“I’m quitting the fandom as of today.”
“For the love of god, quit first and then say stuff like that.”
“No, seriously. Isn’t 30 seconds just inhumanly cruel?”
Describe the feelings of a person who went to see their favorite, only to watch them appear for just 30 seconds out of a 2 hour 10 minute runtime.
‘The answer is quitting the fandom. F***!’
Even those 30 seconds were probably “generously” stretched out looooong by sheer fan devotion to make it 30 seconds.
If you counted from the VOD upload, there was a strong chance it wouldn’t even reach 30 seconds.
But acquaintance 1, and Ms. Kim too.
Both of them knew.
That Ms. Kim would fail to quit the fandom again this time.
‘Of all things, why did he have to be exactly my type…!’
That was right.
Ms. Kim was a hopeless face stan.
A hopeless face stan who couldn’t be cured by anything.
‘Back then, I quit and there was no one else who caught my eye, so I thought I’d completely quit and become a proper normie…’
After Ms. Kim’s former favorite ended up on the social news pages.
With nowhere to put her heart, wandering around aimlessly, Ms. Kim ended up seeing it one day.
A sparkling face that flashed by on TV.
The problem was that Ms. Kim’s fangirl life was extremely rough.
‘Do I have “humiliation” and “scandal talk” in my fortune or something?’
For an extra who couldn’t even become a supporting role, let alone the lead, it was almost a talent that whenever news popped up about him, it was nothing but bad news.
Like getting called out by people who looked like staff.
Even the occasional “spotted by a regular person” story didn’t contain a single good thing.
And it wasn’t easy to dismiss it as lies, because Ms. Kim herself had had a similar experience.
What the hell? Quit loitering and move.
It had been fine up to the point where she’d awkwardly hovered around the set just to see her favorite once and happened to run into him.
But the memory of getting cursed out with his eyes before she could even greet him was so intense she couldn’t forget it even if she wanted to.
‘And I still couldn’t quit after that—legendary, honestly.’
After that, her stanning was purely out of inertia.
‘With that face, not blowing up is seriously a talent in itself.’
With that face, it wouldn’t be weird if he swallowed up all of Korea just by breathing.
No charm, no manners…
Pulling off something that difficult… that was Ms. Kim’s favorite.
Now Ms. Kim didn’t even expect Lee Rowoon to make it big.
It seemed faster for Ms. Kim to become a juicing master who’d put Hurom to shame.
And then one day, the world started going crazy.
‘What? My favorite and my second favorite are suddenly in the same movie? And our pretty piece of trash isn’t an extra, he’s a supporting role?’
Is this a dream?
But it was reality.
He even acted so unbelievably well that from the middle onward, he stopped feeling like her favorite and started feeling like just… a character in the film!
<[Ms. Kim. You alive?]
[Yeah. Feel like I’m gonna die from happiness;]>
<[LOL]>
Somehow, after the movie’s release felt even more like a dream than before it.
And then, right on cue, news came in.
<[Oh right, you hear the news?]
[Huh? What news?]>
<[PD Han is starting a new variety show. With Kang Chaheon and, what’s his name? Your favorite.]
[…Rowoon?]>
<[Yeah, him. Heard he got cast too. Supposedly it’s viewer-participation content, so it sounds like they’ll be taking applications soon?]
[For real?????]>
The acquaintance who brought the news used to be a broadcast writer, so it was the real deal with zero room for doubt.
A precious filmography she’d licked dry and worn down even with just her ears, and now suddenly variety?
‘If I can’t go to this, I’ll swear off men!’
But reality wasn’t that easy.
<[F***, the server crashed]
<[What kind of application is this, it’s harder than ticketing?]
<[It’s Kang Chaheon’s first variety show]
<[Ah right, true]
<[If the fandom from over there swarmed in, aren’t we just screwed?]
<[Don’t say that, Ms. Kim will cry]
<[Ah ok ok;]>
In a situation where even submitting the application form was Inferno difficulty, even the acquaintances gathered in the group chat to help her clicked their tongues.
And then.
<[Holy—? I just got a message saying I was selected!]>
A few days later, one of the acquaintances who’d participated in the Formlympics with her delivered the good news.
It had to be her ancestors helping!
But once it became real—once she could actually see him—there was something that worried her.
<[Hey, but are you seriously gonna be okay? What if you meet him and actually quit the fandom?]
[How did you know? That’s literally what I’m most worried about right now……?]>
<[Like we haven’t watched this for a year or two, lol]
<[There’s a reason people quit after fansigns for no reason. You burn hundreds of bucks to go, and then right in your face they go “Ah, I see,” with dead-fish eyes and zero sincerity—your mental takes massive damage.]
[ㅠIt might not happen! Our Rowoon might’ve gotten it togetherㅠ Our boy did the stage greetings so sincerelyㅠㅠㅠㅠ]>
<[I mean, sure, it’s possible, but honestly, unless his soul has changed, you know and I know and everyone knows it basically never happens…….]>
Acquaintance 1 had accidentally hit the exact answer, but there was no way they could have known.
<[Ah, what are you even worried about. You’re already selected, so just go and see what happens!]
Seeing it, acquaintance 2 stepped in to mediate.
<[Anyway, let’s just go. You can decide after you go.]
And time flew by, and before they knew it, the day to meet Rowoon was suddenly right in front of them!
“I don’t even care anymore. Let’s just go in. Ugh, I’m exhausted after getting put through this for hours.”
“No, wait! I need to prepare myself mentally!”
“Ms. Kim, if we wait for you to ‘prepare,’ the whole day’s going to pass.”
The acquaintances who’d watched Ms. Kim’s flailing all this time marched straight to the main entrance without mercy.
“Hello, are you the applicant? Your name?”
A staff member who had been waiting in advance carefully checked the companion list that had been submitted along with the applicant.
“As you were informed, please make sure to follow the rules, and in case of any issues, you may be subject to staff restrictions, so we would appreciate it if you could be mindful.”
After hearing the final guidance, Ms. Kim’s group was finally able to enter the restaurant.
Creeeak—
A dignified, old-fashioned door that matched the sleek exterior swung open.
And…
“Welcome.”
A clear, delicate beauty—so pure she could blind you just by looking—greeted them with a shy smile.
“No, Ms. Kim! This is completely different from what I heard? Nobody said he was like this!”
“Hey, you said he was only ‘decent-looking’! How is that ‘only decent-looking’?!”
“You kept calling him a pretty piece of trash, so I thought he was actually trash, but how is that trash? If that’s trash, I seriously want to stuff him in a trash bag, toss him in a sack, and kidnap him.”
The person most confused was Ms. Kim herself—the one who’d put this whole party together.
“Guys. I don’t understand this situation at all.”
Fine. Let’s set aside the sheer visual shock that made you forget to breathe the instant you walked in.
“Here’s the menu. If you’d like, I can explain it to you. If not, please take your time and call me when you’re ready.”
What was that soft voice and that slightly shy smile supposed to be?
Amazingly, there wasn’t a hint anywhere in Rowoon’s attitude of irritation, or of doing it half-heartedly just to get it over with.
She’d told herself that as long as he didn’t have those dead-fish eyes, she could tolerate “business mode” in front of the camera.
Because her expectations had been rock-bottom to begin with.
But this…
‘What is this? Is the world pulling a hidden-camera prank on me?’
He looked like a completely different person.
If the old Rowoon had been like a flower that was flashy on the outside but had no fragrance.
Then the current Rowoon had something that could enchant you just by looking.
And this insane kindness!
‘Is this really the guy who used to frown the moment our eyes met?’
Ms. Kim could swear to it.
There was no way it was the same person.
This gaze, this attitude, this vibe.
‘This is… the real thing!’
She didn’t know what had happened, but he had changed as a person.
“Then please decide comfortably and call me.”
The sense to step away in case they felt uncomfortable.
Kindness overflowing in every single word, and on top of that—
“N-no, um, I-I… I’d like it if you explained the menu, please!”
“Shall I?”
That shy smile was so pure it practically felt holy!
The three of them stared, completely dazed, as Rowoon explained each item gently and carefully.
Menu explanation?
None of it even reached their ears.
They caught words like “donating all proceeds to revitalize the local economy,” so at most, they understood he was doing something good.
“Give us everything.”
When the explanation ended and Ms. Kim said it solemnly, eyes as gentle as a deer widened.
“Yes? Everything?”
“Yes. Everything.”
All three nodded firmly.
Eyes as gentle as a deer widened again.
“Ah, do you mean… everything? Then… won’t that be too much?”
Usually on shows like this, they try every trick in the book to sell even one more thing, but this gentle little baby deer didn’t do any of that.
Instead, he even worried about preventing the customers’ overspending and softly tried to dissuade them!
This overflowing consideration!
“No, it’s fine. We can eat it all.”
“Ah, if so.”
“Absolutely doable.”
Strong supporting fire came in from both sides.
With the customers insisting like that, he couldn’t exactly keep trying to stop them.
After writing down the order, Rowoon trotted off toward the kitchen.
Watching him with pleased expressions, the three finally came back to their senses.
Acquaintance 1 and acquaintance 2 immediately grilled Ms. Kim.
“Ms. Kim! Are you insane? Where the hell is that trash?!”
“Calling that tiny angel trash—Ms. Kim, your eye for people is seriously…….”
Suspicious looks poured in from both sides.
They didn’t look like the people who used to shut her down and ignore her every time she tried to sell him, telling her to stop talking nonsense.
That vividly shining, clear madness was definitely the sign of falling into the fandom.
“No, guys. Seriously, I don’t understand either! Don’t you remember what happened before? I waited to get an autograph and he told me not to block the way?”
“Wouldn’t there have been a good reason? Like he really had to use the bathroom.”
“Yeah. There’s no way a tiny angel like that would tell someone to get lost for no reason.”
“…Is that so? Was it?”
Even her memories were starting to get rewritten.
That was how powerful it was.
Up until they came here, Ms. Kim’s heart had been bouncing between heaven and hell—now it started sprinting in an entirely different way.
Our kid has changed.
‘Is this… a dream?’
But it was reality.
“Come to think of it, he acted pretty well in that movie too.”
Acquaintance 1 said.
“You kept telling me not to expect anything, so I went in with no thoughts and came out bawling. Looking back now, even that was already different from what I’d heard.”
“Right. And watching him, he works fast and sharp too?”
“So where is he ‘a veteran at throwing his weight around,’ exactly?”
Acquaintance 1 and 2 voiced doubts about the past evaluations.
Because Rowoon’s customer service skills were anything but ordinary.
“Welcome, how many in your party? Ah, I’ll guide you this way.”
“Here’s the menu. You can take your time looking, and if you’d like, I can explain it to you.”
“Yes, I’ve confirmed your order. Today’s special, one Korean beef royal tteokbokki, and…”
There was a common trait among the people Rowoon guided.
Every single one of them had blank, dazed eyes.
Even when slightly spaced-out people asked the same thing over and over, his explanations only became more detailed—there wasn’t a hint of annoyance to be found.
“Oh my, oh my. Who is that?”
“Wow. What is this? My brain just flew out of my head.”
“Holy shit. This is insane… He’s so fucking handsome!”
“There was an actor who looked like that?”
It was the same with how people snapped back and burst into admiration.
Hearing those words, it was only natural that Ms. Kim’s shoulders rose with pride.
He’d always been someone you couldn’t criticize when it came to his face no matter how much you criticized everything else. Now even his attitude was perfect.
Just then, a small basket was set down in front of them.
“Huh? What’s this? We didn’t order this.”
Ms. Kim hurriedly spoke while staring at the appetizing steamed potatoes in front of her.
Could it be our boy—so precise—made a mistake?
“It’s on the house. Thank you for coming all the way here. These are steamed potatoes made from red potatoes, a local specialty. If you’d like more, please feel free to tell me.”
…It wasn’t a mistake!
At other tables too, they could hear Rowoon serving baskets of steamed potatoes he was carefully holding and explaining them.
Even his serving was professional.
When he came over holding four plates at once with perfect posture, even acquaintance 2 who’d worked in service for years was impressed.
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