The Initial didn’t have very high expectations for Tae-ha’s first fan meeting. Usually, a first fan meeting tends to show various shortcomings in the details. In fact, AH Entertainment was a new agency with little experience in hosting fan meetings. It was only natural, considering Tae-ha was the only actor who could be called their flagship star.
Perhaps that was why a problem arose even before the fan meeting began. AH Entertainment, failing to properly gauge the demand, had booked a venue with only 400 seats. Although they quickly responded to the complaints by increasing the scale to 5,000 seats and booking a new venue, the Initial couldn’t help but be worried.
They doubted whether the fan meeting would proceed properly. There was also concern that, due to the sudden change in venue, they wouldn’t have been able to prepare for a scale of this magnitude in advance. For those reasons, talk circulated among the Initial not to have too high of expectations. They decided to find meaning simply in the fact that Tae-ha was holding his first fan meeting.
Certainly, as part of the Initial, they were satisfied just to be able to see Tae-ha in person. If the fan meeting at least had the basic features, they would be able to see him sing and dance. For reference, the ticket price for Tae-ha’s fan meeting was significantly lower than average, at less than 50,000 won. In fact, the low ticket price was one of many reasons people predicted the quality wouldn’t be good.
In this way, Tae-ha’s fan meeting proceeded with almost no expectations. However, once they actually arrived at the venue, the Initial had no choice but to change their minds.
From the entrance of the SW Handball Stadium, they could find posters, banners, and life-size cutouts that made it clear it was a fan meeting venue. Everything was prepared by AH Entertainment, and even all the photos used there were being seen for the first time. From daily life photos to B-cuts from pictorial shoots, the SW Handball Stadium was full of things that stimulated the Initial’s desire to possess them.
The proof was the Initial who arrived early, crowding around every life-size cutout in the photo zones to take pictures. Among these photos, there were plenty of pictorial shots that seemed to have been taken specifically for this fan meeting. The concepts were quite diverse, with five or six variations, making it difficult for the Initial to simply pass by. If no one were watching, they would have wanted to steal them.
But there was no need for that.
“Those attending today’s fan meeting, please come this way to get your photos! Just show your ticket, and we’ll give you the photos used in this space for free!”
Such voices were heard from booths set up on one side of the stadium. There wasn’t just one booth, either. A total of ten booths were checking tickets and handing out photos. The process was so fast that it almost made one doubt if they were checking the tickets properly. Because of this, some people on one side raised questions.
“At this rate, can’t people who didn’t even win a ticket for the fan meeting take photos?”
“I know, right? Still, they should only give merchandise to those who fairly succeeded in ticketing. This is a bit much.”
Just as the voices of complaint were growing slightly louder, someone spoke up.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
A voice came from somewhere, and the eyes of the two people talking naturally turned toward it. Standing there was an on-site security guard. The guard continued with a bright smile.
“We’ve prepared enough photos so that even the Initial’s families can have them. Moreover, the merchandise for the Initial who succeeded in ticketing today is prepared separately. The actor has also included a special gift in that merchandise, so please look forward to it.”
At the guard’s kind explanation, the two who had briefly complained could only nod blankly. Since they were giving out photos for free, they had naturally assumed those were the gift merchandise, but to think they weren’t… They were shocked by the fan meeting culture they were experiencing for the first time.
It wasn’t just those two. Throughout the SW Handball Stadium, there were plenty of Initial wearing blank expressions after hearing the guard’s words. This meant that a large number of security guards had been stationed for Tae-ha’s fan meeting. There were so many that a guard would come into view just by turning one’s head.
For that reason, the Initial were able to enter the concert hall relatively comfortably without experiencing the typical crushing crowd often found at fan meeting sites. It was a clean handling of affairs that was hard to believe had been prepared by AH Entertainment, an agency with almost no experience in fan meetings. It was a scene not easily witnessed even at fan meetings of other famous actors or idol group concerts.
As such, the Initial couldn’t help but be satisfied with the current situation. Even more so when —
“Kyaaaa!”
Such screams erupted from the Initial who checked the merchandise boxes they received upon entering. Inside the boxes were photo cards filled with other photos not seen outside, high-end perfume from Par, a brand Tae-ha had been modeling for years, and a handwritten letter personally written by Tae-ha.
The even more shocking fact was that these handwritten letters had different contents for every merchandise box.
‘Even if Tae-ha is a writer… is this possible?’
Such words escaped the mouths of the Initial as they compared and read the letters. It was a shocking event and an incredible gift. With just this, the talk of the details being lacking because it was the first fan meeting had no choice but to vanish. And the fan meeting was only just beginning.
***
The host for this fan meeting was An Ji-yeon, who had maintained a connection with Tae-ha since her appearance on the Nutube content, *An Ji-yeon’s Salon Trip*.
Appearing alongside the *Your Brilliant Sparkle* OST, An Ji-yeon skillfully hosted the fan meeting. It was a performance worthy of someone with a winning history at the Baek-am Art Awards.
“Wow. The Initial’s response is truly hot. I’m curious how you’ve lived while holding back such passion until now. You’ve waited a long time, haven’t you?”
“Yes!”
“Actor Kang Tae-ha has prepared a lot so that you can pour out all that passion today, so I hope you make many memories and enjoy yourself happily. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Thank you. Usually, when I host a fan meeting, I have to stall for some time before the start, but there’s none of that here. Instead, they’re pestering me to hurry up because there’s so much prepared. Great. Then, without further ado, I’ll introduce him! The man born to be loved by the Initial! It’s actor Kang Tae-ha!”
With the intro music, Tae-ha appeared holding a microphone. He emerged from behind the audience seats, not from the stage. Cheers erupted from the Initial, who unexpectedly got to see Tae-ha’s appearance up close from the very beginning.
However, Tae-ha calmly began to sing to the accompaniment. ‘I’m a world-class singer who has toured overseas several times,’ he thought, immersing himself in the role. It wasn’t a difficult task.
— Time that repeats like eternity
Within it, I can feel you
It was “Loop Love”, one of the OSTs from *Your Brilliant Sparkle*. Although the original song was sung by another singer, Tae-ha had practiced it diligently for this fan meeting. Since it was a song that had even reached number one on the music charts during the airing of *Your Brilliant Sparkle*, there was no one among the Initial who didn’t know it. It was also one of the songs the Initial most wanted to hear in Tae-ha’s voice after “Blue Moon” and “Rebel Anthem” were released.
Tae-ha also remembered this and chose “Loop Love” as the opening song for the fan meeting. Consequently, the Initial’s response was bound to be incredible. Even more so because “Loop Love” heard in Tae-ha’s voice was not inferior to the original song. In fact, some even felt it was better.
In that way, Tae-ha raised the atmosphere of the fan meeting, centering on the OSTs of the dramas he had appeared in. He sang so many songs that the lineup was as good as any singer’s fan meeting or concert.
In the middle, Tae-ha also had time to show off some dancing. Since he wasn’t particularly confident in dancing, he had prepared only one song, but the reaction was hotter than expected. His dance lines were clean and elegant, enough to make one instantly feel his background as an idol.
The song he chose to dance to wasn’t one of low difficulty like at Seon Min-gi’s fan meeting. It was a song of a level that even active idols would find hard to pull off, and since there were almost no modifications to the choreography, the Initial could only marvel.
After the First Act ended in a flurry, the Second Act featured a Q&A and a quiz event with prizes. And during the Second Act, the first surprise guest of this fan meeting appeared. It was Kang So-jeong.
“Wow. Seeing it like this, it really feels real. Tae-ha, you’ve really succeeded, haven’t you?”
The Initial were also quite surprised by the appearance of top-tier actress Kang So-jeong. No matter how close they were as cousins, they hadn’t expected Kang So-jeong, who was busy with the success of *Ghost Ship*, to show up like this.
However, Kang So-jeong appeared as a guest at Tae-ha’s fan meeting as if it were only natural and even tossed out comments with a real-family vibe. Because of that, the atmosphere of the fan meeting, which was already heating up, had no choice but to burn even hotter.
The Q&A and quiz event conducted with Kang So-jeong concluded in a pleasant atmosphere. Every time it was revealed that Kang So-jeong knew less about Tae-ha than the Initial did, the fan meeting site was filled with laughter.
***
“The Third Act is a talk time with our second surprise guest. Initial, can you guess who this guest is?”
An Ji-yeon asked the Initial, and at the same time, expectation bloomed in the Initial’s hearts. In fact, there had been a lot of talk among the Initial since before the fan meeting began. This was because a debate had unfolded over which of Han Yun-seong, Lee Seok-hyun, or Seon Min-gi would be invited as the surprise guest.
The surprising fact was that among the Initial, different people predicted a different person among the three would be invited. This meant that each fan had a different person they wished would come to Tae-ha’s fan meeting. The ratio was even nearly equal at thirty-three to thirty-three to thirty-four.
For that reason, the Initial couldn’t help but be nervous about which name would be called from An Ji-yeon’s lips. An Ji-yeon also seemed to feel that tension and showed a smile.
“My, my. It feels like you’ve guessed to some extent which name I’ll call. That’s right. There will be a name among those three that you will hear.”
“Waaaaa!”
“Then, let me introduce the surprise guest for the Third Act! Actors Han Yun-seong, Lee Seok-hyun, and Seon Min-gi!”
“Kyaaaaa!”
That was it. Surprisingly, what came out of An Ji-yeon’s mouth was not the name of just one person the Initial had expected. It was the names of all three of them.
From the back of the stage, Han Yun-seong, Lee Seok-hyun, and Seon Min-gi began to appear, each with a peculiar expression. Finally, it was a three-way meeting. No, it was a four-way meeting.