Chapter 54
Chapter 54
While I was left speechless by the number "27 stations," the Ad Verification Expedition steadily grew in size.
"Are you going now? Then I'm coming too. A few of these locations overlap with mine!"
"Since there's a clause against team spoilers, wouldn't it be better if someone from another team came along too?"
"Cha Yu-jin?"
"Yes."
"I'm fine with it. What about you, Moon-dae?"
"Whatever."
"Yes!"
The plan to go quietly and take a quick look ended right then and there.
The surprising part was that Seon A-hyun bowed out, looking like he was dying of regret.
"M-my parents... we're supposed to go on a trip together."
"Really?"
If that was the reason, it would be pretty awkward for me to stay at Seon A-hyun’s place alone, wouldn't it?
"Ah, then maybe I should stay somewhere else too."
"N-no! Use it!"
Seon A-hyun looked horrified.
"I-I'll give you the key."
"Um, thanks."
I didn't know what he saw in me to trust me with his house key. As I took the key with a lukewarm expression, Seon A-hyun suddenly made a confession.
"O-originally, I was going to ask you to come with us..."
"..."
I had no idea why he would try to squeeze Park Moon-dae into a family trip.
Did his parents even agree to that?
"...I appreciate the thought."
"Uh-huh."
If things turned out like this, a subway ad tour with Kim Rae-bin was actually better. I almost ended up on a trip with someone else's parents whom I'd only seen once.
"See you on filming day~!"
Led by Keun Se-jin, who was waving his hand vigorously, we saw Seon A-hyun off. As soon as Seon A-hyun disappeared in a car, Cha Yu-jin appeared.
"I'm so excited!"
Cha Yu-jin's eyes sparkled as he shook his backpack. I already had a feeling this was going to be exhausting.
I've lost a whole day.
Let's have a moment of silence for my vanished day off.
First, I vetoed the insane suggestion of using public transportation with this group. We already had a track record.
"We'll have to run away before we even make it past one station."
"True."
Cha Yu-jin was disappointed but recovered quickly.
He even seemed to enjoy traveling by taxi. I wasn't sure why.
Anyway, our first stop was Yeouido Station, the one closest to the filming site.
"Taking the photo?"
This one ended well enough.
Since only Kim Rae-bin and I had ads at Yeouido Station, we both took our photos without a word and left quickly.
A few people seemed to notice us when we took off our masks, but since it was a weekday morning at a station with many office workers, we managed to get through without a commotion.
"Nice!"
As we got back into the taxi with my companions, who were as excited as if they were performing a secret mission, a question suddenly occurred to me.
...Doesn't this make the whole thing pointless?
If there are no sightings, how is this any different from just looking at the billboards by myself?
Even if I call it "verification," it's not like I can post the photos on the internet.
Should I leak them myself and pretend they're sightings?
But this concern turned out to be a waste of thought.
Because a total mess broke out starting from our very next destination, Express Bus Terminal Station.
"Whoa!!"
"Cha Yu-jin! Hey, it's Cha Yu-jin!"
"Are those the guys? From Idol Inc.?"
"I think they came to see the ads. Oh my god..."
I heard all of these comments simultaneously the moment we got within three meters of the billboard at Express Bus Terminal Station.
Naturally, none of us had even taken off our masks.
Taking a lesson from our last failure, everyone was even wearing hats or hoodies pulled low, so I had no idea how they recognized us. Not even a strand of hair was visible.
And then, a massive crowd began to gather.
I'm not joking; I could see people running toward us all the way from the underground shopping mall.
This is... a nuisance.
It was the perfect situation for an accident to happen.
Let's bolt.
After a quick exchange of glances, we hurried out of the station. Naturally, we couldn't take any photos.
Now it's useless no matter what we use to cover up.
Taking a breath in the taxi was only temporary; I soon confirmed that another taxi was tailing us.
"That one's following us, right?"
"The person in the passenger seat is holding a camera."
At Kim Rae-bin's confirmation, the atmosphere in the taxi turned gloomy.
The taxi driver joked, "You boys must be doing something fun~" but went quiet when he sensed the serious mood.
We're screwed.
And so, the ad tour was spectacularly ruined from the start.
After barely managing to lose the car following us, everyone accepted the current situation.
"...Let's go separately."
"Yeah."
"Yes..."
"Let's go wearing mascot costumes!"
"...??"
Breaking the quiet atmosphere of agreement, Cha Yu-jin suddenly made an out-of-the-blue suggestion.
"Mascot costumes?"
"Yes! They're cute, and people won't know!"
Keun Se-jin was the first to react to those words.
"Wait... Ah, there's a rental shop near Gangnam."
"Oh!"
"The price is good too! It'll only cost about 50,000 to 60,000 won per person."
It wasn't like 50,000 won grew on trees.
However, it was a decent idea. I sighed and added my input.
"Doing it is fine, but let's still go see the ads individually."
"Huh?"
"Why?!"
At Cha Yu-jin's question, Kim Rae-bin answered gloomily.
"That's because four mascots walking around together would draw even more attention..."
"Ah."
Everyone understood immediately.
"Then let's at least go to the rental shop together. That's fine, right?"
"Yes!"
"Okay. Driver! We'd like to go here..."
Keun Se-jin immediately changed the taxi's destination.
In less than 20 minutes, we arrived at a party supply rental shop located in the corner of a commercial building.
"I want this one!"
As soon as we arrived, Cha Yu-jin grabbed a mascot head and headed excitedly to the counter. I think it was something like a white tiger.
"He's fast."
"Should we pick ours quickly too?"
Just then, an employee approached the remaining members standing in front of the mascot heads and spoke with sparkling eyes.
"Um, excuse me, could I possibly get your autographs?"
"...Of course."
After asking them not to post anything on the internet today, we lined up to sign.
It was incredibly awkward.
"I'll take this one."
After the signing was over, we picked out our mascot heads with the employee's assistance. Keun Se-jin chose a giant bear head, and Kim Rae-bin chose a rabbit head next to him.
It was a choice clearly conscious of fan opinion.
If it's come to this, I guess I'm doing this too.
I reluctantly picked up a mascot head.
It was the first time I'd worn one since a part-time job five years ago, and it felt heavy.
This is going to be a struggle.
The thought of walking around in this made the future look bleak.
First... should I redraw the route?
Following the encouragement to vote, Park Moon-dae's fansites had placed advertisements across various public transportation routes to gather text votes for the finals.
They had secured all sorts of ads, from wrapped buses to movie theaters, but because the preparation time was short, the ones currently active were mostly subway station ads.
The person who had secured the large electronic display near the Gangnam Station underground shopping mall was no different.
It turned out so well!
This woman, who had captured Park Moon-dae's "cheek poke" pose during the production presentation, had finally managed to put that photo on a billboard.
I'm glad I saved it.
For the record, at Jamsil Station, she had placed a digital poster ad of Park Moon-dae's full body wearing the hero suit from the second team match. She was planning to go see that next.
I wanted to do one more.
Looking at Seon A-hyun on the opposite display, she swallowed her regret.
She had coveted that spot.
In fact, a few days ago, she had seen a post saying that Seon A-hyun's fans had practically rented out the entire Ahyeon Station, placing ads everywhere from the subway screen doors to the exits.
If they're going that far there, they could have left Gangnam alone.
The donation amount had been sufficient, and she even had some of her own money left over that she had intended to contribute, which made it even more of a shame.
Anyway, the colors came out well, so it's fine.
She took another photo of the display with her camera.
Just then, her friend, who had gone to buy coffee, approached and called her with a voice full of laughter.
"Hey, look at that!"
"Huh?"
Turning her head in the direction the coffee straw was pointing, she saw a yellow puppy mascot with perky ears waddling toward the display.
A Corgi?
As she watched blankly, she saw a sketchbook held in the Corgi's hands.
[Park Moon-dae, let's debut]
"What is that!"
She burst out laughing and moved aside for the Corgi. Several people around the display were also laughing as they watched the Corgi.
It seemed the person had come wearing a yellow puppy mascot head to match Moon-dae's hair color and nickname.
Seeing a tall person waddling around in a mascot costume looked quite cute.
"Would you like me to take a photo for you?"
Her friend asked the Corgi, who was standing blankly in front of the display. The Corgi nodded and handed over his phone.
Ah, there are so many funny people.
Unable to hide her laughter, she spoke to the Corgi.
"Can I take a photo and post it? Your idea is great!"
The Corgi nodded vigorously. She quickly took a photo and uploaded it to her fan account.
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[I came to check the ad and met a fan in a Moon-deng-deng mascot! : D (Photo) (Photo)]
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Since it was the kind of content people would like, the number of shares and likes increased in an instant.
In the meantime, the Corgi finished taking his verification shots and got his phone back from her friend.
"Have a safe trip back~"
The Corgi gave her and her friend a deep bow and waddled off again.
She also chuckled and moved with her friend to catch Line 2. They were planning to have lunch near Jamsil Station and check the ads there as well.
After entering a nearby famous restaurant, eating, and going to a cafe for a second round, they were waiting for the drinks they ordered when her friend showed her something with a laugh.
"Look at this! That Corgi fan from earlier must have gone to Jamsil too. Another photo just went up."
"Wow, that's impressive. It must be hard to move around in that."
Thinking that Moon-dae would find it funny too, she laughed and checked the photos appearing on social media.
The Corgi had been busy all morning and through lunch, visiting various stations and taking verification shots.
Did they come up to Seoul just to do this?
She occasionally saw fans like that, so it wasn't an unfamiliar sight. Though the mascot costume was a fun idea.
As she flipped through, she saw the photos she had taken earlier.
Then, she found something and her hand stopped.
It was the scene where her friend was taking a photo for the Corgi.
"...Huh?"
"What's wrong?"
She asked her friend in a trembling voice.
"That... when you were taking the photo for the Corgi."
"Yeah."
"D-did you... happen to check the phone?"
Her friend tilted her head.
"Well... it was just a smartphone. A bit old... and it didn't have a case... Wait."
The friend realized it herself as she spoke.
Without even listening to the rest, she was urgently checking Moon-dae's PR video.
This model.
And then she checked the photo she had taken again.
The phone held in her friend's hand... was the exact same model as the one in the PR video.
Goosebumps erupted all over her back.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey..."
"...Is it real? Really? For real?"
"No, I mean, uh..."
As she and her friend stammered, unable to complete a sentence due to the unbelievable suspicion, a new notification popped up on her smartphone.
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[Crazy crazy crazy the yellow puppy mascot was Moon-dae holy shit he just took off the head ahhhㅠㅠㅠ (Blurry photo) (Photo of Moon-dae taking off the head)]
=========================
Attached to that post was a photo of Park Moon-dae's upper body, drenched in sweat, taking off the mascot head and smiling in front of the Sinchon Station display.
It was the same person they had seen this morning.
"..."
The two sat in their seats with their mouths agape until their drinks arrived.
And then the Americano came out.
"Enjoy your drink."
"..."
Only then, as she poured the ice water down her throat, did she wail internally.
I should have at least shaken his hand!!
She was clearly thrilled to have had such a lucky encounter and loved Moon-dae to death, but at the same time, she felt a bizarre sensation like she was going to throw up from regret.
"Let's go to the fan signing."
"I'm definitely going."
Promising themselves a spot at the fan signing event, the two burned with quiet determination.