Chapter 20: Fandom Frenzy

My mind was still a mess because of the thought I’d had at the production presentation a few days ago.

If what I’m thinking is correct, then Chae Han-ul is currently the most dangerous person here.

Sure, there’s still a long way to go before he hits the “restriction lift” at nineteen, but that basically means that eventually… no matter what… it will happen.

…Isn’t there some way to lower his affection level?

If I acted like a jerk, maybe it would drop—human nature and all that—but there’s no way I can be an ass to a seventeen-year-old kid.

I was still stuck in that dilemma by the time I arrived at the dorm building.

Upon entering, a staff member handed out stickers with our names and a set of training clothes.

Since the new mission wouldn’t begin until tomorrow, they also gave us room numbers and said we’d be using the spare rooms for today in the order we arrived.

Moving rooms wasn’t a big deal.

Up to this point, nothing was really wrong.

Yes, up to this point.

“Wow!

I finally get to share a room with you, hyung!”

…The problem was that—the very excited Chae Han-ul bouncing around in front of me.

And he didn’t just stop at being happy.

He snatched my pathetically light bag out of my hand, insisting he’d carry it for me, then strode up the stairs with long, eager steps.

I could only stare blankly at his back as he went.

Shit.

I bit down hard on my lip, forcing back the curse that nearly burst out of my mouth.

***

#Extra – Twitter

SimWorld @sim_jaeseo_segye
x00328 Please Take Care Of My Idol Season 2 Production Presentation Jaeseo
Jaeseo looked surprised when his name was called, but then he kept making eye contact with us the whole time.
Still… please don’t get hurt ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
#SimJaeseo #Jaeseo
(pleasetakecareofmyidol _presentation_jaeseo.MP4)
Views 13.8K
Posted on March 28, 20XX at 18:08 via Twitter for Android
760 Retweets · 40 Quotes · 728 Likes

WhiteNine @whitenine1_09 · 5h
Replying to @sim_jaeseo_segye
Gasp—did Jaeseo get hurt??

SimWorld @sim_jaeseo_segye · 4h
Replying to @whitenine1_09
No;; he just tripped and almost got hurt ㅠㅠ Thankfully H*T caught him from behind, so he didn’t get injured ㅠㅠ

YeotaePia @YeoTaePIA
20XX.03.28 Please Take Care of My Idol Season 2 Production Presentation Preview
#YeoHyeonTae #HyeonTae #Nae_Idol_Please_Take_Care_Season2 # pleasetakecareofmyidol Season2
(yeohyeontae_preview1.jpg)
(yeohyeontae_preview2.jpg)
(yeohyeontae_preview3.jpg)
(yeohyeontae_preview4.jpg)
Posted March 28, 20XX at 18:25 via Twitter for Android
825 Retweets · 37 Quotes · 708 Likes

LittleBranch @gajigaji_ol01 · 4h
Replying to @YeoTaePIA
What’s happening in the last preview pic?

YeotaePia @YeoTaePIA · 4h
Replying to @gajigaji_ol01
He’s catching Jaeseo who was about to fall in front of him 🙂

JjaekJjaek @wnswoditkfkdgo
I heard Joonjae told the fans everything was okay at today’s production presentation because another contestant fell and everyone got scared.

JjaekJjaek @wnswoditkfkdgo · 3h
Replying to @wnswoditkfkdgo
Apparently the other contestant didn’t actually fall lol

20PRESENT @twenty_20_present
x00328 Please Take Care of My Idol Season 2 Production Presentation
#YeoHyeonTae #SeoJoonjae #KESZ #HyeonJaeZ
When a certain contestant was about to fall, Hyeon-tae rushed over immediately, caught him, and asked if he was okay.
“HyeonJaeZ being sweet.”
(GIF: Hyeon-tae catching Seo Joon-jae at the presentation event)
March 28, Year XX, 8:30 PM — posted via Twitter for Android
728 Retweets · 21 Quote Posts · 797 Likes

User @jD0iuEKEw46nW:
“The way people use someone almost falling just to promote their own favorite member—dragging out photos for it and everything—is honestly so gross. Lol.”
March 28, Year XX, 9:02 PM — via Twitter for iPhone
3 Retweets · 7 Likes
(This post is not visible because the account owner has restricted who can view their posts.)

User @jD0iuEKEw46nW, two hours later:
“Is it that same username again? Lol.”

handcherry150103 @handcherry150103
“A review of going to the ‘Please Take Care of My Idol 2’ production presentation to see Son Chae-i.”
Seeing them in real life made it clear the show really did pick good contestants. Even with terrible editing, this season is guaranteed to blow up. I don’t remember everything perfectly, but here’s what comes to mind:
Seo Joon-jae — Calling him handsome doesn’t even begin to cover it. He’s not just “face genius,” he’s “face-only-million-times-overloaded-level.” Unreal.
Yeo Hyeon-tae — Also way beyond “handsome.” He literally looks like a sculpture. At one point, another trainee was about to fall and he ran over, wrapped an arm around his waist, and caught him. It legit looked like a scene straight out of a romance drama.
Both Seo Joon-jae and Yeo Hyeon-tae are insanely good-looking, but Joon-jae has that Western fairytale-prince vibe, while Hyeon-tae has an Eastern crown prince aura.
Yoon Ji-heon — The presence is insane. Maybe it’s because he debuted once already, but he has a completely different level of charisma.
Posted March 28, Year XX, 9:27 PM via Twitter for Android
329 Retweets · 4 Quote Posts · 210 Likes

Reply from @handcherry150103, two hours later:
Sim Jae-seo — So pale. Like, the palest human I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m sure he was handsome, but he was so shockingly pale that all I remember is the whiteness.
Rohan — Gives off vintage Hong Kong actor vibes. The only foreign contestant who stood out to me.
Park Kang-hoon — Makes you wonder how he hasn’t broken any broadcast cameras yet, because he looks way better in person than on screen.
Cha Han-ul — On TV he looked like such a baby, but in real life, because of his height and build, he actually has a surprisingly mature vibe.
Lee Chan-seo — Fox-like plus cat-like features? Anyway, he has that super trendy look that’s always in high demand for boy groups.
Lee Woo-rim — The definition of a pretty-boy idol. Exactly that vibe.

Luck_Gwon @Luck_Gwon (1 hour ago):
“Sorry, but do you happen to have any impressions of Juke’s Lee Kwon?”

ckjinwooksgirlfriend @ckjinwooksgirlfriend (1 hour ago):
“Is there any review of Nam Jin-wook? Please??”

handcherry150103 @handcherry150103 (1 hour ago):
“Not taking questions about contestants.”

SSY202020 @seosimyeo202020
“Oh my gosh, it looks like Seo, Sim, and Yeo are close with each other!”
#Team #SeoJoonJae #SimJaeSeo #YeoHyeonTae #SameAgeLine
(Preview image attached)
Posted on March 28, XXXX at 21:53 via Twitter for Android
573 Retweets · 23 Quote Posts · 549 Likes

0song1song1tak @0song1song1tak (40 minutes ago)
Replying to @seosimyeo202020
“Huh? What exactly is going on??”

seosimyeo202020 @seosimyeo202020 (27 minutes ago)
Replying to @0song1song1tak
“At the showcase, Jae-seo almost fell, and Hyeon-tae caught him, then he and Joon-jae kept taking care of him!!”

llullullexx @llullullexx
“Does anyone know who these people are?? Please???”
(Preview image attached)
Posted on March 28, XXXX at 22:05 via Twitter for Android
5 Likes

Z2 @imZzzz2 (1 hour ago)
Replying to @llullullexx
“In order: Hyeon-tae, Jae-seo, Jun-jae!”

llullullexx @llullullexx
Replying to @imZzzz2
“Ahh thank you so much!!”

eel_ant @eel_ant
“Even if I can’t buy stock in the big electronics companies, I must invest in Yeo Hyeon-tae–Shim Jae-seo–Seo Joon-jae stocks.”
Posted on March 28, XXXX at 22:10 via Twitter for Android
11 Retweets · 2 Quote Posts · 25 Likes

rosecandiiii @rosecandiiii
“I love the Joon-jae & Jae-seo duo.”
(Attached GIF: showcase_Joonjae_Jaeseo.gif)
Posted on March 28, XXXX at 22:32 via Twitter for iPhone
35 Retweets · 4 Quote Posts · 51 Likes

5aoDR7PqMIjUY @5aoDR7PqMIjUY (1 hour ago)
Replying to @rosecandiiii
[Please do some “seobang”]

rosecandiiii @rosecandiiii · 56 minutes ago
Replying to @5aoDR7PqMIjUY
“…? When did you ask me to do seobang for you?”

5aoDR7PqMIjUY @5aoDR7PqMIjUY · 50 minutes ago
Replying to @rosecandiiii
“Alfess is originally seobang… lol…”

rosecandiiii @rosecandiiii · 42 minutes ago
Replying to @5aoDR7PqMIjUY
“? Junjae isn’t alfess tho;”

♥Yeosim @Yeo_Sim_
“Wtf;; Jae grabbing his waist, holding him steady, hand on the waist escorting him like that?? Yeoh-Jae is going legendary from the very beginning, what am I supposed to do;;”
xxx0 March 28, 22:41 via Twitter for iPhone
72 Retweets · 5 Quotes · 137 Likes

HardcoreAlfesser @DwT3Fe20AQp7N
“I don’t do alfess anymore but I do real gays instead.”
(please-reenact_Hyuntae_Jaeseo.gif)
Mar 28, xxx0 · 23:02 · via Twitter for iPhone
23 likes

SoFuckingAngry @toomuchangrymssibal
“If you’re gonna gobble up alfess content then at least do some seobang, f*ck.”
Mar 28, xxx0 · 23:10 · via Twitter for iPhone

Tek @Tekkkk_kkkk
#DoobMutualSearch #MyBiasGroup_MutualSearch #MyBiasGroup
Fixed picks: Yeo Hyuntae, Seo Junjae, Yoon Jihun, Lee Kwon, Nam Jinuk, Jang Kyungjeong
Leave a trace and I’ll come find you~
Transfers from other groups + Sim Jaeseo are my triggers, so please soft-block if needed^^
Mar 28, xxx0 · 23:45 · via Twitter for Android
5 Retweets · 13 likes

JoonjaeExistenceWarJae @joonjae_jj_jj_jj · 14m
Replying to @Tekkkk_kkkk
“Stop acting like a clown whining about ‘triggers’ when you don’t even do seobang for other participants. Grab Hands-With-Muksabal and get the hell out of the fandom.” (screenshot.jpg)

SeotJaetYehsSoGay @ssjsjsyht_so_gay
“If alpes pisses you off, you can block people yourselves. Why are you telling others to lock their accounts or not? Make it make sense.”
Posted on Mar 28, xxx0 at 23:53 via Twitter for Android
16 likes

Hyeonjaez012 @hyeonjazz012 · 13m
Replying to @Tekkkk_kkkk
“You’re not even doing seobang right now, what are you doing;;”

Yoon_G_Honey @Yoon_G_Honey · 11m
Replying to @Tekkkk_kkkk
“Pretty sure you are the biggest trigger in the whole fandom lol.”

MoneyMoneyWhatMoney @sOe2nde9dDEkZ · 8m
Replying to @Tekkkk_kkkk
“LMAO I wondered what was going on—turns out you’re pissed because the alkwes couple you eat up is getting traction thanks to both being tied to Jaeseo. If you’re gonna go off dragging other trainees out of jealousy, maybe delete your previous posts first. You look so pathetic lol.”