SSAP FM
A week had passed since I'd gotten a firsthand look at Re:fresh's violent streak.
"Everyone packed?"
"Already done~"
"You look happy."
"Well, I get to see Tsuki's face for the first time in a month."
The smile wouldn't leave my face. Today was the day we left for Japan, where Tsuki was waiting. Even with her mother's permission, dropping in after a mere week would have been a serious breach of etiquette, so I'd done everything I could to match their schedule.
"We're fine anytime, so please come before vacation ends. Ideally with all the members."
I'd heard Tsuki's mother tell us herself to come before the break was over. Next week, vacation would be finished. How was a break only three weeks long? It felt like I'd spent the entire summer working and streaming, and now it was already over.
"Jiwoo. You need this too."
"Ah, right."
I grabbed the hat I'd be wearing. I'd already announced on stream that we were heading to Japan for a collab with Tsuki.
"But... I heard Kumongdan said they'd come to the airport... do you think they actually will?"
"Who knows? Not all of them, but a few probably will. That's why we're leaving early, remember?"
Yuwol unnie and Jina unnie still hadn't revealed their faces, but Jiwoo had shown hers often enough on her personal SNS streams. Anyone who was going to know already knew. I'd warned them not to post photos of our faces anywhere else... nothing had gone up yet, but there was no telling what would happen later.
"Let's go. Hoyeon unnie says she's downstairs."
"Okay~"
This time, the company had decided Hoyeon unnie would come along to Japan as our guardian. She herself seemed less like she was on the clock and more like she was buzzing about a long-overdue overseas trip.
We each grabbed our bags and headed down to the first floor of the dorm. A black van was waiting out front.
"Morning, unnie."
"Yeah, good morning... or should I say good dawn?"
The sun hadn't even risen. The predawn roads held a stillness in which not a single person or car stirred.
"Get in. Let's go. Bags in the trunk. Seatbelts on."
"All buckled. We can go."
"You're unusually energetic today. Last week you were wilted every single day."
"Th-that's..."
I snuck a glance at Yuwol unnie in the next seat and Jina unnie in the back. Both of them were staring straight ahead with ice-cold faces. The day I'd flipped the breaker and confirmed Re:fresh's capacity for violence... I really had almost died.
"H-Hoyeon unnie! Let's drop it. I don't want to think about that anymore."
"Fair enough... Jina, you were actually about to hit Jiwoo for real. If you hadn't realized even a little late that we were live, it would've been a broadcast disaster."
"Th-that time! We were this close to winning, and then the power just died... I got so mad I couldn't help it."
Jina covered her face with her hands, reliving her dark history. Was it really something to be that embarrassed about? I'd already sworn on official streams and smashed a keyboard.
"Unnie, don't worry. If you just smash it like I do, the keyboard sponsorship emails start rolling in."
I flicked her a casual thumbs-up, and a chilly voice came from beside me.
"Jiwoo. Let's just keep our mouths shut for now."
"...Yes."
"Haha... thanks to you two, I think I'm actually waking up. Heading out now."
Hoyeon unnie gave her face a dry rub and eased onto the accelerator.
The van ate up the highway and pulled into Incheon International Airport in about two hours.
"No traffic, so we made good time. Check your faces once before you get out."
We each checked ourselves in the van's mirrors. Yep. A pretty girl no matter when you looked. Unlike the two unnies, I didn't need to get up early for makeup. A light wash and a dab of basic skincare was plenty.
"Jiwoo, you're not doing anything?"
"Huh? Doing what? Putting anything on this perfect face would be illegal."
".....Right."
Hoyeon unnie's answer felt awfully delayed, didn't it?
"Looks like we're ready. I'll get out first."
I opened the door and stepped out. The instant I left the van, cameras that had been waiting who-knows-how-long started popping flashes, capturing me.
S-so bright...
The flashes were so blinding I could barely see. I almost scowled. But I lifted the corners of my mouth just a little and waved at the cameras.
Don't make a face here.
No matter how unpleasant something was, you never scowled in front of a camera. My eyes hurt, my body hurts, my feelings are hurt — none of that landed with fans. Whatever the reason. My favorite celebrity made a face at me. They used their position as fans to demand one-sided love, so I'd been trained to be as careful as possible.
"Jiwoo, let's move. You can't keep waving forever."
"R-right..."
I was smiling, but my face had gone stiff, and my hand just kept waving because I didn't know what else to do. Seeing me like that, Yuwol unnie took me and headed for the airport entrance. They'd contacted the airport ahead of time, so arrangements had been made for us to get in easily.
"Unnie, thank you. I had no idea what to do back there."
"Aigoo. I figured as much."
I was holding Yuwol unnie's hand, just reaching the entrance, when the area around us suddenly grew noisy.
"Kuro!!"
"Jiwoo!!"
I heard my names being called and looked over. From around the entrance, a huge crowd of people had been waiting since the crack of dawn just to see me.
"Jiwoo, you have to wave."
"Ah.. right."
I was spacing out a little, so Yuwol unnie poked me in the side.
"Hello, everyone."
"Autograph! Please sign this!"
"I want a photo!"
"Hey, who are you?"
"Come out here a second!"
As fans pressed in for autographs, men in black suits appeared from somewhere and ringed us.
"That's far enough."
"Who do you think you are!"
"Security. No closer than this."
Bodyguards? We had those? I'd heard we should start traveling with security, but I wasn't even an idol — I was an actress and a VTuber — so I'd figured we didn't really need them. The bodyguards' help proved more warranted than I'd imagined. With them there, the fans charging in without restraint thinned out, and with time still left we could take autographs and photos in turn.
"Time's up."
"Huh? Already? But..."
A long line still stretched ahead. Roughly twenty people remaining, at least.
"I'm sorry, everyone. We're out of time."
"Ah... no..."
"Just me... can't you just do me?"
"No. Please move along."
Even at a fan's pleading request, the bodyguard cut it off without hesitation. Wasn't that a bit much? Signing a few more people wouldn't make us miss the plane.
"Jiwoo, unclench your face. And those people are just doing their jobs."
"Still, a little flexibility..."
"And if something happens? Whose responsibility is that supposed to be. They probably don't want to cut people off either, but they have to. So we have to understand."
"I guess so."
This was my first time seeing bodyguards, so I didn't really know their profession. All I knew was the movie version — throwing themselves in front of a VIP. It looked cool... and also a little stupid.
"This way."
The bodyguard who'd pushed the fans back and come up to us had not a shred of emotion on his face. Hmm.. yeah, this isn't right. The fans had made time and come all this way. If they got shoved aside by security, they'd feel pretty awful.
"Excuse me, security?"
"Lee Kangho."
"Mr. Lee Kangho. Don't you think this is a bit much for the fans? They made time just to see me..."
"The duty assigned to me is the safety of Re:fresh's members. Someone posing as a fan could be carrying a weapon. Intercepting that in advance is only natural."
Wait...
Lee Kangho's words left me speechless.
"Jiwoo, that's enough. Let's go. Sorry about that, security. Jina, you need to stop Jiwoo too.... oh no.."
"Y-Yuwol unnie.. help me.."
Jina unnie couldn't cut the fans off cleanly and was flailing. The fans who'd been chased off my side had gone to her.
"What do you think you're doing. Our mission is to escort their safety. And you let them get surrounded like this?"
"I'm sorry.. Ms. Jina asked us earnestly."
"You need to know how to shut it down in those situations. We'll deal with this later. For now, we continue the escort."
Wow... talk about SSAP FM. In that short span he'd delivered a warning and a dressing-down at once, and his eyes never stopped sweeping our surroundings. Don't tell me he's going to be like this for the whole three days in Japan? I already felt like I couldn't breathe.
"My apologies. I'll take measures so this doesn't happen again. Please move along."
"...Okay."
Under the bodyguards' protection, we made it through the airport procedures without incident.
"But... business class just to go to Japan... isn't that a bit much?"
"Maybe it means the company has high expectations for us?"
"I don't know...? We haven't even shown them anything yet. Doing this already is kind of a lot of pressure?"
I looked at the tickets we'd been given, worry creeping in. We'd barely learned to crawl, and the company already expected us to run. Couldn't they at least give us time to get used to crawling first?
"Hoyeon unnie, what do you think?"
"Hm? About what?"
Hoyeon unnie looked like she had no idea what we were talking about.
"These tickets. They're business class. We haven't even done anything for the company."
"Ah, that? The company didn't give us those."
Huh? Then.
"Tsuki's mother is covering the plane tickets, the travel, and every expense for the three days in Japan. We tried to refuse, said that wasn't right, and she told us if we were going to refuse we shouldn't even think about coming to Japan...."
Wow... the scale over there is something else too.