And so. The next day.
Oh, the next day.
You best believe that the Golden Disk Awards became the subject of every headline imaginable — local, international, and everything in between. The news didn't just spread globally. It detonated globally. If somehow, in some corner of the world, the news hadn't reached you yet — that's on your WiFi connection, not the story.
You know that thing about trainwrecks? The theory that says human beings, despite every rational instinct, cannot look away from a disaster unfolding in real time? That we are fundamentally, biologically, hopelessly compelled to watch, to follow, to need to know what happens next?
Yeah. That.
This was that. Except the trainwreck was also on fire. And somehow also sinking. And there was a second, smaller trainwreck happening adjacent to the first one for additional context.
Think about the time Beyoncé got accused of lip syncing the national anthem. And then held an entire press conference. And then sang it live, on the spot, flawlessly, just to personally humble every single person who opened their mouth about it. A whole, complete, multi-chapter event that consumed the internet for days.
Now take that energy.
And make it significantly messier.
Because everyone — and truly, genuinely, not a single soul excluded — suddenly knew about every single thing that had transpired during the Golden Disk Awards. From the tech malfunctions that plagued the opening act, to the center of E:Den performing the world's most poorly timed disappearing act right before the finale, to the lip syncing — broadcast live, witnessed by millions, preserved forever in the unforgiving amber of the internet.
The headlines came in waves.
"The Downfall of the Prestigious Golden Disk Awards."
"Monster Rookie Group Exposed for Lip Syncing."
"Golden Disk Awards Riddled With Conspiracies."
"The Worst Golden Disk Awards to Date!"
"Golden Disk Awards: A Night of Chaos, Controversy, and Catastrophe."
"Who Is Running the Golden Disk Awards and Why Are They Like This."
And the internet, faithful as ever, punched its timecard and got to work.
@DinoUnc: E:Den is really never beating the nepo baby allegations huh
↳ @Hermosa: practically confirmed at this point. but for legal purposes I will continue to say allegedly 👀
↳ @PringlesCan: the "allegedly" is doing HEAVY lifting rn
↳ @404BrainNotFound: allegedly 🙂 allegedly 🙂 allegedly 🙂
@chunchunMaroo: lip syncing. tech malfunctions. someone almost d*ing mid performance. questionable award winners. a main performer just VANISHING before the finale. like what timeline am I living in rn. what is happening. who is driving this planet
↳ @WormOnAString: the planet has no driver we are just vibing in the void
↳ @chunchunMaroo: that actually explains so much
@HydrogenBomb: I paid an UNGODLY amount for plane tickets, hotels, and a VIP pass. I flew across the world. FOR THIS. I want my money back. I want my miles back. I want the hours of my life back. I want ALL of it back.
↳ @BouncyBall99: how many hours of sleep did you lose for this
↳ @HydrogenBomb: all of them. every single one. I am running on spite and flight anxiety rn
↳ @ToasterStrudel: sue them for emotional damages and the cost of your in-flight meal
↳ @HydrogenBomb: already drafting the letter
@Kombucha: real talk — LEAVEN and Golden Hour were the ONLY acts that actually showed up and delivered. everyone else felt sloppy, unprepared, and frankly disrespectful to the occasion. but more than the performers, what in the name of all that is holy is going on with the people RUNNING this show. are you high. genuinely asking. because the only explanation for this level of mismanagement is that someone in that production booth was absolutely cooked out of their mind. years of prestige. YEARS. down the absolute drain.
↳ @NoodleSoup: the production team really said "let's see how many things can go wrong in one night" and treated it as a personal challenge
↳ @Kombucha: and they EXCEEDED expectations. really went above and beyond with the failure.
↳ @GremlinHours: the audacity to fumble this badly at a TICKETED EVENT
↳ @CryptoIsScam: LEAVEN carried that entire night on their backs and they haven't even officially debuted. the embarrassment other groups should be feeling rn
↳ @Kombucha: the bar was on the floor and somehow still got tripped over
@SleepyGoblin: can we talk about how LEAVEN performed with literal tech sabotage happening to them in real time and still ate and left no crumbs. and then bounced. didn't stick around for drama. just performed and went home. the PROFESSIONALISM from a not-yet-debuted group that other groups who have been in this industry for YEARS could never
↳ @MainCharacterEnergy: they really said "we don't do encores, we do exits" and LEFT
↳ @SleepyGoblin: with their whole chest too
↳ @DefinitelyNotABot: Bread Music really said "we respect the nominees" and actually meant it. concept: integrity. look it up.
@RatGirlSummer: the way the Golden Disk went from prestigious award show to full reality TV episode in one night. producers are shaking. editors are SCRAMBLING.
↳ @NightOwlVibes: the editing bay is on fire rn ↳
@RatGirlSummer: three interns are crying ↳
@WaffleIron99: the broadcast rights alone are gonna be a whole legal situation
↳ @RatGirlSummer: this is gonna be a documentary in five years I called it
@GhostPepperEnergy: the lip sync track just kept going while the stage stood there like 👁️👄👁️ I have never felt secondhand embarrassment this deeply in my entire life. my ancestors felt that.
↳ @BlobfishEnthusiast: my future grandchildren felt that
↳ @GhostPepperEnergy: the TRACK said the show must go on even when the performers gave up
↳ @CerealKillerVibes: the backing track was the only professional in that whole finale and that's genuinely tragic
@MidnightRambler: not to be dramatic but the Golden Disk Awards just speedran its own legacy destruction in a single evening. any% no glitches. new world record.
↳ @PixelatedSoul: the speedrun community is shaking rn
↳ @MidnightRambler: they're taking notes for technique
And that was just the first hour.
The internet had a full shift ahead of it. Overtime, no cap.
****
And THEN.
The analysts arrived.
The ones with the self-appointed PhD in Zooming, Micro-Analysis, and Finding Things That Were Not Meant To Be Found. They came in like a wrecking ball — full nude Miley, swinging from the chandelier, zero warning, zero mercy, zero chill — and they brought receipts.
@Megumi: has anyone zoomed in on Kang Seo-yul's face during LEAVEN's performance because HELLO?? this man is an open book and the book is a New York Times bestseller flop. every single emotion. right there. on his face. unencrypted. available to the public for FREE.
↳ @Misty: all fax. zero printer. not a single printer in sight.
↳ @CryptoIsScam: the face of a man watching his plan work and not work simultaneously. the cognitive dissonance is VISIBLE
↳ @Megumi: forensic analysis of his expressions could put him in jail and I'm only slightly joking
↳ @404BrainNotFound: the prosecution would like to submit exhibit A: his entire face
@Arle: has everyone seen that TikYin edit of Kang Seo-yul's faces during the whole performance compiled into one video?? I have watched it fourteen times. it gets funnier every single time. my stomach hurts.
↳ @WormOnAString: link PLEASE I am begging with my whole chest
↳ @Arle: [link] you're welcome and I'm sorry
↳ @BouncyBall99: I watched it once and I need a moment to recover
↳ @PringlesCan: the editor deserves a Pulitzer. a Grammy. a Nobel Peace Prize. all of them.
@Totoro: okay I need everyone to hear me when I say this. I am now, today, and FOREVER a LEAVEN stan. fully converted. VIP Patron at the Bread Music Bakery. I have purchased my loyalty with my whole heart and I will not be accepting returns or exchanges. This group has me in a CHOKEHOLD and I welcome it.
↳ @chunchunMaroo: the bakery gained another regular today 🥖
↳ @Totoro: I am here every day. I have a loyalty card. I am getting stamps.
@EdwardCullen: LEAVEN's reaction when the rogue confetti went off without warning is sending me into orbit. Isaac getting full-on spooked is the most precious thing I've ever seen in my life.
↳ @MileyCircus: Eli just looking supremely confused like he personally offended the confetti is everything. and Jordan's eyes going wide?? BABYGIRL CODED. fully and completely babygirl coded. no notes.
↳ @CaliforniaMaki: everything is literally on 🔥🔥🔥 chaos everywhere — and Bobby and Lili are just. in their own little world. completely unbothered. existing in a private snow globe of softness while the world burns around them. it's making me ILL. god WHEN is it my turn.
↳ @OverCaffeinated: get you someone who looks at you the way Bobby looks at Lili. I am so alone right now. so profoundly, cosmically alone. 😮💨
↳ @CaliforniaMaki: we're all eating our sad little meals while they exist like THAT. life is not fair.
↳ @NoodleSoup: the way Bobby didn't even flinch at the confetti because he was too busy being in love. SICKENING. DISGUSTING. ADORABLE. I hate it here.
@hells_swarm: I have said this before and I will say it AGAIN and I will keep saying it until my last dying breath — Ahn Jae is the DEFINITION of bae. not a bae. not bae adjacent. THE bae. the original. the blueprint. the source material. fight me. I have my gloves on and I am READY.
↳ @RatGirlSummer: the conviction. the passion. the commitment to the cause.
↳ @hells_swarm: I did not come here to play I came here to TESTIFY
@LegalEagleKween: I am an adult. I am a grown, functioning, tax-paying adult. I have a job. I have responsibilities. I have a five year plan. SILAS. STEP ON ME. SPIT ON MY FACE AND CALL ME YOUR SLAVE AND I WILL THANK YOU PROFUSELY AND ASK IF THERE IS ANYTHING ELSE I CAN DO FOR YOU.
↳ @Rumi: bestie have even a SHRED of dignity— but also. MIKA. I am salivating. those pants are doing the LORD'S work and I would like to personally thank whoever dressed him today. to be those pants right now. those pants are living my dream life.
↳ @LegalEagleKween: the dignity is on vacation. it has left the building. it booked a one way ticket and did not leave a forwarding address.
↳ @GremlinHours: the way both of you just publicly lost it in the same comment thread. solidarity.
↳ @WaffleIron99: the tax paying adult to STEP ON ME pipeline is so real and I respect the transparency
@Miku: my heart is literally on the floor. it has detached from my body and it is on the FLOOR. Javi went through ALL of that and still powered through like the absolute KWEEN that she is. I cannot. I am not okay. I need a moment. I need several moments. I need a whole week.
↳ @SleepyGoblin: Javi said "the show must go on" with his WHOLE soul and I will never financially recover from witnessing it
↳ @Miku: the strength. the resilience. the audacity to still serve looks while going through it. an ICON.
@Malory: Golden Disk really done f*cked up. I genuinely cannot defend this. I can't. It's not in me.
↳ @Corn⭐: wow. WOW. after ALL that. after everything. is this... are you... is this a redemption arc??
↳ @Malory: don't push it.
↳ @Corn⭐: no but like. you? Admitting fault? In THIS economy?
↳ @FF_on_bio: oooooof 🤭 bestie. chile. the audacity of this being the hill you chose to NOT die on.
↳ @Corn⭐: I'm not saying changed. I'm saying… temporarily humbled. there's a difference.
↳ @Malory: I said what I said and I'm going back to being insufferable tomorrow don't get used to it
@LaMancha: I need everyone to take a moment and appreciate the absolute IRON WILL of the people sitting front row while Kang Ian was dancing directly in their faces. those people are STRONGER than me. because if that were me? Seoul would have witnessed a second incident that night. both knees. on the floor. immediately. no hesitation. no shame. full commitment.
↳ @OverCaffeinated: the front row people deserve hazard pay and a commemorative plaque
↳ @LaMancha: a medal. a ribbon. a formal ceremony in their honor.
↳ @BlobfishEnthusiast: they sat there with DIGNITY while Kang Ian existed at them. unsung heroes of our generation.
@RokuRoku: I just cannot get over Kang Seo-yul's face!! The ugliness is radiating!! You can just TELL from that face alone that this man is certified scum of the earth!!
↳ @MidnightRambler: the physiognomy reading has begun I see
↳ @RokuRoku: I'm not wrong though!!
@3v3: okay can we please be fair here — it's Kang Seo-yul that's the problem. the other E:Den members are clearly terrified of him. look at their faces. look at how they move around him. they're not complicit they're TRAPPED. protect them.
↳ @CerealKillerVibes: this is actually a fair point and I will be thinking about it
↳ @3v3: the way they looked when he left?? that wasn't relief that was barely contained panic. those boys need a HUG and possibly a LAWYER.
@Kalbi: Kang Seo-yul baby where are you 🥺 come here baby I'll take care of you 🥺 you can hide from the police at my place 🥺
↳ @Monalisa: this isn't the win you think it is.
↳ @Kalbi: 🥺
↳ @Monalisa: genuinely. this is just lame.
↳ @Kalbi: 🥺🥺
↳ @Monalisa: I'm not arguing with the puppy eyes goodbye.
The internet had been clocked in for six hours straight with no signs of clocking out.
HR was not going to hear about this.