This reality show had been planned with significance placed on uniting East’s fandom, which had split into two, into one.
Most fans watched the broadcast happily and naturally found themselves warming to members who were not their own bias, but there were always one or two people everywhere with especially sharp eyes.
Those people pointed out things like, “Why do the members seem to have a weak spot for Cheonghyeon?”, “Why does the manager treat Cheonghyeon like a child left near the water’s edge?”, and “Did something happen at the beginning of this year, and are the members and the company side bowing their heads to Cheonghyeon because of some wrongdoing they committed?”
[ Thoughts from one multifan who watched East Reality (warning: long post) ]
Why does Cheonghyeon look to me not like an East member but like a guest…ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Everyone’s having fun while watching the reality show, so why am I the only one who feels bothered?
I thought about it for a long time. Suddenly going to the military in the middle of promotions, getting forcibly pushed out of Uyeonri, which only ended up making a ton of delusional shippers, getting taken to the hospital;;
They’d already neglected him as much as they could for 6 years, then the reality show starts right when he suddenly gets popular from a café eyewitness post. Like they’re trying to show, “See, we’re close~” But the sense of incongruity still doesn’t go away. Hando, Yoonwoo, and Sikyung, those three joke around with each other and talk easily, so why is it that only Cheonghyeon gives off the feeling of some transfer student made of glass marblesㅋㅋㅋ
They’re already in their 7th year and have lived together in the same dorm, bumping into each other every day, so why? Why do they not look close to me? Why does it look like they’re only just now trying to get close? And why do the members seem like they’re treading so carefully only around Cheonghyeon?
└ Yawn… it’s so long I didn’t read it
└ Ah, the comment aboveㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Just enjoy the reality show.. ah, you’re the only one being seriousㅜㅜ
Some of Cheonghyeon’s individual fans still had not accepted the other members and reacted sensitively.
In the comments, there were only fans pushing back, but the number of upvotes on that post had already gone over 1,000.
Inside the official fan café, where the members might even see it, Pobies were all so close with each other, but once you stepped one foot outside the fence of the café, it was already a battlefield.
Because of that, the fandom that had just barely seemed like it might finally come together started showing signs of splitting apart again, and soon the fans of the three members other than Cheonghyeon began fighting back too, saying, “They’re criticizing my babies because Gi Cheonghyeon is pulling forced-concept crap to target the homo fandom.”
Cheonghyeon could only click his tongue at how sharp the fans were.
It was true that the members, as they were now, could not treat Cheonghyeon normally.
A member who had lost his memory after making an extreme choice had woken up and immediately said he would refuse to renew his contract.
The CEO had coaxed and coaxed him, asking him to at least hold out until the end of this year, and on top of that, he had even willingly agreed to do a reality show they did not especially need for East’s sake.
It was only natural that their behavior would turn cautious when they thought of themselves as potential perpetrators toward someone who was struggling to adapt to daily life and idol activities with only a scant amount of memory.
When the fandom they had worked so hard to bring together started showing signs of splitting more and more even before the next filmed episode aired, the PD and the people from Global Semical began a meeting. At this rate, there had been no point in painstakingly filming the reality show.
“How about we just broadcast this meeting on V app instead? For maybe… around 30 minutes.”
“What?”
“The theme this time is something that even antis would have a hard time cursing recklessly. When the members are talking about how hard it was for each individual member to rise to the top idol spot and how much the people around them supported them, people generally don’t curse at that. We just show a little taste of it, not the full broadcast episode.
We first throw some bait to the fans through V app, then in the next filming we show the members going at it together in the survival segment, and I think the synergy would be much better… If we keep going like this, even if we air the next survival game episode, the response won’t be good.”
At the PD’s words, the people from Global Semical went straight into a meeting.
Hando’s acquaintance was a member of a famous dance crew that even had its own YouTube channel, so getting permission for a live broadcast would be easy, but Sikyung’s and Yoonwoo’s acquaintances were ordinary people, so they did not seem likely to agree.
As the staff looked troubled, the PD added,
“All the members don’t have to do V app. I only brought it up because I thought even if only the ones who can do it go ahead, it would still be enough to calm the current controversy. V app will end quickly anyway, and we still have to do a long separate shoot for the main broadcast. Since we rented this café for the entire day anyway, let’s at least ask Cheonghyeon-ssi and Hyeonbaragi-ssi whether it’s possible.”
Cheonghyeon was also called into the meeting room and heard the whole story from his manager.
He stepped out of the meeting room to talk to Seoan about the V app broadcast, but Seoan was nowhere to be seen.
Looking around to find him, he spotted Seoan talking with a female staff member in a corner.
He could not hear what they were saying, but the sight of them looking rather sweet together for some reason made his mood sour, and Cheonghyeon strode over to Seoan.
“Hyung, why are you here? I’ve been looking for you forever. We’re talking about something important right now.”
He could not understand why someone who had come to film this broadcast hand in hand with him because he did not want to get married was being so kind to a woman he had just met.
After giving the staff member a rough little nod, Cheonghyeon tugged Seoan away with a sullen face. But as his reason slowly returned, his dissatisfaction subsided and his face grew hot.
He had only been talking with a staff member. They might have been discussing this shoot.
Or maybe they had really been talking about something personal. It was only that he hated being forced into marriage by his family, not that he could possibly dislike a pretty woman.
If he were an ordinary adult, not someone like Cheonghyeon who felt awkward in front of everyone. If he were an ordinary adult man…
But then why had that surge of hurt welled up like that? It felt very much like the feeling he had back then when, in his dream, he saw hyungnim, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, and Isaac playing merrily together.
This feeling was so unfamiliar to Cheonghyeon.
In the imperial palace, everyone had been people devoted to him. That was why their feelings too had all belonged to him.
But that was not the case here. That fact made Cheonghyeon anxious all over again.
“You’re not telling just anyone that you lost your memory. Did you come over because you were worried? Because you thought I might stab you in the back?”
Watching Seoan laugh low and whisper in his ear, Cheonghyeon felt even more uncomfortable.
That was not it. That was not why he was acting like this. But then what was it?
Even Cheonghyeon himself could not understand his own heart. Right. He knew Seoan was not someone who would go around telling his secret, so why had he felt so bad?
When he could not find an answer on his own, the best method was, as expected, Ihwa. Seeing that it was around lunchtime, Cheonghyeon secretly slipped into the emergency stairwell and called Ihwa.
—That’s only natural. I do that too.
“Huh?”
—Well, this kind of thing happens. Say there are friends A and B, but actually A and B were not originally friends with each other. I introduced them, so the three of us became close. But then A and B start getting closer and closer. Without me! If the two of them go to an amusement park together or go eat at good restaurants together by themselves, of course you’d feel hurt, right? Even between friends, possessiveness can happen. If you feel that way, it’s probably because you like that friend a lot. Like, I wish they’d spend more fun time with me than with other people. That kind of feeling.
“Ah! I see.”
He really felt it had been a good thing to tell Ihwa after all.
Only now did he understand the emotion he had felt just before. If not for him, the staff member and Seoan would never even have had a chance to meet.
But seeing Seoan, whom he had thought would stay stuck right beside him, talking warmly with another staff member had left him feeling hurt. And according to Ihwa, this was a natural feeling.
“Yeah, noona. Thank you. Yeah, yeah, got it. Yeah. I’ll call you again.”
The moment he ended the call with Ihwa, his mind refreshed, someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder and plopped down beside him.
“Gideon?”
Startled so badly that he could not even make a sound, he clutched at his pounding chest and shot Seoan a fierce glare.
Seoan raised both hands and tilted his head as if he had done nothing wrong.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Your manager was wandering around looking for you so desperately… He was basically your father, you know? I came to look for you too, to lighten his burden a bit. Though I didn’t know you’d be secretly making a phone call with a woman in the emergency stairwell.”
“Ah… Ah, it’s not like that. How much did you hear?”
“Is it something you have to hide from me? That hurts…. I only heard the very last thing. I only guessed it was Ihwa-ssi because I figured she’s the only noona you know.”
At those words, Cheonghyeon let out a relieved breath and rose, brushing off his backside.
No matter how natural the feeling was, saying that he had been upset just because Seoan had talked to someone else instead of focusing on him felt somehow embarrassing.
As he helped Seoan, who had been sitting on the emergency stairwell following him, to stand up, Cheonghyeon said stiffly,
“Just focus on the shoot. Stop fooling around.”
When they went back to where the production staff were gathered, the PD asked whether it would be all right if they did about a 30-minute live broadcast.
When Seoan gave a small nod and said it was fine, Cheonghyeon nodded too. Having gotten their permission, the PD asked a nearby assistant director to set up the equipment for the live broadcast in a corner of the café.
Then, after hearing the news that the interviews they had just filmed had been edited at least roughly, he immediately instructed them to upload them online.
<Meeting the person I am most grateful to for helping me get to this place.>
Ep.01 – Between love and friendship. The meeting between the sunflower who looks only at one person and Cheonghyeon!
- A live broadcast is scheduled today at 02:30 PM. –
The title, which looked full of aggro bait, and the short teaser video were quickly edited and pre-released online
And the community burst into flames at once, so quickly it was hard to believe it was still a leisurely afternoon.
Even fans of other groups swarmed into the community as soon as word spread that the one behind the 500 million won support would soon appear on V app with Cheonghyeon.
[ ???????What is this???????? So right now, does this mean Hyeonbaragi and Cheonghyeon are meeting????? ]
└ Right now??? All of a sudden????
└ Hul I’m so flustered
└ Looking at the video, it kind of seems like they already know each other a bitㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ wow what is this????
.
[ Hul so I guess the person Cheonghyeon chose for this theme is Hyeonbaragi, wow holy shit ]
└ Wow I think that’s right hul this is amazing
└ But they’re doing it on V app..? Do they really have to??ㅠㅠ…. I feel like it’s going to attract so much aggro
└ 222… Cheonghyeon-ah, don’t read the comments…ㅠㅠ…..
.
[ Ah then wasn’t Hyeonbaragi the other person in that Gangnam eyewitness post from before?]
└ I think that’s right
└ ㅇㅇ I heard it was the manager driving the car too, so maybe they met briefly while getting ready for filming
└ Hul amazing, this is so fascinatingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I knew it, that eyewitness Poby back then said there was one man in the room
.
[ Um… but is everyone really fine with this?? It was a bunch of fans who raised Cheonghyeon, but is it normal for him to pick out just one person and say, this is someone precious to me..ㅋㅋㅋ]
└ ? What do you mean raised himㅋㅋㅋ You keep saying my baby my baby so much that now you think you really raised him?ㅗ
└ Uh, our Cheonghyeon grew up just fine on his own… if you’re jealous, then you should’ve liked him since debut too and put in 500 million won in support when you heard he was appearing on a variety showㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You should’ve written him letters every day for 6 yearsㅠㅠ
└ Just ignore it, seems like aggro bait. Real fans are totally fine with it, so why are you making a scene after taking it personally
.
[ What’s the problem with him being personally close with Hyeonbaragi…? It’s not even a womanㅋㅋㅋ He’s a fan who stayed beside him back when he was a nobody, so if it were me I’d rely on him tooㅇㅇ]
└ 222 When it came out before that Shaitans’ Hyerin sang at a fan’s wedding, everyone was making a fuss saying it was heartwarming, so why is it suddenly only a problem with Cheonghyeon…? Isn’t that a double standard
└ It’s already their 7th year this year, at that point he’s basically an acquaintance for realㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Even if it were a woman, honestly, would it really matter?
.
[I think that last male fan in the Cheongsansu fansign fancam is Hyeonbaragi, so I brought it]
└ (YouTube link) The part where Cheonghyeon opens his eyes wide and smiles as soon as he realizes it’s Hyeonbaragiㅇㅇ Just from that, doesn’t it look like they’ve basically become acquaintances already?? What’s all this talk about problematic fraternizingㅋㅋㅋ
└ What’s wrong with relying on him like an actual older brother, why is everyone making such a huge fussㅠㅠㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ I seriously don’t even get why this is controversialㅇㅅㅇ…
.
[ But why am I tearing up…ㅋㅋㅋㅋ큐ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ The theme is “Meeting the precious person who helped me get to this place,” and for Cheonghyeon, that’s Hyeonbaragi-nim… That means he was someone who supported a kid who did not even have separate individual activities, from beginning to end..]
└ On top of that, if you think about how he put together such a huge support event for his first solo variety shoot, it really just makes me tear up…ㅜ
└ Right, instead of seeing this as cliquey overfamiliarity, it means the people who helped Cheonghyeon get to this point without giving up were Hyeonbaragi and Gidieon. Honestly, even if Gidieon had appeared, I really wouldn’t have minded at all
└ I’m watching the video and seriously tearing up.. look at Cheonghyeon’s interviewㅠㅠ… >>>The person who always protected me, even when I didn’t know it.<<< This part reallyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ…
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