“Is there anything else you need?”
“How’s the food? Does it suit your taste?”
Rowoon didn’t forget, even in between, to make the rounds and check on the customers without crossing into burdensome territory.
Maybe because his face made you go blank automatically the moment you looked at him, but even when extra orders came flooding in like a tide, he didn’t show a hint of fluster.
They were so proud of him.
Even though Kang Chaheon was listed as 185 on his profile and, in reality, was basically 190, and even though Rowoon wasn’t exactly short either, only about a handspan shorter at most…
For some reason, to their eyes, he just looked like a tiny hamster scampering around, busy and earnest, here and there.
They didn’t realize it was the beginning of those terrifying love goggles.
“Uh? Hey, this is good?”
While they were watching Rowoon bustle around with pleased expressions, acquaintance 1 took a bite of the steamed potatoes that had come as a freebie and said, startled.
“Huh? It really is. The sweet-salty combo is insane.”
Your hand keeps going to it, keeps going.
It was even more addictive than those little rest-stop potatoes.
‘So I thought potatoes were just potatoes, but this is pretty good.’
As they stared at the basket that had somehow become empty, a low voice asked them,
“Do you need more potatoes?”
“Khk—”
The moment they turned their heads toward the speaker, acquaintance 1 choked and hurriedly drank water.
A face with a different kind of destructive power from Rowoon’s was gazing down at them.
Acquaintance 2, patting their back, nodded blankly.
“These are potatoes Lee Rowoon dug up himself at dawn today. Enjoy.”
At the line he added while refilling the basket of steamed potatoes, Ms. Kim flinched in shock.
“What? Our Rowoon dug up potatoes himself?”
All of a sudden, the potatoes in the basket looked different.
That kid looked like the type who wouldn’t even get water on his hands, and he dug up potatoes himself?
‘Crap. The guidelines said to be careful about fan-y remarks!’
The news was so surprising that it slipped out unconsciously.
Even though 80 percent of the applicants were fans.
This was, in the end, not a fanmeeting but a variety show.
In the NDA, the no-spoilers clause, and the overall guidelines page that Ms. Kim’s group received after being selected by lottery, there was a point written in heavy emphasis asking them to refrain, if possible, from personal fan-like comments or behavior.
The line that said they could be removed if they refused to comply with staff restrictions was downright vicious.
-Hey, we’ve got experience. You think we can’t tell the difference on something like this?
It was a crossroads of whether she quit the fandom or not.
And besides, with a combined fifty years of stanning experience between them, celebrities were practically part of life, so pretending not to see what they saw, pretending not to have seen what they saw even if they did, was totally doable. They had done it.
Right up until today, before seeing Rowoon in person and nearly having their knees buckle on their own.
And yet she’d made a mistake like this!
“Yes. They’re also a menu that Lee Rowoon developed himself. Hey, Lee Rowoon.”
It was something they might have gotten cautioned over.
But surprisingly, there was no restriction at all.
On the contrary, Kang Chaheon even called Rowoon over as he scampered about busily and had him present himself right in front of Ms. Kim’s table.
“Yes?”
“These folks said the potatoes are good.”
“Ah, thank goodness. Thank you for enjoying them. But they really are good, aren’t they? It’s not because I dug them up or anything. It’s just… the elder next door must be amazing at farming, because the potatoes were big and they tasted great. Thank you for enjoying them.”
Even as he blushed bright red on both cheeks like he was embarrassed, he seemed happy his chosen menu was being praised, and he even shared the behind-the-scenes story in a soft, careful voice.
‘This is insane.’
They said when you see something cute, violence comes out without you realizing.
(T/N: Lemme squish those cheeks, Rowoonie~)
Without thinking, Ms. Kim smacked acquaintance 1’s shoulder beside her. Acquaintance 1 was in the same state.
If there’d been a wall next to them, that wall might have broken.
“Uh, h-hey… it’s good.”
The items they’d ordered as if possessed afterward were all top-tier in taste too.
Usually, celebrity restaurants were places you went for eye-candy or something to post on Instagram rather than for flavor, but unexpectedly, it actually tasted good.
Even though they were full, it slid down easily, and that wasn’t normal.
“Our chef is Mr. Bonggeun.”
“Oh. I know. He’s that guy who’s famous for cooking, right!”
As the meals at several tables started to wind down, as if he’d been waiting for the moment, Kim Bonggeun came out of the kitchen dragging a tray cart that rattled along.
A huge wok on a camping gas burner grabbed everyone’s attention.
“What’s that now?”
While people leaned in with interest, Kim Bonggeun poured oil into the thoroughly heated pan.
Ssshhhhh!
The sizzling sound of boiling oil crackled at their ears.
Next, sugar and starch syrup were tossed in.
A sweet smell filled the space.
Into it went a pile of sweet potatoes chopped into big chunks.
Sssssss!
A sound and smell so appetizing it was almost ridiculous stimulated their sight and their sense of smell.
As much as everyone knew what was being made in that huge wok, their eyes filled with anticipation.
Because when it came to candied sweet potatoes, wasn’t the rule to eat them fresh and hot, blowing on them and burning the roof of your mouth as you went?
Snap! Snap!
With crisp, decisive wrist flicks, Kim Bonggeun coated the fully cooked sweet potatoes in a brilliant sheen of syrup.
Then, for the finale, he even lit it up and put on a little fire show, and admiration burst out from all sides.
In an instant, glossy, sparkling candied sweet potatoes were complete.
“Candied sweet potatoes are on the house. These are made with sweet potatoes Lee Rowoon and PD Han Yeju dug up themselves at dawn today. Enjoy, everyone~!”
The finished candied sweet potatoes were quickly handed out to the guests.
A heaping plate of them was set down for Ms. Kim’s group too. This time, it was Kim Bonggeun serving.
‘Ah, I wanted Rowoon to come.’
Ms. Kim felt a twinge of disappointment, but she forced herself to soothe it away.
She’d lived for years squeezing juice out of nothing, with zero crumbs of bait. Seeing him in person was already something.
That’s how people’s greed was.
But Kim Bonggeun, who handed over the candied sweet potatoes, didn’t look like he was going to leave.
Instead of leaving, he leaned in and whispered confidentially.
“Excuse me, you’re Rowoon fans, right?”
“Huh? Y-yes. We a-are, but…”
Swept up by the atmosphere, Ms. Kim lowered her voice and answered in a similarly conspiratorial whisper.
“So, normally you’re not supposed to say this, but something the youngest said has been bothering me.”
At Kim Bonggeun’s words, Ms. Kim’s heart dropped.
“What? What about our Rowoon?”
“He said there probably wouldn’t be any fans looking for him. But I heard from the PD that you’re Rowoon fans, so…”
No.
What was this?
Ms. Kim’s mind, which had been hazy like she’d wandered into heaven, snapped awake as if hit with cold water.
“If it’s okay, I was wondering if you could tell Rowoon you’re his fans.”
“…I was told we’re not supposed to do that.”
Of course, Ms. Kim would welcome it, but this was an era where a fan’s thoughtless behavior could become an actor’s blemish.
“Oh, it’s okay. Everyone takes a photo once before they leave, and……”
That trailing off at the end clearly meant, “Except our youngest, Lee Rowoon, didn’t.”
Even the PD who’d been filming them gave an OK sign.
It looked like it had already been discussed.
Ms. Kim couldn’t understand it at all.
‘No, people say they leave these viewer-participation programs with their confidence fully charged. So what happened to our boy that he got that dejected!’
No matter how you looked at him, his face was clear and innocent, but once she heard the message through Kim Bonggeun, it didn’t look ordinary anymore.
Her favorite, whom she’d assumed lived off knowing how great he was, turned out to have low self-esteem?
What kind of talk is this, doctor?
Ms. Kim’s world underwent a massive upheaval today in every possible way.
“So please play along a bit.”
“Ah, of course. We’re pros at that, pros.”
After Kim Bonggeun coordinated with Ms. Kim’s group, he beckoned Rowoon over.
“Rowoon. These folks are your fans.”
Strictly speaking, only Ms. Kim was, but by now, acquaintance 1 and 2 were nodding fiercely too.
“I did hear it from the PD earlier. Thank you.”
Rowoon greeted them, cheeks reddening as if embarrassed.
But Ms. Kim had a gut feeling.
‘He doesn’t believe it right now.’
Maybe the other two felt it too, because they exchanged meaningful looks.
Well, it couldn’t be helped.
Ms. Kim decided to use a nuclear option: exposing her entire stanning history to her stanning target.
If it meant my favorite could regain his confidence, what couldn’t I reveal! What couldn’t I lay bare!
With a resolute look, as if spitting blood, Ms. Kim opened her mouth.
“Guys. Wasn’t that kind of weird?”
On the way back.
Ms. Kim’s group, who somehow ended up leaving with photos, hugs, autographs, and on the way out, an armful of potatoes and sweet potatoes piled into their arms.
It should have been a happy, full ride home, but right now, they had a deeply strange feeling, like meerkats that had sensed something suspicious.
“Yeah. It was kind of weird. I think he didn’t believe you, Ms. Kim.”
“You think so too? Ha… I even exposed my cringe black history and said I was his fan.”
“But even to me, that sounded a little… creepy. Who calls out scenes while remembering the seconds?”
“That was all I had to eat! What else was I supposed to do!”
“But it didn’t seem like he thought it was creepy. He looked like he was fidgeting because he felt sorry, though?”
As acquaintance 1 and Ms. Kim bickered, acquaintance 2, who’d been listening, cut in.
“That’s exactly what’s weird. Our Yess wasn’t the kind of kid who felt sorry, okay? He was the type who lived off knowing how great he was! Sure, his mentality was soft like silken tofu, but still!”
“This one, seriously…….”
“It’s love-hate, love-hate.”
If anything, he had been closer to a rebel who cursed the world because nobody recognized him.
…Though, at the time, Rowoon really did have zero ability worth recognizing even if people wanted to.
-I’m sorry.
That was what Rowoon said first, after hearing Ms. Kim.
She explained in a rush that she hadn’t said it to make him apologize, that she just wanted him to know she’d been a fan for a long time.
-Thank you. For liking me… and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’ve shown you embarrassing sides of myself until now, and from now on, I’ll show you better sides, so I won’t disappoint you.
Hearing that, Ms. Kim almost burst into tears on the spot.
Our kid has changed.
Our kid… has already grown up this much…!
She was able to hand over the letter she’d brought just in case, too.
Up to that point, Ms. Kim felt so full her chest might burst.
Was there any “successful fan” more successful than her?
She was the successful fan, the one who heard her favorite thank her with her own ears!
But after she got in the car and held that swelling heart close on the way home, she thought it over, and something felt off.
“Honestly, I was super worried going in just based on what Ms. Kim said, but he was just… gentle, that’s all.”
“Right. Unless your soul changes, a person can’t change like that. If he was an actor who could act that well, he would’ve gone to the Oscars already. Isn’t that right? So that’s not acting, it means his real personality is like that.”
Acquaintance 1, who pushed the “soul-possession theory,” said seriously.
“And that comedian said it too. That your favorite was sitting around all dejected because nobody liked him.”
“Yeah. And Ms. Kim. Those stories you saw, if you really pick them apart, aren’t they all just hearsay? Regular-person sightings obviously had no proof, and as for ‘staff IDs,’ you know and I know how easy it is to forge those or get one and use it somewhere.”
“One thing that still bugs me is that he was kind of neglectful to fans, but that’s… well. We get tired too, and when someone talks to you when you’re exhausted, you get a little annoyed, right? It could’ve just been that moment.”
Listening to acquaintance 1 and 2 go back and forth, Ms. Kim opened her mouth, half in disbelief.
“So what you’re saying is… Rowoon was misunderstood all this time?”
“Exactly. That’s it. Looking at him, he kind of has that slightly standoffish look, you know? Like a cold beauty type when he doesn’t smile.”
“Yeah, yeah. But then when he smiles, he’s totally different.”
“That’s what I’m saying. And his personality seemed pretty gentle, so maybe he’s shy around people and got misunderstood because of that. The entertainment world is like that. Things that aren’t true get treated like they are. Something that’s 1 becomes 100 and spreads as a rumor.”
Fifty years total, just in stanning seniority.
They were people who’d been through countless fandoms and had seen every ugly thing there was to see.
“Could it be… seriously? But then what about the posts on Insta?”
“Think about it. If you’re innocent but everyone’s cursing you out, wouldn’t you feel wronged? I’d feel wronged too, and I’d want to vent. And it’s not like he can’t act either, but everything got edited down into bit parts, right? Wouldn’t it be weird if he wasn’t upset?”
Now that she thought about it, that was true too.
“This is crazy. I think I’m about to become the kind of person who holds a grudge for life.”
Ms. Kim had always labeled herself a face stan, but at that point, she evolved. Into a diehard fan.
“Same. Ms. Kim, you’re not just going to leave it like this, right?”
“Ah, of course not. Whatever the past was, we need to let people know he’s clearly different now. I can’t watch our boy acting all low-self-esteem again.”
“Okay. So what was your site’s address again?”
Acquaintance 1 asked, wearing the same serious expression.
“I’ll post the address in the group chat.”
Ms. Kim made a vow.
That she would tell everyone about this changed situation.
She didn’t know whether the past really was a misunderstanding.
‘But either way, it’s not like that now! And it’s not like my kid drove drunk, committed school violence, did drugs, gambled! He didn’t commit crimes! And those kinds of people are the ones who stroll around like nothing happened!’
It was true that “a terrible personality” was also hard to shield, but at least, it wasn’t like that now, was it?
Just thinking about Rowoon digging into the dirt made Ms. Kim feel like her blood was rushing backward.
She couldn’t let it stay like that.
To change this situation, she needed even one more ally.
With a happy heart, she welcomed her new comrades.
And so, the misunderstanding only deepened.
Leave a Reply