Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 189

189. I Need to Step In

The agency was thrown into chaos by the sudden sponsor rumors. Moreover, this time it was linked to a news-making incident—an incident with actual victims, a rather gruesome one at that, and one that had happened just a few days ago.

People who hadn’t paid attention when the incident occurred suddenly started showing interest when it was said that a celebrity, a rising popular idol at that, was involved.

“The video? Did you check it?” CEO Im asked, pressing his temples.

“Here it is.” Jong-woo quickly turned on the video on the tablet and handed it to CEO Im. CEO Im had prepared cigarettes and candy in advance, as if bracing himself mentally before even watching the video.

When the play button was pressed, the video appeared on the tablet screen. It was a nighttime scene.

Woo Sung-woo was shown getting out of the car, and Woo Yeon-woo getting into the passenger seat. Woo Sung-woo, after confirming his brother got in, got back into the driver’s seat, and after a while, as the car carrying the two disappeared, someone mumbled from nearby.

“If he’s going around getting sponsored with his own brother, that’s legendary.”

Then, a voice presumed to be the person who filmed the video yawned and responded to the statement. “Looks like they both have strong mental fortitude.”

“Oh? Here they come. Here they come. The car. Get in quickly. Let’s follow them.”

The video was short, ending there.

CEO Im squeezed his eyes shut and crunched two candies at the same time. Jong-woo frantically waved his hands.

“That’s ridiculous! Why, a few days ago, remember Reporter Hong Hae-joon? That reporter came here to thank Yeon-woo. The voice of the reporter in this sounds like Reporter Hong Hae-joon, why would that reporter come to thank Yeon-woo if Yeon-woo was really getting sponsored?”

However, there was no confidence in his voice. He wondered if the reporter had come to thank him for allowing him to film such a juicy scene.

However, it wasn’t just LLL Entertainment that was affected.

* * *

appl***: But just because the dead person was following Woo Yeon-woo and died, doesn’t mean it has anything to do with Woo Yeon-woo? That person is a victim to the person who attacked him, but a perpetrator between him and Woo Yeon-woo.

ㄴgue***: 22222 Filming this kind of video secretly is creepy…

ㄴcati***: 33 If someone stalked me and had an accident, it would be ridiculous to say it’s my fault;;

ㄴplea***: 4444

craz***: Woo Yeon-woo’s fans are going crazy trying to defend himㅋㅋㅋ Is there anyone here saying the murder case is because of Woo Yeon-woo? Why are they feeling guilty?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴpipi***: Sort by time and look, are there five trillion comments criticizing Woo Yeon-woo here?

ㄴeest***: It’s not because of the murder case that they’re criticizing him, it’s because he drew a line saying he was so clean about sponsors and then got involved in this again.

pose***: I have a lot to say, but the law is blocking this comment.

crex***: No commentㅎ

wink***: Where there’s smoke, there’s fireㅋ [Korean idiom meaning rumors often have some basis in truth]

o2jc***: Don’t reporters have anything else to do? If they followed him to a dangerous place at night and died, they must have been sure and chasing after Woo Yeon-woo.

wild***: There are many people here who will be sued. Isn’t Woo Yeon-woo’s agency working?

rumo***: But there’s a rumor that Woo Yeon-woo’s sponsor is so powerful that they killed the cameraman as an example. Is that true?

ㄴeest***: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That’s not itㅋㅋㅋㅋ That’s too farㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴhwp3***: I think it could be true. There’s something strange. The reporter and cameraman were chasing Woo Yeon-woo, and the cameraman was murdered, but the reporter hasn’t said a word until now. Isn’t that weird? His coworker was killed so tragically?

ㄴplea***: He’s probably too embarrassed to say he got caught up trying to be an idol paparazzo

ㄴ1241***: Still, he could say he was investigating Woo Yeon-woo at night and got caught up in a crime, but it’s strange that he’s been silent.

* * *

The advertisers, who suddenly became associated with idol sponsors out of nowhere, went to Goo Se-ji, the team leader of Nakru Seoul A team, to protest this.

“Even if we’re accommodating Nakru [a fictional company], this is too much, isn’t it?”

“The image has gotten so bad… Team Leader Goo, I have a son who’s about his age. Just the fact that these rumors are circulating is embarrassing.”

“The company’s image is about to hit rock bottom, what are you going to do?”

“If it was a model we picked through the formal process, not one recommended by Nakru, we would have cut them off immediately. As soon as this happened.”

No matter how much they worked with Nakru and provided various conveniences, this incident could be fatally damaging to their image if they weren’t careful. Not just the company, but their own reputations as well.

As the parties involved in the sponsor rumors, they naturally knew the rumors were false, but the truth of the rumors wasn’t the important issue to them; it was the perception.

In the end, the advertisers sent a notice that they would postpone filming until the incident was resolved, which had an even more negative impact on the rumors. It made people think that the advertisers pulled out because there was something really going on.

* * *

“Wow. A celebrity’s life is really a roller coaster.”

“From a super idol filming twelve commercials at once to suddenly being swept up in sponsor murder rumors…”

On the other hand, the Wild Animal dorm was relatively calm. The members were so out of it because the situation had become too big and overwhelming.

Casey, who had a paper-thin mentality, had completely shut down and locked himself in his room, constantly texting with Casey.

Rembrary watched the situation and took out the business card Reporter Hong Hae-joon had given him before and made a call. After a few rings, Hong Hae-joon answered the phone.

[Hello?]

“It’s me.”

[Who is this?]

“Woo Yeon-woo.”

[Oh, Yeon-woo! You’re going through a lot these days! Those terrible people, they really don’t know the situation and are just talking!]

“What happened?”

Hye-gyeol, who was changing TV channels, mouthed, ‘Who is it?’ and crawled towards Rembrary. Rembrary went out to the veranda to avoid the other members.

“Were you trying to find out if the fact that I was being followed was related to a sponsor?”

[……I’m sorry. At the time, no matter how I thought about it, it seemed suspicious……]

“The suspicion must have been resolved, so why did you release that video?”

[I definitely didn’t release it. As I said when we met before, the detective confiscated the camera.]

“Are you saying the detective released the video?”

[I’m not sure about that… But I definitely didn’t do it, Yeon-woo. Rather, I’m in trouble because of that.]

He seemed to be sighing into the receiver, making a puffing sound.

[Everyone is whispering that I received money from Yeon-woo’s sponsor and kept my mouth shut. There are even guys who are sending me malicious comments on SNS [Social Networking Services] with certainty.]

“Okay……”

Reporter Hong Hae-joon started pouring out excuses again. Rembrary cut him off at an appropriate point.

[Do you know the name of the detective who took the camera?]

* * *

“The detective was named Park Jae-kyung. He’s the one who took the camera containing the problematic video, so go find him and try to resolve the issue.”

Jong-woo, who received the detective’s name from Rembrary, asked suspiciously.

“Are you saying we can get rid of the sponsor rumors if we see the entire original video?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what scenes were filmed?”

“No.”

“But why are you so confident?”

“The reporter said that the leaked video was edited, and it was only a small part of the entire video. It seems like the person who released the video deliberately cut out only that part. So if we get the entire video, we might see a solution.”

Jong-woo didn’t trust Rembrary 100%, but he agreed with that statement. If an edited version was released, they had to find the original video. The fact that they released the edited version instead of the original must be for another reason.

After getting permission from CEO Im, Jong-woo took Sa Gam-jae and went to the police station.

However, as soon as Jong-woo mentioned Reporter Hong Hae-joon and the camera, Detective Park Jae-kyung got angry.

“Are you asking me to give you the investigation video right now?”

“You may have seen it on the news, but some of the video has been manipulated and released. Because of that, one of our agency’s idols is now suffering from strange rumors, Detective. If it’s okay, the full video……”

“Investigation data cannot be disclosed to just anyone! I’m busy, get out!”

However, no matter how much Jong-woo pleaded, Detective Park Jae-kyung was cold.

Jong-woo wanted to argue, ‘Why is the video that can’t be disclosed to anyone uploaded on the internet as it is,’ but he didn’t know what kind of damage he would suffer if he fought with the detective. *You bad guy.* Jong-woo cursed inwardly and left the police station with Sa Gam-jae.

Detective Park Jae-kyung mixed curses and complaints loudly until they were out of sight.

“Anyway, do people think the police station is a errand center? They think everything will be done if they come and say something! Who is asking to see the investigation data?”

However, as soon as Jong-woo and Sa Gam-jae disappeared, the triumphant expression immediately vanished. Detective Park Jae-kyung hurriedly went to a veteran detective and argued.

“What are you going to do now! How did you manage the evidence so poorly that this happened!”

Not only was the investigation video leaked, but it became a national topic, so he was afraid that he would be affected by this.

He trusted the veteran detective because he thought he would be better than him in every way, but he was very distressed when this incident occurred.

The veteran detective scratched his head apologetically.

“I don’t know what happened either. It seems like they edited only that part of the video while I was away……”

“Why did you leave it while you were away!”

Detective Park Jae-kyung screamed, but anyway, this was his responsibility. He tore at his hair, hoping that the incident would not get any bigger.

* * *