Idol of the Heavenly One - Chapter 26.1
On a day without a music broadcast, it was already late afternoon by the time we finished our schedule and headed to the fan signing venue. Today was our official first fan signing event. It was the first time in two months since debut that we were meeting fans directly, so all the members were excited yet nervous. The van was unusually noisy, when suddenly our manager-hyung announced a notice.
“During the fan signing, if someone tries to secretly slip gold, cash, bracelets, necklaces, or rings into your hand, you must return it. You absolutely cannot accept it.”
The atmosphere went quiet for a moment, and I could not hold back a laugh that burst out of me.
What kind of fan would even try to hand over something like that? And even if they did bring it, they would have gone through a metal detector at the entrance, so how could they possibly sneak it in? Fans are not spies. It sounded like something out of a movie. I could not stop giggling.
But the actual scene was different from what I had imagined.
“No, you can’t.”
“Take it, take it…”
“No, you can’t…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine…”
“Please take it…”
There they were. Those kinds of fans.
Small gold bars, heavy gold bracelets, glittering gold necklaces, and rings. Fans tried to shove them into my hand, and I kept repeating, “No, you can’t. Please take it back.” I could not even tell whether this was a fan signing or a jewelry store. No wonder the manager-hyung had made that announcement. This was something senior idols had already experienced countless times.
‘But how did they even get this in…?’
I tilted my head. They should have passed through metal detectors one by one at the entrance, yet they still managed to bring things like that inside. I could only think it was incredible.
And gold was nothing compared to what came next.
In front of Baek Jae-heon, luxury brand shopping bags were piling up and being sent back by the dozens. According to company rules, we were not allowed to accept anything except letters at a fan signing, so they all had to be returned. But there were plenty of things like bags, watches, and clothes, obvious from the logos alone.
‘Wow, isn’t that watch worth over a billion won?’
In my previous life, I sometimes had meals with middle-aged men who wore things like that. I recognized the luxury brand logo printed on the shopping bag, and my eyes could not help but widen. The fans all looked quite young. How could they buy and bring things like that? Surely they did not steal their father’s belongings. Thinking about things like that was strangely fun.
No, in fact, everything about this was fun.
Meeting fans in person, talking with them, hearing them call my name with affection in their voices. It all made me so happy. I could truly feel that the life of a singer had begun.
“Cheonmyeong-ah, I came here with my boyfriend.”
“Wow…”
“Why?”
“It feels like Hollywood.”
“What? You should be jealous!”
“Ah, oh…!”
Since this was my first time experiencing something like this, I often ended up speaking honestly about what I felt rather than giving the reaction they wanted. I was learning more from the fans themselves.
“Again.”
“Yes.”
“Cheonmyeong-ah, I came here with my boyfriend.”
“I don’t like it. I’ll be your boyfriend instead.”
“Kyaa!”
The fan covered her face with both hands and screamed. I tilted my head, confused.
“Why? Did I say something wrong?”
“No, it’s because I like it too much.”
“Ha ha, you startled me.”
The time spent with the fans was so much fun. It was joyful, and I felt like I could do this for hours without getting tired.
Had about an hour passed? Just when most of the fans had already received their autographs—
“Cheonmyeong, hello…!”
“….”
“…Ah, hello?”
A familiar face came up to me.
I had been living as someone else for nineteen years now. Because of that, many memories of my previous life had become faint. It was not so much that I was forgetting them. It was more that I was never supposed to remember them in the first place, so they were disappearing naturally. The name disappears first, then the memory of the face. The things I once knew best are the first to fade, and after that, the things that were second-most precious to me vanish too.
I had thought it did not matter.
I had not gotten married or had children in my past life. I had not had anything I loved that deeply, so I thought it did not matter.
But there was one thing I still longed for, something I regretted. After I had died—
‘They are truly grieving your death.’
I wanted to see again, just once more, the person who sincerely mourned me. Before all of these memories disappeared. Before everything was gone.
“…Hello.”
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