Chapter 4.1

Even if he acted like the most earnest idol on the planet, Cheon Tae Rim hadn’t escaped controversy over the past 12 years. From his rookie days, he’d been ridiculed for being “anti-fan,” accused of all sorts of nonsense.

The truth? He wasn’t pushing a fan but catching a falling member to keep them from getting hurt. Not that anyone believed the explanation.

His reputation took a hit early, and for the next 12 years, even a slight change in his expression led to comments like: “Taeㅋㅋ,  at it again with the fan hate ㅋㅋ” and “Brave of him, considering he’d just be an unemployed high school graduate without fangirls.”

“…Why did you become an idol in the first place?”

“Why? Because R&M’s casting manager scouted me, so I became one.”

“..…”

“I’m done listening to your nagging. If you love being an idol so much, you keep doing it. I’m quitting before my joints give out from dancing at 32.”

“You’re really not going to regret leaving like this?”

“Regret?”

“You wanted to be an idol. You worked so hard for it.”

“That was forever ago.”

“Do you want Reverb to disband? Do you want everything to end like this? You were the one who cared the most—”

“Why does it have to end? You and Ha Ram will still be here. You two can do a duet or something.”

“Sun Ye Jin.”

“If you’re so desperate, find another path. Don’t stay stuck here. Move toward something better—become an actor, start a musical career… How can anyone be an idol forever? Unless time rewinds, we’re all going to get old.”

If I were Cheon Tae Rim, I would’ve retired earlier. Quit before slogging through all those grueling fitness variety shows. Unlike me, he didn’t even need the money.

Where do aging idol group members go? They either turn to acting, start streaming, or return to civilian life. If luck strikes, they become solo artists or start businesses leveraging their fame.

I had similar plans. Leave R&M, join a smaller agency with a strong indie vocal lineup, and work as a solo artist for a few years before brainstorming a business idea to make a living. That was my future.

Dreams of breaking into the Billboard charts or becoming a legendary idol? Even when I was a naïve 20-year-old, that wasn’t my ambition.

I became an idol because it seemed like a good way to make money—not because I had some grand vision or unyielding hope. I had the right looks, talent, and the biggest agency in Korea scouted me. That’s all there was to it. There wasn’t some dramatic backstory.

Cheon Tae Rim could see my materialistic streak and despised me for it. He, on the other hand, always approached idol work with heartfelt sincerity. It baffled me how someone like him ended up carrying the same “anti-fan” label I did, getting just as much hate.

We weren’t teammates so much as adversaries. Even after 12 years together, we knew more about what we didn’t understand about each other than what we did.

That was the extent of our pathetic relationship.

I tried my best to avoid Cheon Tae Rim. Being around him made something twist uncomfortably in my chest. I hated him. I repeated that to myself like a mantra. Who did he think he was, acting like the perfect idol…?

* * *

Articles about my departure flooded the main pages of portal sites.

On social media, trending hashtags like “#SunYeJinLeaves,” “#SoloTransition,” and “#ReverbDisbands” dominated for hours.

[Ye Jin… I know going solo is the right choice to survive, but it still hurts. It feels like the years I spent loving Reverb are disappearing like they were never there…]
[Still, I love you, Ye Jin. Whatever you decide, I’ll always support you.]
[#NoToSunYeJinLeaving #HonorR&MContract If the contract lasts seven years, why is R&M letting Sun YeJin leave early? I don’t get it. The others caused scandals, sure, but…]
└[They probably sent enough protest trucks that Ye Jin paid the penalty and left himself lol.]
└[Freaking hell, the people who sent those trucks aren’t real Echo fans. Might as well stage a play demanding Reverb disband completely.]
[Don’t leave Sun Ye Jin don’t leave Sun Ye Jin don’t leave Sun Ye Jin don’t leave Sun Ye Jin don’t leave Sun Ye Jin. If you leave, I’ll kill you. Don’t leave Sun Ye Jin don’t leave Sun Ye Jin don’t leave Sun Ye Jin.] 

The same fans who chanted for my departure while sending protest trucks were now begging me to stay.

Fans are impossible to understand. One moment, they’re cursing you out, telling you to disappear, and the next, they’re propping you up as irreplaceable.

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