Side Story: Busan Signing Event
Side Story: Busan Signing Event
"Travel content really does get an insane number of views..."
The new year had arrived, but with no time to actually travel, he was stuck getting vicarious satisfaction instead.
It didn't have to be an overseas trip — even domestic travel would be fine. His heart was full of the urge to go somewhere.
But traveling with a daughter who was only five years old would be difficult, wouldn't it.
At the same time, leaving Arini with someone and going off alone with A-ra didn't sit right with him either.
"I can already picture her crying all day, thinking we abandoned her."
Their daughter was cute even when she cried.
That adorable sight of her calling out for her dad and mom in a loud voice.
When she was crying, if you stroked her cheek or patted her head, she would slowly stop crying and it would turn into soft sniffles.
And if you took her to the mart and bought her a toy car, her face would instantly turn into a bright smile.
A car?
"If not that, then a road trip just driving around... wouldn't be a bad idea, actually?"
If they traveled around the country by car, they could bring Lil' One and Pipsqueak along too, couldn't they?
Tiny was a cat, so he'd have to leave her with his brothers, but...
That wasn't a bad thought at all.
Should he try making a plan?
"Well, that's something to think about after winter passes, anyway."
In winter and summer, a hotel staycation was better than traveling.
Or, like they did for their honeymoon, they could go to Yufuin in Fukuoka, Japan.
No, now that he thought about it again, Yufuin didn't sound bad either.
He was truly starved for a trip, it seemed...
Was there anywhere he could satisfy this travel craving?
***
He set aside his desire for travel for the moment.
There were still things that needed to be prioritized right now.
First, the publication of the photobook they had shot before.
They had taken the photos the day before Christmas Eve, so the preparation for publication had been completed perfectly in about a month.
In the past, when the sales bonuses were modest, he would have just accepted it, but now, with sales not only domestic but also overseas in huge numbers, it was hard to simply take it at face value.
Just how many printing houses did they have to run to cover that kind of volume?
In the first place, the people buying his photobook apparently didn't just buy one copy.
Because of those damn cards, they bought the maximum individual purchase limit of three copies.
Still, he'd heard they didn't get thrown away like music CDs.
To prevent that, they had made the price incredibly expensive.
For reference, both offline and online sales were only available to people who had completed identity verification.
In the past, only tickets were sold this way, but after one major incident broke out, the Director had completely changed the rules.
Well, it made no difference to him.
If anything, the change meant everyone who wanted to buy one could actually get one.
......That was what he had thought.
"An offline fan signing event?"
"Seong-hwan-ssi, just this once, please."
"Hmm..."
The Director had come loaded down with armfuls of live lobster and live king crab, asking for a favor.
Now that he thought about it, hadn't there been a similar situation about five or six years ago?
Back then, he remembered the Director had caused a massive mess, and he had gotten angry.
He couldn't even remember what it was about anymore.
Anyway, putting that aside...
There was no reason to refuse when the Director was asking like this.
Since she was asking him for a favor, it was only natural that he would get some practical benefit out of it too.
If anything, wasn't this a situation where the benefit to him was greater than the Director's?
"I'll do it as many times as you need. But where is it being held?"
Wearing a look that seemed to ask whether she should say it or not, the Director fidgeted restlessly.
As if embarrassed to say it, her face reddened, and she spoke slowly.
"...Haeundae."
"Huh? Why Busan all of a sudden?"
A-ra, who had been holding Arini and putting her to sleep beside him, reacted to the word Busan.
Wasn't A-ra's hometown Gimhae, the satellite city of Busan?
No, more than that, why was the fan signing being held in Busan?
Usually, wasn't it standard to hold them in Seoul?
"Actually... we did a vote on the company live broadcast a while back, you see?"
"Ah, that one that's been really popular lately?"
"I fell asleep during it, and when I tried to replay it to see how it ended, it was a private video?"
In the middle of that, A-ra was voicing her complaints to the Director.
These days, it was standard for agencies to operate while communicating with fans.
If they didn't communicate, they'd fall behind and become obsolete.
"So?"
"We held separate votes for each person releasing a photobook this time... and Seong-hwan-ssi was the first one we did. But somehow, Busan ended up being the result."
"Hmm..."
If that was the case, there was nothing to be done.
It seemed the firepower of the people living in Seoul had been severely lacking.
Since things had turned out this way, why not take A-ra and Arini along and treat it like a trip?
There would be plenty of people making the journey for the fan signing anyway.
Right around the time he was thinking that, the Director showed a bitter smile, even more bitter than before.
"But I don't know if it was because of that, but all the other artists' results came out as Busan too, so..."
"Oh my."
A-ra let out a rare exclamation of surprise.
At the sound of that voice, Arini, who had been nestled against her, opened her eyes and was staring blankly in their direction.
A fan signing they had planned to distribute across the country was going to be held in one place?
If that happened, it was going to be absolute chaos.
"Director, next time you do something like that, you have to exclude the regions that have already been selected."
"Ugh... but the fans kept saying it was fine even if they overlapped, so..."
Then it was definitely the agency's fault.
For not having anticipated that outcome.
"Well, if it's already been decided that way, then we have to follow it."
"Sob... As expected, there's no one but our Seong-hwan-ssi."
It was obvious her fake sobbing was an act, but the Director had always been like this.
"Unnie, that lobster and king crab. Is it okay to start boiling them soon?"
The glutton A-ra and their daughter Arini had already opened the styrofoam box and were examining the two live creatures inside.
For reference, Arini had inherited A-ra's exact palate, so she went crazy for crustaceans.
"O-of course. Seong-hwan-ssi, here, take this."
"Since you've come all this way, at least have dinner with us."
"Is that okay?"
"Well, you brought king crab and lobster, so how could we not serve you a meal?"
After that, they ironed out a few more details and then steamed the king crab and lobster and ate.
As expected, live was far more delicious than pre-boiled.
***
And then came the day of the offline sales event.
His family had arrived at Seoul Station much earlier than the train departure time and was sitting at a cafe on the third floor.
He had wondered why the appointed time was set three hours before the train departure, but it turned out the information had been relayed incorrectly to their side.
So the staff member who had passed on the wrong information was currently rushing over to keep them company, or so he'd been told.
Still, there were three hours left until the KTX departure... what kind of conversation were they supposed to have to pass the time?
Since they had all planned to travel around Busan together after the schedule was finished, should he at least discuss that?
"When he gets here, I am not letting him off easy."
He ground his teeth, vowing to chew him out thoroughly.
Hadn't there been another time before when someone had given him the wrong time and created this exact situation?
Back then, he had been alone, though.
"Daddy."
"Yeah? What is it, sweetheart."
While resting his chin on his hand and staring toward the entrance, Arini tugged on his sleeve.
"Buy me banana milk, please."
"Aww, aww, our little girl. What's that you're holding in your hand?"
"Choco milk!"
And with that, Arini began sucking down the chocolate milk through the straw stuck into it.
It seemed the taste wasn't very good, contrary to expectations.
Banana milk did taste better than chocolate milk, admittedly.
Making her force down something that didn't suit her palate was a bit much, too.
"Tsk. Arin-ah, we said no leaving food unfinished, didn't we?"
"Hing... this tastes weird."
"Weird?"
It appeared his daughter hadn't said she wanted a different drink because it was tasteless, but because it tasted strange.
A-ra took a tiny sip through the straw, tasted it, and then tilted her head, saying she couldn't tell.
"It doesn't taste weird to me, though?"
"It tastes like medicine."
"Ah. Our little girl has always had a very sensitive palate, hasn't she."
It seemed the artificial taste of the chocolate milk hadn't agreed with her.
But then banana milk would probably be the same.
"Arin-ah, Daddy will buy you some fresh fruit milk later, so let's be patient for just a little bit."
"Uung? Fresh fruit milk?"
"They sell it at the cafe on the second floor. Going down now would just mess up our route, so... Oh, perfect timing."
Ttiring~
He heard the door chime and checked, and there was the foolish staff member who had given them the wrong time, standing at the entrance.
That infuriating bastard.
It was none other than his friend Kang Jeong-hwan.
He was gasping for breath, huffing and puffing as if he had run here.
Once inside the cafe, Jeong-hwan didn't seem to know where they were sitting, so he waved a hand to signal their location.
"Huff... I'm sorry, Jaesu-ssi. I misread the time, and..."
"It's fine. Actually, if you had arrived right on the correct time, things would have just been confusing anyway."
It wasn't an incorrect thing to say.
Seoul Station was a place where, though it was quiet now with few people due to the early hour, it would be bursting with crowds as soon as lunchtime hit.
Thankfully, it hadn't overlapped with Lunar New Year.
"Instead, let me buy you a cold drink at least. What would you like?"
"Then I'll have a caramel macchiato..."
"What does Arini want to drink?"
"Orange juice!"
"Then please wait just a moment."
He grabbed the arm of Jeong-hwan, who was about to head to the counter after taking the two's drink orders.
"Hey, what about mine."
"Buy your own. You've got plenty of money, you bastard."
"You don't feel a single shred of guilt toward me, do you?"
"You know me so well."
He was so utterly shameless that it made him laugh.
This was what a real friendship felt like.