Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 184

Hamels’ face hardened as he saw the camera pointed at him.

“I’m not a public figure! Why are you filming me?!”

“You’re saying strange things. This isn’t to film you, but to film me. But since you’re behind me, you naturally get caught in the frame.”

“What do you mean……!”

“If you dislike it that much, stay far away.”

“Kuh……!”

Hamels was speechless.

He never dreamed that Ha-sung would come at him this way.

He had followed and harassed many celebrities until now.

Some of them sued him, and others called the police.

Some even used violence to try to kick him out.

But they couldn’t kick him out.

The law was on his side, and they were stars who couldn’t afford to tarnish their image.

‘But does this make sense?’

Using a camera to film him?

No, to be precise, it wasn’t filming him.

The problem was that he was subtly including him in the frame while filming himself.

No matter how much he avoided it, Ha-sung moved the camera’s angle to keep him in the shot.

That wasn’t the end of it.

“I haven’t had a normal life lately because of paparazzi. They’re even entering the hotel I’m staying at, giving me a headache.”

Ha-sung put psychological pressure on him by inserting his own stories in between his comments.

‘What is he trying to do by doing this?’

What was puzzling was that Hamels couldn’t figure out Ha-sung’s intentions.

‘There’s nothing to gain from filming me.’

Whatever it was, he was uncomfortable in this place.

Then, something suddenly came to mind.

‘Is he trying to make me uncomfortable like this so I can’t film him?’

The possibility was high.

He was already uncomfortable with the camera filming him.

‘How amusing.’

Hamels smirked.

Even if that was the case, he would adapt soon.

‘I’ll avoid it for now, but let’s see what happens next time.’

It was best to avoid it for now.

Hamels, having made that decision, got up from his seat and left the hotel.

The corners of Ha-sung’s lips turned up as he watched him leave.

‘Idiot.’

He could clearly see what Hamels was thinking when he avoided the seat.

‘If it was going to end with just once, I wouldn’t have started it.’

Ha-sung was going to thoroughly show him how awful it is to have your privacy invaded and filmed without permission.

And one more thing.

He was going to show him exactly how scary the public’s reaction can be.

* * *

Ha-sung went around with a film crew every day, filming.

It looked like a simple shoot, but he subtly captured the paparazzi filming him in the background.

The resulting video was uploaded to Ha-sung’s YouTube channel.

[Today, I’m going to the fitness center to film myself training.

Ah, some of you in the comments are wondering who the people behind me are.

Some of you are mistaking them for staff, but they’re just paparazzi filming me.]

Ha-sung reminded people of the existence of paparazzi by inserting comments in the middle of the video.

As the video was uploaded, the public began to react.

-The paparazzi keep showing up.

-Do they always follow you like that?

-Isn’t that a crime in Korea?

-Even reporters can’t follow you like that.

-It’s legal in the United States, so there’s nothing you can do.

-Just filming is legal?

-Wow…… Doesn’t the United States have strong privacy laws [laws protecting an individual’s personal information and freedom from intrusion]?

-They’re making it legal in strange places.

-Still, I’d be really annoyed if I was filmed like that.

-Do they follow you everywhere?

-I heard that Hollywood stars get a lot of stress from that.

-They’re bad guys.

The public showed animosity towards the paparazzi.

Not only Korean netizens but also Americans expressed animosity towards the paparazzi and posted various opinions.

-Even the gentle Michael Jackson cursed at them.

-If MJ cursed, then they must have done something wrong.

-They’re no different from criminals.

-They just cleverly avoid the law.

-If you go to their blogs, the way they talk is no joke lol [laughing out loud].

-They have blogs too?

-Hamels’ blog, the most famous of them, is famous.

-Here’s the address.

They began to share information about vicious paparazzi, including Hamels.

Then, netizens who watched Ha-sung’s video visited their blogs and left malicious comments.

-Stop following Ha-sung.

-You parasite bastards.

-Does it make sense to follow people around without a life?

-You leech-like guys! Do you want to live by clinging to others like that?

-You guys should feel that pain too.

-Are you going to take responsibility if someone dies because of that?!

Ha-sung is incredibly popular in the United States, Korea, and countries where baseball is played.

Paparazzi who harass such a popular figure like Ha-sung were bound to become the target of fans.

The paparazzi frowned at the experience they were having for the first time.

“What did we do to deserve this?!”

“Damn it! Is it okay for them to come to us and leave malicious comments?”

“What a joke.”

“Let’s not worry about it and just keep doing our job.”

“Ha…… I’m stressed.”

The paparazzi decided to ignore the fans’ reactions.

The problem was Ha-sung.

Ha-sung regularly uploaded videos in the form of vlogs , publicly revealing the paparazzi who followed him.

[This is the oldest restaurant in Oakland. Ah, are those people behind me a group? No. The paparazzi followed me here too.]

They followed him even when he went to a restaurant.

[Today, I came to a Korean restaurant in Oakland to have a last meal with my parents before they return to Korea.

As you know by now, the people behind me are not a group but paparazzi.]

The perception of them following him even to his farewell with his parents worsened even more.

In particular, the reaction of Oakland citizens was worse than ever.

-These guys were paparazzi?

-Even if it’s a job, how can they follow him to a farewell with his family?

-It’s too much even if it’s a job.

-These guys came to our restaurant a few days ago to eat, right?

-Those guys came to our store too. We won’t accept them again!

-That’s right! We don’t have any rice to sell to the guy who’s harassing our pitcher!

-We just kicked out the guys who came to our motel.

Oakland citizens began to put pressure on them by causing practical damage, such as refusing to sell goods or rent rooms to the paparazzi.

The paparazzi, who were experiencing this reaction for the first time in their lives, were embarrassed.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Why are these guys making a fuss now when they were quiet when we targeted other stars until now?”

“Are they doing this just because we targeted a guy who throws a ball?”

The paparazzi were just doing what they had been doing.

That’s why they couldn’t understand why the public was reacting like this.

This was even more so because there was no such reaction when they covered stars who were more popular than Ha-sung.

This was a reaction that could only come out because Ha-sung cleverly exposed their actions to the public.

‘Until now, even if stars were harmed by paparazzi, they didn’t directly reveal it. At best, it was just an article.’

Articles are a medium that doesn’t reach the public as effectively.

Because it was just an article that was delivered like a story from another country, only core fans reacted.

But YouTube was different.

‘Vlogs have the effect of showing everyday life. Fans must have realized the seriousness of the paparazzi following them everywhere in their daily lives.’

He maximized the effect of the vlog to convey the seriousness to the fans.

Above all, with the recent rise of SNS [social networking services] and blogs, a channel has been created to directly put pressure on paparazzi.

As a result, fans could easily find them and protest.

“Try to keep messing with him.”

* * *

The effect of Ha-sung’s vlog was undeniable.

Some of the paparazzi who were suffering from the public’s malicious comments dropped out.

But there were still those who followed him.

The most representative of them was Hamels.

“To give up with just that much malicious comments. Those guys should quit being paparazzi.”

“Tsk tsk, that’s right.”

“Isn’t it a relief that there are fewer competitors?”

“That’s also true. Now Ha-sung’s photos will be sold at a higher price.”

The vicious paparazzi were happy that there were fewer competitors.

“By the way, doesn’t Jeong Ha-sung ever meet women?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“It would be a jackpot if we could take a picture of him hanging out with a woman.”

“Isn’t he doing it without us knowing?”

“That could be.”

The appearance of a celebrity with a woman was always popular.

That’s why the paparazzi were disappointed that Ha-sung didn’t hang out with women.

Then Hamels said.

“What if we *make* him hang out if he doesn’t?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I have a friend who sends escort girls to VIPs [very important people]. I’ll talk to him and get him to set up a meeting with a nice woman.”

“Oh! You’re saying we should send a bait.”

“Yeah. If the woman is on our side, we’ll know where he’s going.”

“It’ll be easy to lie in wait or hide a camera.”

“Wouldn’t it be a jackpot if we made a video?”

“That’s a very good idea!”

What they were talking about was illegal.

Even if they were paparazzi, taking pictures in a private space was against the law.

In addition, sending a woman to lure him was also morally wrong.

But they had no qualms about doing such things.

* * *

After his parents returned.

Ha-sung was spending even busier times.

He was preparing for next year by working non-stop, such as holding meetings and filming commercials every day.

Deciding not to go to Korea this year, he was carrying out his schedule in the United States.

He wanted to return to Korea, but he decided to endure it this year.

That’s because there were so many companies and brands looking to work with Ha-sung.

While he was carrying out his schedule, an unexpected person came to visit.

“It’s been a while.”

“It’s been exactly a year.”

The man in front of him was Lee Yong-jin.

“Congratulations on becoming a director.”

“Thank you. Congratulations on winning the Cy Young Award [award given annually to the best pitchers] and MVP [Most Valuable Player award] at the same time for two consecutive years. Your performance this season was really great.”

“Thank you.”

After a brief greeting, the two sat down.

“I didn’t expect you to come all the way to the United States.”

“Originally, I was going to see you when you came to Korea, but I heard that you have no plans to come to Korea this year, so I came directly.”

In other words, he didn’t come to the United States because he had other business, but solely to see Ha-sung.

Ha-sung smiled at those words.

“That’s good to hear. Coming all the way here means it’s that important, right?”

“Yes. I came to offer Jeong Ha-sung an exclusive modeling contract.”

It was expected.

Lee Yong-jin had offered him an exclusive modeling contract a year ago.

But Ha-sung didn’t like the amount and period he offered at the time.

The amount was definitely large, but he didn’t want to be tied down for 10 years.