeant. Even Hajin admits it.)
2. Kang Hajin beat up trainees and gave orders > False.
3. A trainee quit because of Kang Hajin > False.
4. The debut group fell apart because of Kang Hajin > False.
★ And additionally revealed in the E-Dispatch article
1. The hyung who supposedly quit because of Kang Hajin actually conspired with the whistleblower to ostracize Hajin.
2. They deliberately excluded Hajin from practice and important announcements to make sure he got scolded.
3. There was a separate group chat without Hajin (screenshots of the chat provided).
4. They made sure that new trainees didn’t get along with Hajin (according to testimonies, this was led by the whistleblower).
5. After Hajin left, the whistleblower and his group targeted and bullied other trainees (confirmed by victims’ testimonies).
6. Tons of testimonies from people who knew Hajin, saying he wasn’t like that.
After seeing that the initial allegations had lies mixed in, I stopped being neutral, and the fact that the whistleblower deliberately bullied Hajin made me fully side with Hajin.
With the situation getting this big and no additional whistleblowers coming forward, plus everyone around Hajin stepping up to say he wasn’t like that, isn’t it obvious where the truth lies? LOL.
– Anonymous 1: One-line summary: “So, who’s the real victim here?”
– Anonymous 2: But didn’t the verbal abuse turn out to be true? If someone talked to me like that, I’d cut them off too.
└ Anonymous 3: Do you cut people off by bullying them? Shows your level, lol.
└ Anonymous 2: But if all the remaining trainees joined in bullying Hajin, doesn’t that mean he was the problem??? To me, it sounds more like he was a total jerk, which makes him even more unlikeable, but everyone’s reaction is so mild.
└ Anonymous 3: Go read the article. They targeted and bullied another trainee after Hajin left. Is that ‘cutting someone off’? They just hated him and beat him up.
– Anonymous 4: Wait, so Hajin is the victim?
[Do you believe everything in the Kang HJ E-Dispatch article?]
It’s E-Dispatch, so I feel like it’s just media play by Miro; I don’t trust it.
– People like this: Even if Kang Hajin wrote a personal feedback and showed evidence, they wouldn’t believe it.
– So who should release the clarification, if not Miro? Renes?
[Whoa, the original whistleblowing post on Kang HJ is deleted]
So it ends with them running away, huh?
– No style, l
mao.
– It pissed me off how the whistleblower and that hyung dropped hints on Onstar while pretending not to, but now their Onstar is deleted too, LOL.
└ But I’m curious, how do people find out about stuff like this? Like the person’s Onstar account and all?
└ When the original post went up, someone posted a guess about who it was, and then that person subtly hinted it was them in Onstar comments and posts, LOL. But now that Hajin’s side responded, they’ve deleted the account.
└ Ah, got it. Thanks!
The online opinion completely flipped.
The original whistleblower, Park Shin-wook, posted an explanation and a second set of allegations, but since they didn’t match up with his previous post, he was contradicted or ended up admitting that he bullied Hajin out of dislike, which backfired.
In the end, not long after, all the whistleblower posts were taken down, and those who had been subtly enjoying the attention on their Onstagram accounts had to delete them entirely, unable to withstand the barrage of DMs and comments from fans.
**Sunset University @SS_university**
Overcoming the dark night
Thank you for coming to us
#OurProudKangHajin
#BullyingIsViolence
#you_are_not_alone
(Final round unreleased photo of Kang Hajin)
(3rd round unreleased photo of Kang Hajin)
**Shared 7,104 | Quoted 492 | Liked 8,542**
**Kang Hadi @kang_HD**
As someone who had a similar experience in school
And who now finds much comfort and inspiration in Hajin
As a DesTi
For the youths who might be going through similar pain
#OurProudKangHajin
#BullyingIsViolence
#you_are_not_alone
(Donation receipt to a youth bullying prevention foundation)
For several days, the fans who had locked their accounts in silence began to speak out. They focused on the keyword ‘bullying,’ and during the trending topic campaign, they included anti-youth violence slogans, encouraging a wide range of opinions.
– Kang Hajin isn’t a completely innocent victim… This is kind of derailing the discussion… ha.
– Why bring school bullying into some idol controversy; it’s ridiculous, LOL. It’s so annoying, I really can’t stand it.
– Uh, school bullying is ‘violence that happens in school,’ so what does this have to do with Kang Hajin?
– The fans didn’t set out to burn the place down just because someone bullied Hajin; why are you twisting things? Just take a break from the community and live your real life, LOL.
└ For real, those people probably haven’t donated a dime to the bullying prevention foundation but are always complaining.
[The Kang HJ fans are so extreme]
Some fans acted a bit thoughtlessly, and now after that fanbase cleanup campaign, they’re launching an anti-bullying movement because Hajin had some conflict with someone? LOL, they’re crazy.
– They must be professional activists; do these people do independence movements and student protests too?
– Never provoke… a Kang HJ fan…☆
– He wasn’t even really bullied, LOL, but they’re trying to steal the image of a bullying victim; it’s disgusting.
└ What does he lack that he’d need to steal that image? Did you think before speaking?
└ He didn’t steal anything; bullying is still violence, dummy.
– Right, but the bullying prevention foundation even thanked them for raising awareness in an interview^^. It’s more annoying when people who never cared suddenly act like they’re bullying prevention ambassadors~
As always, the fandoms were ablaze.
DesTis, as they had during the previous fanbase cleanup campaign, didn’t fight as individual fans but as part of ‘Kairos’ DesTi’ in this controversy, defending against trolls. On one hand, this helped strengthen internal unity within the fandom, but on the other, it brought about considerable fatigue.
‘They haven’t even debuted yet…. How many controversies have there been already?’
Some DesTis began to wonder if they should remain Kairos fans but switch their ultimate bias.
At that moment, an alert appeared that a new post had been made on Kairos’ official fan cafe, which had been set up right after the finale.
**[Kang Hajin] Hello. This is Kang Hajin of Kairos.**
It was the greeting they had been waiting and waiting for, from ‘Kang Hajin of Kairos.’