in a room with a large mirror on one side, Jin An practiced dancing non-stop. sweat dripped from his forehead and partly wet the back of his clothes. nearly 2 hours Jin An practiced with several short breaks. Jin An is currently training to debut as an idol.
Jin An felt that today's training was quite good, he was in great shape and in a good mood. He then stops dancing and plans to take another break. he walked to the back and leaned his body against the wall. He reached for the water bottle and drank it eagerly.
He reached for his cell phone and checked it. he saw a lot of missed calls from 1 person, from the staff of the agency where he train. he then called the staff.
"Hello, sorry I was practicing," Jin An said
"oh, no problem. I'm Kim, one of the recruitment staff. The manager and director called you to their room immediately" he said
"Okay, I'll be right there" Jin An replied
Jin An wiped off his sweat, put on his hat, and immediately walked to the director's office.
when he reached, he saw an actor also there. he is a fairly well-known actor and is under the same agency as Jin An. Jin An initially did not feel any suspicion. he looked at the director who was busy on the phone. the director then made a "wait" sign with his hand.
"Please take a seat," said the actor's manager
Jin An sat awkwardly on the edge of the chair. he started to get worried.
the director finished the call and then sat down with the actor, the actor's manager, and Jin An.
"Your name is Jin An right?"
"Right" Jin an nodded
"Look Jin An, you are one of the talented trainees we have at this small agency," said the director
"I want to ask you a favor" The director hung up his words
the actor's manager then placed some papers on the table
"We are only a small agency, and this actor is the company's only goldmine and one that provides great opportunities for all the artists and idols in this agency"
Jin An suddenly felt dizzy
"Therefore we can't lose him to a scandal," said the director
"what do you mean?" Jin an asked
the actor's manager handed Jin An an Ipad
"Look," the director told Jin An to look at the news on the online channel.
The news showed a photo of a man and a woman leaving the hotel and kissing in the parking lot. it is not clear the man's face, but his features are the same as the actor in front of Jin An.
"You have similar body and facial proportions to him, therefore we will banish this news from him and you will take his place in this scandal. You will not lose anything, in fact, we will provide some compensation"
Jin An felt as if the room was spinning, he had been training hard for 2 years to prepare for his debut, but he was forced to sign the contract against his will due to his attachment to his previous contract as a trainee.
Jin An walked out of the director's office with weak legs. he packed his things and walked out of the agency forever. he will never return to this agency no matter what.
he was suddenly surrounded by reporters as he walked away from the agency building. he was bombarded with questions about his relationship with a girl he didn't even know. Jin An couldn't help but sigh and say that it was all true. The trainee, who was rumored to be an ACE idol candidate, instead ended up in a scandal which he didn't do at all. Jin An knew that this might be his first and last time on television but it wasn't in a good reputation.
Jin An entered the house and hurriedly ran to his room
"Jin An" his brother tried to catch up before Jin An locked his bedroom door. his brother caught his hand.
"let go!" Jin An said
"what happened, is all the news true? is this girl really your girlfriend?" Jin An's brother shows an Instagram live video in progress.
Jin An looked at the cellphone screen, there were around 2000 audiences. One of them asked if it was true that Jin An was dating her, and the girl said it was true. She even shows a couple of things they have. All Jin An knows is that it's just his agency's settings.
Jin An's head felt like it was going to explode. He threw his bag and ran out of the house. his brother tried to run after him but Jin An's father, who had been standing near the stairs, stopped him.
"Let him calm his mind. As his family, we know better who your brother is. Don't make your mother more worried. Accompany your mother, your brother will definitely come back when he calms down," said Jin An's father.
Jin An got into a taxi, he reached into his trouser pocket and took out a mask, and covered his face with it. he got off at any place and walked aimlessly. he then entered a PC cafe. he immediately did a search and read various people's comments.
the more he read the comments the worse his feelings. his dream to debut as an idol seems like a total disaster. there will be no more words to bounce back after this scandal. people can only make bad comments and corner him, and ironically he can't defend himself. he knew that an entertainment industry is tough but he never thought it will be this dark and dirty.
Jin An felt that his soul had been completely sucked into the darkness. he leaned back against the chair as if he wanted to sink into it. he started to cry in silence, he knew he wouldn't be able to ask anyone for help at a time like this. scandal for an idol is a very dangerous thing and rarely gets up, in Jin An's case, he may have to bury his desire to become an idol forever.
he put his head on the table, in the monitor that was open in the browser, the comments continued to grow and spread like a virus that then went viral.
the clock on PC Cafe shows 12 o'clock at night. a man enters the PC cafe room. he wears a black hoodie, black pants, a brown hat, and a dark brown coat. he walked slowly towards Jin An who was asleep in his tears. the man stared at the monitor screen which kept moving filled with hateful comments. Hwan, the man's name, does something via his cellphone which can then set the PC screen to a site. Hwan then put a piece of paper on Jin An's desk and walked away.
Jin An was awakened by a small beeping alarm from his PC. he saw a dialog box on the monitor screen that read.
"cuddle room, you are invited"
With doubts, Jin An tried to cancel and turn off his PC, but he couldn't. Jin An then ventured out. he pressed the "Ok" button which directed him to a secret site called the "cuddle room". Jin An was momentarily scared that it was a website that was as dangerous as its name.
"Enter your password" was written on the monitor screen
Jin An muttered, what password? he did not create any account, how could he have a password? Jin An then saw a piece of paper near his cell phone. there are written various codes. already curious Jin An tried to enter the code.
"Hello, we are a 'cuddle room', we are a support service for those of you who are down and need emotional and mental help. rules: you can express your feelings as freely as possible, we guarantee confidentiality, you can make special requests about the appearance of the "angel ", the angel is the person who will help you, you must not touch "angel", any attempt of physical contact without the permission of angel will be had a very bad impact"
"if you agree enter your mobile number, and we will show you the place while you can make requests for angel atmosphere and clothing, inappropriate clothing is not allowed"
Jin An felt that this was a joke. but Jin An's already broken heart wished for a little consolation, he entered his mobile number.
after he entered the mobile number and his request, the monitor screen suddenly turned off.
Jin An's cell phone then rings, and a message arrives on his phone. in the message contains an address and time where the "cuddle room" is located.
Jin An looked at the clock on the wall in the PC cafe, it was 3 in the morning. still, 5 hours left before his appointment. Jin An leaned his head slightly and relaxed on the chair. he then had a dream. he walked on the beach alone barefoot. From a distance, he saw someone standing. he walked closer, the closer, the clearer it was a girl with long hair.
the girl looked at him and smiled, but only that smile was clear, the girl's face was blurry to Jin An. Jin An felt that the girl was very important and seemed to be buried in his memory. when he wanted to reach the girl he was awakened by his cell phone alarm. it's already 7 am. Jin An immediately got up and paid the bill.
Jin An then put on a mask, hat and covered his head with his hoodie. he walked towards the public bath, a sauna. he bathed and ate some boiled eggs. he then walked to the "cuddle room" location.
Hwan watches Jin An from a distance, he sends a message to someone.
3 hours earlier, 9 pm
Hwan is sitting around some computers. Hwan is an IT graduate and hacker. he worked with his partner to create a site called a "cuddle room" which aims to help people who are desperate to express their problems freely without any obstacles. cuddle room has been running for a year. Hwan has faced several real bugs and problems, ranging from tracking attempts, harassment of his partners, and information leaks. after various repairs, the "cuddle room" finally works as Hwan intended.
usually "cuddle room" sites can only be found through random searches which are very hard to crack or when Hwan gave it to certain people, and only open to people with certain keywords. but today is a little different.
Hwan receives a call from his partner who has a special request, an exception. Hwan even had to intervene himself to meet a client.
Hwan is curious about the full story of this. he continued to monitor Jin An who was slowly moving towards the "cuddle room". Jin An's message clearly stated his request
"I want a simple and warm room, I want the 'Angel' to wear the uniform from xxx High School"
as far as Hwan knows, Hwan's partner used to attend this high school for a short period. Hwan becomes increasingly curious about his partner the "angel" and Jin An red thread. Hwan then moved into the room where there were several laptops and other software. Hwan watches from the monitor. the "angel" who was already wearing a uniform and covering her face with a mask shaped like a cat's face, sat on the sofa as per Jin An's request. the mask didn't completely cover her face, her lips could still be seen.
Hwan sees Jin An standing for a few moments before entering the room. Jin An looked hesitant and paced a few times in front of the "cuddle room". Jin An then took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.
Jin An saw the "angel" sitting down and gave a gentle smile. Jin An took a hesitant step closer and then sat down awkwardly.
"hello," Jin An said in a slightly swallowed voice, as if his voice caught on his neck.
the 'angel' then smiled. for some time the room was silent. Hwan watched intently while remaining alert. it was normal for him to see silence like this. it's not easy to pour out your problems and difficulties to other people, let alone strangers whose faces are covered with masks.
"Those things are not true and I have to endure it" Jin An's words finally came out for the first time, breaking the tense silence.
after that Jin An then leaned his body on the sofa and covered his eyes with his arm. Jin An started sobbing as if all the troubles were eating away at his heart and wanted to crawl out of his body. Jin An slowly felt an excruciating pain in his head, his body temperature rose, making him gasp for breath. he then lowered his head and held his chest. he get down to the floor. he sobbed almost half screaming as if he had been drowned in a deep ocean and could no longer rise to the surface. mixed feelings of tightness and fear.
Jin An is like having a "fever" that seems like it will never heal. at that time he then felt warm from the touch of a hand on his chest. Jin An raised his head and looked at the 'angel' who was crouching beside him. Jin An's hand slowly approached the 'angel''s face. Hwan is on standby, if the 'angel' presses the button then he will barge in.
however, the 'angel' let Jin An's hand that was getting closer to touch her cheek and lips. Jin An's hands were hot because of the 'fever', Jin An's eyes were swollen from his non-stop crying, his face was flushed because of his rising body temperature, and his lips were cracked showing signs of depression.
" I wish can meet you again, Cho Ga Eul" those were the last words before Jin An collapsed, his body covered in cold sweat. the 'angel' slowly shed tears.