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Chapter 8
THE NEWS OF OUR DATE BREAKS OUT THAT NIGHT,rapidly circulating in international gossip websites. All the entertainment sites are full of “exclusive, witness-taken” photos and videos of Bryan and me at the amusement park. Some people already posted their own pictures and videos on social media way before any official outlet stories broke, so there are clips of us on Twitter, Instagram, and even TikTok already going viral.
The most popular clips are of Bryan freaking out on the roller coaster—that becomes an instant meme—and of Bryan running from the fans with Theodore on his back. But there are admittedly cute and wholesome pictures of us together trending from our date as well, like Bryan and me looking at each other on the merry-go-round. As I flip through the articles and posts, I’m amazed by howrealour date seems, even though I know more than anyone else that everything was just pretend.
The netizens’ reactions are mixed, even more so among the Brybabies. Some say that we’re a “match made in heaven” and are “fated to be together.” But for every person who loves us as a couple, there are just as many who are mad about Bryan dating me. Someone even starts a hashtag on Twitter that says#HowCouldYouBryanand people list their grievances about how Bryan betrayed them by dating me instead of committing himself to his fans.
I thought K-pop stars weren’t allowed to date????tweets one angry fan.What is going on with Bryan’s management company? #HowCouldYouBryan
I cringe upon reading that comment because I know Bryan and many other K-pop stars aren’t technically allowed to formally get into a relationship... of their own choice. It’s a sadly common rule in the industry, and I know a lot of people from my school who sneak around and keep their relationships a secret because of it.
But even worse is the hatred that people have toward me.
“Who evenisJin Hana, anyway?” one European fan asks in an angry YouTube clip. “Isn’t she some nobody from America? I know she’s costarring in that K-drama with him, but really? Our Bryan deserves better. She isn’t even that pretty!”
The comments on that video are, as they usually are, a lot worse.
Yeah, she should just go die, says one of them.
Die and leave our Bryan alone!!!
JUST DIE!!!
I always heard about people telling celebrities to go die, but this is the first time I’ve had such anger directed toward me. These people don’t even know who I am. Not really, anyway. If they were reacting like this because they hated my acting, I’d at least know how to react. But they’re being like this because of who I’msupposedlydating andnotbecause of who I am... so it all just feels very disturbing.
It also bothers the heck out of me howI’mthe one getting the “go die” comments when it’sBryanthat everyone’s disappointed in. Why should I get the brunt of their attacks when most of Bryan’s fans don’t even know who I am? Infuriatingly enough, most of this hate is coming from othergirls.All of this is so incredibly sexist and misogynistic that I want to scream.
After emotionally eating an unhealthy amount of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, I get so caught up in reading through online reactions that I end up not falling asleep until four a.m. I snooze through my alarm and jolt awake at the sound of my phone ringing, my fingers still covered in red Cheetos dust.
“Hana, where are you?” Sophia asks when I pick up. “Do you know what time it is? Director Cha isfurious!”
Of course I’d be late on the one day this week she’s visiting me on set. In a whirlwind of panic, I hang up the phone, send a quick text to Sophia telling her I’m on my way, and throw myself into the shower.
When I finally stumble onto set an hour later, Sophia raises her eyebrows at me.
“Sorry,” I mumble. “Rough night.”
“I saw.” Even without me having to explain, her tone’s much softer than I thought it would be.
“I’ve read so many death threats and curses directed toward me that some part of me is wondering how I’m still alive.”
Sophia sighs. “Well, just look at it this way. The show just needs their attention, not their approval. I haven’t heard any negative feedback from the studio so far, so I think things are still going according to plan. And I can guarantee you that some people will start watchingFated Destinynow just out of morbid curiosity about your relationship with Bryan. Even hate watches are viewership numbers at the end of the day.”
Sophia’s right on all counts, but I can’t shake off how disoriented I feel. My brain’s still trying to process how so many people can hate me when they don’t know a single thing about who I am.
“Plus,” Sophia continues, “it’s a good thing your relationship with Bryan isn’t real. All this hate would feel a lot worse if it were. But since it isn’t, consider all of this as part of the job and don’t take any of it personally.”
“But what about the death threats? I can’t just ignore all those comments.”
“Unfortunately, ‘go die’ is a pretty common Korean insult. If they become severe or if someone posts defaming content, we will report them to the police. Korea has an anti-defamation law that can punish people if they spread rumors or revealinformation that is harmful to you and your reputation, but unfortunately there’s no specific law against generic comments.”
This doesn’t sit well with me, but there’s really nothing I can do. In the end, I deal with it like how I deal with everything else: I push it down deep inside me and focus on being Sora, my character, and not Hana Jin.
Later that night, I’m reviewing the script for the next episode we’re going to shoot when I get a KakaoTalk notification. I expect it to be my parents, or even Bryan. But instead, it’s Minjee.
When I see her name pop up on my screen, I do a double take. Why would Minjee be texting me now after all this time? Since KakaoTalk tells people when you’ve seen their messages, I scrutinize the message notification instead of swiping into the app.
Hey, I heard about everything going on with you...
