Chapter 86: The Return of the Obsessed Fan

Wow.

I finally understood why Hyungkyu had called me in such an excited state.

[I came back to the café we visited together with our puppy~ At this rate, it’s gonna become our regular spot.]

[Because of the puppy who lives so far away, I’m always on long-distance duty lol. This station feels like my home now.]

[I’m secretly working part-time as a surprise, and you came to visit. Love you.]

[Because you like strawberry lattes, I’ve become a strawberry latte master. From now on, I’ll take full responsibility for your strawberry lattes kekeke.]

[Always cheering for you! Fighting!]

[I was so shocked. Don’t get sick, puppyyyyy.]

[I visited you at the hospital, and seeing you looking okay puts my mind at ease.]

The posts overflowing with affection, as if we were secretly dating, left me utterly speechless.

“This… this is that café, right?”

And several of them perfectly matched my movements and timeline. 

The café I’d visited to upload content for Byeolstar, the day I went to pick up a cake, the day the open audition article came out, even the day I was sick during the live broadcast.

“So this person left those.”

The footsteps I’d heard in the hospital room—they were all this stalker’s.

Since the gifts weren’t there when I first opened the door, it seemed they’d come to leave them, fled when they heard the nurse approaching, then returned later to place them. 

I’d heard there were all kinds of people in the world, but this was my first time encountering someone like this.

[I’m dizzy from this betrayal—it’s my first time experiencing it. I have nothing to say.]

[Let’s see just how far you’ll go.]

And starting exactly that day, the love-filled posts did a complete 180.

“This is actually hilarious.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the way it sounded like I’d stabbed them in the back. 

As soon as I finished reading everything, Hyungkyu called again.

Did you see it? That person’s completely unhinged, right?

“It looks like they’ve been watching me for quite a while. My movements and their timeline match perfectly.”

Haah… I guess you really have become a celebrity. 

Even weirdos like this are latching onto you.

Extreme fans were supposedly par for the course for celebrities, but this wasn’t even a fan.

“I’m not exactly thrilled about this kind of attention. What could they possibly want from me?”

There are always people like this. 

The type who delude themselves into thinking they’re dating a celebrity.

“Then shouldn’t I report this?”

I’d seen articles a few times about idols reporting sasaeng fans.

You can’t report something at this level.

“Why not? They followed me to the hospital and keep hovering around me.”

First of all, your name isn’t mentioned anywhere on their SNS.

“Oh.”

Right. 

They only ever called me by nicknames—my actual name didn’t appear anywhere.

If they just claim they weren’t writing about you, it’s over. 

That’s why you can’t report it.

“But they came to the hospital.”

They can just say it was a coincidence once or twice, and there’s nothing you can do.

I’d heard that Korea’s laws on stalking were weak, but I hadn’t realized there really wasn’t any way to report it.

From what I can tell, this person looks like a repeat offender. 

The way they stay carefully within the line—it doesn’t feel like their first or second time.

“Then what do people usually do in cases like this?”

Usually, ignoring them is the answer.

‘Ignoring them?’

Was he telling me to just keep enduring it?

“Does that actually work?”

When you ignore them, there are two possible reactions. 

First, they get bored and give up. 

Second, they get angry about being ignored and escalate.

“Then…”

For now, try that. 

If they naturally back off, great. 

If not, you have to wait until they finally cross the line.

This is way too unfair to the celebrity. I have to just put up with it?

“I’m at way too much of a disadvantage here.”

That’s what being a public figure is like. 

Fame isn’t all good things.

As Hyungkyu said, since this didn’t even qualify as proper stalking, ignoring it was my only option.

“Got it. Guess I don’t have a choice.”

Think of it as the price of fame.

“Tch, I’m not that optimistic.”

The company will protect you as much as possible and keep an eye on it, so don’t worry too much.

Unable to find a more satisfying solution, I ended the call with Hyungkyu.

“Ignoring them… I wonder if that’ll be okay.”

Fortunately, after that, they only posted emo rants that seemed to blame me, but nothing else happened. 

I was busy with filming preparations, so the stalker gradually faded from my memory.

***

“Wow~ It’s definitely gotten a lot better!”

“It’s all thanks to you, Teacher!”

I was taking my final piano lesson before filming began.

“You only need to pretend to play, so there was no need to practice this hard. But since Hyunjae worked so diligently, it made me greedy too.”

“If I’m going to do it, I might as well do it properly. You’ve had to travel back and forth so much because of me—thank you for everything. I learned a lot~”

“No, no. Thanks to you, I got to touch the piano again after a long time. It was nice for me too.”

My teacher was the youngest daughter-in-law of the village head and was known as the most refined daughter-in-law in our neighborhood.

“If they ask who my teacher was in an interview, I’ll definitely mention your name!”

“Hahaha, just hearing that makes me happy. Contact me anytime if you need help.”

“Ah! If it’s not too much trouble, could we take a photo together?”

“Of course.”

The company had asked me to take pictures of myself receiving piano lessons, so I requested one.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you!”

After saying goodbye to my teacher for the last time, I sent the photo to the staff noona via KakaoTalk on my way home.

[Wow, great shot.]

Her immediate praise put me in a good mood, and I shrugged my shoulders proudly when a message popped up in the fruit shop group chat.

[Everyone gather.]

It had been lively for a short while after filming ended but had since gone nearly dead. 

A post after so long.

The sender was none other than Jeuk.

[Why?]

[What’s going on?]

People who usually replied slowly responded at lightning speed to the sudden summons.

[Taewoon-ah, we need to settle up.]

Between Taewoon and Jeuk, “settle up” could only mean one thing.

[What is it? You already collected it?]

[Of course.]

[Wow~ Hyung, real respect!]

[You could’ve taken your time.]

[What are you talking about? Things like this need to be resolved quickly.]

Three million won was no small amount, yet Jeuk had gathered it faster than expected.

‘He’s really amazing.’

When he said he’d do something, he did it.

[But why us?]

The settlement was only between the two of them—it had nothing to do with me or Jibin.

[This time, it’s my treat.]

[(butt-shaking bear emoji) Oooooh!]

[I’m really fine.]

[Back then, Hyunjae helped catch the culprit too, so I have to treat everyone. When’s everyone free?]

[I’m free anytime!]

[I have a fashion event this weekend in Paris, so that’ll probably be tough…]

[Then how about next week?]

[Ah, next week I start filming]

Everyone except the currently resting Jibin was busy, so coordinating schedules was hard.

[Tonight works for me, but same-day might be difficult, right?]

[I have no plans!]

[I’m obviously free!]

[I don’t have much going on either…]

[Then let’s meet tonight.]

And just like that, we suddenly arranged a last-minute meetup. 

That evening, the crew of Today’s Fruit Shop gathered again after a long time.

“Waa~ How long has it been?”

“How have you been?”

“It hasn’t even been a few months since we last saw each other, but why does it feel like forever?”

Filming had ended less than half a year ago, yet this was the first time we’d all gathered since then. It felt good.

“Hey! Aren’t you moving way too fast? Male lead already?”

As soon as he sat down, Jibin brought up Love Some.

“I thought about auditioning too, but the open audition felt burdensome, so I didn’t. And you actually got it. Lucky bastard.”

“That’s what they call ‘destined to succeed.’”

It was something I’d orchestrated myself, but pulling Lou Gehrig’s disease acting in the final round felt like divine revelation that Kang Ha’s role was meant to be mine.

“Ugh~ So annoying.”

Jibin grimaced the moment he heard the story.

“I thought I’d get it right away.”

“Why?”

“Just had a feeling? Didn’t you feel anything?”

“To be honest, about thirty percent of me getting it is thanks to Taewoon hyung! Right?”

I mentioned the supportive post Taewoon had uploaded, hoping he’d agree, but Taewoon dashed Jibin’s hopes.

“Hmm? Your acting clip got a ton of attention, though.”

“Not a single person on my side.”

“It’s good when a colleague succeeds.”

“Of course I’m happy~ I’m just jealous that I got overtaken by this hyung-nim first.”

“Ah, hyung, what project did you get?”

Taewoon threw the question to Jeuk, and Jibin was curious too.

“Right! What project did you land that let you pay back that huge sum all at once?”

“Ah~ that?”

Jeuk smiled just thinking about it.

“What is it?”

“Looks like you landed something huge?”

“Tell us already.”

Everyone focused their gazes on Jeuk as he drew it out.

“I got a theater play.”

“A play?”

“Theater?”

We’d naturally assumed drama or film, but theater?

“Yeah, they contacted me saying they liked me, so I signed.”

“I don’t know much about that side… but don’t plays pay pretty poorly?”

Jibin tilted his head as he asked.

“It’s a fairly big production, so it’s not too small. And I signed for two consecutive shows.”

Two in a row?

“Can you handle it? Theater means memorizing a crazy amount of lines.”

Having to memorize everything you say for an hour and a half to two hours straight was no joke.

“It’s soooo much fun.”

Contrary to our worried expressions, Jeuk spoke in an excited, bright voice.

“It has a different flavor from dramas or movies.”

“In what way?”

I’d never considered theater before, but seeing Jeuk enjoy it so much made me curious.

“First of all, standing on stage is fun.”

“That I get.”

Taewoon immediately agreed at the mention of the stage.

“And?”

“And having the audience focus solely on me is great too. Ah! And being able to dominate the entire theater with acting skill alone.”

“I heard a lot of idols used to get into musicals back in the day, and lately more are doing straight plays too.”

I didn’t realize theater was trending like this.

“Ugh~ I couldn’t do it. How do you memorize all those lines?”

“If you memorize like your life depends on it, you memorize them.”

“Nope! I could never.”

Jibin kept shouting no until the end.

We finished the meal chatting about each other’s recent news.

“Thanks for the food~”

“That was delicious. Hyung.”

“No, thank you all for back then.”

As previously agreed, Jeuk paid the bill. Once outside, Jibin called for round two.

“Ah~ I’m stuffed. Everyone, we have to go for round two!”

“I’ll miss the last train, so I can’t.”

“I have Fashion Week this weekend, so round two would be too much for me.”

“Ah… what the heck.”

Jibin sulked when the others declined, having assumed we’d all go.

“We’ll see each other again next time.”

“Yeah, we’ll be sick of each other when we do drama promotions later anyway.”

“I’m the only one who’s disappointed… you stingy people. I’m leaving.”

Jibin pouted and strode off alone.

“Bye~”

“Get home safe.”

“Take care!”

We waved goodbye to his retreating back as he stomped away.

“Let’s head out too.”

“Yeah, I’ll drive you.”

“Sounds good!”

Just as we started walking home, Jibin—who’d left first—came sprinting back toward us.

“Uwaaaah!”

And hid behind us.

“What the—?”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“What are you doing?”

Hunching over deeply, he opened his mouth.

“Holy shit~ who’d have thought I’d run into that crazy bitch here again.”