But she could not just leave Cheonghyeon to keep digging himself deeper into the ground. Ihwa steeled her heart.
If no one else would, then she had to step in and steady the center of this young prince who was floundering like a buoy caught in rough waves. She had to help him become not a buoy that swayed in a weak breeze, but a breakwater that would stand firm even in a storm.
“I’ve been watching Isaac since his debut. The day East held their very first showcase, I had the strangest experience of my life.”
Not a single camera, not a single question, was directed at that boy. It was only natural that no articles came out after his debut, and even the veteran camera directors on music shows could never easily capture Cheonghyeon on film.
So of course there was not even anyone who recognized him. There had also been no need to meet in secret, the way they did now. Even if they spent an entire day on a date at a café in the middle of a busy district, not a single eyewitness account would appear.
Guessing that this prince, too, had probably gone through similar experiences many times, Ihwa continued.
“Cheonghyeon. Then if you became the prince again, and Isaac became idol Gi Cheonghyeon, would that be fine with you?”
At Ihwa’s question, Cheonghyeon hesitated.
This was why he could not simply whine that he was the one losing out. It had not been long, but he had already grown deeply attached to his manager and the members. If their bodies suddenly changed back again like this, he felt certain that the people he had met here would continue to linger in his thoughts even in that other world.
And what weighed on his heart most of all was the existence of the fans who liked him as he was now.
“Maybe Isaac is crying right now too, watching your situation in his dreams. I was the only person who was on that child’s side, and now I’m taking pictures of you. The people who used to tell him to at least make his presence known are now hundreds of thousands of fans who cherish you and love you. You’re getting the support Isaac never received even once, filming variety shows, and you even gained an idol friend named Yeonhee. There may not be an older brother who shows you pretty flowers, but you do have Hyeonbaragi, who writes you letters every day. Wouldn’t this be enough for us?”
At Ihwa’s words, Cheonghyeon quietly lowered his head.
Ihwa too silently waited for Cheonghyeon’s confusion to settle, then spoke again in a low voice.
“I’ll never understand it, not even if I live a lifetime, because I’ve never experienced the shock of souls being switched. But for someone to suddenly take over my body one day, that would be a truly terrible thing. The people I treasured would care for another me who wasn’t really me, and in my place, he would be building up my career anew. Really… the shock would be too great. Even if what had been given to me now were greater, I would still resent every part of the situation. That’s only natural, Cheonghyeon.”
Ihwa paused for a moment to catch her breath.
Then she clasped his pale, trembling white hand tightly. So that her warmth could be passed on to him.
As if to remind him that there was someone in this world who would hold his hand, Ihwa held on to Cheonghyeon’s shaking hand for a long, long time.
“But now there are people here who need Gi Cheonghyeon, and no one else. Even if your body changes again, there are now people who will go looking for your existence. There are many people in this world as handsome as you. But there are also many fans who’ve grown attached to you, who have fallen completely for your charm, and who say that anyone other than you won’t satisfy them. Couldn’t you live while looking only at those fans? Couldn’t you forget the imperial palace now and love this place instead?”
It was something he had thought before, even at the signing event. People who wanted only his happiness, almost strangely so.
Fans were the most unfamiliar kind of people Cheonghyeon had encountered since coming to this Earth.
What they felt toward him was not loyalty. And yet their feelings were as deep and intense as loyalty.
Then was it merely romantic affection? That was not it either. They did not wish for his happiness and success while expecting to date him. Nor did they deify him like a religion.
The feelings fans held for him were complicated and subtle emotions that could not be defined with a single word. Most of the fans who had likely never even met him in person, never even held his hand, were sending him the heaviest and most precious feelings they possessed without asking anything in return.
“Cheonghyeon, live while looking at those hearts. Live while looking only at the people who say it has to be you. Forget the people who would never have said even one warm word to you even if you had lived your whole life in the imperial palace, and live on the strength of the people who look only at you now. And if life still feels too hard, if you miss the people you left behind, then come to me. I’ll listen to everything. If you let it all out once, wouldn’t it feel at least a little better afterward?”
At those words, Cheonghyeon cried quietly for a long time. Ihwa came over and held him tightly, but his sobs did not easily stop.
Back when he had been in the imperial palace, he had never cried like this, nor laughed like this. But after coming here, Cheonghyeon had cried countless times and laughed countless times.
Into the hollow place in his heart left behind by tearing away the memories of the imperial palace, new memories were slipping in before even he realized it, becoming recollections of their own.
Even after Ihwa left, Cheonghyeon sat there for a long while, turning over and over in his mind the conversation he had had with her.
Like sweetness coming out of a grain of rice that had been chewed for a long time, the memories of that sorrowful dawn were sweetly covered over by today’s conversation.
Only late in the evening did Cheonghyeon finally feel that he could remember it without being upset anymore. Even if the image of a happy Isaac appeared in his dreams again now, it no longer felt as though the hurt would be as deep as it had been at dawn that day.
After seeing Ihwa off, Cheonghyeon returned to the dorm and checked the reply that had come from Seoan. It was a positive response to his request that they meet.
“Uh, Cheonghyeon. Have you found someone to appear on the reality show? If nobody’s available, hyung can do it for you. What’s the big deal about showing my face? The fans probably all know what I look like already.”
“Ah. Nothing’s been finalized yet, but there is someone I’ve already contacted. It’s someone you know too, hyung.”
Cheonghyeon had already contacted Hyeonbaragi, and at the same time he told Changsik everything, including the fact that Hyeonbaragi had come to his signing event.
“Hyeonbaragi? So you’re saying that male fan who came to the signing event before was Hyeonbaragi? Cheonghyeon, don’t tell me you gave him your number that day?”
“I didn’t give him my number, but he already had it. Hyeonbaragi was the guardian proxy who had been staying in contact with the company on my behalf. The graduate student who works as my father’s assistant.”
“What do you mean…?”
As if the sudden flood of information had overloaded him, Changsik pressed both hands to his head. Cheonghyeon gave a faint smile, informed him of the schedule, then sent Changsik out of the room.
“I’ve already contacted him and asked to meet. I’m not sure whether he’ll be able to appear or not, but I also have more than one or two things I want to ask him, so I think we’ll have to meet first and talk…. Please give me a ride to a restaurant in Gangnam tomorrow for a bit. That’s where we agreed to meet.”
Muttering, “Hyeonbaragi is that graduate student…?” Changsik was pushed out of Cheonghyeon’s room.
So that was why he had asked him on the day of the reality show shoot whether he knew Hyeonbaragi personally?
In his heart, he wanted to go along to the place where the two of them would meet, but instinctively he realized it was not a place for him to insert himself.
All he could do was hope that after meeting Hyeonbaragi, Cheonghyeon would tell him every last little detail. Feeling exactly like a parent curious about who their child was getting along with at school, Changsik scratched the back of his head.
[Whoa, I think I just saw C.H.]
I’m serious… He wasn’t wearing a mask, so I recognized him. Looked like he had a reservation or something, because he said something to an employee and went straight into a private room.
└ So he blows up and immediately goes to meet a girl? lololol
└ (OP) The hell are you saying, asshole. It was the room right next to mine, and there was a guy in there.
└ Sure, sasaeng.
└ (OP) No, damn it, I’m not a sasaeng! I just got shocked when I saw C.H. and made a post.
Looks like Gi Cheonghyeon is dating Ko Yeonheeㅇㅅㅇ
This is why you never spend money on boy idols lol. Gobbling up that 500 million won support.
└ Don’t drag in another idol just to trash C.H., you piece of trashㅗ
└ Seriously, when are these delusional shippers going to die?
└ Those damn Uyeonri bastards really created a ton of delusional shippers, ugh.
I’m the one who said I saw C.H. earlier, and tonight I’ll verify it with the restaurant receipt and photo. I obviously can’t do it right now because fans might swarm the place if I tell them.
└ I think it’d be better if you just deleted the post.
└ But it’s just an eyewitness post, so why’s everyone so on edge?? Can’t Gi Cheonghyeon even eat a meal? ㅜ I’m another fandom’s fan, and I’ve never seen drama like this before, so I’m kind of shocked…
└ It’s just because there are a ton of trolls piling in right now…ㅠㅠ Since you said his companion was a man, people suddenly started calling you a sasaeng lol. OP, is there any chance you could upload a photo with C.H.’s companion too? Just enough to show he’s a man…
└ (OP) But I saw him while I was going into the room I reserved too, so I don’t have a photo of the companion..ㅠ He seemed like a regular person, so it felt wrong to just snap one… Also, I made this reservation two weeks ago, so I’ll post the reservation text too. I swear on everything I’m not a sasaengㅜㅜ
I’m just a passing fan of another group, but I saw Cheonghyeon too! I only saw him getting out of the car and going into the restaurant! But he wasn’t even wearing a mask. Do people usually meet girl idols that freely?? Also, it wasn’t even his own car, it looked like a car his manager was driving.. I did take a photo too, but it’d be kind of bad if the location got out, so I’ll verify it tonight too.
└ Yeah, Cheonghyeon doesn’t have a car lol.
└ It obviously looks like he’s just meeting an acquaintance, but the delusional shippers latched on, damnㅜㅜ Thanks for the eyewitness account!!
└ ㅠㅠ Fan from another fandom, thank you for the updateㅜ
What kind of male idol openly meets a girl idol in broad daylightㅜㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Does Geulse seriously have no intention of suing people like these???
└ Exactlyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I’m so stressedㅠㅜ
└ I’m just quietly making a PDF of everything and planning to send it to Geulseㅇㅇ
Guys, disperse.
Gyuri just uploaded all the girls on Instagramㅇㅇ I’m posting this without censoring anything because I’m pissed that these trolls are using my babyㅋ Yeonhee is making hwachae with Song-i right now, and if you look at the wall clock caught at the edge of the picture, the time matches tooㅎ
└ Oh, was that just uploaded?
└ Yup yup, and today’s process is going to be uploaded on Song-i’s vlog too!
└ Wow, it’s already the season for watermelon, huh.
Why are you all only assuming it was Ko Yeonhee? I only said it was a woman. Aren’t you the delusional ones? lol
└ Don’t feed the trolls.
Just ignore every post that comes up from now on.
└ Yeah.
└ Yeah.
└ Yeah.
└ Yeah.
Hyeongae @hyunpuppy : Yeah… this was what being first-tier tasted like lol. I’d forgotten.
Yeonsangun @kingjot : Save our Strawberryㅜㅜ Those bastards are toxic as pesticide.
└ Hyeongae @hyunpuppy
#TheBloodAllianceThatWillAbsolutelyProtectOurSoftRiceCakeStrawberryPrincess
└ Yeonsangun @kingjot
#WeSupportYou #WeStandTogether
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