“Ian-ah, aegyo please!”
“Joo Hyuk-ah! Look here too!”
Local broadcasts blared here and there amid the constant sound of shutters.
“Aegyo? I’m not good at aegyo though.”
Ian took the microphone. When he winked, cheers and groans immediately erupted from fans. Ian laughed at that and greeted the next fan.
“Seo Dam-ah, why don’t you look at Noona’s camera?”
“Yes?”
Park Seo Dam, who was signing the autograph, looked at the fan in surprise. She spoke with a smile, but her voice and demeanor conveyed a sense of disappointment.
“You only looked to the right… I came from far away. Isn’t that too much?”
“Did I do that? Where’s Noona’s seat? I’ll look over there, too.”
“There.”
“Over there?”
Park Seo Dam craned his neck to scan the seat she had pointed out.
“I’m sorry, Noona. The third row on the left, right? I’ll be sure to remember it.”
“Yeah, make sure to look there.”
Park Seo Dam smiled and said goodbye to the fans.
Wow, they also strike like this. Park Seo Dam calmed his surprise and greeted the next fan.
“Tae Woong-ah, why haven’t you proofed1That thing where the artist wears the gifts given by fans to “proof” that they have received and are using it well. It’s either the artist takes a picture by themselves and uploads it to their social media or the fans will look for themselves from Homma’s photos. it?”
“What proof?”
“I sent you a brand B ball cap, but you haven’t worn it.”
“Wow! Did you send me that expensive thing?”
Wearing a flower crown handed over by a fan, Jo Tae Woong opened his eyes wide as if surprised.
“Thank you very much, Noona. We’re busy, so we didn’t have time to go to the company. I’ll make sure to wear it.”
“It’s a bit disappointing when other members proof their gifts well.”
Jo Tae Woong laughed forcefully as the fan whined.
BHL Entertainment is not a company that banned tributes, nowadays called support.
Therefore, when fans ask about support, they provide the company address and tell them to send it there, and fans send fan letters or various gifts to this address.
Of course, because something strange may have been sent, the company employees unpack and examine it first before handing it over to the gift receiver.
“I’m sorry, Noona. Really! I’ll make sure to wear it.”
“Please move on now.”
The fan manager said indifferently. The fan sighed and stood up.
-Mydol proofed my giftㅠㅠㅠ So movedㅠㅠㅠ As expected, it looks good on himㅜㅜㅜㅜ
-Gallery’s owner2This is a very specific Korean internet slang so I can’t translate it well. Anyway this refers to a certain artist/figure that is the main topic of that gallery(simply put a discussion forum). proofed the supported necklace and bag on his way home from work
Fans attach a lot of meaning to the singer carrying the gifts they sent.
Fans react immediately when they wear fashion items they gave to them on their schedules.
And so there is bound to be the mentality of “He proofed that person’s gift, but why didn’t he proofed mine?” that come out.
translated by maroonmaru.xyz
* * *
translated by maroonmaru.xyz
“Just why. That’s really lame. Who brought it?”
“I think there are about five people who brought that.”
“Does the manager not take it away? I don’t want to see it anymore.”
Ian was wearing a dancing rabbit hat3That one rabbit hat which if you pressed the dangling legs part(?), the droopy rabbit ears moved upward. Or just search “Korean Rabbit Hat”. given by a fan. At Kim Eun Ha’s grumbling, a fan next to her said.
“But it’s better than I-One. You know that name tag made with pop letters4Something like this? That’s not prohibited there, so it was attached all over their clothes.”
“Oh really? It’s not a kindergarten. I don’t even want to see pictures with that on.”
“So, there are Hommas who erase all of that.”
“What kind of trouble is that?”
Still, it’s fortunate that Awy’s agency banned putting stickers on the face or the back of hand and putting something on their clothes. Even while thinking so, Kim Eun Ha kept snapping pictures.
“Because he’s handsome, it’s like a pictorial even if I snapped roughly.”
translated by maroonmaru.xyz
* * *
translated by maroonmaru.xyz
“Ian, you need to sign this, too.”
After all the fans received autographs, Lee Joo Hyuk and Park Jin Hyuk were talking to the fans with microphones. Ian received albums from Park Dong Soo. Several albums were piled up high like a wall.
‘Wow, is this a pillar?’
［The drama did come out well.]
Jin said flatly. After writing a thanks and signing an album, Ian passed it over to the side. Jo Tae Woong, who received it, skillfully signed it and passed it along again.
The albums they signed were meant to be distributed to officials. Was this really IWHYS effect? It felt like there were so much more than last time.
After filling up the three-weeks promotion period, Awy wrapped up their second mini-album activities with this last fan signing event.
“Hyung, I’m done signing everything.”
“Good job. Is it okay if we go home a bit later today?”
“Ah, of course.”
Usually, the last fan signing event lasted longer than the usual ones. Park Dong Soo nodded to the members as if telling them to take their time. Kim Hyun got up with a microphone.
“This is our last fan signing. So, is there any choreography you want to see?”
The members who finished signing the remaining albums stood up and approached the fans. Today’s fan signing venue was a small theater, so the distance from the fans was unusually close. The fan in the front row blocked her mouth when she was about to scream.
“Please stay until the last train!”
When one fan shouted, cheers erupted from various places. The members also laughed.
“Wow, shall we really do that? This promotion is also over now.”
“We are also sad.”
Of course, their whole bodies were sore from the intense choreography, but they still felt sad as it was the last day of this promotion.
“A lot of people asked to turn on the Y-app more often and visit the fan cafe frequently. We’ll do it until you get tired of it.”
As soon as Lee Joo Hyuk spoke, everyone cheered.
［It’s better not to make promises you can’t keep.]
‘But that Hyung is already a fan cafe fixture, you know.’
Awy took a group selfie with a phone given by the company for Y-app instead of having a personal phone, and left a post on the fan cafe or official account.
Among them, Lee Joo Hyuk would be ranked number one for fan cafe visits. He posted a selfie almost every other day and sent his regards saying he left work after schedules. Furthermore, he even chose lunch for fans and played together.
But that didn’t mean he monopolized the shared handphone. When everyone was having a quick nap between the busy schedules, he was even taking care of fans. He was a true leader of this era.
‘I should also visit often from now on.’
Ian also sometimes looked at the fan cafe next to Lee Joo Hyuk and took selfies with him. But merely looking was not enough, he had to write in person for fans to know.
“Shall we dance to our debut song?”
At Park Seo Dam’s words, fans clamored for them to perform it. After all, don’t fans usually want to collect each version and keep them separate for collection and safekeeping?
“Do we have music?”
“Should we just do it unaccompanied?”
The same goes for the stage. Fans screamed at the thought of seeing the debut song in the Techwear version, not the uniform version. And this special stage was even more meaningful because it could only be seen today.
“Oh? Our manager Hyung is so well prepared, isn’t he?”
Park Dong Soo played the AR of their debut song in a timely manner. Fans screamed as the members went to their positions and lined up for formation.
When Awy finished their debut song, the yellow triangle signs were blinking continuously in front of Ian.
“I thought the song for this promotion would be the hardest. But our debut song was also quite hard, right?
The members who were out of breath brought a bottle of water from the table where they signed and drank it.
“Honestly, this promotion was a bit hard for the three of us.”
Kim Hyun, who had to perform a highly difficult choreography, put Ian and Kim Ju Young on both sides and put his arms on their shoulders.
“That’s right, really.”
“Everyone knows, right? What kind of moves do we do at the dance break?”
The three nodded in camaraderie. In order to match the movements, they put a mat on the floor of the practice room and practiced repeatedly. Those were movements that would strain the waist if there was wrong posture.
“No. Good job!”
“It was cool!”
Fans threw individual comments from here and there. The fans were quite generous with individual comments during the fan signing event.
“But I’m not even a dance member, so I don’t know why I was in charge of the dance break part.”
“This is all because you gave too much energy in the running match with me, so why did you stop me?”
Jo Tae Woong responded as if it was unfair5In case anyone still doesn’t understand why Ian is in charge of the dance break, this is because the parkour moves Ian did back then inspired the concept for this comeback’s choreography, so ofc Ian must be in charge of this part.. The fans responded well. The Imjingak running video was one of the videos that fans liked.
“Ah. By the way, we’ll be doing LieV tomorrow!”
“Finally!”
Ian never did it in the previous life so he didn’t know, but LieV is a comfortable live broadcast while lying down. Due to the nature of the broadcast, LieV starts at 10 p.m. and hosts contents such as ASMR to help viewers sleep.
“It’s our first LieV, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
“What should we do tomorrow?”
They received opinions from fans and finished their last fan signing event.
“Well done, guys. Let’s go to the dorm now.”
After the fan signing event, Park Dong Soo encouraged Awy who entered the waiting room. While changing clothes, Jo Tae Woong suddenly raised his head.
“Dong Soo hyung! Did we get a lot of presents?”
“Uh, they’re piled up in the company.”
“Wow, I was freaked out, you know.”
Soothing his surprised heart, Jo Tae Woong told the members what he heard from a fan earlier. Kim Ju Young asked in surprise.
“Such a thing happened?”
“Oh… I really had no idea, but seeing how upset she was, my heart is… A bit complicated.”
“There was also a fan earlier who was disappointed that I didn’t look at her side.”
While it was true that they hadn’t paid close attention, they also wondered if those were things they should pay close attention to. Hearing it in person made them feel quite strange.
‘It’s just the beginning, tho…’
As if representing Ian’s thoughts, Park Dong Soo said.
“When you have more fans, there will be more like that. And proofing gifts isn’t mandatory, so do whatever you’re comfortable with. If you try to care about every single fan like that, you’ll get tired.”
“Is that so?”
“Since tomorrow’s schedule is only in the evening, do you want to go to the company today? To pick up some gifts.”
“Shall we? Is it okay, guys?”
At Lee Joo Hyuk’s words, everyone agreed.
“Guys!”
“Kyaak!”
Of course, fans wouldn’t go home quietly just because the fan signing event was over. Knowledgeable fans knew every nook and cranny of each venue, and naturally, they knew where the van would exit when the members were leaving.
While the car briefly stopped, the members opened the windows and waved to the fans.
translated by maroonmaru.xyz
* * *
translated by maroonmaru.xyz
［The support culture should have disappeared sooner.]
‘Why? Jealous?’
［Daaamned jealous.]
Ian opened the fan letter that came with a gift and read it. The tightly written letters continued on the back page. Ian read the fan letter with a pleased smile, until clicking sounds from the side distracted him.
“Dong Soo hyung, what are you doing?”
“To upload on our account.”
“Hyung, did you bring us all the way here to do this?”
Park Dong Soo avoided answering and took pictures of another member.
“Oh? Wow, what’s this?”
When Kim Hyun ripped off the packaging of a large frame, a huge collage work was revealed, made by collecting his photos from 8 years old until now, cutting them into pieces and pasting them together to form a single silhouette.
“Woah, daebak.”
“Isn’t it no joke?”
“You can see this as almost crazy.”
The silhouette form was the same as Kim Hyun’s dance move in this promotion. All the members gathered in front of the work and exclaimed.
“Wow…”
Kim Hyun was speechless as soon as he saw the work. Park Jin Hyuk tapped Kim Hyun on the shoulder. Ian also shook him gently from beside and said.
“With this much sincerity, this person must have liked Hyung for a long time.”
Are you crying? Isn’t this enough to cry?
The members laughed and teased Kim Hyun. However, Kim Hyun muttered with a complex and subtle expression.
“Really… I’m glad I didn’t give up.”
Soon, he picked up the bubble wrap that wrapped the work and repackaged the work. The other members moved in perfect order and helped Kim Hyun.