I was originally thinking of a different picture.
An offline goods shop opening for a whole week.
On that long-awaited first day, people who personally went to buy goods would leave posts in the café with pictures of their purchases, and I would read those posts on the broadcast with the viewers.
The posts would include details about transportation to the goods shop, the quality of the goods, and prices, and the viewers watching the broadcast would get increasingly excited.
Like, “Wow, they really made this well!” or “Looks like Kayak really pulled off a big one this time!”
I planned to secretly visit the goods shop at the peak of that excitement.
At any random day and time during the week, I would suddenly post an announcement in the café and turn on the late-night broadcast. A surprise visit to Kayak’s goods shop! Something like that.
Fans who made it in time after seeing the announcement would get handshakes, hugs, and signatures—essentially a mini fan service.
It was definitely an exaggerated reaction compared to usual, but surprise events need to have some solid reward, right?
However, all those grand plans of mine became utterly useless.
First of all, the plan itself went off the rails from the start. Contrary to my expectations, people showed up in droves, and I had no clue how they even knew about it.
They were already waiting in line before the shop even opened! I was completely dumbfounded.
Thus, I ended up heading to the goods shop from the first day, against my original plan. Reading about it was one thing; experiencing it in person was a whole different vibe.
Looking back now, it was clearly a mistaken judgment. I thought I could just see the situation, get a sense of things, and head back, but I ended up getting caught up in it.
“Is there a special event on the opening day? If you buy goods, does Kayak sign them?”
“Uh, yeah… something like that.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
That’s all I could say. It was quite embarrassing to admit that I got caught up while trying to scout the place, and now I was stuck in the goods shop.
Currently, I was sitting in a corner of the shop. It was a spot arranged for me by a staff member who roughly assessed the situation when the commotion began outside.
Instead of helping out the overwhelmed staff as planned, I ended up being more of a burden.
Contrary to the plan to help the employees, I ended up being a nuisance instead.
I kept bowing my head in apology and received a response that it was okay, but that pale face was weighing on my mind. I should probably prepare some kind of treat for them later.
Anyway, a bizarre scene was unfolding at the goods shop. After buying streamer Kayak’s merchandise, customers would receive an autograph from Kayak herself, who was sitting at a small table set up behind the checkout.
Before I knew it, this place had turned into a merchandise shop and signing event!
“Ah, hello, Kayak! I’m so happy to buy your goods and get an autograph like this!”
A man stumbled in with shopping bags overflowing in both hands.
It seemed he had bought every single item without skipping any.
“I feel good to see my fans as well. What should I write for you? Just tell me your name, nickname, or any phrase you want!”
“Uh, could you write ‘Go Team Kayak Minor Gallery!’?”
“Hmm… I’m pretty sure I mentioned on my broadcast that I prefer community activities in the cafe over gallery activities.”
The guy nervously scratched his head and gave a sheepish laugh.
Even though I said that, I didn’t actually intend to scold him. I understood that cafes and galleries have different vibes and characteristics inherent to each community.
If he’s gone all the way here to buy the goods, I could safely say he’s not a fake fan.
He mentioned he came from Ulsan to Seoul; if we’re talking about fan spirit, it couldn’t get any more sincere than that.
While I was lost in thought, my phone, which I had in my pocket, rang.
– Boss, what on earth are you doing over there?
“Um… Fan meeting?”
– Huh?
Since I was communicating face-to-face with fans in real time, this could be considered a form of a fan meeting.
If I had to name it, I could call it a surprise fan meeting or guerrilla date.
It was at that moment I received a call from Yusia while I was signing autographs.
She sounded clearly flustered by my sudden actions, but after hearing the situation, she said she would come over and hung up. Same with Kim Jae-jun.
Now, I felt like a wicked boss making employees work on a holiday without any notice. I should consider giving Yusia and Kim Jae-jun some extra pay just like the goods shop employees.
While I was chatting with fans and signing autographs a few more times,
“Older Sister! I’m such a huge fan!”
A somewhat unusual fan appeared. She was a woman wearing a cap and sunglasses.
It wasn’t unusual for her to be a female fan; after all, the goods shop had seen both men and women.
If I had to judge the ratio, it was about 70:30? It was a higher female ratio than the survey conducted in my recent broadcast.
Whether there were simply more female fans or not, this was still quite surprising.
Anyway, returning to the woman in front of me, she was a bit peculiar.
From her disguising outfit to her really small head size, it was hard to explain, but she definitely had a different vibe than any other fans I had met so far.
Also, for some reason, there was a sense of déjà vu; I felt like I’d seen her somewhere before…
“Older Sister?”
“Ah, I’m sorry! I just spaced out for a moment.”
Well, that wasn’t really important at the moment.
The weird atmosphere didn’t matter much. Whether they were men or women, good-looking or not, they were all my fans.
“You bought a ton of mouse pads, huh? You have like a bunch of the same t-shirt, too?”
“Oh, I’m giving them to the members—no, no, my friends! They’re all fans of Kayak too!”
“Oh… Even your friends.”
The fact that all her friends knew me was shocking, and it was impressive that she was buying goods to hand out herself.
“It must be a hassle to buy so much and distribute it all.”
“No way! I live close by, so it’s not hard at all! Otherwise, I could just have everyone come over to my house.”
“Still, it must be tough carrying so much; thanks for buying so much.”
I truly meant it. The woman in front of me had a small head, was short, and had tiny hands.
Just looking at her, she seemed frail, and I could tell that carrying all these goods would be quite a burden.
With my repeated compliments, the woman blushed and raised her voice, brushing her hair back.
“Hehe, it’s nothing!”
Then, it happened. The cap she was wearing fell off, and with it, the sunglasses also slipped from her face.
“Oops!”
It was a sudden occurrence, and my reaction was slightly delayed as a result.
“I’m late.”
“…Sebi?”
“Hehe, I came secretly but got caught.”
The identity of the woman, who gave off a strangely familiar vibe, was Sebi, a member of the girl group Midkiss who had appeared on live television with me.
“You must be busy with your schedule, but you came all the way here. You could have just asked for a Hana later.”
“Today happens to be my free day. Plus, I’m a fan of older sisters, so I wanted to come and buy it myself.”
I thought it was impressive that she had managed to hear the news and come to the goods shop despite her busy schedule.
While she was leaving behind a signed message that said “Fighting Midkiss Sebi!”, I heard someone exclaim.
“Sebi? It’s Midkiss’ Sebi!”
“Are you talking about the girl group Sebi? She came here?”
“So it was true that you two are close…”
Soon, people started gathering around us, looking at us with amazed expressions.
It was to be expected. When I first appeared, the atmosphere was similar. If a current celebrity showed up, interest would only grow.
I didn’t really care, but Sebi was the concern.
“Isn’t this a big problem?”
“I’m… okay. It should be fine, right? There won’t be any big issues. Probably.”
Thus, more and more people flocked because of Sebi, and she stayed for a few minutes before leaving.
Unlike Sebi’s words that said there wouldn’t be any big issues, it wasn’t completely without problems.
– Why are so many people gathered at Ilon Mall in Seocho-gu early in the morning? Who is streamer Kayak…
– Midkiss’ Sebi makes a surprise appearance at Ilon Mall to buy streamer Kayak’s goods.
– Ilon X Kayak collaboration edition released, physical goods available from today.
Articles popped up online.
Fortunately, the articles weren’t written negatively. They didn’t even make it to the main page of the portal site.
Still, this was something I was experiencing for the first time in my life—no, I never even thought I would encounter something like this in my lifetime.
“What? An article came out?”
I was left dumbfounded as I paused my signing to process the news.
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