After the meeting, practice just kept repeating without end.
"Is he brewing the ion drink himself on the way back...?"
Lee Cheonghyeon muttered.
It had been twenty minutes since Kim Iwol left. Given where the convenience store was, he should’ve been back already.
"He’ll come when he comes."
"Still."
At Choi Jeho’s comment, Jeong Seongbin glanced toward the practice room door.
‘He is late.’
Knowing Kim Iwol, he’d have sprinted there and back without breaking a sweat and then said, ‘Since I braved a moonlit errand, let’s practice even harder for what’s left. Got it?’
It wasn’t that they were worried. What, exactly, poses a threat to an adult man over 180 centimeters tall?
It was just... he wasn’t the type to do this, so it snagged at them.
"...Maybe he’s carrying a lot? Should I go now...?"
"Since when can’t he carry a few bottles of drinks? And it’s better to wait than miss each other."
Kang Giyeon stopped the fidgeting Park Juu. But even Kang Giyeon couldn’t bring himself to say they should just keep practicing.
Then a familiar vibration sounded from somewhere.
None of the members were bold enough to keep a phone on them against company rules.
So that would be Kim Iwol’s phone. He’d stepped out mid-practice to take a call not long ago, too.
"Did he borrow a phone and call us?"
"Could be."
Lee Cheonghyeon and Jeong Seongbin moved first toward the sound.
They found the phone easily, shoved in the corner of the practice room sofa.
"Huh?"
"Eh. Why is Producer Yu calling at this hour?"
As Lee Cheonghyeon said, the screen read: ‘Producer Yu Hansu.’
"Let’s pick up. Maybe it’s urgent... and I don’t want Iwol getting chewed out for missing a call."
Said Jeong Seongbin.
Kind, on the surface—but, well.
Normally you don’t just answer someone else’s phone.
Especially Jeong Seongbin—neck-and-neck with Kim Iwol for politeness in the group—wasn’t someone who’d ignore basic manners.
More likely, because he didn’t trust Yu Hansu, he wanted to gauge the mood between them while Iwol wasn’t here. That was as far as Choi Jeho guessed.
"Give it."
"...Huh?"
"Give me the phone. I’ll answer."
Given everything he’d seen and heard of Yu Hansu’s temperament, it was right that he be the one to take it. So thought Choi Jeho.
He answered the incoming call...
"Hello?"
— Put Choi Jeho on.
"...Kim Iwol?"
...A voice they hadn’t expected.
"It’s me."
— You’re in the practice room, right?
"Yeah."
— Everyone else there too?
"Yeah. Why aren’t you coming back? Do we all need to go out and—"
Right in front of him, the members were making faces, urging him.
But Kim Iwol cut him off cold.
— Don’t come out.
"What, you’re almost here?"
"If you’re carrying a lot, I can go to the entrance."
Quiet until now, Jeong Seongbin added a word.
— The manager will probably come. Until then, no one leaves the practice room. Got it?
"Chanyeong clocked out earlier."
The company and the dorm were close, so they’d sent the manager home early, planning to head back together after practice.
— Someone from the company will come. Just wait for that.
"And where are you, what are you even—"
Irritation crept up on Choi Jeho.
The guy who usually said everything you needed to know before you even asked—why was he like this today?
Then Park Juu carefully took the phone from Choi Jeho’s hand.
"But hyung, why does your voice sound like that...?"
His voice?
It sounded normal. Why ask that out of nowhere?
The moment the rest of them looked at Park Juu in puzzlement—
A strange woman’s scream came through the call.
With a tearing screech as the last thing they heard, the call cut off one-sidedly.
Just as Kim Iwol had said, the manager showed up at the practice room right after the call ended. His face was paper-white.
He didn’t answer any questions about what had happened. He only rushed to get the members into the van and out of the company.
Everyone was rattled. Until they saw the police line, patrol cars, and crowds all tangled together.
The van turned into chaos. They could barely remember how they stopped an enraged Choi Jeho from ordering the driver to turn the car around.
After dropping the members off, the manager headed back out from the dorm.
Only after that could the members get a clear picture of what was happening outside.
[Breaking] Spark’s Iwol injured by a weapon near his label... transported to hospital
UA Entertainment assault case—culprit revealed to be in-house producer
[On-site photo] Entertainment industry in shock, heavy police line at the scene
Producer ambushes his own label’s idol... injured artist is Spark’s Iwol
Articles poured out from every outlet. Maybe because the case was so unusual, news about Kim Iwol started showing up in the society section too.
Updates about Yu Hansu—said to have been taken into custody on the spot—kept coming.
Idol assault perpetrator complains of unexplained headache... investigation bogs down
[Exclusive] Producer arrested at the scene
Police investigation begins... detention warrant in question
There wasn’t a single quiet place left. SNS, the fan café, even the dorm phone—everything was loud.
Whether they were people who truly worried for Kim Iwol or those who loved gossip—
Everyone was waiting for a clear account of what happened. A producer injuring an idol was unprecedented.
≫ What the fuck is going on
≫ No but Iwol, what happened—he was filming fine yesterday, why is this happening out of nowhere
≫ No matter the conflict, this kind of violence isn’t right... It would’ve been better to talk it out... I hope the victim is okay
≫ So is our boy okay or not, fuck, I’m freaking out right now
≫ A staffer hit an idol with a blunt weapon?? Did I get that right???
└ The world’s gone insane, seriously...
≫ Isn’t he the kid who had that personality controversy?
Seeing this, maybe the mutiny rumor was true
└ Read the room, you shithead?
└ I kinda thought that too... where there’s smoke there’s fire
└ A person’s lying there after being beaten and you’re running your mouth—get sued and maybe you’ll learn
UA racked up three-digit likes on ‘We want follow-ups,’ but released no statement.
Strictly speaking, they ‘couldn’t.’ It was the first time UA had faced a disaster of this scale.
But that wasn’t an excuse. Incompetence isn’t a badge of honor.
And UA had gone through this before—a situation where their own artist was at the center of controversy.
Of course, back then UA hadn’t done anything in particular.
In Jeong Seongbin’s mind, up came the image of Kim Iwol single-handedly cleaning up every mess.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to leave stuff like this to the company?’
At his question, Kim Iwol hesitated, then answered:
‘No. I think I’ll sleep better if I handle it.’
To be honest, Jeong Seongbin thought hyung had a tendency to worry about far too much.
From what he’d seen, people at UA weren’t the type to ignore their artists’ hardships. They’d actually told Kim Iwol to let the company handle it.
But he didn’t. Instead he personally smoothed every controversy to a shine.
And now, faced with a situation without Kim Iwol, UA was wrestling with something—leaving fans and members alike in the lurch.
It was night, so maybe the office was empty and response would be slow. His safety mattered most.
He could think that in his head, but frustration still boiled up in his chest.
With an unprecedented, sensational piece of news, the rumor mill ballooned like a snowball.
Even while other members pulled the phone lines and waited only for the company’s call, stories the actual parties knew nothing about spread like weeds.
≫ I’m hearing it was mutual? What’s true?
People are saying the idol overreacted too
└ There isn’t even a definitive article yet; stop spreading falsehoods...
└ It’s not falsehoods, it’s a question—can’t I ask?
└ Fans are on edge over any little thing right now—don’t fan the flames; do you have zero social sense?
└ “Producer Y says the other party also injured him and is asserting mutual fault”—that’s literally what the article says, why are you treating only your oppa as the victim lol
└ Then where exactly is this Y guy injured lol The idol with the split scalp is unconscious, and the one who ‘got hurt’ is out front screaming for the cameras, what a show
≫ UA you motherfuckers please say something—my blood’s running dry... I’m losing my mind
≫ Nothing else—just tell us if Iwol is okay... It’s his head, for god’s sake, please...
└ ㅠㅠ I know you’re worried but let’s hold on a bit longer! We’ll hear something soon ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
And then—
≫ @NEW_Re:
Who do you think helped when you were about to get kicked off the team for being shit at your job and almost wrecked other people’s work
There’s a limit to paying kindness back with spite
No one covered your ass more than Iwol
If not for him I would’ve filed suit before you caused that mess
Hope I never see you in this industry again
Also for the people poking at me in comments and DMs
If you can’t say it to my face, don’t say it behind my back ^^
Iwol’s a junior who helped me a hell of a lot
Everyone at the company loves the kid
Try using common sense
Is it normal to do that to someone nearly twenty years younger than you
≫ g. About your sex-class notions
[You’ll see it in the broadcast cut of the Round 3 meeting]
[But honestly, Iwol hyung took care of us like crazy]
[What makes air is not even half of it ㅠ He’s the real deal, he looks after people]
[He’s not someone who’d push anyone around, seriously]
[Talk to him for three minutes and you can tell, but people are weird]
[“Won’t the company scold you for saying this?”]
[Don’t worry, our company likes Iwol hyung too]
[But the hyung is kind of another class—different from CEO Moon’s vibe]
[Heerang’s talking about Iwol hyung right ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) now too?]
[See, told you—he’s like catnip to humans]
≫ @Pollo_q
The Iwol I’ve seen gives his best to the tiniest task
He’s diligent in everything and looks after the members with real care
And overnight you turn him into some problem child who brawls with coworkers and starts shit
It’s not my first day seeing this industry’s nonsense, but this is too much
The instant shots came from sources no one expected.
The fandom, strung tight by fear of a bad update, finally blew.
≫ Why Sparklers are pissed (long post)
This is just what’s surfaced—imagine the rest behind the scenes
Even during the personality controversy, it was Iwol who did the explanation stream himself
Back then I thought, clean and nice, and moved on—but now my blood runs cold
How little must he trust the company to have done that himself...
≫ Members do the show planning, members do producing—what the hell does the label do? You hired a trash PD and still dump cleanup on the artist? #UAExplain
≫ Without Iwol can UA not even manage its own staff or write an apology
#UAExplain
Don’t expect anything else—just take care of the kids’ mental states
#UA_Protect_Your_Artist
No spaces, six or more characters
≫ If an artist from the same label talks like that, how much has Iwol suffered...?
The vibe is basically “the asshole spills shit and Iwol cleans it up”
If that’s true, UA’s execs could bash their heads on the floor and it wouldn’t be enough
≫ So to sum it up
A forty-year-old man did his job like shit, hassled a twenty-one-year-old, got fired, and took it out on him
Is that it? Is that it???
≫ Start with why Iwol had to shoulder everything in the first place
The company seats a fucking idiot, the producer’s incompetent...
This shows how structurally broken UA is
Why even have a company or employees then
≫ At least earn your salaries
You get paid, but my kid hasn’t even seen a settlement—why are you working him like a dog? He’s literally got his skull cracked?
Actually the ones who should be bleeding and breaking are you UA fuckers
Stop clamping your mouths shut and do something, fuck
Around then, UA realized what they were missing.
Shuttling frantically between the police station and the ER, UA rushed out an apology.
≫ Hello, this is UA Entertainment.
This evening, an incident occurred in which our artist was injured by a company employee.
The artist is currently receiving treatment from medical staff, and the employee has been handed over to investigative authorities.
We ask your understanding for not delivering updates promptly as we prioritized the artist’s safety.
To prevent recurrence, we will take responsibility for our artist management.
Once again, we apologize for causing concern with this unfortunate event.
The moment he read UA’s apology, Jeong Seongbin felt a faint headache.
Why Kim Iwol took matters upon himself.
And how painfully wise that choice had been.
As he expected the instant he saw it, fans only grew angrier at a statement that listed bare facts.
When an office worker writes a report, you can explain why it happened, what mistake was made, what results it caused, how much loss the company took, and the countermeasures and prevention plan—but the entertainment world isn’t the same, is it.
≫ You call this an apology?
Rewrite it, fuckers
≫ What goes in an apology
Forget the fluff—say what you did wrong and beg
This wasn’t an “accident,” it’s something that built up and blew
Shouldn’t you start by apologizing for failing to prevent something preventable???
≫ You bled us dry all day and this is the apology you bring?
During Annals you didn’t write an apology—you let Iwol do a clarification stream, thanks a lot you shits—no wonder the kid does everything himself
≫ Whatever, shut down your so-called “entertainment” business
Running it half-assed with your thumbs up your ass and calling it entertainment, lmao
What kind of label lets its own idol’s skull get cracked
How fucking badly did you work for this to turn out like this
Did you all take your meds or what
In the end, UA posted a rewritten apology.
They acknowledged the excessive workload alleged for the idol up to now; explained how and why Yu Hansu had come to work with the artist and the frictions between them; and made it clear the artist was, unequivocally, the victim.
They added that prior rumors about Kim Iwol’s workplace power abuse, mutiny, or mutual fault were untrue, and that if not taken down voluntarily they would respond legally.
They would also pursue damages and legal action against Yu Hansu, and spare no support for Kim Iwol’s recovery—the second apology ended on that note.
"Haa..."
Confirming the mood had finally quieted a little, Jeong Seongbin let out a long breath.
"...You okay?"
Park Juu patted his shoulder, worry written on his face.
The dorm felt like a funeral home. The one to crack the ice-cold air was Choi Jeho.
"No, seriously, why aren’t we allowed to go."
They could hear him arguing with the person on the phone. At his side, Kang Giyeon tried to keep him from raising his voice.
"Reporters are all there and we’re supposed to just sit here? He’s in surgery right now, isn’t he. We should be there to see our member’s surgery through, shouldn’t we?"
He was about to start cursing when Jeong Seongbin clamped it down. Taking the phone, he heard a din behind the manager’s voice.
"Hyung, it’s Seongbin."
— Yeah, Seongbin. I know it’s hard, but please calm Jeho down...
"No, hyung."
Jeong Seongbin’s voice dropped.
Partly because he didn’t trust a company that hadn’t told them anything while he was combing through every new article.
"I think we should be there. Please."
All of them wanted to see Kim Iwol. Right now.
