Chapter 8
Do Eun-seok’s face went blank as he rushed into the waiting room. He was met with the sight of Cha Wook wrestling with his own hair.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“What’s going on?”
“What do you mean? I’m doing my hair.”
Grumbling, Cha Wook glanced past Eun-seok and suddenly shouted.
“Noona! Why’d you come back?”
Lee Sari, who had arrived with Eun-seok, her eyebrows raised in surprise, blinked in confusion.
“I came because you said you needed your makeup redone…”
She trailed off, looking at Eun-seok for answers, but he just shrugged, equally clueless. Cha Wook, who should’ve been bare-faced, already had his makeup done.
Eun-seok had finally tracked Sari down and brought her back, so what was this? Unless…
“Wook-ah. Did you do this yourself?”
That made no sense. There was no way Cha Wook—infamous for his lack of skill—could’ve pulled this off.
“What are you talking about? Do what myself? Noona, I seriously thought you left. Hurry up and finish my hair.”
“Huh? Oh, okay!”
Still dazed, Sari stepped forward and began fixing Cha Wook’s hair.
“Hyung, go ahead to the stage with the others. I’ll wrap up here and join you.”
“…Alright. Got it.”
Eun-seok studied Cha Wook for a moment before finally turning away and heading toward where Anthony and Martin were waiting.
Whirr—
Sari was fully focused on drying and styling Cha Wook’s hair, though she occasionally clenched her eyes shut whenever her stomach gurgled.
Of all days, why did I have to get food poisoning today?
To make matters worse, her phone had died, and she’d nearly had a panic attack replaying the day’s events in her head.
At least she’d been worried for nothing about the makeup—it looked fine. Though something did feel… different. But there was no time to scrutinize it now.
“…….”
“…….”
Noticing the strange tension, Sari peeked at the mirror and nearly choked. Cha Wook was staring straight at her through the reflection.
‘Why’s he like that? Does he hate his hair?’
Just as his intense gaze was starting to unsettle her, he spoke quietly.
“Noona. Forget about that memory.”
“Huh? Forget? What memory?”
“The one you said you’d never forget.”
“I… did?”
“I have one like that too.”
Cha Wook’s expression turned bitter.
“Holding onto things like that… it’s really painful.”
Sari gave him a puzzled look, unable to follow his sudden train of thought.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
While she was still lost in thought, Cha Wook suddenly stood up.
“All done, right? Thanks for your hard work!”
By the time I hurriedly arrived at the fan signing venue, there were only ten minutes left before the event started.
After verifying my ticket at the counter, I reached into the raffle box. As the last attendee, I didn’t have much choice—I pulled out the lone remaining ticket and flipped it over.
[ No. 67 ]
Hugging the bulky camera I’d retrieved from the storage locker, I trudged toward the event hall. My steps were sluggish, drained of energy.
The fan signing hadn’t even started yet, but I was already exhausted. After everything that had happened since arriving here, fatigue weighed heavily on me.
Looking back, everything I’d done up until now felt like a dream—surreal and hazy. But I was too tired to dwell on it.
That didn’t last long, though.
“Wow…”
Once I entered the hall and took my assigned seat, nervousness began creeping in. The bright lights, the excited faces of fans who’d come to see their favorite idols…
As someone who had only ever admired them from afar, everything felt unfamiliar.
Seo Eun-sol had given me plenty of advice, but the only thing that stuck was “Make sure you get Anthony’s side profile.”
Still, the positive, passionate energy radiating from the crowd was infectious.
Recalling Eun-sol’s instructions, I fiddled with the camera settings, making sure not to touch anything she’d warned me about. I test-shot random spots around the hall to get a feel for it.
Then, zooming in on the empty stage, I remembered the incident that had happened toward the end of the fan signing in my past life.
The infamous “peanut terror”—the allergic reaction incident involving Do Eun-seok. I’d first heard about it on the news.
I’d been in the hospital at the time, discussing my condition with Teacher Tae-oh when the breaking news about an idol being targeted flashed on the TV. I’d been stunned.
Later, I’d searched for follow-up articles, but nothing concrete came up—no details about the fan, how they’d gotten the allergen so close to Eun-seok, or even what the food had been.
The only thing I knew for sure was that it had happened near the end of the event.
Eun-seok’s face—dismissing my warning as nonsense—flashed in my mind. Sure, he might’ve thought I was crazy, but that joke he made was way out of line.
‘Still, it’s better than him not hearing it at all.’
At least he might subconsciously be more careful now.
“We will now begin Nevereveragain’s fan signing event!”
The host’s energetic voice rang out as the group’s title track played for the opening.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I focused on the stage.
Martin, Anthony, Cha Wook, and Do Eun-seok walked out one by one, lining up in a row.
“Hello! We are Nevereveragain!”
The members bowed in unison at a perfect 90-degree angle, and the audience erupted in cheers.
“So good to see you, Bevers!”
“We missed you so much, Bevers!”
The microphone passed from Anthony to Cha Wook, then finally to Eun-seok.
“It’s been so long since we’ve had a fan signing like this. Sure, we had an open fan meeting last year, but this feels different.”
His voice trembled slightly.
“Thank you for all the love you’ve given us since our debut. We’ll work hard not to disappoint you. Thank you so much for coming today. Let’s have a great time together!”
Every word carried his sincerity.
“How would you know that? Unless you’re the one planning it?”
Is this really the same guy who made that creepy joke earlier?
‘Well, Do Eun-seok was always the most devoted to the team.’
Even fans who biased other members acknowledged that.
When the group’s disbandment was announced, most fans had empathized with Eun-seok’s grief more than anyone else’s.
The fan signing proceeded smoothly, one step at a time.
I kept hoping Anthony would turn to the left more often, but given his seat placement, those chances were rare.
And every time I tried to take a photo, Martin would miraculously photobomb, stealing the focus. No wonder he was called “The Interception Genius.”
“He’s not Martin—he’s Mi-teen! Mi-teen Martin!”
Seo Eun-sol’s creative insult echoed vividly in my ears.
This was exactly why Anthony’s fans constantly complained about Martin—but he never tired of tormenting them.
Today, I finally understood Eun-sol’s suffering a little.
“It’s hopeless.”
After a few more attempts, I gave up on capturing Anthony’s side profile. I could only pray Eun-sol’s wrath wouldn’t spill over onto me when she saw the photos.
Once I abandoned her mission, my camera lens naturally drifted toward Cha Wook.
Surprisingly, he was responding to fans’ comments quietly but attentively. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but judging by his lips, it definitely wasn’t “Oh, really?” or “Did I?”
‘He seems more at ease than before.’
The flow didn’t seem bad—the fans’ expressions said it all. Cha Wook wasn’t being noticeably sweet or smiling brightly, but every fan who talked to him walked away looking happy. I sighed in relief.
“Doesn’t Cha Wook seem different today?”
“Right? Right? Did he get his makeup done somewhere else?”
Perk.
My ears twitched at the mention of makeup. Makeup? Why? Did my sloppy work stand out?
“Kinda… like a world-weary gumiho?”
“He could rip out your liver, Wook-ah!”
Listening to these two casually slander him, I couldn’t help but smile proudly. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.
I’d tried to recreate the makeup Cha Wook had been most loved for during his black-haired era. It wasn’t perfect, but apparently, it was close enough.
Before I knew it, the fan signing had passed the halfway mark.
As my turn approached, my palms grew sweaty.
‘Hmm. What should I say?’
I’d been so busy figuring out how to prevent a disaster that I hadn’t prepared anything to say. A twinge of regret hit me.
“Numbers 65, 66, 67, and 68—please come up to the stage!”
