Chapter 55：Holding on

Ye-Jin stayed with her family that night.

She was confused by all the things that were taking place around her in the past days. She desperately needed to sort her thoughts out and draw immediate plans to strike quickly and finish off things cleanly.

After leaving the entertainment giant she sent a text to Ray and informed him about her change of plans, she thanked him for trying to cheer her up and that it had helped her a lot.

She somewhat anticipated what was going to come their way in a few days and didn't want any disturbance during that time. But she was internally worried that Ray- who was very protective of her- would have a hard time holding on.

After reaching home she had a peaceful meal with her family and went to sleep, hoping for the storm to hit quickly.

And as she was expecting the person behind the scenes couldn't wait much longer and in a hurry already created a huge storm which hit the whole entertainment industry and caught the boy band which was high up in the sky, away from reach of others schemes unaware.

The news was leaked by one of the notorious paparazzi publications which usually received harsh criticism for its habit of poking its nose in other's business but at the same time was desired by the majority of people for some fresh and juicy gossip.

The news this time wasn't any special, scandals like that where celebrities cheated or were involved in relationships were extremely common but this time it was a hot potato. It involved one of the members of the world-class, internationally recognised boy band- 5 Emperors.

This band was called a pervert by all the internet warriors for their lack of scandals which usually never sparked any strong debate. There was only one scandal in the past where their leader was embroiled in the news of drug abuse but one would have never thought of what happened after the scandal broke out.

Kai hadn't wasted any time dilly-dallying, he simply took off to a police station and got tested for drugs. And like a slap for all the people who were tarnishing his reputation, he had come clean. Still, people hadn't given up holding onto this piece of news and trying to bring down this group who were enjoying rapid success. Then ultimately with good PR and a helping hand which was lent from shadows got them out of the mess.

But this time the news had a much wider impact than the first one. An extremely good-looking celebrity- who was second (and first for some) heartthrob for many- was involved in dating, cheating, seduction and homosexual relationship scandal.

This was like a monk who was stripped of his mask and the actual wolf beneath it had been exposed. (I don't know what I was even trying to say.)

The keyboard warriors were in full form, giving their all to add fuel to the fire.

'I recently started to listen to these guys, who wouldn't, they were receiving so much attention and thought them to be decent guys. But who would've known one of them lacked basic morality?'

'So, it was all fake from the start. This Ray, who knows where he came from. Till today he's assumed to be an orphan. What more can you expect from such people?'

'The person above, I agree with what you're saying. Without proper upbringing, he has to lack a moral character.'

And so on many were bashing Ray for his lack of moral conduct. There were some ambiguous shreds of evidence which showed that he actually had dated one of their dancers but later on had cheated on her.

One such evidence was the picture of him on a date with Aera and then a short clip of the fight between the girls which was obviously edited to look as if they were fighting over the man.

Thus, in the minds of common people, it was as if a heinous crime had been committed.

Along with these, a person came out claiming to be the employee of 'Wang Entertainment' testifying that he had witnessed the whole thing happen in front of his very own eyes.

But who was Ray? Was he just a weak street dog who could be bullied that easily? He hadn't reached to top overnight and thus wasn't new to these kinds of underhanded tricks and schemes of the industry. And with the ultimate support of his members and their company who was courageous enough to splash the dirty water on him?

He had a huge fan base who had absolute trust in him. It also wasn't the kind of blind idol worshipping. The guys had all earned it through their hard work and love for their fans over time.

Thus while the haters were busy bashing their idol shamelessly with their baseless claims the fans too didn't hold back in defending their idol. And if one might say they were quite vicious in their attacks too.

'The people commenting here are so cultured that they easily point their fingers at people but forget that the remaining four are pointing at their own self?'

'Who dares call my Ray an orphan? He's got a big family in us- his fans- and his group. Whoever the person is simply jealous of this simple fact. And for the question of his upbringing, it isn't in the hands of some uncultured brat to comment on the gentleman that Ray is.'

'Kudos to the person above. All these germs which were lying in the gutters waiting for an opportunity to spread their disease have come out and if not for this news we wouldn't have spotted them already infiltrating our fandom.'

'Hahahha, that was some burn. Do these people take us to be stupids or without any brains? After what they did with Kai's news, do they think that they can easily manipulate us into believing whatever shit they spout or publish? I bet y'all there is some serious crap going on behind the scenes.'

While some fans were harsh, some were calm and only stated their belief in their star and wait for his response.

The best thing about this fandom was that even if the fans had their favorite pick from the group but they always stood united in the face of a crisis.

Most of the times they received the titles of being conceited, blinded and fierce fandom in the world but they didn't give a damn about what haters thought. It wasn't their nor their idol's style.

Even after the thrashing by the fans the haters nor the unrelated people were keen on giving up. They only wanted to tear the group apart and keep the pieces to themselves. In the midst of all this chaos, one particular person turned the tides of the whole thing.

'I don't know why you're all bashing up Ray. If we think carefully it was that woman who was the third party in this relationship who created all this mess in the first place. Otherwise, why would Ray be stuck here in the first place?'