During the off-season, Jae-in’s agency worked tirelessly to secure variety show appearances for Enheim. Since they were still a rookie group and needed to build recognition with this album, the forced halt in activities made them desperate.
However, it was difficult for a rookie idol group that hadn’t reached mainstream popularity to land spots on major broadcast networks. Their secondary choice was variety content on video platforms like Me-Tube, often hosted by comedians.
Objectively speaking, it was risky to put the young and unpredictable members of Enheim into the raw, unfiltered environment of a video platform, but the younger members actually preferred it because they were familiar with Me-Tube.
It was content that delivered celebrity news without pretension, claiming to vividly uncover the inner workings of the entertainment industry.
Due to his seemingly “innocent” personality, Ra-min was cast in the role of a “correspondent” who, lured by the MC, would boldly mention senior idols in the same industry. Who would suspect that an eighteen-year-old boy was putting on such a seamless act?
“Today’s topic is the Pentagram accident that was the talk of the town all last month. You say it’s old news? Haha, you’ll find it interesting to see what kind of follow-up measures were taken by the people who promised to prevent celebrity traffic accidents.”
Because Pentagram’s accident remained a shocking event even as time passed, Ra-min was flooded with questions when the topic surfaced. It was expected, given that his own group leader was from Pentagram’s debut lineup.
“There’s been no word on Ji-ho since the news of his hiatus. How about it, Ra-min? Tell us anything you’ve heard at the dorm. We heard J has a deep history with Pentagram.”
“J-Hyung? Um, that is…”
“Are you going to hesitate to be an informant, Correspondent Ra-min!”
“Ugh. Why do I keep getting more roles? Fine! Spill it all and let’s secure a fixed spot, Ra-min!”
Faced with the rowdy reactions of the cast, Ra-min had no choice but to speak. Of course, being someone who knew how to act smart on broadcast regardless of how he was in private, Ra-min navigated the mischievous questions with some flexibility.
“I don’t think J-Hyung has been in contact with Ji-ho Sunbae-nim lately. I heard he was closer to other people during their trainee days. You know, personality differences and all. …Still, he was very worried when Sunbae-nim got hurt. Me? I’m just so thankful J-Hyung became the leader of Enheim and not some other group. Hyung, are you watching?”
From Ra-min’s perspective, mentioning that Jae-in and the now-disgraced Ji-ho weren’t close was actually a calculated move to protect his leader.
Ra-min’s remarks passed without issue at the time. It wasn’t until shortly after the footage was uploaded to Me-Tube that they were dragged back up—unfortunately, becoming entangled with a controversy that was quietly spreading online.
**************************************************
[Comments]
This summary is clean. The conclusion seems settled. This is the worst idol private account leak ever.
└ Why settle the conclusion already? Is it right to target a rookie group just because a few locations are similar?
└ How much more evidence do you need?
└ Most of them are music show or event photos, so the probability of it being another group is high.
└ Why would another idol group be in Enheim’s practice room? Lol. If you look at the leaked photos, the wall texture is identical to the one in Enheim’s content.
…
Isn’t this just how guys that age play with their friends? Why is this a controversy? Catch the hacker first.
└ You’re comparing an idol to a regular 20-year-old? Insulting parents and body-shaming women?
└ That’s why he made a private account.
└ It wasn’t meant for the public. Everyone knows being an idol is just a mask.
└ Lol, even a regular 20-year-old would shake their head at that personality.
…
Gwang-nyeons are desperate to cover this up. Seeing as recommendations are blocked, they must have terrorized the admin with reports.
└ Is “Gwang-nyeon” the fandom name?
└ Yeah, they say it’s because they “wear flowers in their hair” (implying they’re crazy).
└ Lmao, fits perfectly.
…
Seriously, what did Ji-ho ever do?
Getting attacked by people bringing up debut days…
Getting targeted by haters because of trash reporters…
It’s unfair enough he’s missing the full album because of the accident…
Now he’s being mocked by a junior group?
└ A Ji-ho shield comment? I guess he did have solo fans…
└ The “Glo”s (fandom), especially Ji-ho fans, are beyond furious. Pentagram members are introverts so they’ve been quiet, but they’re rising up now that he’s being dragged again.
└ I’m seeing a lot of rumors from the Star Ent debut days being posted right now. Looks like Ji-ho solo fans are leaking them.
└ I saw them too. Apparently, Yoon Jae-in was always stuck to Jung Ji-ho, so did he just get stabbed in the back by that little brother?
└ Honestly, Ji-ho was the “tanker” for Pentagram.
└ Is Jung Ji-ho coming back? Missing the full album is a huge deal.
******************************************************
Beyond this post, all sorts of stories branched out across internet communities. Speculative posts that should have remained in the shadows were uploaded as entertainment articles, and Enheim was mentioned multiple times under the title: “Male Idol Facing Personality Controversy After Private SNS Hack.”
Of course, Jae-in was indignant. Because that account absolutely did not belong to him.
“It clearly sounds like Lee Ra-min’s voice! He’s the only one who speaks informally to trainees regardless of age and secretly got a phone to use Up-Stagram!”
“What are you talking about, Hyung? No matter how frustrated you are, how can you pin this on me? This is ridiculous. Bring me evidence. Evidence that it’s my account.”
Since the hacked account had already been deleted, Ra-min replied shamelessly. Jae-in’s face flushed red with a sense of betrayal, unfairness, and rage that filled him to the top of his head.
“I can find evidence if I want to. Do you think I’m just going to stay still? If I reveal that the owner of that account isn’t me but you, then everyone—”
However, Jae-in couldn’t express all the emotions boiling inside him. It was because of the manager, who stopped their argument with a loud voice.
“Both of you, shut up! Yoon Jae-in. Didn’t I tell you to keep acting like you don’t know? No matter how much you deny an incident like this, the public won’t believe you. It’s only a mess under the surface anyway, so I told you several times to stay silent until it dies down!”
“But it’s not me, yet everyone is cursing me out saying it’s my account!”
“So, as you wish, are you going to announce that Ra-min is the culprit? Is that something a leader should say?”
“…….”
Realistically, the manager was right, so Jae-in couldn’t argue further. Even if he said he did nothing wrong and that Ra-min was the true owner of the account, it would still end up being a problem for Enheim as a whole.
“Follow the company’s lead. If you stay quiet, we’ll handle it. Phew, celebrities inevitably live while taking the fall for things they didn’t do. Why do you think ‘noise marketing’ exists? Do you think I’ve only dealt with this once or twice while managing idols?”
Faced with a manager who used his industry experience to silence him, Jae-in completely lost the will to argue. It was also because he felt the sincerity behind the manager’s gaze, which looked at him as if he were immature.
He realized the company didn’t believe his explanation—or perhaps they viewed him as a pathetic older brother trying to frame his younger member for his own sins.
“…I understand. You must resolve this.”
From then on, Jae-in had to stay cooped up in the dorm, essentially under “self-reflection” to ensure he didn’t cause more trouble.
While being unilaterally bombarded with many times more insults than he had heard in his entire twenty years, he had to watch as he was branded an “Idol with Personality Issues” on the internet. He thought about asking his father for help, but at the mention that it might affect the family business, he couldn’t even bring it up properly.
During that agonizing time, Jae-in contemplated many things alone. How to resolve this situation, whether he could really trust the agency and stay still, and whether there was a way to appeal his unfair treatment without revealing that Ra-min was the owner.
But no matter how hard he thought, no solution came to mind. He wondered if he even needed to worry about Enheim in this situation, but he didn’t want to give up being an idol because of something that wasn’t his fault.
‘I could get the voice—the most certain evidence—appraised… No, if Ra-min gets caught then… Is there a problem with the overlapping movements? Argh, why did this kid post so many photos?’
The other members of Enheim ignored Jae-in’s predicament. Part of it was their closeness to the like-minded Ra-min, but it was mostly an attitude of not wanting to get their hands dirty.
Ra-min, the actual owner of the account, maintained an air of total ignorance and remained shameless even when he ran into Jae-in at the dorm. He even openly mocked him, saying, “Wow, the hate on Yoon Jae-in is brutal. Why don’t you just run away like Ji-ho?”
At that moment, the person he thought of most was Ji-ho, who had recently been caught in a similar situation. He remembered how he had ignored his own discomfort and pretended not to know until Ji-ho declared his hiatus.
He realized that perhaps back then, Ji-ho had desperately wanted a helping hand just like he did now. He wondered if Ji-ho had hoped he would step up to help.
“Still, Ji-ho Hyung, I won’t give up as easily as you did. Even if no one believes in me, I’ll find a way somehow. Who said I’m quitting? Do you think I’m that easy to push over?”
If finding the real account owner was going to be a problem, he just had to find another way. He could start by resolving the related incidents so that the evidence supporting the speculation would be viewed as false.
The first person the frustrated and cornered Jae-in sought out was—
None other than Kim Jun-o.
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