Chapter 32. A Fortuitous Encounter in Euljiro
"Nooo!"
The man whose backside had caught fire screamed like the protagonist of a disaster movie.
The moment we escaped the cafe, another light fixture crashed down near the booth where he'd been sitting.
And there he was, staring only at his laptop without even realizing his own butt was on fire.
He wasn't some newborn calf.
While the man stood there in despair, the customers who had escaped first kicked his burning backside several times to put it out.
Among them were people who had left their bags inside, and someone who looked like the owner of one of the cars now on fire.
"Without that laptop... my life has no meaning."
The man argued with the other customers for a while.
He insisted on going back into the cafe to retrieve his laptop.
The customers decided conversation was unnecessary and simply restrained him.
I looked back inside the cafe.
The front window had shattered, and there wasn't much attached to the ceiling.
The interior had an unusual exposed-pipe design.
Still, one light fixture was hanging by a thread and swaying dangerously right above the man's laptop.
What a strange neighborhood.
First there was an old man who suddenly set cars on fire.
Now there was this guy crying with his backside practically exposed because he might lose one laptop.
If we left him alone, he looked ready to rush back into the cafe before the fire trucks arrived.
So I went in first instead.
Even the parts of the cafe the flames hadn't reached yet were hot enough that it was difficult to keep my eyes open.
The heat startled me for a moment.
But the temperature would only continue rising while I hesitated.
As long as the flames didn't directly touch me, my clothes weren't going to suddenly burst into fire.
So I rushed straight toward the man's seat.
He had basically built himself a miniature data center.
The laptop I'd seen earlier and all those mysterious devices were still sitting there intact.
The important thing was the external hard drive.
I quickly looked around.
A thick metal box that looked like an external drive was resting on top of some strange piece of equipment.
I had to be careful not to get injured by the light fixture that had fallen across the table.
At first, I tried to unplug the laptop from the wall.
But the plug was too hot.
It had also partly melted from the heat and wouldn't come out properly.
Chargers weren't that expensive anyway.
I pulled the power connector directly out of the laptop instead.
"Whoa!"
When I came running back outside carrying only the laptop and external hard drive, the customers cheered and applauded.
It wasn't like I'd rescued another person.
I gave them a small wave, then stopped in front of the man.
"I brought your laptop back, so stop crying."
"O-Ohhh... My laptop...!"
The man hugged it to his chest and bowed over and over while thanking me.
He hadn't said a word when I'd saved his life.
Did this guy store his soul on his hard drive?
"I'll repay you! If there's anything you want, anything at all..."
The man had calmed down a little.
A reward, huh?
As the cool outside air washed over me, I remembered why I'd come all the way here in the first place.
The spam photograph.
Usually, when I resolved whatever incident appeared in one of those photos, the result somehow benefited both Blue Moon and me.
Could this man be connected to some high-ranking broadcasting executive?
He didn't look old enough for that.
Or maybe he was a young man destined to become the CEO of some global logistics company in the future?
"It was already enough that you saved me, but you even went back for my laptop... I lost my mind for a moment. Thank you. Really."
The man bowed deeply.
"What on earth is on that laptop that made you so obsessed with it?"
"Ah. This is... my work laptop. I have a lot of drawings saved on it."
Right.
I remembered all those unfamiliar devices sitting around the laptop earlier.
They must have been drawing tablets and similar equipment.
Artists used things like that, didn't they?
My mood slowly began to lift, like a child right before receiving New Year's money.
The spam message hadn't merely led me to a fire.
It had made me personally escort a designer out of a burning building.
And this happened at the exact moment our outsourced album-cover designer had produced complete garbage.
"My name is Choi Joo-hong. I'm a designer. I draw whatever people ask me to draw, that sort of thing. The laptop has some work I absolutely have to send out by today."
Of course.
There was no way this could be a coincidence.
Joo-hong immediately began checking his files one by one to make sure everything saved on the laptop was still intact.
How good was he?
I casually walked behind him and looked at the screen over his shoulder.
"Haa... I-It's safe."
Joo-hong let out a relieved sigh.
I, on the other hand, nearly gasped.
I'd already assumed he had to be talented.
But he was even better than I expected.
There were high-quality illustrations that looked almost like photographs, along with cartoon-style designs carrying a very strong sense of Joo-hong's own style.
Every piece looked like something that could only be produced after pouring enormous care into it.
Even someone like me, who knew very little about art, could tell his work was exceptional.
"These are really good. Our company is actually looking for a freelance designer right now. They're good enough that I'd want to hire you."
"Huh...! Really? What company...?"
Joo-hong's expression suddenly became serious.
"If you really want me to do it, then I absolutely should. You saved both my work and my life. I'll seriously give it everything I've got."
From what I could see, his skill level was excellent.
Of course, that alone didn't guarantee how people would react to an album cover he created.
But the only thing I'd gained by getting involved in this fire was this poor designer.
The spam message had practically arranged this meeting for me.
There had to be a reason it had connected us.
This meeting was probably going to benefit Blue Moon.
"Whoa, he's insanely good! This person is going to draw our album cover?"
Serin asked in surprise after seeing Joo-hong's work.
My goal was to get a god-tier design that properly reflected the individual charm of every member.
From what I'd seen, Joo-hong was especially skilled at cartoon-style designs with a back-alley, street-art feeling.
If the Blue Moon members could be naturally blended into that style, it would be perfect.
The album cover alone might become a talking point.
He was still unknown, but with this level of skill, there was no way he would stay unknown for long.
The more I saw his work, the more certain I became that this was a real opportunity.
"Hehehe... These aren't anything special. Seriously. Heh..."
The members crowded close beside him and praised his drawings.
Joo-hong practically lost his mind and grinned like an idiot.
"Wow. Look at that crescent moon. That's basically Blue Moon. It'd look amazing if something like that went into our cover."
Youngchae pointed at one of the illustrations.
As expected, even while admiring the artwork, she hadn't forgotten to think about the album design.
I'd seen that drawing too.
I'd already checked how Joo-hong drew young girls, crescent moons, and even animals like dolphins.
"All right, Mr. Choi Joo-hong. How much would we need to pay to get quality at that level?"
"Ah. I usually adjust the quality depending on the budget..."
Joo-hong suddenly looked startled and corrected himself.
"No, wait. I should obviously do this for free! At the highest quality, of course. You saved my life."
When I'd first told him this was for an idol album, Choi Joo-hong said he needed to properly understand the members' charm and physical features.
He had even been the one to suggest meeting the members in person first.
At that point, I hadn't realized he would become this completely helpless around them.
Then again, who could meet Blue Moon for the first time and remain perfectly sane?
Still, he was worse than most.
I certainly hadn't been that bad.
I'd only spent a few nights sleeping with photos of the members open on my phone.
That was all.
"No. Let's not do that. Take proper payment, and let me ask you for more work. If you insist on doing everything for free, I won't be able to commission you for different things."
"Ah... Do you already have something else in mind? I don't think the album-cover design alone would be such a huge request."
What kind of opportunity was this?
There was no way I was going to pay him one standard fee and then let him walk away.
"Until the new song comes out, meet with the members from time to time and draw short promotional slice-of-life comics. We'll pay you properly for the work."
"Gasp...! I can keep meeting the members until the new song comes out?"
"No, meeting them isn't the important part. While you're doing that, I want you to make promotional material..."
Joo-hong's eyes widened.
"I understand what you mean. I've never drawn a full-scale comic before, but I'll do it at the minimum rate per piece."
"Let's use the average market rate."
"No! The minimum rate is better!"
He sounded completely serious.
Well, whether it was the minimum or maximum rate didn't matter much to me.
As long as he was motivated, I could relax.
Didn't I already know how powerful fandom could be?
From today onward, Choi Joo-hong was destined to become a hardcore Apollo.
I sat Joo-hong in a corner of the practice room and began discussing promotional ideas with the members.
Charm wasn't something you could simply pull out of your pocket like a lighter whenever you decided to show it off.
Just being allowed to sit in on a Blue Moon meeting should already be a blessing.
If he were an actual fan, I wouldn't have let him sit there for more than ten minutes.
There would be a risk of cardiac arrest.
"What social media are we using right now? Is it only Aran's Nutube and V Live?"
"I do have a personal social-media account. Almost all my followers are just people I know, though."
Youngchae answered my question.
Aran immediately burst out laughing and teased her.
"Come on! If that counts, who doesn't have social media?"
"It's just not popular. I didn't make it only for personal use. I made the account because I wanted to become something like a fashion influencer."
A fashion influencer?
Youngchae definitely had what it took.
She had a beautiful face, excellent proportions, and a slim, elegant figure.
The phrase fashion influencer almost felt like it had been invented for her.
"Really? Why don't I remember seeing it? Is it private except for friends?"
Youngchae shook her head.
"I got excited and made it when we debuted, but I barely used it. I think I uploaded about three photos..."
She looked a little embarrassed, then suddenly remembered something.
"Ah, you know the outfit I altered for 〈Music Bang Bang〉 last time? I really liked the photo, so I uploaded it after not posting for ages. The response was good. The photo you took for me, Manager."
"The one from the waiting room?"
"Yes. Thank you so much."
If the altered-outfit photo from 〈Music Bang Bang〉 was her most recent post, then the account might as well not exist.
Still, Youngchae had excellent fashion sense.
If she simply kept posting consistently, someone would eventually notice her.
"Youngchae, I'll get you clothes from time to time. Start uploading photos regularly from now on. We have a small studio at the company, right? You can probably take them there."
"Okay."
"Aran can keep doing mukbang."
Youngchae needed to build a sophisticated image through her personal fashion account.
Aran, on the other hand, could strengthen her friendly, everyday image.
"Anna, what do you want to do?"
"Me? I want to get attention in hip-hop. I keep uploading rap recordings to Murim.com, and they still get a decent number of views."
Anna was right.
Murim.com was a site where underground hip-hop fans gathered to upload rap recordings and exchange opinions.
Anna was fairly well known there.
Not under the name Anna, of course.
Her rap name was MC MARALAK.
The frustrating part was that very few people knew MC MARALAK was actually Anna.
But she couldn't suddenly upload a photo of herself to the MC MARALAK account and announce, Surprise, I'm actually idol Anna.
There was a higher chance that Anna's current reputation would damage MC MARALAK's reputation than the other way around.
The only reasonable option was to first build a cool image for Anna as an idol, then reveal her identity later.
"For now, Anna, let's keep pushing the image that you're good at studying. Being smart is cool no matter what genre you're in."
"I feel a little guilty. Like I'm lying."
Why would that be a lie?
If she'd memorized an entire dictionary, then no one had the right to criticize her intelligence.
"That settles the other three for now. What about you, Serin? Is there anything you specifically want to do?"
Apparently, she'd already thought about it.
Serin rubbed her chin while choosing her words.
Then she answered.
"I want to seriously try acting."
The moment I heard that, I thought, Here it comes.
Serin.
Serious acting.
The same Serin whose acting we'd occasionally seen in vlogs or little Nutube skits.
Only now, she wanted to do it seriously.
"I saw the concept for the music video, and there's one role that's basically the protagonist. I'm sure everyone probably wants it... but I don't really have anything else I can do."
Serin glanced at the other members as she spoke.
The music video would tell a story in which one member drove a car, picked up the other members one by one, and eventually arrived at the night sea.
Naturally, the member driving the car would receive the most screen time.
Serin wanted that role.
"Okay. I was actually nervous that I'd end up getting stuck with it. I'm fine with Serin taking it."
Youngchae noticed Serin watching everyone's reactions and immediately stepped in.
"Same. The song starts with my rap part, so I was worried they might give it to me. I can't act at all. I'm in favor of Serin unni doing it."
Anna caught Youngchae's hint and agreed.
"Huh? I don't care either way."
Aran added her opinion last.
She had no tact, but she had a good heart, so I could forgive it.
"Good. Then I'll give Serin a special gift. I'll get you the best acting coach possible. I'll turn you into a proper actress before we shoot the music video."
"Really?"
Serin thanked each member and steadied herself.
The others probably wanted to see Serin act too.
"Is it a really good acting coach you met at Pantheon?"
Serin asked.
No.
It wasn't someone I'd met at Pantheon.
I'd met this person much later.
And they were more talented than any ordinary acting coach.
Someone who might be able to turn Serin into an actress almost immediately.
Someone every single person here knew.
