Chapter 54

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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While I was speechless at the number ’27 stations,’ the advertisement certification expedition was steadily growing in numbers.

“Are you going now? Then I’ll go too. A few of mine overlap here!”

“Since there is a clause prohibiting team spoilers, why don’t people from other teams go together as well?”

“Cha Yujin?”

“Yes.”

“I’m fine with it. What about Moondae?”

“Sure, whatever.”

“Yes!”

The idea of quietly seeing them and coming back quickly ended at that point. What was unexpected was that Seon Ahyun backed out with a face full of regret.

“M-my parents and I… decided to go on a trip.”

“Is that so?”

If that was the reason, wouldn’t it be weird for me to be alone in Seon Ahyun’s studio apartment?

“Ah, then should I stay somewhere else too?”

“N-no! Use it!”

Seon Ahyun was startled.

“I-I’ll give you the key.”

“Mmm, thanks.”

I didn’t know what he trusted in me to lend me the key. As I hesitantly accepted the key, Seon Ahyun suddenly confessed.

“O-originally, I was going to ask you to go with us…….”

“…….”

I had no idea why he wanted to include Park Moondae in his family trip. Did his parents even give permission?

“…I’ll just take the thought gratefully.”

“Mhm.”

If it had come to this, a tour of the advertisements with Kim Raebin was better. I almost ended up going on a trip with someone else’s parents whom I had only seen once.

“See you on filming day~”

Under the lead of Keun Sejin, who was waving his hands vigorously, we saw Seon Ahyun off. And as soon as Seon Ahyun disappeared in a car, Cha Yujin appeared.

“I’m so excited!”

Cha Yujin’s eyes sparkled as he shook his backpack. I already had a premonition of fatigue.

‘I’ve lost a day.’

Let’s observe a moment of silence for my lost holiday.

* * *

First, I rejected the insane proposal of this group moving by public transportation. We already had a history.

“We’d have to run away before even passing one station.”

“You’re right.”

Cha Yujin was disappointed but recovered quickly. He even found it fun to travel by taxi. I didn’t know why, though.

Anyway, the first stop was Yeouido Station, the closest one to the filming site.

“Taking the photo?”

This one ended reasonably well. Since only Kim Raebin and I had ads at Yeouido Station, we both quickly took photos without much fuss and left. There seemed to be one or two people who noticed when we took off our masks, but since it was a station with many office workers on a weekday morning, it passed without a commotion.

“Nice!”

As I got back into the taxi with my companions, who were as excited as if they had completed a secret mission, a question suddenly occurred to me.

‘…Doesn’t this mean it’s meaningless?’

If there were no eyewitness accounts, how was this different from just looking at the billboards by myself? Even if it was for certification, it wasn’t like I could post the photos on the internet.

‘Should I even leak them as if they were eyewitness accounts?’

However, this worry was a useless thought. It was because chaos erupted from the very next destination, Express Bus Terminal Station.

“Uh, uh, uh!!”

“Cha Yujin! Hey, it’s Cha Yujin!”

“Are those those guys? Ajusa?”

“I think they came to see the billboards. Oh my god…….”

I heard all these words simultaneously the moment I approached within three meters of the billboard at Express Bus Terminal Station. Naturally, none of us had even taken off our masks. Learning from our previous failure, everyone was even wearing hats or hoods, but I didn’t know how they recognized us. Even our hair wasn’t visible.

And an enormous crowd began to gather. No joke, I could even see people running toward us from the underground shopping mall.

‘This is… a nuisance.’

It was a situation perfect for an accident.

‘Let’s get out.’

After a brief exchange of glances, we quickly left the station. Naturally, we couldn’t take any photos.

‘Now, it’s useless no matter what we hide with.’

While taking a breather in the taxi, it was only for a moment; I even confirmed that another taxi was following behind us.

“Is that one following us?”

“The person in the passenger seat is holding a camera.”

At Kim Raebin’s confirmation, the atmosphere in the taxi grew gloomy. The taxi driver made a joke, saying, ‘You guys are doing some interesting things~’ but then quietly shut his mouth at the serious atmosphere.

‘It’s ruined.’

Like that, the advertisement tour was grandly ruined from the start. After barely shaking off the following car, everyone accepted the current situation.

“…Let’s go separately.”

“Right.”

“Yes…….”

“Let’s go wearing mascot costumes!”

“…??”

Breaking the quiet atmosphere of agreement, Cha Yujin suddenly made a random suggestion.

“Mascot costumes?”

“Yes! Cute, and people won’t know!”

Keun Sejin was the first to react to those words.

“Wait… ah, there’s a rental shop in the Gangnam area.”

“Oh!”

“The price is decent too! We’d only need to spend about 50,000 to 60,000 won per person.”

It wasn’t like 50,000 won was small change. However, it was a good idea. I sighed and added my thoughts.

“It’s good to do it, but still, let’s each go to see the ads on our own.”

“Eh?”

“Why?!”

To Cha Yujin’s question, Kim Raebin answered gloomily.

“That’s because if four mascot costumes wander around, attention will be even more focused…….”

“Ah.”

Everyone was immediately convinced.

“Then let’s at least go together until the rental. Is that okay?”

“Yes!”

“Okay. Driver! We want to go here…….”

Keun Sejin immediately changed the taxi’s destination. In less than 20 minutes, we arrived at a party supply rental shop located in a corner of a commercial building.

“I want this!”

As soon as we arrived, Cha Yujin immediately picked up a mascot costume and excitedly headed to the counter. It seemed to be something like a white tiger.

“He’s fast.”

“Shall we pick quickly too?”

Then, an employee who approached the remaining people in front of the mascot costumes spoke with sparkling eyes.

“Excuse me, could I perhaps get your autographs?”

“…Of course.”

After asking them not to post it on the internet during today at least, we stood in line and gave our autographs. It was extremely awkward.

“I’ll take this.”

After finishing the autographs, we chose the mascot costumes while accompanied by the employee. When Keun Sejin chose a giant bear costume, Kim Raebin chose a rabbit costume next to him. It was a choice clearly conscious of fan opinion.

‘If it’s come to this, is it eventually this for me too?’

I hesitantly picked up a mascot costume. It was the first time I had worn a mascot costume since working a part-time job wearing one five years ago, and it was heavy.

‘This is going to be a struggle too.’

Thinking about wandering around in this made the future look bleak. First… should I redo the route?

* * *

Following the encouragement for voting, Park Moondae’s fan sites placed advertisements on public transportation to gather text votes during the finals. They secured all sorts of ads, from wrapping buses to movie theaters, but because the preparation time was short, only the subway station advertisements were currently implemented.

The same was true for the person who had preempted a large electronic display near the underground shopping mall at Gangnam Station.

‘It came out well!’

This woman, who had captured Park Moondae’s cheek-poke pose during the production presentation, eventually produced a billboard with that photo.

‘I’m glad I saved it.’

For the record, at Jamsil Station, they put up a digital poster advertisement of Park Moondae’s full body wearing the hero suit from the second team match. She was planning to go see that next.

‘I wanted to do one more.’

Looking at Seon Ahyun on the opposite display, she swallowed her regret. She had coveted that spot. In fact, she had seen a post a few days ago that Seon Ahyun’s fans had practically rented out the entire Ahyun Station, placing ads from the subway platform doors to the exits.

‘If they’re going to that extent there, they should have left Gangnam alone.’

The donation amount was also sufficient, so the personal money she intended to contribute remained, which made it even more of a waste.

‘Anyway, the colors came out well, and it’s done.’

She took another photo of the display with her camera. At that moment, her friend, who had gone to buy coffee for a moment, approached and called her with a voice full of laughter.

“Hey, look at that!”

“Eh?”

As she turned her head in the direction the coffee straw was pointing, a yellow puppy mascot with perky ears was waddling toward the display.

‘A Welsh Corgi?’

As she watched blankly, she saw a sketchbook in the Welsh Corgi’s hands.

[Park Moondae, debut]

“What is that!”

She burst into laughter and made way for the Welsh Corgi. Several people who had been looking at the display nearby were also laughing as they watched the Welsh Corgi. Apparently, the person had come wearing a yellow puppy mascot to match Moondae’s hair color and nickname. It looked quite cute to see a tall person waddling in a mascot costume.

“Shall I take a photo for you?”

Her friend asked the Welsh Corgi standing blankly in front of the display. The Welsh Corgi nodded and held out his phone.

‘Ah, there are really many funny people.’

Unable to hide her laughter, she spoke to the Welsh Corgi.

“Could I take one photo and post it? Your idea is great!”

The Welsh Corgi nodded vigorously. She quickly took a photo and uploaded it to her fan account.

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[I came to check the ad and met a fan wearing a Moondae-deng mascot! 😀 (Photo) (Photo)]
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Since it was a topic people would like, the number of shares and likes increased in an instant. In the meantime, the Welsh Corgi finished taking all the certification shots and got his phone back from her friend.

“Have a safe trip home~”

The Welsh Corgi bowed his head to her and her friend and then set off on his waddling way again. She also moved to take Line 2 with her friend while giggling. This was because she was planning to have lunch near Jamsil Station and check the advertisements there too.

After entering a nearby famous restaurant and eating, then going to a cafe for the second round and waiting for the ordered drinks, her friend laughed and showed her something.

“Look at this! It looks like that Welsh Corgi fan from earlier went to Jamsil too. Another photo was posted.”

“Wow, that’s impressive. It must be hard to move around while wearing that.”

Thinking that Moondae would find it funny too, she laughed and checked the photos posted on social media. The Welsh Corgi had diligently visited various stations throughout the morning and lunch to take certification shots.

‘Did they come up to Seoul just to do this?’

She sometimes saw fans like that, so it wasn’t a strange occurrence. Though the mascot costume was a funny idea.

As she flicked through, she saw the photos she had taken earlier. Then, she discovered something and stopped her hand. It was the scene where her friend was taking a photo of the Welsh Corgi.

“…Eh?”

“What’s wrong?”

She asked her friend with a trembling voice.

“That… when you took the photo of the Welsh Corgi earlier.”

“Yeah.”

“B-by any chance… did you check the phone?”

The friend tilted her head.

“Well… it was just a smartphone. It was a bit old… and didn’t have a case… wait a minute.”

The friend realized it herself while speaking. She didn’t even listen to the end of those words and was urgently checking Moondae’s PR video.

‘This model.’

And then she checked the photo she had taken again. The Welsh Corgi’s phone held in the friend’s hand… was the exact same shape as the one in the PR video. Goosebumps ran all over her back.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey…….”

“…Is it real? Really? Really?”

“No, this is, uh…….”

As she and her friend were stuttering, unable to complete their sentences due to the unbelievable speculation, a new notification arrived on the smartphone.

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[Crazy crazy crazy the yellow puppy mascot was Moondae f*ck he just took off the mascot head arghhhhh T_T (Shaky photo) (Photo of Moondae taking off the mascot head)]
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Attached to that post was a photo of Park Moondae’s upper body, smiling while taking off the mascot head while soaked in sweat in front of the Sinchon Station billboard. It was the exact same mascot they had seen in the morning.

“…….”

The two sat in their seats with their mouths agape until the drinks came out. And then the americano arrived.

“Enjoy your drink.”

“…….”

Only then, while stabbing the ice water down her throat, she wailed internally.

‘I should have at least shaken his hand!!’

She was clearly happy to have been so lucky and liked Moondae to death, but at the same time, it was a strange feeling like she wanted to vomit from regret.

“Let’s go to the fansign.”

“I’m definitely going.”

Pledging to go to the fansign, the two burned quietly.