The incident was handled at speed, probably because it had become headline news.
First, UA wrapped up the internal audit they’d been dragging their feet on. They also launched a sweeping overhaul of company policies.
I heard all of this straight from UA people. I politely declined, but the CEO and a few staff insisted on visiting me in person at the hospital.
“I’m truly sorry, Iwol. I have no face to show you.”
Lying there while he bowed and apologized felt unbearably awkward.
Even so, I didn’t say it was fine. If they’d vetted Yu Hansu properly before hiring him—or, when problems with me arose, swallowed the discomfort and let him go—none of this would have happened.
After that, the CEO talked for a long time.
“You’re so capable that I and the company got greedy. We shouldn’t have, but we piled too much on your shoulders.”
“A company should be a place you can trust, and we weren’t. I’m ashamed we didn’t earn your trust—and in a way, this forced us to look in the mirror and ask if we even have the capacity to be trustworthy. I’m sorry in many ways.”
How badly UA was being pummeled inside and outside the industry was obvious even from my hospital bed.
People were calling for a public apology—some even for a special law to stamp out irrational practices. The small ball I’d tossed up had turned into hail battering UA.
So I expected some contrition, but...
“We’re taking internal transfer requests right now. It won’t be only volunteers—we’ll actively assign people who meshed well with you, like Ms. Joo Gyeong or folks from Planning.”
“We’re going to set up regular one-on-one check-ins. So far Management has focused too much on contracts and compensation. We’ll widen the company’s ‘care’ so the day-to-day discomforts are reduced to a minimum.”
“From now on, don’t stress about self-content and the like. We’ll hire separate staff. If you have a preferred team structure or requirements, we’ll reflect them as much as possible.”
...It went past contrition into something that felt genuinely sincere, which threw me.
There were plenty of other follow-ups.
Any time I had to move for idol-related work like going to the practice room, a manager would pick me up—(side note, the manager said he’d had his pay docked over this). When members planned concepts or did work, UA would pay an idea fee.
While I was still searching for words under the sudden downpour of benefits, the CEO asked:
“Could you give us just one more chance?”
Chance or whatever—my fate here is to hit the final KPI. If treatment improves, I can only be grateful.
Ultimately, the goal is for us to do nothing except attend planning and structure meetings. It would’ve been great if it had always been like that, but I decided to think positively: a brighter future is ahead.
Yu Hansu’s name bounced between the front page of Entertainment and the front page of Society almost daily.
In entertainment news, he was a warped power figure who habitually abused idols and industry staff; in society news, he was a criminal who injured a young idol. The coverage was nonstop.
Now and then I saw pieces saying he was suffering from severe headaches.
I could at least get painkillers; that guy had no external injuries, so there was probably nothing they could even administer. The thought was oddly relieving.
And that wasn’t the only satisfying news.
Spurred by Ms. Newri’s exposé, industry people found the courage to speak up one by one, calling out Yu Hansu’s abuses. People were now saying “the Yu Hansu Gate.”
≫ “They say victim K submitted hundreds of pieces of evidence—looks like it’ll be hard to avoid prison time.” Did I read that right?
└ If you got cursed at hundreds of times, you should’ve said something, oh Iwol...
≫ Another leak on YHS (confirmed by a junior at the same company, with receipts)
This bastard is a bottomless well.
└ And it’s vicious. When someone sets out to torment you like that, people under them can’t keep their sanity.
└ For real—if your results get stolen and you’re verbally abused, that’s gaslighting. If it were me, I’d have quit within three months.
≫ Wild that someone kept track of all that, piece by piece.
The people suffering probably planned to report it, lol.
└ If my boss pulled that shit, I’d report him too.
└ Is he a psychopath?
In the middle of this storm, I—the original tipster and the one most harmed—was...
“Are there coworkers who remember the assault when it happened?”
“Yes, our members.”
“You handed the evidence over to an employee, but it’s currently lost, so there are only photos left. Correct?”
“That’s right.”
...I had the honor of proving the facts of the case while police officers sat in my private room.
Because the case had grown so big, they asked if they could come to the hospital to speed up the investigation; I didn’t want anything dragged out either, so I agreed right away.
“Were there repeated assaults or threats?”
“Physical contact like hitting my shoulder or head happened nearly every time. The threatening comments got worse after the PD moved departments.”
“And the harsher acts were mostly by phone or messenger?”
“Yes. Otherwise he often called me to rooms without CCTV—meeting rooms or the roof.”
Every time I opened my mouth, I could see the investigators’ expressions darken.
“There’s CCTV leading to meeting rooms and emergency exits, right? We’ll need to pull that.”
“I wrote the dates and times in my planner. Because of work, I record all transit times...”
“Good, that was smart.”
The typist’s keystrokes got faster and faster.
Once we’d wrapped the first round of detailing Yu Hansu’s abuses, one of the officers asked:
“This is a procedural question, but if the perpetrator’s side requests a settlement, would you consider it?”
Maybe, if I needed medical bills and couldn’t endure a long legal battle.
But with UA footing the bill, I wasn’t about to make that chump move.
“I—”
I was about to phrase “I need to see Yu Hansu blacklisted from the industry” more politely when the door banged open. Lying down, I couldn’t see who came in.
“Are you Mr. Kim Iwol’s guardian?”
The officer looked toward the noise and asked.
“There’s no way those people came now, right?”
He glanced between my face and the doorway.
Then the unknown visitor spoke.
“I’m Hansu’s mother.”
“Pff.”
I choked on nothing but air. I clapped a hand over my mouth and tried not to cough.
“Ma’am, you can’t come in like this.”
One of the officers stood; he disappeared from my view. Looked like he was going to escort her out.
How is this straight out of a drama? Honestly, if Kang Giyeon had popped out from under the bed yelling, “Surprise, it’s all hidden camera!” I would’ve believed it.
The visitor was unyielding. She ignored the warnings that she couldn’t do this here.
“You need to follow procedure. You can’t just barge in and insist.”
“That’s why I came to apologize sincerely...”
“That’s only possible if the victim agrees, ma’am. And this is a hospital. Can’t you see he’s a patient? Please step outside to talk.”
“Would I be doing this if I weren’t desperate? Don’t you have kids?”
My manager came back from stepping out for the interview, and with two grown men they escorted her out of the room.
It didn’t change much. The commotion continued out in the hall.
“Does this happen a lot?”
“More than you’d think...”
“That must be tough...”
The remaining officer and I waited, faces drained, for things to calm down.
But hope was naive; the noise didn’t die.
The elderly mother kept pleading that Hansu had a brilliant future and was the pride of the family, and that prison time over a moment of impulse would leave an indelible stain on a life.
Must be nice for him, fuck. You can stab someone and still have family take your side.
Some of us get head injuries and can’t even get a guardian’s signature because no one wants to be “involved.”
Just as my temper was about to blow, I heard my manager’s voice.
“Because of your son, the kid can’t even sit up. How can you be this selfish?”
He yelled.
I didn’t see it, but I knew—he was deeply emotional.
“When he first woke up, you were so calm,” I thought. Maybe that calm was for me. So I wouldn’t panic right after the accident.
“Could we proceed on the assumption I won’t accept a settlement?”
“You’re sure?”
Normally, I might have let her into the room rather than inconvenience other patients.
I might have thought, the criminal is Hansu, not his mother—let’s at least hear her out. Maybe I would have considered settling out of pity for an elder apologizing in her son’s stead.
But I decided I wouldn’t pity them anymore.
Because someone had spent days worrying over me, and someone was on my side.
“Yes. No leniency whatsoever.”
If you commit a crime, clean it up yourself—like the day I got my data wiped in the conference room.
And just like that, the long, bad tie between me and Yu Hansu ended.
While UA and I were putting out fires offline, a lot happened online, too.
UA’s “Apology_Final.jpg” made me clutch the back of my neck, but at least the revised version went up—small mercy.
Spark, who’d delivered strong performances even while dealing with these issues inside our label, was getting praise and going viral.
≫ The company’s a mess and the kids still did this well. Respect.
└ Some teams who did worse than Spark should take an honest look in the mirror.
└ And honestly, not many teams did better than Spark... (I’ll refrain)
≫ Flip side: doesn’t this prove the members alone can deliver at this level?
What if they start their own company later? lol
└ Day 1 of praying for Spark Entertainment to be founded
≫ The miracle of this gen’s “small label” is Spark.
└ UA isn’t that small, lol.
└ From now on, UA’s joining the small-label lineup.
└ Look at the clown show—how would you not call it small-label behavior.
The biggest beneficiary of all this was me.
After the position battle episode aired, sympathy toward me surged like never before.
≫ What I was sure of watching the last episode:
Our boy’s self-esteem is really low.
He performed with the main-vocal trio, and then asked if they’d rather be on stage with another team—broke my heart.
Not trying to put Verion down here (say dumb stuff and I’ll ignore you), but Iwol also took the tough parts. He wasn’t a UA trainee for nothing... They’re famous for ballads even if his form was shaky...
He’s just a little clumsy at dance—vocally he’s on par ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) with other groups’ main vocals. And if you consider how short his trainee period was, of course the dancing lags.
On top of that, he was working, planning, monitoring—and getting chewed out. It’s insane...
From today, anyone calling Iwol a klutz—I’m taking you all out, for real.
└ Spark’s main-vocal line is practically post-idol, but Iwol sings well too, yeah. When a part makes you go “hey, this is nice,” it’s often him.
└ When they said he was always in the practice room, I just thought, “what a hard worker,” but now I’m furious—turns out it was all because of gaslighting. I’m pissed and crying.
≫ All the clowns who trashed “Kim Pep’s personality” and called him a klutz—get on your knees.
Especially the fandom that paddled along laughing with them back then, the anti-fans, the forced-hate crew—
Did it feel good beating on my kid to lift up your oppas?
He split the day into forty-eight hours and lived them alone. Isn’t what he achieved incredible?
Now that it’s all out, everything we said hits, and you’ve got nothing—so you’re all quiet. Hilarious.
Yeah, keep staying quiet. If I see you grab my kid by the hair one more time, I’ll destroy you all.
└ Destroy them 2222222222
└ Destroy them 33333333333333333
└ “Like artist, like fans.” The way you’re talking—your social skills are dead, huh?
└ You got lost and barked up the wrong tree, then act like you’ve got social grace, lol. Touch some grass.
≫ I was dying from the haters, the contrarians, the clout-chasers, and the smear posts.
What do you know? Nobody knew what he was going through off-camera, and you judged from what you saw.
Iwol, from now on, look at pretty things with your pretty eyes.
└ Iwol, don’t read that stuff. It’s trash, it’s trash.
≫ Iwol, if you keep going like this, you’ll only ever become the strongest idol alive.
You’re pampered and everyone calls you pretty, so it must feel like the world is under your feet, right?
And you know what? You’re right. Everything you say is correct, and everything is yours.
Live however you want forever. Okay? I love you to death.
└ Love you.
└ Love you love you love you.
└ Love you, Iwol!!!!!!!!!!
└ Spark, I love you ㅠ (crying)
└ Love you ♡
└ Spark, only walk the flaming road ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Before I knew it, I’d become the sturdy idol who kept working through skill-bashing and gaslighting.
On Bubblepop I nearly burned my fingers typing, “Everyone, I’m really okay, and I actually enjoy the work! The company says they’ll help a lot now! Don’t worry! And thank you so much for the compliments!”
There was also a push to dredge Yu Hansu to the absolute bottom and float him up for all to see, just as he was about to be cast out of the industry.
Someone combed through his social media. It was public, so “combed” might be generous.
≫ What is producing, in the end?
A question from a cherished junior.
After thinking hard, I answered like this.
.
Isn’t it the creation of life?
The creation of life?
.
He wouldn’t know yet.
What I truly meant.
The sacred value of this work.
How much a producer must devote
to bring one life into the world.
.
Every day, I—
create a world that must be destroyed by the one who is about to be born.
Thinking of Demian.
≫ Did you see that repost of YHS’s essay-style SNS post?
What a clown. Peak cringe. He reads like a total social misfit.
└ “Demian,” he says, lol. Did he even read it?
≫ Every new thing that surfaces is disgusting.
It just keeps coming.
≫ Ugh, that crazy bastard.
Didn’t know his place—and that’s why he did what he did.
As a result, his moody photos and scorching self-importance spread nationwide.
In the end, he couldn’t show his face in Korea. He’s still on trial, but prison time looks certain. When he gets out, buying masks in bulk will be in his best interest.
“So... I don’t have a boss anymore?”
Hansu’s done. They said they’ll build a separate team.
From now on the members only need to offer opinions when they want. That’s basically no boss above me.
At last—after ten-plus years of working life—
I have a job with no boss.
My heart pounded. That night, I fell asleep completely at ease.
