Social media exploded.
The moment Minji stepped off stage, hashtags were already climbing the trending charts faster than wildfire. Within minutes, his name was everywhere, on every platform, every forum, every group chat.
#MinjiInLove
#HeartbreakerIdol
#OurMinjiIsTaken
#MinjiOppaNooo
#MinjiProtect
#LetHimLove
The fandom, once united in shared devotion, now splintered into chaos. Some fans cheered for him:
"Let the man love! He's human too!"
"Oppa deserves happiness, please support him!"
"I don't care who she is. He's glowing. That's enough for me."
But others lashed out, venomous in their disappointment:
"We made you who you are. You owe us."
"Minji, how could you? Is she better than your fans?"
" didn't wait 6 years for this betrayal."
Threats of boycotts surfaced. Angry posts. Tearful videos. Some claimed they were done with him. Others claimed they'd never leave his side. The tension bled into the headlines, comment sections, even fan cafés. It was no longer just gossip but it was war.
And just when things were spiraling, Minji stirred the storm again.
At 1:34 a.m., without a caption, he posted a simple black-and-white image on Instagram.
A handwritten love poem. Inked with honesty, and delicate pain:
"In the quiet, she arrived
Like spring that never asks permission.
I loved her in silence,
Now I choose to love her out loud."
Within seconds, fans were screaming again. The comment section was a battlefield of broken hearts and blooming support.
The poem was screenshotted, shared, analyzed. Was it about her? Was this a confession?
The news outlets picked it up. "Minji posts cryptic poem, netizens think it's about his rumored girlfriend."
Rumors now turned into headlines.
The internet pulsed with renewed obsession.
And somewhere, under the glow of city lights, Hana watched it unfold from her room, her heart both swelling and trembling.
Hana sat cross-legged on her bed, the pale light from her phone screen painting shadows across her face. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but her phone's vibration pulled her out of a light doze only to wake up to an entirely different reality.
Notifications stacked like dominos.
"MINJI ANNOUNCES RELATIONSHIP ONSTAGE."
"FANDOM DIVIDED AS MINJI CONFIRMS LOVE."
"WHO IS THE MYSTERY GIRL?"
She stared at her screen, the news article barely loading before she hit the back button, overwhelmed. Her fingers trembled slightly as she scrolled through posts some supportive, some vicious. A part of her wanted to scream, to disappear. Another part… felt something warm bloom quietly in her chest.
Then she saw it...the poem.
Minji's handwriting. She knew it well. Her thumb hovered over the screen as her eyes drank in every word. There was no name, but she knew.
He meant her.
Her heart beat so loudly she was sure the whole world could hear it. But this, this was terrifying. Beautiful, but terrifying.
She closed her eyes, head falling into her hands. She hadn't expected it to be like this. Not this soon. Not this loud. The internet was a storm, and now, she was caught in the center unknown, unseen, but very much real.
Just then, her phone buzzed again.
Ziran:
"GIRL. GIIIIIRL. HAVE YOU SEEN THE INTERNET?? MINJI?? A RELATIONSHIP??? AHHHH!!! I'M JEALOUS ALREADY AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO SHE IS!"
Hana let out a breathless, almost broken laugh. Her best friend had no idea.
Ziran (again):
"I'm coming back on Saturday. You better be ready. We're digging DEEP. I'm dying to know everything. EVERYTHING."
Hana didn't reply immediately. She leaned back on her bed, stared at the ceiling, and whispered into the silence, "Me too, Ziran. Me too."
For now, she tucked the truth inside her chest like a secret love letter, folded neat, held close, and trembling.
The moment Minji stepped off the stage, his body still humming from adrenaline and the roar of the crowd, he reached for his phone. His hands trembled slightly not from the performance, but from what he was about to face. He called her.
Hana was still sitting in her room, curled up on the edge of her bed, her phone resting in her hand. The screen still glowed with the social media chaos—hashtags flying, support mixed with outrage, her name nowhere yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time.
The call lit up her screen. Minji.
She hesitated before answering.
"Hana," his voice came through, softer than she expected, "I did it. I told the world."
Silence.
Then, she exhaled sharply. "You did what?"
"I said I was in a relationship. I didn't mention your name—"
"But you still did it," her voice cracked, her calm shell beginning to splinter. "Minji, do you have any idea what you've done?"
"I had to, Hana. I was tired of hiding. I wanted to be honest"
"With the world?" she snapped. "What about being honest with me? You made a decision that completely changes my life our lives and you didn't think to talk to me first?"
He paused, his throat tightening. "I just... I thought you'd understand. I didn't want to burden you with it beforehand. I didn't know how else to do it."
"You didn't know?" she whispered. "Do you know how scared I am right now? My life isn't like yours. I can't just vanish behind a manager or security. I have to go to work. I take the bus, Minji."
He opened his mouth, but no words came.
"I'm not mad that you love me," she said finally, voice breaking. "But I'm mad that you didn't think this through with me. Like I wasn't part of the decision. Like I'm just some side character in your life."
"Hana, please"
"I need time," she said, quietly now. "I need to think."
The line went dead.
Minji stared at his phone, a lump forming in his throat. The cheers of fans still echoed in his memory, but they felt miles away from the reality settling on his shoulders.
In his attempt to be honest with the world, he might have just broken the one thing he never wanted to lose.