novelraw Chapter 114 : New PerG-Day (1)
Chapter 114 : New PerG-Day (1)
New PerG-Day (1)
Urgent Recruitment of the 4th Member.
Lee Gyeongbok relayed the situation to his friends.
"I mean, should we be happy about this or not? I guess it means we've grown that much."
"... Looks like this isn't a situation where we can leisurely enjoy the autograph session."
Choi Byeonghun and Park Juho's expressions immediately grew serious, and Park Juho's mood was as if he were making a life-changing decision.
"Work comes first. Unfortunately, we'll have to head back..."
Park Juho knew how to distinguish public from private matters. However, contrary to his resolve, Lee Gyeongbok wore a blank expression.
"I'm not saying we should leave and go back, you know?"
"Eh?"
"Then?"
Lee Gyeongbok let out a small laugh at his friends' suddenly serious faces.
"It's not even happening tomorrow, so there's no need to rush. We should rest when we can. Besides, it's not just us working—Genome hyung and Ecl are here too. And..."
"And?"
Lee Gyeongbok thought about revealing the truth behind NewtonLord and Yoon Nara, but quickly shook his head.
'I don't distrust these guys, but the fewer people know the secret, the better.'
There's the old saying—if three people know, it's no longer a secret.
Coincidentally, including his friends, there were exactly three.
"If three of us suddenly disappear, it would be disrespectful to the fans who couldn't come."
Lee Gyeongbok spoke naturally, comforting his friends.
The two glanced at each other, unsure if this was really okay, but eventually agreed.
"Yeah, in such cases, we should listen to the boss."
"If it's your judgment, I believe it."
As they conversed, the time for the lottery draw quickly arrived. Lee Gyeongbok presented his ID to the on-site staff.
"Ah, could you please lower your mask for a moment?"
"Yes."
When Lee Gyeongbok lowered his mask, the staff's eyes widened in surprise. Only after Lee Gyeongbok tilted his head in puzzlement did the staff snap out of it.
"S-sorry. Identity confirmed. Please draw three tickets."
"Thank you."
Lee Gyeongbok put his hand into the drawing box. Park Juho sent him a desperate look.
In order, Lee Gyeongbok drew three numbers.
The results—
"... Is this good or bad?"
"Two of the three are good picks, but the last one is number 100."
He'd drawn two early numbers and the very last spot, number 100. It was an outcome too ambiguous to be simply happy or disappointed by.
"See, I told you it's all luck."
At Lee Gyeongbok's words, his friends nodded but became serious again.
"But if we do it this way, one of us is completely separated from the others."
"That's tough..."
"Couldn't we trade spots with another fan?"
At Choi Byeonghun's question, Park Juho frowned.
"I've said it before, but the further back in the order, the more you're pressed for time. Number 100 is the biggest risk—who would trade for that?"
"Dang... So what do we do?"
"I'll take seat 100."
At Park Juho's declaration, the other two turned to stare.
"We can't ruin our first fansign event. I've at least done this a few times, so I think it should be me."
He reached out to take the ticket, but the one in his hand was not 100.
"What?"
"You?"
Lee Gyeongbok had taken number 100 and handed the remaining numbers to his friends.
Seeing their dumbfounded faces, Lee Gyeongbok grinned.
"This is the perfect spot for me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Juho, didn't you say it's better to avoid photos before leaving? If you're the last in line, it's actually lucky."
The focus of all the cameras would be on Sweeties. Being in the last spot meant drawing less attention from the lenses.
'And there's another reason as well.'
A reason his friends didn't know.
'If I reveal I know her real identity, it might cause panic. But if I'm the last, it won't disturb the autograph event.'
If Yoon Nara lost her focus, it could cause trouble for the on-site staff, fans, and all the Sweeties members. So being recruited at the very end was just right.
"Well, if you say so."
"Alright, we still have time, let's go to a cafe. I need to write a fan letter too."
"Yeah, I'm also curious if the hotel cafe is any different."
Having settled things, the three headed for the cafe to spend their remaining time.
* * *
The on-site staff moved busily.
"Please prepare for Sweeties autograph session entry."
They quietly announced the preparations with hologram signboards so as not to bother other guests.
Fans, scattered around including Lee Gyeongbok, began to move.
"Is this really okay..."
"Hey, you sure you're alright?"
"I said I'm fine! See you after it's over."
Lee Gyeongbok soon had to part with his friends. As the last in line, he headed for the end of the queue.
"Excuse me."
Just then someone called out to him. He turned to find a man smiling at him.
"Yes?"
"Are you number 100 by any chance?"
"... Yes, that's me."
"If you don't mind, would you swap numbers with me? I'm number 24."
A proposal to trade places.
Lee Gyeongbok's brow furrowed.
'He wants to swap for number 100?'
Wasn't this the opposite of what Park Juho had warned? Sensing Lee Gyeongbok's doubt, the man quickly explained.
"Ah, I know it might seem strange since most people try to avoid the last slot. But, the way I see it, the very end is a little different."
"Different?"
"Of course! Sweeties are just people—they can't possibly remember all 100 fans. But if you're last, you might leave a much stronger impression."
It made sense.
Still, Lee Gyeongbok had no intention of giving up his spot.
"No exchange, thanks."
"Huh? But you seem new as a BRICKs member..."
"Well, why not try 99?"
Just as the man tried to convince Lee Gyeongbok again, a woman approached and the man quickly swapped tickets with her.
'This feels fishy...'
Lee Gyeongbok scowled, watching the back of the man who was now in front of him with number 99. His divine energy sensed a feeling of discomfort coming from the man.
"We'll begin entry! Please have IDs and numbered tickets ready!"
Entry soon began.
Inside the spacious venue were 100 seats, and on each was a small cookie bag.
[Thank you for coming! Please enjoy these!]
A handwritten note attached to each—Sweeties members had personally made the cookies.
A gift from idols to fans: the so-called "reverse gift."
'Surprisingly tasty?'
Lee Gyeongbok ate the cookie right away, but other fans treasured them like precious loot.
Once people settled in, the fans busied themselves with preparation.
Unlike Lee Gyeongbok—who only brought a fan letter—other fans pulled out various gifts.
'... A doll?'
Lee Gyeongbok's gaze shifted to the man with number 99 next to him. The man had prepared a figure-skating-themed character doll.
Noticing the attention, the man grinned and spoke.
"Oh, my favorite member is Nara. You know she used to be a figure skater, right?"
Of course, Lee Gyeongbok had no idea.
'Figure skating? No wonder she's so athletic.'
Lee Gyeongbok didn't bother replying. The man, wanting to boast, went right on.
"This is a limited edition only sold during the Winter Olympics. Nara's really attached to anything figure skating! So it was really hard to find this."
Before Lee Gyeongbok could respond, a commotion began in the hall.
The stage doors opened and the Sweeties members appeared.
"Kyaaaaaa!"
"Sehee! I love you!"
"Nara unni!"
The buzz quickly turned to cheers, and rapid-fire camera shutter sounds filled the air.
Camera fans were snapping away like mad, determined not to miss a single frame.
'Oh wow...'
At the sudden change in mood, Lee Gyeongbok marveled inwardly. Just by appearing, they could shake up people's hearts like this?
The members stood in line and received microphones. The leader, yoon Nara, lightly checked hers and spoke.
"One, two, three!"
At her call, the noise instantly vanished. The fans responded as one, surely not wanting to miss Sweeties' voices.
"Sweeten your day! Hello, we're Sweeties!"
As the members greeted everyone, cheers exploded again. Some people even wiped away tears of joy.
'So this is what an idol is.'
Lee Gyeongbok marveled again, turning his eyes to the stage—the leader, yoon Nara, in particular.
After a brief chat and greeting from the members, the autograph session began in earnest.
Fans began lining up to ascend the stage according to staff instructions.
'They're not fake or anything?'
Lee Gyeongbok's divine energy was particularly good at sensing people. But even with his sensitivity, he didn't detect any negativity from Yoon Nara or the other members.
'She's truly herself, both ways.'
NewtonLord, whom he'd met in a game, and the radiant leader of Sweeties—both were Yoon Nara.
They seemed like opposites at a glance; he'd assumed one side was an act, but he was wrong.
She was truly sincere in both roles.
'Ah, it's their turn now.'
Lee Gyeongbok's attention shifted to the new fans ascending the stage—Park Juho and Choi Byeonghun.
'Juho... that guy. He never even smiles like that when he's with us.'
Park Juho, always stern and serious, was now up on stage with a big smile, his cheeks raised like a golden retriever.
'And Byeonghun... why's he like that?'
Meanwhile, Choi Byeonghun stared wide-eyed, mouth slightly ajar—stunned at meeting the idols he'd only seen on screen.
But the time passed quickly; the talking time with each member per fan was only about a minute.
Thanks to that, Lee Gyeongbok's turn as the last in line approached faster than expected. Guided by the staff, he made his way to the stage.
"Uh...?"
"Wow..."
Several people let out impressed sighs. Even with a mask on, his striking looks stood out, along with his tall, athletic build and broad shoulders.
The camera shutter noise intensified. Some female fans zoomed out from the members to photograph him instead.
It wasn't just the fans who were surprised.
"Welcom—"
The first member to greet Lee Gyeongbok was visibly startled, her expression changing. Though she tried to treat fans equally, she was still human.
"Excuse me, are you perhaps a trainee from our agency? Did you come to stir something up secretly?"
She whispered in a low voice.
It was a fair question, given how far from ordinary he looked.
Lee Gyeongbok brushed it off with a wry smile and a wave.
"No? I'm just here for your autograph."
Normally, idols avoid physical contact unless fans request it, and even then, don't always oblige.
Yet she unconsciously patted Lee Gyeongbok's shoulder as she spoke.
"Wow, your voice is amazing. You sure you're not in the business?"
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Argh, seriously. This feels like I'm the one doing the fan meet!"
She couldn't stop smiling. But the time was short, being at the end.
Even as she sent him off, her eyes lingered with a hint of regret.
The other members reacted much the same. Lee Gyeongbok collected his autographs calmly and moved on.
"Wow, this doll is adorable! Thank you so much!"
Finally, his turn with the leader, yoon Nara. Lee Gyeongbok took his seat and greeted her.
"Hello."
She, too, flinched as she saw him. Although surprised, she quickly regained her composure.
A leader was indeed a leader.
"Nice to meet you. First time here, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Thank you so much for coming today!"
Lee Gyeongbok smiled with his eyes and handed over his photo card and post-it.
"So you're Lee Gyeongbok... Let's write the sign with—"
Yoon Nara paused as she prepared the autograph.
It was because of the message Lee Gyeongbok had written on the post-it.
[The match between Gunner Ground and EldenSoul was fun.]
Yoon Nara's eyes wavered.
Luckily, as her head was bowed for the autograph, no one else noticed.
"This is a fan letter."
Lee Gyeongbok smoothly handed over his fan letter. Then, so only she could hear, he whispered,
"We both know each other's faces now, right? I'll wait for your answer."
Yoon Nara twitched at his words. Her hands moved rapidly.
When she looked up, she wore a smile—but her glare was sharp.
"Time's up! Please exit the stage!"
With the staff's call, Lee Gyeongbok gathered his photo card.
"What a shame. If we had more time, we could talk more."
"Indeed."
He replied lightly to her meaningful words. As he was about to leave, he turned back.
"Oh, and you should have that doll checked carefully."
"... What?"
Yoon Nara glanced in confusion at the doll she'd received. But as she looked up again, Lee Gyeongbok was already back at his seat.
* * *
The vehicle returning to the Sweeties' dorm.
"Wow... wasn't he insanely handsome?"
"Hey, maybe he was using demonic energy or something."
"For someone saying that, you sure couldn't take your eyes off him."
The members chatted about the autograph session, but most of the discussion was about the last fan—number 100.
"He was so striking, I even remember his name."
"It was Lee Gyeongbok, right?"
"I really thought I wasn't the type to fall for just a pretty face, but maybe I am."
"Come on, unni. It wasn't just the face—did you see his body? Totally crazy?"
"I even touched his shoulder without thinking. Dude, the muscles were just..."
While the others gossiped happily, only Yoon Nara stared out the window with a serious face.
"Nara unni, what did you think?"
"Huh?"
"The fan who came at the end."
Yoon Nara let out a bitter laugh and shook her head.
"I only saw him for such a short time, I don't really know."
"Ah... yeah, you hardly had any time, right?"
"Think he'll come again next fansign?"
"He'd have to win a ticket to show up."
As they joked and laughed, the car arrived back at the dorm. The members returned to their rooms, and Yoon Nara entered hers.
'Uwaaaaaa!'
As soon as she was alone, her expression crumbled. She let out a silent scream and flopped onto her bed.
'What the heck, what the heck! Who is he?!'
An onslaught of embarrassment, confusion, and anxiety mixed and surged.
Suppressing her emotions had only made them wilder.
'That person is Purple? How did he figure out my identity? Has he always been a fan? Enough to come to a fansign?'
Her poor blanket and pillow took a beating from her fists.
But her mood didn't settle—rather, it grew even more tangled. With trembling hands, she pulled out the fan letter from her pocket.
Usually, fan letters and gifts were taken care of by the manager and staff, but she'd brought this one herself.
'What could it possibly say...'
She swallowed dryly.
She opened the fan letter wide-eyed and read through it. But it wasn't a "fan" letter.
"Ha, haha..."
She let out a hollow laugh, her eyes twitching. Taking a deep breath, she massaged her eyelids.
'An event? He wants to recruit me for his team? Me?'
It was absurd.
NewtonLord, known as the notorious sniper, proposing to form a team with the former target, Purple?
Normally, she'd have rejected it on the spot—no, it wasn't even worth a reply.
But she couldn't.
'He said he'd grant my wish in return...'
The reward for Purple's proposed recruitment was highly appealing, even with the caveat of "if possible."
Just then, there was a knock at her door.
"A gift for you, nara."
It was the manager's voice.
She hurriedly hid the letter and opened the door. She was back in leader mode.
"Ah, thank you!"
"You want to handle sorting them yourself again?"
"Yes. Please just put them down."
Trying to get rid of the manager quickly, her gaze landed on the box of gifts.
'But what about what he said about the doll?'
The figure-skating doll from the 99th fan—why did Lee Gyeongbok tell her to be careful?
It was a random comment, but he wasn't the type to say things for no reason.
"Rest well, then."
"Manager, wait."
"Yes?"
"Could you record a video for a second?"
"Video?"
"Yes, I want to check something."
Yoon Nara said as she picked up the doll. The manager hesitated, but did as she asked.
'Nothing looks weird...'
She examined the doll closely, feeling its soft cotton and texture. It certainly seemed like a fancy doll.
'Huh?'
Sudden sense of disharmony.
But she didn't overlook it.
'What was that?'
She sensed a faint movement in the doll's eye. Others might miss it, but she was Yoon Nara.
She reached for the eye, closing her own eyes to heighten her sense of touch.
'What is this?'
With her sharpened senses, she felt something foreign, unlike any normal eye of a doll.
With a firm expression, she turned to her manager.
"Could I get a pen?"
"Huh? Oh, yes."
Yoon Nara stabbed the pen into the doll's eye. The manager couldn't hide his alarm.
"Wait, don't ruin the gift—"
Before he could finish, the doll's eye popped out. Yoon Nara grimly removed something from inside.
"W-what is that...?"
It was a micro camera.
"Please report this immediately and contact the legal team. Don't tell the others...not yet."
"Y-yes!"
The shocked manager wrapped up the filming and bolted. Yoon Nara bit her lip and put the camera away.
She wanted to smash it on the spot, but it was evidence, so she couldn't. Instead, she turned the camera inward and placed the doll in the corner.
'What on earth...'
She acted composed in front of the manager, but she was just as shocked. Yet curiosity overcame that.
'How did Purple know about this?'
She pulled out Lee Gyeongbok's letter again.
[If you're okay, let's talk more directly. I'll set up a Disconnector room at the address below.]
An invitation to chat via the anonymous messenger app "Disconnector."
'I should at least hear what he has to say.'
Yoon Nara made up her mind.
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