Bambi Among the Fans
"No, seriously, nobody knew!"
My voice shot up with indignation.
"What do you mean, nobody knew? Anyone could tell it was you from a hundred meters away."
"No! Until you said something, they really didn't know!"
I delivered an eloquent defense of myself, but Noh Bihyuk's face on my phone screen remained supremely unbothered.
"Our fans were just pretending not to notice, that's all."
"They weren't! People talked to me, asked me questions. They genuinely had no idea. Even Jinbae hyung said he wasn't sure it was me."
"Jinbae hyung wasn't even there."
That's not the point, you little—
"It's the truth."
I was about ready to lose my mind from the sheer unfairness of it.
Why wouldn't he just believe me?
"Anyway, thank you so much for coming to the fansign today. Every time I got nervous, I just looked over at you, and it really helped."
Noh Bihyuk threw in a wink for good measure, which only made my mood curdle further.
"Did you see the challenge video we shot too? The response is great."
"Don't know."
"Why are you sulking?"
I'm not sulking. I'm angry because you won't believe a word I say.
And as everyone knows, telling an angry person they're sulking only makes them angrier.
The moment I hardened my face into stone, the guy finally raised both hands in surrender.
"Fine, fine. You're right. It's my fault you got outed. Happy now?"
"It's not about being happy—that's just what happened."
"Yeah, yeah, what happened. You seriously never let a single thing go."
Noh Bihyuk then declared, three separate times, "I shouted his name and blew his cover."
"Good enough now?"
"Yeah."
"You've got a sneaky stubborn streak, you know that? Anyway—what are you doing tomorrow? I've got a pre-recording. Can't you come again?"
"No."
"Why not? Are you busy?"
Noh Bihyuk whined like a toddler.
He looked exactly like a dog showing symptoms of separation anxiety.
I put on the face of a firm, unmoved owner.
"I have to keep my distance from you now."
"What? Why?"
"I was studying this with Haeun. Apparently relationships are everything for idol groups."
Who rooms with whom, what nicknames the members call each other by, whether they have private inside stories between them. According to her, a group's chemistry gets built on how close the members actually are—and that chemistry determines how deeply fans fall down the rabbit hole.
Which meant the more an outsider like me—someone who isn't a NADE member—poked my nose in, the more I risked getting in the way of the fans' enjoyment.
Noh Bihyuk listened to all this and looked thoroughly sour about it.
"When did you even have time to study stuff like that…."
"If I'm going to do something, I do it properly."
When I said it with a flush of pride, Noh Bihyuk shook his head slowly from side to side.
"You're genuinely weird. Fine—then at least do a video call tomorrow."
"Okay. Now go to sleep."
I hung up on him.
The moment I did, a low voice drifted over from behind me.
"Yeonjae, all done with your call?"
"…."
"Are you still mad?"
In answer to Jung Hyun's question, I silently stared at my phone. I'd wanted to open some app or another to avoid eye contact, but there was nothing worth opening, so I just burned holes into my wallpaper instead.
When I refused to respond, Jung Hyun sidled closer.
"Aww, our Yeonjae is really upset, huh. Can't you forgive me? I brought delicious things."
At the news that he'd also hauled back an entire tteok cake, I blew a scornful puff of air through my nose.
I was honestly flabbergasted.
"Did you really think you could win me over with food?"
What on earth does he take me for?
"You worked so hard today~ so I figured I'd treat you while I was at it. Come on, have some. I'll cut you a slice."
Jung Hyun smiled like a sly old fox.
To signal that I wouldn't be won over, I took exactly one bite of the tteok cake. …It was delicious.
"Look at you eating so well. Adorable."
"I haven't forgiven you, so don't talk to me."
"Mm-hm."
Jung Hyun mimed zipping his lips shut.
I ate three slices in stubborn silence, and my mood softened. Just slightly. Very slightly.
The man has his moments, I'll give him that.
Well—it wasn't the tteok cake's fault, after all.
Only after I'd scraped the remaining cake clean did I finally look up at Jung Hyun.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble your surprise gift caused me?"
"Yes. I know."
"It's only because nobody figured it out until the very end that nothing went wrong. I was so worried I'd be the reason everything got ruined."
It had been their first fansign, no less. A fan signing event they'd remember for the rest of their lives.
For the NADE members it should have been an unforgettable day—and if I'd thrown the whole thing into chaos, I would have been too ashamed to even look at their faces.
It was only after Jung Hyun hooked his little finger with mine and promised never to pull anything like that again that I finally unknotted my scowl.
"So? Was it a hard day from start to finish, then?"
"…No, not that."
I couldn't lie, so my lips just pursed into a small pout.
"Being in the middle of all those fans felt good. I hadn't even imagined that fans get that fluttery and excited among themselves before a fan meeting."
Gratitude went without saying, and my heart had felt soft and warm all day.
Because having someone like you that much is, naturally, a lovely thing.
I was thinking about NADE's fans when Biyeon kept creeping into my head instead.
No—this won't do.
I shot up from my seat.
"I have to write a post on the fan cafe."
"Huh? Right now?"
"Actor-nim, write it tomorrow."
Jinbae, who had been quietly standing by this whole time, cut in.
"It's eleven at night. When exactly were you planning to write it and then sleep?"
"It'll only take a minute. I'm a fast writer."
When I answered with complete confidence, Jinbae replied without a flicker of change in his expression.
"If you upload now, the fans might end up staying up late over it. Some of them surely have work or school tomorrow—do you really want them tired from reading it all and writing comments on top of that?"
"…."
"Right?"
Drawn in by his unhurried, easy tone, I nodded. He had a point, admittedly.
"Tomorrow isn't too late, so don't worry. Now go brush your teeth."
"Yes, sir."
I answered meekly and got up to go.
Behind me, I caught Jung Hyun murmuring, "You've really got Yeonjae wrapped around your finger."
Excuse me—I can hear every word of that.
NADE sales post here.
If you're not interested, quietly hit the back button :)
Why you need to be stanning NADE right now.
Reason one: childhood doesn't come back.
Everyone but the leader is still a minor—and the leader only just turned twenty, so he's basically a baby too!
The maknae is sixteen, for crying out loud.
Do you know how many so-called "idols" who aren't kids at all have been flooding the scene lately?
Don't miss your chance to stan actual, genuine kids.
Reason two: gorgeous boys being adorably chaotic.
No further explanation needed. The photos below say it all.
The face-card combo is insane AND they've got bright, bubbly personalities total puppy-dol energy.
Reason three: big-agency budget power.
This is WB Entertainment's first boy group since SPACE, after a long drought.
One look at the MV and you can feel how much money they dumped into it.
They hooked up the producers properly too—the songs came out genuinely great.
Ditch your boy-group prejudices and give them one listen, yeah?
The title track alone is catchy and mainstream, but the MV has a whole built-in universe and it's fun to theorize about (and honestly, the faces are entertaining enough on their own).
Let's all stan NADE together.
+ Added after reading the comments:
Reason four: if you stan NADE, Lee Yeonjae comes as a free bonus.
Handsome + handsome = a double blessing? A quadruple one? Nope—this is straight-up happiness AND a blessing.
You stan NADE?
Then don't bother doing sales posts.
We don't need to lift a finger marketing them.
Some of those kids have already seen Bambi in the flesh.
The odds they turn into even more fanatical zealots than we are are extremely high. That's what we should be worried about.
Ha—but nobody's allowed to drop dead from loving Bambi too much, right? Honestly, it gives me chills;;
Proof first.
(Photo of the fansign venue) (Photo of my entry code)
I'll keep it casual, no honorifics.
So—year-two Biyeon here. Bambi is the only actor I stan.
I'd been on a long break from idol fandom, but a friend dared me to try stanning NADE just once, so I went and ran around a live event for the first time in ages.
I'd gotten into the fansign and was settling into my seat when the crowd around me suddenly started buzzing.
What's going on? I looked up, and there was a guy in a mask standing by the entrance.
Everyone was staring at him, so the guy kept his eyes glued to the floor as he walked.
My friend elbowed me in the ribs going he's so handsome, but I didn't hear a single word of it.
Why? Because anyone with eyes could see it was Bambi. I was so shocked the sound just died in my throat.
As he got closer, I realized I wasn't the only one who'd clocked him—everyone seemed to have noticed.
I could hear people whispering that's Lee Yeonjae all around me.
I wanted to run over right then, get his autograph, snap a photo (it would've been my first time seeing him in person), but this was NADE's fansign, and Bambi looked so hunched and timid that I stayed put.
Apparently everyone had the same thought, because nobody went up to bother him.
One woman nearby handed him a snack, and his eyes went huge lol.
He was so grateful he kept bowing and fidgeting, and I had to clamp my mouth shut to keep from screaming.
After that, everyone went up one by one just to hand him a snack—and the man squirrelled every single one into his pocket like a chipmunk. It's not like he was gathering acorns for winter
Then the NADE members came out, and here's the funny part: the second they got on stage, every single one of them looked straight at Bambi lololol.
So naturally the whole crowd turned to look at Bambi too—and Bambi was just quietly nibbling away at his snacks.
He kept handling them so carefully, one at a time, like he was stocking up winter provisions, and I nearly died of cuteness, The entire venue was staring and he had no idea.
Oh—and at the very end, Bihyuk (it's okay to name him, right? He's already famous as Bambi's friend) yelled "LEE YEONJAE!!" at the top of his lungs, and you know what Bambi did?
He smacked Bihyuk right on the lips.
LMAOOOOOOO
Smack! And not just once or twice, either—the boy had technique.
They must be genuinely close lololol.
I snuck looks at him chatting with the other members too, and they all seemed friendly with him, like they'd hung out plenty of times before.
Easily one of the most heartwarming things I've witnessed all year.
Anyway, I hope Bambi gets to do everything his heart desires! Bambi, I love you!
At long last, the release date for Killing Horn was set.
It had slipped a full month past the original date, but at least it wouldn't be pushed back any further—small mercies.
From filming the flood of content for the official YouT*be channel to the premiere screening, there was still a mountain of things to do.
"Looks like the two of us are glued together for these two weeks."
Jung Hyun said it with a playful grin.
"Guess so."
"Should I move back into your place? Let's live together for the next two weeks."
"…You already sleep at our place whenever your schedule's free."
The man basically lived at our house when he had no shoots—where did he get off saying that?
We were having this very conversation at our house, for that matter.
When I stared at him in disbelief, Jung Hyun, sprawled on the sofa, burst out laughing.
"I just felt like saying it. For the vibe, you know? Anyway—we're living together for two weeks. Agreed?"
"If Jinbae hyung's okay with it, I don't mind…."
I hesitated, then asked on a whim whether the place he was living now was a rental.
"I own it. Why do you ask?"
"No reason."
If he'd said he was renting, I'd have thrown him out on the spot. He'd already burned through several months' worth of rent on us as it was.
What a relief.
Still, something nagged at me. Jung Hyun's place was far bigger and nicer than ours, and it felt wasteful for a good space to sit empty like that.
I deliberated for a moment, then said it.
"If you don't mind, why don't you sleep over at your place—like, have us over there for once?"
"Huh? Really??"
I'd said it without thinking much, but the reaction was unexpectedly intense.
Jung Hyun sprang to his feet.
"Of course! When?"
"I'm flexible. Whenever works for you."
"Then how about we all watch Killing Horn together when it drops? You, me, Jinbae—everyone gathered at my place?"
He was so much more excited than I'd expected that I nodded in a daze.
"This is great. I'll have to schedule a cleaning for the house. Oh—but I've only got two beds. I'd better order another one in advance."
"Please don't."
Jung Hyun bounced around the room like a kid who'd just unwrapped a Christmas present.
That soaring mood came crashing down at the sound of Jinbae's voice.
"You both seem to have forgotten—Killing Horn is rated R. Adults only."
"…."
"Actor-nim is not allowed to watch it."
Jung Hyun put on the face of a man who had lost everything in the world. I felt inexplicably bad for him.
"Th-then couldn't you just cover Yeonjae's eyes whenever a violent scene comes up?"
"Hmm."
"Come on, Jinbae. This is the first time since Tail that I'm in the same project as Yeonjae. You have to understand."
Jung Hyun pleaded with mounting desperation.
"I'll watch it first when the series comes out. I'll mark down every violent scene to the minute and second, and cover Yeonjae's eyes just in time. That works, right?"
Who goes that far?
Even as I gaped at him, Jung Hyun kept his eyes fixed only on Jinbae.
Jinbae wavered for a long while before finally managing a stiff nod.
"Then I'll verify them as well. Double-checking should be safer."
No—why are you both taking this so seriously?
"…Couldn't you two just watch it without me?"
Not a single person took up my quiet suggestion.
There were only the two of them, busy building a schedule around the release date.
I felt lonely.