When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar
Chapter 200

# 201

Pandemonium (1)

“The position of man-to-man has definitely increased.”

“yes. KK… It is clear that the gap in sales volume has narrowed and we have established ourselves as a top idol.”

The head of Ara Entertainment’s strategic planning team responded to General Manager Seo Joong-won’s words. Even the director had no choice but to be careful about what he said when it came to mentioning ‘K.K.’ This was because it was a very sensitive area for Director Seo Joong-won.

The director also understood that Director Seo Joong-won was sensitive. He was raised to the top in every group he touched, but Man to Man was the second-best group for many years due to KK.

“okay. What happened? This is enough. If you have a hard time with just one man, you can just hit one more and go up. “Are preparations going well?”

The preparation that Director Seo Joong-won is talking about here was Ara Entertainment’s female idol group ‘Valentine’, which is about to debut.

The manager responded immediately.

“yes. “It is progressing without a hitch.”

Director Seo Joong-won said, ‘Good.’ I answered. In any case, as long as they were able to maintain power in the broadcasting industry by nurturing influential entertainers, everything would be fine.

So far, Man to Man has struggled a bit as things haven’t gone as planned, but if Man to Man is in the top ranks and Valentine’s Day is a success, there will be no problem.

‘With that power, he even brought back a man called his son…’

Director Seo Joong-won’s snake-like eyes glowed white.

***

Performance cancellation due to death threats.

The KK members gathered in their hotel room in despair.

The hotel vacated an entire floor for KK. As requested by Director Oh Baek-ho, security guards from a private company were stationed in front of the hotel room door, including the elevator on the floor where KK was located. There were also some police officers.

“If we keep going like this… shouldn’t we have to go back to Korea?…”

Hyeong-seo Ahn, sitting on the bed, asked with a dark expression.

“Don’t be so foolish.”

“maybe. I really might have to go back…”

Jeong Yoon-gi shook his head, but surprisingly, Kim Won also had negative thoughts.

Kim Won also felt a more real fear because he had experienced racial discrimination while living abroad.

“The culprit… we will be able to catch him soon.”

Do-wook always spoke with confidence, but this time it was difficult for him to be confident. It was an even more frustrating situation because there was nothing he could do.

Still, the thought that the culprit would be caught quickly was because the New York police and the media never took this issue lightly.

It was an uproar in Korea, but the American media was also in an uproar.

This was because while this was classified as an entertainment issue in Korea, it became a social issue in the United States.

It was natural that the motive for the person’s threat to terrorize the concert hall by killing K.K. was motivated by racism.

Of course, there were many racists in the United States, and there were many who openly practiced racism even if they did not make it obvious.

However, internally, the values and racial discrimination advocated by the United States were completely different, and Americans were very sensitive to external exposure of areas where their country’s civic consciousness could be undervalued.

When you are racially discriminated against, you don’t just feel offended; you ask, ‘Did you discriminate against me?’ That’s why when you ask a question, the other person gets embarrassed and says, ‘Absolutely not,’ or people around you criticize that person.

However, a singer who had won awards from the Billboard and had fans all over the world received death threats and even canceled the performance because he was from the East, so there was bound to be an uproar in the United States.

KK’s name continued to be mentioned in the news immediately after the incident became known.

The anchors all said that it was discrimination that should not occur and repeated with serious faces that racial discrimination should never occur.

The police mobilized a large amount of manpower to quickly track down the person who sent the message.

‘Once the culprit is found, the performance will be able to resume again… Something like this should not happen again.’

Dowook thought and turned down the TV volume a little with the remote control. The TV in the hotel room was showing CNM, a news channel. I turned it on to see if I could replace out news about the criminal more quickly.

“Even if the criminal is caught and performs… I think it would be scary. You never know when a bullet will fly. “I guess I watched too many movies.”

Seok Ji-hoon smiled and said.

“…You should consider it an honor to die on stage.”

Jeong Yoon-gi was disgusted by Ahn Hyeong-seo’s answer and hit Ahn Hyeong-seo on the shoulder.

“Mr. Ma. “Don’t say horrible things.”

“what. But I’m serious. The stage will continue to stand anyway…. If you just walk down the street, you’ll die! Even if you eat jelly, you die…! “You don’t know when or how you’ll die… If you die on stage, it’s meaningful…”

Jung Yoon-gi tried to cover his ears, saying please don’t say horrible things because no one is going to die. It was a conversation with a bit of joking mixed in to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

However, because it was a time again, it was a part where you could feel Ahn Hyeong-seo’s sincerity about the stage.

“That won’t happen.”

Do-wook spoke and patted Seok Ji-hoon’s pale shoulder.

At that time, Director Oh Baek-ho, who had seen the situation at Lincoln Center, opened the door and came in.

“Oh bro!”

“What about the fans…?”

As soon as Director Oh Baek-ho came in, the members asked.

“The police in front of Lincoln Center left, leaving only the bare minimum. “First of all, since you’re not here, there’s no reason to show up… But even when some fans tell you to go back, you don’t go back and just stay around.”

“Not yet?”

About two hours had now passed since the performance.

Normally, it would have been time to finish the performance and head to the next performance location.

However, I couldn’t help but wonder when I heard that fans were still staying in front of the venue where the performance had already been cancelled.

“Uh… they looked like they were going to protest… Anyway, the remaining police said they would sort it out, so don’t worry too much.”

“Yes…”

The members responded in weak voices.

I was worried about the fans, but I couldn’t go to Lincoln Center to appease the angry fans.

Of course, the target of fans’ anger was not KK, but the person who made the death threat.

Fans in Korea urged KK to return to Korea, saying there was no reason for him to be active in the U.S. under such threat.

Not only Korea, but also Asia, including China and Japan, the Middle East, and South America. Fans in so-called non-Western countries were angry as if they had been subjected to racial discrimination.

Like Kim Won, there were many people who had experienced racial discrimination, big or small, at least once. They know that kind of sadness better than anyone else, and when they heard that something like that happened to an idol they were in awe of, they were so angry that they felt like they would cause a terrorist attack.

Even if they were not necessarily fans of KK, there were many people who wrote messages of support for KK members.

The same was true for fans in Western countries. They posted comments saying they felt ashamed that something like this happened even in this day and age. I was very worried that the KK members would be hurt.

Obviously, the target of immigration was different, but in the end, the feelings were the same.

The local fans were feeling worried, angry, and ashamed at the same time.

Even more so were the feelings of the fans who were waiting for KK in front of the concert venue. Therefore, they gathered around the concert hall, hoping that the culprit would be caught and news of the resumption of KK’s performance would be heard.

Despite V TV’s announcement that it would prioritize safety so that KK could continue its activities safely, protests due to anger against the blackmailer showed no signs of abating.

On the Internet, local fans were already gathering opinions to protest against racial discrimination. It was truly a huge butterfly effect.

The American media, which captured this movement, also said, ‘A single warning to the world’s beloved boy band made everyone angry,’ and added, ‘It is fortunate that they quickly canceled the performance to ensure safety, but the hurt KK members and ‘The hearts of fans must also be kept safe,’ he added.

Dowook let go of the remote control he was holding while listening to the anchor’s comments coming from CNM.

“…Better post a message that we are okay.”

The members nodded at Do-wook’s words.

***

[We are fine. I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep my performance promise. We came back, cleaned up and rested well. Do not worry too much. It’s true that I was surprised, but I wasn’t hurt. Nothing happened. So don’t be too angry. Even if someone wants to be angry. It’s a waste of time to love! Let us love each other. I will sing until more love spreads around the world. Please wait a moment.]

The message that Dowook posted on the official KK Facenote account quickly spread around the world.

KK became a symbol of love and peace overnight.

The guerrilla performance in the United States, which was just a festival for KK fans, has now become a performance that people around the world are paying attention to.

The success of KK’s performance became like a symbol of peace.

In addition, some citizens and officials in New York felt a sense of responsibility and hoped that KK’s performance would be a success. It wasn’t just a wish in his heart, he actually wanted to help KK’s performance.

A famous bottled water company based in New York came forward to sponsor KK.

They said they would provide all water and beverages to drink at the concert hall.

For the ‘COME HERE’ program, Korean multinational companies and the company for which K.K. is acting as a model were already providing a lot of production support as sponsors.

As I was contacted by not only bottled water companies but also other companies, I was in a situation where I could no longer receive sponsorship.

V TV officials expressed their confusion, saying they did not know whether to cry or laugh about this.

We were grateful for the other support, but more than anything, we were fortunate that the issue of renting a performance venue could be resolved.

This was because the performance date was pushed back and all the venues we had rented were cancelled. However, the government office announced that it would provide a stage at any time and in any way for KK’s performance.

Thanks to this, KK was able to post a notice to resume the performance the day after the culprit was caught.

The culprit was found within two days.

He was a high school student who joined a secret group that wanted to exterminate colored people from American soil. It was a club at the level of a mystery club created like a club on the Internet.

Like keyboard warriors, everyone only exchanged messages online saying they wanted to slaughter people of color, but in reality, they were ordinary office workers, fast food restaurant managers, and graduate students.

This high school student, who had always suffered from delusions of grandeur, was the only one who tried to carry out the conversations he had had on the Internet.

In fact, there was an attempt to plant a homemade bomb in a Chinese supermarket a year ago. Of course, at that time, it was fortunate that he became a thief because he was accused of trying to steal things before planting the bomb.

And on Saturday, it was a week since I received the death threat message.

6:59 p.m. KK was standing on a special outdoor stage installed in the middle of Central Park.

All six KK people were holding each other’s hands. It was difficult to control the overwhelming emotions.

The second hand of the huge digital clock erected on the stage reached 50.

The fans began counting with one voice.

“10!!!”

“9!!!”

.

.

At 7 o’clock sharp, a large number of people gathered in Central Park shouted.

“Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

“!!!”

“!!!”

Pot! pop-!

Colorful fireworks exploded in the sky along with huge shouts.

It was the beginning of American guerrilla performances.