WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

I'm a Reporter, Please let me get off the Stage

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Chapter 24

“Hey, Jo Hayeon, are you skipping meals again?”

“Ah, I don’t know, what am I even supposed to do when I’m not hungry?”

“Not hungry? I haven’t seen you eat properly since last week.”

Jo Hayeon, a sophomore in Visual Design at GG University, was half-leaning on the couch located in their department launch, holding a cup of instant noodles in one hand.

“Is that even considered eating? You just poured some hot water on it and let it sit there.”

Her classmate, Kim Minjeong, clicked her tongue at the sight of the round, swollen noodle block.

“Eat some real food…… Do you think those oppas will feed you?”

“Yeah. Seeing Yuyoung made me regain my appetite. It gave me the will to live. Wouldn’t you call that feeding me?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Buying you food with their own money and spoon-feeding it to you is what you call feeding.”

“You just wouldn’t understand…… Anyway, they properly fed me.”

“You’re driving me crazy. Should I just go to their dorm and drag Ahn Yuyoung here for you?”

“……Are you really trying to comfort me?”

Tears began to well up in Jo Hayeon’s eyes, as she held the cup of noodles the size of her palm in her hand.

Sigh, what was wrong with her friend’s mental state…… Kim Minjeong felt her head starting to hurt.

“Sorry, sorry. What do I as a normie even know? I really could never understand such noble love. Seriously, I’m not being sarcastic.”

“Minjeong…… What should I do?”

Salty drops fell into the cup of noodles. They were large tears. Kim Minjeong moved next to Jo Hayeon and patted her back reassuringly.

“Your eyes are all swollen from crying. How long do you plan to keep this up? It’s really upsetting.”

“How’s this upsetting you……”

“Of course, it’s because my friend is upset! I should just round up Ahn Yuyoung or WEEKEND or whatever these jerks are called and give them a good beating. Who do they think they are, making my friend so sad……?”

“Minjeong……”

Though Kim Minjeong meant to comfort her, it seemed like her words had the opposite effect as Jo Hayeon started to cry openly.

As for Jo Hayeon’s background…

She had been a fan of WEEKANIZ for 5 years now.

In other words, she was a ‘debut fan’.

She loved WEEKANIZ’ leader, Ahn Yuyoung, from the time they sold just a thousand albums in their first week.

Even during their long hiatuses and when they were on everyone’s lips due to copyright lawsuits.

Despite everything that was said, she was a dedicated fan who never missed even a single one of Ahn Yuyoung activites, right up until they reached the milestone of selling twenty thousand albums last year.

They were practically in the ‘Thankful for all the attention even if it's just hate comments’ phase (A phase that the fans self-deprecatingly named themselves).

But she believed that, like a pearl hidden inside a shell, they would eventually show their true worth.

As long as the members didn’t cause any major scandals (though they did have a lot of minor ones), she was just grateful that they continued to release albums after their long breaks.

“At the 3rd Mini Album Showcase, Yuyoung looked so beautiful…… with his cute little poodle puppy perm……”

“Yeah, yeah. You also said that he looked like he was twenty when he had his bangs down. You even said that he looked like he was the same age as Chae Ire.”

“Yuyoung isn’t a bad guy…… sigh.”

“Yeah, yeah, just like how there’s no such thing as a bad dog, Yuyoung isn’t a bad guy either. You mentioned that.”

“You remembered……”

“If I didn’t that would mean I swapped bodies with someone else…… You’ve said it about 50 times or so.”

Those eyes that curved into crescent moons when he smiled, that round nose, his clear skin……

Ahn Yuyoung was an angel!!!

Sure, he was a bit shy for a leader, which led to the creation of video compilations called ‘Ahn Yuyoung’s Awkward Smiles’. Some people even said that he was annoying because of that …… (Jo Hayeon always wondered who had made that clip. If she ever found out, she would 100% kill them)

Still, she could easily see those awkward smiles as his cute charm point. If anyone had seen Ahn Yuyoung’s face light up with a genuine smile even once, there was no way that they wouldn’t become his fan…… Jo Hayeon was certain of that.

Of course, when she showed Kim Minjeong the fan-cams she’d taken at earlier events, Minjeong would just shrug and say ‘He looks like he’s having fun’.

……But that was just because Minjeong hadn’t found true love yet.

Those almond-shaped eyes that curved into crescents, the way the corners of his eyes softened when he smiled. It was a smile that could wipe away all her worries!

And his name, Ahn Yuyoung (안유영). Round all around. How could it be that all three of this person’s name contained  ‘ㅇ’ in them……?

“Sigh……”

But now, with all these storm clouds hanging over the group, would she ever be able to see his smile again?

Just thinking about it brought tears to Jo Hayeon’s eyes again.

Her favorite idol had disappeared for a month, and that alone was already nightmare enough for her to keep her up all night. But now, as if that wasn’t enough, there were rumours that he was caught up with a terrible agency and was being mistreated by them. He even was accused of power abuse.

Honestly, it was a huge blow to her back then.

No matter how much she thought about it, it obviously was all that damn agency’s dirty work, and it irritated her to no end to see internet trolls, who didn’t know the first thing about WEEKANIZ, using this opportunity to stir up trouble.

Thankfully, a correction article was published just a few days later. Jo Hayeon clung to that article like a weapon, sharpening it, and used it to jab at the endless stream of troll posts that seemed to multiply like slimes.

But even as she did that, her heart didn’t feel any lighter.

She was deeply worried that Ahn Yuyoung hadn’t made any attempts to personally post anything during all this. Her poor, shy boy…… He was probably suffering in silence, burdened by all the world’s worries, or so she, quite reasonably, thought.

As a devoted fan, half-mad with worry, she found herself writing messages like,’ Yuyoung, are you eating well?ㅠㅠ’ and even entertained extreme thoughts like if she should file a missing person report or not.

And then, her favorite idol appeared in the most unexpected of places.

It was in…… something that seemed to be a morning news segment called ‘Today’s Citizen’.

<[Exclusive] WEEKANIZ Yuyoung Stops Hyun Jiwoo’s ‘Power Trip’?...... 5-Year Idol Takes a Stand.>

……It was somewhat embarrassing and unnecessary that the phrase ‘5-Year Idol’ had to be added to this title.

……That was what she thought, but this was still good.

After all, the agency had already dragged his name through the mud with these stupid rumors about power abuse, so this news article was like a heavenly gift, with which he could clean himself.

Not only that, but Yuyoung actually directly intervened himself on the set, putting a stop to it.

[Ahn Yuyoung from WEEKANIZ, who can’t walk by when even a stray cat is in trouble without helping♥. gif]

After such a long time, Jo Hayeon felt refreshed.

She dug out all the old gifs of Yuyoung from her hard drive, freshened them up by increasing their brightness and sharpness until they were blinding, and began sharing them like crazy.

However, she was careful not to include any keywords like ‘Hyun Jiwoo’, ‘Stylist’ or ‘Power Abuse’.

‘Can’t have those drama-loving aunties from the actor fandom swarming in. They’re probably already half out of their minds, panicking because their precious son got exposed.’

That feeling of inferiority when your favorite idol showed their less-than-perfect side was something Jo Hayeon, unfortunately, knew all too well.

<@ Wol-fans, you’re blatantly propagating unbelievable lies about that guy’s character…… Have you ever thought about why he might have been there to begin with? lolol>

└ He just went on a walk, you fucking storyteller. Save your delusions for your diary.

She was acting a bit like Jekyll and Hyde, but she also had to work hard to stomp out those negative comments.

Then there was that solo project that ended up being more successful than anticipated.

Jo Hayeon was on such a dopamine high that she could barely sleep, questioning whether that was really happening.

<@ Yuyoung’s character arc is so on point and that song is top-tier>

<@ I’m someone who really knew nothing about WEEKANIZ, but Yuyoung might actually make me a fan…… But it seems like the group is practically in ashes right now, to the point that one couldn’t even light a fire in a stove with them. What should I do? Are they in any variety shows?>

└ Not likely……

└ Still, it seems like Yuyoung is preparing to get active again, so if you cling onto him, you might see something worthwhile.

Seeing these kinds of comments hit her hard, as they were true.

Despite that, she found subtle satisfaction by searching for ‘Yuyoung’, ‘WEEKANIZ’ and ‘Leader Ahn Yuyoung’ and similar keywords on fan forums and social media every day.

Gradually, she began anticipating the ‘real deal’.

His personal live streams on LiveJet.

Though Yuyoung didn’t go live often, when he did, he would usually stay for quite a long while. Sometimes even almost two hours.

Yuyoung would usually start his LiveJet streams at dinner time with cute titles like ‘Let’s eat together!’

The food he ate were usually simple things like Katsudon, Gyudon, or Bibimbap……

Even though the answers he gave to the fans’ comments were pretty standard, Hayeon found them very entertaining.

└ Yuyoung, what’s your favorite ingredient in bibimbap?

‘Erm…… Well…… I think I like meat the most.’

Gosh, even when he was asked about something as simple as his favorite bibimbap ingredients, he took the time to carefully think about it before giving such a thoughtful answer! Look at his sincerity. 

If you disliked watching someone eat, then it’s probably because you aren’t fond of them, but if they look endearing to you, that’s what one calls love……

Watching Yuyoung, who was three years older than her, Hayeon couldn’t help but smile warmly.

Loving idols could even turn a fresh college student into a doting grandmother with five grandchildren.

She wished Yuyoung would share more of his personal stories, rather than appearing in articles or releasing songs.

So, day by day, she eagerly waited, practically glued to the LiveJet app, hoping for his next stream.

Then, one day, a shocking and truly unprecedented incident in the history of Korean Idols occurred.

An incident unprecedented in Hayeon’s history as a fan.

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