Page 23 of Wish Upon a K-Star

K-Pop Fan Atticarticle:

“Backstage Brawl at Midsummer K-Pop Festival”

An anonymous account posted a video from backstage at the midsummer K-pop festival showing cohost Moonster of WDB grabbing Shin Hyeri. A verbal fight seems to ensue. Then Shin Hyeri appears to push Moonster. He knocks over a confetti shooter, causing glass from a nearby lighting fixture to shatter. The video cuts off shortly after.

As both cohosts returned to the stage for the second half of the show, neither seemed to be injured.

Many comments claim Shin Hyeri overreacted as they point out that Moonster barely touched her. Perhaps Shin Hyeri was fueled by jealousy as Moonster has been romantically linked to his duet partner, Kim Ana, a rumored rival to Hyeri. Although many of WDB’s ardent fans, also known as Constellations, are defending Moonster as the victim, there are some who believe he must have done something to Shin Hyeri to warrant such a reaction. Others are speculating that the charismatic Moonster may have harassed Hyeri. This could have horrible implications for Moonster and WDB, which is currently recovering from a huge dating scandal.

Bright Star has not released a statement yet addressing the video.

When I was younger, I used to always ask what-if questions.

“Appa, what if the road opens under our car and swallows it whole?”

“Oppa, what if all my hair fell out? Would you still tell people I was your sister?”

“Eomma, would you still love me if I was a worm?”

But now, all the what-ifs in the world wouldn’t prepare me for what actually happens. My life is more improbable than any what-ifs I could come up with.

While I was busy wondering what if HBS released its backstage footage in the vlogs, it was actually an anonymous phone recording that outed us. Someone on the crew who thought it was worthwhile to film the disaster and post it online.

Hongjoo promises they’re looking into who leaked the backstage footage, but I know better than anyone that it won’t erase what is already out there.

It’s not fair. But I’ve learned by now that wallowing in why it’s not fair does nothing except make me feel worse. I try my best to snap out of it quickly, but today that’s a hard task.

I hurry to the car idling in the parking garage. Bright Star wants an emergency meeting. My stomach is already twisted in knots.

But my plan to immediately ask Hongjoo for more details is ruined, since she’s on the phone when I climb into the car.

“Yes, but it’s a misunderstanding. Can’t they take some more time to reconsider?” She’s got that line on her brow that means she’s holding in her anger. And even as it digs deeper, she keeps her professional voice. “Ye, ye. I understand. Thank you for calling personally. Let’s have lunch sometime soon.”

She hangs up and rubs at the bridge of her nose.

“Is it bad, Eonni?” I ask quietly.

“We’ll recover,” she says. “Buckle up.”

“What did we lose?”

She sighs and closes her eyes for a moment. It must be bad if she can’t say it right away. “They’re going with Kim Ana for the drama.”

I nod and let my chin drop to my chest. I’m good at keeping a straight face for bad news now, but Hongjoo is particularly good at seeing past my masks. And she knows better than anyone how sensitive I am when it comes to things involving Ana. Just her name has become a trigger for my anxiety by now.

I pull on the seat belt, but it locks up. I try again to no avail. By the third yank I’m pulling desperately at the belt with tears burning my eyes. Why isnothinggoing right?

“Ya, Shin Hyeri. Gentle. You always have issues with your seat belt. What are you, five?”

I sigh and take a minute before pulling slowly on the belt. It finally extends so I can buckle it. “Let’s just go, Eonni. We shouldn’t be late, right?”

That would be the icing on the cake, showing up late to an emergency meeting about how I’m messing everything up.

The familiar streets zoom past the window. But still I read every sign to myself as we pass. A way to clear my head, to focus on something that doesn’t dig up bad thoughts.

“This isn’t that bad,” Hongjoo says, glancing in the rearview mirror. “We’ve dealt with worse.”

“That’s not helping,” I mutter, because it makes me think of all the worse things that have happened. Like when a rumor went around that I was dating one of the music producers onCiPro, a guy seventeen years older than me. Or the false plastic-surgery scandal that people still reference sometimes like it wasn’t completely debunked. But, of course, the most hurtful ones are any time I’m painted as entitled or a bully.

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