Fan Meeting Day
Fan meeting day.
2weeks_empty — Lee Joobin — woke before dawn, before her alarm even had a chance to ring.
"I have to see Lee Heeyoon…… in person……."
She had seen him in the flesh once before, at the fan cafe event on his debut day. What she'd felt then was a single, aching wish: that Lee Heeyoon would hurry up and become an adult already.
Of course, she loved him perfectly well as he was now — cute and pretty as could be — but that face in his mid-twenties had her anticipating from the moment she first saw it.
When that day came, she was certain, truly great roles would come pouring in.
At any rate, watching Lee Heeyoon shoot up day after day, she'd come to a decision: as long as she had the chance to see him in person, she should see him as much as humanly possible.
First, Lee Joobin logged into Lee Heeyoon's fan cafe, Eunhasu. She was an avid SNS user, but this was practically her first time in a cafe. Still, the more she fanned, the more the whole system grew familiar.
And once again today, as always, Crape Myrtle had left a greeting behind.
Lee Joobin had visited the debut-day cafe religiously, so she'd seen that grandfather fan presumed to be Crape Myrtle. Perhaps thanks to his tireless activity, quite a few elderly fans who'd arrived via Love in the Moon had joined the cafe as well.
This was her first time fanning alongside fans of a much older generation. It wasn't bad. If anything, she rather liked the unhurried pace of it?
While every other fan was in an uproar over failing to get tickets, Crape Myrtle alone remained serene about it all. Hoping the old man had somehow managed to secure a seat, Lee Joobin boarded the subway bound for the Art Hall where the fan meeting was being held.
On the train, she stroked the online photo shoot Lee Heeyoon had filmed recently, then double-checked the still cuts newly released for Exorcism Investigation 2.
His exact role hadn't been announced, but one look at the stills made it obvious: he was playing a demon.
His first villain role.
The thought of watching Lee Heeyoon perform evil with that angel's face on the big screen filled her with gratitude already.
"Thank you, Father."
And so, paying her respects to Seo Joongsung along the way, Lee Joobin spent her time efficiently and arrived at Samseong Station, where the Art Hall stood.
She'd come so early that hardly anyone was there yet. Still, Lee Heeyoon's photo was already glowing on the big screen.
Having already seen the photos his agency had released, Lee Joobin was far past being startled; she calmly took her pictures. Then she headed to the merchandise zone, waited for it to open, collected everything she was due to pick up, and bought the rabbit goods that weren't being sold online.
He himself didn't seem to care much for rabbits, but apparently the company had embraced the concept flawlessly. Lee Joobin bought her goods, thinking over and over how glad she was she'd come early. Perhaps because Lee Heeyoon was still a student, most of the merchandise was stationery. Since her own arms bend inward, so to speak, everything looked wonderfully practical and lovely to her — not that she would ever actually use it, since it was destined for display, preserved like a relic. In any case, their actor's face was pretty, so it all worked out.
Having thus calmly completed her routine — eaten, had a coffee, come back, exchanged her ticket, and taken her seat —
Her hard-won composure finally crumbled, and Lee Joobin frantically sent the sightline photos to her fanning friends who couldn't make it today.
The seat was too close. The view wasn't the issue — this was practically a conversational distance, close enough to sit face to face and just talk.
Her friends said they were jealous, but right now Lee Joobin wasn't even jealous of herself. It was so close it was terrifying. Just then, at the far end of the front row where Lee Joobin sat, the Crape Myrtle grandfather from last time took his seat. Sweaty and worn down by the heat, the old man was dabbing at his brow with a handkerchief printed with rabbits, and Lee Joobin ran straight over to him.
"Did you get any merchandise?"
"No, they told me it had all sold out."
What did age matter? To Lee Joobin, a fan was a fan. A fan with plenty left to learn, at that. Lee Joobin clicked her tongue as if she'd seen it coming.
"That's exactly why you come early. You're supposed to show up hours ahead of time for these things."
"Is — is that so?"
"Heeyoon left water and xylitol candy set out by the entrance, you know. Did you go collect yours?"
"Oh dear, no. I have no right to receive such a thing."
She had no idea what he meant, but he seemed terribly, terribly restless.
"Give me your ticket. I'll go get it for you."
Lee Joobin plucked the ticket from his hand as if confiscating it and checked it — it was an invitation.
"An invitation ticket?"
"Mm. I know someone, so…… This is really something that should belong only to the people who fought through ticketing."
So that was why he kept looking at her with that apologetic expression.
Carrying the invitation with her, Lee Joobin went and collected the water and xylitol for him. The tin holding the xylitol was printed with a rabbit drawn by Lee Heeyoon's own hand, and attached to it was a single slip of signed paper.
Across the hall, the reverse-fan-service gifts to be taken home on the way out sat wrapped in packaging, their contents hidden from view.
By the time Lee Joobin brought the water and candy back, the other fans nearby had grown worried too and were asking one another whether anyone had gotten the water. Lee Joobin told them:
"There's a gift box by the door when you leave — that's the present, and you take it with you. Got it?"
Having thus instructed them, she chatted a while with the people gathered there about Lee Heeyoon before everyone drifted back to their seats.
And then, right on the hour.
Lee Heeyoon stepped onto the stage exactly on time.
Dressed around a denim blazer in an ensemble that evoked a school uniform, Lee Heeyoon had shot up even taller in the few months since. She'd thought he looked far younger than his age back during Garden of Manyusa, but now he seemed exactly like someone standing half a year shy of legal adulthood.
When Lee Heeyoon saw the fans so stunned by his face that they couldn't even scream, mouths clamped shut with both hands, he imitated the gesture himself. Watching him mime covering his mouth with both hands, most of the women in the 330-seat hall — and one grandfather — burst out laughing.
The moment he settled into the chair beside the MC, Lee Heeyoon took the microphone and greeted them.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Lee Heeyoon."
Only then did the fans come back to their senses and erupt in cheers. Lee Heeyoon continued.
"The xylitol candy — I bought it in case I'm so boring that you fall asleep. Take one out, bite down, and snap yourself awake. Now that I've gone this far, no dozing off no matter what I say. Understood?"
And so, with that warning, the fan meeting began.
Apparently he really had worried about being dull, because the whole thing was crammed to bursting with segments. Not a single corner dragged, not for one moment.
And then Lee Heeyoon sang a song.
Strangely enough, the Lee Heeyoon who sang it looked like the lead of a romance drama. Because that was exactly the intent he'd brought to the performance.
When the song ended, the MC — who'd been listening with his soul half departed — snapped back to himself.
"Whew, I was listening way too hard…… You sing beautifully, but the way you made it look cool, that's a whole other level."
The MC, speaking for every heart in the room, went on.
"And this song was reportedly your grandfather's pick, Heeyoon-ssi?"
At that question, the fans in the hall — Lee Joobin among them — belatedly realized something and turned as one toward Crape Myrtle.
Crape Myrtle was wiping his eyes with his handkerchief.
That 'someone he knows' was Lee Heeyoon all along!
Come to think of it, it was blindingly obvious that that handsome grandfather with the invitation was the maternal grandfather in the family-background article about Lee Heeyoon from his Love in the Moon days. And on further thought, he even looked like him.
No wonder he'd kept fidgeting about how he'd stolen the seats of fans who'd worked so hard at ticketing……
If he's his grandfather, of course he's allowed to come……
Such thoughts, in truth, lasted only a moment.
Lee Joobin turned her gaze back to Lee Heeyoon — and flinched in alarm.
Apparently her split-second glance away had offended him, because Lee Heeyoon, mid-answer to the MC's question, was looking her way with his brow faintly creased. Then, the moment their eyes met, the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile. A signal: keep your eyes on me and only me.
Lee Joobin froze — then nervously checked whether her heart had actually stopped. Thankfully, it was still beating just fine.
After that came the unlimited streaming of Lee Heeyoon's performances from masterwork plays. He presented scenes from the plays he loved, weaving explanation between them.
It was, quite simply, the greatest time of her life.
In the end, I did every single thing on Team Leader Do Jaeyeon's program. We played games, I cooked. Whatever I did, the fans roared with laughter. My confidence was swelling by degrees.
Yet even that rising confidence wilted before my upcoming ordeal. Before starting the challenge, I addressed my fans with utmost gravity.
"I'm an actor. If I can't dance, you are not allowed to hate me for it."
"We won't!"
That's what they'd say, isn't it……
I steeled myself and prepared my limbs. I recalled what my practical-arts instructors used to say — remember, upper body and lower body are both yours. It did absolutely nothing for my peace of mind.
And so my carefully prepared flailing began, set to music, one track at a time. I thrashed my way earnestly through the first song and then stole a glance at the crowd — and to my astonishment, they were looking at me like I was adorable.
"He's so cute……"
Cute. They think this is cute. These people are in real trouble.
This was no time to be rounding up the Leader Actors staff for their shameless bias. These people weren't even laughing at this flailing of mine — they were just cooing over how cute it was. Past the point of bias, deep into rose-tinted glasses.
In any case, since I'd planned to show off as many different faces of myself as possible today, I changed costumes several times over. I'd wondered how I'd ever fill ninety minutes, but when I checked the clock, two full hours had already passed.
The culprit was that segment in the middle where I performed scenes from plays — I'd gotten so carried away that I'd run thirty minutes past the limit. Thankfully, nobody looked bored; every eye in the house was sparkling.
And that was true even though the only genuinely funny thing in the whole show was my dancing. Even if it hadn't been, whatever I said, the fans laughed along. A mercy.
As the fan meeting drew to a close, a thought settled over me. I should have done this ages ago. I don't know why it took me living this life over again to realize that a stage where a spotlight-hungry creature like me could receive love this pure and undivided was a rare gift.
Perhaps in my past life, I had taken such love for granted — dismissed it like grapes too high to reach.
Since I'd promised a hi-bye event — a chance for fans to exchange quick, close-up greetings on their way out — I headed for the door.
The way people judge me always differs — on screen, from a distance, up close. But without fail, the best reviews come from seeing me right in front of them. So I've always wanted people to see me as near as they possibly can. In my memories from before regression, the people who had seen me this close stayed my fans to the very end, even in spite of my absolutely rotten personality.
And so, one by one, I met each person's eyes as I greeted them — don't leave me. I hoped they would love me a long, long time.
Selfish, maybe.
Kicking herself for having booked a venue far too small, Team Leader Do Jaeyeon began combing through the fan meeting reviews.
Well past midnight that day, reviews kept flooding in from every corner of the fan cafe and SNS.