The June night was suffocatingly oppressive.
Exhausted beyond asure, Ye Yuwei finally drifted off into deep sleep.
But soon, she was startled awake by a strange sound.
It was like the buzzing of a mosquito.
She initially thought of ignoring it, but then heard another peculiar noise.
Unable to resist her curiosity, she opened her eyes—and was imdiately scared stiff.
A figure cloaked in a black cape stood at her bedside.
In the shadows, she couldn't make out any facial features.
What terrified her most was that this person was holding her electric toothbrush, using it to do sothing disgustingly obscene.
The two strange sounds had been caused by her toothbrush.
Ye Yuwei's first reaction was that a "sasaeng" fan had infiltrated their dormitory.
But then she realized sothing was off—the intruder was wearing the "witch's cape" from their concert performances.
"Don't say a word, or I'll carve up your face," the person growled, lowering their head and flashing a glimring blade. The voice was coarse and vicious, clearly disguised.
Terrified out of her wits, Ye Yuwei curled into a shivering ball, frozen and unable to move.
She knew people with such warped minds could do anything.
As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she caught a glimpse under the moonlight: the intruder wore the mask of the killer from "Halloween."
"Keep your eyes open. Look at . On stage, how you seduce fans with your coquettish gaze—use that look now," the intruder demanded.
By now, Ye Yuwei was completely paralyzed by fear and helplessness, incapable of complying.
But under the threat, Ye Yuwei forced herself to twitch her lips into a "smile."
"Yes, that's it. Put on the sa expressions you manage during performances."
"Don't you have that self-designed flying kiss move for 'Call'? Do it for now."
...
"Co on, replicate the pose from your swimsuit shoot's debut cover."
"Expressions, expressions—you call this idol-level expression managent? No wonder you've been stuck as a nobody."
...
Ye Yuwei's emotions at this mont couldn't possibly be put into words—terror, dread, the urge to flee, to scream, to resist. But in the end, she did none of those.
She feared the intruder would escalate their violence or ruin her face.
Her mind even spiraled into thoughts of pregnancy, disease, public backlash from fans, discrimination by teammates, or being expelled from the company...
In this suffocating psychological tornt, the person finally set down the electric toothbrush.
Before Ye Yuwei could react, a small spray bottle appeared in their hand.
Shh! Shh!
A strong-slling substance was sprayed out. Ye Yuwei's widened eyes darted as she fainted away.
Outside, sparrows on the telephone pole chirped noisily.
You ntioned that it felt like sumr.
...
When Ye Yuwei groggily ca to, a youthful school-thed song echoed in her ears.
"Splash!"
Accompanying the sound of flushing from the bathroom, a refreshed Jiaqi walked out.
"Yuwei, you sleep so soundly. I couldn't wake you up. Co on, ti for breakfast..."
As Jiaqi rambled, she suddenly realized sothing was very off about Ye Yuwei.
Her dazed, vacant eyes carried traces of terror, and her body was visibly trembling.
"Yuwei... Yuwei... what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
Wah! Wah! Sob! Sob!
"Jiaqi... Jiaqi..." Ye Yuwei buried herself in Jiaqi's arms, clinging onto her friend and sobbing her heart out.
"Yuwei, what happened? Talk to ! Did soone..." Jiaqi's chest tightened as her thoughts raced, sensing sothing terrible.
11:00 a.m.
Ye Yuwei, pale-faced and still visibly unsettled, walked out of the hospital accompanied by Jiaqi.
"Yuwei, take it easy. You were lucky in misfortune this ti—you weren't..."
"Jiaqi, I'm fine. I'll make it through." Ye Yuwei forced a weak smile, determined not to worry her friend.
After narrating the events to Jiaqi, they chose not to report the incident to the police right away but inford their company instead.
The firm's operations manager, President Lu, advised them to keep the matter under wraps and had her undergo a full-body examination at the hospital.
The doctor's report showed there was no significant physical harm, though faint lacerations suggested scratching by sothing like fingers.
After a company discussion, they ultimately decided to file a police report.
This sort of incident couldn't go unreported—if news leaked later, the company would be unable to maintain operations for their rookie idols.
By reporting it now, even if public opinion erupted, criticism might focus solely on managent oversight. So employees could take the fall as scapegoats.
By afternoon, the case yielded results.
In a building filled with surveillance caras, no secret could stay hidden.
"It was Li Yan!" Ye Yuwei relayed after returning from the departnt recording her statent.
"What? Li Yan? The one from the props departnt?" Jiaqi couldn't believe her ears.
Li Yan had joined the company last year after graduating college. During her university days, she had been a fan of Zhou Shiwen, ranked fifth in last year's group election.
Contrary to stereotypes about "otaku" fans, many rookie idol followers were actually female.
"It's her. They found hair-collection albums, lewd photos, water-filled bottles labeled with nas, and so of our stolen clothes in her possession," Ye Yuwei said, stunned.
"Lewd photos?" Jiaqi was taken aback.
"She used infrared caras to secretly record us while changing during performances."
"Then what about us... what about us..." Jiaqi was frantic and fearful.
"They're still interrogating her. It's uncertain whether any of the material has been leaked," Ye Yuwei replied, equally lost and uneasy.
In truth, many employees within the group were fans of the idols they worked for.
So, fueled by dark desires, committed deeply unsettling acts.
The group's first-generation senior mber, Yuan Yuanzi, was ruined by such behavior.
"This is damn revolting..." Jiaqi's face contorted with disgust, as though rembering sothing else. "But wasn't she a fan of Zhou Shiwen? Why target you?"
"She feared my resemblance to Zhou Shiwen might harm Zhou's career, so she ca after instead," Ye Yuwei explained.
"What the hell! She treats Zhou Shiwen with so much care, and then does this!" Jiaqi was already losing control of her words in anger.
"This isn't Zhou Shiwen's fault, Jiaqi—it's all the work of that twisted sicko..."
"I know, I know..." Jiaqi paced in circles before asking, "How did the company handle it?"
"Li Yan was fired, as was the security staff in charge of surveillance. President Lu was fined 20,000 yuan."
"That's it?" Jiaqi looked incredulous.
"That's it," Ye Yuwei confird.
"What about you? After suffering this kind of trauma, did the company say anything to you?"
"Yes, they told to pay attention to my personal image going forward." Ye Yuwei forced a bitter smile, filled with helplessness and disappointnt.
"Pay attention to your image? What image? This company—seriously ridiculous!"
Jiaqi's tone was soaked in frustration and indignation, but what else could they do? In this industry, autonomy was a luxury they didn't have.
And so, the incident was brushed aside, outwardly unspoken of.
However, so niche stalker fans had already begun piecing things together.
Li Yan, after all, carried so clout in the fan circles and worked directly within the company.
Her sudden absence from Weibo and group chats imdiately struck others as peculiar.
So fans began digging privately.
These followers, like bloodhounds, found delight in unearthing their idols' deepest secrets.
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