Throughout the whole morning, the situation had only grown worse.
The original post had been spread to every corner of the internet. Even clout-chasing influencers joined in the hype, as they always did when the public slled drama.
For them, any form of publicity is publicity.
One influencer with nearly a million followers tweeted on her account.
"I heard from soone who worked in the industry… what you see on screen isn't always the truth 👀"
Another popular strear posted a vague photo of himself frowning with the caption, "Imagine doing that and then acting like a saint on TV. So of y'all are too gullible."
None of them uttered Minjae's na. Well, they didn't have to, as it was the only issue.
The comnts beneath those posts were already filled with people tagging each other. They were guessing if it was true or even saying their opinion that they chose to believe in their heads.
"It's obviously about Minjae. No one else fits the post."
"I knew there was sothing off about him."
"He never talked about his parents. That's a red flag."
The worst part?
So of the general public started treating it like entertainnt.
Fan edits were getting remixed with ominous music. There were also screenshots of Minjae's past interviews and his answers, with people giving other anings to them.
But not everyone believed it.
There were so posts that said they won't believe anything unless they dropped so proof for it.
"There's no proof for the rumor. Don't you think it's weird that this suddenly happened when he's gaining success?"
"It's all hearsay. Until there's evidence, stop attacking him."
"He hasn't even said anything yet. Maybe there's more to this story."
"Yeah. How co people believe so easily these past few days?"
"Tsk. Tsk. I can't believe people are so easy to fool with one rumor that was all words."
The people had a split reaction. Because of it, the internet beca a battlefield of two sides of assumptions.
Even the news outlets were beginning to sniff around it. A few smaller dia companies had already published speculative articles with vague headlines like:
"Netizens Divided Over Allegations Against Rising Actor"
"Is There a Dark Truth Behind the New Rising Actor of This New Star?"
It was only a matter of ti before the larger networks caught on.
[BREAKING] Allegations Surface About 'The Star's Secret' Actor's Troubled Past — Agency Yet to Respond
Less than five minutes later, three more major news networks followed with variations of the sa story. None of them claid the rumor was true. But the tone of their headlines, especially the way they wrote the words, was enough to make the public believe there was sothing real behind it all.
"Speculations Heat Up Around Rising Actor's Mysterious Background"
"Fans Demand the Truth from Flex Entertainnt"
"Silence Amid Scandal: Will Minjae Speak Out?"
Because of it, the online backlash surged again.
In just under an hour, dozens of advertisers and drama producers who had been watching the situation carefully began making phone calls. It was not to withdraw, but to ask questions.
They had too many questions that were awaiting answers.
At Flex Entertainnt headquarters, the tension was felt across the whole building.
The conference room on the 5th floor was filled with employees working. The phone rang constantly from the PR and Artist Managent departnts. The staffs were running between desks.
Soone had already begun printing out articles and tracking ntions across social dia platforms.
At exactly 10 am, Haeyoon and Seungho had arrived.
The two looked like angels to the employees' eyes. They felt a sense of hope when they saw the two arriving with a small smile on their faces.
It only ant one thing.
The rumors were not true, and they had a way to end this.
"Give an update on the crisis tiline," Haeyoon said the mont she stepped through the doors of the PR floor, her notebook was tucked under her arm. "Add the major outlets. Include tistamps and screenshots. I want a clean chronological spread before we et with the rest."
"Yes, Ma'am!" soone answered quickly.
Donghyun who was in the office, looked stressed and exhausted. He had been awake for hours now.
"Where's Minjae?" he asked first.
"He's at ho. He's staying put like we told him," Haeyoon replied with a smile on her face. "Don't worry. We got everything we needed. We have testimony, a tiline, and physical evidence. We've already scanned the materials and they're backed up on our secure server."
Donghyun exhaled in relief and led them to the executive eting room on the 9th floor. It was already reserved for crisis managent.
Inside the eting room were key people of the company; the Head of PR, the Legal Advisor, two talent coordinators, and the CEO himself, who had returned from a canceled eting just to personally oversee the issue.
Haeyoon and Seungho wasted no ti. The two of them greeted everyone with a smile on their faces. Seungho plugged in his laptop and began casting her screen to the central monitor.
Seungho's presentation loaded quickly, revealing a clean slideshow titled.
[RESPONSE STRATEGY: SUBJECT – MINJAE CONTROVERSY]
As the room quieted down to give way to the two, Haeyoon stepped forward and started.
"First of all, we want to clarify that we believe in Minjae's integrity," she began calmly.
"We've verified every part of his testimony. We have photos, handwritten letters, academic records, and chronological evidence that fully align with what he said. This isn't just his word against theirs. It's a tiline supported by years of consistent detail, so our stand is strong."
She tapped to the next slide.
The screen was filled with scanned photos of Minjae in a school uniform, Minjae holding up a pot of stew with the old woman hugging him from behind, and more photos of the two smiling together.
Next to them were ti-stamped receipts from the local market where the woman used to shop, school registration papers, and one particularly moving letter.
She inford to Minjae beforehand that this would be shown at the eting, but as with their company's protocol, what was said in the conference room, stays in the conference room.
"To Minjae, my kindest boy. I hope the world will be kinder to you than it was to ."
No one in the room said a word. Even the CEO, who was seated with his arms folded across his chest, seed to soften.
"We're going to make a public statent at noon," Seungho uttered. "It will be posted across all official channels of our company. We've coordinated with the PR team. We'll make sure that our statent will be direct."
"Alright." The CEO nodded once. "Do it."
After getting the approval from the CEO, the eting was adjourned and they imdiately went to work.
By 11:50 a.m., everything was drafted on their social dia.
At exactly 12:00 noon, Flex Entertainnt posted its official statent across all platforms:
---
[Official Statent from Flex Entertainnt]
We are aware of the recent rumors and speculative posts circulating online regarding our artist, Nam Minjae. We would like to take this opportunity to clarify the facts.
Minjae is not hiding his background. It was just rough for him that's why he barely ntioned anything about his childhood. He was raised in an orphanage and later taken in by a kind woman who supported his education and growth. There was no manipulation or exploitation involved. The woman, whom he considered family, provided him shelter and care during a ti when he had no one.
We have verified all details through docunts, photos, and handwritten letters from the late woman, affirming the truth of Minjae's testimony. These will be presented through proper legal channels as needed.
We ask the public to refrain from spreading misinformation and to respect the privacy of our artist and the deceased.
Flex Entertainnt and our legal team are prepared to pursue defamation charges against those who continue to spread baseless accusations.
Thank you to those who have remained supportive. We will continue to stand by Minjae.
— Flex Entertainnt
---
The post spread like wildfire imdiately.
Within minutes, so of the earlier influencers deleted their vague posts or edited the captions to "I wasn't referring to anyone specific." While others simply went quiet.
The public reaction was also fast, especially those who have been waiting for a statent for so long.
"They really posted proof."
"Okay, this just flipped the narrative. The guy's been through hell and still ca out kind."
"I can't believe soone tried to ruin him with lies like that. Glad he spoke up."
"Wow. He really had nothing and made sothing of himself. Now I respect him more."
"I feel so bad for judging too quickly."
"I'm so sorry."
"Now, I feel so bad."
"Good thing I didn't judge too quickly! These people don't deserve Minjae!"
"From orphanage to stardom, and he still stayed kind. That's strength."
"People really tried to cancel a man who just wanted to survive. Disgusting."
"Tsk. And that guy who used his mother? May he go to hell."
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