Legendary Superstar

Minjae stirred awake as his phone buzzed violently on his bedside table.

He groaned, pulling the blanket over his head. The buzzing didn't stop. It came again. And again.

His phone rang after rang. There were endless calls coming in,

And when it finally paused, a barrage of message notifications followed.

With his eyes still half shut, Minjae blindly reached out and grabbed his phone, squinting at the bright screen.

It was only 6:12 AM.

And on his homescreen, there were 13 missed calls.

8 from Donghyun.

5 from Chanhyuk.

Adding to that he received countless messages.

His brows furrowed.

"What the heck is happening?" he muttered, still groggy. But with the number on his screen, he knew that something was wrong with it.

There was a heaviness in his chest he couldn't explain what it was yet.

With a sinking feeling, he unlocked his phone.

The moment Minjae unlocked his phone, it lit up again. There was another incoming call.

[Donghyun hyung is calling…]

Minjae didn't hesitate this time. He swiped to answer, bringing the phone to his ear.

"Hyung—"

"Minjae!" Donghyun's loud and anxious voice sounded on the other e was sharp, loud, and uncharacteristically panicked. "Check XYZ! Right now. You're fucking everywhere!"

Minjae blinked in confusion, especially when he heard Donghyun cursing. It was so unlike him.

"What do you mean—?"

"Just check it! Right now! Type your name in the search bar. Don't click on any messages, don't open anything else. Just fucking do it. Now."

The urgency in Donghyun's voice sent a chill down Minjae's spine. Donghyun cursing like that only meant one thing.

Something bad happened.

Minjae quickly pulled his phone away from his ear, his fingers shaking slightly as he opened the XYZ app. Just like what Donghyun asked him to do, he typed his name into the search bar.

And there it was.

Top trending:

[#MinjaeControversy]

[#RisingStarScandal]

[#WhoIsThisActor]

[#OrphanRumor]

There were hundreds of thousands of comments. Tens of thousands of shares. Videos. Screenshots. The anonymous post from the night before was now at the center of the issue.

His thumb hovered as he scrolled down, stomach sinking deeper with every post he saw.

"...What is this…" he whispered.

Minjae's breath caught in his throat.

He felt cold all over. His body was frozen in place.

The voice on the other end of the phone pulled him back.

"Minjae. Are you still there?"

"...Yeah," he said faintly. "Hyung, what… what is this?" his senses were now wide awake.

"We're handling it. Don't panic. Don't say anything online. Don't reply to anyone," Donghyun said firmly. "Just stay put. Someone from PR is already on their way to your apartment. Don't open the door for anyone else."

Minjae swung his legs off the bed, the cold floor shocking his bare feet.

"Hyung… It's all over the internet."

"I know. It blew up around 3 a.m. We were hoping it'd die down, but someone dropped your name around 4, and now it's everywhere."

"I didn't do anything wrong." His voice cracked a little. "That comment… he's lying. That's not what happened."

"I know that. We know that. But right now, perception is everything. The rumors had become worse, but they still haven't shown proof, so a lot were still skeptical about it. Just stay calm, alright? I need to hang up and talk to the Legal team. I'll call again in ten."

Click.

The call ended after a second. At the same time, Minjae became silent. Very, very silent.

Minjae sat still for a moment, the phone was still in his hand. He could feel his heart beating loudly, his chest tightening as minutes passed by,

Then, slowly, he opened his phone once again to see the posts about him.

There were endless. Each one felt as if they were pulling him down. He could feel the success that he had built over the past months crumbling before his eyes.

His name was being dragged through dirt even if it hasn't been proven yet.

"Why is this happening to me?"

Minjae stared blankly at his phone screen. His own face, the one that had been smiling just days ago on stage and on screen, was now plastered across cruel headlines and edited thumbnails.

"Rising Star's 'Perfect Image' Under Fire!"

"Who is the Orphan Actor Everyone's Talking About?"

"Did He Really Manipulate His Foster Family?"

Each one hit him like a punch to the gut.

Comment after comment blurred before his eyes.

"I liked him too… what a shame."

"He really fooled everyone, huh?"

"This is why I don't trust celebrities especially new ones."

"It's not confirmed yet, but it sounds real to me."

"If it's fake, why hasn't he denied it?"

He tightened his grip on the phone.

He hadn't done anything wrong. He knew he hadn't. But the words stung anyway. They clawed at his skin. They made him question everything he had worked so hard for.

For a long time, Minjae didn't move. He just stayed in place, his eyes were glued to the screen of his phone.

The clock on his nightstand now read 6:48 a.m. It's already been 30 minutes since he woke up.

The sun was beginning to rise behind the thin curtain of his room. The sunrise looked pretty, a stark contrast to what he was feeling right now.

After a few more minutes of staying put, Minjae finally forced himself to move.

Minjae stood up, his legs were heavy. He walked to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face. His reflection in the mirror looked unfamiliar. His face doesn't have any color. They were pale.

He let out a sigh and shook his head.

"This can't ruin me," he whispered to himself. "I can't let this ruin me."

But even as he said it, a small voice in his head whispered back.

'What if I can't recover from this?'

Just then, the doorbell of his apartment rang.

Minjae flinched as if it had just pulled him back to reality. He quickly washed his face and brushed his teeth. Once he was done, he quickly grabbed his phone and checked the messages.

A new one from Donghyun appeared just a second after the ring.

[Donghyun hyung]: That's PR. Let them in.

Minjae moved quickly to the door and peered through the peephole. Two people in suits, holding ID tags with Flex Entertainment's logo, stood outside. One of them held a laptop bag. The other had what looked like a thick folder.

They were already dressed up even though it was still beyond work hours. It just shows how serious the situation was.

Minjae opened the door, and the two PR representatives stepped inside without hesitation. They greeted him with brief nods. There was no time for small talk.

The woman, who appeared to be the leader among the two, introduced herself simply as Haeyoon, while her colleague, a quiet man with glasses, was named Seungho.

They didn't sit. They walked straight to the living room and began setting up their laptops and files on his dining table.

Haeyoon looked up briefly, her eyes sharp and full of seriousness.

"Mr. Minjae, I need you to understand this clearly. Right now, this situation is volatile. If we're not careful, it could ruin everything for you and the company."

Minjae nodded slowly, his throat had become dry.

"I know… I saw the headlines."

"It's not just about headlines, Mr. Minjae. This is defamation paired with public suspicion. You're currently the trending name across all major platforms. That includes local forums, XYT, UsTube thumbnails, Liklok compilations, and even international fan blogs." Seungho finally spoke, his tone even but stern.

On the screen was a media chart showing his name climbing the "Real-Time Risk Index"—a PR tool used in the industry to measure public perception and backlash levels.

Minjae's name was flashing red.

"Let me tell you how serious this is," Haeyoon said, flipping open her folder to a printed list.

"You know Kang Eunyeol? He was top star. Two years ago, he was accused of bullying in middle school. They didn't even have solid evidence but the sponsors pulled out in less than two days. And the drama he was in? It was removed from the broadcast schedule. Until now, he's still blacklisted."

Minjae's heart sank. He knew it well.

"There's another case for Joo Haneul. She's a rising actress. An old classmate claimed she faked her image. That's just one shaky post, no proof too. She cried in her live broadcast trying to deny it, but the netizens said she was acting. She lost five CFs within a week. Her agency dropped her." Haeyoon continued, relentless.

"And your case?" Seungho added. "It's worse. It's not a school rumor.The internet hates people who seem ungrateful or manipulative, especially if an elderly person is involved.

Haeyoon nodded.

"Right now, you're being painted as someone who used a kind old woman for personal gain. Whether it's true or not, that's the narrative that's taking hold."

Minjae sat down slowly. He hadn't said a word yet. His thoughts were too loud, too fast.

Haeyoon softened just slightly.

"That's why we're here," she said more gently. "We believe you. The agency believes you. But we have to move fast. You need to give us everything. The truth. All of it. Every detail from your past, especially about the woman they're talking about. We can't protect what we don't know."

Minjae swallowed hard.

He knew exactly who they were talking about.

Her.

The woman who raised him.

The only person who had ever truly loved him like family.

Minjae clenched his jaw.

"I'll tell you everything."