Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 160

It wasn’t as if I hadn’t prepared for the potential outbursts that could happen at a fansign. Knowing full well that Kim Haejun was not in a normal state—from the moment I first met the S-class Hunter codenamed <Wizard> until today’s event—I had been managing his mental state while simultaneously juggling a packed schedule.

 

Whether it was thanks to my efforts or something else, Kim Haejun hadn’t shut down or blacked out for the past three days. This meant that the <Wizard> had not taken control of his body. I judged that the lack of pressure was the reason Kim Haejun could maintain his condition, so my strategy of pushing him as far away as possible from work on the full-length album or future group activities seemed to have worked.

 

The rest of my preparations were similar. Anticipating that Kim Haejun might switch off in the middle of a signing, I had even prepared to educate the <Wizard>. Of course, since the guy hadn’t actually appeared, one-on-one training had fallen through, but assuming he might be watching everything from inside Kim Haejun, I had gathered all the members and lectured them on the absolute importance of a fan signing event.

 

I had even gone as far as carefully selecting our seats. I asked Director Oh to move Joo Wooyoung and Jegal Hwi to the very ends and placed Kim Haejun right next to me. To the public, the seating was random, but in reality, it was anything but.

 

By seating us in the order of Kim Haejun, Lee Unha, Jung Taehee, Baek Suhyeon, Kim Taeyeol, Joo Wooyoung, and Jegal Hwi, I ensured that Jegal Hwi—whom I deemed the most dangerous—couldn’t easily observe Kim Haejun. The same went for Joo Wooyoung. I was so anxious that I almost wished for partitions between us.

 

Despite several anxiety-inducing factors, the fansign seemed to be going well without any major incidents, likely due to my painstaking efforts. Everything was flowing smoothly—until a fan suddenly blurted out to Kim Haejun, ‘Haejun, I’ll be rooting for your full album!’.

 

In that instant, the <Wizard> seized ownership of Kim Haejun’s body, and the current situation of him abruptly facing the fans unfolded. Naturally, the codenamed <Wizard> looked completely flustered.

 

The guy wearing Kim Haejun’s face looked at me as if asking what to do. When our eyes met, he was pleading for help with the expression of a goblin caught in a trap.

 

‘We are truly screwed.’

 

“Haejun? Are you listening to me?”

 

“Ah… yes. Yes. I’m listening.”

 

“Sigh… No… never mind. You’re acting a bit… no, forget it. I’m not even going to say it. Just sign here.”

 

“Yes. Um… should I sign here?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

He couldn’t even sign properly. I could already see the disappointed look on the fan’s face. She looked like a long-time fan of the original Kim Haejun, and seeing her so let down, I had no choice but to hurriedly prepare to welcome her to my station.

 

“Hello, noona! What’s your name?”

 

“Ah, I’m Kim Mijeong…”

 

“I can call you Mijeong noona, right?”

 

“Yes, of course!”

 

“Where did you come from?”

 

“I came from Changwon…”

 

“That must have taken so long. I’ve been to Changwon before. Doesn’t it take about four hours?”

 

“Oh? Uh… yeah, it takes even longer if you take the subway from the station.”

 

“You came all that way just to see us? I’m seriously touched.”

 

“Ah… yeah.”

 

“I really am. And you’re probably heading straight back after this too, aren’t you? You just came to see our faces… oh no, it’s so touching. I’ll do whatever you want me to do, noona.”

 

“Really? Then… could you just do a heart pose for me?”

 

“Ah, that’s easy. Anything else? I’ll do everything.”

 

‘This is how you do it. See? You just do it like this. You must have seen me training the members already, Great <Wizard>-nim.’

 

“…….”

 

‘If you don’t know, just watch and learn. See Joo Wooyoung and Jegal Hwi over there acting all cute and doing their best to make the fans happy? You have to do it too. Regardless of what you did in your world, what position you held, or what kind of character you were—the moment you stand here, you must make the people who came all this way enjoy themselves.’

 

“…….”

 

Whether he understood the intent in my gaze or not, the <Wizard> began talking to the fans approaching him while nodding, but he still had those dead fish eyes. Fortunately, I managed to somewhat patch up the wounded heart of the fan who had just been disappointed by him, but I couldn’t help but think she would likely leave the fandom or post a negative review.

 

‘This is getting serious….’

 

“…….”

 

‘Should I just pull him out and say he’s sick today?’

 

“…….”

 

‘The longer this goes on, the worse it gets. Is this really the right call?’

 

I wanted to take care of the <Wizard> as much as possible, but the problem was that I didn’t have the time. With fans lined up and waiting for their turn with fluttering hearts, how could I divert my attention elsewhere? Even though Lee Unha was used to multitasking, this wasn’t the kind of situation where I could ignore the fan standing in front of me just to watch someone else. Despite receiving various training, I was just as flustered by my first fansign.

 

“What is your name?!”

 

“I-I’m Lee Haewon… Haewon… and I, I brought this for Unha…”

 

“Ah… we don’t accept gifts… aww… it should have been in the announcement; did you not see it?”

 

“No, I saw it, but just in case…”

 

“It’s company policy, so I can’t accept other gifts! Please forgive me. Instead, I’ll take the doll and the letter! I’ll keep hugging them! Oh! There’s a headband too! I’ll wear this.”

 

“Really?”

 

Knowing how much money the fans had spent, I had no choice but to do my absolute best during these two minutes. I wasn’t the only one excited or nervous for the first fansign. Most of the fans who had come were just as overwhelmed… I had to soothe the excited fans and encourage the nervous ones.

 

“Why are you crying?”

 

“I don’t know either, Unha. Sniff. Sob…”

 

“Please don’t cry. If someone cries, I start crying too. My eyes are already watering. Sniff…”

 

“Don’t cry! Don’t cry, Unha. I’ll stop!”

 

“My makeup is going to run because of you, noona… Sniff… you have to take responsibility.”

 

“Ah, don’t cry… I’m sorry. Okay? I’m sorry… I’ll take responsibility, okay?”

 

There were situations like that, and…

 

“I’m… so nervous….”

 

“It’s okay. I’ll ask them to give us just a little more time. Take your time and tell me everything you want to say or ask. I’ll answer all of it!”

 

“Yeah. Thanks, Unha. Thank you so much.”

 

“Come on, I’m the one who’s grateful! Ah, but I don’t know your name yet… oh? You brought it on a post-it. Let’s see… Heena noona!”

 

There were situations like that, too. Of course, there were also situations that caught me off guard. At least, situations that weren’t in my data.

 

“Unha Hyung!”

 

“Uh… eh?”

 

“Do you remember me?!”

 

“Could you be… the one from… the subway….”

 

“Yes! That’s right!”

 

‘StormStudent.’

 

“You remembered!”

 

‘You… are someone I couldn’t possibly forget. Please, for your own sake, reduce your SNS activity. Stop cursing at people, okay? Please stop.’

 

“Hehehe… So you’ve been supporting me this whole time? That makes me so happy.”

 

“Ah, I really voted for you. Idol Classism! Ever since I met you on the subway, I told all my friends to vote for you. I even joined <Aether>! I made all my friends join too. Unfortunately, those guys couldn’t make it to the fansign… I guess they just weren’t determined enough. Oh, and my younger sister is an Aeher too, but she didn’t win a spot either.”

 

“Oh, really? But you still came by yourself? That makes me really happy.”

 

“And this is a gift. I saved my allowance and worked part-time for this tablet PC…”

 

“No, no. We aren’t allowed to accept gifts.”

 

“Ah… I-Is that so?”

 

“Yeah. Just knowing how you feel is more than enough. Where should I sign?”

 

“Here. But I also made a list of questions to ask you. I wrote them on this post-it, so please check them briefly. Oh, and you haven’t received your settlement yet, right? I actually brought some cash secretly so you can use it until you get paid. This cash…”

 

No. Don’t do that.

 

“No, don’t! Put it away! Use that money for yourself! It must’ve already been hard enough just coming all the way here…”

 

And even….

 

“I’ll come to the next… the next fansign too!”

 

“Oh… yeah! Thanks!”

 

“Please make sure to read my letter! I’m going to ask you about the contents at the next fansign!”

 

“Ah… ah… of course, ll remember every single detail!”

 

“Oh! And hyung, you have something on you.”

 

‘It can’t be that, right?’

 

“Gim (Seaweed)!” 

 

(TL note: Wordplay. ‘Gim’ sounds like the end of ‘Jalsaeng-gim’ (Handsomeness).)

 

“Your handsomeness!”

 

Not only did he leave me completely flustered, but I could feel him stealing glances at me even while he was getting signatures from the other members. He was just phoning it in with the other members, even though they were smiling their hardest under my strict orders, to the point that they were starting to lose their composure. He was even taking their autographs half-heartedly.

 

‘Seriously, StormStudent, why are you like this?’

 

Besides that, there were bizarre questions that flustered me and extreme situations that put me in a bind. Some incidents became so extreme that the security guards had to step in—what more needed to be said? So many incidents occurred in this short time that I felt I couldn’t remember them all. No matter how much of an expert I was, it was a situation where it was hard to manage Kim Haejun, who had turned into a dead fish.

 

He seemed to be trying his best in his own way, but….

 

“Ah, really…? Ah….”

 

‘Seriously, stop just saying ‘Ah, really?’. For f*ck’s sake, use some other reaction. Is that some kind of instinct? You claim you’re from a parallel world, so where the hell did you even learn that line?’

 

“Ah, really? Huh? Really?”

 

‘I told you not to do that! Didn’t you see me earlier? What were you even looking at?’

 

“Ah, really? Ahhh… ah, really?”

 

‘I seriously want to smack this guy. Can’t you see what the other members are doing? Can’t you see they’re pouring their souls into this? At this rate, <Fantasia> as a whole is going to get dragged through the mud because of you.’

 

“Is that so? Really?”

 

‘Just stop saying ‘Really’.’

 

The fans who moved over here after finishing their talk with the first member showed no sign of their expressions improving. Their requests weren’t unreasonable, and yet he kept dodging them, or refusing simply because he felt awkward or didn’t want to do them; it kept grating on my nerves.

 

‘Wow. This is a real disaster.’

 

“…….”

 

‘That’s it… that’s it… I’ve got to get this bastard out of here.’

 

Thinking that there was no other answer, I eventually had no choice but to raise my hand slightly.

 

Naturally, I saw the fan manager and a guard approaching me. I quietly whispered to the staff member, but loud enough for those around to hear….

 

“I think Haejun hyung is sick.”

 

As soon as I said that, a buzz started spreading through the crowd. Mostly, ‘Oh… what do we do? Haejun seems to be sick’, or ‘Is he really hurting?’ or ‘Was he actually sick?’.

 

Exactly the reaction I’d expected. I felt a sense of regret that I hadn’t dragged the bastard out sooner.

 

‘This is better. He’s better off not being here at all.’

 

The S-class Hunter codenamed <Wizard>, who supposedly saved a parallel Earth, looked at the staff approaching him as if he had met a messenger of salvation.

 

‘Disappear as fast as possible. Seriously.’