“Hello.”
When I greeted the first fan to come onto the stage, they smiled shyly and bowed their head.
“You'll be the first person to receive my autograph. What name should I write?”
“Please call me the First Human.”
The First Human? Thinking it was an unusual fan name, I signed the album.
“Actually, I have something to brag about to you, Chanhwi.”
“Oh, what's that?”
“I'm the first Earthling who joined Earth Star.”
The fans who joined Sun & Moon's fan café, Earth Star, were called “Earthlings” because Earthlings were the life-forms who looked up at the sun and moon from within the solar system.
“Ah, ha ha ha. So that's why you're the First Human?”
What an entertaining person.
After I finished signing, I clasped the fan's hand tightly in both of mine before they moved to the next seat.
Then I met their eyes, smiled brightly, and spoke.
“The First Human received my very first autograph too, didn't they? Please keep watching Sun & Moon from the front row.”
“O-of course.”
The fan cradled the hand I had just held as if it were precious before moving to the next seat.
“Next person, come on up.”
Fansigns were not only about signing autographs. Fans could also write simple questions on sticky notes for us to answer. Usually, they wrote questions about our preferences, such as our favorite desserts, and we could jot down a simple response. The first question, however, was rather unusual.
[Between Sunny and Moony, who's the leader?]
Sunny VS Moony
Among the fans, Sunny meant me, while Moony meant Yujin.
There was nothing to consider. Obviously, it was me, so I circled Sunny.
The fan looked at the sticky note with an expression that said, I see, then brought up what they really wanted to say.
“I've been thinking about this for a while: your hair, Chanhwi. The two-tone style turned out great. Which salon did you get it done at?”
“Ah, this was at a place in Gangnam.......”
Fans did not come to fansigns to talk about themselves.
They had always been curious about the idols they supported: the food they ate, their preferences, and even the brands of their accessories.
An idol's role at a fansign was to answer those questions sincerely. That was the best thing we could do.
“With the two-tone color, you really do look like Sunny. It suits you.”
“Thank you.”
The fan wished me luck and moved to the next seat. Before long, I heard them chuckling over there.
‘Looks like Yujin is doing pretty well too.’
He looked perfectly fine as he greeted the fan with a bright smile. Thinking there would be no major problems at this rate, I faced the next fan—and felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
“Hello. Uh, so...... We've met before, haven't we?”
“Yes, we have! I came to see you, Chanhwi, when you worked at Beef Man.”
“No, apart from that......”
“And at the showcase......”
The fan listed the events she had attended, but I felt as though I had known her for far longer. Then the answer came to me.
‘My God......’
“Do you happen to like rock music?”
“H-how did you know?”
‘Is that really Min-jeong-noona?’
How could something like this happen?
The fan standing before me was Seo Min-jeong, one of my most devoted fans before my regression.
Starting with my first single after my solo debut, she followed nearly every weekend schedule I had.
‘Noona, what's that?’
‘Ta-da! I bought a camera so I can take prettier pictures of you, Chanhwi. This thing was really expensive, you know?’
‘How much was it?’
‘----0,000 won’
‘That's insane. You should've bought yourself food with that money.’
‘So I'll be eating convenience-store kimbap for a while.’
‘Good grief.’
At first, she had only been a fan photographer rather than a fansite master, but she later opened a social-media account and became my top fansite master.
She had spoken for the fans when she asked me not to put up a wall between us.
When I took first place at the BMA, she had celebrated more loudly than anyone.
Even during the two-year hiatus that followed, Min-jeong-noona missed me and continued uploading my pictures to the fan café.
‘Even though it wasn't her favorite genre.’
I did not know why I had met her again. Perhaps she had simply supported several idols and happened to encounter me again. Even so, I did not want to let this opportunity slip away a second time.
After signing the album, I squeezed both of Min-jeong's hands.
“I'm sorry.”
“......Huh? All of a sudden?”
Seo Min-jeong was flustered by the sudden apology.
Manager Lee Eun-ha, who was watching from behind, looked at Chanhwi as if she had also sensed something strange.
I was sorry that I had not treated her better, and sorry that I had left without even saying goodbye at the end.
“Next time, I'll sing the rock music you like.”
“Oh, right. I thought rock would suit you really well too, Chanhwi. Make sure you sing it next time. And here.”
Seo Min-jeong seemed to have assumed that I was apologizing for not singing rock this time.
She handed me the gifts she had prepared.
One was a box of chocolates in luxurious packaging.
My NeoTube vlogs often showed me eating chocolate, so many fans knew I liked it. This gift was clearly because of that.
And the other one was a handkerchief?
When I looked up at her to ask what it was for, Seo Min-jeong whispered softly to me.
“Chanhwi, you're crying right now.”
“?!”
Seriously, what is wrong with me lately?
I was not some middle-aged man overwhelmed by sentimentality, yet I kept bursting into tears at the slightest thing.
“Wipe them before you get teased again.”
“Yes. Yes. Thank you. I mean it.”
If they teased me again, I would probably be too embarrassed to show my face in public.
“Then noona will move along?”
“Yes. Yes. See you, see you again next time. I'll remember you, noona.”
I was not some machine that could only say yes. I must have been incredibly flustered, because I rambled as I greeted the next fan.
The person next in line startled me for an entirely different reason from Seo Min-jeong.
***
The event went remarkably well for a rookie idol's fansign, and reviews soon began piling up on the Earth Star fan café.
[An idol's reaction when he realizes his mom and dad came to his fansign]
[Video]
[Photo]
[Enlarged photo]
↳ If my mom and dad came to my fansign? Wow, even I'd die of secondhand embarrassment.
↳ Why? I'd be pretty happy if my mom and dad came to my fansign.
↳ Is that why he cried?
↳ He cried?
↳ He's crying again?
↳ No, look at Chanhwi's eyes. Aren't they a little red? By impeccable logic, had he already cried? Or maybe he was holding back tears.
↳ An idol who cries every time his parents appear?
↳ Still, it's nice to see.
↳ Father, why are you so cute, marching onto the stage and boldly demanding an autograph? LOL.
↳ ‘Give.’
[Between Sunny and Moony, who's the leader?]
Ever since they debuted, I've been wondering which of the two was the leader, you know? So I wrote the same question on sticky notes and handed one to each of them. The result was.
[Photo]
Isn't it so cute that they both think they're the leader?
↳ So who's the leader? Dae-myeong, tell us!
↳ Make them fight, and whoever survives gets to be the leader.
↳ How would they fight? A chicken fight?
↳ Ah, I wish someone would make content where they put the leader position on the line. LOL.
[Review of today's fansign]
I've seriously never supported an idol before, but I fell for them after seeing them perform, so I took the plunge, cleared the fansign cutoff, and won a spot.
Right up until the day before the fansign, I kept worrying. What gift should I give them? What should I say? I was dying of nerves.
[Photo]
Isn't Yujin unbearably cute, barely managing to make a heart after I asked him to show me something adorable?
[Photo]
These are the can badges the agency gave the fans. I got Sunny and Moony as a set. I'm going to put them on my bag every day.
↳ Today's fansign was packed. I'm so jealous. T_T
↳ I'm definitely going next time......!
***
“Yes, everyone. It's time to meet this week's idols. Which idols will we meet today? ‘Idol Week’ starts now!”
The recording began with the opening lines from the two idol MCs.
StarTV was a channel focused on idol variety shows, and ‘Idol Week’ was hosted by former first-generation idols Woo-hyeok and Seo-hee.
Each week, it introduced idols who were debuting or making comebacks in a format that combined a talk show with a variety program. After talking with the idols, the hosts challenged them to games and gave them prizes if they succeeded.
‘Not bad.’
I had wondered which program CEO Kim Dae-myeong had placed us on. Anyone interested in idols made sure to watch ‘Idol Week,’ so it was perfect for our first variety-show appearance.
“All right, Seo-hee. I heard that a new Sunny has recently appeared in the music industry?”
“What? Didn't you hear wrong, Woo-hyeok? Wasn't it a new Moony I heard had appeared in the music industry?”
“I said it's Sunny.”
“I said it's Moony.”
Their squabbling was staged to showcase their chemistry and make the program entertaining.
‘Come to think of it, was their relationship exposed this year? Or was it next year?’
After bickering for a while, the two MCs glared at each other and delivered their lines.
“Fine. Then let's call them out and see whether it's Sunny or Moony.”
“This week's idols, please come out!”
At the cue, Chanhwi and Yujin entered the studio and looked toward the camera.
They had grown accustomed to this by now, and the two delivered their greeting simultaneously without needing to count out the timing.
“Hello. The first star you see. We are Sun & Moon!”
The MCs regarded the two fresh-faced rookies, now one week into their debut, with fond expressions.
What would the MCs ask us? As rookies, Sun & Moon had only one album, so a random-play dance would probably become a cover-dance challenge. I was confident about that. Yujin would be the problem.
It was hard to guess what else they might make us do, but what could possibly go wrong?
“We've brought the hottest topics from Sun & Moon's fan café. First question. Between Sun & Moon's Sunny and Moony, who's the leader?”
My gaze turned instinctively. Yujin, sitting beside me, looked at me at the same time.
The whole affair had begun with a sticky note a fan wrote at the fansign, but I had never imagined that Yujin had also chosen himself as the leader.
When the silence stretched on, the MCs stepped in to fill the dead air.
“Yes, they've been struck speechless. That's right. This is a sensitive issue. Back in my group, Choi Kang and I once fought over who would be leader too.”
“Right, we have no choice but to hear both sides. Shall we ask Yujin first? Which of you do you think should be the leader?”
MC Seo-hee asked Yujin with a broad grin. Their eyes were full of determination to wring as much entertainment from the situation as possible.
Yujin looked at me for a moment, moved his lips, then spoke.
“Obviously, I think it should be me. I was originally supposed to debut alone, but Chanhwi tagged along as a bonus.”
That would probably rank first among the most ridiculous things I heard all year.
Why did he keep glancing at me as he spoke? Was he provoking me? Would I really take the bait so easily?
Unlike me, the MCs looked delighted to have found a juicy topic and egged Yujin on.
“Then, Yujin, in your opinion, does Chanhwi receive a passing grade as your partner?”
“Hmm, perhaps he barely scrapes a passing grade?”
Apparently intending to establish the rivalry immediately, MC Woo-hyeok passed the microphone toward me.
“That's what he says. What do you think, Chanhwi?”
I smiled at the question.
There was a more effective method than answering for myself.
“Yujin. Who worked on nearly every song on this album?”
Yujin's shoulders flinched at my question.
“And who helped you with your choreography?”
Jerk. Jerk.
Every time I asked another question, Yujin's shoulders began rolling like waves.
Yujin shot back that his singing was better than mine, and that was when the full-fledged argument began.
The caption would probably read, ‘Don't misunderstand. These two are genuinely fighting.’
Neither we nor the fans watching would be worried, though.
We had often shown ourselves fighting like this on NeoTube, along with footage of us getting along again the very next day.
In the end, the argument could not settle anything, so we made the MCs judge a contest in which we each showcased our specialty.
Yujin sang his solo song ‘Blue Rose’ to display his vocal ability, and I followed with a random-play dance to other singers' songs.
Both MCs had been main dancers during their active careers. They chose Chanhwi, and the segment concluded with him serving as leader until the next album.
“Now for the second question. If Sun & Moon's ‘Prince’ takes first place, do you have a pledge?”
The question had come up in the pre-interview, so we had already prepared an answer.
“If we take first place, we'll film a virtual date video.”
“A virtual date?”
“That's an unusual pledge.”
The idea had come from comments on the music video.
Some viewers said that the hand being caught and led along by the princes in the music video felt like their own, making it seem as if they were on a date.
That made me think we might as well film a video with that exact premise.
“All right. Hoping that every Earthling enjoys a successful date with the princes, we'll close with Sun & Moon's debut song <Prince>. See you next week, everyone!”
♪♩―
“Oh, this song. Pretty good, isn't it? What did you say these boys and the song were called?”
The producer in charge of Idol Week answered the producer who had come to watch the recording.
“Sun & Moon's Prince. Why? Interested?”
“It would be perfect as background music for our program.”