In front of Lincoln center.
There was already an enormous number of young female fans gathered, with various cheering tools with them that had KK’s logo and the members’ names plastered all over it.
Fans continued to flock in groups.
The number of fans made it difficult to believe that the announcement was just made.
After the Times Square advertisement went out, KK fans living in New York always kept their cheering tools on their person, waiting for the opportunity to come. They didn’t think in their wildest dreams that it would be today.
The placard for KK’s performance was hung in front of the stage. People passing by Lincoln Center became interested and checked out the front of the stage, which contributed to how quickly a crowd was gathering.
It was also proof that there were a lot of people interested in KK’s music even among those who were casually passing by.
The numerous bodyguards organized the crowd in an orderly fashion.
Around the stage, the camera set up was completed too.
The producers of ‘COME HERE’ inspected the stage, and prepared to film. Everything was ‘normal’.
However, the reason the vibe at Lincoln Center, which had been filled with pleasant excitement, turned grim was because of the message that the PD in charge received.
The message, which started with ‘I KILL YOU ALL’ was clearly foreshadowing a terrorist act.
The person who sent the message was an obvious racist.
The message said that White young women were being made fools of by a boy group composed of inferior Asian men.
Each word was filled with rage as if it were truly unbearable.
The motive for the act of terrorism was also clear. They couldn’t stand to see Asians get established in the center of New York.
It was a warning and threat that if they didn’t cancel the concert, they would blow up the KK members’ heads with a gun during the performance.
The PD, who read the message, had a hardened expression as soon as he saw the message. It could have been a serious accident. The PD assembled the directors, and immediately informed KK about this too.
After they received the message, the van KK was in waited on the road behind Lincoln Center. They had planned to park the car by the stage right before the concert, have the members jump out, and start the concert right away.
None of the members, who saw the full text of the message, found it easy to speak. It’s definitely true that one becomes speechless when they’re utterly shocked.
The atmosphere in the van, which should have been lively with pre-performance excitement and nervousness, was extremely tense.
There were definitely many thoughts going through the members’ numb minds.
Manager Oh Baek Ho broke the tense atmosphere and said,
“Seriously…siiiiiiigh…”
However, he soon let out a heavy sigh and couldn’t continue his words.
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, who, from KK’s team, could communicate the most freely, got off the phone with the PD in charge and said,
“For now, they said they reported it to the police. They haven’t let the public know yet…I think we need to give our opinion first.”
“Our opinion?”
Manager Oh Baek Ho asked back, along with a sigh. Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung scanned the members’ dark complexions and nodded his head.
“What was their opinion?”
“Well…that it’d be rather difficult to continue with today’s concert…”
America is very sensitive about safety, and this was a situation where they couldn’t help but be sensitive. If they proceeded with the concert in this situation and there was damage, it’d become an unfixable situation, so, from the directors’ points of view, they’d stop the event without a second thought.
The members’ complexions became even darker at Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung’s words.
Of course each performance is a challenge, but this concert was a new challenge for the KK members too.
They had overcome their fear of challenges, but they never thought in their wildest dreams that they had to be worried about terrorists like this.
The message itself was very racist, so they were also mad that they were facing such racism. However, compared to the anxiety and fear the members were feeling, that was nothing.
Getting shot in the head. It sounds like something you only see in movies so it didn’t feel real, but it was really unnerving when they thought about their fans.
According to what they were told a moment ago, there were 300 or so people who came to see them.
Their fans, the staff working for their program, even the citizens on the street. The fact that they had to fear a terrorist attack was another fear for the members.
If something really were to happen, things would really get out of hand.
“Hmmm…”
While the members continued to be silent, lost in deep thought, Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung gave a fake cough to focus the members’ attention again.
Of course, it seemed unlikely that the concert would go on even if the KK members insisted on performing.
The police received a report, so the concert’s organizers might receive a sanction from them.
However, they had to gather people’s opinions and take a clear stance. It might come across as merciless to the members, but work is work and as the Fan Marketing Team Leader, even in this situation he was thinking about the news articles that might get published.
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung’s gaze turned towards Do Wook.
He thought that, in this situation, Do Wook was the member who would be able to give some kind of opinion the fastest.
Feeling Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung’s gaze, Do Wook looked at his cellphone and checked the time. It was 20 minutes before the concert.
“Ah…we should probably figure out a plan as soon as possible.”
The members’ gazes all turned to Do Wook when he started talking.
Honestly, in Korea, there were many times when this kind of terrorist threat didn’t feel real.
It could be a prank or it could be real, but the terrorist might not actually be able to put it into action. However, this was America. They absolutely couldn’t brush off this message.
America is a country where guns are allowed. Thanks to that, there have been many gun accidents, big and small. Additionally, there are racists*.
(TL Note: Ok, I love Korea but there are absolutely racists in Korea too)
Considering how extreme racists are, these kinds of incidents can easily happen even in the 21st Century.
‘People who believe in an idea with unwavering faith are blind…’
Do Wook thought, a bitter taste in his mouth.
It was an outdoor venue where a large number of unspecified people gathered. It wouldn’t be resolved by simply tightening security with the private security agency.
‘We probably should cancel it. There’s no other way. It’s not like we can catch whoever sent the message in a short time…’
However, what Do Wook was concerned about wasn’t canceling the concert.
After the first concert is cancelled, until the sender of the message is caught, the future of all the performances could become unclear.
‘Even if this one terrorist threat is caught…I’m sure there’s more than a few people with the same idea…similar situations may happen. If word of this gets out, we may not be able to find venues because the owners will become scared…’
If that happened, the guerilla concerts in America itself would become impossible. Even the program would get cancelled.
Do Wook promptly shook his head.
They wouldn’t find the answer no matter how much they racked their brains about things that hadn’t happened.
First, cancelling the concert that was to take place in just 20 minutes took priority.
“I also think that it’d be difficult to proceed with the concert. Even if it’s a prank, if it gets out that we proceeded with it even after getting a message like this, that will cause problems too.”
Looking at Do Wook, who analyzed the situation quickly, the members also nodded their heads.
Even if they gathered people’s opinions, it was already pretty much decided, so it was closer to confirming than giving opinions.
“If we cancel this performance…what will happen to the next concert?”
Ahn Hyung Seo asked with a completely discouraged expression.
Manager Oh Baek Ho answered, scowling,
“We’ll have to cancel today’s performances completely, don’t you think?”
“Ahhh…”
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung also said, helplessly,
“I’m sure there will be a meeting to discuss countermeasures soon, but at this moment, I’m not sure when we’ll be able to perform.”
The members sighed.
“If word of this gets out…the fans also…I’m concerned…”
Park Tae Hyung said. If this got out, the fans would also definitely be uneasy.
After reporting this to Director Kwon Heung Jo and Department Head Jo Anna, Manager Oh Baek Ho quickly contacted the contracted private security company.
It was understandable that they were worried about the fans, but the direct target of the threat was the KK members. Performing might not be the problem. Their goal might have to be to get back to Korea safely.
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, who comforted the members that it’d be ok, stepped out of the van.
He was going to convey their position to the directors, who should be at the venue, and discuss future events.
It was already quite a chaotic atmosphere in front of Lincoln Center.
Noticing the police, who came after receiving the report, the fans, who were unaware of anything, were wondering why there were so many police cars.
Like that, KK’s first New York guerilla concert was suddenly cancelled due to a terrorist threat.
***
[KK, American tour emergency! They received a terrorist threat?]
[KK, whose New York guerilla concert failed, expressed how devastated they are…]
[Armed terrorist threat? KK fans horrified]
[Deeply rooted racism…KK became a victim of it too!]
.
.
.
Along with the cancellation of the concert, articles immediately poured out not only in America but also in Korea.
There had been high expectations for KK’s New York performance in Korea too.
Director Seo Joong Won, who was skimming through the headlines of the entertainment page, had a fishy smile on his face.
“Even terrorists are helping them get some serious attention.”
Losing interest, Director Seo Joong Won turned the page with an indifferent expression.
When he turned the page, there was a special article about M2M’s successful entry into Japan.
After KK left for New York to prepare for their concert in America, the music industry in Korea had an outpour of songs from male idol groups who were taking advantage of KK’s absence.
They couldn’t see any limelight when their activities overlapped with KK’s, so there were many idols who purposely avoided that period.
However, even if they got first place on the same music broadcast, it wasn’t the same as KK’s first place.
Compared to KK’s first-week record sales of 500,000 albums and 130 points for music conversion, other groups’ first-place scores dropped sharply to 80 points just counting music conversion score alone.
It was true that, among male idol groups, there were none that came close to KK.
In a KK-less Korea, M2M was at least considered comparable to KK. Since they were constantly compared since their debut, it was an exhausting situation for the M2M members as well as the fans, but it was true that they had risen much higher than when Seo Kang Jun was around when they didn’t even come close.
M2M chose an arduous path of doing Korean and Japanese activities at the same time, and was considered as a candidate for the grand prize this year.
Just as Ara Entertainment had been performing well in Japan since a long time ago, M2M also performed incredibly well in Japan and ranked first on the Oricon chart.
Either way, record-wise, it didn’t make sense as long as KK was around. Despite that, there were rumors that since KK wasn’t doing broadcast activities, M2M was a shoo-in for the grand prize.
Of course they were rumors that Ara Entertainment had skilfully leaked to lift up M2M.
A handful of anti-fans who were uncomfortable with KK’s success excitedly spread the word.
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Translator’s comments: Episode 200!!!! \o/ Hurray! Only 25 more chapters! Thank you for sticking with this story for all these years <3 We hope you'll continue to support Superstar until the final chapter! Next chapter: The KK members make a post after the terrifying terrorist attack incident