“Cheers!” Ollie exclaimed, tilting his glass toward J-Slick. “The evidence you have against Zeno is solid.”
J-Slick smirked, looking around the premolar room. “It’s nothing.”
Ollie chuckled and drank some of the expensive whiskey. “Is it your first time here?”
“First time,” J-Slick said. “It’s difficult getting a reservation.”
“That’s right,” Ollie affirmed. “Jean, our CEO, is acquainted with the owner, so we come to this room nearly every weekend.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” J-Slick said. Then, he glanced at Minseok, showing off a proud smile and giving him a thumbs up for making such connections.
Minseok beamed before going back to smoking with Rex. They continued drinking and discussing Zeno’s downfall, satisfied with the outcomes of their actions.
However, what they didn’t know was that Zeno’s fanbase was working overtime to clear his name.
And it all started with two videos.
The first one was from a woman sitting on a couch and holding a newborn baby. Next to her was a man with a tracheostomy tube, smiling at the camera.
The setting was warm and homey.
“Hello, everyone. I know there are a lot of things being said about Zeno Han right now, but we can’t stay silent anymore. My name is Mara Yoon, and this is my husband, Kwong Yoon.”
She looked at the man beside her and squeezed his hand.
“You might not recognize him, but my husband used to work in the entertainment industry. He worked as a soundman for multiple dramas and films—the latest one being ‘Code Black.’ During filming, there was a terrible accident. My husband was injured, and the situation was life-threatening.”
“However, a person had saved him. That person was Zeno Han. He stepped in and risked himself to save my husband’s life.”
Kwong nodded in agreement.
“After that, he visited us firsthand at a public hospital on Jeju Island. He was the only cast member who came to the hospital to check on us. Despite his lack of words, he’s a very warm person.”
“And at that moment, he did something unbelievable. He had transferred us some money—one that he shouldn’t even have to give.
“And he told me…”
Her voice cracked as she repeated Zeno’s words.
“‘Use this for your pregnancy. Please don’t tell anyone about this.'”
She wiped her eyes and then smiled, cradling the baby in her arms.
“Well, Zeno… I had the baby. A beautiful, healthy baby boy.”
“Kwong is recovering well, too. Rin misses you as well!” she smiled.
“I know you told us not to tell anyone about this incident, but we can’t stay silent when you’re being misunderstood.”
Mara looked directly into the camera.
“The footage people are talking about? That was us. That was the moment he told us not to tell anyone about what he had done for us. He never wanted recognition. But we have to speak up now. Because people need to know what kind of person Zeno Han really is.”
It was a genuine video—one that couldn’t be debunked. To add to that, another video was released, this time addressing the drug accusations that Zeno was under fire for.
This time, it was posted on Tick and only had a few views.
A thin man sat in a modest living room, his hands resting on his knees. He looked slightly nervous but determined. A potted basil plant sat on the table next to him.
Then, he cleared his throat before speaking.
“Hi, I don’t really want to be involved in all of this, but I have to clear something up,” he started off.
“My name doesn’t matter, but I was the one in that video with Zeno Han. And yeah… I’ll be honest. I used to be addicted to marijuana. I struggled with it for years, and it messed up my life. But I’ve been clean for months now, working hard for my family.”
He glanced at the basil plant and chuckled softly.
“As for what Zeno gave me… it was basil. Yeah. He just—he just handed me some out of nowhere. It was the most random thing. I guess he thought I’d like it.”
He gestured toward the plant with a small smile.
“Well, my wife started growing it, and now she sells it to our neighbors. My kids love it. They say it makes our food taste better.”
He picked up a document from the table and held it up to the camera.
“I even got tested again, just in case people start throwing accusations around.”
He set the paper down and leaned forward slightly .”Zeno Han lives near us. He doesn’t cause trouble. He’s just… a quiet guy who sometimes does weirdly nice things, like giving people basil. That’s all there is to it.”
He sighed and rubbed his temples before looking at the camera one last time.
“I just want to be left out of this. But I had to say something because people are twisting things. Zeno isn’t who they’re making him out to be.”
– The truth comes out.
– Who the heck would sabotage Zeno?
– Zeno is truly a good person! How could they twist his kind acts?
As soon as those two videos were shared by the admins, the opinions of the remaining members of the fanbase poured all of their support.
However, even then, it didn’t reach the amount of audience that they desired.
Zenaur: Should we send it to Dreamy?
Zenosapiens: I already did, but I highly doubt it would reach the desired audience. They don’t even have five thousand followers.
ZeNoEscape: Tsk. If only we had someone with more influence who could share these videos, Zeno’s name would get cleared right away.
Risa bit her lip as she read their messages. “Is it time?” she muttered.
Then, she sighed. A determined expression replaced her hesitant one.
For the longest time, she didn’t make her own Sigmoid account because she didn’t want to deal with hate comments regarding her name. However, for Zeno, she was willing to do it!
She called her manager, and they accomplished it right away. The company shared her new account, and it was filled with excited comments.
– Finally, Queen Risa has a Sigmoid account.
– We’ve been waiting for so long!
Not even an hour after she made her account, she had already garnered half a million followers. As expected from one of the goddesses of the generation!
– I wonder what her first post is going to be.
– I hope she blesses us with her visuals.
Contrary to their expectations, though, Risa’s first post was out of the ordinary.
“Hi… this is Risa, and I would like to clarify some things about Zeno Han—a person I worked with during Code Black.”