“Wow, phone cameras have pretty good resolution these days, huh?”
Even though the image was a bit blurry, it was clear enough to recognize the ring I often wore.
I marveled at the surprisingly advanced technology of both the past and present.
“It’s this, right? This one.”
I showed them the thick ring on my left index finger. Ryu Jae-hee alternated between looking at my ring and the close-up shot on his phone screen.
This ring was just a men’s fashion ring. I thought it looked cool on a senior I knew, so I bought one myself.
It turned out to suit me, so I started collecting them gradually.
“The ring in the other picture looks a lot like yours, too, hyung.”
“It’s not like this is some custom couple’s ring. Does that mean everyone who bought the same brand and design as me on this planet is my partner?”
I smirked and leaned back in my seat. Turns out this wasn’t a big deal.
“It’s just a baseless rumor. If we react to it, it’ll only make it blow up. Let it be; it’ll die down on its own.”
How could I prove I wasn’t dating anyone?
I had barely fallen back asleep when Ryu Jae-hee shook me awake.
From the serious look on his face, it seemed like something had indeed happened.
“Hyung, more pictures were posted.”
Account @ADS5FSA15SZN
Since people keep asking for evidence, here it is.
#Reve #YunEden #DayDream #OneDream #REVE #Reve #Eden #DeceivingFans
(Rumored_Relationship_Photo1.jpg) (Rumored_Relationship_Photo2.jpg)
Share 251 Quote 1420 Likes 74
There were two photos on the screen Ryu Jae-hee showed me.
One of me walking side-by-side with a woman, and another where she was playfully punching my arm.
In the first photo, only our backs were visible, but in the second, a slight profile of my face was captured. The woman’s face wasn’t shown.
In the first photo, you could clearly see that we both wore rings on our hands.
We were both wearing black hoodies, making us look like we were wearing matching couple outfits.
Anyone would think it was a cute couple’s photo. Though the woman was quite tall.
“Isn’t this photoshopped?”
Since I had no memory of walking with a woman during my break, I was leaning toward it being a doctored image.
By now, the rest of the members had woken up due to the commotion and were asking me what was going on.
“Eden’s got dating rumors? Who were you seeing during your break?”
Even the manager, who was driving, asked in a concerned voice.
“I swear on my new studio, I didn’t meet any women! I don’t have a girlfriend!”
“Then what about these photos? No matter how I look at them, they don’t seem fake, hyung.”
Blinking as I focused on the familiar background in the pictures, I realized.
Well, it’s not photoshopped—it’s real, huh?
But there’s a hidden truth in these photos. That person beside me isn’t a woman; it’s a man.
“Oh, damn! That’s Joo-sung hyung!”
This biased society is the problem. The real issue is that society is so entrenched in stereotypes that they assume anyone with long hair and narrow shoulders is automatically a woman!
In the replies under a quote saying, “He’s pretty tall, could it be a guy?” someone retorted, “Are tall women not women? What guy has hair that long, anyway?” I was impressed by the circular logic.
What is this, like the closed-open church oxymoron?
“Joo-sung hyung?”
“That’s a guy!”
The black hoodies that looked like couple outfits were just a common item. Tons of guys wore those on the streets.
The ring, mistaken for a couple ring, was something I bought because I thought Joo-sung hyung’s ring looked cool.
He was the one who recommended the brand in the first place.
It was just a coincidence that we ended up wearing similar designs.
I spent the allowance I saved bit by bit before debuting on these rings, so please, don’t start speculating that we’ve been dating for a long time.
“I always believed in you, hyung.”
“And yet you called me crazy earlier?”
After thinking about it, it boiled down to two possibilities.
Either someone was deliberately trying to frame me, or someone saw me and made up a story in their head, pushing it as a dating rumor.
Getting more and more irritated, I swept my bangs back and muttered in frustration.
“Ah, seriously, damn, this is so annoying. Who took this?”
[Forbidden words detected “Ah, seriously”]
[Initial intention -1]
[Profanity detected.]
[Initial intention -2]
The familiar feeling of losing my Initial intention cleared my head and vision of the anger-induced haze.
The quest window popped up in my now-clear field of view.
[Surprise QUEST★]
[▶Clear Up the Dating Rumor!
-Details: You’re caught up in unexpected dating rumors. Before your fans get disappointed and leave, why not try to clear up the rumors and reassure your fans?
-Rewards: Initial intention +5
-Deadline: 24 hours
※If you fail to completely dispel the rumors, you will face regression penalties!]
Are you kidding me? Regression penalty?
Given how these photos could easily be misinterpreted, leaving these rumors unaddressed would be bad for both my and the group’s image, so I had to clear them up as soon as possible.
“Since it’s early morning, interest is still relatively low, but we should clarify things before it gains more traction. Wow, looking at the pictures closely, you can tell this person’s hands are clearly a guy’s.”
To clear the quest, I needed to bury it so thoroughly that no more rumors would surface.
Simply saying it’s a guy with long hair might still leave room for doubt, so that’s a no-go.
What if people are like the open-close church person who refuses to believe it?
The best scenario would be going back to the same place with Joo-sung hyung, wearing the same outfit, and taking photos in the exact same poses, showing his face this time to prove the other person is a guy.
But the problem is that I’m currently on my way to Sokcho, and filming will last for a day and a half, so I can’t do that immediately.
However, that doesn’t mean there’s no way to clear things up. There’s a Plan B.
I can post a picture from that day when I was with Joo-sung hyung.
Netizens will figure it out from the hair length, clothes, and rings.
I don’t have any selfies taken with just the two of us, but we did take group photos at the studio with the rest of the guys.
“Oh, they’re going to chew me out if I call them this early.”
Grumbling, I started searching for Yong-cheol hyung’s number in my contacts.
Instead of sending a message in the group chat, a phone call was more direct.
Despite getting an earful of curses for waking them up so early.
I explained the situation to everyone in the group photos and got their permission to post them on social media.
Especially Joo-sung hyung, the other half of this so-called scandal, who agreed the most enthusiastically.
You wouldn’t blame him for not wanting his face plastered all over an idol’s official account, but the guys were understanding, saying there was no helping it in this situation.
These were the people I had around me, yet before I went back in time, why didn’t I believe them? Why did I trust the words of those who put me down instead?
REVE_official @LnL_reve
[Eden Dream]
Finally set up the new studio
Housewarming with the members and close friends
#Reve #Reve #Eden #StudioHousewarming
(Reve_Studio_GroupPhoto.jpg) (Under_Studio_GroupPhoto.jpg)
Share Quote Like
To cover all the bases, I included a group photo with the Reve members and uploaded it with the post.
“Anyway, what’s all this commotion in the morning…?”
The number of shares and quotes started rising quickly.
Syd @alfka
I wondered why they posted the second photo, but the guy with long hair on the far left is the same person from the Eden scandal photo. The hair length, clothes, and rings are all the same as in the photo.
Share 4,102 Quote 2,021 Like 6,318
Dream♥Bakyilmong @revedream
When people said it might be a guy, others were saying, “A tall girl is still a girl,” but… I’m not saying tall girls aren’t girls; I’m just saying, from the hands alone, it was clearly a guy~
Share 421 Quote 242 Like 702
RIa @riaaaaa
What’s going on this morning?
Are people saying Eden is in a scandal with a guy? I thought something big was happening in Korea.
│
TTUTTA (TTUTTA) @double_t
Replying to @riaaaaa
Look at the quoted tweet from Eden. The rumor was shut down with a single photo before it even spread.
│
RIa @riaaaaa
Replying to @double_t
The trending “long-haired male” is because of this? LOL
byouj @hamzziUJ
The troll account deactivated and ran away.
Next time, don’t use a troll account; come out with your main account. If you throw out a defamatory rumor, you should be prepared to face the consequences.
Share 1,102 Quote 15 Like 4,102
Once it was confirmed and proven that the person was indeed a man, the public opinion quickly died down. Pouring cold water on it before it could catch fire was a brilliant move.
[▷ Explain the dating rumor! ✓
▶ ‘Successfully dispelled the dating rumor’ completed.
▶ You have been awarded 5 Initial intention Points.]
Having completely eliminated the threat of a regression penalty, I was finally able to relax and fall asleep again.
* * *
“Wow, we’ve arrived at the beach!”
The winter beach in early February, still with a lingering chill, really had nothing to offer.
Especially with the snow falling heavily.
Running around on the sand playing tag or scribbling on the sand, and that’s about it.
Kim Dobin, who had briefly dipped his feet into the waves, saying it felt like they’d get frostbite, jumped right back out, and after that, no one even tried to dip their feet in the water.
“Ah, I have a feeling this is going to be one of those all-time boring episodes.”
“That’s why you come to the beach in the summer.”
We walked slowly along the beach, chatting in front of the camera. There really was nothing to do here.
Seo Ye-hyun, the one who had suggested coming to the beach, was persistently playing dumb.
“Seriously, we’re supposed to hold out here until evening…?”
“Right? There really wasn’t a need to move so early in the morning. Well, in hindsight, maybe it was a good thing. If we had slept in and that rumor response was delayed… Ugh, it’s horrifying to even imagine.”
Ryu Jae-hee shuddered.
After having lunch while looking at the beach and spending some time in the snow, we dusted off the sand from our shoes and moved to the car when the staff called for us to head out.
“Will we get enough footage just from playing around in the lodging?”
“Honestly, I don’t think so. Even if we play all the games we know, do every random game, and play several rounds of board games, it’s not happening.”
“True, the time we spent at the beach was way too short. And it was more like a casual stroll, probably less than 10 minutes of footage.”
“The production team will figure out how to get the footage.”
We got off at a large supermarket and picked out groceries for the lodge with the card we were given. That would probably fill about five minutes of screen time.
“Jun Hyung! Can we get frozen dumplings?”
“What about chicken nuggets?”
“Guys, let’s put those back.”
“Jun Hyung, can we get salad?”
“Sure, put it in the cart.”
While Ha-Jun was overwhelmed by the questions coming his way, I quietly slipped a pack of frozen shrimp dumplings into the cart.
By the time we finished shopping, the sun was starting to set. The car drove through the increasingly heavy snowstorm, going deeper into the mountains.
The sky had become completely dark, and we finally arrived at a worn-down lodge that had the feel of a mountain cabin.
“Ahhh!”
As soon as we opened the door with the key, Kim Dobin nearly fainted.
***
If you want to support the translation and the translator, please buy a coffee ♥︎
