1st World: The Chef x The Celebrity
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~ Author's Note / Content Warning
My Lovely Little Dragon-Phoenixes & Phoenix-Dragons, please take care of yourselves before reading this chapter. It contains heavy themes including false accusations of sexual harassment and assault, public harassment, doxing, mob violence, injury, family-targeted threats, death threats, arson, bullying, a coma, suicidal ideation, and online abuse. If any of these topics are difficult for you today, it is completely okay to pause and come back later. ~
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~ Date: Late June 2422 Interstellar Year ~
~ Location: World 1 – Luna Bellflower Moon ~ Terra Anka PXD2422 ~ The Golden Dragon Star Nexus Intergalactic Empire ~
✨─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───✨
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🐦🔥 [ Phoenix ☯ POV ] 🐦🔥
The smear campaign had already done what it was designed to do. By the time the public turned from gossip to punishment, Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan was no longer only defending his name—he was watching the people he loved become targets in his place.
-Phoenix - 'Shit, I thought it could not get any worse, but Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan had it almost as bad as I did. Poor guy. No wonder he offered his shell so I could help prevent all of this and make his dying wish come true.'
-Solaris - 'Unfortunately, that is still not everything.'
-Phoenix - 'What do you mean that is still not everything? How much worse can it get? No, scratch that. I seem to jinx things when I ask that stupid question. Please just tell me what happened next so we can finally move on. I am getting hungry.'
Just after he said that to Solaris through their mind link, a loud, cranky gurgle came from Phoenix's belly. Phoenix instantly flushed with embarrassment until he remembered he was alone beneath the wisteria tree, hidden by its long vine-like limbs and flowers. The moment of embarrassment was small, almost ridiculous—and then Solaris continued, dragging him back toward the uglier truth of the original timeline.
Solaris wisely chose not to say anything, but he could not help chuckling in his heart over how cute his Mama was. It was a very good thing he still had his cloaking active, so not even Mama Phoenix could see him smile, or else he would definitely be in trouble.
-Solaris - 'Okay then, let us hurry so we can get you some food. Shall I make this quick?'
-Phoenix - 'Yes, please. So they falsely claimed he was sexually harassing and assaulting people with his Dominant Omega pheromones? What came next? I know it cannot be good if I am now inhabiting the shell. Also, do we know who the culprit is yet? Please tell me we do, or this will be extremely difficult to deal with. I have a few ideas just in case.'
Once the allegations of sexual harassment and assault came out against Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan, the starnetizens united in outrage. Even some of the few who had still supported him turned on him. They wanted his blood and his head.
-Phoenix - 'Wait. They actually wanted him dead?'
-Solaris - 'Yes. It started with a few comments saying only spilled blood could atone for his alleged sins. Then people began claiming that if Beyol was let off, every Dominant Omega or Dominant Alpha would think they could act the same way. It was not true, but as you know all too well, mob mentality is rarely intelligent.'
Once that mindset started to gain traction, several posts doxing not just Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan but his whole family started making the rounds. Before Beyol could even see them, people began arriving in droves at his family's restaurant on Luna Bellflower, as well as their restaurant and farm back on Kythera 88.
They protested outside the restaurants and farms while demanding that the Beyol family turn over Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan. At first, it was only peaceful protesting. The workers were terrified and unsure what to do. Beyol was not at the restaurants or the farm because his parents thought it best that he stay home and out of the public eye. He was not only family; he was innocent, and they wanted to protect him.
On Luna Bellflower, Mr. Beyol went outside to tell the protesters that Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan was not there and to ask them to leave. Someone threw rotten fruit at his head.
When the rotten fruit hit Mr. Beyol, it broke the dam holding the protesters back. Mob mentality took over in an instant, and the crowd began hurling anything they could at both him and the restaurant.
Though Mr. Beyol hurried inside when the crowd started hurling things at him and the restaurant, he was not quick enough to avoid a rock thrown at the back of his head. He ended up with a gash and a concussion. The family-owned healing pod could treat small injuries, so it closed the wound, but it was not equipped to treat a concussion. With the restaurant surrounded, he could not get to the nearest urgent care center, where they had state-of-the-art healing pods.
Due to the protesters and the vandalism at the restaurant and farm, the whole Beyol family decided with trepidation that it was best to close their doors for a while until the storm passed, however long that might take—if it ever did. Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan and his mother took it worse than the others.
As a mother, Tae Eun-Kyung could not bear to see the lies and hate that starnetizens, the media, and the public were spreading about her child. When the mob began demanding that she and her family hand over Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan so they could exact justice for his alleged wrongdoings—and then began harassing her other family members as well—the strain finally became too much. She suffered a heart attack. Thankfully, this time they were able to get her to the nearest urgent care center and straight into a healing pod.
The Beyol family did not know where all these lies were coming from or how to fight them, but they did know one thing: Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan was innocent, and they would fight for him and protect him until their last breath. All they had were each other and a few very close friends who were practically family.
What made everything worse was how ordinary the hatred began to look after a while. At first, every hateful comment had shaken Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan to his core. Every notification made his hands tremble. Every new tag felt like another stone thrown through the fragile window of his life. But after days of relentless abuse, the terror dulled into something heavy and suffocating. He stopped flinching at his own name trending. He stopped opening private messages. He stopped trying to explain that he had never hurt anyone, because the people shouting the loudest were not listening for the truth.
His family noticed each small surrender. Beyol Shin noticed when his son stopped asking whether any official statements had helped. Tae Eun-Kyung noticed when Tae-Hwan left his favorite dishes untouched even though he used to brighten whenever she cooked for him. Beyol Eun-Ha noticed the way he apologized for existing whenever someone else in the family looked tired. Beyol Young-Jae noticed that his brother no longer hummed while helping in the kitchen. Even Beyol Joon, still young enough to want to believe adults could fix anything, began standing closer to his brother as if his small body could shield him from the whole galaxy.
The Beyol family tried to create normal moments wherever they could. They ate together even when no one had much appetite. They locked the doors early and pretended it was only because business was slow. They checked the security feeds in shifts while pretending they were not afraid. When threatening packages started arriving, Beyol Shin quietly intercepted them before Tae-Hwan could see most of them. When strangers called the restaurant just to scream abuse, Tae Eun-Kyung changed the number twice and still answered every legitimate customer with a gentle voice. They were all exhausted, but none of them wanted Tae-Hwan to think they blamed him.
That kindness hurt him more than anger would have. If they had shouted, if they had cursed him, if they had told him he ruined everything, then maybe Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan could have hated them back and survived out of spite. Instead, they wrapped him in love while their lives burned down around him. His mother still called him her sunshine with a trembling smile. His father still patted his shoulder and told him the truth would come out one day. His siblings still made space for him at the table, still argued over who would sit beside him, still treated him as someone precious. Each act of love became another chain around his heart.
Late at night, when the rest of the house finally went quiet, Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan would sit on the floor beside his bed and scroll through old photos. His mother's smiling face in front of the first Luna Bellflower restaurant. His father covered in soil after planting the first rows of transplanted vegetables. Eun-Ha teasing Young-Jae while Joon clung to Tae-Hwan's sleeve. Himself in his chef uniform, bright-eyed and foolishly hopeful before The Chef and The Celebrity had turned from opportunity into execution ground. He would stare at those photos until his vision blurred and whisper apologies no one was awake to hear.
He apologized for trusting the wrong person. He apologized for dreaming too loudly. He apologized for believing talent and hard work would be enough to protect him. Most of all, he apologized for dragging the people he loved into a storm they had never deserved. Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan did not know that guilt was exactly what the puppeteer wanted. He did not know that every attack was designed to make him feel like the problem, the source, the stain that had to be erased before his family could breathe again. By the time that thought took root, it had already begun poisoning him from the inside.
They were all unaware that the puppeteer pulling the strings had been right in their midst the entire time, secretly relishing their misery and downfall. That puppeteer had no intention of stopping until Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan was dead.
The starnetizens and the public were out for blood and demanded his blacklisting from everywhere. A large number of people also called for Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan to commit suicide, claiming he was the worst of the worst and that he and his whole family deserved to die.
Throughout all this, Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan's best friend, Lee Eun-ae, who had grown up with him like a sister, remained by his side. He honestly did not know how he could have made it this far without her. He was grateful she stayed because she was an actress, and he knew she was risking her whole career just by remaining his friend.
When Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan's family was doxed, they began receiving death threats as well. Both restaurants on Luna Bellflower and Kythera 88 were strong-armed, robbed, vandalized inside and outside, and looted.
The Beyols had to let go of all their non-family employees who had not already quit for fear of their well-being. They worried more about the innocent people who worked for them, and about their family, than they ever did about their livelihood. Their first priority had always been the well-being of those in their care. They treated all their employees like close family, so seeing them suffer unjustly was another hard blow.
The family moved back to Kythera 88 and did everything they could to keep a low profile. Then their restaurant and home were burned down. Despite it being a clear case of arson, the corrupt fire marshal presiding over the investigation deemed it an accident caused by negligence. As a result, the Beyols were fined, and their insurance company dropped them. In one night, they lost everything they had worked so hard to preserve.
All the while, Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan was slowly losing his mind as he watched helplessly while his family and loved ones endured relentless harassment from all sides. Every insult aimed at him was painful, but every threat aimed at them cut deeper. He could endure being hated. What broke him was watching the people who loved him suffer for a crime he had never committed.
Throughout all this, Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan's family never blamed him. They continued to support him while doing everything they could to hold on and keep the family strong. They could see how hard this nightmare was for their precious Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan, who had always been their family's sunshine—the one who smiled no matter what. Now he no longer smiled and had become an empty shell of the person he used to be. Beyol Shin and Tae Eun-Kyung could tell their son was on the brink, and although they were doing their best to help him, it felt futile.
The final straw for Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan came when his little brother, Beyol Joon, was jumped at school and beaten so severely that he fell into a coma. The students involved left him for dead. Other students and school faculty witnessed the beating but did not even try to stop it. It was not until a substitute teacher called emergency services that the faculty made any effort to help Beyol Joon, because they could not allow it to be reported that a student had been severely harmed while they failed to lift a finger. Unsurprisingly, the students involved got away with barely a slap on the wrist.
With no one else to turn to, Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan reached out to Lee Eun-ae, sobbing as he told her about Beyol Joon. He lashed out at no one in particular, asking, "Why is this all happening? What did I or my family ever do to deserve this?"
With tears still pouring down his cheeks, Beyol Tae-Hwan barely managed to get a grip on his outburst. He tried to muster a smile but failed miserably as he said, "Lee Eun-ae, thank you for always being there for me. I know you always have my back."
With a blank expression, Lee Eun-ae listened to Beyol Bong Tae-Hwan. A flash passed through her eyes so quickly it was difficult to discern the emotion behind it. Beyol was not sure if he had seen it correctly, but it still sent chills down his spine. He had an ominous presentiment—and for the first time, the friend beside him felt like a stranger.
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