These days Hyuna was on a personal “Boycott Choi Jihyun” campaign.
Of course she was dying to hear “Sweet Slumber,” the song sung by Kang Hajun, but she forced herself to hold out.
Online, netizens were suddenly hailing the rookie composer Choi Jihyun as HS’s new rival, belittling her brother with lines like “HS is washed-up” and “HS suffers a crushing defeat.”
Some even claimed that Choi Jihyun and HS were the same person.
“Yeah, right!”
If that were true, her brother would have told her himself. How could anyone see them as one and the same? HS was the best, period. Everyone else was an idiot. Fools.
“No cutting in line—there’s a reason he’s called God Etchis!”
Pouting, Hyuna kept A.N.P on endless repeat, sparring in comment sections against the swelling ranks of Choi Jihyun fans.
“Listen to A.N.P properly, then come back and talk.”
After posting a few pro-HS replies, she set her phone down.
“Honestly, they’re all idiots!”
She was still fuming.
Bzzzz!
The group-chat notifications exploded.
[Guys, Ha-jun’s challenge video just dropped!]
[What, send the link, send the link!]
[https://www.noutube.com/hajun]
[My deepest gratitude to you all.]
[When should I marry Kang Hajun?]
[Sorry, he’s marrying me the day after tomorrow.]
[Mom, Kang Hajun is wooing me!]
It must be a challenge for Choi Jihyun’s song “Sweet Slumber.”
“Haa…”
She held out only a second. Tap. Curiosity won and she clicked the link. She might have neglected Kang Hajun lately because of her boyfriend, but no way could she abandon her first love.
“I can’t skip a video.”
On screen, Hajun stood in comfy clothes.
“Yes, A.N.P!”
To her surprise, the track was her brother’s song sung by Seo Jini.
“Etchis!”
With a strange shout Ha-jun flailed his long arms and legs in that ridiculous dance.
Meanwhile chat bubbles popped up from her friends:
[Wait, what is he doing? Is this real?]
[He’s doing “office politics,” that’s what.]
[Oh right, HS wrote this and Seo Jini sang it.]
[Don’t tease him, apparently this challenge is trending in Japan.]
Supporting fire, it seemed. Anyone willing to join such a goofy challenge had to be kind.
[Weirdly addictive though.]
[You too? Me too.]
[I’m trying it already.]
[—sent a video—]
[LOL you actually danced it!]
[Should I upload this as a Reel? Looks good?]
[Yeah do it, Daily Humor will repost for sure.]
Strangest of all and before she knew it, Hyuna was copying the silly moves herself.
“Etchis!”
Manager Kim was escorting Hyunseung to the cafeteria for a late lunch.
“Hyunseung, look at this real quick.”
“Is it so important right now?”
“You’re only going to eat. Come on, look.”
Reluctantly Hyunseung opened the link Kim sent.
[Where are the HS stans? Revival meeting! God Etchis!]
Scroll, scroll.
—Here!!! Count me in!!! Revival meeting sign-up (1/0000)
—Honestly HS lost this round LOL Choi Jihyun wins by a mile
—No jumping the queue. There’s a reason he’s God Etchis
—They didn’t even have a wager so who won what; calm down
—Seo Jini’s pushing the song like crazy but why so little buzz?
—HS is yesterday’s news, new Choi Jihyun stans hands up!
—Listen to A.N.P properly before you talk.
The entire internet was chaos. Fanbases were skirmishing over whose music was better, HS or Choi Jihyun.
[Is it just me or do HS and Choi Jihyun songs sound alike? Same label, zero personal info… what if they’re the same person? Am I the only one thinking this?]
Scroll, scroll.
—That’s late-stage delusion, see a doctor.
—Dude that’s harsh, let people speculate.
—Actually after listening I kinda suspect it too.
—Nah that’s over-immersion, chill.
—Great, couch-detective Conan’s here.
Suspicions that HS and Choi Jihyun were one had begun to pop up, with rebuttals immediately following. Even columns and articles debated the theory.
Manager Kim lived in constant worry that the secret would leak. Only key staff inside the company knew. He kept everyone’s lips sealed.
Meanwhile Team 1’s Manager Oh kept running his mouth that HS was outdated, driving Kim toward an ulcer.
Of course, the man at the center of it all, Hyunseung, seemed utterly uninterested.
But you never knew. No creator liked seeing his song underperform.
“People are quicker on the uptake than I thought.” Kim lifted his tray. “Should we just issue an official statement denying it?”
Hyunseung halted.
“Also, Music Core sent a request. They’ll let you on wearing a helmet, promo for ‘A.N.P’ alongside Seo Jini. I’ll email you the details…”
“Manager Kim, hold on.”
“Yeah?”
“Can we eat out today instead?”
“Huh? All of a sudden?”
“This says sausage-and-vegetable stir-fry but there’s no sausage.”
Right. That’s what bothered him.
“Only I suffer,” Kim muttered.
“Huh?”
“Nothing, let’s go get food.”
Apparently, what weighed on Hyunseung’s mind wasn’t chart positions or identity rumors, but the absence of sausage in sausage stir-fry.
Back at the office after lunch, Kim had no time even to digest before an employee approached.
“Aphrody just knocked Yun Jaeyi from the top spot on the chart.”
Sure enough,
1 cute babe – Aphrody
2 To You, Who Had Only Me – Yun Jaeyi
It was the natural order: a two-month-old ballad versus a fresh girl-group comeback. Holding on this long was impressive.
As Kim reopened his inbox to forward the booking request to Hyun-seung…
Ping.
Calendar alert: “Street Again, J broadcast monitoring.”
He had already missed the first two episodes because all his attention was on Hyunseung. He couldn’t skip the finale.
Notebook in hand, Kim ducked into a side room, opened the stream.
Live chat scrolled:
—Came here after binge-watching Yun Jaeyi busking clips lol
—All that rigging talk from K-SingerStar totally died with this show.
—Is it me or do veteran mentors look like they’re babysitting J and Yuju?
Kim knew the on-scene details, but edited broadcast felt different. Yun Jaeyi sang mostly backup to legends Kim Kwang-jin and Won Young-seop. It was nice but not explosive compared to the other team where Idol Yuju went all-out.
—Wow Team B just tore up Paris streets; Jayble’s arrangement is insane.
—Was that foreign guy in the crowd super handsome or what?
Idol Yuju’s impromptu dance, apparently unscripted, clearly startled her teammates. Viewers noticed too.
Kim frowned. He had once seen Yoo-ju’s not-so-pretty side, and just earlier Aphrody had stolen first place.
Maybe I should leave a comment…
He began typing, “Honestly Jaeyi sings way better, doesn’t she?”
Knock knock knock.
He hastily backspaced as an employee poked in.
“Manager Kim, you need to see this.”
“See what?”
Closing the laptop, he followed. The employee blurted, voice tense:
“A scandal just broke—power-trip controversy!”
At the same time, live chat erupted:
—Guys click this link NOW!
—What the heck is this?!
Leave a Reply