Hello, this is Joo Seunghyun. I apologize for the late response. Thank you for your help on multiple occasions.
Writing a text to Han Kangwoo felt worse than death.
He had barely managed to make a fresh start, yet here he was, tangled up with that guy right from the beginning of this new life.
However, in terms of common decency, it wasn’t a situation where he could simply choose not to reply.
Seunghyun wrote the text as concisely as possible.
‘Just send it.’
Once sent, he decided he wouldn’t care whether he got a reply or not.
That guy couldn’t possibly be free, so a reply wouldn’t come immediately.
But expectations are always meant to be broken.
The phone vibrated instantly, making Seunghyun jump as if he were being jolted out of his seat.
‘What the…?’
Checking the screen, there was just a single, unlucky emoticon that made no sense.
He felt it wasn’t even worth replying to, so he tossed the phone aside and thought about doing something else.
For example…… yeah, maybe practice for the upcoming fan signing event with the members.
‘Bzzzt—’
However, it vibrated again. Seunghyun irritably checked the text that followed.
‘Why would I be with you…….’
It was a genuine question.
Does this guy even know that we have a quasi-dating rumor blowing up?
No, even if he did know, would he even care?
As far as Seunghyun knew, this tabloid piece was the first scandal in Han Kangwoo’s entire life.
Yet, he seemed completely unbothered.
Honestly, even worrying about this felt like a waste of time.
But he couldn’t just blindly refuse, either.
He decided to just say he understood and add a generic New Year’s greeting.
He wanted to wrap up the conversation right there.
Fortunately, Han Kangwoo didn’t seem to have much more to say, and a lukewarm, standard reply came back.
Seunghyun knew Han Kangwoo’s persistence.
However, he was anxious because he couldn’t grasp his intentions.
He had pondered for a long time about why he was trying so hard to keep a connection with him.
‘It’s obviously because of my whereabouts.’
He was the eldest son of one of the top chaebol families in the business world.
He had surely used every means necessary to conduct a thorough background check.
‘And yet, he approached me…….’
It meant he hadn’t found any clues.
He felt inexplicably heavy-hearted.
Even if it was a pathetic life, it was a body he had lived in for 30 years.
Life and death aside, to think there wasn’t even a trace of his existence left.
Still, if there was one gain…… it was knowing that efforts to find his whereabouts on an individual level were meaningless.
Perhaps he also realized that he could continue the investigation without lifting a finger by using Han Kangwoo.
‘I should use what I can.’
Either way, until the drama filming ended, they were in a situation where they would have to keep bumping into each other whether he liked it or not.
Han Kangwoo wasn’t the type of person to believe in unrealistic stories like souls being swapped or possession.
And finally, the morning of the fan signing event dawned.
Since it was a digital single, no album was released.
Instead, they conducted the recruitment for the 3rd official fan club concurrently with the fan sign application, and the tickets for the fan sign became 100% lottery-based, which was unprecedented.
Thanks to that, the fan club sign-up was a huge success.
However, an increase in fan club members didn’t mean more seats for the fan sign.
Since it was an event for only 100 people, the competition was immense.
‘LoRA @loHAHa_3__ · One day ago’
‘I’d rather just throw money at it ㅠㅠ’
Posts like this appeared frequently.
There wasn’t just one or two people who looked desperate.
Seeing tens of thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of people so desperate didn’t make him feel good.
‘Satisfy them as much as I can.’
Seunghyun reviewed how Joo Seunghyun had acted at past fan signs.
Remembering the fans as much as possible, smiling……
‘He was flirting.’
The flirting was no joke.
And considering that the vast majority of fans attending fan signs were women, this was a very appropriate attitude.
‘LOL it’s not about queuing, some weirdos might latch on.’
‘I hope everyone memorizes the fan sign manners ㅠ It’s the first time we’re meeting the boys since the return, please, let’s just ensure no unpleasant incidents occur ㅠㅠ’
He was also quite well-versed in the precautions.
Since it was Seunghyun’s first fan sign, there would be many fans attending their first one too.
So he had to…… handle it as well as possible.
Feeling dizzy at the suddenly increased difficulty, but only for a moment.
“We will begin entry!”
The fan sign event started.
“Waaaaah!”
Simultaneously with HALO’s entry, a shout loud enough to be felt as a vibration erupted.
“Two, three! Hello, we are HALO!”
Following the cue from their leader, Seunghyun, HALO bowed in unison and grabbed their microphones.
The first to speak was the eldest, Chiyoon.
“Hello everyone! Thank you for the trouble of coming such a long way.”
Nanhwa, a poor graduate student, was so nervous because it was her first fan sign.
Since they always picked people based on album sales, this was her first time actually winning a spot.
Fortunately, looking around, there were many people who seemed as unfamiliar with this as she was.
Nanhwa reviewed the fan sign manners she had memorized from the fan cafe in her mind.
‘No personal comments, no sudden outbursts, no health-related questions for Seunghyun.’
It felt like there were many things, but she could only remember a few right now.
Nanhwa tightly clutched the post-it notes she had prepared in advance.
Fortunately, HALO allowed post-it notes at their fan signs, and people said that even if you didn’t know what to talk about, they would lead the conversation since they were veterans.
‘Even if I think of what to say, I’ll surely forget it out of excitement.’
She wasn’t even face-to-face with them yet, but her heart had already started beating fast.
It was on a completely different level from seeing them far away at a concert hall.
‘I can see their eyes, noses, and mouths……!’
Nanhwa stood in line, excited. Her ultimate bias was, of course, Seunghyun.
‘Oh my, look at his face, he’s lost so much weight.’
Still, his complexion looked okay.
He was famous for being strict with his self-care, so he had a very slim build for his height, but it was a relief to see he looked fine, other than having lost a bit more weight.
She was standing in line with a relatively low number, when suddenly, camera flashes started popping behind her.
‘Huh?’
Nanhwa, whose gaze had been fixed on her bias Seunghyun, noticed his face stiffen slightly.
‘Is it just my imagination……?’
Soon, when a new fan sat in front of Seunghyun, his expression returned to a smile as if nothing had happened, but.
Before she could continue the thought that it was strange, it was Nanhwa’s turn.
Nanhwa quickly followed the staff’s guidance and approached the members.
“Hello!”
The start was Eunwoo.
Eunwoo greeted her first, using a friendly tone that sat somewhere between formal and casual, welcoming Nanhwa.
‘Whenever I read fan sign reviews, Eunwoo is always first…… there’s a reason for it!’
Before they even started a proper conversation, she felt like they were already close.
Nanhwa stammered her greeting and sat down.
“It feels like this is our first time meeting today, right?”
“Ye-yes. It’s my first time.”
“Waaa, you must be nervous. Because I’m nervous right now.”
As she put down the album with the post-its attached with trembling hands, Eunwoo scanned them at a speed that made her wonder if he even read them, then made eye contact with Nanhwa again.
Like a pro idol, his hands were already finished with the signature.
‘But he’s really thin…….’
She had prepared herself mentally because she had often seen real-life reviews saying, “He looks scarier than I thought,” and because he had been treating her kindly with a smiling face the whole time, she wasn’t intimidated by his appearance, but he really looked colder and more masculine than on screen. It made his nickname “Doggy-Do” feel completely irrelevant.
The conversation with Eunwoo passed in the blink of an eye to the point she didn’t know what they’d talked about, and Nanhwa barely managed to give Eunwoo the hair tie she had brought before time was up.
It was a hair tie she had knitted herself to give to Eunwoo, who always kept his hair long.
The next in line was Yooju.
“Hello~”
The moment she made eye contact with Yooju, Nanhwa almost squeezed her eyes shut. What kind of face is……
‘Self-luminous!’
His face was enough to make her fully understand why his position since debut had been “Center.”
Judging only by the image he showed on broadcasts, she had thought he would have a fairly cynical and cold personality, unlike his angel-like face, but Yooju was also really, really kind—more than she expected.
He stared into her eyes so intently that Nanhwa was the one to turn her gaze away first.
“Come again next time~”
Moreover, his way of trailing off the end of his sentences was very charming.
Beyond the impression of him being simply handsome or pretty, she was mesmerized by his sparkling appearance that seemed to draw people in, to the point where she could barely remember the time spent with Yooju.
And following Yooju, the visual assault of Yijeong was waiting for Nanhwa.
