Chapter 151: Fan Meeting
Chapter 151: Fan Meeting
The day of the fan meeting. Olympic Park in Seoul.
Paramedic Han Jisoo, who had succeeded in ticketing after countless twists and turns, arrived on site with a fluttering, happy heart.
“Wow… there are seriously so many people.”
She’d known well enough that Ryu Sunho’s popularity was through the roof these days, but seeing this crowd packed in like a cloud bank made it feel real.
The Olympic Park plaza was stuffed with fans, leaving no place to step.
“Seriously, unnie. I’ve never seen this many people in my life.”
Park Sujin replied beside her, eyes shining.
They’d gotten close on ticketing day, in the PC café chaos when the server crashed.
As expected, nothing brought people together like shared rage at a common enemy.
“Should we hit the photo zone first? We need proof shots.”
“Sounds good!”
The two of them marched confidently toward the photo zone, but unfortunately, the line was already stretched so long you couldn’t see the end.
Park Sujin, hardened by years of idol stanning, quickly sized it up.
“At that length, we’d have to wait at least three hours…”
“…What’s the point of taking a photo with a cardboard standee anyway. Coolly giving up!”
There was a reason giving up was easy.
There were plenty of other things to see and enjoy.
The area around the venue felt like a festival.
As if proving Ryu Sunho’s popularity and buzz, an absurd number of brand booths had moved in.
From the brands’ perspective, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet Ryu Sunho’s highly loyal fans face-to-face, so they paid enormous sponsorship fees and competed to participate.
Because of that—
“What? All the goods are free…?”
“Ryu Sunho’s class is insane…!”
The benefit went straight to the fans.
In fact, Ryu Sunho originally wanted to make the fan meeting itself free to attend.
But if it became a free show, there were concerns about scalping and no-shows.
So instead, they decided not to sell goods and to give them to fans for free.
“Are fan meetings usually like this, just handing things out to fans nonstop?”
“No… usually it’s the opposite. They’re desperate to drain fans’ wallets. They sell low-quality goods at overpriced prices.”
“Then Ryu Sunho is the amazing one?”
“Totally! The ability to gather this many brands is amazing, and the mindset of giving it all back to the fans is amazing too!”
“Tch! Thank god I’m Seonhosasang!”
After making a full lap around the endless sponsor booths, their hands felt heavy.
Their bags were about to burst.
It already felt like they had more than gotten their money’s worth for the fan meeting ticket from what they’d received here.
And then—
Grrrrk—
Han Jisoo’s stomach shouted for food.
She’d been running around since dawn and was on an empty stomach.
“There’s a food truck over there. Want to go?”
“Yeah! Looks like they’re giving out free hot dogs! Let’s line up!”
While they waited in line, a delicious smell stabbed at their noses.
After a short wait, it was their turn.
“Two hot dogs, please.”
“Want sauce on them?”
“…Huh? Yes, please.”
Wait.
That voice sounded familiar.
That low tone—soft, but snug against your ear.
Where had she heard it before?
She wracked her brain, but with the crowd and the noise, nothing came clearly.
Then the man, with his face tightly covered under a sanitary cap and mask, picked up a ketchup bottle.
Sssht— ssst—
Why was he squeezing it so dramatically…?
It was like he was drawing on the hot dog.
Just as the thought crossed her mind—Is he messing around with other people’s food?—Han Jisoo’s eyes went wide when she looked at the hot dog she was handed.
Drawn in ketchup on top of the hot dog was—
[prefer:D]
That’s Ryu Sunho’s signature!!!
She snapped her head up and stared at the worker’s face.
The instant their eyes met, the eyes above the mask folded into a smiling crescent.
“Waaah!!!”
Han Jisoo screamed.
“Why? Unnie, what is it?!”
“R-Ryu Sunho…! Ryu Sunho gave me a hot dog…!”
Startled by the scream, Park Sujin peered into the food truck and clapped a hand over her mouth.
Their voices spread in an instant to the people lined up behind them, like a wave.
“Ryu Sunho?”
“Where?”
“In that food truck?!”
“No way! Seriously?!”
In a blink, people started swarming over like a cloud bank.
“Wow… I never imagined he’d do a surprise fan service like that. Not even once.”
“I was so shocked I almost dropped the hot dog. I thought my heart fell out.”
Han Jisoo and Park Sujin sat in their seats, still buzzing with excitement, talking.
“Hehehe. But we seriously got lucky.”
“It wasn’t luck—your eye was crazy, unnie! The people in front of us didn’t notice and just walked off. They’re probably pounding the ground in regret right now.”
“Heehee, that’s the eye of a working paramedic.”
Before the fan meeting even started, the two of them were already at maximum satisfaction.
Time passed.
The lights inside the venue began to dim slowly.
“Oooo!”
Recognizing the darkness as the signal that the fan meeting was starting, the crowd erupted.
And a moment later—
Boom— boom— boom—
A heavy bass drum beat tore through the speakers.
At the same time, a spotlight pinned a man at center stage.
Of course, it was Ryu Sunho.
“Kyaaaaa!”
But the vibe wasn’t normal.
It wasn’t his usual dandy style.
He was wearing that legendary dark navy suit from the UK talk show.
Over that visual, a familiar melody flowed.
“Huh? This song!”
“What song is it?”
For Han Jisoo, even the intro made her heart react.
But for Park Sujin, a college student who had just turned twenty, it was a bit unfamiliar.
A song with bold, provocative lyrics—saying that even a moment was enough to make someone yours.
But instead of the original feel, Ryu Sunho layered his low-mid voice over a sticky, groovy rearrangement.
—A moment is enough
It’s more than enough to make you mine
“Fucking sexy…”
A rough word slipped out of Han Jisoo’s mouth without permission.
She already knew he could sing, but she didn’t know he could handle a song with this kind of lethal mood.
The fingers holding the mic, the slightly knit brow, the languid half-lidded gaze.
Everything felt like calculated seduction.
I thought he’d sing something calm, even if he sang at all… did he come here to kill people?
But it was too early to be satisfied.
When the first verse ended and the instrumental break began, men walked out from behind the stage.
Men in suits similar to Ryu Sunho’s.
…Don’t tell me they’re backup dancers. He’s going to dance too?
Her guess hit.
Ryu Sunho pulled the mic free and began performing choreography with the dancers.
Sharp, yet smooth waves.
Clean dance lines using his long limbs.
She never thought he’d be a terrible dancer, but his movement was even more fluid and soft than expected, and admiration spilled out.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
“This is insane, Ryu Sunho!!!!”
The song was already seductive, but with Ryu Sunho’s singing and dancing added, it became an overwhelmingly alluring stage.
In that moment, all 5,000 fans—Han Jisoo included—were temporarily disarmed.
“This is why I fought through that dogshit ticketing!!!”
With a blackout, the dancers exited.
The lights came up bright again.
Wiping sweat, I walked to center stage.
“Waaaaaah!”
“Ryu Sunho! Ryu Sunho!”
In the middle of the chanting, the MC came up on stage.
He was a veteran MC known in broadcasting for being sharp-tongued and quick-witted.
“Wow, this is incredible! How can you shred the stage like this from the opening? I almost turned around thinking I came to the wrong place—like an idol concert!”
It wasn’t quite that, but I played along.
“Thank you. I prepared it specially for the fans.”
After that, thanks to the MC’s smooth hosting, we naturally moved into talk.
We brought out chairs and sat down, then started sharing updates in earnest.
“You’ve been nonstop busy this year. I heard you finished the drama and went straight to a film set—how are you now?”
“A few months ago, I finished filming the movie ‘Mueon:ga,’ so I finally have some breathing room now.”
Cheers exploded from the seats at my answer.
“You worked so hard!”
“I want to see it soon!”
Hearing fans waiting this passionately for my film put me in a good mood.
“Your new film with Director Baek Junbong is coming soon, so expectations are already high. Can you give us a tiny spoiler about what kind of role it is?”
“As someone who says everything without words—through his eyes and his movements…”
After giving a measured answer to feed anticipation, the topic naturally moved on.
Behind me, the screen swept through scenes from the dramas I’d appeared in, like a panorama.
“I’m told this is the script Sunho actually used during filming.”
The MC pulled out an item he’d been handed in advance.
A sheet of paper worn ragged.
Dense highlights, thick underlines, and tiny notes packed into every margin.
When the camera zoomed in on the script and put it on the big screen, a gasp rippled through the audience.
“Woooow…”
“He works that hard, so of course he acts well…”
“You really suffered…!”
Fans looked moved by the fierce traces—down to analyzing each breath.
The mood was warm, and the fan meeting flowed smoothly.
But—
…Tch.
Anxiety kept building in a corner of my heart.
Because I knew what came next on the cue sheet.
The MC turned a cue card with a meaningful smile.
It was time.
“Alright, let’s change the mood a bit. This is the corner fans wanted to see the most in the pre-vote! Introducing: the Seonho-Preferred Challenge!”
My mind went distant.
So it’s coming…
It was the corner we added after taking Seo Yoonha’s advice.
A corner meant to show me “doing something I’m bad at.”
When I thought about what I was worst at, it was doing shameless, cringey antics in front of people.
Acting on set or singing on stage was fine.
I could think of it as putting on a persona that wasn’t exactly me.
But doing “charm” in an ordinary moment with my own self intact—yeah, I really couldn’t do that.
But the fans were desperately hoping to see exactly that side of me.
“WAAAAAAH!!”
A list of trending challenges filled the screen.
…A fan meeting is for the fans.
So I have to do it.
If I can’t avoid it, I should enjoy it…
“Music, please!”
With the MC’s signal, upbeat music started.
I squeezed my eyes shut and moved my arms and legs.
I tried as hard as I could, but my body stiffened and locked up from embarrassment, and my face burned hot.
“Kahahahaha!”
The MC laughed like he was about to lose his breath.
Yeah.
I crashed and burned like a complete dogshit mess.
The fans’ reaction was explosive.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
“Hahahahahahaha!”
“So cuuuute!”
And with Ryu Sunho’s coy antics, Part 1 came to an end.
The fans, faces flushed, were sharing the afterglow.
“Wasn’t his dancing in the opening seriously good?”
“Yeah. I thought he was an idol. Did he learn to dance originally?”
“That’s not the kind of skill you get from learning for a day or two.”
“But what’s funny is, compared to the opening, didn’t he get super stiff and clumsy during the challenge?”
“Pffft, right? I guess he’s secretly really shy. He’s good at being cool and sexy, but it feels like he can’t stand doing ‘cute’ on purpose.”
“But you know that, right? The more that’s the case, the cuter it is.”
“True. And it’s even more touching that even with that personality, he still does everything because it’s a fan meeting.”
“Do you think it’ll be okay to upload what we filmed today to YouTube later?”
“Seems like it’s fine. Everyone’s pulling out their phones and filming, and they aren’t stopping anyone.”
After the 15-minute intermission ended, everyone entered again.
Before Part 2 started, staff walked around handing out small devices.
They looked like palm-sized remotes, with A and B buttons.
“What is it…?”
“Are they going to do an OX quiz or something?”
While people murmured in confusion, the hall lights went out.
Part 2 was starting.
But Ryu Sunho didn’t come up on stage.
Instead, the huge screen at center stage turned on, and a video began.
♬♩♪—
A wake-up alarm rang out.
On screen, Ryu Sunho blinked awake in bed, hair messy.
A small, shabby rooftop studio.
Not Han Jusin from “Doctor Princess,” and not the glamorous actor Ryu Sunho—he looked unfamiliar.
[…That’s strange. I feel like I had a dream.]
Ryu Sunho muttered while staring at the unfamiliar ceiling.
He got out of bed and looked around the room.
Everything felt unfamiliar and awkward.
As he was about to sit up fully, a faint sound came from outside.
An ambiguous noise—maybe footsteps in the hallway, maybe a neighboring door opening and closing.
At that moment, two lines appeared on the screen like a game choice prompt.
[Q. You hear a sound outside. What do you do?]
A. Open the door and go out.
B. Pretend you’re not there and stay inside.
At the same time, a 10-second countdown began at the top of the screen.
10, 9, 8…
Only then did the fans realize what the remote in their hands was for.
“Don’t tell me…”
“The story moves forward based on what we choose…?”
“This is insane…!”