Idol of the Heavenly One - vanish into fiction

December had a lot of events. First, there was AAM, and before that, my birthday. Last year, my birthday was right after debut, so I was too busy and only blew out a cake without much else. This year, though, I had come to know someone special, so I couldn’t just let it pass.

“I want to go to a birthday cafe.”

“A birthday cafe?”

“Yeah. Have you ever been?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You’ve never been? Not even the first or second one?”

“Nope.”

It was a birthday cafe. Fans rent a cafe, decorate it with photos of the idol, hand out cups, stickers, and celebrate together. Knowing that it existed made my heart ache with how cute it was.

I wondered if Baek Jae-heon knew about birthday cafes, so I asked. He did know, but he had never been, which made me feel a little disappointed and also a bit sorry. Of course, he wouldn’t have had much time. He must have lived in constant fear of when something could suddenly happen.

“When I go to the birthday cafe, you’ll come with me.”

“Sure.”

“I’ll also go with you when it’s your birthday.”

“Okay.”

Baek Jae-heon’s birthday is in October. Oh, that already passed. Next year, we’ll go together. For now, I had to bring him to my birthday cafe first.

I recently found an app where I could learn about the birthday cafe events. It was a place where you could access all sorts of news in real-time. Before, there used to be a portal site’s real-time search ranking, which was convenient, but at some point, it disappeared, making it slower to get updates. Now, this app gave us the fastest access to trends and news, so it had become something the members and I always had on us.

Through it, I could see where my birthday cafe would be. Since my birthday was on a Thursday, the cafes were usually open the weekend before or on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I couldn’t go to all of them, so I aimed for Friday morning, the day after my birthday, when it would probably be least crowded.

“You’re really Baek Jae-heon, huh?”

“Even with a mask on?”

“Aren’t you underestimating yourself?”

We dressed Baek Jae-heon in a mask, hat, glasses, and scarf, and I dressed similarly. Then we left early in the morning for Hongdae and went to the closest cafe first. From the entrance, a huge poster made it obvious that it was my birthday cafe. Inside, only two women sat at a corner table, and the rest of the cafe was empty.

“One iced Americano and one iced cafe latte, please.”

“Ah, that’s not it.”

“Not it?”

“Cookie special A and B sets, please.”

“The drinks we have are Americano, peach iced tea, and lemonade.”

“Both Americanos, please.”

I ignored Baek Jae-heon, who had started ordering thinking it was a normal cafe, and instead ordered the two special sets I had looked up in advance. Baek Jae-heon muttered a dumb “Ah” from behind, and I immediately received the special items, along with coffee in bottles and two cups printed beautifully with my face.

“Look at the cups.”

“They’re pretty.”

“I want to keep one.”

“I’ll give it to you later.”

We sat at a nearby table with the sets, and Baek Jae-heon fiddled with them, saying how cute they were. I was looking at the stickers and postcards when suddenly I felt a piercing gaze from afar. I looked up and made eye contact with the two women who had been sitting in the corner earlier.

“No way, it’s them.”

“Yeah, it is!”

They were probably fans who recognized me. When I smiled at them, they jumped to their feet, hesitating as if wanting to come over but unsure what to do.

“O… Oppa…!”

“Hey, what do you mean oppa? We’re both eight years older than you.”

“Shut up…”

I burst out laughing at their conversation. Baek Jae-heon was looking at the stickers, but when he heard my laugh, he looked up at me. I left him there and got up to approach them. The two women screamed when I came near, and it was too cute.