Chapter 32
Chapter 32
‘First, I’ll get the immediate tasks out of the way.’
I started by grabbing Seon A-hyun, who was standing frozen in front of his advertisement, stammering at the questions and requests from the crowd.
“Give me your phone.”
“Wh-what?”
“You need to take a proof shot.”
“……!”
Only then did Seon A-hyun snap out of it and tentatively step toward his billboard. I turned on the camera of the smartphone he handed over.
The crowd reacted instantly.
“Ah, a photo!”
“Let’s move back a bit, everyone~”
“The boys are taking pictures!”
To my surprise, the people who had been crowding in so passionately began to back away and give us space of their own accord.
…Maybe it’s because I’ve seen too many people risk their lives just to get a single photo, but it seems I was worrying a bit too much.
“Straighten your shoulders.”
“O-okay!”
“A-hyun, you’re so handsome!”
That last part wasn’t me; it was a shout from someone who appeared to be a fan of Seon A-hyun.
Seon A-hyun’s face turned beet red, looking like he’d short-circuited.
“N-n-no, I’m not…….”
After muttering that a few times, Seon A-hyun stiffly straightened his posture.
Regardless, I mechanically adjusted the composition and snapped the photos. The moment I lowered the phone, Keun Se-jin shouted from beside me.
“Moon-dae! Me too, me too!”
Holding Seon A-hyun’s phone, I turned around and took Keun Se-jin’s proof shots as well.
It was a hassle because Keun Se-jin kept changing his pose every few seconds.
Meanwhile, the crowd was busy filming the scene with their own smartphones.
“So cute…….”
“Do another pose~!”
‘…Wait, did I even need to take these proof shots myself?’
Couldn’t I have just gone home and downloaded whatever popped up on the internet today?
“Moon-dae, you too!”
“Ah.”
Since it would be weird if I was the only one who didn’t take one, I moved in front of my own billboard.
Seeing the advertisement fully revealed now that the crowd had stepped back, its sheer size felt almost intimidating from up close.
The photo used for Park Moon-dae’s ad was one taken during the production presentation.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a photo of me poking my cheek or making a finger heart, but having my face plastered that large was still a bit embarrassing.
‘…Let’s not make eye contact with it.’
I glanced to the side and saw the copy written on the background.
[Park Moon-dae]
[A blue-chip stock that appeared like a comet!]
At the very bottom, in small letters, it even said, ‘Please buy many shares ♡’.
“…….”
I couldn’t deny… that it was a very high-impact slogan.
‘They must have worked hard on this.’
I silently took my proof shot. I had to show at least this much sincerity.
As soon as I finished and stepped away from the billboard, the crowd’s voices poured in again.
“Did you come to see the ads?”
“Ah, what do I do….”
“Did filming go well?”
“I’m voting for you!”
The crowd was growing large enough to start obstructing foot traffic. It was definitely worse than when I’d gotten off the bus alone. This was the downside of coming as a trio.
If we weren’t careful, we’d get criticized for being a public nuisance.
I wanted to do something for them before leaving, but it looked like it would be difficult.
‘I should use the advantage of being in a trio.’
I caught the eyes of the other two. Fortunately, they looked like they understood the signal.
We bowed our heads deeply.
“Thank you!”
“We’ll work hard!”
And then we immediately bolted for the nearest exit.
Since three tall men were running at once, a path naturally cleared.
“We’re heading out now~ Thank you!”
Keun Se-jin shouted while looking back and waving. I followed suit, and several voices called back in response.
“Huh? Guys!”
“Get back safely!”
“Fighting!!”
Fortunately, the voices were bright, as if no one felt we were being rude.
It was my first time running while hearing so many cheers.
It felt… very strange.
We caught a taxi immediately after emerging from the exit.
“Ah! That was seriously great!”
As soon as the taxi started moving, Keun Se-jin spoke with a wide grin.
Seon A-hyun was also nodding vigorously, looking quite excited.
‘Was it that good?’
Of course, I felt more than just grateful—I felt a sense of debt. However, being recognized by many people didn’t particularly heighten my mood.
Was it a matter of temperament? Or…….
‘…It might be an age thing.’
After all, these guys were all twenty-one.
Just as I was thinking that with a lukewarm expression, Keun Se-jin suddenly let out an “Ah!” and pulled out his smartphone.
Immediately, my phone vibrated.
[(Photo) (Photo)]
They were photos of me taken in front of Park Moon-dae’s billboard.
Whether the exposure was wrong or not, the colors were all washed out, and my face appeared as a blurry, smudged mess over the stark white billboard.
“…….”
This guy is terrible at taking photos.
“Hey, doesn’t the blurriness actually make it feel more like you’re really there?”
It felt so much like I was "really there" that you couldn’t recognize anything else in the photo.
When I stared at him without a word, Keun Se-jin let out a laugh and feigned ignorance, turning to Seon A-hyun.
“Haha… Right, A-hyun! My proof shots are on your phone too, right?”
“Y-yeah! Just a second.”
Seon A-hyun hurriedly turned on his smartphone and uploaded the photos to the group chat.
They were the photos I had taken of Keun Se-jin and Seon A-hyun.
‘Why are you uploading your own photos?’
He probably uploaded everything at once because he was flustered.
“Oh~ The photos Moon-dae took are…….”
Keun Se-jin, who was looking at the screen with a cheerful air, suddenly stopped talking as if he were at a loss for words.
Then, with a slightly surprised face, he let out a genuine exclamation this time.
“Whoa, oh……. You’re really good at taking photos.”
It was only natural, considering I’d made a living out of it for several years.
I also glanced at the screen.
The horizontal alignment was perfect, the body proportions weren’t awkward, and the expressions and poses were captured well. There were about four or five photos of each person.
It seemed my skills hadn’t rusted.
As I felt a small sense of pride, Keun Se-jin added in an awkward tone.
“…Um, I’ll try to take better ones for you next time. Sorry about that.”
He seemed sincere.
A Keun Se-jin who didn’t reek of business—I was seeing all sorts of things today. I just shrugged.
“Well… photos that feel like you’re ‘really there’ are fine too.”
“……!”
Keun Se-jin looked surprised for a moment, then quickly grinned and changed the subject.
“Right? Ah, speaking of which, is the restaurant A-hyun recommended out of the question now? That’s a shame.”
“I-it’s okay. N-next time, if we come together……”
“…Hmm.”
Right. We had talked about that.
It was impossible to go to the restaurants Seon A-hyun had looked up now.
Since he’d picked places that were trending on social media, going there with this group would mean our meal would be broadcast live on other people’s feeds.
Besides, Seon A-hyun didn’t seem to have a talent for searching; the places he found reeked of viral marketing and had poor value for the price.
I fell into thought for a moment, then checked the navigation as we passed Ewha Womans University Station.
“Driver, could you turn toward Yeonhui-dong?”
“I can do that~”
“Yes, then….”
I looked back at the two in the backseat.
“I know a quiet place. Do you want to go there?”
“Ooh~ Of course, I’m in!”
“S-sounds good!”
That settled it. I asked the driver for his understanding and operated the navigation to set the restaurant.
It was only after the meal was completely over that I realized I had volunteered to do something I didn’t strictly need to do.
Good grief. I’m actually becoming friends with them!
“Hrrrrmmm.”
The woman staring into her smartphone let out a pained groan, agonizing over her decision.
On the screen was the choice that had plunged her into a swamp of torment.
[Idol Inc. Stock Package Mega Discount! ~80%]
Under a large banner, there were various services from Tnet’s affiliates—the channel that aired Aju-sa—bundled with stocks.
For instance, if you bought a package for Tnet’s music streaming site, you’d get a 3-month streaming pass at a 50% discount along with the right to purchase 20 shares of Aju-sa stock.
In short, she could give Moon-dae 20 more votes.
Those broadcasting bastards sold stocks exclusively in these kinds of packages, except for the monthly subscription that allowed one extra vote per day!
The scary part was that because these packages had high discount rates, existing service users would buy them for the discount and then end up falling for Aju-sa—a double-layered trap.
‘Their marketing is seriously vicious…….’
The woman sighed and scrolled through the page until she saw a message pop up.
It was a message from the friend who had practically fed her Park Moon-dae by inviting her to the recording.
[Yeon-ju: Crazy crazy ㅠㅠ A Moon-dae sighting just dropped! (Link)]
‘Gasp.’
She hurriedly clicked the link, which led to a social media post.
=========================
[Oh, I just came out to eat with my sibling and saw an Aju-sa participant. I think it’s the guys who sang ‘Malang Dalkom’? (Photo)]
=========================
The attached photo showed Park Moon-dae, Seon A-hyun, and Keun Se-jin receiving stone pots of samgyetang at a table with partitions.
A long string of reactions followed below the photo.
-Look at the way he’s staring at the samgyetang, guys. His eyes are about to pop out ㅋㅋㅋ
-As expected, K-samgyetang is better than rootless fried chicken. He knows what’s up.
└ Please stop the chicken discrimination ㅠ
-I’m all for these three staying friends forever.
-I guess they went to eat this after seeing the billboards ㅠㅠ I love these cute idiots ㅠㅠ
‘Billboards?’
Just in case, the woman searched for ‘Park Moon-dae billboard’.
Immediately, a post from a few hours ago that had been shared tens of thousands of times appeared at the top.
=========================
Moon-dae came and took a proof shot at his billboard ㅠㅠ There were too many people so he couldn’t stay long, but he was so cute and kind that he wrecked my fan-heart. Even with a mask on, his handsomeness pierced through. He’s even better looking in person ㅠㅠ (Short Video)
=========================
When she played the attached video, it showed Park Moon-dae, wearing jeans, a black hoodie, and a black baseball cap, taking a photo in front of his billboard.
[You’re handsome!]
[I’ll buy lots of stock, Moon-dae!]
[Um, thank you….]
Park Moon-dae replied as if he were a bit shy at the outpouring of comments.
The video ended with him and two other participants running away playfully.
-So. Cute.
-Moon-dae is more social than I thought?
-ㅠㅠ As expected, Moon-deng-deng isn’t just a headcanon, it’s official ㅠㅠ What, a Tibetan fox? That’s heresy!
-PD, you bastard who edited him to look clueless, please die. Our boy was just calm.
-Blonde hair looks perfect even with a hat.
‘So cute…! He’s so cute!!’
As she stomped her feet in excitement, she suddenly realized the photo on Park Moon-dae’s billboard looked familiar. It was the photo her friend had shown her, saying she took it!
She quickly typed a message.
[Min-so: Whoa, isn’t this the one you put up? Congrats! Moon-dae saw it! (Link)]
[Yeon-ju: I already saw it and passed out, I just woke up… It wasn’t me alone, it was done by the fan union, but I’m still so fluttered… My heart is full…]
When asked why she hadn’t told her this first, the reply was, ‘My heart was shaking so much I couldn’t type.’
The woman chuckled and sent a congratulatory emoticon. Then she thought:
‘I want to do something for him too.’
She wanted Park Moon-dae to succeed so she could see many more of his cool performances.
In the end, she returned to the purchase page from earlier and bought the music package.
After happily purchasing Moon-dae’s stock, she checked the samgyetang sighting post for more updates, only to find that a fight had broken out.
-Please take the photo down. Stalking is a crime.
└ No, I just happened to see them by chance;; It’s just a sighting.
└ Is taking a secret photo of someone eating a ‘sighting’? Use some common sense.
└ Whatever, blocked you, bye.
After this exchange, the heated reactions fizzled out awkwardly.
Because it was so hard to get news about Moon-dae, they had reflexively gotten excited over a rare sighting, only to realize it could be an invasion of privacy.
The woman also awkwardly closed the window. She had momentarily forgotten that Moon-dae hadn’t even debuted yet.
‘That’s because… he’s just that good…!’
As she recalled her recent experience at the recording, which still made her head spin, she suddenly remembered something she’d forgotten.
“Gasp! The Aju-sa broadcast!”
That was right. She had been browsing the stock purchase page in the meantime while waiting for Idol Inc. to air.
She hurriedly turned on the channel and was relieved to see the logo of the show just starting.
“Phew…….”
Her relief was short-lived as the MC’s meaningful face suddenly appeared on screen.
“…?”
[Everyone, do you remember the promise of Re-listing! Idol Inc.?]
The MC struck the desk seriously, as if he were speaking at a conference table.
[We promised to proceed with everything according to your will. That is why numerous votes are currently underway on our website, including the final debut member count and evaluation song selections.]
As a side note, people were already starting to cry, saying they had voted for too small a final debut number in the beginning.
[And today, we are going to fulfill one more of those promises. Everyone. While watching so far, has there been a participant you’ve grown to dislike?]
‘What…?’
Before the viewers could even process the confusion of this sudden start, the production team dropped a massive bombshell.
[Then, sell that participant’s stock! With the newly introduced <Stock Sell-off>, you shareholders can now cut the stocks of participants you no longer wish to see!]
“…?!?!”
[The ‘Stock Purchase Rights’ that you shareholders purchase can now also be used as ‘Stock Sell-off Rights.’ In other words! Instead of buying a specific participant’s stock, you can sell it to make their total negative!]
It was the arrival of hell.