A smile wouldn’t leave Jin Miso’s face.
Of course.
Just the fact that she’d come to HS’s fan meeting she’d been aching for made her feel like she was flying.
Her smile, though, had several reasons mixed in.
He said he made these himself…
The hats the fan-meeting winners, herself included, had worn were so conspicuous in design as to be hard to wear in everyday life—and seeing a whole group of people wearing them together made for a rather ridiculous sight.
Up to the black ball cap—
Well….
That was passably plain.
Does he like flames?
Even the flame logo running across both sides of the cap, she decided to think of it as a kind of signature mark and let it slide.
Only there was exactly one point that really, really felt like too much.
What on earth is this…?
From the tip of the brim dangled a rainbow-colored transparent hologram film, fluttering.
All of a sudden, the world Jin Miso looked at was nothing but rainbow.
She didn’t know a thing about design sense.
One thing was certain….
It was a hat so unmistakably conspicuous you’d spot it from a full kilometer away.
Apparently, he’d taken his own helmet as the motif.
‘I’ll cover my face with a rainbow hologram shield, so you all cover yours too.’
Was that the idea?
He’ll be wearing the helmet today too, won’t he? No, don’t get disappointed.
You promised yourself you wouldn’t ask anything of him! You’d love the music!
Steeling her heart, Jin Miso adjusted the hat again.
Right.
It’s a fan meeting, so you wear it as an event thing. Just bear with it a bit.
Embarrassment is only momentary anyway.
And they say the memory lasts a lifetime, don’t they? Granted, embarrassment is a primal instinct you can’t do much about.
The gods gave him everything and forgot to add aesthetic sense….
Soon it was Jin Miso’s turn to exchange the invitation ticket that had been mailed to her for an entry wristband.
Honestly. Even the entry wristband had the flame logo stamped on it.
At this point, didn’t HS basically want to become a flame himself?
Still when you’re alone it’s embarrassing, but together you can be shameless!
With everyone stoutly wearing theirs, it felt a little less mortifying….
“Huh?”
Jin Miso’s eyes sparkled when she saw the merch booth laid out inside the venue.
Since he’s not a composer whose face is clearly known, she hadn’t even imagined they’d sell merch.
There hadn’t been any special booths outside while waiting to get in, so she naturally assumed there wouldn’t be any….
‘HS, you’re the best.’
She dashed straight toward the merch booth, which was packed with people—only for her face to freeze once more.
W-what is this?
There were exactly two kinds of goods.
One: a T-shirt with a helmet printed right in the center.
The other:
HS’s signature helmet as worn on music shows.
Why on earth sell this as merch?
Even so, since it was his first fan meeting, she figured she’d buy a T-shirt as a keepsake and got in line—and then.
Huh?
A notice board set up at one side of the booth caught her eye.
“Hello, this is composer HS. First of all, thank you to all the fans who came to the fan meeting.
As for the proceeds from the merch sales, I will donate all of them under my fan café ‘G-HS’ name to an organization for children in need, together with the royalties from ‘Peekaboo Family.’ Since this is a meaningful event, we are selling at minimum cost, so I ask for your interest and purchases.”
It looked hand-written, and HS’s earnest heart was in those lines.
Well then, if it’s like this, I’m buying everything.
Jin Miso pulled out her wallet with gusto and waited for her turn.
“Next! What can I get you?”
At last, her turn came, and when she checked the prices she let out an involuntary “Gasp.”
No wonder.
- signature helmet : 15,000 won
- helmet T-shirt : 3,000 won
The prices looked not just wrong, wildly wrong.
He’d said “minimum cost,” sure. But he hadn’t said “below cost,” had he?
The T-shirt, maybe. But…
How is a helmet fifteen thousand won…?
Jin Miso felt like every framework and bit of common sense she knew had been smashed to pieces.
Right.
The fan meeting invites weren’t ticketed sales but free, given by lottery only to fan-café members.
And instead of selling merch for profit, he was using it as a way to donate in the fan-café’s name.
“Ten T-shirts and five helmets, please.”
“That’ll be 105,000 won in total. They’re bulky, so after the fan meeting, please pick them up at the designated pickup booth on your way out by giving your name. What’s the name?”
What thoughtfulness.
Looks like there’s no getting out of HS until the end of this life.
“Jin Miso!”
It was the moment Jin Miso’s fan-power leveled up.
While the veteran MC was warming up the crowd with his opening banter—
Bzz-bzz-bzz-bzz….
Backstage, Director Kim forcibly smoothed a nervous expression off his face and spoke.
“Hyunseung, don’t be too nervous.”
With a trembling hand he patted Hyunseung’s shoulder.
“I’m right behind you.”
Hyunseung gave a faint smirk for a moment.
“The one trembling isn’t me, it’s you, Director Kim, isn’t it?”
“It feels like leaving a child alone by the water.”
Then he gave Director Kim’s shoulder a light pat back—as if to say, please, stop overdoing it….
“I’m not a kid, so put the worry away and head on back to the office, okay?”
“What are you talking about? How could I, your dedicated support, skip out on a big event like this?”
Hyunseung then called over Kim Dojin, who was standing a bit off.
“Mr. Kim Dojin, could you escort Director Kim back to the company?”
“Sorry, but I took personal leave today. I’m here as Dohee’s guardian and as a fan….”
In Kim Dojin’s arms, Dohee was fast asleep.
They’d come out at the crack of dawn, so she’d conked out before the fan meeting even started.
Too bad.
Just as Hyunseung was licking at dry lips in regret…
“One minute to the end of opening remarks, please stand by.”
Following the staffer’s cue, Hyunseung walked to the stairs leading up to the stage.
“Eastie, go knock ’em dead!”
“Composer, fighting!”
And as Hyunseung began to move toward the stage, the faces of Director Kim and Kim Dojin left backstage grew abruptly solemn.
“Director Kim….”
Kim Dojin spoke in a chiding tone.
“Even if this fan meeting is being funded out of the composer’s own pocket, you could at least have assigned a stylist….”
“He insisted he’d wear the self-made merch T-shirt no matter what. How was I supposed to stop him?”
“If you truly cared for Mr. HS, you could have tried, at least once.”
Director Kim replayed Hyunseung’s pleased expression in his mind and shook his head with a deep sigh.
“He said the T-shirt came out looking really cool and was happy—how could I look that face in the eye and ask him to reconsider.”
“I mean, how can someone with that much musical sense have this little aesthetic sense? That’s not easy either….”
Finishing, Kim Dojin tilted his head, genuinely baffled. Director Kim sympathized entirely.
He disliked speaking ill of Hyunseung, but when it came to aesthetic sense, it seemed he hadn’t been born with even a speck of it.
Seeing him day after day in plain tees with jeans or slacks, he’d never imagined his sense could be this lacking.
Given his proportions and a finished face, even dressing like that, he looked like he dressed well.
Probably.
He’d begun to doubt Hyunseung’s aesthetic sense the moment he saw the helmet he’d designed himself.
And today—seeing the hats specially made as gifts for fans along with the merch—he was sure.
“They say the gods are fair. Looks like the gods forgot to add aesthetic sense and just poured in musical sense….”
If nothing else, Director Kim felt that in terms of aesthetics, he was better than Hyunseung.
—“Please give a big round of applause to today’s star, composer HS, as he takes the stage—!”
While the two were badmouthing Hyunseung backstage—
Kyaaaaaaaaaa—!
HS’s first official fan meeting was about to begin.
Meanwhile.
Seo Jini sat in the sound booth controlling the stage audio, just as HS had instructed, waiting for the fan meeting to start.
Yoon Jaeyi, Choi Junghyeok, Kim Dojin—and the sleeping Kim Dohee.
I should’ve brought binoculars.
The stage was a bit far so they couldn’t see well, but the layout let you look down over the whole stage at a glance, so it wasn’t bad.
“When’s he coming out?”
As soon as he muttered his grumble, the MC picked up his mic as if he’d heard and began the intro to bring out today’s star.
Then—
Kyaaaaaaaaa—! Etchis—!
The fans’ huge roar pierced the glass.
Right then.
As if she’d blended into the fans, Yoon Jaeyi let out a “Kyaa!” of her own.
Then, realizing what she’d done, she hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth.
“S-sorry….”
She bobbed her head over and over.
“What’s there to be sorry about? But, you know, this crowd’s hotter than our The Moon fan meeting, isn’t it?”
At Choi Junghyeok’s words, the people seated there all nodded slightly.
Five hundred people is truly a small-scale fan meeting, but even so, the energy felt on par with a typical idol’s fan meeting.
Even though the composer’s face wasn’t revealed and he’d come out with his face covered by a helmet the reaction was still this intense.
It was a complete loss for The Moon.
“Do better.”
At Seo Jini’s tossed line, Choi Junghyeok smiled bright. “Yes, sunbae!”
Soon the proper fan meeting got underway, and the hall heated up even more.
“Now, HS, do you know the question you got the most?”
“How would I know?”
“It’s… people are curious what meaning is in the design of your signature helmet you’re wearing right now!”
“No special meaning. It’s just cool.”
“Ah, haha… I see.”
From the fan-meeting’s flower, the Q&A time—
“To entry number 258! As a gift…… I’ll give you the cotton swabs I bought in bulk from a street-vendor grandma.”
A segment where, via lottery, he gave out items HS usually keeps on hand.
But, I mean, cotton swabs as a gift?
Kyaaaaaaaaa—! Etches—!
Even so, fans were bursting into cheers from all over, saying how warm-hearted he was.
“Good grief….”
Seo Jini shook his head before the fierce love of the fandom.
“I want cotton swabs too….”
She’d long since learned to ignore Yoon Jaeyi’s muttering.
“Yaaawn—.”
Seeing the stage go dark, Seo Jini stretched to loosen her stiff body.
“Peekaboo?”
Suddenly the little one who’d been asleep shot upright.
“Flame-mark man!”
She pointed at Hyunseung on the stage through the glass.
And soon a very familiar, very cute melody began to flow out into the hall.
─ ♬ ♬ ♬
Next.
As the stage slowly brightened—
─ ♬ ♬ ♬
Hyunseung appeared wearing white bear paw gloves.
“He—hey, ho—.”
The weakest “hey, ho” in the world was heard.
T/N: You do you, HS! Woo woohhh!! *throws confetti*
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