NOVPUBMinjae kept scrolling down on his phone, his thumb moving as if it were on autopilot mode. He wanted to get away from the screen, but his eyes kept reading the flood of comments that kept pouring in, even now.
"Minjae-ssi, if acting doesn't work out, debut as an idol plsss 😭"
"The way he raps like he's been waiting for this moment his whole life is so funny."
"Now I know why their new drama looks good. Minjae got the passion for it. Pft…"
"Even when he's drunk and chaotic, he's still talented. How did Flex Entertainment get such person? They're so lucky."
"Okay. Now I want to see Minjae singing seriously."
"Did he train as an idol before debuting as an actor or something?"
"Lmaooo. I've been watching the clip a few times, and I still laugh a lot."
"This is the side of an actor that we want to see."
"This is so funny. Hahahaha."
'It's worse that the people are liking this. It would have felt better if they were making fun of or hating, but supporting it? What's wrong with them?' Minjae closed his eyes and let out another guttural groan into the pillow.
The internet was eating it up.
Minjae, out of curiosity, refreshed the page of his XYZ account, only for it to get worse.
Right now, he could also see news articles from different news broadcasting sites, sharing the clip with their own headlines on it.
The buzz around the video skyrocketed.
[NEWSEN]
"Upcoming Actor Minjae Shows Off Hidden Idol Potential at Company Dinner — Netizens are Loving It!"
[SBN Star]
"Nam Minjae Trends After an Unexpected Performance. A New 'Idol Actor' on the Rise?"
[Korean Entertainment News]
"Who is Minjae? A Rising Actor's Drunken Karaoke Skills Go Viral Overnight"
Every single one of them had embedded the same embarrassing video of him singing.
Minjae just wanted to die by that time.
At that moment, his phone buzzed again.
This time, it was a call from Dongyun. It seemed like he had just woken up and realized what was going on.
Minjae stared at the screen for a long moment, contemplating whether to answer or pretend he was dead, but he remembered that he had just sent a message to him earlier.
With a heavy sigh, Minjae dragged his finger across the screen and answered.
"Hyung… Hello," Minjae greeted the man, his voice was dry and hoarse.
"Did you know what's going on?" Donghyun's voice came in immediately. It was half-scolding, and half-laughing.
Minjae sighed. It was obvious that Donghyun found it funny, but at the same time, he had to be strict since he was his manager.
"Unfortunately, yes," he muttered under his breath. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
Donghyun chuckled, but there was a serious tone to his voice when he spoke again.
"I already called Chanhyuk about this. Flex Entertainment's aware of everything now. Before the two of us, actually."
Minjae closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead in frustration.
Of course they knew.
He had forgotten about them for a moment.
"I talked to them before calling you. They'll do their best to limit the number of news articles circulating online. They've also already contacted a few outlets to tone down the posts."
Minjae let out a small breath of relief. Maybe this disaster could still be buried a little.
However, Donghyun quickly extinguished his hope.
"With that being said," Donghyun's voice trailed off for a moment.
"Since the public reaction is positive and people actually seem to love you even more now, the company decided they're not gonna try too hard to erase it."
Minjae's mouth fell open in disbelief.
"You're kidding, right?" he frowned at it. He was thinking that this was a dirt to his image, so they'd tried their best to delete it.
But now, it's actually different?
"Nope," Donghyun uttered, not even pretending to be sorry.
"They think it's good PR. It's authentic, funny, and shows you're human. The comments were going crazy, and your wintergram account just crossed 200,000 followers. You're trending everywhere, Minjae."Donghyun's voice softened a little, but he still sounded firm.
"Still, Minjae," he said, "next time, you have to be careful. You're not just any rookie now. You have a growing image you need to take care of. I'm not saying you stop drinking completely. I'm just saying, you limit it.
Minjae nodded slowly, even though Donghyun couldn't see it.
"I know, hyung. I understand," he said seriously.
A brief silence sounded on the line.
"Good," Donghyun said finally, his tone easing a bit as if his worries had been eased. "Rest for now. You're gonna have a crazy week ahead since the Star's Secret will premiere soon."
"Yes, Hyung." The call ended with a soft click.
Minjae stared at his phone for a few seconds before dropping it onto the bed beside him.
He lay back against the mattress and stared blankly at the ceiling.
"Guess I'll just live with it," he muttered, completely defeated.
Another heavy sigh escaped his lips as he closed his eyes.
At least he gained something from it, which was his followers.
'Who the hell posted it anyway?' he thought bitterly.
His memory of last night was still a blur, but he could vaguely remember the staff taking photos and videos during the time when he was singing.
It wasn't like it was done maliciously — everyone had been drunk and in high spirits so that was just all normal.
Still, someone had uploaded it.
Was it one of the staff?
Was it one of his co-stars?
Minjae was unsure of it.
The account that posted his video doesn't have any picture, and it's name was just rubbish words, obviously an alt account.
'I hope they find out about it soon,' he thought miserably. ' Well, it's already out there… It's viral… It's too late.'
His head gave a sharp throb again, punishing him for thinking too hard.
Minjae winced and pressed his fingertips against his temples, massaging them lightly, but it was useless. The ache was only getting worse.
After a few moments of fighting it, he finally gave up.
For now, Minjae pulled the blanket over his face and decided he would sleep again.
He set his aside his phone and turned off all his notifications.
He would not be checking social media again for a very long time.
