LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 260
Chapter 260
It felt like a dynamite explosion had gone off in my head.
“I haven’t seen a male stalker before…”
“Still, judging by the size and clothes…”
“By the body shape, it could just be a tall woman…”
I couldn’t hear any of the adults debating whether the unidentified stalker, who didn’t have a name floating above their head, was a man or a woman, as if I had gone deaf from the explosion.
At that moment, someone who had been by the door approached and nudged me.
“What’s wrong?”
It was Ban Yo-han.
Judging by his furrowed eyebrows, he had probably called my name a few times already.
“Nothing.”
As I looked at Ban Yo-han’s face, the words about the worst-case scenario that he had mentioned earlier automatically came to mind.
I turned off my phone screen before he could see it.
He would find out soon enough anyway…
I turned towards Gwak Sang-hyun, who was insisting that the stalker was a man, and opened my mouth to speak.
“Excuse me, I’m tired. Can I go back to the dorm first?”
The adults who had turned around as soon as I called them looked surprised but quickly nodded.
“Sure. I thought you were calm, but you must have been really shocked. Sorry we didn’t notice.”
“Are you sure you want to stay at the dorm? Are you scared? Should we book a hotel?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Still, it feels uneasy to let you sleep there…”
“How about staying at the company for tonight? We have to leave for the schedule in a few hours anyway, so we can check if it’s safe tomorrow and then go back.”
Representative Ban Ga-eul, who asked if it was okay with the other members, finally agreed with Ban Yo-han’s suggestion.
“Then I’ll take care of things here, and Sang-hyun, could you take the kids?”
“Understood.”
We returned to the dorm and packed a few things before heading out.
The car ride to the company was quiet.
In the morning, we had been full of energy for our first music show after the comeback, but now, after the shocking incident at the dorm, it felt like all our energy had drained away.
I was the only one in the passenger seat, not just sitting blankly.
‘First, stay calm…’
I filled my forcibly blank mind with the information I needed to know.
From the looks of the internet,
The post seemed to have been deleted before the company or I, who were busy dealing with the dorm intrusion, could confirm it.
The timing was incredibly coincidental, as if they knew about our chaotic situation.
But on a weekend night,
The content had already spread across various idol communities, even though it wasn’t a time when activity usually dropped.
Even with a quick glance, I could see strangers talking about me everywhere.
– Is the post on Idol-Gwan real?
– Whether it’s real or not, it’s creepy that someone took a picture and posted it on a community site…
—
– “Whether it’s true or not, just thinking that my kid might go through something similar makes my heart feel like it’s being ripped apart.”
– “Posting it at this time to avoid the company seeing it and then running away is pathetic.”
┗ “It’s not like it’s 3 or 4 a.m., the company should still be able to monitor it. Even if they didn’t see it in real-time, they probably know about it.”
┗ “As an Orca fan, whenever something like this happens: ‘Seed is such a small company, this is to be expected.'”
┗ “How many employees do they have now? 12?”
┗ “Ah, the number of signed artists probably exceeds the number of employees.”
– “But how could someone see that unless it was the person themselves?”
– “In a world where people try to sell their extracted teeth from braces, they probably don’t think much of getting their hands on a medical certificate. The reason they’re doing this is just insane vanity.”
– “Setting everything else aside, the medical certificate is different… It’s not recent either. To take that photo, they would have to break into the dorm or the original house to steal it.”
– “It could be that the stalker hacked into the phone and took it from there.”
┗ “Hacking is a bit too much;”
┗ “It’s not made up; it’s a real thing, especially with overseas stalkers. They often hack KakaoTalk profile pictures and even Star Tel is constantly hacked. So, it’s not far-fetched.”
┗ “Wow, I always wondered if the stories about stalkers hacking were true or not, but I guess they really are…”
– “I heard that Orca’s stalkers have gotten worse lately.”
– “But depression itself is something other idols are likely currently experiencing too… As a fan of another idol, it doesn’t feel like someone else’s problem.”
It seemed that non-fans were more upset than our own fans.
And not in a very good way.
– “Wow… It seems like a lot of celebrities are mentally unstable. But still, considering the hard work, they make a lot of money, so it’s balanced.”
┗ “Most of the hardships celebrities face are because of people like you.”
– “Protect On Raon ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ”
– “Orca fans must be extremely fatigued. Even fans of the members without controversies must be exhausted.”
┗ “Yes, I’m a fan of another member, and I’m starting to get tired.”
┗ “What do you mean a fan of another member? You’re probably just a toxic solo stan. Just leave the fandom.”
– “I hope he’s coping well as he said.”
– “If you watch a few variety shows or Pick Heart clips, he seems to have bipolar disorder… You can feel it in his eyes. If you don’t understand, watch his 1-minute PR video from Pick Heart (link).”
┗ “Stop making ridiculous assumptions just because he raises his energy levels when needed during broadcasts.”
– “Thinking about how creepy people will now cling to the youngest member makes my head ache.”
– “What’s going to happen to On Raon now? He’s going to be framed as a victim, and I can see him getting bombarded with related questions every time he’s on a broadcast.”
┗ “It was kind of like that because of Pick Heart’s last episode.”
– “What the hell is wrong with people using terms like ‘mental illness’ carelessly when he’s struggling with a mental disorder? The more you do that, the harder it gets for idols… Think about it, please.”
┗ “Ugh, stop being so preachy.”
┗ “People who think normally wouldn’t say such things in the first place.”
– “Wow, reaching idol status makes depression a topic of interest. Amazing~”
– “What, he said he’s having panic attacks? He’ll probably commit suicide soon. Poor guy, especially when he’s on the rise.”
– “Seeing all these crazy people flocking around is genuinely creepy.”
– “I’m reporting every nonsense comment I see.”
The cleanly trimmed nails tapped the screen, creating a sharp sound as the rough scrolling hand suddenly stopped.
Rather than continuing to read this endless pit that seemed to have no bottom, I thought it would be better to find out where this medical certificate was leaked from.
Fortunately, my brain quickly came up with an answer, as it wasn’t completely broken.
‘The officetel…’
The officetel where I had stayed briefly during *Pick Heart* was still not tidied up.
Of course, including the medical certificate, all of ‘On Raon’s’ old belongings were still there.
There were various reasons, but the main one was the strange sense of nostalgia I felt from the officetel, which made it hard to dispose of the items.
Anyway, unless the medical certificate was leaked through another route, it was highly likely that stalkers or similar individuals had already ransacked the officetel, just like they did our dorm.
From past experiences, I knew well that wondering ‘why’ or ‘how’ in such situations wasn’t particularly helpful.
The important thing was what to do from now on.
The controversy that erupted right before the last broadcast of *Pick Heart* was resolved in an undesirable way while I stood by idly.
So, this time, I had to act before anyone else could mess things up.
But how?
‘I am not depressed.’
I couldn’t publish an article like that.
No, in fact, I had said similar things countless times before.
Now, it was all useless.
‘So, let’s find the culprit first and punish them.’
It seemed much easier to catch the culprit and make them pay rather than changing the public’s perception immediately.
My intuition was shouting that the stalkers who installed cameras in the dorm and the one who leaked the medical certificate were likely the same person.
‘Should I go to the officetel with those police officers from earlier?’
Logically, it was unlikely the culprit would still be at the officetel.
But just as they had carelessly left numerous cameras at the dorm, there was a high chance they had left some sort of evidence there as well.
‘But…’
The truth was, ever since I saw that one stalker’s name wasn’t appearing, I had suspected that the culprit might be someone other than an ordinary stalker.
Zero.
There was also Larry’s warning, and it was highly suspicious that only one stalker was not registered in the Administration’s database according to the automated system.
In that case, I couldn’t bring the police along.
If something abnormal happened, like in the non-real space I experienced before, there would be no way to handle it.
“Hello?”
It was the sound of Gwak Sang-hyun answering a call through his Bluetooth earphone.
Responding with several “yes”s, he glanced at me, suggesting he was talking to someone from the company.
“I’ve arrived at the company, so I’ll send the others in first. Yes.”
Gwak Sang-hyun ended the call just as the car pulled up in front of the company.
“What’s going on?”
“Did they figure out who the culprit is?”
The members in the backseat, unbuckling their seatbelts, asked in hushed voices.
“No. You guys go in first. Raon and I need to talk.”
I realized the company knew too when I met Gwak Sang-hyun’s eyes.
Ah, so the company knew as well.
“Why just the youngest?”
“I’ll tell you later. For now, just get out.”
Sensing the uncharacteristic firmness in Gwak Sang-hyun’s tone, Kang Ji-woo led the other members out, saying we’d see each other soon.
Once it was just the two of us in the car, Gwak Sang-hyun looked at me with a complicated expression.
I spoke first since he seemed unsure of what to say.
“I’m sorry.”
“You knew, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“First of all, it’s not your fault.”
“But it’s true that I keep causing trouble for the group.”
“No, no. It’s not you causing trouble for the group, but those who do these crazy things.”
“Haha.”
I let out a dry, meaningless laugh and suggested to Gwak Sang-hyun that we should go to the officetel immediately.
It would be much more helpful to take action quickly rather than wallow in guilt.
“Why there?”
“It seems like they took a picture of something from there.”
“Really?”
After hearing the location of the officetel, Gwak Sang-hyun, noting it wasn’t too far, agreed to check it out and entered the address into the navigation system.
A little while later, the car arrived near the officetel.
I had only sent a quick message to the members saying it would take a bit longer.
“Is this the place?”
“Yes. If you drop me off here, I’ll go up first.”
“Let’s park nearby and go together. What if there’s someone suspicious inside?”
I was worried that Gwak Sang-hyun would insist on coming with me.
I had restrained myself with some rationality, planning to return alone by taxi later if necessary.
Just as I was wondering how to shake off Gwak Sang-hyun, someone lightly knocked on the car window.
I reflexively turned my head and saw a familiar unpleasant face.
As I reluctantly rolled down the window,
“This is a coincidence. Long time no see.”
It was anything but a coincidence as Lee Young-min greeted us.