Chapter 124
"Then I'll go."
"Really, it's too much. I'm so jealous."
"I'll go and take a lot of pictures of Yoon-chul. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get good pictures since there are a lot of people in the cafe."
"I'm definitely going to win the showcase raffle, for real."
"It would be fun if only I could win."
"Hey!"
After teasing her younger sister until the end, Pyo Joo-hyun headed to the subway station.
Her mood was the best it had been in a while.
'Honestly, I still can't believe it.'
The odds were as slim as the eye of a needle.
Pyo Joo-hyun, who had also failed to attend the final live broadcast, naturally thought that she would not be able to attend the event cafe that only accepts 50 people.
So she checked the list of winners with peace of mind.
What is this? Next to the name written as Pyo*hyun, the last digits of her phone number were written proudly.
The distance to the event cafe in Mangwon-dong was quite far, but it didn't matter to Pyo Joo-hyun.
Her steps were light as she was just thinking about buying all the limited edition goods.
'If they have a picture or signboard of Ji Yoon-chul, you should take a lot of pictures and send them to me.'
Of course, she will send the photo purely for the sake of Pyo Ji-hyun, but it will probably unintentionally light a fire in her younger sister's heart.
Well, then, all she can do is laugh out loud while watching her run wild.
"Let's see, exit 2...."
After riding the subway for 1 hour and 20 minutes, Pyo Joo-hyun finally arrived at Mangwon-dong.
She looked at the map and slowly headed towards the event cafe.
Somehow, she started seeing people going into the same alley as her, one by one.
'Could it be that we're all going to the same place? '
Pyo Joo-hyun's prediction was right on the mark.
[Congratulations on your debut, Seleste!]
In front of the cafe, a colorful banner and group portraits of the members were erected.
Some Seleve, who had already arrived, were quickly taking pictures.
Even though there were still about 30 minutes left until the opening time of 3 o'clock, everyone was moving diligently.
'Um, there are probably people who buy MD shop goods in bulk. It would be a shame to come late and not be able to buy the goods we want, so it's better to come early and wait.'
It was a large cafe that could accommodate 50 people.
After taking a quick look, it seemed like the first floor was an MD shop and the second floor was a cafe.
"Please, enter slowly, one by one."
At exactly 3 o'clock, the staff started letting everyone in, one by one.
After entering her membership number, Pyo Joo-hyun had to fill out an additional consent form.
"Consent to the film? "
"Yes. Since the debut commemorative café portion will be included in the reality show, we're telling you in advance. Your face won't be shown directly, and everything will be mosaic-processed, so don't worry."
Since she was wearing a mask anyway, it didn't matter if her face was captured...
'Fans are just coming to the commemorative cafe, so is there a need to film this? And even a reality show? '
Pyo Joo-hyun tilted his head in doubt and entered the cafe.
She was given the number 15 at the entrance and calmly waited for her turn.
The MD shop only allows four people to enter at a time.
After waiting for about 10 minutes, Pyo Joo-hyun was finally able to enjoy the long-awaited goods shopping time.
'She told me to bring all the items they had.'
Pyo Joo-hyun bought two of every item in the MD shop for her younger sister, who sent a large sum of money to her account.
Debut commemorative cafe limited photo card set, collect book, acrylic key ring, postcard set, stamp book, and even Seleste slogan.
Considering that Seleste hasn't made their official debut yet, it was a pretty solid lineup.
She bought everything, including her own and Pyo Ji-hyun's, and the amount was more than she could have imagined.
The clerk printed out the receipt and circled the amount, then took something out from under the counter.
"This is a special offer for those who purchase over 200,000 won."
"Oh, yes. Thank you."
It came in an envelope with the Seleste logo on it, so she couldn't tell right away what it was.
Pyo Joo-hyun, whose hands were full of goods, had a feeling as she received the envelope.
'This is 100% the size of a photo card.'
As she went up to the second-floor cafe space, she was informed that drink orders would begin as soon as the kitchen was ready.
Additionally, she was told that since it is a reserved seating system, they cannot swap seats.
'They're doing it so thoroughly, like a fan signing event.'
Only after Pyo Joo-hyun had barely put down all of her luggage was she able to confirm the identity of the special gift inside the envelope.
Those who went up before her were opening their special gift and busily typing something on their cell phones.
Pyo Joo-hyun carefully opened the envelope and took out a Polaroid photo with pink film.
"Oh?"
It's a Polaroid.
She hadn't checked the front yet, so she closed her eyes tightly and prayed to the heavens.
Please, please give me Karis' Polaroid.
After taking a deep breath, she flipped the Polaroid over curiously.
Then, a Polaroid photo of Ji Yoon-chul with a smooth signature written at the bottom appeared.
'Oh, it wasn't just a Polaroid; it was a signed Polaroid? '
When Pyo Joo-hyun found out that it was a signed Polaroid, she felt even more regretful.
The signed Polaroid of Karis that came out before his debut will definitely become an ultra-rare item later on.
But she smiled as she thought of someone at home who was waiting for her call.
'Still, it's fortunate that at least Yoon-chul came out.'
Pyo Joo-hyun immediately took a signed Polaroid photo and sent it to Pyo Ji-hyun.
Less than a minute later, her sister read her message and screamed in joy through text.
[Wow, no matter how you pick it, it's Ji Yoon Chul.]
[If anyone has Karis, I will exchange them right away.]
[No seriously, sell it to me please]
[If we can't change it, I'll give it to you]
[No no no just sell it to me f*ck ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ I'm sorry]
[I just took a picture and showed it to you]
[Looking at the picture makes me feel more pained and angry]
In fact, just like the message that Pyo Joo-hyun sent, there were several people who came to exchange signed Polaroids.
But unfortunately, no one had a signed Polaroid of Karis.
If there were Karis, she would have just dumped her sister and traded it right away.
"I will now take your drink order! "
It looks like the kitchen is ready.
You can choose the menu you want according to the number you received at the entrance.
"One Ka, Karis Karisma Americano, and one Ji Yoon-chul's Melting Tiramisu Cake, please."
She was surprised that Karis' menu was so similar to the fans' search terms.
So she wanted to say the full names of the menu items on purpose.
But as expected, when she said the menu name herself, embarrassment washed over her.
Pyo Joo-hyun, who received a lucky draw ticket as a reward for ordering a menu, tried her luck.
She can get two photo cards with one raffle ticket, and luckily, the cards for Karis and Heo Yu-bin appeared.
'Oh, he's so damn handsome.'
Pyo Joo-hyun fell into a trance while looking at Karis' selfie.
It was a destructive visual, no matter how she looked at it.
How great it would be if she could see this with her own eyes.
Cafe orders were also divided and processed in the order in which people entered the cafe.
Pyo Joo-hyun, who received an early number, was lucky enough to be assigned to the first order time.
'Ah, I want to eat cake quickly! '
She was excited at the thought of being able to eat tiramisu quickly.
Because she had already wasted a lot of energy coming to Mangwon-dong, she was hungry.
When she was spending time browsing SNS,.
Finally, drinks and cakes started coming out from inside the kitchen.
The taste was probably no different from a regular Americano, but since it was a menu item that Karis personally selected, she had a feeling it would taste even better.
"I'll give you coffee and cake! "
"Thank you!"
A well-proportioned part-timer quickly walked over to Pyo Joo-hyun's table.
He put down the tray containing the Americano and the tiramisu cake, nodded, and hurriedly walked back to the kitchen.
'They must be very busy.'
She thought she had heard the part-timer's voice somewhere, but she couldn't hear it clearly, and he was even wearing a large mask.
After taking a certification photo, Pyo Joo-hyun carefully took a sip of the steaming hot Americano.
The rich flavor of the coffee beans ran down the tip of her tongue.
The scent of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the air, making her feel better.
'It's so delicious? '
Pyo Joo-hyun, who had always visited regular franchise cafes, had never tried much coffee from these independent cafes.
Other friends said that these private cafes use much better coffee beans.
Now that she has tried it, it seems like it wasn't entirely wrong.
Now it's time to try the tiramisu cake.
The cake, cut into cute sizes, was topped with a slightly crooked flower decoration.
'I guess they made it in a hurry because there were a lot of orders.'
But when she took a bite, it tasted just like the tiramisu cake she usually eats.
Pyo Joo-hyun nodded with satisfaction and put the flower decoration made of whipped cream in her mouth.
'I feel like I can finally live.'
After eating the cake in no time, she had time to look around.
She also looked at the part-time workers who were serving diligently while sipping Americano.
The part-timer who came to her table was also seen occasionally.
"Bon appetite!"
The part-timer who came to the table right next to Pyo Joo-hyun spoke in a lively voice.
At that moment, something felt familiar again.
'The voice sounds a little familiar? '
Pyo Joo-hyun tried hard to remember, but she couldn't remember well.
So she thought it was just the tone of a typical cafe worker and went back to focusing on drinking her Americano.
It's been a little over an hour since she arrived at the cafe.
People holding cameras slowly moved around here and there on the second floor.
Are they now filming the scenes needed for reality?
As she was looking around at the photos of the members displayed in the cafe without much thought, it was the turn of the people who had not yet ordered.
'I should have ordered another tiramisu cake.'
Pyo Joo-hyun swallowed a strange sense of regret as she looked at the large photo of Karis.
The thought of when she pulled out the photo card earlier came back to her again.
If he's this handsome in photos, how much more handsome must he be in real life?
If you read reviews of people who saw Karis in person, they all said things like, "It looks like a face created by AI," and "It's really unrealistic."
She's really curious as to how much of it has to be to make people feel like it's AI-like.
'After debuting, if a fan signing event notice comes up, I have to buy the album right away.'
It was obvious that the cutoff line would be high, but she would do anything if she could meet and talk to Karis in person.
About 10 minutes later.
A beep sounded inside the kitchen to indicate that the drinks and cake were ready.
Soon, the part-time workers came out one by one, carrying trays.
'Uh?'
The moment Pyo Joo-hyun saw the part-time workers, she thought for a moment that she was hallucinating.
The body type was very different from that of the part-time workers who had been walking around the cafe until just now.
He was much taller, and he had ridiculously long legs.
Some even wore completely different clothes.
"Uh?"
"Huh?"
"Now, just a moment."
Surprised sounds came out one by one from around Pyo Joo-hyun.
Everyone was just blinking.
As if they were questioning whether this was the real situation.
"Your order of 'Karis Karisma Americano' has arrived."
The part-timer stopped in front of the table behind Pyo Joo-hyun and spoke in a soft voice.
The moment she turned around as if possessed by something.
The part-timer took off his mask and showed off the dazzling visuals hidden underneath.
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