Chapter 5: The First Fan

<Q2P Reveals New Boy Group Name: “4ever”>

[DD Weekly – Reporter Kim Chun-ok]

Rising agency Q2P Entertainment has announced the launch of a new five-member boy group.

The group’s name, 4ever, is currently the only detail that has been revealed, making fans even more curious about the upcoming debut.

Attention is now focused on whether they can establish themselves as the next K-pop rookie sensation.

Photo Source: Q2P Entertainment Official SNS

Reporter Kim Chun-ok. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited.

So that was the CEO’s idea.

He was apparently going for that cheesy early-2000s vibe with the name “4ever”—pronounced like “Forever.”

Jemin had thought it was pretty tacky at first, but compared to going back to their previous name, OOO, this was still the better option.

The more he looked at it, the less he hated it.

It almost felt like he was slowly being brainwashed by the CEO’s peculiar taste.

“Even less reaction than last time.”

Jemin had personally shared the article across online communities, only to nearly cry after seeing the single-digit view count.

At that point, most of the clicks were probably just people who had accidentally opened it while trying to read the posts above or below.

He even found himself wondering if debuting under the ridiculous name Sipjangsaeng would have been more memorable.

“Ha… Can I really become an idol like this?”

“How long are you planning to stay on that computer?”

Jemin stared blankly at his laptop, weighed down by anxiety.

As he let out another earth-shattering sigh, Woohyung walked past and casually threw out a comment.

“At this rate you’ll break your keyboard before you debut.”

Since they shared the same room in the dorm, they had no choice but to constantly invade each other’s privacy.

“Don’t worry. It’s still under warranty.”

“You could’ve spent all those sighs practicing instead.”

Comforting people simply wasn’t Jung Woohyung’s style.

Annoyed by his blunt jab, Jemin stubbornly refused to close his laptop.

Watching Woohyung shake his head with that look of disappointment only irritated him even more.

Why is this bastard always looking for a reason to pick a fight with me?

Jemin wasn’t about to sit there and take it like a pushover.

Since there was no way he’d win in a physical fight, he opted for peaceful, non-violent conversation.

Though his tone was anything but peaceful.

“How am I supposed to practice in a dorm this cramped?”

“You think dancing is the only kind of practice?

You can practice singing.

Practice your expressions.

Study other idols’ performances.”

“If I practice singing at this hour, the neighbors will file a noise complaint.”

“With your vocal volume?

I don’t think that’ll ever be a problem.”

Jemin couldn’t stand the way Woohyung kept getting under his skin.

Instead of responding, he deliberately continued browsing the internet right in front of him.

Recent Searches

Jung Woohyung

Jemin

Jemin

Jemni

Jemin

Yu Jemin

4ever

He searched Woohyung’s name on the portal site displayed on his laptop.

For a brief moment, he considered writing a long post insulting him under one of those “Where is Jung Woohyung?” threads.

But he restrained himself with extraordinary patience.

After all, if Woohyung later decided to pursue malicious commenters with legal action, Jemin didn’t want to be arrested as one of his own group members.

Besides…

That bastard definitely didn’t look like the forgiving type.

“The moment you’re in this room, I can’t relax.

Practicing comfortably is impossible anyway.”

“That’s a pretty uncomfortable thing to say.”

“I said it to make you uncomfortable.”

The room barely contained two metal bunk beds.

Each bed was pushed against opposite walls, but the room was so tiny that they still felt close together.

Unfortunately, they were exactly the kind of people who didn’t want to get any closer.

“I’m monitoring the reactions.”

Jemin pointed at his laptop.

“Aren’t you curious what people think?”

Woohyung glanced over before looking back down at his notebook.

Judging by the way he was scribbling nonstop, he was probably writing lyrics.

“Ignorance is bliss.

Why bother looking if you’re just going to spend an hour sighing like you?”

Even when saying something perfectly ordinary, Woohyung somehow managed to make it irritating.

Their contract lasted seven years.

The thought of spending all seven alongside someone like him already gave Jemin a headache.

Honestly… I feel like one of us is getting kicked out in a year or two.

…Though knowing him, Jung Woohyung might just violate his contract and leave first.

Jemin silently prayed for Woohyung’s voluntary withdrawal.

4ever Official @_4ever_official

#4ever #Jemin

Teaser) Member Profile 1

https://q2p…com/profile/jemin

Everyone had assumed the individual teaser photos would be released in age order.

They were wrong.

Normally, the first and last members revealed generated the most attention.

Yet somehow, Jemin had been chosen as the opening act.

“Wouldn’t it have been better to reveal Woohyung first?”

Being first placed a tremendous amount of pressure on him.

He wasn’t even one of the group’s main members.

Why was he going first?

He couldn’t understand what the CEO was thinking.

At this point, it almost felt like they were just uploading photos in whatever order they happened to be saved.

“Well… I agree with you.”

As expected, Woohyung chimed in with another irritating remark.

“But you’re getting the spotlight.

You should be grateful.”

“I was being humble just now.

Why are you making it sound like I was bragging?”

Jemin immediately regretted complimenting Woohyung, even a little.

That bastard should’ve stayed unrevealed forever.

“Let’s not fight.”

Yoonbin sighed.

He was beginning to think he should’ve stopped those two from talking in the first place.

Yu Jemin (24)

178 cm

Sub Vocalist

“Why did they choose this photo…?”

To be fair, he looked much better in person.

The real problem was that he simply didn’t know how to use his face.

His expression looked stiff.

His pose looked awkward.

Everything about the photo felt unnatural.

Even worse, this so-called profile contained nothing except his photo, age, height, and position.

It was astonishingly uninformative.

And in an industry overflowing with seventeen-year-old rookie idols, did they really need to emphasize that he was already twenty-four?

“Looks like they added a little to your height.”

“Everyone does.

One or two centimeters is practically within the margin of error.”

“I wrote my real height.”

“What a pointless thing to be honest about.”

Once again…

There was almost no response.

Maybe the teaser had gone up at an awkward time?

Jemin waited until nighttime, hoping things would improve.

Nothing changed.

He refreshed endlessly.

His notifications remained silent.

“Is my profile not showing up?”

Just to make sure, he searched from another account.

The profile appeared just fine.

People were simply ignoring it.

Jemin quietly created a few alternate accounts and liked his own profile.

Even then, apart from Second Jemin, Third Jemin, and Nth Jemin, there wasn’t a single trace of anyone else.

“Oh!”

Finally.

A notification.

Even the smallest bit of attention made him genuinely happy.

Someone had quoted his profile post.

Excited, Jemin immediately opened the account.

WhoCares @sowhat…..fxxk

Who’s this guy?

Those loose shorts are crazy lol.

Did he come out here just to tempt people?

I wanna bite those thighs. 😏

It was…

Basically sexual harassment.

Jemin had never heard anything like that directed at him before.

He simply stared at the screen in stunned silence.

“Jemin~ Someone says your shorts are too loose and they want to… uh… eat you.

What does that even mean?”

To make matters worse, James-hyung happened to read the post out loud while scrolling through social media.

The atmosphere inside the dorm instantly froze.

“…Should we ask the stylist noona to change your outfit?”

Yoonbin carefully watched Jemin’s expression before speaking softly.

Jemin forced himself to smile and shook his head.

“If we do that…

Even that person will leave.”

Woohyung looked utterly horrified.

His hand slipped, spilling the water he had been about to drink.

“You heard something like that…

and that’s your conclusion?”

Seeing Woohyung react so dramatically, Jemin looked even more confused.

“They’re still a fan!”

Unfortunately, besides that person, nobody had shown any noticeable interest in him.

Desperate as he was, he wanted to hold onto even a single fan.

Even if calling them a fan felt… questionable.

“A fan?

If someone like that came after me, I wouldn’t let them off.”

“Twisted affection is still affection.

How could you sue a fan?”

“Maybe not sue them.

But there are plenty of other ways.”

Jemin believed celebrities weren’t meant to receive only love.

Even the forms that love took varied.

So he couldn’t understand Woohyung’s perspective.

Meanwhile, Woohyung couldn’t understand Jemin either.

Just because he wants to become famous… does he think he has to tolerate anything?

“If you want to be an idol, you have to endure at least this much.

Some people genuinely like you.

Others don’t.

Can’t you at least satisfy that kind of desire?”

“You can fulfill someone’s fantasy.

You don’t become an object for satisfying their urges.”

Ironically, the owner of the WhoCares account had long since forgotten about that tweet.

They had already moved on to fangirling over another idol.

“Yeah, I guess it doesn’t matter for you.

Nobody’s ever said they wanted to bite your thighs.”

That was Jemin’s attempt at insulting him.

Woohyung laughed right in his face.

“Right.

You must be thrilled someone said that to you.

Sounds like you’ve always wanted to hear something like that.”

“Jemin-hyung… Woohyung…

Can you two please stop fighting?”

Yoonbin finally interrupted, his voice strained.

Being the leader really was exhausting.

Seeing how worn out he looked, both of them felt guilty enough to stop.

They still shot daggers at each other with their eyes, but the argument ended there.

A temporary truce.

What am I supposed to do when every single fan matters?

No matter how small it was, having an existing fanbase was infinitely better than having none.

That was why Jemin couldn’t stand the fact that Woohyung simply didn’t understand him.

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