I’m a Genius Idol but my Passive is Sunfish Chapter 44

It seemed that the condition was receiving someone’s recognition.

 

‘My mouth feels bitter.’

 

Look at the corners of Yulmu’s mouth, already twitching. He had a feeling he would be teased mercilessly for a while.

 

***

 

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

<WANT ME Photo Card (Made for personal use)

(DASE_Poka_Collection.jpg)

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

 

Baepsae had scoured social media to gather information on DASE’s photo cards. She sharpened the blurry quality of the phone-captured images, used the doll box design for the background illustration, and laid out the twelve photo cards. They looked even more radiant now.

 

Since she’d put in the effort, she felt it was a waste to keep it to herself, so she posted it on social media. The response was quite positive.

 

 – Did you make this yourself?

 – Amazing! Baepsae-nim is so talented!

 

It was a total waste of talent, but no one there thought so. To them, she was simply a talented creator. A proud Baepsae smiled as she looked at her work.

 

[V-sign Minseong / Rabbit Minseong]

[Hoodie Jihan / Popcorn Jihan]

[Bathrobe Yulmu / Winking Yulmu]

[Sticker Baekya / Winter-hat Baekya]

[Beret Yooyeon / Padded-jacket Yooyeon]

[Sunglasses Cheong / Jelly Cheong]

 

The twelve photo cards each had their own nicknames. Of these, Baepsae currently owned Hoodie Jihan and Jelly Cheong.

 

Knowing there were two cards per member, she had bought two albums, but her bias didn’t show up even once. Just as she was debating whether to buy more albums, she spotted a trade post on her timeline.

 

[WANT ME Poka Trade Wanted~]

 

It was said that everyone eventually ended up Dragon Ball-ing, but to a casual fan, that concept still felt distant. For reference, Dragon Ball-ing meant collecting every single card of every member, regardless of who your bias was.

 

“I just need Baekya…”

 

But to post a trade, she needed to know who wanted what and which cards she had to offer. Since this was her first time being a ‘fangirl’ nothing was easy. That was the behind-the-scenes story of why she created the photo card sheet.

 

Now that she had a handle on things, it was time to post.

 

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

DASE WANT ME Poka Trade Wanted ♡

Me: Hoodie Jihan, Jelly Cheong

You: Any Baekya

Direct trade in Seoul possible. Please DM!

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

 

After posting the trade, she went back to browsing her timeline, which was mostly filled with posts gushing over yesterday’s live broadcast.

 

 – Our boys aren’t ‘over-immersed’ they are actual D.O.L.L.S.

 – The boy we loved back then. A thread of Han Baekya photos that make us all feel like the female lead. (Baekya.jpg)

 – DASE <WANT ME 1st Week Sales Day 3 ▷ 33,8xx ▶ Current Total 151,4xx

 – So Cheong chose Sticker Baekya?

 └ If I don’t get Sticker Baekya, I’ll die

 └ I can’t give up Winter-hat either ㅠㅠ

 

After checking the last post, Baepsae tapped the envelope icon to refresh her inbox. It was empty.

 

“…Did I post it wrong?”

 

Quite a bit of time had passed, but there were no messages. Deciding to search for trades herself, Baepsae moved to the search tab. As she debated what to type, she saw DASE’s name high up on the real-time trends.

 

It was in 3rd place.

 

[DASE Finally]

 

‘Finally?’

 

Baepsae tilted her head and clicked the trend.

 

 – Finally!!! DASE finally announced a fansign ㅠㅠ I’m definitely going to the boys’ first-ever fansign.

 – DASE is finally doing a fansign! Going to go buy albums now!

 – I was so jealous seeing photocards on my timeline ㅠㅠ I can finally touch a card myself!! Persistence pays off.

 – Going to buy albums~

 – Ah, DASE finally ㅠㅠ ID Ent is the best for dropping a fansign notice during the first week of sales.

 

“They’re doing a fan signing event?!”

 

Baepsae, who had been lying down, sat bolt upright. 

 

“How do I enter?!”

 

Everyone was just celebrating; no one was mentioning how to apply. Baepsae began scrolling frantically. After a while, amidst a sea of texts screaming about the fansign, she found a post from a Yooyeon fan who had screenshotted the notice.

 

 – It’s finally out… the day I meet the real-life Yooyeon. (DASE_Fansign_Guide.jpg)

 

The fan had kindly included a link. Baepsae clicked it and rushed to the detailed page.

 

*   Date: Next Saturday, 7:00 PM.

*   Winners: 100 people.

*   Application Method: Album purchase.

 

Seeing the split—60 winners from online purchases and 40 from offline—she sensed a high-level psychological war.

 

“Wait. I already bought two albums!”

 

Dammit. It looked like she’d have to buy more.

 

“No. This is why I earn money.”

 

Right. Money wasn’t the issue. What she really needed to worry about was the two photo cards sitting neatly on her desk. Baepsae quickly deleted the trade post she had just uploaded. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Baekya, but the two cards she did pull were dangerously pretty.

 

“This time, for sure, Baekya!”

 

An unexplainable confidence surged within her. Debating between offline and online, she grabbed her wallet and headed for Gwanghwamun. The specific store was designated.

 

But was she too late? The line was quite long.

 

‘I hope they aren’t sold out…’

 

DASE’s popularity wasn’t at that level yet, but she didn’t know that. Lacking any ‘fandom data’, Baepsae was incapable of making an objective judgment. Biting her nails as she waited, she eventually reached the point where only one person was left in front of her.

 

Baepsae took out her earphones to ensure a smooth purchase.

 

‘Should I buy just one and trade for the other? No, maybe two?’

 

She was in the middle of a happy dilemma when a strange conversation reached her ears.

 

“Six, please. You do shipping, right?”

 

‘Wait, you’re asking for shipping for only six albums?’

 

Why not just buy them online then? Baepsae glanced at the customer in front of her. The woman was carrying a medium-sized suitcase and a large camera bag. She could have just packed them in there.

 

That was when it happened.

 

“Six boxes comes to a total of 120 copies. Shall I ship them all?”

 

“I’ll take one box with me.”

 

“Please write down your address.”

 

Warning! Earthquake detected!

 

A Magnitude 10 earthquake erupted in Baepsae’s eyes.

 

‘S-s-six boxes, not six copies?!’

 

Baepsae was reeling from the scale of the conversation. She stood frozen, not hearing Clerk #2 calling for the next customer, until the person behind her tapped her shoulder.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

“M-me?”

 

A young girl pointed to the counter. 

 

“It’s open over there.”

 

“Oh. Sorry!”

 

Bowing her head, Baepsae rushed to the clerk.

 

“How many copies would you like?”

 

“I-I’ll take…!”

 

***

 

DASE arrived at a music show waiting room for the first time in a while. Since it was dawn, only a few groups were there, but the partitioned temporary waiting rooms remained the same.

 

“Wow~ It’s been a while.”

 

Yulmu stroked the partition, saying he missed this texture.

 

“Should I suggest to the company that we put one of these in the dorm?”

 

“Really?!”

 

Yulmu reacted enthusiastically, his eyes sparkling. The man whose shoulder he was gripping was Deokjin, DASE’s new road manager. Having joined the company for a month, Deokjin was now assigned to support DASE alongside Namkyung.

 

“The team leader said to let him know if you need anything. One moment, let me take a note…”

 

Just as he was pulling out his notebook to write down ‘partition’—

 

“No. It’s fine. Just ignore what he says.”

 

Baekya approached and gave Yulmu a light pinch on the side.

 

“Ow, ow, ow.”

 

A quiet warning followed. 

 

“Don’t tease the newcomer and come over here to warm up.”

 

Yulmu was being dragged away by the hands of Baekya, who was much smaller than him.

 

‘As expected of the hidden power…!’

 

Before starting the job, the rookie manager Deokjin had received a brief from Namkyung. He flipped to the first page of his notebook to re-read the member profiles he had jotted down.

 

*   Minseong: Leader. Oldest. Gentle but firm

*   Jihan: Taciturn. Clear likes and dislikes. ※ Warning: Nut allergy.

*   Yulmu: Mood maker. Variety specialist. History of elbow surgery. ※ Likes Yulmu-cha (TL note: Yulmu-cha is a tea made of roasted, powdered yulmu sometimes mixed with nuts such as walnut.)

*   Baekya: Last to join. Occasional sudden outbursts. Low stamina; needs condition management. Hidden power. Rumored to be ‘ID CEO’s Nephew’.

*   Yooyeon: Bad back (※ Take him to the clinic once a week even during promotions). Cries easily.

*   Cheong: Korean-American. Unpredictable; requires constant supervision. High energy. ※ Cannot eat cucumbers.

 

‘Okay, so the immediate things to watch are Jihan’s allergy and Cheong’s cucumber thing.’

 

As the rookie manager was reviewing his notes, his phone rang. It was Namkyung.

 

“Yes, hyung!”

 

[Hey, Deokjin. I’m heading over now. I thought I’d buy the boys breakfast on my way. Can you ask them what they want and let me know? Include yours and the staff’s too.]

 

This was his first mission as a manager. Deokjin told him he’d call back shortly and ran to the members. DASE was in the middle of changing for their early morning pre-recording. The outfits looked similar, but each member had different ‘point’ details.

 

Baekya, the first to finish changing, approached Deokjin.

 

“Are we heading down now?”

 

“Oh? No! Not yet. Actually, Namkyung sunbaenim is bringing breakfast.”

 

Deokjin politely asked if there was anything he wanted to eat.

 

“What do you want to eat, hyung? We’re fine with everything.”

 

“But if there’s something you specifically want…”

 

“Come on, let’s just eat what you want, hyung.”

 

Today was practically Deokjin’s first day on the job. Baekya smiled, saying that even if they couldn’t throw a party due to the schedule, they could at least set a similar mood.

 

Suddenly, a white light seemed to shine from behind his shoulder.

 

“Ah! The halo…!”

 

Deokjin closed his eyes and raised a hand to shield his vision. His notebook slipped and fell to the floor. It flipped open to the second page, revealing another note about Baekya he’d heard from a close source.

 

[Baekya: ※ Might be an angel.]