Early spring of 2016 Mino began to write useless thoughts and lyrics and tossed them in the garbage. He falls asleep tired and restless on his table that was very unorganized. It was full of crumpled papers, unsharpened pencils, cups of coffee, along with bottles of empty sleeping pills. Mino was currently preparing for his album sleepless day by day after recording. He hopes that the music he made from his heart will be well received after controversies that led him to become depressed. Mino was under fire for being accused of abusing the trainees in his company and assaulting them.

After receiving negative comments from antis, his fans start to decrease in number and the company had to end his promotions. Mino was believed to have been sued by the parents of the trainees and no one believed him. The proofs such as videos and pictures showed that 2 male trainees leaving Mino’s studio was released to the public. The company halted all of his activities and closed his studio for almost the whole year until it was proven that issue was not true.

A year after the issue was resolved, Mino came out with a mini album with all of the tracks he produced. The sales expectation was not met. Fan meetings had to be cancelled due to lack of interest. Mino continued to release self-made tracks to gain the trust of his fans.

Mino left his house to meet up with his producer at the company building.

“I’m starting to doubt myself even more.” Mino said.

“What can we do? We tried almost everything. I have a song waiting to be released do you want to try it?” Kush asked.

“I don’t know. I want the fans to know the real me and to know that I am very sincere and honest. This is the only way I can reach out to them but it’s not going well.” Mino replied.

“Alright let’s release this one and see. The boss asked me to give you this track and just try this option.”

Kush and Mino worked for months to record, rearrange, and fix the song. The production of the song took longer than expected. Mino had troubles getting up in the morning and sleeping at night. His anxiety becomes his biggest struggle. Mino turns into drinking in his house and not leaving for days. The management was not happy about this and they had to do something about it. Mino was called in.

            “With every delay we lose money, we lose the chance, and trust of your fans!” Kang CEO yelled.

            Mino kept his head down and let the CEO talk. He knew he was at fault. Kang continues to scold him, “Mino-yah I understand you’re going through many hate comments and decline in popularity but this shouldn’t hold you back. As much as I don’t want to let you go I might have to.. soon.”

            “I’m so- sorry.” Mino stuttered.

Mino’s father who came along with him started to shed tears. He asked Kang CEO to keep Mino because it was Mino’s dream and passion.

On the other hand, Kush who worked with Mino since he was a trainee asked Kang CEO to release Mino for the mean time. “I knew Mino since he was 17. I may not know him like his father does but he spent most of his youth in the industry. He has reached the point where he needs to find himself. Mino sacrificed his youth to establish his name in the music industry. He has been losing his drive and his purpose to continue. I believe that being away would help him. Just look at many celebrities who decided to leave. They have a wonderful family and quietly living.”

            “I… I’d like to leave,” Mino sheds a tear, “I’ve talked about this a lot with Kush hyung and I also want to experience life as a regular person. I don’t want any more criticisms. I’m also tired.”