Chapter 156
First of all, I sent the message very confidently.
In order to properly accomplish what I want to accomplish during this fan signing event, I need help from others.
'Hmm....'
I lay in bed and thought about it for a long time.
No matter how I think about it, I need that guy's help to perfectly carry out this operation.
I can't help but feel anxious because I have no idea how he will react after hearing my request.
But I have no choice but to take care of urgent matters first.
"I'll be back in a bit, Yoon-chul."
"Go ahead, hyung."
I came out of the room curiously and went down to the living room.
As expected, Kang Si-yoon, who always enjoys relaxing in the living room at this time, greeted me.
"Did you come down because you were hungry? Would you like some snacks too?"
"I still haven't digested what I ate for dinner."
I looked at Kang Si-yoon happily eating pizza-flavored cookies.
"Siyoon's stomach always boasts amazing performance."
"I didn't eat much for dinner compared to usual."
"If there were a program where idols have a food fight later, you would win first place."
"If something like that comes out, the fans will go crazy."
Kang Si-yoon's eyes sparkled as he pushed the bag of chips aside.
"So, why did you come down to the living room at this hour?"
"There's something I want Siyoon to help me with."
"Oh. Judging from the way you speak, which is much more serious than usual, I guess it must be something quite important?"
"It is no exaggeration to say that our fate is at stake."
Of course, it wasn't to that extent, but since I was under an abnormal status, these words were naturally chosen.
Although I have reached a level where I can control my status abnormality without being swayed by it, unlike at the beginning, I still cannot completely control the Crown Prince's ego.
"If it's that urgent, come quickly. So what is it?"
"Let me get straight to the point."
"Please do so, Your Highness."
I briefly glared at Kang Si-yoon, who was deliberately mimicking my speech in a comical way.
That smiling face is really annoying.
"Aren't there usually talks or jokes that fans do during fan signing events?"
"Very much."
"I thought that if the idol side did it in reverse, they might like it. That's why I wanted to look up some reviews in advance with Siyoon."
"Ah, so that's why you need my help."
As soon as I finished speaking, Kang Si-yoon took out his cell phone.
"Trust only this hyung-nim who has been searching for N years."
I don't know about other people, but for some reason, I feel like I'm going to lose if I ask Kang Si-yoon for a favor, but this time, I've decided to give in.
Kang Si-yoon is also someone who searches SNS as often as I do.
Since he knows the latest trends well, I thought he was better than me in this field.
Kang Si-yoon spoke to me while busily fiddling with his fingers for several minutes.
"There are a lot of famous fan signing reviews from long ago. But you know that the time each person can talk is extremely limited, right?"
"I know."
"So if you make the conversation too long, the fans won't have much time to talk. You have to find something a little more appropriate... Oh! How about this?"
Kang Si-yoon, who had found a suitable video, showed me his cell phone.
The 30-second video contained a fan asking the idol who he was.
The idol already remembered the fan's name, so he told her name right away.
When the fan asked whose it was, the idol answered without a moment's hesitation that it was his.
'What a huge fan love.'
Judging from the quotes, I feel like this video was widely retweeted as it showed the utmost sincerity in fan love.
Although it was a fairly simple conversation, I thought it would be able to give the fans who came to the fan signing event an unforgettable memory.
I nodded with satisfaction.
"I think they'd really like it if I did this for them in reverse."
"It won't take much time, and you'll get a passing grade just by having them call your name."
"This will be a good reference. As expected from Siyoon."
"I told you, just trust me. Just wait, I'll find a few more."
Fortunately, Kang Si-yoon also put aside his playfulness for a moment and searched through the SNS platforms.
Since the first fan signing event is a large-scale event with as many as 100 Seleves, it is necessary to learn a variety of repertoire.
I have to show as many different sides of myself as possible and make fans happy.
'It starts with doing our best for the fans.'
If we want to achieve an overwhelming success that even Haillight can't even dream of, we have to be popular not only among Seleves but also among the general public.
In this day and age, there is no tool as useful as social media to gain popularity.
In short, we have to show something that will grab people's attention at the fan signing event.
To spread Seleste's name further.
After memorizing all the strategies for over an hour, we high-fived.
"Let's do it right tomorrow."
"Of course, Siyoon."
* * *
August 4th arrived.
Seleste finished pre-recording for SBM Music's music show and went up on stage to announce the first-place winner.
As it is a cable music show that is good at pushing relatively new idols to first place, Seleste, who recorded overwhelming album and music chart results, was able to add another first place trophy relatively easily.
Even though it was rated lower than other music show first-place records, it was a satisfying and welcome trophy for Seleves.
Above all, considering that the first fan signing event is scheduled right after filming for today's broadcast, expectations are high that the members will be able to greet their fans in the best mood.
There were also a lot of Seleves who arrived at Sangam-dong early and waited in advance so as not to be late for the autograph session that started at 6:30.
Most of them came with cameras, which would have made for a rather odd scene for anyone who wasn't a homemaker.
It was like people about to hold a press conference.
Those who arrived had the long-awaited number drawing.
Here, joy and sorrow were mixed in various ways.
Picking numbers 1 to 10 may seem like a great idea, but for fans like Homma, it was a huge disaster.
As soon as you enter the autograph session hall, you have to go up straight to see the members without even having time to prepare a camera or gifts.
So, they looked at those who picked the early 10s with envy.
Since Sigma Entertainment had announced in advance that questions could only be written on post-it notes, the 100 Seleves had to prepare busily.
After attaching their witty questions to the album, the fans entered the long-awaited autograph signing venue.
'... It's quiet?'
Some lucky winners who attended their first fan signing event were a little taken aback by the different atmosphere than they had expected.
They had expected a somewhat chaotic and noisy atmosphere, but the exact opposite situation unfolded before their eyes.
People quickly set up their cameras and then spent time alone or having brief conversations with acquaintances.
More than half of the conversation was simply a request to take a picture when they went up to get an autograph.
There wasn't much private conversation.
At the appointed 6:30, Seleste, still wearing the same outfit they wore on the music show today, finally appeared on stage.
"Hello Seleves!"
"Hello!"
While the members waved their hands and greeted each other warmly, the room was filled with the sound of dozens of cameras shooting continuously.
In order to get even one decent shot, the Hommas held their breath and focused their minds on their favorites.
"Numbers 1 to 10, please come out here and wait."
The production staff checked to make sure people weren't hiding recording devices or anything like that.
Sigma Entertainment, which had previously received a lot of criticism for its poor hosting of Seleste's debut show, seemed to have chosen a relatively cautious direction this time.
Some Seleves were worried that the unpleasant touch would come again, but fortunately, no excessive testing was done.
Perhaps because it was the first fan signing session, the members sat in order of age.
The Seleves, who confirmed that the order was Chae Eun-gyu, Song Hyung-bin, Kang Si-yoon, Karis, Yoo Min-ha, Heo Yu-bin, and Ji Yoon-chul, quickly rearranged the order of the gifts and finished preparing to meet the members.
Eventually, Seleves numbered 1 to 10 finally started talking to the members at a very close range.
"Hello!"
"He, hello!"
Cha Eun-gyu, who was first in line, welcomed Seleve with a warm smile.
Perhaps because of the pressure of being the first to talk to the members at a fan signing event with 100 people in attendance, the female fan in her 20s was unable to make eye contact with Cha Eun-gyu.
Cha Eun-gyu noticed that the fan was shy and started the conversation by asking for her name and age.
"Eun-ah nim? When I call you with 'nim,' it sounds a bit unsentimental. What should I do?"
"I'm 21 years old, so you can talk comfortably...!"
"Then I can just call you, Eun-ah!"
Thanks to Chae Eun-gyu's gentle lead, the woman seemed to be gradually releasing her tension.
But soon, at the staff's sharp command, she sat down in front of Song Hyung-bin, who was next in line.
"He, hello!"
"Hello! I was bored because you seemed to be having such a fun conversation next to me! I was hoping you would come soon."
The female fans felt like tension was creeping in again.
"When was the most nerve-racking stage? Hmm... I think I was really nervous during the IPS level test. It was a bit stressful because there were over 90 people staring at me. On the contrary, I wasn't nervous at all during the finals."
"Even though it was live?"
Song Hyung-bin nodded vigorously.
To the woman's eyes, it looked like a giant hamster was smiling brightly.
"By then I got used to the camera and became close with the kids, so it was actually okay."
"It's surprising that you feel relaxed! If I were you, I would have been more scared if I saw that the audience seats were full...."
While the conversation was going on busily, the staff member behind Song Hyung-bin said in a calm tone, "Please move on~."
The moment when a woman flinches as if trying to move sideways.
"Today was my first fan signing, so I was really nervous."
"Huh-?"
Song Hyung-bin was the first to gently hold Seleve's hand and continue the story.
Song Hyung-bin waved her off, ending with the words, "I hope the members enjoy themselves comfortably since they have prepared hard as well."
The woman, who was already feeling dizzy, became even more dizzy because Song Hyung-bin suddenly did that.
The person she was greeted by was Kang Si-yoon, who greeted her with bright eyes and curiosity.
"Hello! Oh, it's Eun-ah nim! How old are you-?"
"2, 21 years old!"
"It's noona! My handwriting is really terrible."
Kang Si-yoon gave off an extraordinary vibe from the beginning and wrote, 'Eun-ah noona!!' in very cool handwriting.
And then he saw the question written on the post-it note and thumped his chest.
"Superpowers. Ha, there's a superpower I've always wanted since I was little."
"What is it?"
"Teleportation! I've been so busy lately that I just want to teleport. Especially when there's traffic. I want to use teleportation to quickly get to our dorm and rest."
Kang Si-yoon's speaking skills were excellent, but his facial expressions were so interesting that the woman couldn't hold back her laughter.
In the midst of the confusion, something she wanted to say came to mind.
"Congratulations on winning first place today!"
"Really, really, it's all thanks to Seleve. Everyone must have had a hard time today, having to work from dawn. Did you eat well?"
"I didn't go to Sanok [pre-recording], but I came to Sangam early and ate beforehand."
"Koreans must live on rice. What did you eat for dinner?"
"Simply, tonkatsu [pork cutlet]―."
"Oh, I heard there's a really famous tonkatsu restaurant in Sangam-dong! XX Katsu, right?"
"Tha, that's right!"
Kang Si-yoon had many conversations with the woman with very accurate and fast diction.
It was so flawless that the staff, who were timing the moment when the conversation would loosen up a bit, didn't even notice the opportunity.
Thanks to Kang Si-yoon's efforts, the woman was able to talk for what felt like almost two minutes and then move on to the next turn.
'Finally.'
She swallowed hard as she looked at the order ahead.
Karis von Walden, whom she had only seen on TV, was sitting right in front of her.
An absurdly noble aura seemed to emanate from his whole body.
The tension that had briefly subsided began to return as she felt like she had to bow her head.
"Hmm, hmm."
Karis immediately cleared his throat and spoke to her in a very serious tone.
"Who am I?"
"...?"
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