Joon Jae-Chilling Next Door

Everyone went silent. This issue was circulating around the fandom blogs for a while. Right after we moved into our new house, two fans tried to sneak in. They trespassed into the house behind ours and were attacked by an invisible force. They were not hurt but the shock left them mute for a few days. A few days later, another fan tried to sneak in through that way. She was also attacked, only this time she was thrown off the stairs by an unseen thing. After that, the rumors spread of the house being haunted. Forums erupted with debates to conspiracy theories. Still, panic begun to spread. Some fans were still determined to get close to us. So we set up spots for them outside our work studio, where we interact with them frequently.

To steer away unwanted attention, the owner of the house put it up for rent, but no would buy it due to the rumors. Fans steered clear of our area after that, which was a relief. They do gather at our gates occasionally but we put extra security there to keep them away. The roads are frequently patrolled by policemen after those incidents.

In reality, the 'invisible force' from the stories was Taewon's Cane Corso. He called her Mona. We rescued Mona from meat poachers when she was a puppy. Her vocal chords were destroyed by the poachers and she was in a dire state. Took them months to nurse her back but she was deemed to be mute forever. Having her around proved to be very useful for us.

Big and black, Mona camouflaged well in the dark. She had the tendency to go and play at that empty house behind our mansion. When the fans tried to sneak in through the neighboring house, Mona was in there. That dog will jump on anyone but never harmed them. She just wanted to play. On sensing people, she leapt on them playfully. But her black fur camouflaged her and those people thought she was a ghost. The second incident was an accident though. The fan simply tripped on Mona's sleeping figure and tumbled down the stairs. Scared and injured, the fan ran away. Of course we cannot tell people that. Netizens will send death threats to the mute dog and ask for her to be euthanized for accidentally hurting someone. But it did give us an idea.

To keep away unwanted sasaengs, we fuelled the ghost story. Even paid the local priest to confirm it for us. Well, the rabies story wasn't a lie. Someone did die there years ago but that house surely wasn't haunted.

That house also worked as an escape for us. Even if fans steered clear of that house, they still found ways to invade our privacy. So when we needed to catch a break, we sneaked in there to chill. Fans who broke in, thought we were out. Who would think their idols were actually next door, chilling?

'That sure was a... chilling tale,' Tae-mong said. He definitely was not convinced. But what can he do?

'Thank you boys, for coming here today,' he exclaimed. He turned to the audience. 'That was D3 for you. I'll see you again, next week.' We all got up and bowed to the audience.