Idol of the Heavenly One - Chapter 32.1
After greeting the red carpet, the members headed to the parking lot and got into the van. We had already arrived earlier, but now we had to drive back to the entrance of the arena just for the cameras. It felt funny. The background of celebrities really seemed like it was all just for show.
“Wow, there really are a lot of people today. There are even police officers.”
Police? At Kwon Ji-hak’s words, I lifted my head and looked out the window. Sure enough, several police officers were controlling traffic and the crowd. Could it be that they were deployed because of my report?
Buzz―
<[112 Emergency Center] Your report has been received, and police personnel have been deployed to the site. Please be cautious and stay safe.>
As I had that thought, a message came in from 112. It seemed my report had taken effect. This changes things a little. If police were on-site, then perhaps the accident might not happen today.
Come to think of it, because of the butterfly effect, there was already a high chance that things which happened in my previous life might not occur in this one.
Please, let this small flutter of wings be enough to prevent the disaster.
With my mood lifted, I stood on the red carpet with a far more natural expression. The flashing lights stung my eyes, but I managed to complete the photo wall greetings without incident and then sat down at the singers’ section in front of the AAM main stage.
Until AAM ended, I couldn’t leave. I had to sit there and watch every performance live. If I hadn’t known about the fire at Arena Station, I probably would have been nothing but excited. This was my first time experiencing other singers’ performances from up close.
The singers’ seats were arranged in a single row: Joo I-rip, Lee Soonbok (Iseun), Kwon Ji-hak, Baek Jae-heon, Go Hee-min, and then me. At first glance, it looked random, but in truth it was a thoroughly calculated seating plan from the company. The order was designed to cut off the infamous Baek Jae-heon, who was currently dominating the Korean media, from other groups. More precisely, to prevent him from appearing in the same frame as any girl group.
Then what about me or Joo I-rip? Did it not matter if we were in the frame? I found the manager hyungs’ reasoning pretty absurd, but if just being in the same shot could stir up fan chaos, I had no choice but to accept it.
“Hello.”
Because of this seating arrangement, the idol who ended up sitting on my left was from another boy group, and he greeted me first.
“Oh, hello.”
“I really like YEARZ’s debut song.”
“Oh, thank you.”
I should have responded with something like, “I like your songs too,” but the truth was I didn’t know which group he belonged to. I thought I had seen him when studying male idol stages, but…
“I am Seungchan from DAYN.”
“Oh, ah…! Hello. I, uh, enjoyed listening to ‘Wave.’”
“Haha! So you do know our song!”
It must have shown on my face that I didn’t recognize him. The idol who introduced himself as Seungchan from a group called DAYN laughed easily and teased me.
“Sorry. I actually knew, but seeing you in person, you’re so much more handsome that it threw me off.”
“Ha ha ha! Ji Cheonmyeong, you’re such a smooth talker!”
The group called DAYN was a senior group that had debuted four years before us. Back when I was still a trainee, I had studied DAYN while learning about boy idols, but I hadn’t memorized every member. So unless he said his group name, I didn’t know who he was. Still, I had enough social experience to avoid bluntly admitting I didn’t know. I twisted my words to dodge the awkwardness instead.
But the fact that this Seungchan already knew exactly who I was, despite us only debuting two months ago, was surprising. Did he just have a lot of interest in idols?
“Let’s get along, Ji Cheonmyeong.”
“Ah, yes.”
Seungchan held out his hand for a handshake, and I cautiously placed mine in his.
“Oh.”
“Haha. The rings are cold, right?”
The rings he wore on all ten fingers were icy to the touch, and I flinched without meaning to. Seungchan just laughed, shaking my hand up and down energetically as if everything amused him. He seemed like the kind of person who might be too much for me to handle.
“Ha ha…”
But what could I do? He was my senior. I gave him an awkward smile in return, carefully slipped my hand free, and thankfully, Seungchan released me without fuss.
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