Falling for the Omega Idol-Chapter 78: HAN SEOJUN

SIMILAR to Vnet’s previous hit show, Idol Producer, the contestants’ rankings in Boys Odyssey were determined by public voting. However, unlike Idol Producer, where only the Korean audience could participate, Boys Odyssey expanded its voting system to include international viewers. Throughout the competition, voting was split evenly, with 50% of the votes coming from domestic audiences and the other 50% from global fans.

Due to the rigging scandal that led Vnet to discontinue the Idol Producer series, Boys Odyssey ensured that the voting process was completely transparent and free from manipulation. As a result, the show’s PD in Haneul’s previous world, responded to this stricter oversight by resorting to using "evil editing" tactics to diminish the chances of contestants he didn’t favor. However, this also meant that those who ultimately debuted did so purely based on their genuine popularity with the audience.

This was especially evident in the case of Han Seojun.

At the start of Boys Odyssey, when the theme song was uploaded to Vnet’s YouTube channel, Han Seojun quickly became the contestant who captured the most attention. His five-second clip, where he winked and smiled at the camera, was the key factor behind the viral success of [Sailing to the Stars], even propelling the song onto domestic music charts.

From that moment on, Han Seojun’s popularity only skyrocketed. Though his skills weren’t the strongest, they were solid enough to avoid being labeled as ’untalented.’ His irresistible charm and charisma more than made up for any shortcomings, captivating fans and keeping him in the spotlight.

This momentum carried Han Seojun all the way to the final elimination, where he secured first place and became the center of the debut group. His star power was a driving force behind the group’s immense popularity from the moment they debuted. Even after the controversies that led to the group’s disbandment just three years later, Han Seojun remained in the public eye, successfully retaining his popularity and making a smooth transition into a thriving acting career.

Of course, without genuine talent in acting, Han Seojun’s career wouldn’t have thrived, regardless of his strong fanbase. However, his acting ability proved to be far superior to his singing and dancing skills. In fact, he performed so well that he won several Rookie of the Year awards for the first drama he appeared in, where he played a supporting role.

At the time, Haneul simply believed that acting came naturally to Han Seojun. After all, he had a knack for using his facial expressions to convey emotion during performances, which made him the center of attention. Even though he wasn’t the most skilled singer or dancer in the group, he was still the one the audience couldn’t take their eyes off.

By the time the group disbanded, Haneul had long since stopped following their activities. In fact, he had only kept up with them for about six months before losing interest. Despite watching Boys Odyssey religiously and believing he’d be a fan of the group that emerged from it, he was surprised to find himself feeling indifferent once they officially debuted. The music they released didn’t resonate with him, and by the time they made their first comeback, he realized their style just wasn’t for him. After that, he stopped checking in on them altogether.

When Haneul found out about the group’s disbandment and the reasons behind it, he wasn’t particularly affected. He was more caught off guard, as he never anticipated the group would break up, especially not for the variety of reasons that came to light.

Three of the five members were caught up in separate controversies. One had been involved in a drunk driving incident, which caused a huge public outcry, especially since it occurred in broad daylight and resulted in a group of students being injured at a pedestrian crossing. Another member was caught in a dating scandal with a fan, which might not have seemed too serious—until it was revealed the fan was a 16-year-old minor. As for the third? A video surfaced of him bullying a stylist, and it didn’t stop there. More videos followed, showing him mistreating others and even badmouthing Han Seojun.

If even one of these scandals had involved a member of an idol group, it would have been a significant issue for the group’s image. But with all three controversies happening simultaneously, it was a disaster waiting to happen. JH Entertainment decided to cut their losses before things could spiral further and chose to disband the group to protect the company from any more damage. frёeωebɳovel.com

The two remaining members, who weren’t involved in the scandals, also faced a wave of online hate. Even though they had no part in their fellow members’ actions, they were still bashed by the public. The backlash only started to fade about a month after the group disbanded.

It likely helped that the two stayed completely out of the public eye during that period. Just as the controversy was starting to fade, one of them suddenly announced his retirement—not through a press conference, but with a simple Instagram post. He didn’t share many details, only stating that he was exhausted and that the entertainment industry wasn’t for him. A day later, he deleted his Instagram account and disappeared from the spotlight entirely.

And now, the only one who had emerged from that entire disaster unscathed was standing in the same room as Haneul.

"Hey, mind if I practice here too?" Han Seojun asked, flashing his trademark smile.

"Go ahead. It’s not like we’ve got a claim on the place," Robin replied casually, not giving it much thought.

Han Seojun seemed surprised hearing Robin’s fluent Korean. But then his smile quickly returned, as if it didn’t surprise him in the first place. "Thanks." He closed the door to the practice room and walked inside. "I’m Han Seojun, by the way."

"I’m Robin Leroux. Just call me Robin."

"Then you can also just call me Seojun," Han Seojun said as he stood beside Robin.

Then he turned to Haneul and Taeyang with expectant eyes. As if waiting for them to also introduce themselves.