Episode 11: The Live Truth
The screen blinked. 1.2 million viewers in 3 minutes.
Jaewon's face appeared — dim dorm light casting shadows across his sharp features. His hair was slightly tousled, and there was no makeup, no pretense. Just Jaewon. Just the truth.
"Hi. It's Jaewon," he said softly. "I didn't get permission to do this. I didn't even tell the agency. But I think… no, I know we owe you honesty."
His voice trembled slightly.
"I want to tell you what really happened back then. Between Seon and me. Between Seon and Ha-joon. Between the idol dream and the cost we paid to chase it."
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Three Years Ago.
The training dorm was small — just four boys to a room, a single cracked mirror, and hope thick in the air like dust.
Seon had been the quiet one, always watching, always writing lyrics in a worn notebook. Jaewon had been the fire — fast, bright, and stubborn.
Then Ha-joon joined.
Handsome, talented, charming. But where Seon saw friendship, Ha-joon saw competition.
He started copying Seon's songs. Whispering to managers that Seon skipped practice — lies, all of them. But he was believable.
And then, Ha-joon walked in on something real: Seon and Jaewon, in the middle of a late-night kiss.
The next day, Seon was under review.
"They said I was unstable," Seon had told Jaewon back then, voice hollow. "That maybe I wasn't group material."
"But it wasn't a scandal yet. They just made me doubt myself."
A week later, Ha-joon's evaluation score magically went up. Seon's went down. Only one of them debuted.
It wasn't Ha-joon.
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Present Day
Jaewon looked directly into the livestream camera.
"There were politics. Power plays. And Seon took the hit for all of it. Not because he was weak, but because he didn't want to drag me or AX1 down with him."
The comments were flooding in:
> "This sounds so real omg 😭"
"I KNEW it wasn't Seon's fault."
"Why are idols braver than politicians?"
Jaewon let out a shaky breath.
"I loved him," he admitted. "I still do. And I hated myself for walking away when he needed me. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that love doesn't die quietly. It waits. It survives."
---
The agency tried to shut down the live.
But AX1's fanbase had already clipped it, posted it, spread it.
#JaewonLive trended in 12 countries.
And for the first time in K-pop history, fans weren't cancelling — they were protecting.
---
In the dorm, Seon had watched the whole thing from the kitchen counter.
His phone buzzed constantly — text messages from the agency, other idols, old friends, even reporters.
But all he could do was replay that moment:
> "I loved him. I still do."
The words curled inside his chest like fire and oxygen.
When Jaewon returned from the other room, Seon didn't say anything. Just stood.
The silence stretched.
Jaewon swallowed hard. "I know I should've asked. I should've warned you."
Seon finally spoke. "But you didn't."
Jaewon nodded. "Because I wanted it to be from me. Not PR. Not the agency. Just… me."
Seon's voice cracked. "You really still love me?"
"Always."
---
The kiss that followed was not sweet. It was messy. Years of guilt, longing, anger — all crashing like a storm.
They didn't even hear the door open.
Jun cleared his throat loudly. "Uhh. Sorry. I'll come back in five minutes or… an hour."
Minho peeked in too. "Ten bucks says the fans already know."
---
That night, Seon opened his own live stream
.
His first words:
"Hi. I'm Seon. And I think I'm finally ready to stop being afraid."
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To be continued…