Chapter 71
In fact, this file that leaked and ran for barely two minutes had been heavily edited.
Edited in favor of Yoon Cheong?
No.
Edited to make things as favorable as possible for Kim Ryeo-yu.
The most damning parts were cut, leaving just enough to convey the facts.
But anyone who listened to the file even once could tell.
All those things they had only speculated about until now were just rumors.
And that the real victim had been someone else.
“Wow, f*ck, this was daylight robbery.”
“Ryeo-yu’s insane lolol.”
“Bruh, turns out this wasn’t Survivor Idol but actually My Golden Child program all along.”
“So Ryeo-yu begged like this behind the scenes and then kept his mouth shut until now? What a saint of a personality…”
└ “Didn’t he even say on broadcast that it was Yeon Joo-hong who asked him for it?”
“Ugh, poor Joo-hong. He must’ve been so wronged ㅠㅠ He seemed like he’d been struggling all this time…”
“Forget Joo-hong, but Yoon Cheong… he must’ve been losing his mind. Getting hated on for something he had nothing to do with lolol.”
“Why was Cheong even hated in the first place? That flow never made sense to me.”
└ “They just opened a hate-fest. You think people need a reason to hate?”
└└ “Please sue themㅠ Don’t you dare show mercy.”
└└└ “Who are you to say sue or don’t sue lol. Who even are you?”
“They were just kids training to debut, and yet they got slandered that harshly… freakish.”
“I knew it lolol. Ryeo-yu’s face always screamed bad news.”
└ “Here we go, a face-reader popped up. Gross stink detected.”
└└ “Whatever, Ryeo-st. Just move along^^;”
“But wait, why did the agency or M-TEN keep silent if they had this kind of evidence? Are they playing with people?”
└ “Oh, so you’re blaming the company now after you all spread the rumors yourselves? Where’d your conscience run off to, the Middle East?”
And while the internet was exploding like wildfire, there were also people who just sat crying.
“Ahㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Cheong-blue must’ve been so f*cking unfairly treated all this time… seriously… ah…”
“F*ck, when we said he wasn’t that kind of kid, none of you listened. Feeling relieved now? Did ruining an innocent kid make your life easier?”
“CheongHong, let’s make them eat their words by debuting. With this kind of truly king-god-general personalities… they MUST debut.”
Yoon Cheong’s fans felt more anger than relief that his injustice was cleared.
Because it proved he had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Many had suffered so much stress from those absurd rumors that they were literally losing hair, so their rage boiled even hotter.
“But if it’s like this, doesn’t it show the other trainees’ personalities too lol.”
└ “For real. The ones who kept their mouths shut… what’s with them?”
“Besides Yoon Cheong, Yeon Joo-hong, Kim Geum-ryu, Bora, Seo Baek-young, Lee Kyung-ah, and Lee Joo-sun…^^”
“Didn’t Jo Hee-on only escape because he caught on? Wasn’t he besties with Ryeo-yu too?”
└ “LOL yeah. Escaping was just about intelligence ranking.”
└└ “He just sensed the storm and ran.”
└└└ “That’s one unexpected win for Jo Hee-on.”
└└└└ “Though honestly, he did throw a lot of shade at Cheong-blue on broadcast.”
└└└└└ “We could tell about his personality since then.”
“?? Wait, what’s happening on the timeline? What’s going on right now, somebody fill me in.”
[Colorpop aftershock = my mood right now]
“How could I love their personality too? I only loved the face.”
“Ryeo-yu, please say it’s not true…ㅠㅠㅠ Please say it’s not… I’m quitting this fandom, quitting K-pop.”
“I’ll keep believing it’s not true lol. How do you know this isn’t just the TV station’s scheme? #StayStrongRyeoYu #ILoveRyeoYu”
And even while the internet was busy hunting a new target—
Caption: The trainees do not know about this recording file.
Caption: What were they thinking about this situation…?
Producer Oh kept throwing logs into the fire.
“Wow, this rabbit hole just never ends.”
“Sh*t, I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
“PD Squid must’ve sharpened his knife lolol.”
Production team interview segment:
Production: “There’s been a lot of talk recently about Yeon Joo-hong allegedly stealing parts. What do you think?”
[Ha-eun: “Yes…”]
[Soo-in: “We knew about the rumors.”]
[Baek-young: “We all knew. You couldn’t not know.”]
Production: “Do you really think Yoon Cheong and Yeon Joo-hong would steal Kim Ryeo-yu’s parts?”
[Geum: “Does that even make sense? Logically… why would they?”]
[Bora: “We saw the so-called ‘evidence’ too. But they’re just screenshots, right? Frozen expressions. But honestly… those come out when you’re tired. Not because you’re glaring at someone. Please don’t be fooled by momentary screencaps.”]
[Kyung-ah: “I think fans could misunderstand. But I really hope you’ll believe this explanation.”]
Production: “Does Kim Ryeo-yu usually get pushed around by the others?”
[Kyung-ah: “Huh?”]
Caption: Lee Kyung-ah trainee’s lips trembling
[Yoo-hyun: “Among us? I don’t think anyone’s being pushed around.”]
[Geum: “Come on, seriously? Do you think that unnie would let anyone push her around?”]
[Ha-eun: “Ryeo-yu unnie? Who would dare take her part?”]
“Guys, please, go easy.”
“We’re getting fried chicken-style… I’m the one who got discounted 2,000 won.”
Producer Oh’s intent: Expose Ryeo-yu.
Me watching: Ouch.
“Wow, GeumKim went hard lolol. ‘Does that sound likely?’ LMAO.”
“Another quote for the GeumKim legendary sayings collection.”
“But this editing and these interviews feel way too malicious.”
“Squid PD really shows his bias lolol. So obvious he hates Ryeo-yu.”
“PD’s brain rotted. He’s basically killing someone on purpose.”
Caption: So we prepared this!
Caption: Her own interview!
Production: “You must’ve been shocked by all this.”
[Ryeo-yu: “….”]
Caption: Kim Ryeo-yu trainee unable to hold back tears
[Ryeo-yu: “It’s all my fault, I feel so sorry.”]
[Ryeo-yu: “I really didn’t know it would get this big…. I only meant it kindly… but suddenly it grew so much….”]
Caption: She only wanted to help Yeon Joo-hong get a part…
Caption: She never meant to make him look bad…
[Ryeo-yu: “The reason I said it was Joo-hong who asked was because I didn’t want other trainees to feel hurt. If I said I gave Joo-hong the part first, people might think it was favoritism…. I lied out of kindness so nobody would be upset… I never thought it would blow up like this.”]
Caption: On the show, Kim Ryeo-yu never once said her part was stolen.
Caption: She only said…
[Ryeo-yu: “It was hard to refuse. And the team atmosphere was kind of… well… not great. I probably just got scared and felt that way. Haha.”]
Caption: Just a misunderstanding.
Caption: Nobody ever meant to hurt anyone.
Archive footage inserted: (Trainees laughing and practicing together)
Caption: Please stop spreading rumors that divide these friendly trainees~~~~
The show’s trademark cheerful BGM chimed in.
[Preview: The first group performance! How will the trainees pull it off?]
[Revealed in 1 minute. Stay tuned!]
A commercial break cut in.
Perfect timing.
“LOL they’re hammering the nail in now.”
“PD Oh working overtime to polish up this BS.”
“At this point aren’t they just straight up telling us? Like, ‘This kid’s the villain’? It couldn’t be clearer.”
“How did they hold back this long, itching to expose it?”
“They even brought out old interviews just to show the lies. The effort lolol.”
“Looks like they’re desperately trying to cover him up.”
“My stock just crashed, guys…”
“I loved you, Ryeo-yu…”
“This isn’t just a crash, it’s total bankruptcy lol.”
“Let’s at least try to hold it up. One, two—”
└ “Lift.”
└└ “Lift.”
└└└ “Lift.”
└└└└ “Never mind, we’re screwed.”
“Even the captions sounded like dead-eyed office workers. I felt that pain.”
└ “LMAO true. Like watching myself at work.”
“My only sexy stock just plummetedㅠㅠ Now the only one left to trust is Bora. Uncle believes in you, Bora.”
└ “Baek-young isn’t bad either…^^ Dropping a good gif here.”
“To be fair, Ryeo-yu always did give off strong vibes. I even told my wife she seemed scary. Wife stanned Kim Geum instead though lol.”
└ “Sir, you’re good at social survival.”
└└ “Girls don’t like female idols like Ryeo-yu lol.”
└└└ “Her name’s Kim Geum, not Kim Geun. Get it right if you’re lining up.”
“One conqueror aura goneㅠㅠ.”
“Too bad… I thought she’d be the next Jenna, but it’s all gone now.”
“Time to drink soju and rewatch Jenna clips ㅠㅠ.”
└ “Share those with us too, hyung.”
└└ “Ajusshisㅠㅠ This is why we get hated. Keep that sharing private.”
“But let’s not pretend Joo-hong did well either.”
“Cheong was innocent, yeah, that was just lightning striking him. He’s in a different category.”
“But Joo-hong? He almost got his neck chopped off lying on camera. He tried to snatch a part and paid for it. Not that pitiful.”
“Of course Ryeo-yu’s in the wrong no matter what.”
“Ryeo-yu is guilty, but Joo-hong too… kind of dumb tbh.”
“He’s 17. What does he know? Just let him off, he’s cute.”
└ “Then by that logic we should forgive Ryeo-yu too for being sexy…”
└└ “Even if she’s sexy, I don’t like idols with bad character. Especially if they lie…”
└└└ “What’s gender got to do with it lol. Lying’s wrong no matter who does it.”
└└└└ “Okay okay, chill. It’s just a personal opinion. No need to start a fight.”
And so, while every site was blowing up—
[Hello, Colorists. I’m Do Hee-young, the MC of Make a New Color and the trainees’ mentor.]
The broadcast resumed.
[From now, the trainees’ stage will begin.]
