Chapter 66

That day. It was probably because he had received the bouquet and card, and because the phone call that night had been uncharacteristically gentle.

The symptoms had started then.

“Hmm. Confession, is it?”

“...Ah, yes. You can confess anything you’ve done wrong.”

In the past, hearing something this shameless would probably have made him feel something else. Now, the pounding in his chest would not subside.

“What should I choose...?”

The drawn-out final syllable rang softly. His voice was pleasant enough to sound as though he were singing.

“Ah. There’s a junior artist I got to know, and he’s fun to tease, so I keep tormenting him.”

“......”

“If I confess, everything I’ve done to him so far gets reset, and I can start tormenting him all over again, right?”

“Please don’t torment him.”

“I don’t want to.”

Of course Baek Hanje would never listen to that, and technically speaking, he was teasing Gowon right now too.

Baek Hanje snickered wickedly at the speechless Gowon.

“So give up, Father.”

“......”

Gowon had no idea that his lips had pursed into a sulky pout or that his narrowed eyes had turned toward the neighboring compartment. Nor did he know that the people outside were delighted at having captured such a good closing shot.

“Gowon, good work. Filming’s over!”

“...Ah, thank you.”

Out of habit ingrained in every rookie singer, Gowon bowed toward the source of the voice before straightening again. Baek Hanje skillfully removed his microphone and called outside.

“We’re completely done, right?”

“Yes, you can come out.”

“Then let me say one thing off the record.”

Knock, knock.

Someone tapped the wall between them. Gowon, halfway through awkwardly rising to his feet, turned toward it.

“There’s a junior artist I know who’s had an unusually eventful year. Apparently, something awful happened to him even on what should have been a good day.”

Ah. It seemed Hanje had heard about what happened on the night of the showcase.

Gowon had hoped he would not find out because he did not want to worry him.

“I don’t know whether this will comfort you, but think of it as happening because you’re doing well. It wasn’t your fault.”

“......”

After saying what he had to say, Baek Hanje opened the door first and stepped outside. Gowon took a deep breath, then followed him out.

Ever since promotions began, Gowon had always gone home late, so it had been a long time since he had seen Hanje’s face this close.

Beneath slightly longer bangs were eyes that seemed indifferent to everything, yet looked directly and clearly at whomever they were focused on.

“You’re really terrible at comforting people, but since I know that’s just how you are, I think it was actually a little comforting....”

“...? You’re openly badmouthing your senior artist to his face now?”

A man overflowing with confidence, built on dazzling talent, an exceptional career, and hard-earned skill.

Gowon was afraid of how Hanje judged him, yet Hanje was also steadier and more dependable than anyone else.

Gowon’s heart began racing out of control again.

Then the words he had heard earlier suddenly flashed through his mind with every pounding beat.

Fan devotion is indistinguishable from romantic feelings.

Ah. So that was what it was.

Through the stories he had heard from various people today, Gowon had gained an objective understanding of his own situation.

I became his fan.

Just like the first confessor, the Dearune fan.

I became a Spade working on Gowon’s team....

He had to devote all his strength to improving singer Gowon’s results, but the favorite artist in his heart had become Hanzel of Young Ace.

Fortunately, his situation was better than that of the Dearest working on his team. Gowon was nowhere near capable of competing with Young Ace’s achievements in the first place, and since they belonged to the same company and the same division, there was no problem with supporting Hanje.

Most importantly, if the love between a singer and their fans could be compared to an office romance, then Gowon could express himself more actively.

Hanje, please release a song. In your own voice.

Hanje, please perform onstage.

These were all privileges of being a fan!

The original content had been created to promote the album, but it had also done a great deal to improve Gowon’s own state of mind.

***

—Among these three formidable nominees, the honor of first place goes to... We will now announce the winner! It’s <DEEP>!

—<Music Building>’s Music of the Week goes to Gowon! Congratulations!

—This week’s highest overall score! The story of a prince who filled the summer sea with love—first place goes to <DEEP>!

<DEEP> achieved a triple crown across all three major terrestrial television networks.

Gowon accepted the trophy and bouquet with a radiant smile.

He had not sobbed since his first win, but he still could not hide his joy and emotion.

He raised the microphone with trembling hands.

Gowon’s acceptance speeches changed slightly each time, but certain people always appeared in them.

After thanking everyone for the award, he named company employees and staff members.

“I love my family very much.”

When there was enough time, he listed them all—“Grandma, Grandpa, Sua, Suhyeon”—but when time was short, he still made sure to mention them collectively as his family.

And then—

“Thank you to Hanzel for writing such a wonderful song.”

Baek Hanje, the lyricist and composer of <DEEP>, always appeared as well.

And finally, of course—

“One and Only, thank you again today. This is an award you gave me.”

Admirably, he never forgot his fans.

After carefully placing the trophy and bouquet to one side, Gowon prepared for the encore stage.

Gowon danced just as intensely during first-place encore stages as he did during the live broadcast performance, becoming famous as the idol who “showed the exact same stage twice.”

That prompted a flood of complaints from fans on Meverse and Boggle: “Gowon, that’s not how this works!”

Of course they loved the intense performance too, but they wanted to see his first-place promise even more!

Encore stages happened after the other singers and fandoms had left. They felt like miniature fan meetings with the fans who remained.

The previous day, Gowon had cautiously asked on Boggle whether there was anything they wanted to see during the encore if he won first place.

And so, only on the final day of the first week did growth-type idol Gowon learn this new information and put it into practice.

As the intro to <DEEP> began, Gowon took something from his manager below the stage.

—As you suggested... since <DEEP> is about going into the sea, I’ll sing it underwater.

What?

How was he supposed to sing underwater? Was he planning to become a real merman prince?

The fans, who were fully prepared to scour the entire ocean and discipline the octopus witch if Gowon traded that precious voice for a fish tail, tilted their heads.

Then it happened.

Gowon opened a bottle of water and poured it over his own head.

He exhaled as droplets sprayed around him, then swept back his soaked hair. At that moment, the first line of <DEEP> began.

—Don’t give me breath

“Aaaaaaahhhhhh!”

The water streamed down his hair and soaked his white dress shirt completely. The fabric clung to his body, revealing its lines: the broad shoulders his fans took such pride in, the straight sweep of his collarbones, his leanly muscled upper body, and his waist.

The screams One and Only fans unleashed both inside and outside the screen contained equal parts awe and rapture.

At that very moment—

—Moa Cyber University, gathering for a shining tomorrow~

If There Are Three Gowons, That’s Three Gowon @doublemoney

KBC, you fucking bastards, how can you cut away now?

DStreamingEWithEMyLifeP @go1wayyyy

What the hell? Gowon poured water on himself, and then what happened? Read the room, cut the ad, reconnect the feed

Rage exploded over the broadcaster’s usual atrocity of abruptly cutting off the stream at the beginning of the encore stage.

And the fury only intensified once fans who had attended the prerecording posted their accounts.

Review | I went to the prerecording and saw the encore

Anonymous One and Only

Used up all the luck I’ll ever have on my thumb three days ago

Gowon was insane

Insane is the only word I can use

If I said everything I’m feeling right now, I’d have to watch music shows on the tiny TV at Cheongju Women’s Prison starting tomorrow, so I’ll keep it brief

So. Fucking. Sexy.

Anonymous One and Only 1 You seriously... need to do a lot of good deeds for society

Anonymous One and Only 2 Did he stay soaked all the way to the end of the stage????

⤷ Anonymous One and Only (Original Poster) Yeah, his back got even wetter. Every time he turned around, seriously

Anonymous One and Only 3 Show everyone what that person saw....

***

At last, the first week of music-show promotions ended without incident.

The atmosphere among the staff remained warm and cheerful throughout the van ride back to the company.

Performances that became a hot topic every day. Strong results.

And an artist who refused to grow complacent and instead threw himself into promotions with everything he had.

Naturally, one good thing led to another.

“Wow, the encore-stage fancam is already up on YouTube.”

“No surprise. Everyone was going wild over it. The producer knows how to strike while the iron’s hot.”

Pretending to give in to public demand, the broadcasting station released its own footage of Gowon’s encore stage, which generated yet another wave of attention.

“One and Only reminds me of Spades in the old days.”

Spades had the image of fighters who could take on a hundred opponents each. Fans of an idol group that had climbed from the bottom after years of failure never lost anywhere they went.

Their singers also kept releasing high-quality albums as though their lives depended on it, so the fans never had reason to feel intimidated.

A similar phenomenon was now happening among Gowon’s fans.

“True. Gowon came from an audition program too, and some One and Only fans actually came over from Spades.”

By satisfying existing fans while steadily drawing in new ones, Gowon was securely establishing himself.

People in the industry were already beginning to say that Gowon would probably win Rookie of the Year.

The staff’s fond gazes turned toward the person sitting quietly in one corner of the van with earphones in.

It was already enough to make them adore him that their artist was achieving results like this. He might be a little reserved, but he was impeccably polite and respectful, without a single abrasive edge. They had long since stopped worrying about personality scandals or revelations from his past.

Gowon had focused on his phone the moment he got into the van. They might have worried if he were doing something strange on social media, but all he ever watched on his phone were senior artists’ performance videos or his own Boggle feed.

And most of those senior-artist videos, today as always, featured Young Ace.

Everyone else viewed this behavior fondly, like an aunt or uncle watching a diligent nephew memorize English vocabulary even during meals.

Only Gowon defined it differently.

In fandom terms, this was the beginning of becoming a fan.