"It's so late!" Na-ri whined. "Why are we going to the subway this late in the evening?"
"It's past midnight already," Jia said. "So technically, it's not late. It's early."
Wei sighed. "I swear. Who knew you'd get the biggest fan girl fever out of all of us?"
"If I knew this was going to happen, I never would have introduced you to Rising Stars," Soo-min yawned.
"Oh, come on," Jia urged. "Just think of it as payback for forcing me to come to early morning shoots with idols that weren't even singing live."
"Well, damn," Wei chuckled.
The four of them got out of the subway, and Jia guided them to June's LED screen.
As they approached the large screen, they saw a strange guy wearing a black hood and a black mask. He was looking at the screen intently, and it scared the girls a little bit.
Soo-min stopped. "Umm, let's go back later? That guy looks suspicious."
"Don't be soo judgmental," Jia said. "He may be a fan of June."
"While looking like that?" Soo-min asked.
Jia clicked her tongue. "Come on. Just let me leave a letter and take a picture. Then, we can finally head back to the dorms."
Wei pouted. "He's wearing all black! And look at those pockets. It's like he has something stuffed in them."
It was, indeed, his vodka-infused chocolates.
Jia sighed. "Fine. Wait for me at the food stalls out front. I'll just take a selfie."
"Are you sure?" Soo-min asked.
"Yes!" Jia exclaimed. "Order Tteokbokki for me in advance. Oh, and a serving of fish cakes too."
Wei smiled. "Call! It's my treat this time. Let's go."
With that, her three friends left her behind. Jia slowly walked to the LED screen, wary of the strange man.
Even after their conversation, he was still in the same position where she first saw him.
At that point, Jia found him strange too. However, as she got closer, she let out a small gasp when she saw his eyes.
No...
The man finally snapped out of his trance and looked Jia in the eyes.
Jia took a step back as she gazed into familiar orbs. Some of his hair peeked through his hood, casting a mysterious shadow over his eyes.
"June?" Jia whispered.
"Umm, what's up?" June awkwardly said.
Jia hiccupped. "It really is you."
She was unsure at first if it was really him, but with his first utterance, she couldn't be mistaken.
Jia couldn't speak for a couple of seconds, and June, being the introverted person he was, also didn't know what to say.
"Did you come here to look at your LED screen?"Jia shyly asked.
This was the very first time she interacted with a man this way. Usually, she was rougher in the presence of her male friends, but with June, her personality took a sudden change.
June scratched the back of his head.
'No, I just stumbled upon it.'
"I guess?" he said, his words contrasting reality.
Jia softly smiled.June really seems to care a lot about his fans. What a great idol trainee!
"Are you here to visit it too?" June asked.
Jia nodded. "I—I have this letter," she said, pulling out a post-it note.
"Oh," June said, reading the contents of her short letter.
'You made me get into K-pop! I'll support you in every way I can. I'll even skip my meals just to buy you some stars.'
June chuckled as he finished reading. However, his amusement suddenly turned into somber nostalgia when he remembered his sister.
Mei Ling used to be the same.
June would always scold her for skipping her meals and spending it on albums, merch, and streaming passes.
He clicked his tongue and looked her in the eyes. "Don't skip your meals for me," he said. "Your parents aren't giving you allowance to buy stars."
"Oh," Jia said, her heart racing in her chest
Jia held onto her reddening cheeks. "Okay. I'll just ask my parents for more allowance to buy more stars for you."
June chuckled. "Spend it on yourself, but thanks for supporting me."
Jia shyly looked down at the ground. "If you don't mind, can you give me an autograph?"
June froze, causing Jia to panic.
Is he not allowed to?
Or does he not want to?
Oh gosh. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable!
"But it's okay if you don't..."
"I'll do it," June quickly interrupted her. "I'll give you my autograph."
Jia was practically bursting with excitement due to his sudden enthusiasm.
"Umm, you can just sign my post-it," she said.
Jia quickly rummaged through her bag. "Here," she said, handing him a pen.
June looked at the piece of paper, a bit perplexed. This was the first time he had needed to sign an autograph. Does he just sign it? Or write his name? Or add a message?
He clicked his tongue and did whatever felt right.
'Don't skip a meal,' he wrote before placing his signature.
"There you go," he said. Then, he glanced at his watch and saw it was nearing 2 AM!
His eyes widened. "I think I need to go now."
"Oh, sure," Jia said. "If you want, you can take the subway to Azure—"
June ran before Jia could finish her sentence.
She looked at him with a frown. "Is he going to run back to the Azure building?"
Then, she admired him even more.
What an environmental and economic king!
After that, she absent-mindedly went to the food stalls where her friends were.
"Jia! Over here," Wei called out. Still absent-minded, Jia sat next to her.
Her three friends looked at each other with confusion.
"Did...something happen?" Soo-min asked.
"I met June," Jia bluntly said.
Now, her three friends were looking at her like she was crazy. Did the fan girl's life get to her mind and create brain damage or something?
"Yeah, sure," Na-ri awkwardly chuckled.
"It's true!" Jia defended. "He was the guy with the black hood."
Soo-min patted her back. "It's okay, Jia. We also have delusions sometimes."
"But it was really him!"
Jun ran back to the Azure building after finishing his bonus mission. He had a smile on his face as the tall and wide building made its way to his view.
[Congratulations, host! You have succeeded in the bonus mission: Sign an autograph. All stats have now been upgraded. Your current stats are:
- Vocals: A
- Dance: B-
- Visual: B
- Rap: E+
- Charm: D-
- Leadership: C+]
[Mission reset will occur within 24 hours.]
***
The morning after, Jia went to Navel to create a thread using her stan account.
'How I met Rising Stars' June and got his autograph! He even wrote me a message,' she wrote, attaching a picture of the post-it note he had signed.
The Navel thread blew up right away, and Jia was expecting envious comments that would boost her ego.
However, as soon as she opened the comment section, her face fell.
- Yeah, sure. And my father's Michael Jackson.
- It's time to get checked into a Mental Asylum.
- Did you have your little brother write that for you? The handwriting is that of a middle schooler.
Just then, a new comment popped up.
- Hina&Rina: Oh my gosh! I met him too. We even took a picture on his phone.
Jia chuckled in disbelief as she read that comment.
- MyKittyJune: Stop lying. Why would he take a picture with you on his phone?
- Hina&Rina: It's real! His phone was as shitty as a potato, but he was really nice. You're the one who should be lying, girl. You must have run into his doppelganger and was stupid enough to think it was him.
- HELP! Two delusional fans are fighting. There's no need to fight, ladies. The mental asylum welcomes everyone!
"But it's true!" - Hina, Rina, and Jia.
