Infinite's L, who is both a singer and the actor who played the young So Ji Sub in "The Master's Sun," is dating aspiring actress Kim Do Yeon, but it has not been an entirely positive experience.
Although Woolim entertainment has now confirmed that the couple was indeed dating, L's fans sought out and harassed Kim Do Yeon based only on the rumors that she was seeing L, whose real name is Kim Myung Soo.
In September, messages between the couple and rumors of couple bracelets were circulated among fans. At that point Woollim denied the rumors saying the two were just friends.
"His agency asked me to stay quiet for Myung Soo's sake, so I kept silent," she said. "I thought that was best for him and that I would be able to do it."
But the fans got meaner and meaner.
"Fans would throw rocks at me on my way home from work and scratch up my car," she said.
Afraid of the resulting publicity, she did not press charges. When she came home with her face swollen from crying, she lied to her parents, saying she hurt herself bumping into things.
"I waited for things to calm down but the fans became more violent and threw trash in front of my office," she said.
The actions of L's fans only escalated.
"They disrupted the sales of our store by buying in bulk and then returning everything," said Kim Do Yeon.
Eventually the fans' actions made Kim Do Yeon's parents sick. They worried because they could not protect their daughter and then she worried that she could not protect them. She decided it was time to make a public statement about her relationship and repot abusive fans to the police.
"I don't think I have done anything so wrong that I should be cursed at and that people should threaten to kill me or even reveal all my information on the Internet," she said. "Another person was harassed just because she has the same name as me."
Today, Woollim came clean with a statement that the two have been dating for four months.
"L had brought it up with the agency," said a Woollim representative. "To protect their artist, the company had to conceal the matter. We would like to sincerely apologize about this. When the rumors started in September, Infinite was in their world tour and the two had no chance to see each other. We would like it if L, his girlfriend, and his fans are no longer hurt by this issue."
Kim Do Yeon and L have not seen each other since the tour began