136 - I Unknowingly Rejected My Favorite

EP.136 #136. Hot Topic The community is on fire. I expected it, but I didn't foresee it would become such a massive topic. Scrolling down the comments, I saw that the clip from my recent Q&A was the center of attention. [New actor Han Taemin reveals he's Pinguette (a VTuber).] Comments were blazing with various heated reactions. Angry fans of Pinguette were bombarding with their protests. [Kill that deceitful bastard!] [Wait. Was he forced to do it? Why would someone like him watch VTubers?] [Lol, pure viral marketing from Closer?] [Is the title of 'geek' going to be snatched now too...] If it had ended there, I would have brushed it off. However, the more 'detective' individuals took it further. [But didn't Han Taemin say the drama 'Rukatang' was good? Isn't it related?] [This is definitely 100%. It reeks of connection.] Like the previous school violence controversy, if it were all nonsensical, I'd laugh it off. But this time, it wasn't entirely baseless. Because in a way, the rumor wasn't completely off-mark. If the public discovered I was dating Luka, it would cause an uproar. I had no desire to cause further trouble for Doa, who already faced backlash over the horror game issue. Ignoring my wishes, comments flooded the original video. There were encouraging words anticipating my future activities, and many noted a charming contrast to my character, Kim Eojin. But honestly, I was more nervous because I frequented VTuber communities. Ah... I don’t know. I don’t know. The company authorized it. Of course, they didn’t permit dating, but the interview content was all notified and agreed upon in advance. If it becomes problematic, there’s at least a minimal buffer to protect me. It’s time to stop monitoring comments. I picked up my phone to rest and rubbed my eyes before checking the screen again. [11 missed calls] [300+ unread messages] Wh-what is this? I'd never received so many notifications in my life. They weren't from the company or Doa, but other acquaintances. High school friends and even middle school friends had reached out. The latest message was from Yoonjae. Seeing him as the easiest to deal with, I called him back. [Hello?] [Hey! Taemin! You’re amazing!] [What?] [Wow. You’re with YM! Why didn’t you say anything!?] Because you never asked, I didn't answer. And I never felt the need to tell Yoonjae beforehand. [Why did you call?] [Of course, because of the interview! The classmates are going crazy!] His overly excited voice made me frown. The school kids already know? The video only went up two days ago! I dreaded asking but had to. [Uh... who knows?] [Everyone in our chat group knows, it got shared there.] Damn. I’m screwed. [By the way, are you still seeing Doa?] [Uh, yeah.] [And they’re okay with you dating? No issues?] [Ah...] The contract I signed was just for three months. Their monitoring my personal relationships for such a short period was beyond odd. [Seems like there’s nothing yet.] [Really? That’s surprising. Anyways, congrats! Let me know if you end up in a famous drama in the future!] [...Yeah.] I had no intention to, but I said I'd keep that in mind and hung up before checking my messages. With this level of frenzy, it had to be a group chat. The most active chat I was part of was... [Hey Han Taemin, why aren’t you looking at the chat?] [Is Doa seeing this too? How could he do that?] [LMAO, if he was pretending to be normal, the comments would’ve lit him up.] Over 200 messages exchanged by high school friends. I scrolled down, finally reaching the latest messages. [I’m sorry. Please don’t say anything weird out thereㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ] I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I knew it was best to apologize to them. They knew way too much about my embarrassing past. [LMAO if someone captured just your nonsense from this chat, your celeb career would be over, right?] [Wow, Han Taemin, how could you not tell us about this huge news?] [Still, congrats! Wow, we have a celebrity friend now!] After enduring a barrage of questions, almost like an interrogation, I told them what I could and asked again for my blunders to be forgotten. [Luka has fragrant feet smell.] A capture of my past comment came in swiftly. [Please stop...] I kicked my blanket and buried my face in the pillow. * * * The only person who knew my identity and had seen my boyfriend’s face, Muring, started bombarding me early with voice messages. As soon as I accepted the call, a shrill scream hit my eardrums! [Unnieee! This is crazy! Amazing!] [Muring... I'm on earphones... please...] Hearing it twice would surely make my ears bleed. [Wow! Is Taemin oppa really debuting with our company?] [Yeah... it kind of turned out that way...] [I always thought his face was unreal. I was so surprised!] [Please keep it a secret from the other members.] They all knew I had a boyfriend, but only she knew his real name and face. [Of course! If I say anything, Jenifer unnie will...] Recalling the past scolding, my face turned pale. There wasn't any negative impact yet, but getting involved in something damaging to the group again was the last thing I needed. [My boyfriend is also freaking out, saying it’s incredible.] [Ah... really?] [Yeah, even my boyfriend keeps saying how cool he is and watches the drama with me.] ...That's just because you guys aren't close to him. Knowing the reality, I couldn't help but chuckle. Still, the interview seemed quite realistic. [But unnie, are you okay with all this?] [All this?] [Your boyfriend is the talk of the fan cafes and communities right now.] Though it was causing a stir, there wasn't much I could do about it. After all, our company approved Taemin oppa's interview, and he hadn't done anything wrong. Frankly, even if it had been another male idol, it would have caused the same reaction. People cheering for me as my fans, what could I possibly explain about that? [It might get hectic when I go on a live broadcast later.] [If there are any trolls, just block them straight away.] [The moderators will handle it well.] Despite saying this, it was clear that the broadcast would be challenging. Wow... the chat is going to explode again... I wonder when this commotion will finally die down. [It’s like a complete drama, unnie.] [Huh? What is?] [A metaverse idol meeting a real-life actor! Doesn't it sound like a webtoon?] [I guess so.] ...I suppose this is how people see it. I thought back to when I first met oppa. Kim Doa, a small-time VTuber with a crush on a handsome senior she knew nothing about. Han Taemin, the hot yet introverted guy regularly turning down girls with a blank face. And now, as time passed, we had become something a bit more remarkable. [Ah, knowing this makes it feel so thrilling, you know?] Listening to her, she really sounded like a young girl. Imagining her all excited in front of the computer with piercings in her mouth gave me a sense of dissonance. [If this leaks to Closer, it’s definitely you.] [Ack! Right? I’ll keep quiet, I swear~ Solute solute~] Having ended the call with Muring, I let out a sigh and moved the mouse to check out oppa's interview video. Look at those views... By now, it was almost at the level of a Luka clip. The channel where oppa's interview was uploaded already had a huge subscriber base, but even with that in mind, the views were impressive. Over 500,000 in just two days... Having seen the top comments before, I switched to the newest ones and scrolled down. [Wow... A man straight out of a comic... A nerdy guy...! He's real!] [The perfect type. Just that.] [At 11:24, his smile melts you. So cute when he talks about VTubers and gets shy.] Clicking on the tagged time, I watched oppa answering with a somewhat awkward smile. Flustered, he couldn’t even look at the camera properly. [During breaks, I mostly... just watch a lot of Closer videos in my room...] ...He is genuinely adorable. Whoever’s man he is. I often thought he was too precious to keep to myself, but seeing him appreciated by others felt... [I want to see him.] Why did I feel this urge to be clingy? I sent a text, embedding my true feelings within.