SWNOVELXO Chapter 219
Chapter 219
Not only was there a social media hashtag campaign calling for an investigation into the trainee situation and demanding the disbandment of Huntred.
True, clearly trying to hold on and weather the situation until things calmed down, had little chance of disbanding Huntred. At the very least, fans demanded that Oh Hyun-jin be quickly expelled.
Meanwhile, there were often fans overseas, who generally were less sensitive to such issues, defending Huntred.
Then, a screenshot of a post by a foreign Huntred fan that read, “Raon must have had a reason to act like that toward Hyun-jin. We should support the lonely Hyun-jin until the end,” circulated in the domestic idol community, causing a strong backlash from Korean fans.
– “Ugh, defending a criminal, these foreign fans are seriously so infuriatingㅠㅠㅠㅠ”
– “They keep complaining about whitewashing from the fan sites but why are they so protective about this???”
– “I understand being indifferent to foreign issues, like many overlook drug use by overseas celebrities, but attempted murder is classified as a serious crime everywhere, right??? He pushed someone down the stairs in broad daylight and the manager was severely injured.”
– “These foreign fans are hilarious. They called out racism over nothing in a Pluto video, yet they don’t care that On Raon is an American citizen and a foreigner.”
Admitting it made me feel like a bit of a traitor, but the fact was that it was a Korean who committed a crime against a foreigner. Why was the reaction so lenient?
┗ “Exactly. Why is it so lenient? On Raon is naturally fair-skinned, so he looks pale in photos, but they edited his pictures to look darker, calling it whitewashing, and posted it on Star Tel.”
They could argue they aren’t discriminating against Raon because he’s Korean. Would they have reacted this mildly if the victim had been a Westerner? They would’ve slammed Koreans for committing a hate crime.
┗ “I totally agree.”
– “Still, there are many foreign Airys supporting Raon.”
┗ “Just like there are clueless fans in Korea who support criminal idols, there are decent foreign fans too! But this post is about clueless foreign fans defending attempted murder and bullying idols. Read the contextㅠ.”
– “I wish these clueless foreign fans and their biased idols would just leave Korea.”
Thus, if Huntred remained intact, it seemed they would likely focus on overseas activities, abandoning the cold domestic market.
However, the fact that On Raon was Korean but also an American citizen spread late among the overseas fandom, causing a shift in the situation.
– “Huntred committed serious racial discrimination. Bullying someone for not knowing the local language is unacceptable.”
– “I didn’t know Raon was an American. They’re going to trial for attempted murder; I worry the Korean court might discriminate against him because he’s a foreigner.”
┗ “As an American, it’s appalling that your attitude changes based on the victim’s nationality.”
– (Video) “This is True’s representative In Deok-cheol’s racist remarks about Southeast Asians. I thought you all understood these things and still loved True. If not, learn it now.”
┗ “Wow. It’s an old video, but does he still think the same way?”
┗ “Does that matter?”
– “Wake up. Can you be sure non-Korean members like Allen and Jude won’t be discriminated against? Remember how they treated Raon just because he’s of Korean descent.”
┗ “That’s true, but don’t assume Allen and Jude didn’t also bully Raon :(.”
– “It’s amazing this shitty company was popular abroad. I’m boycotting all K-pop idols debuting from True.”
True, trying to plan overseas activities by posting on Huntred’s official social media, faced a severe backlash.
Old racist remarks by the representative, insensitive reactions to mocking foreign cultures by their artists, and various controversies were dragged up by the overseas fandom.
Even baseless accusations from anti-fans proliferated, ruining True’s image.
Suddenly, Huntred and True were labeled as idols and companies discriminating against foreigners, making the overseas activities they sought significantly more difficult.
True, who had enjoyed high popularity domestically and internationally with their unique concept, began to decline after this incident.
* * *
Once the situation settled somewhat, my family returned to America.
They were supposed to return earlier due to their schedules, but they stayed a few extra days.
The night before they left for the US, my parents cautiously suggested that I take a break from activities and stay at home in the US until things completely stabilized.
They probably thought it would be better to rest in the familiar US than in Korea, where I had experienced several unpleasant incidents and still felt out of place last year.
However, taking a break during such an important time was out of the question, and I would hardly find it more comfortable in the unfamiliar US, so I declined without hesitation.
Though they seemed disappointed, my parents didn’t press the issue and promised to visit again.
The day my parents returned to America.
In the late afternoon, PD Cheon Hae-gyeong visited our company with a few production staff from *Producer’s Case Notebook*.
“Hello, I’m Cheon Hae-gyeong.”
“Nice to meet you. This way, please.”
I had already visited the shop earlier and received makeup similar to when I went to the police station for questioning. I entered the practice room where the filming equipment was set up, ready for the shoot.
Before starting the actual filming, PD Cheon Hae-gyeong asked me,
“How’s your health?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“What about that tall manager?”
“He’s recovering smoothly.”
“That’s a relief.”
Cheon Hae-gyeong PD, who had always spoken comfortably with me from the first time we met, was using much more formal language, probably because it was a public setting.
“Thank you for coming forward as a witness.”
Shortly after the incident, news articles mentioned that the production team of *Producer’s Case Notebook* had witnessed my fall, which became a brief topic of discussion.
“No need for thanks. There was some pressure from above to exclude me as a witness at first.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve always been a thorn in their side anyway. And now, given the situation, they don’t seem to care much whether I testify or not. Plus…”
Cheon Hae-gyeong PD paused for a moment, then continued more sharply than before.
“Weren’t you counting on me to cause a scene there?”
Her wild eyes, the kind only those who had been through a lot in the field could have, were fixed on me.
I couldn’t brush it off lightly.
Glancing at Gwak Sang-hyun standing behind, I spoke softly.
“I’m sorry about that too. Oh Hyun-jin kept contacting me, so I felt I had to meet him once. I chose that location because I was afraid something big might happen. I remembered seeing you there. I never thought Oh Hyun-jin would go that far… If I startled you, I apologize.”
“I wasn’t startled. I’ve seen and been through worse. But what would you have done if I had pretended not to see it?”
“I believed you wouldn’t. You’re a cool and righteous person.”
At my honest flattery, Cheon Hae-gyeong PD smirked and gestured to the waiting production team.
“We have a few questions for you today. You can stop whenever you want, but there won’t be any over-the-line questions, so please answer honestly as a favor to me.”
“Yes. I understand.”
* * *
After finishing the interview with PD Cheon Hae-gyeong, I finally had time to talk with Ban Yo-han and Seo Moon-gyeol.
While waiting for the elevator to arrive at the dormitory building, a resident from the first floor opened the front door and came out.
Thinking they would just go outside, I turned my head back and watched the elevator, noticing the bodyguard beside me moving slightly.
The resident wasn’t heading outside but approaching me.
The bodyguard seemed cautious, but since the resident seemed to have a reason to talk to me and I had seen their face a few times, I greeted them.
“Hello. How can I help you?”
“Are you Orca’s On Raon?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“You’re really handsome.”
“Ahaha, thank you. But how did you know I was passing by?”
“With all the noise from the sasaeng fans outside, how could I not? I thought it had to be a celebrity passing by.”
“I’m really sorry…”
Unable to justify the disturbance caused by sasaeng fans, I bowed deeply and apologized sincerely.
“It’s okay, I’ve gotten used to it.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“Really, it’s fine. Now that I see you up close, I understand why there’s such a fuss.”
“Thank you.”
However, it didn’t seem like they had stopped me to complain about the sasaeng fans.
Sensing my confusion, the resident spoke.
“Oh, I found a ring in our yard this morning. I thought it might be my daughter’s, but she said it looks like the rings the Orca members wear. I wondered if someone dropped it from upstairs.”
The resident held out a ring.
“What do you think?”
At a glance, it looked exactly like the one on my left hand.
“It seems like it belongs to one of our members. Thank you for finding it. It’s very precious to us.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“By the way, if your daughter recognized the ring…”
“She asked me to keep it a secret, but she’s actually a fan of yours. She doesn’t do anything bad, so don’t worry about her sharing the dorm address.”
“Thank you. Would you like me to sign something for her? If she’s around, maybe take a photo together…”
“She’s staying in a dormitory, so she’s not here. A signature would be great. How about a photo with me?”
As the resident went inside to get some paper for the signature, I checked the inside of the ring just in case and saw the initials ‘YH’ clearly engraved.
“…”
Was that crazy guy really missing this?