“Wow, PD! What is this supposed to be! If you do this, everyone’s going to know!!”
Even at Yoonwoo’s protest, the PD just let out a snort of a laugh.
“Huh? Aren’t we filming a reality show right now? Of course, the camera directors are going to follow you around.”
For the members, bundled up with beanies, masks, and thick horn-rimmed glasses, the camera directors accompanying them was like a bolt from the blue.
Now they understood why the PD had said it would not be that easy.
“PD, with a group this size, even if we weren’t celebrities, people would pay attention…”
Seeing six cameras on standby and even a big boom mic, the members all sighed in unison.
“You’re all wrapped up so tightly, no one will recognize you as East. Fighting!”
As if to tease them, the PD clenched his fist and cheered them on, then got on a nearby bus. In the end, the members had no choice but to climb onto the bus too, weakly, patting each other as they went.
“Just do it exactly like we planned. Yoonwoo, as soon as you get there, run straight to the fresh section. Eggs, quail eggs, cheongyang peppers, all that, you’re responsible for the fresh stuff and you absolutely have to buy it. Got it? First, just run, whether people recognize you or not. It counts up to what you’ve picked up in your hands.”
“Okay. And we’re totally bundled up, so they probably won’t know, right? They might know we’re celebrities, but they won’t know we’re East. I’ll make the first start perfect. Just leave it to me.”
The members heatedly continued their strategy meeting right up until the moment before they got off the bus.
Yoonwoo took meat, eggs, vegetables, and so on, Sikyung took rice, bottled water, and other seasonings. And Cheonghyeon was… kkakdugi (Korean cubed radish kimchi).
“Cheonghyeon! Hyung will make sure you don’t have to hold even a single leaf of lettuce! Just wait right here!”
“Yeah, big brother.”
At Yoonwoo’s blustery joke, even though Yoonwoo was younger than Cheonghyeon, Cheonghyeon responded casually.
At the cute word “big brother,” which felt out of place with his indifferent tone, the production staff burst into laughter once.
But unlike his calm face, Cheonghyeon’s heart was pounding hard.
‘Yoonwoo and Sikyung hyung have to succeed.’
Considering this was his first ever experience at a supermarket, his turn absolutely could not come.
And even Changsik, who was mixed in with the production crew and watching the members, was smiling, but cold sweat was running down his back.
Everyone except the production staff knew why the members were pushing Cheonghyeon’s turn to the very end and putting all their energy into making the plan succeed.
Changsik recalled what had happened during the break earlier.
‘A small island, you and I. Just for today, I’ll be happy.’
‘What are you so excited about? Nice song.’
Hearing Yoonwoo singing, Cheonghyeon came over and struck up a conversation. But unlike Cheonghyeon, who approached with a gentle face, the members and Changsik all turned to him with the color draining from their faces.
‘Huh? What’s wrong?’
‘Haha, seriously, there’s no one who likes our songs as much as Cheonghyeon.’
At Sikyung’s oddly awkward smile and the words flying in without context, Cheonghyeon also froze like stone. So this was our song…. Sikyung carefully touched Cheonghyeon’s waist. He was trying to check the mic’s power.
‘It’s fine. I turned it off before I came in.’
At Cheonghyeon’s words, the room, filled with taut tension, melted like summer ice cream with one big sigh.
‘Cheonghyeon really did lose his memories….’
Only then did the members realize why Cheonghyeon had not even touched a fried egg that morning. And then they became extremely serious.
Changsik was too busy trying to rein in his pounding heart.
‘Hyung’s been a little slow lately, and he hesitates now and then…. But since he didn’t have any problems living day to day, I thought his memories were gradually coming back. We even successfully finished filming broadcasts and commercials too.’
‘Me too. I should’ve checked this first… Honestly, since he trained so harshly, I thought his body would remember. I thought listening to music would naturally bring things back. It’s my fault for not properly checking.’
At Changsik’s flustered voice, Cheonghyeon also fell silent.
At first, he had thought the same as Changsik. But strangely, many habits, including his handwriting, were all the same as when he was “Isaac.”
And when he ran into a sasaeng fan on a walk after that last commercial shoot, had he not unconsciously used the self-defense techniques he learned in the empire.
In the empire, there was no one who could approach the imperial family that closely. Except assassins. So the self-defense techniques taught to imperial family members were structured so that each movement attacked a vital point and subdued the opponent in an instant.
If Cheonghyeon’s strength had been just a little greater, he might have snapped their neck right there. Even thinking of that moment made Cheonghyeon’s heart pound hard.
‘For now, there’s nothing we can do. We can’t exactly tell him to memorize even the B sides in this short time. Cheonghyeon should stick to the members as much as possible… and just sleep! Don’t wake him up either.’
Even at Changsik’s absurd statement, the members all nodded with resolute expressions.
Cheonghyeon found it ridiculous inside, but in the end, he had no choice but to nod along too.
Even if most of his fans were fans who had come in after the accident, if he did not even know the songs they had promoted, people might think he had been careless about group activities.
That would be disrespectful both to his fans, and to the former Gi Cheonghyeon who had now become “Isaac.”
If everything were exposed and they announced that he had amnesia, the point of filming the reality show would disappear.
It was a program meant to show their bond and harmonious relationship with the members, but he had lost his memories after the accident.
Just imagining having to deal with the aftermath was terrifying.
Cheonghyeon steeled his resolve that he would not show a single weakness anywhere throughout the broadcast.
And so, the grand drama began: Director, Yoon Changsik. Lead actor, Gi Cheonghyeon. Supporting actors, Seo Hando, Hwang Yoonwoo, and Im Sikyung.
In front of the cameras, the members showed only “things they and Cheonghyeon had done together,” such as random games.
And they never left Cheonghyeon alone.
They decided that at least one member would always stay with him, so that even if Cheonghyeon made a mistake, someone could cover for him.
In the midst of that, the “individual grocery shopping mission” that came down was something very worrying.
Right before getting off, Yoonwoo exchanged looks with the members and with Changsik too.
‘You and Sikyung, finish everything before it gets to him.’
‘Of course.’
‘Yoonwoo, I’m counting on you.’
“Why is everyone so tense? There are three people going shopping! Yoonwoo, go comfortably.”
As the PD laughed at the members’ unnecessarily solemn appearance and spoke, Yoonwoo put on his usual mischievous grin.
“Then I’ll go do one serving and come back!”
Boldly getting off the bus, Yoonwoo headed straight for the supermarket. But the moment the automatic doors opened, the bold smile on Yoonwoo’s face disappeared behind his mask.
“Huh? It’s East!”
At a woman’s clear voice ringing out, people nearby turned in a rush. And the murmuring grew louder.
“Isn’t that Hwang Yoonwoo?”
“I think it is. Yoonwoo!”
‘What… is this?’
Even the members watching from the bus could not continue speaking. Not even the fresh section, but getting caught the moment he stepped through the entrance?
The PD also seemed not to have expected this much. He paused for a moment, then burst into huge laughter.
In his head, captions to put into this situation were spinning tightly.
Cheonghyeon’s bewildered face, Hando’s empty, drained gaze, Sikyung with a hand to his forehead, it all looked like perfect meme material now.
The PD could not contain his excitement.
“PD, be honest. Is this some kind of hidden camera prank?”
“Right. No, he covered up that much, how could they recognize him?”
Cheonghyeon also seemed to find the situation suspicious, and beside Sikyung he glared at the PD a little and nodded hard. Changsik too, among the staff, was asking the writer while cutely moving his big body, like he wanted them to tell him only.
“No, really, it’s not. Wow, but how did they recognize you? Honestly, even we didn’t think East’s popularity was this big.”
Even with the PD’s denial, the members still narrowed their eyes and threw him suspicious looks. Then Yoonwoo’s voice came through from the scene, and the members and staff focused on the laptop.
“Wow, what do I do? There’s nothing I can do. To the E.A.S.T! Hello, I’m Yoonwoo of East!”
At Yoonwoo’s words, loud cheers erupted on site. Even middle-aged customers and supermarket employees who did not know idols well pulled out their phones and captured Yoonwoo on camera amid the heated screams.
“Everyone, I failed the mission. I got eliminated way too fast, so I’m surprised too, but since it’s come to this, I’ll just try to get some footage for the show. The woman in the red hat over there! Are you okay with appearing on the broadcast?”
“Gasp, yes!!! Oh my god, what do I do!”
The woman in the red cap, the one who had been the first to shout, “Huh? It’s East!” covered her flushed face with one hand and came closer to Yoonwoo.
If she was an East fan, her hand clutching her friend was trembling. Seeing that, Yoonwoo asked with a playful smile.
“Are you ‘Forever East’?”
“Yes! Oppa, I’ve been signed up since Forever first generation. And you’re my favorite…. Ah, what do I do! This is insane… wow.”
As if she could not believe this situation, making eye contact with Yoonwoo, the fan kept blurting out exclamations and stared at him in a daze.
Yoonwoo smiled automatically at the sight.
If you wrote down her thoughts in text right now, it would probably look something like, “ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠAh this is insane I’m going crazyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ.”
Yoonwoo smiled and spoke.
“Actually, I’m in a situation where I can’t get found out as East, but you recognized me so fast that I thought this was a hidden camera prank. But seeing your reaction, you really are our Fobi! Thank you for recognizing me.”
When Yoonwoo smiled and gave the fan a light hug, the fan practically convulsed like a vibrating pager and screamed with a bright red face.
And from the people watching on site, there was a wave of “Kyaa!” as the fans screamed too.
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