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Join the Server“Hyung, you know you have to take off your shoes before getting on the plane, right?”
Lee Woo-rim slid into the seat next to me as I sat in the boarding area looking down at my phone, and started whispering in my ear in a serious voice as if he were sharing some huge revelation.
After listening to his low whisper for a while, I eventually let out a small sigh.
“Lee Woo-rim, you’re way past too late.”
Instead of me, who didn’t even feel like responding, Kwak Jun-sung answered and raised his index finger to point at himself and Park Seo-hu in turn.
“We already tried it once each, and no one fell for it.”
…Even if someone had never ridden a plane before, would they really fall for that?
I looked at them with a dumbfounded expression at this absurd conversation, but they ignored me and started looking around for another target.
Soon finding their next victim, the two giggled, stood up, and quickly moved toward Lee Chan-seo.
I followed them with my eyes as they flanked Chan-seo, then looked back down at my phone screen playing the choreography video.
Their noisy voices were soon filtering through my earphones.
“Ha, you two, behave yourselves!”
A moment later, Yoon Ji-heon, who seemed to have spotted them on his way back from the bathroom, started scolding them.
Just as I heard that, an announcement came that boarding for our flight had begun.
“Jae-seo, let’s go.”
I loosely wrapped the earphone cord connected to my phone and stood up.
Yoon Ji-heon, who had apparently just finished scolding the two, walked past the aisle next to my chair, lightly tapped my shoulder, and started walking ahead.
The moment I stepped forward to follow him, a pair of sneakers that looked just like the ones I was wearing came into view.
“Did they tell you that you have to take off your shoes when flying too?”
Seo Jun-jae, who had started walking beside me, gestured toward Kwak Jun-sung and Lee Woo-rim and asked.
He had been sitting with Lee Chan-seo until just a moment ago, apparently talking about something, so he must have heard the two joking around.
I nodded to say yes, and he let out a long “Hmm.”
Having spent time together, I naturally learned that Seo Jun-jae made this kind of reaction for two reasons.
Either he didn’t like something, or…
“You shouldn’t take them off.
They’re mine.”
…Right, it was for this reason.
His voice, tinged with subtle implication, circled around my ears.
Listening to his sentence, deliberately leaving out words, I found myself reading into it exactly as he intended, and I was honestly exasperated with myself.
“Once you give something, it’s mine.
What are you talking about?”
I forced my momentarily faltering steps and tried to sound casual, but the other person was Seo Jun-jae of all people.
He let out a low laugh as if he had already noticed how flustered I was, then tilted his head toward me again.
His voice, tinged with laughter, reached my ear once more.
“Then take them off for me when we get to the hotel.”
“Hey, you really…!”
At his blatant provocation, I finally couldn’t hold back and raised my voice.
The moment I did, Yoon Ji-heon, who was ahead, suddenly turned around.
Seeing his face, which must have been the same expression he wore when scolding Kwak Jun-sung and Lee Woo-rim, I immediately closed my lips.
At the same time, looking at Seo Jun-jae’s deeply curved eye-corners, another sigh escaped me.
…Had Kwak Jun-sung once said about Seo Jun-jae, “I want nothing to do with him”?
Right now I truly sympathized with that sentiment, but then I recalled another thing Kwak Jun-sung had said later.
‘I told you that it would be best to have nothing to do with them, but I didn’t think they would give up.’
…Meaning that whether I wanted nothing to do with them or not, staying away from Seo Jun-jae was already a lost cause.
Walking beside Seo Jun-jae, who was only flashing a bright smile, I let out another short sigh.
***
After flying for four hours, when we arrived at Hong Kong Airport, K-pop fans were already gathered so thickly that there was hardly room to step.
The moment we passed through the immigration gate and appeared, loud cheers erupted from everywhere, along with chaotic shouts of our team and individual names.
Thanks to the thick overseas viewership of KMBS, which produced and broadcast Please Take Care of My Idol, the comment sections of the show’s videos posted on major video platforms were always filled with countless foreign language comments.
The overseas reactions that poured into the show continued directly to NUAVE’s SNS and live broadcast comments after the program ended.
Even though I already knew that, actually encountering fans welcoming and cheering for us directly from overseas made it feel real for the first time.
Even if this was a game world and not reality, to have become a member of an idol group receiving this much attention not only domestically but also from overseas…
It felt as if the ‘successful idol ending’ that I had thought I would never see on the first day I entered this crazy, perverted, psycho game was right in front of me.
Having such an unrealistic fantasy that didn’t suit me, my heart began to flutter strangely.
Ignoring the emotions causing it, I slowly calmed my breathing to settle my mind.
We cut through the continuing cheers, following the path the security guards made for us, and exited the airport.
After taking a car that was waiting for us and driving for a while, a large building came into view, its surroundings decorated with many colorful banners.
‘KM ConFesta in Hong Kong’
‘KM ConFesta’ written on the banner was a global K-pop festival hosted by KMBS, a music cable channel, and its parent company JH M&E.
During the festival, various K-pop related events were held.
And the main event among them was a joint concert featuring many prominent Korean singers.
We had also been invited to Hong Kong as one of the teams participating in that concert.
…Of course, since our agency Kedream Entertainment was a subsidiary of JH M&E, there were rumors that this wasn’t a proper invitation but a package deal.
Still, thanks to entering this crazy, perverted, psycho game, I was experiencing all sorts of things.
As I thought that and looked out at the exotic scenery beyond the window, the destination building grew closer.
“Holy crap, I see people!”
The concert was tomorrow, but various events were already underway, so fans participating in the events filled the area around the venue.
“There’s even a K-pop cover dance event!
Next time, there will probably be people dancing to our song too!”
As Woo-rim said this, already seeming thrilled, he took a breath, and the venue that had been close began to recede again.
The car drove around the building and entered the parking lot in the back, soon coming to a slow stop in a parking area designated for artists.
While the manager who got out of the car talked with the KM ConFesta staff, we waited inside the car.
After quite a long time had passed, we followed the manager who came to get us and entered the concert hall.
“NUAVE will now begin rehearsal!”
We waited a while according to the concert order for tomorrow, and then our rehearsal began.
From the entrance using a lift that reminded me of the final broadcast of Please Take Care of My Idol, to the stage, to the ment in between, to the exit – we rehearsed everything thoroughly, completed monitoring, and then left the venue.
Along the way, we kept bowing our heads to greet several senior singers and staff members we encountered.
By the time we came down the stairs and arrived at the parking lot, we were quite dazed.
The members, expressing fatigue from the unfamiliar situation, were about to get back into the car we had come in.
“Oh?
You’re NUAVE, right?”
The moment I turned my head toward the sudden voice, a very familiar face came into view.
At the same time, I heard exclamations of surprise from the other members beside me.
“Hello, senior!”
Yoon Ji-heon stepped forward through the members who had been blankly staring at the person and greeted him skillfully.
Only then, belatedly snapping out of it, the rest of us also bowed in a rush.
The person who received our greetings with a smile immediately turned his head to Yoon Ji-heon and spoke quite familiarly.
“Oh dear, when you call me ‘senior,’ it feels so awkward, Ji-heon-ssi.”
The man whose face I even found familiar was Noh Hae-min, the main dancer of ‘Eternals’, currently the most popular idol group in the world of Please Take Care of My Idol.
He was often mentioned at the very top when ranking the best idol dancers, and he was one of the most famous idols both as a group and as a soloist.
Perhaps that was why I remembered that he was most often mentioned as a role model during the filming of the show.
“I’m just a rookie debuting next month.
Please take care of me, senior.”
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read There Is a Monster in The Imperial Palace! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : There Is a Monster in The Imperial Palace
