| Episode 174. Fan Q&A (3)
“You’re the one who stole Gang Giyeon’s pillow when we went on that rural volunteer trip, right?”
“Was it you?”
Gang Giyeon, who had been quietly listening, narrowed his eyes. Apparently, sleeping without a pillow had been quite a hardship for him back then.
Lee Cheonghyeon’s eyes went round.
“When did you see that?!”
“Do you really think there’s anything in this group I don’t know?”
Kim Iwol was utterly confident. He was so self-assured that I even found myself thinking the only thing he might not know was the last seven digits of the members’ resident registration numbers.
“Doesn’t look like either of them is going to win anytime soon, does it?”
“Are they just going around looking for each other’s weaknesses…?”
Jeong Seongbin and Choi Jeho marveled in their own distinct ways. In any case, the fans were having a great time.
“I really wasn’t going to bring this up.”
Lee Cheonghyeon planted his hands on his hips. There was a grave determination in his expression.
“Hyung.”
“Yes.”
The two men’s gazes passed leisurely between them.
This visual pairing is pretty great. Just as Won Chaehee was thinking that and pressed the video-recording button—
“Hyung, you saved Seongbin hyung’s name in your phone as ‘Mental Pillar Jeong Seongbin,’ didn’t you?”
“Pfft!”
A massive bombshell exploded. Screams erupted from all sides along with it.
Kim Iwol’s face turned as red as an apple as he struggled to recover from nearly spraying his drink. Jeong Seongbin’s face was no less red.
“You… When did you see that?”
It was apparently true, too. Kim Iwol’s face shifted repeatedly from red to blue.
Then, starting from beneath his shirt collar, his skin gradually reddened. By the end, there wasn’t a single spot left uncolored—not even his ears. It was a sight utterly unlike Kim Iwol, who was normally as pale as any polar bear.
After acting like a professional in front of the camera all this time, I was going to live to see Kim Iwol fall apart.
“Hyung told me to send the video-conference link for him last time, remember? I saw it then.”
“Ah…”
“Seongbin hyung must be quite a dependable leader for you, huh? Right? I love our leader so, so much too!”
Won Chaehee’s instincts screamed that this was an extremely rare situation. He diligently captured Kim Iwol’s complete inability to control his expression on camera.
“First of all, to explain, everyone, I absolutely was not snooping into my hyung’s private life! He asked me first! He asked me to send something using his account! We don’t have phones yet, so we share a communal laptop, and things like that happen pretty often.”
“Don’t you usually log in with your tablet?”
“We were on vacation in Busan then, so I didn’t have any device.”
Spark then spent a while talking about “the difficulties of not having personal electronic devices in group living.” It was a harsh tale for modern people who couldn’t imagine surviving without their phones.
“We’re always logging out of the accounts on the laptop and spare phone before handing them over, you know.”
“Or Seongbin hyung says things for us.”
“Right. That’s why half of Seongbin hyung’s messages are things like, ‘Ju-u says he checked too!’ or ‘The younger ones have checked as well!’”
I didn’t think UA was like that, but they’re such old fogies. Still, it was better than someone doing something stupid on their personal phone and ending up in a dating scandal or some other controversy. I could only wonder when UA would finally allow them to have personal phones.
“For the record, I saw everyone’s saved names because he sent it to the group chat. Mine was ‘Cutie Pretty Visual Lee,’ right?”
Laughter broke out in all directions at the naming choice, which seemed to suggest an unparalleled love of beauty. Kim Iwol buried his face in both hands.
Lee Cheonghyeon, the person in question, was shameless. He even seemed to be living up to his nickname. He made a flower pose with both hands, then fluttered his fingers as he approached Kim Iwol.
“Hyung, do you think I’m that cute?”
“……”
“Cheonghyeon is kind of pretty, right?”
“……”
“Am I perhaps a candidate to take charge of this group’s visuals?”
“Ha…”
Kim Iwol let out a deep sigh. He had long since hung his head.
Lee Cheonghyeon slung an arm over Kim Iwol’s shoulder.
“But still, it’s not strange that you think of me that way.”
“……”
“You compliment my face so much, after all. Though I suppose that’s because you’re so strict about taking care of it. Actually, I think I would’ve been a little hurt if you’d just saved me as ‘Spark Lee Cheonghyeon.’”
Lee Cheonghyeon laid it on thick.
“But I was a little surprised that you thought of Gang Gyeon that way.”
“……!”
“Don’t tell me you saved Gang Gyeon as ‘Super Cute—’”
“Let’s stop. I lost.”
Kim Iwol declared defeat as he clamped an antibacterial tissue over Lee Cheonghyeon’s mouth.
Unfortunately, because he had to pull out the tissue, he missed the timing and his obstruction came too late. It must have been because of his foolish hesitation at the thought of touching Lee Cheonghyeon’s precious face with his bare hands.
Gang Giyeon covered his mouth with one hand and muttered,
“Super Cute?”
Hearing Gang Giyeon’s muffled voice, Lee Cheonghyeon broke through Kim Iwol’s tissue barricade and shouted,
“He said it was Super Cute Gang Giyeon!”
Gang Giyeon’s face flushed like a boy who had just received a confession.
The fans went wild. Appeals demanding the saved names of the remaining members rained down.
“Are you curious, everyone?”
Kim Iwol, steeped in shame, asked with an expression that had given up on everything.
“Absolutely!”
There are several ways an idol can respond in moments like this. First, engage in a battle of wills. Second, pretend not to hear and change the subject. Third, inexplicably scold the member who started it all and kill the mood.
Kim Iwol, however, didn’t let go of the microphone. The fans, too, believed that if it was Kim Iwol, he would do anything they wanted.
“Then I suppose I have to tell you.”
His voice was full of resignation. It sounded almost like he was submitting to fate.
“Ju-u hyung’s was really funny. Hurry up and tell us what it was, hyung.”
Lee Cheonghyeon draped an arm over Kim Iwol’s shoulder and stood there crookedly.
Hadn’t Spark said they never kept their heads bowed for long in front of fans? True to those words, Kim Iwol quickly lifted his head. The hand covering one flushed cheek remained in place, however.
“Park Ju-u, 2019 vintage Metal Marble…”
By now, Kim Iwol was practically sobbing.
“So are you going to update Ju-u hyung’s nickname every year? Like 2020 vintage, 2021 vintage, and so on?”
“Please don’t ask.”
Kim Iwol pushed Lee Cheonghyeon away slightly, his expression utterly miserable.
Even while pretending to stumble backward, Lee Cheonghyeon looked bright and innocent. Won Chaehee enthusiastically captured the scene on camera.
“But hyung, I’m genuinely happy.”
“Why? Because you’re Cutie Pretty Visual?”
“No.”
Lee Cheonghyeon gave the most guileless smile in the world.
“Because our eldest members are so close.”
“……!”
“Who would’ve guessed you saved Jeho hyung as ‘Center Emperor Choi Jeho’? So in your heart, Jeho hyung is number one, right? Cheonghyeon is so moved by the friendship between his hyungs that he could just cry.”
Through the lens, I could see Center Emperor Choi Jeho freeze solid. Kim Iwol went down in a blaze of glory.
I only found out after the fan meeting, but apparently “Center Emperor Choi Jeho” had been trending in real time since halfway through the event.
It was a beautiful friendship.
* * *
After Kim Iwol’s spectacular public humiliation festival, Jeong Seongbin brought the venue back under control.
The mood didn’t settle easily, but before long, the audience had been organized again.
“Actually, everything so far was just an appetizer, right?”
Jeong Seongbin tossed the line toward the members.
But it was already plenty filling for an appetizer. Perhaps because he was holding a cannon again after such a long time, Won Chaehee’s forearms were beginning to send him warning signals.
“We figured you’d be tired from taking pictures, and that it would be a shame to see us only through your camera angles. So we prepared some content you can heal with using your eyes and ears, just for a little while. Please put down your cameras and phones!”
So this was what they called a leak-free segment. Won Chaehee had been around long enough to understand what that meant.
Of course, some people still didn’t put their phones down.
It was a meaningless gesture, however. Every light in the venue had been turned off.
Then the beam projector came on.
Is this a fan VCR?
If it was something like that, wouldn’t everyone want to record it even more? At the very least, they would probably try to record the audio.
Still, Won Chaehee didn’t want to break the rules at a fan meeting for a group that was only at the sampling stage and get an earful from security. He decided to simply watch the video playing before him.
A pair of hands pressing piano keys appeared on the screen in a sunlit music room, blue leaves visible outside the window.
『I remember you
Who always watched over me』
A warm melody suited to the color palette of the screen formed the main theme.
The scene changed to a hand writing something small in chalk in the corner of a classroom blackboard.
The sharp, intermittent sound of chalk tapping against the board joined the acoustic guitar in the accompaniment.
As the person turned around, a name tag reading “Park Ju-u” came into view.
A distinct scratch in Park Ju-u’s whisper-like voice added a deeper feeling to the song.
『At the end of every picture I drew
There was always you
To meet you
I drew and drew, even in my dreams
You, and us』
Hands bouncing a basketball, hands solving problems in a workbook, hands fidgeting with a pen held between the lips, hands locking the classroom door…
The people around them, who had briefly grown noisy at the thought that this was a new song, quickly fell silent.
The lyrics appearing as subtitles made it clear that this was a fan song.
『This hand
That once wondered whether someone would take it
I carefully held it out
With a trembling heart』
Jeong Seongbin’s clear, resonant voice flowed simply yet gracefully.
Jeong Seongbin, who had been working through a workbook, turned his gaze toward the window.
『You took it in yours
And because it was warm
I wanted to hold that hand forever
And run』
Gang Giyeon’s hand, which had been about to lock the door, quietly gripped the old padlock.
Even though he wasn’t one of the members who primarily handled the singing, Gang Giyeon’s vocals were smooth. That was how it sounded even to Won Chaehee, who hadn’t yet been blinded by his fan bias. It was enough to give a sense of how much he must have practiced.
The screen changed again, this time to a gym where the soles of shoes squeaked against the floor.
Choi Jeho, dressed in a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants, was captured in a wide shot as he focused on playing basketball.
『Though I erased it and erased it again
And came a long way around
Still, you know
Would you listen to me?』
The melody was so low it was impossible to tell whether the line was a question or a statement. Because of that, it felt less like a request and more like the singer carefully seating the listener before him.
Choi Jeho’s basketball bounced against the floor once more. Along with the ball rising into the air, the scene transitioned upward from bottom to top.
The lips holding a pen were emphasized again. As the camera gradually zoomed out, Kim Iwol was revealed, looking down at a notebook.
Kim Iwol bit the pen, rested it against his lips, and spun it around his finger.
Then, after hesitating, he wrote something.
『Tell me it’s all right
For me to give you this heart
Let me give it a name』
The notebook came into close-up.
It was a page with the word “Like” written on it.
『Love』
The drumbeat came in a little stronger. As more instruments joined to embellish the melody, the music quickly grew richer.
Then, at the end, it gradually faded away.
『Let’s sit side by side
And watch the bright night sky together』
The space left by the guitar was filled with the crackling sound of lit sparklers.
The crashing waves and the sound of a few piano keys being pressed blended together like paint.
『Let’s never forget
This moment
Forever』
Two sparklers burned brightly on the screen.
Before long, the screen went dark.
I’m doomed.
In the darkness, Won Chaehee realized it instinctively.
He had just been hit by a full-blown stan accident.
―
Profile
Name: Park Ju-u
Birthday: September 22
Birthplace: Daejeon Metropolitan City
Height: 181 cm
MBTI: INFP
Nicknames: 2019 vintage Metal Marble, Human Dawn Mountain Mist, Furball, Sloth, Limited-Time Sniper
Likes: Bands, microfiber blankets, neatness
Dislikes: Spicy food
Motto: Let’s all be happy together
Favorite food: Yogurt
Preferred scent: Unscented
Favorite music genre: Rock
Favorite sport: Billiards
Body part he’s confident in: ……Arm muscles?
Personal habit: Wearing a headset with no music playing