Chapter 198
Yoo Minha stuttered as he read the post-it note again.
"But, it clearly says here that hyung was wearing a scarf―?"
After listening to Yoo Min-ha's words, Song Hyung-bin moved his lips very slowly.
"... When I went to an interview for
"... !"
"Really?"
I froze for a moment.
That's for sure. It was a hot summer when we debut.
And Song Hyung-bin's birthday was in September, before the weather really got cold. These gifts were probably sent to our office building much earlier than that.
If so, then these post-its are what she wrote after seeing Song Hyung-bin before September.
In a word.
"Thi, this person saw Hyungbin hyung before he debuted as Seleste? Since IPS? She also saw him wearing a scarf while he was visiting his parents' house?"
Kang Si-yoon's words echoed loudly in the logistics storage room.
Everyone knew that everything he said was right, but they couldn't bring themselves to react.
Because it was more shocking than we could have imagined.
According to Song Hyung-bin, the only times he wore a scarf were when he went for an interview for
That is, this person has been following Song Hyung-bin since his days as a trainee.
Before he became famous.
Even before he appeared on the survival program, he was chased after from the moment he went for an interview.
'I got goosebumps all over my body.'
He's not even a debut idol, and she's following a mere trainee around like that.
Of course, Song Hyung-bin was already known as a trainee under Awake before participating in
But no matter how much his name is listed in the community,.
Even if he is a promising trainee and is getting people's attention, it is absolutely not right to be obsessed and chase after him like this person is doing now.
"Haha...."
Song Hyung-bin exhaled deeply again and scratched his head.
"It's a little scary."
"Of course it's scary! This is just ridiculous."
As soon as Song Hyung-bin finished speaking, Chae Eun-gyu spoke in an angry tone.
It was rare for Seleste's eldest brother to raise his voice this loudly.
This is proof that they are taking this situation seriously.
"This is the most creepy of all. She followed Hyung-bin hyung home, right? He was wearing a scarf when he went home. So...."
"Then maybe she even knows his home address."
Kang Si-yoon completed Heo Yu-bin's speech.
A heavy silence fell again.
It was really scary to find out that this thing that we had just wanted to confirm and move on from because of our uneasy feelings had actually been going on for quite some time.
Knowingly or unknowingly, she was following like a shadow even before he debuted.
Even I, who wasn't involved in the incident, get goosebumps, so how much more so must Song Hyung-bin feel.
"Let's check the last box first."
It was shocking enough, but Song Hyung-bin held onto his spirit and spoke calmly.
The last gift box was small in size.
This time, I thought there was clothing inside the box, like a scarf, but there was only a thin envelope inside.
"Did she collect and send the letter papers all at once?"
"Did she intentionally make the packaging oversized so that she could leave this?"
I didn't understand why she would go through the trouble of buying such a thing.
But the moment we carefully opened the envelope and checked the contents,.
I immediately understood why this fan had sent it this way.
"Isn't this madness?"
Heo Yu-bin bit his lips tightly with a frightened face.
Yoo Min-ha, who was reading the letter next to him, also nodded vigorously.
The content of the letter was similar to the Post-it notes we had seen so far.
But while the post-its only told brief stories related to the gifts, this letter went even further, and it was immediately apparent that she was trying to somehow connect all of her mental feelings with Song Hyung-bin.
Obsession. Madness. Twisted affection. Stalking.
All of these things were in the letter.
"... This is the kind of content that was left out."
Song Hyung-bin calmly put the letter into the envelope.
As if he had predicted that this would be the case, there didn't seem to be any significant impact.
"I was worried that maybe I had made everyone worry about something so trivial, but it actually turned out like this."
"How did it go?"
At Song Hyung-bin's words, Manager Hyung, who had been quietly watching the situation, was slightly surprised.
Song Hyung-bin smiled faintly at him.
"At first, it started out with suspicions after hearing about Karis and me. If I had suspected such things of a decent person, I would have felt guilty, but I feel relieved that it ended up like this."
"No matter what...."
Song Hyung-bin is trying to somehow accept this situation positively.
Everyone in the warehouse could tell.
Manager Hyung also nodded his head while speaking.
"Then, since we've definitely collected the evidence, we'll collect everything this person sent. Is that okay?"
"Yes. You can take it right now."
"Oh, Hyungbin. And there's a chance that this person's stuff got mixed in with the gifts you brought to your room, so check when you get back to your dorm and let me know."
"Yes."
We left the logistics storage room, leaving the cleanup to the manager.
It feels like some huge storm has swept through.
Everyone looked fine on the outside, but no one opened their mouths while riding the elevator up.
You might be thinking that something like this could happen to you right now.
-It's the first floor.
As I got off the elevator, I suddenly looked at Song Hyung-bin's hand.
He, who had not shown any particular signs until just now, was shaking his hands slightly.
'I really hope this kind of confusing situation doesn't happen again.'
* * *
After Song Hyung-bin's stalking/sasaeng fan scandal happened, many things changed.
First of all, our daily fan manager activities were hastily concluded during the first week of music shows.
It is a great pleasure to be able to communicate closely with fans, but in the current situation where the agency is facing a red light due to the Sasaeng fan issue, the conclusion was made that working as a daily fan manager is too dangerous.
Even during that short time, there were quite a few people who asked the members slightly excessive questions and didn't hesitate to show their cameras.
I think this is inevitable.
Secondly, it was said that security and protection on the way to and from music broadcasts will be strengthened.
Originally, security guards didn't keep a tight line on the way to and from music shows.
Even if you look at other idols, they tend to give fans the freedom to take pictures as they please.
We are told that given the circumstances, security guards will form a border line that maintains a certain distance.
In short, this means that there will be no more incidents like last time where fans flocked from all directions.
Thirdly, unfortunately, the act of communicating with fans itself was heavily controlled.
The manager said that the best policy is to not answer at all, as the sasaengs will come running at you even more if you answer personal questions.
So, for the time being, until this issue dies down, we have decided to only greet fans when meeting them outside of the stage and not answer their questions if possible.
Finally, a notice was posted on our official cafe.
A stern warning from Sigma Entertainment regarding the invasion of privacy of Seleste members.
The notice stated that anyone caught would be permanently removed from the fan club and blacklisted from all offline events.
[Notice privacy violations regarding Seleste]
Hello, this is Sigma Entertainment.
Recently, we have caught an attempt to invade the privacy of Seleste members. We have secured evidence related to the invasion of privacy, and we will take legal action if the same thing happens again.
Indiscriminate 'sasaeng' behaviors such as following an artist, trespassing on a schedule, and asking personal questions to the artist and filming them are clearly crimes.
Depending on the number and severity of privacy invasions, we plan to ban you from participating in offline events and even permanently withdraw you from the fan club and take legal action, so we ask all Seleves to take note of this.
We earnestly ask for your cooperation in creating a proper fan culture.
When this announcement was first posted, many fans were quite confused.
It must be absurd that an idol who hasn't even debuted for 6 months already has so many Sasaeng fans that their agency has to post a notice about it.
However, as the album sells well, the charts go up, and they become more popular, the percentage of Sasaengs revealing their personal feelings towards them naturally increases.
Regardless of the period of activity.
'I hope this kind of pressure goes well, but...'
I looked at some of Seleve community reactions.
It was good that the agency moved quickly and announced a strong response.
But will the Sasaengs really remain silent after seeing this declaration of war?
Rather, I became worried.
'Song Hyung-bin was also great. I want to forgive her at least once.'
To some, this may seem like an overly complacent response.
He said he wouldn't report to the police the person who had been stalking him since his trainee days.
However, I heard that even if you report stalking, it is very difficult for the perpetrator to be legally punished.
Aside from the complexity of the process, the conditions for stalking crimes to be committed are extremely strict.
So, even though there are a lot of idols in the current entertainment industry who are suffering from sasaengs, it is not being properly eradicated.
Sasaengs act in search of holes between laws, and written laws have many loopholes.
"I would like to sue her right away, but... It's been like this before. Even if you report stalking and obstruction of business, the courts often don't accept it. How are you going to differentiate between Sasaeng fans and regular fans and punish them criminally? The standards are so vague that the courts are reluctant to do so."
To the members who asked if it was right to sue, the manager explained it like this.
As a celebrity, you are always in the public eye, so you have to always consider the special relationship between celebrities and fans.
If you post that you will indiscriminately sue Sasaengs, there is a high chance that there will be people who will object and say that this is regulating the entire fandom.
Additionally, there is a view from the upper echelons that the idol group's image is being damaged externally.
This is truly a huge headache for us.
All we can do is hope that no further direct damage comes to us.
But, as always, this was only the beginning.
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