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Chapter 217

“I’m going to bring in a lot more from now on…”

Director So-hyun brought a handkerchief and wiped the trophy with it.

“But since it’s the first time… it’s yours.”

As if she was sure they’d win even bigger awards.

The spacious high-rise that still looked empty.

“We might run out of display cases.”

“Absolutely. We’re going to get a ton, right?”

“Yeah, if it’s you guys, that’s for sure. We should expand, right?”

Normally, the Director would preach about being humble, but today she just met my eyes and smiled contentedly.

So, on the way back home from the office.

It would take just 20 minutes on foot, but Manager Young-ho insisted on driving me since it was cold.

Meanwhile, the older sisters in the back were all excited, huddled together, browsing a food delivery app.

“First, let’s order the chicken we haven’t been able to eat.”

“Ha-it!”

Thanks to the CEO’s company card, we can eat to our heart’s content.

“Should we add tteokbokki?”

“Yes, let’s do it.”

“We need rice too. How about wrap rice? Let’s go for something healthy.”

“With all that food, we’ll be super healthy.”

“Right~ You’re the heaviest among us, right?”

“Pu-haha~”

Woo-ah Unni, who had been giggling, suddenly got on her phone and played a song.

─I’m the best at everything!

“Heyyy~ Why are you guys picking on Do-hee? She’s so skinny, she’s just bones!”

Left without a comeback, I stared out the window from the front seat.

‘The traffic light… is red…’

Honestly, if I’m 171 cm tall and look like this…

It’s only natural to weigh a little more than the older sisters.

“So, what about you?”

But… should I lose more weight…? Aim for 51 kg?
Then my chest would shrink to a D-cup…
Right now, I’m barely an E…

Sigh, is this why celebrities keep stressing over their bodies?

“Hey, Do-hee! Hurry up, we’ll be there soon.”

“Me? I want steak…”

“Confirm the steak.”

All I heard was a brief response, and she went back to picking out the menu.

─I’m the best at everything!

“Can we turn down the music a bit…?”

The volume just got louder.

“Oh dear…”

Manager Young-ho next to me seemed to find this situation hilarious, chuckling away.

“Manager.”

“Uh…?”

“Do you want to eat with us?”

“Eh~ It’s not like a male manager should casually go in and out of an idol’s dorm.”

“Then you can wait in front of the dorm while we get the delivery. That’s when the CEO’s company card should be used.”

“Should I? But is that okay?”

“Of course. You’re our Manager.”

“Okay! Then I want steak too!”

A response immediately came from the back.

“Added to the order~”

It’s just a simple moment.

But for some reason, a smile escaped me.

Isn’t it nice to spend a day surrounded by people you love, making it so enjoyable?

Social trust releases oxytocin, which is one of the happiness hormones, after all.

Director So-hyun’s proud smile.

Always friendly older sisters behind me.

Manager Young-ho, who’s been watching with a pleasant grin.

Today, I felt more content with their presence and this cozy atmosphere than aiming for first place.
I felt a cozy atmosphere and a sense of small happiness.

*

“Hey, you’re going to the fan signing tomorrow and show some aegyo anyway, right? Let’s practice and do some aegyo casually now!”

‘Fuck Kim Seo-yoon.’

─ Hurry up and do some aegyo, lol

─ Do-hee looks pretty today…? If she breathes, we should start dating.

─ Do-hee, what’s ‘let’s win’ backward?

─ Do-hee, if you shorten ‘yebgittokbokki’, it becomes ‘yebtok’. If you shorten ‘yebgiodeong’, what does it become?

─ Do-hee Unni, you’re so pretty!!!

The reason so many chats were directing attention to me today, despite it being a group live, was simple.

─ What’s up with you not crying today? lol

─ I’m the youngest crybaby, ugh.

Today, I was the only one who held back tears during my acceptance speech for first place.

“There probably won’t be any reason to cry going forward. I’ve kind of grown.”

I confidently stated this, but it really meant that the expectations surrounding me due to my age were growing rather than any real personal mental growth.

─ 18-year-old Do-hee is cute, lol

─ lol Let’s do some aegyo to celebrate growth, lol

─ Can’t resist this.

─ I missed you because we haven’t seen each other for so long, ugh.

─ If you blink, we should start dating.

I feel like I come off as a kid who’s proud of just turning one year older.

“Oh… Do-hee, you’re breaking the 20-second eye-close record…!”

After that, it’s Seo-yoon Unni’s incitement.

“If you’re not going to do it tomorrow at the fan signing, then don’t. If you are, you could do it now.”

“I’m not going to…”

At the same time, the chat is heating up again.

“Oh? You closed your eyes.”

“Ah.”

─ Hehe, you closed your eyes… So we’re dating…?

─ What?

─ Hey.

─ Nooo!!

No one cares that I closed my eyes, but they react more intensely to the assurance that I won’t do aegyo at the fan signing tomorrow.

‘No, what do I do with them…?’

Yeah, I get it; I was younger back during Seven’s times.

I’m perfect in looks and personality, along with my professional attitude.

I’ve made an effort despite disliking it, claiming it’s my age.

But now I’m 18.

“I also have human rights…”

“So. You’re really not going to do it? Tomorrow is Debonaire’s first fan signing ever? Really? Are you serious?”

Hah… Damn Seo-yoon…

This is why I hated the youngest image.

I wanted to be the leader.

Of course… now…

─ She will, she will!

─ Let’s go!

“Meow…?”

“Pff.”

Gyaaaaaah.

“Oh… But honestly, it’s a bit cute.”

“Do-hee is pretty~”

“Yeah, you don’t need to hide your face~ You’re just cute, right?”

*

The next day, the fan signing began.

I forgot all about the previous day and welcomed the fans with practiced theatricality.

“Oh, Unni~ It’s been so long!”

There are occasionally rude people.

“Exactly~ Do-hee~!”

They spend anywhere from tens of thousands to even hundreds of thousands when they come, so I want to make as many great memories as possible for the good fans.

“How do I look? Do I fit in?”

Wearing the cat ear headband they requested was just the norm.

“Oh, totally… crazy…”

“I might not be able to do cute, but I can definitely put in the effort for this~”

“Huh? You were super cute yesterday!”

“Oh, right.”
“Right?”

“I totally forgot for a moment.”

“As long as it was good enough. By the way, how have you been? You were preparing for your graduation project, right?”

“Wait, you actually remembered?”

“Of course! I’m not great with art, but I do have the soul of an artist. We totally vibe!”

With a cheeky smile, I extended my fist, and my older sister fan was over the moon.

After that, while signing, I carefully answered each question the fan had written down.

“Do-hee, I’m currently recording my voice… say something uplifting. Something to help me out, even when times are tough.”

“Hmm…”

What would be a good line?

Ah…!

Am I a genius? Me?

“Sis, do you know that poem?”

“What poem?”

“Draw a circle with your fingertips. As big as you can.”

“Ah~ aside from that circle, I love you? Nice, nice!”

The older sister fan in front of me laughed heartily, clearly enjoying herself, but it was still a bit cliché.

I leaned forward.

“Sis, do you know what that means?”

“What does it mean~?”

Then I lowered my tone.

“…I like you without a circle.”

The fan burst into laughter.

“This is my first time revealing this~”

Ha… Do-hee.

I’m going crazy for real~

“Really? Did you write that just for me?”

“Of course! Each line in the Do-ramdan is precious~”

Chiyo Unni and a male fan who were signing next to us glanced my way.

“Wow, Do-hee’s lines are so dope…”

Yeah, this is how it’s done. Kimchi.

“I should try that on my girlfriend…”

“Oh! Do you have one?!”

“Uh, no…? I plan to when I get one…”

“Oh, oh, oh…! Are you, are you really going to get one…?”

Still inexperienced.

If it were me, I’d have assumed they had one, and I’d humorously compliment them.

Anyway, when the event was halfway through, I put on various props.

A vintage rabbit headband was placed on me.

That’s when a new male fan approached.

“Hello~ You’re new here, right?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“I’ve never seen you before~”

Forget that I hadn’t been seen before.

Honestly, the vibe and his behavior gave it away.

After that, while signing, answering fan questions became routine, but since he was so shy and frozen, I decided to take the lead.

“What made you like Debonaire?”

“Well, I’ve been interested since Seven, but I was too chicken to approach it.”

“Ah, it would have been fine to come anytime. You’ll be here more often in the future.”

“But I feel like I’ve fallen even harder now.”

“Oh really? Why’s that?”

“I usually like cool things, and the first song from Debonaire is a girl crush while playing the piano, and especially I saw shorts with Ye-eun. The song was great, and the dance was beautiful and cool too…!”

“Oh really~? Ha~ collecting Do-ramdan members again! Since I’m tall, there’s a thrill to watching, right? I thought everyone would really love that, so I prepared that part separately with Ye-eun Unni?”

I lowered my voice slightly again.

Just for the two of us to hear.
“But our Woo-ah Unni is the main dancer~ She dances just as well as I do. Her dance lines are beautiful, right? You know, those sturdy muscles. You gotta love her because she’s pretty too. Then I’ll post tons of dance covers with her later. Oh, and while saying this, if I sneakily look at Chiyo Unni and smile, does she think I’m complimenting myself and secretly likes it…? Just look at Chiyo Unni. Right? Isn’t she a bit cute?”

Mentioning the members is important too.

“Yes, Jisu is cute…”

Jisu?

“Who’s Jisu? Are you talking about the pure girl Jisu?”

“Oh no, no, that’s Chiyo’s nickname…”

“Oh, really? She has that nickname? How did Chiyo Unni become Jisu…?”

The male fan, awkwardly smiling, seemed like he wanted to change the topic and finally asked the first question.

“By the way, we talked about the fandom name yesterday.”

“Oh, right, right~”

During last night’s live broadcast, while chatting with the fans, it was mentioned that a fandom name was needed ASAP.

“Apparently, it’s going to be revealed in the self-content…”

“…? Who said that??”

The fan’s gaze turned to Kim Seo-yoon, who was happily laughing in the front row.

Ugh… Spoiler alert!

Was it too awkward to say anything? Ah, geez…

“It was said that the self-content would go up today…”

But it’s only a few hours, so maybe it doesn’t matter?

I want to spoil something too.

“We did take our time with the self-content, but it’s gonna be fun~ I mean, just looking at our faces is a total blast, right?”

The fan nodded enthusiastically.

“Exactly~ I’m actually giving a huge spoiler…”

Looking around cautiously, I whispered.

“Did you catch that alone?”

─Time’s up~ Please move to the side~

“The fandom name… did it get decided based on my suggestion…?”

“…Really?”

I had said everything I wanted to say, so I was done.

“Yep. And next time, feel free to speak casually? Bye~”

*

The guy who attended the Debonaire fan signing event for the first time was still floating in his thoughts hours after returning home.

“Wow… The fan manipulation was insane…”

The signed album proved it.

Starting the conversation with plenty of questions to show interest, Do-hee had filled the album with lots of long comments alongside the signatures.

Thanks for coming to the fan signing, and I appreciate you liking us.

Eat well, take care of your health, and study hard (just like me)… and more.

Now it made sense why Do-hee’s fan signing reviews were so plentiful and why they felt no regrets.

They said many people fall out of fandoms at concerts or fan signings but seem to get sucked right back in. Guess that’s me.

“Oh, but they said the self-content would come out today…”

As the guy logged into the official Debonaire YouTube channel, he quickly confirmed it.

Just a couple of minutes ago, it was uploaded exactly at 10 o’clock.

“Do-hee said she would decide the fandom name, right…?”

As he watched the self-content, he laughed and enjoyed it, but couldn’t help but focus on the part where Do-hee was suggesting the fandom name.

And he couldn’t help but gasp at the fandom name candidates Do-hee was proposing.

“Seriously… Is there really something among those…? A fandom name…?”


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