I turned my head toward the direction of the sound. And from beyond the camera, I met eyes with an unfamiliar face that had been watching me.
"Gasp…!"
"I saw him!"
And the person who took the photo wasn't alone.
'…What?'
Even though a total of three people had made eye contact with me, none of them backed away. Instead, their excitement only grew when our eyes met.
"Yuha!"
Hearing my name shouted made the people inside the columbarium turn to look. The commotion made my expression naturally harden.
'I need to get out of here.'
My judgment was quick. Instead of speaking, I pulled my hat down and chose to leave immediately.
Even as I quickened my steps out of the columbarium, I continued to hear them calling my name from behind.
"Yuha!"
"Won Yuha!"
"Hey!"
Once I completely exited the columbarium, I headed quickly toward the bus stop. The three of them kept chasing after me.
'…Damn it.'
Because the place was secluded, there wasn't even a taxi nearby. I hurriedly pulled out my phone to call one.
"Don't ignore people~. How can you ignore your fans?"
"What's the rush?"
Before I knew it, they'd caught up, and I had no choice but to stop and face the three of them.
With giggling laughter, the three closed in, leaving barely enough distance for one person between us, and I stepped back. But they showed no sign of retreating; they approached as much as I tried to widen the distance.
They were nearly close enough to reach out and grab me, so I opened my mouth to warn and stop them.
"…I'm sorry, but please delete the photos."
And—
"He spoke!"
"Ah, your voice is so nice."
"Can't you take off your mask? Isn't it hot in the summer?"
There was no communication happening.
"...."
They seemed far more focused on the fact that I had spoken, rather than on what I was saying.
I hesitated briefly, but eventually opened my mouth again. It was because of the camera they still had pointed straight at me.
"…Please delete the pictures. I came here today to spend personal time, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't take any photos."
The three exchanged glances, but—
"No."
"And what'll you do if we delete them? You gonna take a picture with us?"
"Tell him you'll delete it if he takes a private picture. F***, we struck gold today."
"So what brings you here? Someone die?"
Once again, I got nothing resembling an answer.
Their rudeness—no, their complete lack of awareness—left me speechless.
There had been sasaengs in my past life too, but back then, at least the company protected me, even if poorly. But now, with no protection at all, I was facing people who didn't even see me as a person.
Seeing their laughing faces, I completely gave up on trying to have a conversation. The more I talked, the worse it would get—that was clear now.
'It'll only provoke them more. Avoiding them is the best move.'
I couldn't get the photos deleted, but the best thing I could do was avoid letting them catch anything more.
Just then, the taxi I'd called pulled up in front of me, and I hurriedly reached for the door.
That was when—
Grab!
"Hey, where are you going!"
"We'll delete the pictures, so come with us—"
"Let go of—!"
One of them grabbed my sleeve, and I tried to pull it away.
"Agh!"
"...!"
In that moment, one of the three who had followed me down onto the road lost her balance when my arm swung out and fell to the ground. I froze on the spot.
"Ah! F***, I'm bleeding!"
Maybe she scraped her hand on the sidewalk—she shrieked sharply, but I snapped back into reality, climbed into the taxi, and locked the door immediately.
Bang!
"Where are you going!"
"Won Yuha!"
"…Please go."
They pounded on the window, but I didn't look their way. The taxi driver hesitated but followed my instructions and drove off quickly.
As the taxi sped farther away from the columbarium, the three chased after it for a while as if they really intended to catch it. Eventually, they gave up once the distance grew too far.
"...."
Only after the columbarium had completely vanished from sight did I finally press my hand to my head, crushed by exhaustion and a pounding headache.
'…I was careless.'
The only thing rising in my tangled mind was the sense that I was utterly screwed.
Visiting the columbarium because it was my parents' memorial day had been a mistake.
It was an already sensitive time. A livestream was coming up, and I knew trainees had recently been getting sasaengs. I hadn't been thinking.
'…Was I out of it because of thoughts about Baek Ihyeon?'
I knew exactly what kind of impact
And the situation was bad—too bad. Today's incident was unlikely to simply disappear.
Forget my movements, words, and actions spreading online… There was one thing that bothered me the most.
'…My parents are there.'
The place where I'd been photographed was my parents' columbarium.
Photos of me with my parents were placed next to their urns, and though I looked young in them, my features were still recognizable.
At the very least, I should've covered the photos or hidden them behind flowers, but once my name was shouted, all I'd been able to do was run. I'd handed them material on a silver platter.
"…Ha."
Realistically, avoiding them was the only move I had. If I'd tried to yank their camera away, it would've caused an even bigger mess, and they never would've deleted the photos because I asked.
And yet, I couldn't stop thinking that I should've taken the camera anyway—that I should've deleted the photos myself. Because on the way home, I was certain of one thing.
"...."
This incident was definitely not going to end quietly.
***
And the hardship didn't end there.
When I finally returned home, feeling horribly unsettled, what greeted me was—
[Are you sure you don't want to change your center?]
The expected evil edit.
[If someone like that becomes the center, your team's doomed. Are you really okay with that?]
Rio's sharp remarks were captured extremely provocatively. Along with intense background music, the anxious expressions of the trainees flashed by.
[I don't know what happened, but Hyunjin doesn't seem capable of handling center right now. The decision is yours, so think wisely.]
With those words, the camera shifted from filming the entire team to zooming in on two trainees. Me glancing at Kang Hyunjin, and Kang Hyunjin, whose face had gone completely pale.
Then came the interviews that followed.
「You received harsh criticism during the mid-evaluation.」
[I'm worried. I'm really, really worried. Ha….]
[…we just have to work hard together.]
[Hyunjin-hyung is good at this, so… maybe it'll be fine…?]
[…He seems really worn out.]
After the trainees' hesitant comments, I was the last one to appear.
[It's true that Hyunjin-hyung's condition isn't good right now.]
With a slightly firmer voice, the me on screen began speaking in a clipped tone. And right after, I added:
[I think that's just his skill level.]
'They really used it like that.'
I let out a hollow laugh. I recognized instantly where they had pulled that interview clip from.
That answer had come from a question about Kang Hyunjin's choreography-creation ability. I remembered clearly that when they asked me what I thought about his ability to create point choreography, I'd actually praised his skills.
'So even praise can be twisted like that.'
While I was realizing that afresh, the video shifted immediately to the short-form filming site.
The team members on screen looked neater than they had during the mid-evaluation, but despite their cleaner appearance, their expressions and the overall atmosphere looked even worse than back then.
And then—
[I think we should change our center.]
The scene I expected exploded right on cue.
In the footage, Kang Hyunjin was surrounded by the team, his face gaunt. The repeated failures of the short-form filming made the team members' expressions worsen little by little, and finally, when I said those words, the situation deteriorated once more.
[I—I'll try it again. I can do it.]
His desperate plea followed my comment.
[Hyung, you don't have the composure right now.]
And I added:
[I think we should each vote for the person who seems best suited to be the center for this short-form. On three, pick your candidate.]
Then came the vote again.
[Then I'll be taking the center position for this short-form shoot.]
…And I ended up being unanimously chosen.
「Trainee Won Yuha has become the center for the short-form shoot.」
[....]
Finally, the footage of Kang Hyunjin clutching his head in despair during his interview, unable to speak—and then leaving with an apology.
The conflict between Kang Hyunjin and me, which the production crew had been sharpening for so long, finally erupted brilliantly in this episode. Anyone could see it—an exciting, provocative storyline had been completed.
Within the narrative the production had crafted, our relationship dynamic was perfectly clear.
'A greedy trainee seizing a pretext to steal the center position… and a fallen genius.'
Since Kang Hyunjin's appearance during practice had also been broadcast, viewers would know that Team 3's practice hadn't gone smoothly.
Kang Hyunjin is so pitiful
How can someone's attitude change that fast lol it's honestly creepy lol at the ranking ceremony he said he wanted them to succeed together~~~ is THIS what he meant by "together"? dragging others down so he can climb
Won Yuha is seriously sketchy… textbook bully-the-weak, grovel-to-the-strong behavior. No way he could've acted like that when Hyunjin was #1. Now that he stuck "1st place leader" on his chest he's throwing his weight around
So the leader just abandons members who fall behind..? Pathetic
Logic and emotion are two different things.
People react more sensitively to the negative sides shown on TV. Especially when the target was Kang Hyunjin—the immersion would be even higher.
Right now, Kang Hyunjin occupied a very special place. High public recognition. A genius image with nothing lacking. And regardless of the truth, the narrative that he grew up in a good family—a precious young master type of character.
And people feel even more pity when such characters fall.
The production team used exactly that—pairing the downfall of a genius with a tear-jerking storyline prepared just for him.
[I understand if you want to change the center. If everyone wants it, I'll step down.]
Kang Hyunjin's new "character" was pushed to the limit near the end of practice.
After he said in utter dejection that he'd accept being replaced as center, the team members exchanged uneasy glances.
The editing afterward was extremely simple.
A sequence of cut clips showing Hyunjin practicing—highlighting just how hard he'd been working—followed by footage of us on stage.
The intro of "DAZZLE" played, and center Hyunjin lightly tilted his head to the beat.
「What will the stage of Team National Phantom Thief be like?」
The screen froze, text raising expectations appeared beneath it, and the broadcast ended.
Reactions were mixed.
Yuha-ya… you must've been so disappointed when Hyunjin recovered his condition after you tried to steal center..ㅠ but hey, that's your "skill," isn't it..
I don't think I can defend Won Yuha lol it's obvious he was waiting for a chance from the start and grabbed it the moment he could.. and Hyunjin even tried to help him get screen time earlier when Aiden Lee and Gyeong Jiwon were fighting over main vocal but wow he repaid the favor like this
Won Yuha's "true leader" nonsense was so annoying, and now his personality's exposed lol fall off the map and never come back please
People who empathized with Kang Hyunjin first and accepted the narrative
And on the other side—
Yuha-ya… are you a saint?
Am I the only one who doesn't get why everyone's attacking Won Yuha??? I don't feel bad for Hyunjin at all—if he knew his condition was bad he should've said so instead of dragging everyone down and making Yuha look like the bad guy lol it's crazy how he flips it like this
Why are people blaming Yuha? He did what he had to do?; Everyone wanted to avoid the issue, and he took responsibility as the leader. Respect.
Whoever throws stones at Won Yuha… that person is the true villain of group projects
People who attacked Hyunjin, or understood the situation and sided with me.
And then—
AINET again… please stop the devil editing, what are you doing to perfectly fine kids
People are so gullible lol it's a scripted show and they're fighting like it's life or death
No matter how much you guys grab each other's hair, those two are probably living their best lives and are friends behind the scenes
Please stop embarrassing the kids with this fighting…
The so-called neutral viewers who found the whole conflict itself uncomfortable and chose to watch from a distance.
After checking the real-time reactions to this week's
Thankfully, just as I expected, the situation wasn't bad.
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