He had wondered whether they really needed to rent out this whole large café for such a short shoot, but Seoan was a man with this much impact even now, when there were only staff around.
Looking at a face that would clearly have been even harder to control if ordinary people had been present, Cheonghyeon inwardly praised the PD’s foresight.
As Cheonghyeon followed behind the PD, he quietly took in the sight of Seoan.
The image of him, taking in people’s attention without the slightest tension while surrounded in a circle by the staff, lingered like an afterimage.
Cheonghyeon recalled that moment at the signing event when Seoan had approached him.
It had only been the sight of him walking straight toward him, step by step, and yet that moment was still vivid, as if drawn right before his eyes.
Even the faint scent of perfume Seoan had given off when he came close remained clearly imprinted in his mind.
Even though most of his face had been covered back then, he had stolen everyone’s gaze, including Cheonghyeon’s. And it was the same now.
The way he naturally smiled as he received other people’s attention, while at the same time putting up an invisible wall that made it hard for anyone to approach him carelessly, showed that he was no ordinary sly fox.
Clicking his tongue, Cheonghyeon followed the PD toward the interview seat.
“All right, Cheonghyeon-ssi. You can just answer comfortably. For now, let’s assume the viewers don’t know who the guest is yet, and please briefly tell us your impression of the person you invited today. It’d be even better if it’s a strong enough phrase to stir up a little aggro. It’s for the preview.”
“Mm…”
“Don’t feel pressured, just toss something out. Whatever comes to mind first.”
“The person who always protected me, even when I didn’t know it. I think that suits best.”
When he came out after finishing the interview, he saw Seoan choosing a mask. As he came closer, Seoan smiled brightly and asked him,
“Cheonghyeon-ah! Is this one prettier, or that one?”
Cheonghyeon had been about to answer curtly and tell him to just pick anything, but then the unmanned cameras installed here and there caught his eye. Come to think of it, there had also been two camera directors tailing him closely and filming him ever since the interview.
“Hyung… well, anything suits you. But since you’re Hyeonbaragi, wear the sunflower. Okay?”
A large sunflower headband was placed on his head, and when his face was covered by a green half-mask that seemed to symbolize leaves, someone could be heard letting out a small, regretful sound.
The staff member who had unconsciously made the noise looked startled by their own voice and hurried off in a fluster.
It must have been embarrassing for the staff member, but Cheonghyeon secretly agreed with that sigh.
His pretty lips and jawline were still visible, but once more than half his face was covered, there was no helping the feeling of disappointment.
“I think it’s good. Since he’s Hyeonbaragi, it should be the sunflower on Cheonghyeon’s side.”
The sight of Seoan bending the large sunflower attached to the headband and acting cute left him dumbfounded.
Seeing Seoan act so affectionate naturally brought their last meeting to mind.
“As Seoan-ssi said earlier, my situation is very unstable right now. I hardly have any friends to begin with, and the theme of this broadcast is spending a day with the person most precious to me. I want you to appear on the show with me. I’d also like you to act like a friend who’s known me well for a long time.”
“Mm… Since Gideon-nim is a woman, it would’ve been hard for you to rashly ask her to appear. And if you told an acquaintance that you lost your memory, you’d be scared rumors might spread.”
Cheonghyeon nodded.
“Then can you trust me? From your point of view, this is only the second time you’ve seen me, and yet enough to tell me you lost your memory?”
“That’s why I said it. I’m asking Kim Seoan-ssi the assistant, not Hyeonbaragi.”
In truth, he had wanted most to ask Ihwa to appear, since she was the most comfortable option, but if he was not careful, bad rumors could spread about a female fan being too close to him.
It would not have mattered if he went out with his manager, but when all the members were calling in family, teachers, or old friends, him appearing alone with his manager would have made for a strange picture.
On top of that, the biggest issue was that as the reality show aired, there were now people starting to feel something was odd.
[ CheonghyeonStopIt @ki_plz
Guys, seriously, get it together… he’s an adult who did his military service.
4 Retweets 328 Quote Tweets 2 Likes ]
[ AccountThatDragsMaleIdolsWhoCantActTheirAge @namza_out
No but acting like you can’t even fry an egg and eating plain rice is seriously such a forced-concept thing, isn’t it?? You shop just fine too; Gi Cheonghyeon-ssi, please stop the clueless innocent-boy act!✋ You are a 25-year-old adult who has completed military service:)
2 Retweets 712 Quote Tweets 1 Like ]
Cheonghyeon felt wronged. It was true that he did not know the ways of the world.
He had come to a world he was seeing for the first time since being born, and he had to go about everyday life pretending to be an ordinary person, so how could that possibly be done calmly?
Just as there were fans who found his behavior, which was different from that of ordinary adults in some ways, pure and cute, there were also people who felt the incongruity and were uncomfortable with it.
In truth, even when he heard things like that, Cheonghyeon himself thought nothing of it, but the biggest problem was that his fans were getting stressed.
[ Pobies~ the search-term cleanup train is here♡ ]
- Gi Cheonghyeon braised short ribs
- Gi Cheonghyeon Cheongsansu
- Gi Cheonghyeon Korea University
- Gi Cheonghyeon basketball uniform
- Gi Cheonghyeon high quality
- Gi Cheonghyeon strawberry
- Gi Cheonghyeon signing event
- Gi Cheonghyeon preview
- Gi Cheonghyeon 움짤
- Gi Cheonghyeon gif
At some point, fans started posting these search-cleanup posts more often than posts about pining over him.
It was also true that searching for his name had become difficult for Cheonghyeon himself, but more than that, he had begun to wish that his fans could like him with more peace of mind. So after much thought, he ended up making this proposal to Seoan.
To Seoan, not Hyeonbaragi. It was not a request from a celebrity to a fan, but a final request offered to the person who had acted as his guardian.
If he went out with his manager, his own mind would be at ease. But thinking of the man’s tendency to overprotect him and treat him like a five-year-old child, it seemed better to just say he had no friends or family to call.
“Now that I look at you, you really do resemble Professor Gi a lot. Especially the part where you make a difficult request while believing as a matter of course that I’ll do it.”
Just as Cheonghyeon was wondering whether that was an insult or a compliment, Seoan readily accepted the proposal and gave him a light smile.
“Sure. Then there’s one thing I’d like to propose too.”
Cheonghyeon nodded as though telling him to say anything.
“My family wants me to get married early. I still don’t want to. So I want to look like someone who’s fallen so hard for Cheonghyeon-ssi that marriage and all that doesn’t even come into view. But because of my profession, it’d be a little burdensome if it became known that I’m a fan of an idol… Could you make it so my face doesn’t go out? If that alone can be done, then I’m fine too. My family will recognize me even if my face is covered anyway.”
In the conservative academic world, being found out as an idol fan was the very last thing he wanted. And so Cheonghyeon promised that he would speak to them so that Seoan could film while wearing a mask.
In fact, Yoonwoo’s younger sister was also going to film while wearing a rabbit mask because she felt burdened by having her face shown on television, so Seoan would be possible too.
That was how Cheonghyeon and Seoan spent the whole day making plans.
Looking at it now, the result did feel a little excessive, but in any case it would be beneficial to him too, so Cheonghyeon decided that for today, he would diligently match Seoan’s rhythm.
Soon after, Seoan, now wearing the sunflower mask, headed with the PD toward a corner to do his interview.
The concept Cheonghyeon and Seoan had planned for this broadcast was this. Seoan wanted to show himself with Cheonghyeon on this program in order to make it clear to his grandfather that he had no intention of getting married, and Cheonghyeon’s goal was to show that he had a friend who treated him normally too, so that his fans would not be stressed.
Seoan recalled the conversation he had shared with Cheonghyeon.
‘Because I lost my memory, I don’t know from where to where I have to go for it to look like the image of a normal adult. I need someone who can match themselves to me. Not someone who sees me as a person they have to take care of no matter what I say or do, but someone who will answer me normally and push back at me.’
‘But the fans will probably like how you are now even more. People don’t spend money and time being fans because they want to like some ordinary twenty-five-year-old guy who could be found anywhere.’
No one met male college students in their early to mid-twenties more often than Seoan did.
From Seoan’s experience, Cheonghyeon’s worry was a completely useless worry.
Men that age often lived with far less thought than Cheonghyeon imagined. Still, it was not as if he could not understand Cheonghyeon’s worry at all.
If he had lost his memory, he would probably be anxious about everything, and every single reaction from other people would get to him.
‘Then since the concept is that we’re like a hyung and dongsaeng who’ve known each other a long time, should we start with speaking casually, the two of us?’
“Nice to meet you. Oh wow, still, covering it with a mask makes it much better. You’re so handsome that even I got flustered.”
“You flatter me. Thank you.”
Beneath the oversized sunflower and the clumsy green half-mask, the red, beautifully shaped corners of his mouth rose in a smooth curve.
It looked mismatched, yet somehow suited him well. Even just from the sharp jawline and well-shaped lips alone, anyone could easily tell that what the PD said was true.
“All right then, I’ll start with a light question. Out of all the many idols out there, why was it Cheonghyeon-ssi?”
“The heart isn’t something where you say, from today on I’m going to like that person, and then you start liking them. By the time I came to my senses, I was already liking him, that’s all.”
If it were the fans, they would nod along, saying, ‘Ahh, exactly. It’s not like the phrase getting bias-wrecked out of nowhere exists for nothing!’ but his grandfather would take it differently.
At that thought, Seoan smoothly lifted the corners of his mouth once more. And since he had previously said that they were not even close enough to have really spoken yet, he worked his mind hard over how he ought to explain it to his grandfather when they suddenly started looking close.
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