Chapter 15: Sparks of Popularity and Unresolved Friction

Although it wasn’t their title track that blew up, he had never imagined they would hit it big right after debuting.

And not even through an official music broadcast, but through a fancam.

He had occasionally heard stories of singers whose lives changed completely after a fancam hit the jackpot, but Jemin never dreamed that story would become his own.

“It really wasn’t a dream.”

Jemin muttered while searching for fan reactions inside the car on their way back from a schedule.

In fact, the reactions were growing even hotter.

[Did you guys just see Eunhan eating spicy octopus? So f*cking cute!]

It was to the point where people on online communities were watching the 6 PM restaurant recommendation show live as it aired.

The signs were truly extraordinary.

Fluttering excitement and anxiety crept in simultaneously.

He had wanted to climb slowly to the top, but to face such sudden popularity…

“I’m terrified that this might just remain a midsummer night’s dream.”

Leaning against the swaying car window, Jemin sank deep into thought.

If I don’t want to fall, I have to work harder.

Jemin steeled his heart and tightly clenched his fist.

“By the way, this post about Jung Woohyung’s fan sign is being dragged back up like crazy.”

Jemin monitored posts concerning Woohyung with a worried gaze.

It would have been better if they hadn’t held that fan signing event at all.

Looking at the harsh comments made Jemin’s mind feel heavy.

A negative controversy like this was bound to harm the team as well.

HIT! [The marsh snail fancam guy’s fan-hating, fan-deceiving fan sign event incident.jpg (999+ Comments)]

Looking at the uploader’s handle, they seemed to be a fan of the popular idol group PPP.

• Wow haha my affection dropped completely haha leaving the fandom bye

• f*ck… why did you do that Woohyung…

• He looked sick that day; if you’re not the person involved, you don’t know the full story… let’s stay neutral

• People who aren’t even Jung Woohyung’s fans are having a gathering here haha original Woohyung fans never stanned him for his personality anyway haha

  └ Ah~ so even Jung Woohyung’s fans acknowledge his trash personality~ is that what you mean?

Guys… it’s not like he did that to screw over the fans.

He’s just the kind of guy who doesn’t understand why fans like it when he does stuff like that.

Still, it’s his fault.

I’m sorry.

I’ll make sure to educate him properly at the dorm.

Jemin desperately held back the urge to leave a comment with the mindset of a parent summoned to the teacher’s office after their kid caused trouble.

“Hey, Jung Woohyung.”

Jemin shook Woohyung, who was sleeping with earphones in, to wake him up.

With his eyes still closed, Woohyung merely furrowed his brow.

It meant that while he was awake, he had no desire to talk.

“Wake up.”

When Jemin didn’t give up and kept poking him in the side, Woohyung finally opened his eyes with an annoyed look.

“What.”

“You said you wanted to understand the fans’ hearts.”

“Did I ever say it like that?”

Even if Woohyung hadn’t meant it with that intention, it didn’t matter.

For the sake of his own future, Jemin had to edify, reform, and rehabilitate Woohyung no matter what.

“Do you know how much you’re getting bashed on the internet?”

“If you pay attention to every single thing like that, you can’t be a celebrity.”

“If you don’t pay attention to those things at all, you can’t be an idol.”

Both bit back at each other’s words, refusing to yield an inch.

“I just don’t want to make money doing embarrassing things like you.”

“Embarrassing things? Hey. Is doing a few things that people who like us want us to do really that embarrassing?”

“Doing that a hundred times is just acting pathetic if you can’t sing or dance.”

“If someone who can pull it off does it, it’s a multiplier effect.”

Jemin and Woohyung stood in tense opposition.

A chilly atmosphere hovered inside the car, but everyone except the two of them was asleep.

While they confronted each other with intense glares, the sound of James snoring filled the quiet car.

“I didn’t wake you up to fight with you. Anyway, we need to watch our words and actions from now on so we can seize this chance and have a long run.”

“So what.”

“If you cultivate some emotional sensitivity, you’ll be able to promote without scandals too.”

Jemin handed a wireless earphone to Woohyung.

“What’s this?”

Woohyung looked back and forth between Jemin and the earphone with a reluctant expression.

“There’s nothing better than this to cultivate emotional sensitivity.”

When Woohyung didn’t take the earphone, Jemin forcibly stuffed it into Woohyung’s earhole.

Woohyung tried to pull it out, but when Jemin blocked his ear with his palm, he gave up and let out a sigh.

When Jemin played a video on his tablet, Woohyung asked in a dissatisfied tone.

“Is it an idol documentary?”

“Huh? No. Just a romance movie.”

Of course.

How impressive of a curriculum could Yu Jemin have possibly planned?

Woohyung’s expression showed that any shred of expectation had vanished.

Though drowned out by James’s snoring, he seemed to make a clicking sound with his tongue too.

“Don’t sleep.”

“You woke me up anyway, so I can’t sleep.”

During the beginning of the movie, Jemin monitored Woohyung closely for fear he might fall asleep.

By the middle of it, however, Jemin himself became so absorbed in the movie that he had no time to check whether Woohyung was sleeping or not.

Only after the end credits began rolling did Jemin look over at Woohyung.

Surprisingly, Woohyung had watched it all the way through without nodding off.

With his arms crossed, no less.

“Isn’t it touching?”

From Jemin’s perspective, Woohyung’s expression didn’t look touched at all, but he asked just in case.

“Have you ever liked anyone like that?”

It seemed Woohyung couldn’t quite understand even a virtual romance.

Flustered by Woohyung’s sudden question, Jemin blinked several times before speaking.

“Even if we’re on the same team, that’s a sensitive question, so I can’t answer it.”

“Unbelievable.”

Faced with a typical idol answer that applied without exception even to team members, Woohyung looked completely fed up.

Woohyung shook his head side to side, took off the earphone, and handed it back to Jemin.

“I still don’t get it even after watching something like that.”

Woohyung closed his eyes completely.

‘I think the one who’s unbelievable is right here.’

Zero literary sensitivity.

In that case, even if it didn’t come from the heart, he needed to make him perform formal actions at least.

“Look. Your song charted in too.”

A song that hadn’t even shown a rank because it was outside the top 1,000 had entered the real-time top 100.

It was Woohyung’s song.

The moment Jemin saw it, he felt envious of Woohyung’s royalty income.

“Ha~ I had planned everything out for a step-by-step growth group, but we blew up all of a sudden.”

Looking at the CEO who spoke as if his plans were disrupted and causing him a headache, Jemin was dumbfounded.

However, the CEO was his boss in a way.

Although Jemin had no real-world corporate experience, he was great at social navigation.

“Isn’t it all thanks to you believing in us, CEO?”

The previous artists belonging to Q2P had either terminated their contracts or failed to renew them.

Because of that, 4ever was the only active group left under the agency, making it hard to tell whether receiving full-fledged support was a misfortune or a blessing.

The company’s entire workforce totaled five people, matching the number of members in 4ever.

Excluding the CEO, it meant four staff members were managing five idols.

It was called full support, but compared to major prominent agencies, it was like throwing a quail egg against a boulder.

An unboiled quail egg, at that.

“And we’re hitting music shows again starting next week, right?”

“The cost of running music shows won’t add up to our personal debt, right? Only the pre-debut expenses get deducted from settlements, correct?”

“Eunhan, you kid! What do you take me for!”

They received some decent words from the CEO and stepped out of the office.

Except for Eunhan getting chewed out at the very end.

Ah, and a little bit for Jung Woohyung too.

“Woohyung-ah, let’s keep that temper in check. Even at your previous agency… no, never mind. It’s not like we should talk about the past.”

Jemin sank into thought about what the CEO was about to say before stopping.

Jung Woohyung had been famous as a trainee at a major agency before coming to this company.

There had to be a reason why he came here from there.

Jemin felt an uneasy sense of anxiety for no reason.

Jung Woohyung won’t pull down our team just when we’re riding high, right?

[From. Jemin]

Hello~! Dinner time has passed a bit, have you all eaten dinner~?

Today, I filmed dance content, practiced the follow-up track choreography, met with the CEO, and finally arrived at the dorm just now~

Thinking about meeting the fans again next week makes my heart flutter ….

Ah! And soon, we’ll have a proper name to call you instead of just ‘fans’!

I was told not to say this, but I wanted to tell you so badly haha I’m gonna get scolding again haha

I’m embarrassed because I have a bare face, but I’m dropping off a photo in case you missed my face … haha

#Jemin #4ever #And-ing

It wasn’t a bare face, but basic skin makeup with lip balm applied to give his lips a lively color.

Who cares anyway?

Jemin thought it was a hundred times better to tell a white lie about having a bare face while showing a pretty, made-up look rather than showing visible pores and purple lips on a real bare face.

Jem-In @yujemin_jem_in2you

Crazy, did you see the From Jemin post?

I really can’t let Jemin go…

4MemberSupport @4everisonly4members

Supporting 4 members excluding Jung Woohyung~

OT5 all-member supporters please block me

With his selfie, Jemin managed to slightly soothe the public sentiment that had been enraged by Jung Woohyung’s past incident resurfacing.

The 4ever fans, who had been staying quiet while getting bashed everywhere, finally stepped into the light while treading carefully.

Naturally drawing a line against Jung Woohyung’s solo stans.

JeongWoohyeongHoldOut @waitingforyouwh

Keep ostracizing him all you want

Who do you think made your 4ever blow up in the first place? haha

Jung Woohyung worked his bone off dancing to make it blow up, and now you show such ungratefulness

Woohyung-ah let’s go solo, leave Q2P, leave 4ever

│

RPSFan @realhanjemslash

Auntie, going viral and acquiring new fans are two completely different things~

New fans joined the fandom because HanJem blew up

Who buys albums after watching Jung Woohyung’s fancam?

They spend money to fund HanJem’s wedding registry haha

│

JeongWoohyeongHoldOut @waitingforyouwh

Yeah, next delusional shipper

Seo Eunhan and Yu Jemin both like women~

As the fans increased, fandom fights also became frequent.

Monitoring all these reactions, Jemin trembled at the fierce atmosphere.

“If Jung Woohyung’s toxic solo stans find out about stuff like this, they’re gonna tear into me like crazy.”

The reverse situation was the same.

Jung Woohyung’s toxic solos would curse at Yu Jemin, while Yu Jemin’s or Seo Eunhan’s toxic solos would curse at Jung Woohyung.

“Well, if the team is divided, it’s only natural for the fandom to be divided too.”

In that moment, an image of Woohyung looking at him with pathetic eyes flashed through Jemin’s mind.

“So annoying.”

“Who is?”

Muttering at his phone, Jemin almost fell over in surprise upon seeing Yunbin, who had approached his side unnoticed.

“Hyung, what on earth were you looking at? Are you okay?”

Yunbin smiled and caught Jemin’s chair.

“No, I was just amazed that we actually have fans now.”

Jemin hurriedly flipped over his phone screen, which had a comment reading [HanJem real couple] displayed on it.

“I can’t believe it either.”

Yunbin giggled before speaking to Jemin with a voice full of sincerity.

“You know I’m always thankful to you, right, hyung?”

“I’m the one who’s more grateful. If I were the leader, I would have lost my mind completely.”

“What are you talking about? You have a great personality, hyung.”

Yunbin was truly leader material.

To the point where it was incomprehensible why such a good-natured talent was stuck at Q2P.

“To be honest, I was really worried because you joined at the very last minute, hyung.”

“Was it because… I was a bit lacking in skills?”

Jemin took the initiative, feeling guilty for no reason.

“It wasn’t that. It was because of Woohyung.”

Yunbin forced a smile and spoke calmly, but he looked full of worry.

“Before debuting, you and Woohyung should have had an open-hearted talk to clear the air, but we were running so frantically that we couldn’t do that. I feel regretful and sorry about it.”

“It’s not your fault, so there’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s okay.”

“I’ll set up a time for you and Woohyung to sit down soon, hyung.”

Huh? You really don’t need to do that, though.

Or do you? Is it necessary?

Jemin scratched the back of his head.