It was a malicious statement, yet those die-hard fans were behaving in such a fanatical fashion. Truly laughable.
Ye Lingchen took a deep breath. He did not know why his own country would have such problems. Were the girls so bored? How could their culture be invaded so easily by the Stick Nation?
Worshipping foreign culture and abandoning their roots.
These naive little girls were a sad sight to behold.
No wonder the Warrior’s Department wanted a military-themed TV series. Qin Baichuan had even hoped for him to set a positive example in the entertainment industry in order to change the current mindset of the fans.
Within the fanatical crowd was a teenage girl. The new year weather was already cold to begin with. Moreover, it was already night time. Her lips turned pale from the cold temperature, most likely from her standing outside for an extended period of time. Even after squeezing through the crowd with great effort, she held fast to the postcard in her hand and excitedly passed it to Hyun-Min Kim.
“I’m begging you, please give me an autograph.”
By then, the guards were rushing over to maintain order.
“Please be cooperative.”
“Please go outside and stop blocking the way.”
“Move aside. Please calm down.”
They could only depend on their words. Rough behavior was obviously out of the question, especially when these girls were underaged. For some time, they could do nothing but wait apprehensively. It was very easy for something to happen in a situation like that.
In such a situation, the celebrity should symbolically give some autographs—just a few—then speak a few words to have the fans cooperate, after which they would naturally leave on their own accord.
However, Hyun-Min Kim just stood there glaring, taking no actions. His deadpan face was filled with disgust as he watched his fans crammed together, knocking into each other.
Suddenly, a scream erupted from the crowd!
“Ah, someone fell!”
“Assault! The bodyguard’s hitting people!”
Along with the crazed screams, the crowd receded like a wave. The teenage girl who passed the postcard was lying on the floor.
It happened out of the blue, surprising everyone.
They were all stunned.
It happened too quickly, and amongst the chaos, nobody saw what happened.
That teenage girl laid on the floor, lightly dressed for the weather. She must have ran out secretly, wearing only thin clothing without a jacket, and was most likely bruised. After a grunt, she frowned and endured the pain as best as she could.
Gritting her teeth, the tears in her eyes finally could not hold back from pouring as her petite body shook.
“What’s the matter?”
“What just happened?”
“How did the girl fall?”
“I think the bodyguards shoved her.”
“Go help her up!”
The people around her started talking.
Hyun-Min Kim glanced at the teenage girl, remaining emotionless and not moving an inch.
As for his bodyguards, they were only dazed for a moment, after which they acted as though nothing happened and just stood in their spot.
“Kid, are you okay? Are you hurt?” An older lady from the crowd approached her.
She seemed familiar to Ye Lingchen and was most likely a backstage crew member of the Spring Festival Gala.
“I’m fine.” The little girl shook her head. She then looked at the postcard on the floor, and disappointment filled her eyes.
“Quick, put on my scarf. It’s so late in the night, why did you run out here instead of staying at home?” The lady looked at the girl sympathetically, quickly passing her scarf to her.
Following that, she glared at Hyun-Min Kim and his bodyguards who took no action at all, and immediately broke into a rage. “What kind of people are you? You’ve pushed over a little girl and stand there without even making an apology?”
Hyun-Min Kim merely glanced at her and remained silent. His haughty attitude was on full display. He then tried to leave with his bodyguards.
“F*ck! Just what are you? You knocked someone down and want to leave just like that?”
“F*ck, I’m losing my temper. Is that a moron?”
“Are the people from Stick Nation all emotionless? What’s this guy trying to show? A poser?”
“That little girl is his fan. That’s just too much!”
“Don’t let him leave!”
Hyun-Min Kim’s attitude immediately triggered public outrage against him.
Countless gazes locked onto Hyun-Min Kim as they blocked him in.
Hyun-Min Kim’s mood was already foul to begin with. He then lost his patience and blurted out in Sticknese, “Blablabla!”
“What’s the meaning of that?”
“What did he say?”
“This celebrity doesn’t even know Chinese. Why is he even flaunting in our country?”
This time, a little girl shouted, “He says she deserves it.”
The words were simple, almost understood by all the girls that watched Stick Nation Drama[1].
“Motherf*cker, the insolence!”
“You Stick Nation b*stard, get out of China!”
“How dare people like this come profiting off our country. F*ck!”
“This is just disrespecting our country. Son of a b*tch!”
“Your fans waited for you for such a long time in this cold weather, and this is how you treat them? What kind of person are you?!”
“Without these fans, what are you?”
The crowd became agitated, all of them had the urge to rush over and give Hyun-Min Kim a beating. Not only was his expression attracting public ire, the words he said were even more so.
Those die-hard fans slowly came to realization as well, feeling disappointed. The way they looked at Hyun-Min Kim changed, as though they were looking at a stranger.
They had never thought that the real Hyun-Min Kim would be such a jerk. Their fanaticism faded away and was replaced by anger.
No matter how arrogant one was, as long as they smiled at their fans, the fans would still feel happy. It was that simple. Moreover, if one had urgent matters and needed to rush off elsewhere, they only needed to notify the fans and they would move out of the way. The fans did not ask for much and were simple-minded.
However, Hyun-Min Kim was too haughty to make such a simple move. That haughtiness came from the condescension he had toward his fans. He had never treated his fans as humans. To him, it was just a one-sided commitment.
“Apologize! You must apologize!”
“You’re not leaving unless you apologize!”
“A Stick Boy dares to behave so brazenly?”
The people were shouting.
In the crowd, those who were not Hyun-Min Kim’s fans had long hated him. Moreover, the Stick Nation was infamous for their shamelessness. They felt a deep hatred for Hyun-Min Kim coming from the depths of their soul.
As for the celebrities, they naturally had no liking for an arrogant person like Hyun-Min Kim. None of them were willing to stand up for him.
“Apologize! Apologize!” Everyone chanted together, their voices resonated through the air.
Some even tried to push forward and cross through the barrier.
“Calm down! Everyone calm down!”
“Please be cooperative!”
“You’re forbidden to cross this line!”
The security guards grew in numbers as they tried to come over to help maintain order.
“F*ck, are you guys blind? Didn’t you see the Stick Nation’s people bullying our people?”
“Is this China or Stick Nation? Are you trying to let a foreigner act as they like right under our noses?”
“They started it. Do you guys even have any pride in your own culture?”
“Get out of the way. I’ll have them know that Chinese people can’t be bullied like this!”
…
[1] 韩剧 (Korean Drama) – To keep in line with the story, we’re naming this as Stick Nation Drama despite the author naming it Korean Drama in order to maintain a smoother continuity of the storyline.
