Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Happy 7th Birthday
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It felt like New Year's had just arrived, but November was already right around the corner.
By this point, the weather should have turned chilly, but daytime highs were still around 25 degrees, and with the sun blazing down, it felt downright summery.
Once the sun set, though, the heat vanished, leaving behind a sharp chill—the perfect setup for catching a cold.
“Puhechit!!”
Even the Shin household couldn’t escape the spreading flu bug, and Jiyeong was laid up with a nasty case.
“Hey… you didn’t catch this just to dodge thinking up birthday gift ideas, did you?”
“Oppa, you just had to say it…”
“Whatever. Change your clothes. We’re going to the hospital.”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll just rest here and it’ll pass.”
“You’ll recover faster if you go to the hospital first and then rest.”
With that, Jihoon pulled Jiyeong to her feet.
“Fine, I’ll go by myself. You’ll catch it too.”
“Mask’ll keep it at bay. This body’s never even gotten COVID. Get up already.”
At his words, Jiyeong staggered to her feet, threw on some clothes, pulled a hat low over her head, and followed Jihoon out.
“By the way, oppa, didn’t you take the day off to hang out with Yeonwoo? You sure it’s okay?”
“Dropping you at the hospital’ll only take an hour.”
Jihoon took Jiyeong to the hospital.
“Hey, while you’re here, get an IV too.”
“Yeah… might as well. You’re heading out first, right?”
“You good?”
“It’s not even ten minutes’ walk from the hospital to home. Go on ahead. Yeonwoo might wake up and start waiting.”
Jihoon nodded and headed home first.
Just as Jiyeong had said, Yeonwoo was already dressed and waiting in the living room, playing piano with Himari.
“Yeonwoo!”
“Daddy!”
Yeonwoo shot up from his spot at Jihoon’s call.
“Ready to head out?”
“Yeah!”
“Sorry we have to leave this behind at home.”
As they were about to step out, Jihoon addressed Himari, who was staring blankly at him and his son.
Himari shook her head.
“It’s fine. Seoul tasty spots. We’ll go around.”
“Huh? What about me, auntie?”
“Only grown-ups allowed.”
“Oh.”
The adult world again.
It was the same in Japan.
He couldn’t get into some of the famous yakitori spots or izakayas.
I’m sure I could eat it just fine.
“Yeonwoo, what’re you doing? Let’s go.”
Yeonwoo pouted but followed Jihoon out the door. Today, the two were headed to the amusement park in Jamsil.
“You said you wanted to go to Disneyland, but Daddy didn’t have time… Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. I was actually curious about this one too.”
“Good, glad to hear it.”
Jihoon and Yeonwoo drove toward Jamsil.
Crossing Seoul from west to east meant it might take longer than public transit, but Jihoon remembered Yeonwoo’s trip back from abroad and couldn’t muster the courage for buses or trains.
Truth be told, heading to an amusement park alone with his son was an adventure in itself.
The company had insisted he at least bring a manager, but his selfish desire to spend the day just with his son had won out.
‘It’ll be fine, right?’
A bit tense, they arrived at the park.
“Whew, shall we go in?”
“Yeah.”
The two bought unlimited ride passes and entered.
“Do you like amusement parks, Daddy?”
“Eh, I’m okay with them. Oh, your mom loved them, though.”
“Mom did?”
“Yeah, whenever she wanted to do something special for a date, she’d always pick an amusement park.”
Recalling a long-forgotten memory, Jihoon led Yeonwoo off somewhere.
“This is what your mom loved riding most.”
Jihoon pointed to the carousel.
The gently spinning horses looked downright boring by today’s thrill-ride standards.
Yeonwoo gave his dad a look that said, *This?*
“Well… back in the day, it was in all the melodrama shows. Oh, your mom loved those too. And romance novels.”
“Oh, I see.”
Yeonwoo nodded and eyed the carousel.
“I wanna try it too!”
“You do?”
Conveniently, no one was in line, so Yeonwoo hopped right on.
Jihoon whipped out his smartphone and started filming Yeonwoo on the carousel.
His wife rose in his memories.
And those memories overlapped with Yeonwoo riding the carousel now.
Mother and son on the carousel together—a heartwarming sight for any dad.
* * *
With Yeonwoo’s birthday fast approaching, his Korean and Japanese fandoms began interacting.
Fans fluent in both languages, even resorting to Google Translate, rallied the core fan organizers to prepare for Yeonwoo’s big day.
-Shouldn’t we prepare tribute gifts for our prince? What’s usual in Korea?
-All kinds of stuff, but Yuin doesn’t like tributes. Back in a live stream, she said if you’re gonna do one, donate to kids her age who are struggling instead.
-Our prince has such a kind heart too?
-Yeah. So in Korea, we’d already settled on donations.
-Then let’s donate to Japanese kids in our prince’s name.
-Great idea ^^
-But it feels too plain to end there… Gifts aside, we want to do something meaningful. Any ideas?
-I had a suggestion: How about station ads at major subway stops?
-Station ads?
-Ads on subway station billboards for birthday congrats!
-Fan ads, got it?
-Sounds good!
-Let’s go with fan ads for sure!
The Korean and Japanese fandoms settled on donations and fan ads.
A massive fundraising drive kicked off.
By now, Yeonwoo’s Korean fandom neared 100,000 members.
Excluding global K-pop idols, no other idol fandom came close in scale.
But Yeonwoo’s fandom didn’t stop there.
Japan was the reason.
The halo effect from the world’s Himari, genius talent that captivated Japan, and his cute, handsome looks—Yeonwoo had it all to monopolize Japanese women’s attention.
Japan estimated his fandom at around 250,000, maybe more.
Did they lack money?
If Japanese fans were broke, Korean agencies wouldn’t be desperate to send their idols there.
On Yeonwoo’s birthday at noon.
The Japanese fandom put up fan ads at two major Tokyo stations, even splashing one on a massive outdoor billboard smack in central Tokyo.
Not enough? They donated nearly 200 million yen to underprivileged Japanese kids in Yuin’s name.
Korea hit back with fan ads at Hongdae Entrance Station—the most famous spot—plus every station in Bucheon where Yeonwoo lived.
Hongdae’s daily ad rate was 20 million won alone, but Bucheon wasn’t that hot.
Still, plastering ads at every Bucheon station was so young Yeonwoo wouldn’t have to go far to see his fans’ love.
Korea also donated 100 million won to the children’s foundation for the occasion.
[Yuin’s Korean and Japanese Fandoms Donate to Underprivileged Kids for Yuin’s Birthday.]
[Birthday Ads for Yuin Across Seoul and Tokyo Metro Areas.]
[The Good Influence of a Child Prodigy.]
The positive impact from Yuin and her fandoms sparked buzz in both countries.
And right in the middle of it all… Yeonwoo was…
“Wow…”
…gaping in awe at the feast laid out on the table the company had prepared.
It was piled high with all his favorites.
“How’s the birthday spread? Like it?”
Jiyeong, barely recovered from her cold, asked, and Yeonwoo nodded.
“Yeah, Auntie. It’s huge, but it’s all stuff I love.”
“Nothing you don’t like?”
“Not a chance!”
Yeonwoo grinned.
Last year’s first family birthday had been nice, but this lavish spread was even better.
And today’s gathering wasn’t just family—everyone who knew Yeonwoo had shown up.
Teacher Chae Hayeon, Auntie Himari, Yoo Jaeyuk and Invincible, even Yuri and Annosuke making the tough trip from Japan.
And that was just the people there?
Yeonwoo checked his phone.
From Hades on down: Kim Beomsin, Tate mura Shuji, Tate mura Nanase, the High Teen Rock ‘n’ Roll PD, writers, cast, and more.
Countless birthday messages and gift icons poured in.
“Hehe.”
His smile wouldn’t quit.
“Alright, live stream standby! Let us know when you’re ready!”
Yeonwoo nodded eagerly.
“Ready!”
“Got it! Hitting start! Stream goes live in 1 minute!”
Yeonwoo eyed the big TV in front of him.
The screen counted down from 1:00: 59, 58, 57…
How many people would watch?
His heart raced.
As the counter hit zero, the TV showed his camera feed, chat on one side, viewer count at the bottom.
Ten thousand viewers in that one minute alone, and the number was skyrocketing now.
Yeonwoo jumped up and bowed deeply from the navel.
-Yuin!!!
-Happy Birthday Yuin ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Sisters here
-Screw sisters, Auntie’s hereㅏㅏㅏㅏㅏㅏ
-Ogu ogu ㅠㅠㅠ Look at that navel bow ㅠㅠㅠㅠ So polite, our Yuin ㅠㅠㅠ
-What’s up front? Feast fit for a king? ^^
-All Yuin’s faves?
Yeonwoo glanced at the scrolling chat.
“Hello, this is Yuin. Thank you all for coming to celebrate my birthday. Oh, yeah, that’s right. It’s all my favorites. The company set it up. This seaweed soup? Grandma made it. She insists on making it herself for birthdays. The bulgogi’s from Dad—one of his best dishes. Oh, and this is egg roll, from Auntie. It’s the only dish she knows how to make.”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Auntie roast ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Girl who can only make egg rollsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ… me?
-Auntie’s just like me? ^^
-Can you at least make rice? I can
-Is that ‘hey’ from the side Jiyeong unnie? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Yeonwoo chuckled at his blushing aunt.
Meanwhile, a staffer hurriedly stuck candles in the cake, lit them, and placed it on the table.
“Yeonwoo, time for the birthday song.”
“Yeah!!”
As Yeonwoo nodded, everyone gathered for the occasion burst into song.
The chat exploded with cake and candle emojis.
Now at 50,000 viewers and climbing, Yeonwoo looked around at the people clapping and singing around him, his heart swelling.
Excluding family, they’d all connected through music.
He was glad he’d chosen music.
“Happy birthday~!”
“Yeonwoo! Make a wish and blow out the candles!”
Yeonwoo squeezed his eyes shut before the seven candles and wished.
*I hope everyone I know stays healthy and happy.*
With all his heart, Yeonwoo blew out the flames strong.