Chapter 152:
Chapter 152
I can’t do this.
“Guys, I know you’re worried, but isn’t this too much?”
“Is… is it?”
Park Dongsoo looked at the excessive bandage on Jo Taewoong’s wrist and unwrapped it to treat the wound again. Lee Jooheok scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“Are you okay, Taewoong?”
“Yes. I’m fine, hyung.”
“I’m sorry, guys. We should have paid more attention.”
Park Dongsoo sighed as he saw Jo Taewoong’s stiff body and frozen expression.
“Let’s not worry about this anymore and focus on the concert. It’s been a long time since we had a concert.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“Okay, let’s get ready and go for rehearsal.”
The members waited until Jo Taewoong calmed down and headed to the stage for rehearsal.
“But how did they find out?”
“It’s scary…”
The members shivered. Ian stared at Jin silently. Jin’s lens that was floating in the air focused on Ian’s face.
[Someone leaked it from the staff and your company.]
‘Really? No wonder… There were more people than last time. Even our company leaked it.’
[You guys hired a lot of new employees lately. That must be why.]
‘Let me know who it is later.’
[Well, I’ll let you know. But you have to accept it. This is the reality of being a ‘top idol’. Jo Taewoong should stop being so sensitive if he wants to survive…]
‘Shut up.’
Jin’s tone of emphasizing ‘top idol’ was beyond annoying and made him angry.
The members climbed onto the stage and looked at the empty concert hall.
“We’ll do a quick sound check first, and then camera rehearsal.”
“Yes.”
There were huge LED screens set up like walls for various stage effects. They were on both sides and behind, and even on the floor of the stage.
The staffs were busy moving around. The members lined up and waited for Lee Jooheok’s signal.
“We greet you. Always by your side, Awi!”
“Please take care of us!”
The members bowed and greeted as the staffs clapped. The members holding the 3rd anniversary microphones sang acapella songs to check the sound.
“We’ll start camera rehearsal!”
There was no extended stage, so there was no complicated movement. The members stood in their choreography positions according to the list that appeared on the prompter.
Jo Taewoong, who was dancing, felt the world spinning around him.
‘I’m dizzy…’
Jo Taewoong closed his eyes tightly and opened them repeatedly, trying to regain his senses. His body trembled slightly and cold sweat formed on his hands. He rubbed his thigh with his palm to wipe off the sweat. His hand was so shaky that it tingled.
‘I can’t breathe… What’s wrong with me, am I sick?’
The song they were dancing to was a fan song, so it had a light choreography that was mostly swaying gently. He hadn’t even started dancing hard yet, but Jo Taewoong felt his body was too heavy.
‘Why is he like that?’
[Something’s wrong?]
This level of choreography was not difficult for them. Ian grabbed Jo Taewoong’s shoulder with a serious face as he saw him staggering.
“Hey, Jotang.”
Jo Taewoong flinched at his touch and shook off Ian’s hand. He gasped for air. Ian hardened his expression as he saw Jo Taewoong.
‘This is… pretty serious?’
Ian shouted into the microphone.
“Please stop for a moment!”
Ian waved his hand and crossed his arms. The music that was echoing in the concert hall paused.
“What’s going on?”
“What happened?”
The staffs rushed onto the stage. The members looked at Jo Taewoong who was held by Ian and hardened their expressions. Ian lowered his head and looked at Jo Taewoong’s face.
“…Jo Taewoong. Hey, look at me. Are you okay?”
“…Huh?”
“Are you okay, Taewoong? Hey, Taewoong. Snap out of it.”
Park Jinhyuk shook Jo Taewoong slightly, and tears fell from his eyes. Lee Jooheok looked at Jo Taewoong’s face with a serious expression.
“Why is he like this?”
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Hyung!”
Jo Taewoong breathed heavily as if it was hard to breathe and lost strength in his legs. He couldn’t keep his balance. He collapsed weakly.
“Wha-what?!”
“Hey, Jo Tae-woong!”
The members tried to catch his collapsing upper body. But they were a step too late. Jo Tae-woong fell to the floor and sobbed, gasping for air.
“I can’t do this.”
“You…”
Ian crouched down next to Jo Tae-woong. Park Seo-dam brought a bottle of water from the prompter. Park Dong-soo and Kim Myung-jin also ran to his side.
“Hyung, do you want some water?”
“Tae-woong, what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Tell me, hyung.”
Jo Tae-woong looked up at Park Dong-soo with tears in his eyes.
“Hyung, I can’t do this…”
Kim Hyun sat down in front of Jo Tae-woong and examined his face. He was sweating profusely even though he hadn’t started dancing yet. He shuddered and breathed heavily. Kim Hyun clicked his tongue.
He knew about the malicious comments that had been poured on them, especially on Jo Tae-woong.
He recognized this symptom very well. He couldn’t not know. He had suffered a lot from it for a while.
“You can’t breathe well, right? Your heart is racing, and you feel like throwing up?”
Jo Tae-woong nodded silently. Kim Hyun looked at the other members and managers and said.
“What do we do? He seems to have a panic attack.”
***
[Notice] ‘AWY ONLINE CONCERT: We Are The World’ Cancellation and Refund Information
Hello, this is BHL Entertainment.
We regret to inform you that the online concert ‘AWY ONLINE CONCERT: We Are The World’, which was scheduled for today, has been canceled due to artist circumstances.
“Why?!”
“What’s with the sudden cancellation?”
“What happened?”
Jang Min-hee and Kim Eun-ha looked at each other as they saw the unexpected notice. They had prepared everything for the concert, such as light sticks and delivery food.
Ee Da-sol asked casually.
“Didn’t you see the video of the fight between the fansites and the paparazzi earlier? Is it because of that?”
“Wow, did Tae-woong get hurt badly?”
Jang Min-hee opened her SNS with a serious expression. Her timeline was filled with question marks.
-Why cancel??? It’s an hour before the show??? What happened?
-Crazy????I feel sorry for them????
-The list of fansites to boycott is up! Let’s not consume our fans!
-Fansites are fansites, but I hate paparazzi
-AWY members are human too! Stop invading their privacy!
Soon, the video of the fansite mob that raided the venue was explosively quoted and cursed.
-Fansite photographers are keeping their distance??Please control your phone camera addicts??!
-Every time something happens, they blame the fansite photographers???How many of them are there that they can’t manage the scene properly and blame others ??
-If you’re so bad at it, why don’t you do a fan meeting and make some money??????You cancel a concert because of that?????
Of course, there were also people who came out with opposite opinions and started fighting with them, making the timeline a mess.
“Why can’t they catch them?”
Kim Eun-ha shouted and gulped down her beer. Jang Min-hee sighed.
“They should have cracked down on them hard from the beginning.”
“BHL has been known for not being able to handle these things since Black Rush days. Oh, I was looking forward to the concert…”
Ee Da-sol let out a sigh.
“Tae-woong looked fine in the video, right? You don’t cancel a concert because of that, do you? What did the manager do? Leave him alone? This is why I don’t like bad companies’ idols…”
Kim Eun-ha said that while posting a message on her SNS account saying ‘What’s so great about this show that you cancel an event because of it? ????You’ve been acting so unprofessional lately. How much do you want us to treat you? ???’.
Jang Min-hee felt that the chicken in her hand had lost its taste. She sighed deeply and muttered quietly.
“I’m worried about them…”
***
The sudden cancellation of the online concert left the agency with many issues to resolve, but Jo Tae-woong’s health was the priority.
They immediately stopped the rehearsal and took Jo Tae-woong to the hospital.
“…”
“It was too much lately…”
“…He’ll be okay, right?”
The remaining members who were waiting at the company bit their nails anxiously, waiting for Jo Tae-woong and Park Dong-soo to come back.
‘I should have taken him to counseling even if he said he didn’t want to…’
Ian also sighed heavily. It’s not okay to say it’s okay. He should have noticed that. That’s why they live in a dorm.
“We should have looked after him better…”
“He insisted he was fine, so we thought he was fine.”
The members felt the same way as Ian.
“Ah… I should have watched him better.”
Kim Joo-young, Jo Tae-woong’s roommate, blamed himself while holding his head. There was a discussion about changing rooms after the radio incident. He remembered how Jo Tae-woong liked to share a room with him.
Ian clicked his tongue.
“Hey, it’s not our fault. It’s because of the haters and those crazy people earlier.”
“That’s true, but…”
You don’t look convinced either. Kim Joo-young swallowed his words.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise in the hallway and the door of the meeting room opened.
“Guys, Tae-woong hasn’t arrived yet, right?”
“Did he come, director?”
Seo Su-ryeon rushed in after hearing the news and fell hard. Her ankle hurt, but that was not important right now. She looked at the members’ faces. They all looked pale.
“Are you guys okay?”
“We are…”
Lee Joo-hyuk looked around at the members. The members who met his eyes nodded slightly and said they were fine.
“We’re fine, but… our concert, our fans…”
“That’s something we’ll take care of. First of all, let’s all get counseling together. Got it?”
“Yes.”
Seo Su-ryeon was uneasy. She knew the public opinion was bad lately and set up a department to deal with haters. She was waiting to sign a contract with a law firm, but the incident happened before that. It was like fixing the barn after losing the cow.
Kim Myung-jin entered the meeting room. The members stood up.
“Hyung, what about Tae-woong?”
“Hyeon was right.”
“Ha…”
Kim Hyeon sighed. Jo Tae-woong’s symptoms were among the most severe of panic disorder symptoms.
“Sit down for now. Director, please sit down too. Tae-woong is with Dong-su hyung.”
The members sat down again on their chairs and waited nervously for Kim Myung-jin’s mouth to open.
“…I can’t tell you in detail, but he’ll have to undergo various treatments, but for now, absolute rest is the most important thing.”
As expected. Seo Su-ryeon closed her eyes tightly.
“Guys, there’s a reason why you came to the company instead of your dorm. I wanted to talk to you about your future activities.”
Seo Su-ryeon rubbed her head nervously with anger at the haters and guilt for neglecting the kids’ management.
“It’s either we go on with six members without Tae-woong or we suspend team activities until Tae-woong recovers. I’ll follow your opinions.”
Seo Su-ryeon and other company officials had already decided to suspend team activities. But they had to discuss it with the members because their opinions were also important.
As soon as she finished speaking, Lee Joo-hyuk said.
“We can’t go on without Tae-woong.”
“Me too.”
Ian agreed with Lee Joo-hyuk’s words and added one more thing.
“Not only Tae-woong, but if one person is missing, we shouldn’t do team activities either.”
“That’s right.”
Seo Su-ryeon sighed deeply.
“Guys, I appreciate your loyalty, but you have to think realistically.”
“We are being realistic.”
Park Seo-dam widened her eyes. Kim Myung-jin said.
“You don’t know when Tae-woong will recover. Are you all okay with that? It could take more than a year. No group activities during that time. No albums either.”
“We’re fine.”
Lee Joo-hyuk answered immediately. The members’ expressions were unanimous. They were determined expressions. Seo Su-ryeon nodded slightly.
“Well then… for now… you guys should rest too…”
Suddenly, the door of the meeting room opened roughly. There was a middle-aged woman standing at the door, breathing heavily. The people in the meeting room stood up when they saw her face.
“Tae-woong’s mother.”
“My Tae-woong…”
The middle-aged woman looked like she was about to cry any moment. Seo Su-ryeon felt tears welling up in her eyes too as she clenched her mouth.
“Where is my child…?”
She was Jo Tae-woong’s mother, Lee Hye-eun.
***
[Notice] AWY activity suspension announcement
Hello, this is BHL Entertainment.
We are sorry to deliver sad news to AWYDOM who love AWY.
Recently, AWY member Tae-woong complained of severe health problems and anxiety symptoms and was diagnosed with ‘depression and panic disorder’. He needs rest according to the expert’s opinion.
Therefore, we decided to suspend the entire team activities of AWY after sufficient discussion with the artist.
We ask for your generous understanding and support for AWY members to be able to stand on stage as a team again, and we promise to do our best to protect the artist. Thank you.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢