Chapter 32

Chapter 32

First things first. I took hold of Ahyeon, who was just standing there flustered as the crowd gathered around the ads and showered him with questions.

“Give me your phone,” I said.

“Huh? What?”

“We should take a photo with the ads, shouldn’t we?”

Ahyeon gathered his wits and started edging toward his own ad. I took his phone and opened the camera, and the crowd’s reaction was immediate.

“Oh, they’re taking a photo!”

“Let’s clear the way, everyone!”

“They’re taking pictures!”

Shockingly, the crowd began to back away on its own. Perhaps I’d played witness to too many people intent on getting a photo at any cost. I wondered if maybe I needn’t have worried so much.

“Shoulders back,” I said.

“O-okay!”

“Ahyeon, you’re so handsome!”

That last comment wasn’t from me, but from someone in the crowd who was apparently his fan.

He turned bright red. “N-n-not at all...” he stuttered a few times, straightening up clumsily.

I held the phone up mechanically and snapped a picture. As soon as I was done, Big Sejin shouted, “Moondae! Me, too! Me, too!”

I pivoted on the spot and took a picture of Big Sejin with his ad in the background as well. It was quite bothersome since he kept posing differently over and over. The crowd, however, was busy snapping pictures of him as he did so.

“He’s so cute...”

“Do another pose for us!”

Was it really necessary for me to even take any pictures of him? He could just go online and download any of the pictures people uploaded.

“Moondae, your turn!”

“Oh.”

It would be strange if I didn’t take any myself, so I moved over to the large poster bearing my picture. With no one crowding the ad, I could see it in all its glory. It was nothing short of imposing in size.

The picture that had been used for Park Moondae’s ad had been taken during the press conference. Thankfully, it wasn’t a picture of me pressing my finger into my cheek cutely or making finger hearts, but it was a bit embarrassing to see my face plastered on the wall at such a large scale.

I shouldn’t stare at it… I turned my head slightly, then noticed some text in the background.

[Park Moondae]

[He’s a blue-chip stock bursting onto the music scene!]

At the bottom were tiny letters that read, “Please purchase my stocks♡.” I had to admit the wording was good—it was high-impact.

They must have put a lot of thought into it. I quietly posed for my photos, since it was the least I could do to show my appreciation. As soon as I moved away from the ad after I was done, the crowd’s questioning resumed in full force.

“Did you come to see the ad?”

“This is incredible...”

“Did the filming go well?”

“I’ve been voting for you!”

The gathered crowd was growing larger, to the point where they were now blocking foot traffic. This was far worse than when I’d gotten off the bus alone. I supposed it was because the three of us were together.

Some people might get pissed about this. I’d wanted to interact with them before we left, but it looked like I wouldn’t be able to. Looks like I’ll have to take advantage of the fact that there are three of us.

I glanced at the other two, who thankfully understood my wordless signal. We nodded to the crowd.

“Thank you!”

“We’ll do our best!”

Then we made a break for the nearest exit. Since we were three tall guys running in a group, the crowd parted easily to let us pass.

“We’ll see you next time! Thank you!” Big Sejin shouted, waving and looking back. We followed suit, and many people responded from the crowd.

“Huh? You guys!”

“See you!”

“We’ll be rooting for you!”

Everyone seemed happy, to my relief—nobody had taken offense. I had never run surrounded by so many people cheering for me before. It felt very... odd.

As soon as we had gotten out through one of the exits, we hailed a taxi.

“Yeah! That was great!” Big Sejin shouted with a grin as the taxi began to move.

Ahyeon nodded eagerly as well, obviously excited.

Did they like everyone’s reaction that much? Of course, I felt somewhat grateful to the crowd as well, since they had been very nice. But it didn’t really excite me all that much to be recognized in public.

Is that just the way my personality is, perhaps? Or it might have to do with my age.

These two were actually twenty-one-year-olds, after all. While I considered this wryly, Big Sejin suddenly shouted wordlessly and took out his phone.

My phone began vibrating immediately.

[(Photo) (Photo)]

Big Sejin had sent the pictures he’d taken of me. There was something wrong with the exposure, since the colors were all overly saturated, and my face was blurry because the camera had clearly been shaking.

I stared. He’s terrible at taking photos.

“Hey, don’t they feel more real because they’re shaky?”

I could hardly recognize myself in the photos, they were so “real.” Big Sejin turned away with a laugh, pretending not to notice the unimpressed look I gave him.

“Haha... Oh, right, Ahyeon! You have my pictures on your phone, right?”

“Yeah! G-give me a moment.”

Ahyeon quickly unlocked his own phone and uploaded the pictures to our group chat, including the ones I’d taken of him.

Why are you uploading yours? Ahyeon had probably done so by mistake since he was so flustered.

“Wow, Moondae, your pictures are...” Big Sejin began with exaggerated drama, staring at his phone with a smile. He paused after a moment though, as if taken aback by what he was seeing. Then he started making sincerely impressed noises. “Whoa... Wait a second. You’re really good at taking photos.”

I’d been doing it for a living for years in my previous life, so of course I was good at it. I glanced at his phone, too.

The composition was perfect, the proportions natural, and the pictures captured their postures and facial expressions really well. I had taken four pictures each of both of them. I hadn’t lost my touch.

Slightly proud of myself, I watched as Big Sejin added sheepishly, “Uh... I’ll try to take a better picture for you next time. I’m sorry.” He seemed to really mean it as well.

Today was a pretty special day, since for once Big Sejin didn’t sound like he was laying it on thick.

I simply shrugged. “Well... A more down-to-earth picture is ok, too.”

Big Sejin looked briefly surprised, then grinned before quickly changing the subject. “Right? Oh, by the way. Does this mean we can’t go to that restaurant Ahyeon recommended? That’s too bad.”

“I-it’s okay. W-we can come together another time.”

“Hmm...” I said.

Right. There was that.

It would be pushing our luck if we went to one of the places Ahyeon had picked out. He’d selected a few places that were hot on social media right now and if the three of us went, we would basically be eating our meal live on air.

He didn’t seem to be very good at hunting down quality places to eat, either, since all the restaurants he’d chosen stank of viral marketing tactics. The prices were exorbitant, too.

I thought for a moment, then glanced at the navigation screen. We were just passing Ewha Womans University Station. “Uh, sir, could you take us to Yeonhui district instead?” I asked.

“Sure, if that’s what you want.”

“All right, in that case...” I glanced back at the two seated in the back. “I know a quiet place we could eat. Want to go?”

“Nice! Of course, I do!”

“T-that sounds good!”

This spot should do the trick. After getting permission from the driver, I punched the restaurant’s address into the GPS. Only after we’d finished our meal did I realize I’d done more than was necessary to be polite.

My goodness! I shouldn’t be getting close to them!

***

“Hmm...”

The woman stared at her phone, groaning as she struggled to come to a decision. The cause of her dilemma was visible on the screen.

[Idol Incorporated Stock Package Sale! Up to 80% off]

Under the huge banner were the various packages on offer—stocks paired with various services offered by affiliates of TNET, the channel Idol Inc. was being broadcasted on.

For example, purchasing a streaming site package would net her three months of unlimited music at 50% off, in addition to a voucher for twenty Idol Inc. shares. In other words, she would be able to vote for Moondae twenty more times.

The rascals at the broadcasting station sold all the extra voting options in this package format, with the exception of the monthly subscription, which permitted one extra vote per day.

The scary part was that the packages were offering huge discounts, enticing the actual users of these services to purchase them for the cheaper price, only to end up growing interested in the audition show themselves.

That’s some twisted marketing right there... The woman sighed, scrolling down the page. Then she saw a pop-up window indicating a new message. It was from her friend who’d been the reason she’d gone to see Park Moondae perform in the first place.

[Yeonjoo: Oh my gosh! Somebody saw Moondae in public! (link)]

The woman gasped and immediately opened the link, which took her to a social media post.

========================

Wow, I just went out to eat with family and saw a contestant from Idol Inc. I think it’s the guys who sang that Marshmallow song? (Photo)

========================

In the picture, you could see Park Moondae, Seon Ahyeon, and Big Sejin sitting together being served chicken ginseng soup in large earthen bowls. There was already a long list of comments below.

- Look at the way he’s looking at the soup guys. His eyes are popping from his head, LOL

- Traditional chicken ginseng soup is the way to go! Way better than fried chicken. This dude knows a thing or two about chicken.

└ Please, no discriminating against chicken T_T

- I’m all for these three being friends.

- They must have gone to eat together after checking out the ads T_T They’re so cute and fricking lovable T_T

Ads?

The woman typed into the search bar “Park Moondae ad.” She was immediately greeted with a post from a few hours ago, which already had over ten thousand shares.

========================

Moondae took some pics in front of his ad T_T There were so many people that he couldn’t stay long, but he was cute and kind. I’m super charmed! He was so handsome even though he was wearing a facemask T_T (short video)

========================

The woman hit play on the video, revealing Park Moondae in jeans, a black hoodie, and a black baseball cap taking pictures in front of his ad.

[“You look amazing!”]

[“We’ll buy a bunch of your stock, Moondae!”]

[“Uh... Thank you…”]

Park Moondae seemed a little embarrassed by all the attention he was getting. The video ended as he cheerfully ran off with the other two contestants.

- He is so CUTE

- Moondae is more sociable than I expected

- Moon Puppy is the real deal, people T_T Who called him gloomy before? How stupid is that?

- The producer responsible for making him look so tactless on the show should be fired. He’s just a chill dude, that’s all

- His blond hair looks perfect even with a hat

He’s so cute... So cute! She stamped her feet excitedly, then realized that the photo used for Park Moondae’s ad was familiar. It was the picture her friend had taken! She quickly fired off a text.

[Minso: Did you put up this ad? Congrats! Moondae came to see it! (link)]

[Yeonjoo: I know, I just saw it and nearly fainted... It wasn’t me, it was a fan collective. But still, it’s so exciting... I’m so touched...]

Minso asked her friend why she hadn’t told her about the ad, to which Yeonjoo replied that she’d just been too excited to even type.

Minso snickered and sent a congratulatory emoji. She thought to herself, I want to do something for him, too.

She wanted Park Moondae to do well, so she could see him perform more—he was such an amazing performer. In the end, she went back to the purchase page and bought the streaming package.

After proudly buying Moondae’s stocks, Minso returned to the post with the photo of Moondae at the chicken soup restaurant. A fight had broken out in the comment section.

- Take the photo down, please. Stalking is a crime.

└ Wait, what? It was pure coincidence I saw them. I’m not a stalker... I just snapped a picture from my table

└ Is taking a photo of somebody eating without their consent okay? You’re not making any sense at all.

└ I’m blocking you. Get lost

Following this exchange, the public’s reaction cooled somewhat. They had initially been excited since it was rare to hear any news of Park Moondae at all, but then they realized that the photo could be considered an invasion of his privacy.

The woman turned off her phone, feeling a little awkward. She’d forgotten that Moondae hadn’t even debuted yet.

Well... Surely he’ll succeed! He did so well! Minso recalled the performance she’d seen in person, which still left her feeling dazed just thinking about it. Then she remembered something.

“Oh! Idol Inc. is starting!”

Indeed, she’d been looking at the stock purchase page while waiting for the show to air. She scrambled to turn her TV on and was relieved to see that the show was only just starting.

“Phew...”

Her relief did not last long. The emcee appeared on screen, wearing a grave expression.

“Huh?”

“Viewers! Do you remember our promise?”

The emcee tapped at his desk solemnly, like he was presiding over a serious debate.

“We told you that we would run the show exactly how you wanted us to. That’s why, even now, we have countless poles ongoing, including ones that will determine the final debut count, evaluation song selections, and so on.”

It just so happened that a lot of people were starting to complain the show was allowing too few people to debut.

“And today, we will continue to keep our word. Viewers! Have you come to dislike any of the contestants you’ve seen so far?”

Wha...? As the viewers sat wondering what this confusing announcement at the very start of the episode might mean, the production team’s ridiculous plan was revealed.

“Then sell that contestant’s stock! Today, we are introducing a new “stock selling” system! Shareholders now have the ability to chip away at the stocks of any contestant you no longer wish to see on the show!”

“...?!”

“The ‘stock vouchers’ that you purchase from now on can be sold as well as bought! This means that instead of purchasing a contestant’s stocks, you can sell them and impact their shares negatively!”

The gates to pandemonium had just been thrown wide open.