boyutpedia Chapter 1493 O. Henry
Chapter 1493 O. Henry
Chapter 1493 O. Henry
When Ong Seong-wu's curses reached their ears, Kang Daniel, Yoon Ji-sung, and the others in front of the camera instantly noticed something was wrong. Kang Daniel's smile froze, and the curve of his lips became somewhat unnatural.
However, the panic lasted only a second, and the team's quick thinking, honed by years of being in front of the camera, instantly kicked in. Kang Daniel was the first to react, immediately increasing the microphone volume, his face breaking into a bright smile, and his tone even more enthusiastic than before.
"...Wannables, are you all satisfied with our new album and the title track 'BOOMERANG'?"
After chatting for a few minutes, he deliberately asked the question with an expectant look, and Yoon Ji-sung and Park Ji-hoon immediately echoed him, laughing and asking the same question.
Driven by their enthusiasm, the fans flooded the screen with countless "satisfied" comments, and colorful messages quickly covered up the questions that had just been raised. The live stream, which had just started to get a little chaotic, immediately returned to its lively and cheerful state.
Off-camera, Ong Seong-wu also realized the problem, his face turned pale, and he quietly stood in a corner, not daring to say anything more.
Meanwhile, Kang Daniel and the others exchanged glances in front of the camera, a barely perceptible smug smile playing on their lips...
They all thought it was just a minor incident and that everything was fine.
only……
They never expected that after the live stream ended, the matter would spread rapidly like wildfire.
That "Shiba" was so clear, sharp, and full of hostility that it was caught by many people, even though Kang Daniel and others were chatting during the live broadcast.
Wanna One fans might deliberately avoid it, but Wanna One's comeback live stream was extremely popular, attracting not only core fans but also a large number of casual viewers, and even many EXO fans who were curious to watch.
EXO-Ls were initially just curious to see what kind of tricks this junior group could pull, and even secretly thought that if there was an opportunity, they would take the chance to make fun of them.
Unexpectedly, I heard such outrageous profanity.
West 8?
Or the X3?
The fans were instantly excited, as if they had discovered a new continent.
As soon as the live stream ended, major forums were flooded with related posts. Fans took screenshots of the live stream, edited out the part where the profanity was uttered, and uploaded them to platforms such as YouTube and Twitter.
The headline, “Wanna One member swears during live stream,” was extremely eye-catching, and the news spread rapidly.
Given the massive number of people watching the live stream at the time, and the widespread sharing and forwarding of the clips, those swear words quickly went viral.
Within just one hour, the topic surged to the top of the trending searches on South Korean social media platforms.
Many people came upon hearing the news, and once they opened the clips, they could clearly hear the angry "Shiba" in the carefully selected segments by the fans.
Fans familiar with Wanna One can even recognize Ong Seong-wu's voice at a glance.
The hashtag #wannaonescurryingonlivestream# quickly topped the trending searches, maintaining its high popularity and causing a huge uproar online.
Netizens left numerous comments expressing their disappointment and dissatisfaction:
"I initially thought they were working quite hard, but then they openly swore during the live stream. That's so rude!"
"If idols are so careless about their words and actions in front of the camera, what must they be like in private?"
"This is so disappointing, I'm no longer a fan."
"Where is the basic etiquette of an idol? They can't even control their mouth when they swear."
On Wanna One's official fan cafe, the first few posts were the usual attempts by fans to defend them, with comments like "There must be a misunderstanding, Seongwu wouldn't swear," "Don't worry, wait for the company to issue a statement to clarify," and "Don't let the haters take this opportunity to stir up trouble." But soon, these protective posts were drowned out by a much bigger uproar.
It wasn't an attack from haters, but rather disappointment and complaints from the fans themselves.
"I spent all my allowance from my senior year of high school to vote for you, not so that you would curse at me during the live stream."
This post topped the official fan cafe's trending list in less than ten minutes. The poster registered in June 2017, and her profile picture was a photo she took herself of Kang Daniel's fan signing event. She has written more than twenty promotional posts, each one richly illustrated and written with the seriousness of an academic paper.
Now, she says, "I really can't lie to myself anymore."
The number of comments in the comment section has grown from a few hundred to more than two thousand, with dozens of new replies appearing every time the page is refreshed.
“I’ve heard that ‘shiba’ so many times, and I kept telling myself that I must have misheard it. The tone, the voice, even if the sound is turned off, I can still tell that it’s an insult.”
“My bias is Ong Seong-wu. I’ve been following him since Produce. I cried when he cried on stage. But now I really don’t know how much of the tears he shed in front of the camera were real.”
……
It wasn't until the online public opinion had spiraled out of control that YMC's staff belatedly discovered the live-streaming incident.
The manager rushed to the members' dormitory, his face turning ashen with rage as he entered. He launched into a tirade against Ong Seong-wu:
"What on earth are you guys doing? You dared to swear during a live stream? And the whole internet heard it! Do you know what the public opinion is like online right now? Do you want to ruin this group?"
Do you think you're the only ones who swear?
"Ya yish bah!"
"Shiba shiba shiba!"
He grew angrier as he spoke, raising his hand to slap Ong Seong-wu, his fingertips almost touching Ong Seong-wu's cheek, but he managed to restrain himself.
She was trembling with anger, pointing her finger at Ong Seong-wu's nose, and said sternly, word by word, "The public relations department is already handling it urgently. All of you, behave yourselves and don't say anything out of line or post any more updates. Wait for the company's arrangements."
"If you dare to make even the slightest mistake, you'll be sidelined!"
All the members of WANANONE remained silent, not daring to utter a sound. Many of them even cast resentful and angry glances at Ong Seong-wu.
They learned what had happened, but they were even more furious.
If you can't help getting angry when Kim Jong-in is mentioned, is it because you hate him too much or is there something wrong with your body? Why don't you go to the hospital and make an appointment with a specialist to get it checked out?
Yong Seong-wu kept his head down, his face pale, his hands tightly gripping the seams of his trousers, not daring to utter a single word.
……
Soon, YMC's public relations team began to exert their efforts, and a large number of "clarification posts" published online in the voice of fans appeared in an attempt to reverse public opinion.
One of the most-viewed clarification posts, written from the perspective of a fan, stated:
“A sound similar to ‘xi ba’ can indeed be heard during the live stream, but after repeated confirmation, it is a problem with the audio equipment and not a member swearing.”
The audio contains background noise and is not from a single person, making it impossible to accurately identify the specific word. Similar background noise has appeared in previous stage broadcasts and other videos. 'Xiba' is not a swear word; it is most likely machine-generated background noise. Please do not misunderstand and do not be swayed by trolls.
This post received the most clicks and was somewhat ambiguous. After this clarification post was published, many Wanna One fans seemed to have found their tribe and echoed it in the comments section:
"I knew it!" "I knew Seong-wu wouldn't swear!" Haters, speak up!
However, most rational bystanders and fans simply didn't buy it and instead strongly resisted this so-called clarification.
"I know each word individually, but why can't I understand it when they're put together?"
"It's one thing to fool others, but you must never fool yourself."
"I don't know what you're trying to argue about. I only believe my own ears, and that's what I'm hearing—it's an insult."
"You are the one who proves the idiocy of boy band fans."
Clearly, this public relations effort was not very successful... because those "shiba" sounds were so obvious that anyone with normal hearing could hear them clearly.
Because they heard it very clearly, "Shiba" is a highly offensive swear word in South Korea, which made the fans who had always trusted and supported them feel a huge betrayal.
The main reason is that Wannaone's previous image was too good. Her "positive, humble, and grateful" persona was too perfect. If a rapper had this kind of thing exposed, no one would pay attention or be surprised. They would only have a deeper prejudice against her.
The public relations efforts weren't very effective. Just as YMC was racking its brains to try and salvage the situation, something even more devastating happened.
On March 17, the day after the incident, a recording was leaked.
This recording was made before Wanna One's comeback, after the Star Live broadcast ended. The broadcast equipment had been turned off, but the backup recording equipment was accidentally turned on, recording the members' private conversations in their entirety.
In the recording, the voices of several members were clearly identifiable, their tone casual and vulgar, completely lacking the humility and propriety they displayed in front of the camera.
Park Ji-hoon: "Why are we so restricted? Why can we only get 20%?"
Kang Daniel: "Why can't we get our due diligence? Why can't we get it on time?"
Ha Sung-woon: "Hahaha (laughs sarcastically)."
Ong Seong-wu: "Why can't I sleep, damn it."
Kang Daniel: "I pooped this morning."
Ha Sung-woon: "Ah, are we about to start recording? I need to swear a few times, I'll finish saying all the swear words before the live broadcast starts, hee hee hee~"
The sound was very clear, and the characteristics of each member's voice were clearly visible. You could even clearly hear the staff whispering, "Please move your position."
If Ong Seong-wu's previous live stream swearing was merely the fuse, then this recording is a bomb that directly ignited public opinion.
Once the recording was released, the internet instantly erupted in chaos. The already intense public opinion became even more uncontrollable, and fans' anger and disappointment reached their peak, with a flood of negative comments.
It was like a bomb; it exploded immediately.
"You used to say you wanted to debut, and you begged me to 'pick me.' Did you think having fans meant everything would last forever? Being a celebrity is just a fleeting moment. At the very least, you should stay true to your original aspirations."
"Did we vote for you on 'Produce 101' just to see you like this? Did we buy dozens of copies of your debut album and this album? We even set our alarms for 6 AM just to listen to your songs. The price we paid for waiting so long is so high. Please recognize your mistakes and apologize properly."
"Wow, there are staff members here, how can they say these things while recording a show? 'Ah, I'm going to curse a few words,' and even revealed the license plate number of a sasaeng fan, and said he was going to poop, and even revealed his own phone number. Does Kang Daniel think he's so great because he can poop? Wanna One should disband already."
"Nothing to say, bye."
A fan posted the full transcript of the audio recording. The unvarnished complaints shattered the fairytale world that fans had created for the group.
What disheartened fans the most wasn't any of the other things, but rather the phrase, "Finish swearing before the live stream starts."
It directly shattered the illusions and filters in the minds of some fans.
In an instant, the internet was abuzz with excitement.
"Wanna One swearing" quickly became a trending topic on Al Jazeera's portal sites and social media, with a wave of negative impact.
The halo of the former "national son" has been completely tarnished. Public opinion and fans generally believe that their complaints about the tight schedule and the physical and mental exhaustion caused by the delayed settlement can be understood.
However, when combined with behaviors such as publicly disclosing the phone numbers and license plate numbers of obsessive fans and casually making vulgar remarks, they directly shattered their beautiful image as "positive and humble idols" and completely eroded the trust of their fans.
The reaction from Wannable fans on the Korean Peninsula was the most intense, as the feeling of being "betrayed by the most trusted person" was more profound. A large number of fans chose to unfollow, and the number of fans in the official fan cafe dropped sharply.
A few fans who left the fandom even published long posts expressing their disappointment and heartbreak.
For these fans who personally selected Wanna One, their attitude was calm and ruthless, without the slightest bit of regret.
The more they loved it in the past, the more disappointed and critical they are now. They treat Wanna One as a "product" they created themselves, and once this "product" has flaws or does not meet their expectations, they will not hesitate to discard it.
Many fans are still stubbornly resisting, with many saying that it was all a planned conspiracy and that the incident was deliberately created by certain forces out of jealousy, pointing the finger at SM and EXO.
However, comments in major media outlets were overwhelmingly negative, with one person commenting:
"Advertisers will probably start withdrawing their funding, right? Who would want to use an artist with this kind of image to endorse a product?"
"The March comeback was a great opportunity to further solidify their popularity, but they ruined it all themselves."
"This is what they call the nation's son? He's a disgrace to K-pop."
By the early hours of the next day, the situation was completely out of control.
On several of the largest forums on the Korean Peninsula, the hashtag "Wanna One swearing" dominated four full pages of trending posts.
Some technical posts analyzed the audio frame by frame, trying to prove that a certain sentence was not said by a certain person; some people posted fan-taken videos of the members leaving the TV station that day, with the caption "Look at how they are usually, they are completely different on and off stage."
Some people even dug up a screenshot from their debut showcase where Yoon Ji-sung cried and said, "We will always be a grateful Wanna One," and posted it as a comparison image in a post with a title of only one word:
"Pooh."
The disappointment of the fans and the negative public opinion naturally affected the group's popularity and performance. The most obvious impact of public opinion was on the digital sales of Wanna One's new song.
Previously, thanks to the fans' all-out efforts to boost the charts, the title track "BOOMERANG" had been fiercely competing with EXO's two title tracks on the Mnet charts.
Even before the live stream, fans were planning to work hard that night to get "BOOMERANG" to number one and dethrone "DNA".
However, after the incident, Wannaone's new album never regained its previous momentum. In less than two days, its ranking on other music streaming platforms such as Genie, Bugs, and Soribada dropped rapidly, with "BOOMERANG" even falling to number eight on Melon.
"What kind of situation is this?"
Someone posted on the forum: "If even our own fans are angry, who has the mood to boost the charts? Anyway, I haven't even cut a melon for Wannable, so I can't boost it."
In the comments section of that post, someone replied: "Me too, I have absolutely no mood to open Melon today."
"+1, I deleted all Wanna One from my playlist after the live stream mishap."
"I don't want to keep using it anymore. I used to spend ten hours a day cutting melons, but now I think it was a waste of time."
Music chart performance is like a mirror, reflecting the true state of the fan base.
This is nothing short of a huge Waterloo for a talent show group that relies on "fan cohesion" for its livelihood.
Wanna One news dominated most of the trending topics on entertainment news for the past two days. Even the news about Bae Joo-hyun being verbally abused and having her photos burned by male fans for reading was instantly overshadowed and ignored.
Somewhat belatedly, Chi Jingyuan leaned back on the sofa, scrolling through the overwhelming negative news on his phone. Watching Wanna One's music charts plummet, he couldn't help but blink, a sense of absurdity washing over him.
Just a few days ago, the other side came on strong, with all sorts of publicity and fan support, which made Chi Kyung-won and his team feel the pressure. They decided to be less lazy and face the challenge from their juniors in the best possible condition.
result……
They hadn't done anything yet, so how did the enemy fall down on their own?