Idol of the Heavenly One - Chapter 23.2
“You, by any chance…”
Bzzz—
I had been about to ask if he had ever thought about getting some serious counseling when my phone buzzed briefly. The vibration lit up the screen with a message, and I shot upright.
“It’s here.”
“What is?”
“Kkupang.”
“What?”
Leaving Baek Jae-heon’s slightly confused voice behind, I got up, opened the door, and walked straight to the entrance. I cracked the front door open just enough to grab the box that had been left beside it, then brought it back inside.
Since all the members seemed to be asleep, the dorm was quiet. I carefully carried the box into the room.
“What is that?”
“Hot packs.”
“Why those? You could just ask the managers for some.”
“These are for the fans.”
The fans weighed on my mind the whole day. They had come out from dawn, shivering in the cold while waiting for us. Most of them looked like very young students, and that made me both worried and grateful. So, using my saved-up allowance, I placed a same-day order.
“…”
“I’ll tell them you pitched in too and give you credit.”
In truth, I planned to hand them out as if all the members had prepared this together. But since Jae-heon might feel awkward, I teased that I’d include his name.
“You really are new at this.”
What was he talking about now?
“Yeah, I’m new.”
I was too tired to argue, so I just nodded and shoved the whole box of hot packs into a big backpack. A hundred should be enough, right?
“…”
“Come on, we only have three hours left.”
Even though Jae-heon just stood there quietly watching me, it was really time to collapse into sleep. Otherwise, we would be facing fans later with bloodshot eyes.
***
“Here, take one.”
“What is it?”
“Huh, what’s this?”
“What is this thing?”
“Myeong-hyeon hyung, what is this?”
On our way to record for the music show “Music Together”, after finishing hair and makeup, I opened my bag and handed out bundles of hot packs to the members. Still half-asleep, they all asked what it was.
“Hot packs.”
Their faces said, “We know that,” so I quickly explained further.
“I ordered them for same-day delivery yesterday since the fans were waiting in the cold. We’ll hand them out as we go in.”
At that, everyone gasped and opened their eyes wide. Clearly, none of them had thought of it. Well, boys this age usually wouldn’t.
“The fans are going to be so touched…!”
“Seriously…! This hyung is an angel…!”
Lee Soonbok and Kwon Ji-hak clutched their bundles of hot packs and stared at me with sparkling eyes, as if they themselves were more moved than the fans would be. Angel, over a hot pack? If I had more money, I would have given every fan a blanket and a cup of cocoa.
“You could have just boosted your own image with this, but you really thought of everyone. I’m touched. I’ll even let you speak casually to me now.”
Joo I-rip seemed touched in a different way than the others. But I had already planned on dropping formal speech anyway.
“Turn around for a second.”
“My back? Why?”
“Let me check if you’ve got wings.”
At Go Hee-min’s cheesy remark, I couldn’t help it—my philtrum stretched long as I stifled a groan. That guy was quietly strong at cracking jokes.
Heh heh. I couldn’t hold my laughter in, and once I started chuckling, the others followed until the whole van was filled with laughter.
Even Baek Jae-heon, whom I glanced at, had a faint smile on his face before I noticed.
“Whoa!”
“No way!”
“Oh my god!!”
When we stepped out of the van into the freezing early morning, the fans, who had been shivering in the lowest temperatures of the day, exploded into cheers. At first they froze in surprise because instead of heading straight inside, we approached them. But once we began handing out hot packs one by one, they started screaming.
“Everyone! Thank you for coming!”
“Here, this is from Cheonmyeong!”
“Thank you so much for coming…!”
“It’s cold, right? Who hasn’t gotten a hot pack yet?”
The members, their arms full of hot packs, were careful to hand them out so no one would be left out.
“…Hm?”
But for some reason, Baek Jae-heon was nowhere to be seen.
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