Chapter 68 - A Fan's Hard Work
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....
Yoonmin was completely flustered. Soobin and Sera were standing near the grand staircase, enjoying the party while he was stuck with a few of Minyoon's fangirls who had come up to him, blocking his way.
"Minmin, can we click a selfie?" one annoying girl giggled at him. He winced as she and her friends stuck close to him to take pictures.
"Sure," he gritted. As a celebrity, his brother was always taking pictures with fans and posting on his social media account to increase followers. His friendly image sold out in millions of dollars and the social media sites endorsed Minyoon's profiles well. It was part of their income, after all.
Unfortunately, Yoonmin did not possess his brother's patience when it came to fans.
"Minmin you look so scary today," the annoying fan noted. Yoonmin was literally pressing a forced smile at the camera, making him look awkward and even frightening. The girls were a little hesitant because they were used to Minyoon's charming smile.
"I'm just tired," Yoonmin lied. "Excuse me!"
With that, he turned red and ran away from the clutches of the crazy fans. He hated taking pictures and Minyoon's fans annoyed him to no end. Instead, he headed straight towards Soobin only to find that she was surrounded by a few admirers herself.
"Hey, don't you go to Dalton High?" a curly haired senior asked her. "I saw you a couple of times in the hallway."
"Yes!" she exclaimed. "I'm in freshman year."
"You're really cute," a tall blonde boy said. He was not as tall as Yoonmin but looked quite athletic and charming. "What say, we go to a club afterwards?"
"I'm a minor though," Soobin replied. "And I have to go home early."
"You should go," Sera told her. "It sounds fun. Going clubbing with seniors. Not every freshman can get an opportunity like this!"
She was coaxing Soobin to accept who was a little confused by Sera's insistence. Sera, on the other hand, was hoping that if Soobin went out with one of the seniors, maybe Sera herself could get closer to her crush Yoonmin.
She had been observing Yoonmin from afar for a long time but after Rachel's horrible prank, she was too scared to ask him out. What if he thought that she was a tramp who would ask out any guy in sight?
So she waited for the right moment but to her dismay, Yoonmin barely acknowledged her. He never noticed any girl and was always busy with his agency, which only shunned Sera further from him.
However, for the past few days, Yoonmin had been getting too close to Soobin. He was the one who stayed behind with Soobin when Sera was humiliated. His eyes were only on Soobin and that made Sera very jealous. If Soobin went out with someone else, maybe Yoonmin would notice Sera.
Hence, she was pushing Soobin to date someone else.
"You really should go and have fun!" Sera claimed. "Come on."
"I-" Soobin was in a fix. She wanted to refuse but Sera was telling her to go and she did not want to disappoint her friend. Maybe Sera wants to go as well but is too shy to admit it, Soobin concluded.
But before she could reply, she felt a hand wrap around her shoulder.
"Beanie!" Yoonmin beamed in an attempt to act like his brother. "I see you're going to a club! How fun!"
Kill me, Yoonmin winced in his head. Kill me now.
"Y-yeah we were just inviting her," the blonde guy stammered, taken aback by the closeness between the girl and idol Hwang Minyoon. The way they were standing so close together, it looked as if they were quite intimate.
Moreover, there was an intimidating look in the idol's eyes which scared him. Even the curly haired guy was shaking in fear at the dangerous glare 'Minyoon' shot at them as if he would bury them alive.
"Minmin!" Soobin exclaimed. "Do you wanna come as well?"
"Of course I will!" Yoonmin said with a wide smile while sending silent death threats at the seniors who winced in fright. Sera was also surprised to see that Minyoon was being so chummy with Soobin.
Is she close with both the twins? She wondered.
"A-actually the club is closed by now!" the blonde boy squeaked.
"Yes!" the curly haired boy added. "It's closed now. Bye!"
They scurried off, leaving Soobin very confused. Huh?
"Are you two close?" Sera asked. She could not help herself. If Soobin liked Minyoon then she could help her get together with the idol and have Yoonmin to herself. That would be much easier!
"We're just friends," Soobin said quickly. While she admired Minyoon and was a total fan of his, she was not interested in him in any other way at all. Moreover, she did not want to be crucified by other fans who might falsely assume that they were more than friends.
"Really good friends," Yoonmin replied. "She even helped out my sister a few weeks ago. Since then, we've been best friends!"
"Minmin, what are you doing?" Soobin hissed but Yoonmin did not heed to her. For some bizarre reason, he did not want any other guy bumbling around Soobin while he was away. It was really annoying to see those dimwits hit on her so he stepped up to keep them away.
"You two look good together!" Sera snickered. Then suddenly, she heard someone call her name. She turned around to see that it was her mother who summoned her.
"I'll be back," she said. "You two can enjoy the...party."
She snickered again before leaving them alone. As soon as Sera was gone, Soobin turned on Yoonmin.
"Minmin, why did you say we're best friends?" she demanded. "She's gonna think wrongly of us!"
"We are friends!" Yoonmin claimed.
"Yes, but this will create strange rumors and I don't want that!" Soobin mumbled, her face slightly red. "Don't lie about these things!"
"Fine!" Yoonmin said, rolling his eyes. "But were you seriously going to the club with those jerks?"
"Sera wanted to go," Soobin said, looking down. "I didn't but since she's upset, I thought-"
"You don't have to please her," Yoonmin said. "She needs to learn to stand up for herself. If she wants to go, she should say it clearly and not use you as a cover."
"Guess you're right," Soobin sighed. "Anyways, thanks for coming here. At least there's one friendly face around. Everyone else here is so hostile to me. Especially Sera's mom. She hates me."
"Why?" Yoonmin asked.
"Because I'm not rich," Soobin shrugged. "I'm not part of all the glamor and elite people. Being here just reminds me that I can't be part of this world."
Yoonmin noted the sadness in her tone which surprised him.
"You're sad that you're not part of this world?" he asked.
"I'm sad that I'm constantly reminded of it," she admitted. "This morning when Yoonmin was comparing the feelings of fans with money, I felt really angry!"
Yoonmin shifted uncomfortably but Soobin did not notice. "I mean, to him, the money the fans spend on you is just profit," she went on. "But it's so much more to us. Every penny I spend on your merchandise and events is earned from endless shifts at the restaurant. I scrubbed thousands of dirty plates, cleaned up the whole place hundreds of times a day and received flak from numerous customers just to earn them. And Sera…"
She took a deep breath before continuing, "Sera works hard to make friends. She wants people to like her for who she is and not treat her like dirt! What's wrong in working hard for others? There's nothing wrong with it. I understand her feelings and seeing her fail because of those horrible people is painful."
"Which is why when Yoonmin said that we spend money on idols because we like them, I lost it," she went on. "Coz we're not just spending money on you! We work hard and spend our money on you so that one day you'll notice us and our efforts! The mercs don't matter to us. What matters to us, is to be acknowledged by you. It's the same with Sera. She also wants people to appreciate the hard work she puts in so that they can finally notice her."
Yoonmin inwardly cursed himself. So that's why she was pissed! He realized.
"Ugh, I just had to ruin it," he muttered.
"What did you say?" Soobin asked.
"Nothing!" he lied. "Fans work hard for me and I've never acknowledged them. It's time to change that-"
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
Everything happened in a blink of an eye. A body came crashing down the staircase, falling not far away from the spot where Soobin and Yoonmin stood. Soobin shrieked when the heavy figure fell next to her. On an instinct, Yoonmin grabbed her and shut her eyes so that she did not have to see the mangled body of the man. He cradled her in his arms, feeling her shiver in fright.
The guests were also shocked and began to gather around the man who was now lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
"It's Song Yohan!" one of the guests
"OUT OF THE WAY!" Siwan yelled. "Jina, control the crowd! And call an ambulance!"
"Gotcha!" she exclaimed and began to yell at the crowd to stay back.
Siwan stooped near Yohan's motionless body, checking his pulse. Yohan's head was injured and he was unconscious. Siwan checked his breath and began to administer CPR on the man.
"One...Two...Three…" Siwan pressed Yohan's chest and gave him mouth to mouth.
"I called the ambulance!" Jina exclaimed. "And-"
She froze. Her eyes fell on a pale, naked figure which was staring at the crowd beneath her. Even though her skin had been burnt and her hair was gone, her arrogance was still intact. The girl was glaring at everyone with one eye as if she was going to destroy them with her sight alone. Her hatred was only increasing at the sight of the disgusting people who were partying while she was suffering in hell.
Kill...she wanted to kill…
Jina's trance was broken by Siwan's voice.
"He's alive!" Siwan declared. "We need to take him to the hospital. Now!"