The Idol Who Returned from Hell – Chapter 115

Author: Dawn

The homma first shook off her initial shock and tension and picked up her telephoto camera.

The sight of Ryu Si-hwan with nothing on top of his head was something she couldn’t see except for right now.

The cheerful sound of rapid-fire shots rang out loudly throughout the fan signing venue.

It felt almost like she had come to a press conference.

Trusting her 256GB disk card, the homma held her breath and repeatedly pressed the shooting button without pause.

Eventually, after checking the photos through the preview.

‘Not bad?’

Numbers 1-10 hadn’t even gone up on stage yet.

Originally, she had planned to focus solely on photographing Ryu Si-hwan during this spare time, but many more photos turned out better than she expected.

So on a whim, the homma also diligently captured individual shots of the remaining members.

The 1-10 MILLENNIUM began receiving their autographs.

Some people gave gifts to all six members, while others concentrated five or six gifts on their bias alone.

The homma checked her gift bag one last time before standing by at the side of the stage.

‘Why am I so nervous today of all days?’

Her heart felt like it would jump out of her mouth.

As the people in front of her decreased one by one, her palms even started sweating.

At this rate, instead of having a conversation with her bias, she’d probably tremble like an amateur and exit.

“Next person, please come up.”

“Yes.”

The long-awaited moment had arrived.

The homma sat on the stool placed in front of Ryu Si-hwan while clutching her gift bag tightly.

The moment she slightly lifted her head to look at his face.

Really, tens of thousands of thoughts entered her mind.

‘His real face is insane. Is he really the same species as me?’

The homma believed her idol fangirling life was filled with irreplaceable experiences.

She’d been to fan signings when idols currently in world-class ranks were still small companies.

She had memories of watching concerts with competition rates reaching 50,000:1 from the front row of standing.

She had so many memories of seeing renowned celebrities up close.

But Ryu Si-hwan was completely overturning her common sense.

His CG-like skin had not a single flaw, and his straight nose bridge with fine hair naturally falling below his eyebrows was definitely the top among all the idols she’d seen so far.

The mysterious aura she’d never felt when watching Ryu Si-hwan on stage seemed to be devouring the homma.

He even greeted her first.

“Hello! Thank you so much for coming to see us.”

“Ah, that, uh.”

“I’ll do your autograph first. Sister’s name is… ah, you wrote it on a post-it here.”

Sister, he called her sister.

It was clearly just a basic greeting, but when he gave her an eye smile with those desert fox-like eyes, the destructive power increased dramatically.

Perhaps because of that, the homma found herself saying her real name without realizing it.

“Han, Han Min-ah.”

“Sister Min-ah. Ah, am I making a mistake? Are you perhaps younger than me?”

“No, you’re correct to call me sister, so don’t worry…”

“Haha, somehow the atmosphere feels right for sister, but your face looks too youthful so I was confused.”

They hadn’t even exchanged a few words yet, but the homma felt like she’d been hit repeatedly by Ryu Si-hwan’s charm skills and was in tatters.

Thanks to her instincts urging her to open her bag, she barely managed to hand over her gift.

“Here’s a gift.”

“Wow, thank you! I’ve actually been really excited since yesterday. Wondering what our MILLENNIUM prepared and brought.”

“It’s really nothing special, so don’t expect too much!”

“I’m happy to receive anything though?”

Ryu Si-hwan opened the bag and took out a crown and silver face chain from inside.

“Whoa, this is a face chain, right? I’ve never worn a face chain before.”

“Really? I was so worried while buying this, wondering if it wouldn’t match the fan signing outfit.”

“It’s a perfect match with today’s outfit. The brooch color is also silver, so doesn’t it look like a set?”

“Mm… so pretty…”

The homma clasped her hands together watching Ryu Si-hwan immediately put on the face chain.

So this was the feeling of attaining nirvana.

“Ah, there’s also perfume and a letter inside, so please check them later!”

“Oh, I was just thinking about whether to buy perfume. Thank you. I’ll read the letter all night and send you a review through private message. Ah, do you use private messages—”

“I subscribed to Milky Way the moment CENTIX planet opened! All six members!”

“As expected, I knew I could trust you, sister.”

With those words, Ryu Si-hwan slightly raised the corners of his mouth and held out his palm.

Momentarily, the homma’s brain temporarily stopped.

‘You’re doing a high-five so naturally too…?’

She couldn’t believe it even watching her own hand meet Ryu Si-hwan’s hand.

While suffering from intense aftershocks, Ryu Si-hwan discovered the post-it attached inside the album.

“‘Write encouraging words so I can look at this and gain strength whenever I’m having a hard time!’ The members said I’m good at writing things like this.”

“Really? Ah, but listening to Si-hwan speak on broadcasts, you really choose your words so beautifully and well. Especially during 〈ISL 2〉!”

“Ah, I remember that too. Right when the final results came up, I got so emotional. Actually, I don’t think I really intended to say those words, it felt like what I wanted to say just came out naturally.”

“You know how incredible the atmosphere was there, right? I was there shouting Si-hwan’s name so much.”

“I heard it all. You came to the finale too. The recording time was so long, it must have been hard, thank you so much.”

The homma wanted to answer ‘I’m more grateful that Si-hwan debuted!’ but she missed the timing because Ryu Si-hwan finished writing his message on the post-it.

Below the question she’d written was written in quite an elegant handwriting: [After all that’s over, you’re going to eat with me, right?]

‘This is insane.’

“How is it? Do you think you’ll gain a lot of strength looking at that, sister?”

“Totally! Totally totally totally! I’m happy just imagining it!”

“Haha, I’m more relieved that you like it. I wish there was content like that, going on trips or eating together with our MILLENNIUM.”

Please, all broadcasting stations in Korea, listen to these words.

Our kids want to do it, so please make that kind of program once!

“Please move to the next seat.”

The staff behind Ryu Si-hwan gestured.

A spiteful comment that shattered the dream-like time.

Suppressing her internal sigh, she was about to give Ryu Si-hwan a final greeting and move on.

“Sister, thank you so much for coming today. Are you coming to the next fan signing too?”

“Uh, yeah! I’ll buy as many albums as possible this time and go to next week’s fan signing again.”

“Great! Then to help you look forward to it even more until then.”

Ryu Si-hwan cleanly ignored the staff’s words and added more while smoothly extending one hand.

That pose couldn’t be.

‘Really, Ryu Si-hwan should be an idol for life.’

And so the homma could only move on to next in line, Kang Seon-woo, after completing a finger heart with Ryu Si-hwan.

“Hello! Oh, somehow you seem like a veteran with an incredible aura?”

“Seon-woo, hello! Do I look like a veteran?”

“Hahaha, yes! I’ve been watching sister’s camera movements continuously since earlier. You move so skillfully here and there that my eyes kept getting drawn to you—”

The homma couldn’t remember that she’d been nervous just a few minutes ago.

While being perfectly led by Kang Seon-woo with his excellent friendliness and speaking skills, she realized why CENTIX sat in this order.

‘Si-hwan with his stable and caring speech style comes first to help people relax their nerves, then Seon-woo follows with this insane verbal skills to completely blow their minds.’

If Ryu Si-hwan was like a friendly college senior, Kang Seon-woo was like a ten-year friend.

While laughing and chatting with silly jokes, the staff was already telling them to move to the side.

Next up, Yu Ha-woon was truly like a mischievous poodle, just like his nickname.

“Hello! Where should I sign this for you?”

“I specifically chose what I thought was Ha-woon’s best page. Looking at it now, there’s no white space, what should we do?”

“I prepared for this! I brought a white pen too! Ta-da!”

Like he was possessed by a blue animated character pulling out all sorts of items from his pocket, Yu Ha-woon proudly held out the white pen.

On top of that, he said he was actually a huge fan of that animation and even did voice impressions.

“Bamboo propeller! Ah, Brother Seon-woo told me to practice this more.”

“It’s fine, it was totally similar! Ha-woon did great!”

“Hehe, really! What a relief!”

Of course, it didn’t seem like the synchronization rate was that high.

But Yu Ha-woon was grinning so brightly that her happiness levels exploded.

The conversation with Chae Ha-ru that followed was more than half about food.

“You know I like Korean beef, right?”

“Yeah, that’s been since 〈ISL 2〉—”

“These days I’ve tried many different things with everyone, but recently among the lunch boxes fans sent as support, lobster was the most delicious. I often watch lobster cooking on NeoTube and they say it’s even more delicious if you grill it with butter. I want to try making it when we go camping with the members later!”

She’d expected it since he’d often shown his strong appetite from long ago.

Starting with beef and moving to seafood, he made her mouth water.

The lingering effects of Yu Ha-woon’s happy virus and Chae Ha-ru’s food euphoria seemed like they would last a very long time, but they were completely erased by the next batter.

“How do I look today?”

“What do you mean, how?”

“I’m curious if I’m photographing well in sister’s camera. I want to be at ease knowing I’m being saved in the most handsome form possible.”

After putting on the black face chain the homma had prepared, Seong-hwi stared into her eyes for a long time.

“Oh, you’re not avoiding eye contact!”

“I-I’m barely managing not to avoid it.”

“Sister is the first person today to endure my eye contact for more than 5 seconds. Since you won the game, I should grant you a wish, right?”

This was a game?

The homma was dazed by Seong-hwi’s visuals that boasted tremendous decadence different from Ryu Si-hwan.

When her head was spinning wondering what wish she should mention.

“If you don’t have a wish, I can do whatever I want, right?”

He grabbed both of the homma’s hands and intertwined their fingers.

‘He’s insane, he’s insane.’

She thought he’d intertwine them briefly and let go right away, but Seong-hwi maintained the finger-lock until time was up.

On top of that, how could he use informal speech so freely?

He definitely swallowed a whole fox.

Thanks to Seong-hwi’s great performance, the homma sat in front of the last person, Ma Si-hyeok, in a dazed state again.

“…Goodbye! Ah, hello.”

“Si-hyeok, hello…”

“You seem to have had a hard time up front. Are you okay?”

Ma Si-hyeok leaned his face close and checked her condition.

Then he picked up something from under the desk.

“I only have water to give you, please drink this at least.”

Looking at those innocent round eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to say she’d brought three bottles of water in her bag.

Moreover, what idol in the world would check on a fan’s condition and offer water!

‘How can all the kids have such different personalities?’

“Thank you, Si-hyeok! I’ll drink it well.”

“Don’t mention it. I can’t speak as well as Hwi…”

Ma Si-hyeok spun his pen stylishly and then said proudly,

“But I’m confident that my autographs are much better.”

“Really neat and well done. What are you writing here?”

“I’m writing the last character of my name, ‘hyeok,’ in English cursive script flowing style. I practiced to always write it consistently and neatly, and I’m very proud that everyone likes it.”

The homma comfortably chatted with Ma Si-hyeok, whose kind personality was so transparently visible, and once again admired the seating arrangement.

‘After getting K.O.’d by Seong-hwi, they’re telling you to get treated by Ma Si-hyeok before leaving. I don’t know who arranged this, but they really did it properly.’

Ma Si-hyeok, who carefully wrote responses on the post-it, bowed his head and gave his final words.

“Thank you so much for coming to today’s fan signing! I’ll open the gift later and look at it.”

“I was happy to see Si-hyeok too! I’ll come again next time, so let’s meet then!”

“Great! Ah, and you can take one bag of cookies from the basket on the right.”

“Cookies…?”

“We made them diligently yesterday with the members to give to the MILLENNIUM coming today.”

What else did these kids prepare?

The homma stopped in front of a basket a staff member was holding.

[CENTIX’s sugar supplement gift prepared for MILLENNIUM! Please enjoy♡]

She remembered. The post that went up on Stargram yesterday.

So that was really a reverse gift for the fan signing.

The homma picked up one appetizing-looking cookie bag and returned to her seat.