Roy quietly observed Ki Yonghyeon while quickly finishing the plate in front of him.
The shop was about a thirty-minute drive from their dormitory.
Because there were so many members, an entire time slot was completely free at the shop.
“Hello.”
Roy and the other members bowed politely as they entered the shop.
“I really enjoyed watching Dangheon. I was curious about who would make the debut group, and luckily, the participant I was rooting for ended up debuting.”
The shop owner personally came out to greet them.
Her eyes sparkled, and her claim to be a fan seemed genuine.
The members were then guided into different rooms in groups of two or three.
Roy sat side by side with Hajun.
“They told me not to dye it, just trim it a little and push the bangs back over the forehead. Is that okay?”
“Yes, please do that.”
Roy nodded slightly in response to the stylist’s words.
He wasn’t familiar with styling his appearance anyway.
Staying still and letting them do as they pleased was the best approach.
“Wow. Roy hyung, the makeup makes you look even more handsome.”
After the hair, they gave him some simple makeup as well.
Though Roy had gone through makeup a few times during the Dangheon shoot, he never quite got used to it.
“You look really cool, too.”
Hajun gently patted the crown of Roy’s head, careful not to mess up the carefully styled hair.
His large eyes half-closed, and the corners of his mouth curled up broadly like a puppy being petted by its owner.
“We’re going to the interview now. I heard they rented a cafe on the outskirts of Seoul.”\
***
After finishing hair and makeup, the members boarded the van, and Kim Yonghyeon briefed them on the schedule once again, even though it had already been explained.
“It’ll take about twenty minutes to get there, so please read through the set of expected questions I handed out. It’s good to memorize the answers written below as well. Since it’s not live, the footage will be edited, so don’t be too nervous.”
“Yes!”
Roy picked up the documents, about three or four A4 pages worth.
There were roughly thirty anticipated questions.
With eight members in total, if the questions were asked in turn, it was unlikely any one person would get more than three questions.
‘Which spirit do you like the most?’
Roy swallowed hard at this particular question.
Luckily, the spirits couldn’t hear his inner thoughts.
Whoever he chose, the remaining three spirits would surely get hurt by the question.
“Beep—.” (I’m hungry……)
Ber, who had been sitting on Kim Jaewoo’s lap preening his feathers, whimpered about being hungry.
Roy knew the spirits had already devoured a generous plate each before Roy himself had breakfast.
‘I really hope that question doesn’t come up!’
He could already picture the spirits eyeing each other warily the moment it did.
Even the calm Solum was pretty sensitive about Roy’s affections.
“We must be here.”
Kim Chan, who had been intently staring at the question sheet as if trying to memorize it, suddenly lifted his head.
The van stopped in the cafe parking lot.
“I haven’t been to a place like this in a while.”
The cafe was quite large—there were over thirty parking spots alone.
Kim Chan got out of the car and stretched.
With the debut schedule officially starting, it was hard to hide his nervous excitement.
“This way.”
The manager in the passenger seat led the members inside the cafe.
His name was Gong Taecheon, the director of the entertainment company that Han Jihoo belonged to.
A sturdy middle-aged man, he looked gentler than Hwang Guman, but just standing side by side, the two seemed intimidating enough to make most people back away.
“This cafe is huge. That thing hanging up there—there’s no way that’s a real monster, right?”
Kim Chan gasped at the sight as soon as he entered the cafe.
***
It was decorated to resemble the inside of a dungeon.
A massive wyvern form hung from the center of the ceiling, making Kim Chan swallow dryly.
‘…Every time I see a wyvern now, I remember the atrocities you committed. It’s horrifying.’
He glanced over at Song Doyoon beside him and recalled the day he wished to forget forever.
“Atrocities? It was a desperate attack on my part.”
“Talking to you is useless.”
Kim Chan shook his head and moved forward.
“Hello. You all came earlier than the scheduled time, huh?”
A woman in her thirties with neatly tied-up long hair approached them.
“I’m Kim Hyunji, the chief editor at Bornji.”
Kim Hyunji greeted each member with an intelligent smile and a light handshake.
She explained, “We’re going for a relaxed interview style, though there will be filming.”
Bornji was a magazine primarily reporting on Hunter Idol news.
It had become famous for featuring the hottest Hunter Idol photos on its monthly covers.
“The interview content will be published in this month’s issue, and the video will be uploaded to our official SNS accounts after the magazine is released.”
Roy and the others sat down on the two-tiered chairs.
The seats had the members’ names on them, so it was easy to find their spots.
“We also plan to do a photo shoot for the magazine cover today, so we chose a location good for photography.”
Staff members were busy preparing throughout the cafe for the interview and photo shoot.
“Before we start, please pick whatever drink you want.”
Since the interview was held in a cafe, it seemed they wanted to keep the atmosphere casual, like chatting over tea.
Still, the chairs arranged in two rows of four looked somewhat stiff for such a concept.
“I’ll have an iced Americano.”
The large cafe offered dozens of drink options, but Roy picked his favorite without hesitation.
One good thing about being here was that no one thought it strange when he drank coffee with plenty of ice.
“I’ll take a mint chocolate frappe.”
Roy looked at Song Doyoon with curiosity.
While Roy ate most things well, he hadn’t yet acquired a taste for mint chocolate.
If it was in front of him, he’d eat it, but he wouldn’t order it himself like Song Doyoon did.
“See? You only eat what you’re similar to.”
“Are you saying that as an insult to the Mint Chocolate faction?”
Kim Chan and Song Doyoon, being the same age, often bickered more than the other members.
Their shared room and growing friendship had a lot to do with it.
“Save your fighting for when we’re alone.”
Han Jihoo lightly massaged the backs of their necks.
It was a spot that always got tense, and both let out a short yelp.
“The members already seem close. Since they debuted through a survival program, I’d expect some lingering rivalry.”
Fortunately, Kim Chan and Song Doyoon’s bickering looked like lighthearted teasing to the others, which it really was.
“Because we’re all similar in age, we quickly got close. We also live together in the dorm.”
Han Jihoo, the most articulate among them, started chatting with Kim Hyunji.
Each member held their preferred drink as they sat.
The tiered seats made it convenient to place drinks beside them.
“Alright, let’s begin the interview.”
At Kim Hyunji’s signal, the camera’s red light turned on.
All the members except Roy, Han Jihoo, and Lee Doha cleared their throats simultaneously.
Kim Hyunji smiled softly, impressed by the gesture, and started the interview.
“Nice to meet you all. I understand your group name hasn’t been decided yet. You’re the final debut group from the highly talked-about Hunter Idol program, ‘Please Pick Your Hunter Idol!’ hosted by K Corporation.”
“Waaa…”
Applause and cheers erupted, but as Hajun realized he was the only one making noise, he gradually quieted down.
His small face instantly flushed bright red.
“Well, then. We should start introductions with the youngest member, who gave the best reactions, right?”
Kim Hyunji’s gaze naturally shifted to Hajun.
“Ah, hello. I’m Hajun. I’m… uh… fifteen years old… and I live in Gangdong-gu, Seoul Special City…”
“Stop.”
Hajun’s mind went completely blank.
He almost revealed his home address while introducing himself in a half-dazed state, but Roy, sitting next to him, grabbed his hand.
Warmth and a strong pressure from Roy’s hand brought Hajun back to his senses.
His wide eyes now reminded one of a small marsupial.
“Haha, you don’t have to tell us your home address. I can feel how nervous you are.”
Everyone saw his adorable innocence as the youngest, and Kim Hyunji let out a hearty laugh.
“Before today’s interview, we collected questions from your fans that they were curious about.”
Roy, who had just released Hajun’s hand, discreetly rubbed his palm against his pants.
Despite his calm expression, he was clearly nervous about the interview too.
Ki Yonghyeon had handed them the expected questions, but no one had told them those were from fans.
“We received a number of questions, then held a vote. One question got an overwhelming number of votes.”
‘What could it be?’ Both Hajun, the one asked, and the other members swallowed nervously.
The tension spread throughout the interview room.
Gong Taecheon, monitoring near the camera, clenched his fist.
“The question was: ‘Who is your favorite hyung?’”
“Uh…”
Despite the length of the question, it was surprisingly simple.
Hajun breathed a faint sigh of relief, but as he thought it over, he realized the answer could be tricky.
His round eyes scanned the hyungs sitting around him.
Some were close enough to be brothers, while others were still getting to know each other.
Hajun’s gaze stopped on Roy, whose faint smile was frozen in place.
“Ro-Roy hyung…”
For a moment, dozens of answers flickered through his mind, but he decided to answer honestly.
He still hadn’t forgotten the first time he met Roy.
“At first, I wasn’t good at fitting into the program. Maybe because I was younger, it wasn’t easy to get close to the other hyungs…”
He had mustered up the courage to approach Roy.
Being alone was too scary, so he grabbed Roy’s sleeve and asked if he could go together.
“I’m kind of scared. When we arrived on the island, I just couldn’t walk in by myself. Roy hyung caught my eye, and he didn’t refuse but stayed by my side…”
If Roy had coldly rejected him, Hajun would have surely withdrawn even more.
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