And thus, a Lili Welcome Party officially commenced.
Unlimited food—because perks of being under Bread Music are real. Karaoke machines screaming for mercy. The speakers absolutely fighting for their lives.
🎶 Makin' my way downtown, walkin' fast… 🎶
🎶 Oh, the misery, everybody wants to be my enemy… 🎶
🎶 Bang, bang into the room… 🎶
🎶 We ain't ever gettin' older… 🎶
🎶 Girl, I don't wanna go to bed (mad at you)
(mad at me)… 🎶
🎶 If you ain't here, I just can't breathe
It's no air, no air… 🎶
Song after song. Banger after banger. Voices blown out, drinks half-finished, laughter everywhere. Everyone just existing in the moment, loud and carefree and stupidly happy.
Then August checked his phone.
Maybe out of habit. Maybe pure coincidence. But the moment the notification lit up his screen, his brows knit together instinctively.
A Z notification.
He tapped it.
The app loaded slowly—too slowly—like the opening crawl of a bad horror movie where you already know nothing good is coming.
The article hit.
August frowned deeper as something messy and heavy started brewing in his chest.
On autopilot, his thumb scrolled.
Again.
And again.
And again.
- E:Den makes history as the fastest K-pop group to win Rookie of the Year.
- Monster group E:Den crowned ROTY in record-breaking time.
- Netizens debate whether E:Den's ROTY win was deserved.
- @pples celebrate as E:Den takes Rookie of the Year.
- Rigging allegations surface amid E:Den's controversial win.
Then came the clips.
Short, edited, brutal.
Idols in the audience—some with raised brows, not shocked, just… tired. One exhaled deeply before standing up and clapping slowly, mechanically, like it physically pained him to participate. His face was dead, checked out, done with the whole circus.
Another group exchanged glances—brief smirks, rolled eyes, disbelief written all over their faces.
Even E:Den themselves looked stunned when their name was called. All the members turned their heads at once toward Kang Seo-yul—who remained far too calm, far too composed.
And that—that tension, that contrast—was what the internet was feasting on.
In one corner, brain-dead hardcore stans celebrated loudly, mocking other fandoms for losing to a group that debuted five months ago. Cruelty disguised as victory laps.
In the other, the majority of netizens were furious.
Outraged at how a once-reputable award show had suddenly bent, twisted, and rewritten its own rules—just enough to squeeze E:Den neatly into the Rookie of the Year criteria.
Rules that were obviously never meant for anyone else.
Granted—E:Den's debut was massive. Industry-shaking. Not just Korea, but globally.
But that didn't erase the blatant disrespect shown to groups who debuted earlier—groups who worked just as hard, made real waves, left real marks.
At this point, the "rigging allegations" felt less like speculation and more like an open secret everyone pretended not to see.
But media was gonna media.
Wallets spoke louder than ethics.
Every headline sang E:Den's praises. Their name shoved into every article, every segment, every chyron—like salt being aggressively rubbed into an already open wound.
Weeks passed.
The headlines didn't stop.
They multiplied.
News casters were doxxed. Death threats poured in. Hate flooded every corner of the internet, spilling far beyond reason, beyond control.
And all of it—all of it—was happening while the karaoke machine screamed joy in the background.
🎶 Hottie, hottie, like a bag of TakisI'm the shit, I'm the shit… 🎶
August stared at his phone.
The party raged on.
And something had just shifted.
****
The media stations weren't spared either.
Funeral wreaths lined the entrances of broadcasting buildings. Hate trucks parked outside like they were part of the daily commute. LED screens screamed accusations on loop.
Once upon a time, this kind of thing would've been considered excessive.
Now?
Netizens collectively agreed it wasn't enough.
More wreaths.
More trucks.
Louder messages.
It escalated so badly it became a national crisis. The president even got involved.
And, unsurprisingly, sided with those in favor of E:Den.
While many Koreans were painfully aware of the internal war tearing through the industry, domestic media worked overtime to contain it—carefully trimming narratives so nothing spilled beyond the country's borders.
But the global fandom?
Oh, that was a whole different beast.
There were the cult-like followers—the kind who would stan E:Den until the end of time. The kind who'd jokingly (but not really) offer up babies, kidneys, or their last remaining brain cell just to afford merch.
These were the frontline soldiers. The ride-or-die defenders. The ones willing to metaphorically—and sometimes literally—bleed for the group.
Then came the opposition: fandoms of other groups, fighting tooth and nail for their idols' honor, dignity, and stolen recognition.
Together, they created the toxic, festering cesspool known as the internet.
You had the casuals—people who stumbled onto the controversy and immediately decided they were too casual for this shit.
You had the non–K-pop crowd, somehow dragged into the rabbit hole after one cursed post appeared on their FYP.
And then there were the trolls.
The internet's cancer. Not metaphorically. Literally.
Impossible to eradicate. Multiplying by the second. Thriving in decay.
They incited fights, fed off ragebait, and cackled at the horrendous masterpieces they left behind. Chaos was their oxygen. Most of them barely had one functioning brain cell, and even that one was working overtime to be annoying.
There were no longer just two sides.
The controversy had metastasized into something uncontrollable.
Kang Ian noticed it first.
August had gone quiet—a state that only ever occurred when he was asleep.
He scanned the room for the golden retriever and frowned when he spotted him curled up in a corner, eyes glued to his phone, face frozen in horror.
Kang Ian strode over and snatched the phone right out of August's hands.
What scared him wasn't what he saw on the screen.
It was the fact that August didn't fight him for it.
August just looked up at him, eyes glassy, lips trembling—pouting like a kid who'd been hurt in a way he didn't know how to explain.
"Hey, hey… what's wrong, Augie?" Kang Ian said softly, pulling him close.
The room stilled.
Music cut. Laughter died. The jam session screeched to a halt.
August didn't say a word.
He just broke.
Crying hard, pulling his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly as he buried his face and shook.
"Augie-ah… what happened?" Ahn Jae asked gently.
No response. Just sobs.
This wasn't like August. At all.
"Do I need to get help?" Isaac asked, already halfway out of his seat.
"Yeah," Yone said gravely. "That might be best."
"I think I know why the golden retriever's acting up," Leo said calmly, eyes still on his phone. "Anyone with Z—the cursed Z app—open it at your own risk. It's a shit show. No one's being spared."
It was an ominous warning.
Naturally, everyone ignored it.
Phones came out. Screens lit up. Pandora's Box opened.
"Ah… I see," Corsair muttered.
"めんどくせー," Ryu sighed.
"Hooo child," Pink said, already putting his phone down. "That's enough internet for the day." He squinted once and immediately noped out. "Not today, satan. Not today."
"People are fucking eating each other," Nikola said in disgust. "Holy fuck."
"Just a regular day on the internet," Leo replied, completely desensitized.
"…Who is E:Den?" Lili asked, overwhelmed by the noise.
Bobby shrugged. "No idea."
Aqua sighed deeply and patted both their heads.
"Oh, you two sweet summer children," he said gently. "Trust me—it's best you don't know."
****
Ps - Here are the list of songs, mentioned:
A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton
Enemy by Imagine Dragons and JID
Bang Bang by Ariana Grande, Jessie J, and Nicki Minaj
Closer by The Chainsmokers
Mad by Ne-Yo
No Air by Jordin Sparks
Gnarly by KATSEYE