Chapter 1: See You Later

The concert was now only ten minutes away from starting.

The security teams, who had been lining up and controlling the massive crowd near the front fence, gathered inside the waiting room, leaving only the minimum staff outside.

It was time for them to move into the concert hall.

The heated atmosphere already rising from the area in front of the stage was as overwhelming as the scale of the concert itself.

The team leader began the briefing, his voice tight with tension.

“Since this concert is huge, be more alert than usual.

Yes, it’s important that nothing gets breached, but the number one priority is safety.

Got it?

Make sure you don’t control the crowd too roughly.

Avoid any friction with the fans.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Jinwoo and Youngchan, you two take the console area.

Pay special attention there.

And Han-geon, you… wait in front of the guest waiting room.

When it’s time for the guest to go up, escort them to the stage and come back down with them.”

“Yes, sir.”

Han-geon, dressed sharply in a suit and wearing his ear mic, nodded with a serious expression.

But knowing exactly who today’s guest was, he couldn’t restrain the pounding excitement in his chest.

Soon after, the team leader tapped the shoulders of Han-geon and the other team members in turn.

“Alright, good work today as always.

If anything happens, even something small, radio it in immediately.”

“Yes!”

“Yes, sir!”

As soon as the work briefing ended, the security team dispersed in perfect order to their assigned spots.

Han-geon walked with a straight, disciplined posture to the front of the guest waiting room.

Hearing the soft murmur of voices from beyond the closed door, the pulse that had been pounding since earlier grew even stronger.

Trying to steady the dizziness that rose naturally on its own, Han-geon forced his eyes wide open.

Several songs by Bittersweet, the stars of today’s concert, passed by.

Even with the ear-splitting screams and booming sound system, Han-geon stood without the slightest change in expression.

His attention was entirely fixed on the guest who would be going onstage in five minutes.

Just then, an event staffer hurried over and knocked on the waiting room door.

“Cha Eun-gyeol-nim, we’ll have you wait backstage now.”

“Yes.”

The moment he heard that languid voice from inside, Han-geon felt as if a piece of his heart had dropped away.

The door opened, and the hair and makeup team stepped out first.

Moments later, the guest of the day—Cha Eun-gyeol—strode out of the room.

An actor whose presence had dominated his lead role in Beautiful Sun, a film that recently surpassed ten million viewers.

Currently ranked as the number-one favourite male actor among women in their teens, twenties, and thirties.

Receiving endless love calls from distributors and advertisers alike.

The hottest actor in all of South Korea at this very moment.

His face was so pale and white it looked almost translucent, and upon it rested features that seemed sculpted one by one with divine deliberation, arranged in perfect proportion.

His beautiful eyes carried a somewhat cool, frosty impression, while the sharp bridge of his nose and the bold eyebrows added a masculine edge to that refined face.

His lips, of moderate fullness, were vividly red even without any makeup.

He was, quite literally, the human embodiment of the word beautiful.

Beneath his long, pale neck lay a strikingly well-balanced and perfectly shaped body.

At 188 centimetres tall, his slim, well-proportioned frame was the kind that belonged on the cover of a fashion magazine.

His long legs, defined with firm muscle, and his broad, masculine shoulders were among the features fans loved the most.

On top of that, he possessed the rare and exceptional dominant-alpha trait—something only a handful of people in the country had.

That rarity stirred fans’ quiet curiosity and longing even further.

Because their numbers were so minuscule compared with betas, the public had always been deeply fascinated by his appeal as an alpha.

Just looking at that overwhelming beauty made Han-geon briefly swallow his breath.

But he couldn’t let it show, so he suppressed any sign of agitation and stood silently among the crowd surrounding him.

At that moment, Eun-gyeol’s gaze flicked toward Han-geon.

His eyes curved—slightly, but unmistakably.

It might have even been a faintly playful smile.

The moment their eyes met, Han-geon’s gaze scattered helplessly, as if it had lost its path.

Just then, like salvation, the event staff approached again to give instructions.

“This way, please.
When your name is called in three minutes, you may go up.”

“Ah, security guard-nim.
Just a moment, please.”

Soon after, a couple of makeup artists and stylists rushed in and began making the final adjustments to Eun-gyeol’s face and hair.

As they closed in around him, Han-geon naturally stepped back to make space, the distance between them widening.

He curled and uncurled his cold fists.

He was the one trembling with nerves, yet the person who would actually be stepping onto the stage—Cha Eun-gyeol—looked completely unbothered.

Just then, the emcee’s voice announcing Eun-gyeol’s turn finally came through.

“Now!
This next segment is a very special—”

He didn’t even finish the sentence before an explosive roar erupted throughout the concert hall.

“Wow, this reaction is no joke!

He’s the hottest star in the acting world right now.

He built his friendship with Bittersweet’s own Lee Hyun, the star of today’s concert, while working together on the drama Chocolate Scandal.

It was really difficult to bring him here today.

Everyone, please welcome him with applause and cheers—actor Cha Eun-gyeol!”

As Eun-gyeol strode confidently up onto the stage, the cheers intensified to the point of making Han-geon’s ears ring.

The excited crowd surged with movement.

Han-geon stayed close behind Eun-gyeol until the moment he reached the center of the stage and took the microphone, then descended to wait below the platform.

His beautiful face filled the giant screen.

Even with his image magnified so enormously and this many people staring at him, Cha Eun-gyeol looked completely at ease.

It struck Han-geon anew how perfectly suited he was for his profession—and how impressive his confidence was.
With unwavering composure, he let his eyes soften into a gentle smile.

“Hello, I’m actor Cha Eun-gyeol.

It’s an honor to stand on the same stage as Bittersweet today.”

“Oppa!
Over here!”

Up until that moment, controlling the audience section had been relatively easy, but the instant guest Cha Eun-gyeol appeared, the atmosphere overheated beyond control.
The team leader’s urgent voice blasted through the ear mic.

– Han-geon!
Front row of Zone B.

There’s too much movement there!

Hold the line until the guest finishes his song!

“Yes, sir!”

Including the talk segment and the two or three songs he would perform, it would take at least fifteen minutes.

Han-geon answered quickly and sprinted toward the very front row of the audience.

Just as the team leader had said, the fence had been pushed and distorted, and the staff were breaking out in cold sweat trying to block the excited crowd that kept shoving from behind.

“Don’t push!
You—tall guy over there!
Don’t push, you’ll hurt someone!”

He rushed in and shouted toward the fans who were aggressively ramming forward with brute force.

But even as he yelled at them to stop pushing, the frenzied audience didn’t care and continued acting recklessly.

Han-geon tried as hard as possible not to use force as he used his whole body to keep the formation from collapsing.

Then a fan hurled an angry curse directly at him.

“Ugh, move!
f*ck, I can’t take pictures because you’re blocking me!”

Her eyes looked at him as though he were something disgusting, and she cursed without hesitation.

But after rolling through countless field events, Han-geon had endured far worse; this level of swearing was nothing.

With a blank expression, he continued trying not to shove her while restoring the line.

“Stay right where you are!
If you keep pushing, you’ll be removed.
Stop it now!”

Fortunately, with the coordinated efforts of the team, the crowd gradually calmed down.

The soft, gentle intro of the song Eun-gyeol started singing also helped greatly.

The fans who had been briefly worked up soon stopped moving and lifted their phones.

Since Bittersweet’s agency wasn’t particularly strict about filming, even DSLRs hidden behind slogan banners could be spotted everywhere.

Eun-gyeol’s face appeared on the giant screen as he sang.
His low, smooth, beautiful voice melted a small corner of Han-geon’s heart.

‘My ears are going to melt….’

For the first time tonight, Han-geon’s gaze—until now frozen straight ahead—wavered just a little, but only for a moment.

He had to stay sharp.

But stopping the innocent admiration and affection rising from inside was difficult.

‘He could debut as an idol.
How does he sing this well….’

Even while keeping his stern, forward-facing expression, Han-geon thought that to himself.

During the two songs that followed, the front row was completely calm.

When the team leader’s voice came through the ear mic, instructing him to return to his original spot, Han-geon moved swiftly again and went back backstage.

Eun-gyeol’s segment came to an end.
Once again, a deafening roar shook the entire concert hall.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Oppa, you’re so handsome!”

“Eun-gyeol-ah!
Look this way!”

Even at the near-screaming level of excitement, Eun-gyeol waved calmly toward the front of the stage.

Han-geon hurried forward and positioned himself closely beside him as Eun-gyeol stepped down from the stage.

Several staff members immediately followed, and in an instant Eun-gyeol was swallowed by a cluster of people.

They entered the backstage hallway.

A woman wearing a black windbreaker and a cap pulled low over her face, with no staff ID around her neck and a sinister glint in her eyes—Han-geon’s gaze sharpened immediately at the sight of the unidentified, suspicious figure.

At the same moment he recognized her, the woman crouched in the dark corner of the hallway launched herself toward Eun-gyeol without hesitation.

“Oppaaaaa!”

She screamed as she lunged at him.

Before anything could happen, Han-geon grabbed her wrist first.

Almost on instinct, he stepped in front of Eun-gyeol and shielded him behind his own body.

The woman, restrained before she could even act, shrieked and tried to wrench her wrist free, but Han-geon twisted her arm with an expressionless face and pinned her against the hallway wall.

“You cannot touch him.

Please leave immediately.

No entry unless you’re authorized staff.”

He warned her swiftly in a low voice.

As the woman lifted eyes gleaming with frenzy, other staff members and security team members rushed in to restrain her.

“What are you doing!
Leave now!”

They were strictly controlling access to anyone who wasn’t authorized, but it seemed she had slipped in during the confusion.

Amid the commotion, the woman screamed as she was forcibly escorted out.

The hallway was left with only Eun-gyeol and Han-geon.

Throughout everything that had just happened, Eun-gyeol’s demeanor had remained entirely unchanged.

His long strides carried him close.

Tilting his head slightly toward Han-geon’s ear, he slowly lifted the corner of his mouth.

Then a soft, quiet chuckle slipped out.

“Wow, security guard-nim… you were seriously cool.
I almost fell for you.”

That playful, sweet voice melted against Han-geon’s ear like chocolate.

In that moment, a corner of Han-geon’s heart must have melted along with it.

For an instant, their locked gazes trembled helplessly.

The strength drained from the fist he had been subconsciously clenching.

Just as Han-geon struggled to open his mouth to say something, staff members rushed in from down the hall.

Glancing briefly toward his own team, Eun-gyeol lowered his head again and brought his lips close to Han-geon’s ear.

“…Later….”

Leaving that whispered word behind, he turned away without hesitation.

As a guest, there was no need for him to remain in the concert hall any longer.

Han-geon stared blankly at the sight of him getting ready to leave work, then quickly changed direction and ran to the men’s restroom.

In the mirror, he saw his face flushed in an embarrassingly bright red.

The face usually praised as sturdy, handsome, and upright looked unfamiliar—like it wasn’t even his.

Just one sentence from Eun-gyeol, just a fleeting glance, was enough to turn him into a flustered, helpless boy going through puberty.

“Get a hold of yourself….”

He roughly rubbed one side of his face with his coarse palm. Just because the guest, Cha Eun-gyeol, had gone home did not mean his own work was finished. He had to get a grip and return to the site.

Even so, Cha Eun-gyeol’s last words kept fluttering around in his head like a hundred butterflies, endlessly stirring up his thoughts.

‘See you later at home.’