Chapter 288: CHECKING ONLINE OPINION

HANEUL exited the KakaoTalk, the screen going dark as the call ended. His father and sister’s lunch breaks were over—Haeun still had classes, and their father had lessons to teach. He wanted to keep talking to them, and he could tell they felt the same. But both had their own schedules to get back to.

Still, he was glad he was able to talk to them and see their faces. It had been too long. If he stayed in the program until the finale, it would probably be another month or so before he could see them again. He shook his head. He shouldn’t let himself get caught up in that kind of thinking. It wasn’t like he’d never see his family again. His stress was already high enough from everything that had happened. He didn’t need to add sadness to the mix. That would only drag him down, and he couldn’t afford that right now.

Anyway, since he had a phone right now, he might as well check what people were saying online before his mother and the PD came back. He was curious about what viewers were saying about the show. About him. It might feel like cheating since contestants weren’t supposed to check the internet, but he figured he’d earned a little leeway after everything he’d been through.

He opened Naver and typed in Boys Odyssey. The results appeared within seconds. He clicked on a popular forum site and scrolled through the topics. A quick glance told him there were plenty of discussions about the show. He scanned through the titles, looking for anything that caught his attention.

[Boys Odyssey] Who do you think will make the final lineup?

[Boys Odyssey] Jung Taeyang is really the ultimate all-rounder.

[Boys Odyssey] Park Mirae’s fans are getting way too aggressive.

[Boys Odyssey] Anyone else feel like the editing is pushing certain contestants too much?

[Boys Odyssey] Noeul shippers, where are you?

[Boys Odyssey] Which mission has been your favorite so far?

He skimmed through the titles, most of them predictable. He clicked on a few that caught his interest. The first one was about the final lineup. He wanted to see who the public was rooting for. He wasn’t sure if the show had already announced how many members would debut, and he didn’t know if it would still be five like in his previous world. He was curious to see which names were being mentioned.

Just as Haneul expected, Taeyang and Seojun were the names that came up the most often. Robin and Haru’s names also appeared frequently, which made him smile. That smile quickly faded when he saw Park Mirae’s name mentioned just as often. His frown deepened even more when he read Jeon Hyunsik’s name scattered throughout the thread. He wondered how people would react once it was announced that he was no longer part of the show.

If the show wasn’t clear about why Jeon Hyunsik was let go, it could backfire, given how popular he seemed to be at this moment. Haneul winced at the thought. His smile only returned when he found his own name in the thread. He scrolled through the comments mentioning him, and one of them stood out more than the others.

[These are my top picks so far:

Taeyang – the most balanced contestant on the show. He’s solid in dancing, singing, and song arrangement. He also has strong leader qualities, so he could easily take on the role.

Seojun – he may lack in some areas, but his charisma is undeniable. He could serve as the center of the group.

Haru – hands down the best dancer in the competition. He could be the main dancer. His singing might not be at the same level, but he could fill the rapper position. Being the youngest, he’d also naturally take the maknae role.

Haneul – his voice is top tier, clearly main vocal material. On top of that, his visuals are just as strong, so he could be the visual of the group. A main vocal who’s also the visual? That’s so rare in this industry.

For now, these four are my solid picks. (˶˃𐃷˂˶)]

He read the comment and blinked a few times. He couldn’t really argue with the logic behind it. From the way it was written, even he thought the four of them could make a solid group. He was glad to be included, but a small part of him felt a twinge of sadness. Because there were other contestants he felt deserved to be part of that lineup too. Particularly Robin.

He scrolled through the replies under that comment. Most of them agreed with the lineup, but a few stood out for different reasons. Some argued that having one Omega among three Alphas was too unbalanced. Others claimed Seojun had no real talent to speak of. A few insisted Haru couldn’t carry a tune to save his life. Haneul let out a quiet sigh reading those.

Haneul navigated back to the forum’s main page and clicked on another thread that had caught his eye. This one was about Park Mirae’s fans.

- I can’t be the only one who feels like Park Mirae’s fans are getting way too toxic.

- They’re so parasocial it’s actually scary. They act like they know him personally.

- The way they attack other Omegas in the show is exhausting. Especially Haneul. It’s like they can’t praise Mirae without dragging someone else down.

- It’s honestly giving inferiority complex. They see Haneul as a threat and it shows.

- They try so hard to paint Mirae as this innocent angel, but he’s clearly not. The way he acts on camera is kind of fake, you know?

- His fans need to accept that not everyone is going to like him, and that’s fine. The constant victim act is tiring.

Haneul raised an eyebrow as he read through the comments. Huh. So Park Mirae’s innocent act wasn’t fooling everyone. That was good to know. He’d been worried the public would eat it up and push him straight into the debut lineup. But then again, the fact that Mirae seemed to have such devoted fans was still a concern.

He finished with that thread and was about to click on the one labeled "Noeul shippers" when the door suddenly opened.