[BREAKING NEWS :]
[Dream Night disbands, sparking mixed opinions! agency : They mutually agreed ro terminate contract with the company.]
[Dream Night's collapse allegedly due to internal conflicts among members. Did Darren want to leave Dream Night?]
[New scandal revealed, Dream Night was never clean from the start—one member secretly dated a member of EXLIPS?]
[One member had selfish ambitions, wanting to go solo and felt uncomfortable in the group. Netizens : It must be Darren]
[A member claimed that leader Kim Kyun Bin and Jung Chan Hee often fought before the disbandment. Old post go viral again!]
That morning, Darren didn't wake up from sunlight or his alarm, but from a barrage of notifications exploding from his phone. Hundreds of messages poured in—some from old friends, loyal fans, and countless new scandals rising to the surface.
He held his breath as he read through them. The world seemed to corner him, painting him as the main culprit behind the group's disbandment.
Darren's heart raced. He opened Twitter and his eyes locked on a particular video: a clip from a livestream in the practice room six months ago, where Kyun Bin corrected Darren's choreography. Back then, it was a normal interaction. But now, netizens twisted it into signs of long-standing conflict.
He opened the comments section and scrolled. Hate-filled messages overflowed. His chest burned. Deep down, he thought the sadness would end with the group's disbandment—but no, this was only the beginning. A group that had once been flawless in the public's eyes was now crumbling from rumors.
He began to suspect this was the agency's doing—a calculated smear campaign to destroy his name. They blurred the truth, distorted what was once clear.
He wanted to throw his phone. But instead, he just stared at the screen, lips trembling. The longer he read, the more the pressure inside him morphed into fear—that anything he said could be twisted again. Or worse, ignored.
He got up from bed, deciding to go for a run to stabilize his mind. Even though it felt impossible. He was already too broken.
Outside, cold air slipped through his mask's fabric, stealing his breath. He wasn't wearing a mask to hide, but fear clung to him. The fear of being watched, of becoming an easy target. The lies were spreading like wildfire.
He walked the sidewalk, crowded with people going about their day. His hoodie covered him tightly. No cameras. No schedules. Darren wandered without direction, desperately searching for even the tiniest sliver of light.
The group chat had gone silent. There were no more random messages from Jae Min, or Kyun Bin's brief check-ins. Not even Chan Hee, once the peacemaker, had said anything. The silence cut deeper than any rumor.
By noon, the sun was already high. Darren walked alone by the Han River. The view was breathtaking, like a scene from a drama. But the contrast was cruel. In his heart, all he felt was torment.
The noise around him now felt like screams of people wishing he'd disappear. At this point in his life, he felt fragile. His breath grew shallow as he kept walking, aimless and broken.
There was a time when his days were filled with vocal practice, laughter with the members, and dreams of fans cheering at their comeback stage. But now those dreams were gone. Shattered. And slowly killing him from the inside.
Yet... deep in his heart, there was a flicker of hope. A fragile hope that no one else—not even his closest friends—knew about. He didn't want things to end like this.
He reached for his phone, trying to contact the only person he trusted more than anyone—Leader Kyun Bin. He opened KakaoTalk. His thumbs moved across the screen, typing a small message. A quiet plea. His eyes had been wet for hours.
***
The next day, Darren Hwang returned to DC Entertainment alone. He wanted answers. He wanted to know who started the lies. He wanted to save his team's name... even if it was too late.
The building felt different—foreign—since the last time he'd been there. He saw other artists finishing up a meeting, a few trainees whose debut had been rumored and anticipated by fans.
But Darren was greeted with a cold line from the receptionist.
"I'm sorry, there's no schedule available for you. If you'd like, please reach out via our official email."
Those words struck like a slap. Darren realized he was now a nobody to them. He had hoped, even just a little, for something more. He came to speak directly to the CEO. He could've accepted the contract termination, even though two years were still left on the deal—but not the rumors, not the character assassination.
Darren clenched his fists tightly. He closed his eyes for a second. His breath was heavy—not from exhaustion, but from the weight of everything inside him. He could've slammed the reception desk, shouted, demanded justice. But reason held him back. It would change nothing—just like his visit to this cursed place.
***
Evening came quickly, like the storm from days ago. The sky was grey once more. Rain was inevitable. And Darren could no longer deny that. It was as if the sky mourned with him, over Dream Night.
He stood on his apartment balcony, staring at a city that kept moving forward. The world continued as if nothing had changed. But for Darren, time had frozen.
With a mix of emotions swirling in him, he recalled the moment he debuted with Dream Night. For the first time in his life, Darren Hwang had become a singer.
He reached for his phone. Not to respond to the flood of hate. But to open the last message he had sent on KakaoTalk. Hours had passed, and the message remained unread. Darren let out a shaky breath. Frustrated. Crushed. Yet trying so hard to stay sane.
He thought the dream's end was enough. But now that his name was dragged through the mud, someone—whoever it was—truly wanted to destroy him.
***