Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 109

#109.

A thud echoed loudly as someone fell to the floor.

The expensive-looking camera also tumbled across the ground.

Simultaneously, people nearby screamed and stepped back.

The members turned to see what the commotion was about.

Whether it was the sharp corner she hit or the force of the impact, blood gushed from the fan’s palm.

Even while bleeding, the fan hurriedly checked her camera.

“Oh no!”

Woochul muttered softly, sounding sympathetic.

However, Team Leader Kim Sukchul shook his head and continued straight ahead.

It was a passageway for people.

Delaying them unnecessarily could inconvenience others at the airport.

Just being this loud and moving in a large group was already disruptive.

Would it have been better if it were the spacious Incheon Airport?

Gimpo Airport was small, making it more of a nuisance.

Airport staff came out and, along with Jung Gilju, tried to control the fans to maintain order.

Of course, the fans weren’t about to listen.

They swarmed through the airport, trying to get as close as possible to the MOST members and capture them on camera.

No one seemed to care about the fan who had fallen in the process.

Even as he walked, Dojae quickly took the handkerchief he kept in his pocket and gave it to one of the stylists standing next to him.

“*Noona* [older sister or female friend], please take care of that person over there. I’m asking you.”

He wanted to take care of it himself, but he couldn’t single out one person in this situation.

The fallen fan was also at fault.

She had been caught up in pushing others, though she ended up being pushed herself.

At Dojae’s request, the stylist silently nodded and quietly moved toward the fallen fan.

‘I finally understand why Father and Mother were so extremely sensitive during the imperial New Year events.’

Dojae gained a newfound understanding of his parents.

Back then, any disturbance would result in harsher punishments than usual.

The New Year’s event included the Emperor wearing ceremonial robes and walking from Gyeongbokgung Palace to Gwanghwamun Gate [both are significant locations in Seoul, South Korea, symbolizing imperial authority and public access].

Of course, the imperial family followed behind in full formal attire.

A truly vast number of imperial citizens participated in the event.

People flocked from all over the empire to receive the auspicious energy of the imperial family for the New Year.

With various spectacular performances, many families came to see the imperial family up close and enjoy the shows.

The more imperial citizens gathered, the better, as it meant they cherished the imperial family.

However, the more people on the streets, the higher the chance of accidents, and the Emperor couldn’t help but be on edge.

‘It’s a good thing that so many fans want to see us, but…….’

It would be nice if they kept a little more order.

The short distance across the crosswalk and into the airport felt long.

He didn’t know how he got on the escalator heading to the departure hall through the crowd.

It felt like he was pushed onto the escalator by the fans rather than following Team Leader Kim Sukchul, who was leading the way.

And as soon as the members got on the escalator.

Clunk!

The escalator stopped with a loud noise.

It had stopped because too many people had crammed onto it at once.

Click, click—!

Even in that moment, fans on the opposite escalator were going down while frantically pressing the shutter buttons.

The members felt a sense of dizziness as they stood blankly on the stopped escalator.

The escalator had broken down because of them.

They were already halfway up.

Kijun’s already pale complexion turned almost white.

Because of that, Kijun’s usually bleak expression was visibly hardened, which the fans could see.

The fans calling out to Kijun gradually lowered their voices.

The members, who had been trying to manage their expressions, could no longer smile.

The members had no choice but to climb the escalator one step at a time, as if it were just stairs.

***

“Haa…….”

As soon as they entered the lounge, the members gasped for breath.

The atmosphere was completely different from when they went to the Philippines last time.

Even Woochul, who had been excited to see the fans, was completely exhausted.

He had no idea that such chaos existed behind the 멋진 [meotjin – cool/stylish] ‘airport photos’ he had seen.

“The seniors were really pros.”

Woochul muttered, recalling the airport photos of singers who struck poses and showed off 멋진 [meotjin – cool/stylish] runways even in the midst of it all.

He had worn a thin coat instead of a padded jacket to look stylish, but he was too busy avoiding people to even look at the camera properly, so it didn’t seem like he would get the airport photos he had dreamed of.

“I didn’t expect so many fans to come.”

“Me neither.”

Louis also sighed and leaned back in his chair.

He felt completely worn out.

However, there was something the members didn’t know.

Usually, even with a lot of popularity, this many people don’t gather at the airport very often.

Today’s chaos was due to a combination of several factors.

It was their departure for the first schedule of the new year.

It was the first opportunity to take airport photos and a chance to see MOST up close, rather than on stage.

It was perhaps natural that fans flocked to the airport.

In addition, it was a Saturday morning when many fans could take the time off.

There were also many ordinary airport users.

“You guys have really gained a lot of fans.”

Jung Gilju, who had struggled quite a bit to hold back the fans, said as he handed the members their passports after check-in.

MOST was attracting fans with year-end awards ceremonies as much as during their active period.

Many fans had joined in the meantime, and the fact that fans of The Origin, who had left due to a series of controversies, had become fans of MOST also played a role.

In addition, MOST wasn’t the only singer leaving for the ‘Korea-Japan Exchange Concert.’

Infinite Boys was also there.

Infinite Boys’ flight was a little later than MOST’s, but many fans had come early just in case.

They also had a good impression of MOST, so they rushed over and picked up their cameras.

It was also because many people came to do a so-called ‘*ganjabi* [trying to gauge something],’ to see MOST in person at the easily accessible Gimpo Airport and decide whether to become fans.

The MOST members were famous for their good fan service, both on and offline, so many people came to experience that.

Perhaps a significant number of them decided to become fans today.

“Are they *silmul kkangpae* [so good looking in person that it’s almost a crime] or what?”

“Ah. I told you to become a fan when their debut song came out!”

“Damn it. I should have picked them from the showcase.”

“It’s all my fault, all my fault. I really should have picked them back then. Now they have so many fans.”

“It’s never too late to start. Their fanbase will explode when their next album comes out.”

“Hey, I can still see the members’ faces. I want to see them again.”

Because even in the chaos, such conversations were taking place.

***

In the end, the airport chaos was even reported in a small article.

On idol communities, voices criticizing the MOST fandom grew louder.

-Regular people must have been greatly inconvenienced

-What a nuisance ㄷㄷ

-How many people must have been there for the escalator to stop?

-I feel drained just looking at the pictures

-The airport staff are the only ones who suffer ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-Seeing this kind of chaos every time there’s an airport schedule makes me sick. They’ll consume the airport photos again after all this

-We need to stop consuming public appearances

-What’s the difference between fan pages that take public appearance photos and stalkers?

-Reporters also came to the airport today to take pictures, so comparing them to stalkers is a bit much, isn’t it?

-The MOST fandom was extra from the beginning, and now that it’s grown in size, it’s becoming an extra-level fandom

-Looking at the pictures, the MOST members seem pretty surprised too

-In times like these, the singers are also pitiful ㅠㅠ; because of the fans’ antics ㅠㅠ;

As a fandom starts to snowball in size, minor incidents inevitably occur.

Therefore, voices of self-regulation emerged among MOST fans.

-Let’s keep order… There’s even an article about it, what’s going to happen to MOST’s image..

-These days, there are frequent reports of things being a mess at concert venues as the number of fans increases;

-Kijun *oppa* [term used by females to address older brothers or male friends] really didn’t look good today ㅠㅠ

-It’s natural for the leader to be angry

-The kids were trying to do fan service but were surprised and hurried into the airport

-ㅁㅈ Woochul was drawing a V and Dojae was smiling before crossing the crosswalk ㅠㅠ

-I heard there was a fan who fell today too

-Are you going to take responsibility if the kids get hurt?;

-They’re not just pushing each other, they’re even pushing the members… hopeless

-I’m really upset

-Kijun *oppa* [term used by females to address older brothers or male friends] seemed so upset ㅠㅠ

-I was scared to death too

-I would have felt terrible if I had been there

-Ah really, where else are there members who treat their fans as well as our members do… Fans, let’s do better!

-Are the *jjiksa’s* [shutterbugs/photographers] livers made of multiple pieces? They even took pictures of that

-Let’s become a best that we’re not ashamed of

-Ah, it would have been a little better if the escalator hadn’t stopped

-They looked like they were having a proper *hyeonta* [reality check] while walking up

-Everyone looked so pretty today ㅠㅠ It’s a shame

-Their casual clothes were really pretty

-The airport photos came out beautifully with natural light ㅠㅠ

However, even the photos taken in that chaos were art.

The members’ 모습 [mosup – appearance/look] in natural outfits that seemed both styled and unstyled, receiving the morning sunlight, were photos worth being stepped on to take.

The fact that most of the photos in the post titled ‘MOST Boyfriend Material Pics Collection,’ which achieved 658 comments, were from today’s Gimpo Airport was something that happened several days later.

***

Three hours later.

The members arrived at Haneda Airport.

Many fans were waiting for MOST at Haneda Airport as well.

There were Korean fans who had bought tickets to Japan as soon as the concert schedule was set and had been waiting in advance, but there were also a considerable number of Japanese fans.

“(Handsome!)”

“(Cute!)”

“(Dojae-sang!)”

“(Woochul *saaaang* [term of endearment]!)”

The Japanese fans greeted the members with large fans and cheering tools with the members’ names written on them.

It wasn’t comparable to Gimpo Airport, but thanks to that, the members’ path was quite chaotic here as well.

The members quickly left the airport and got into the prepared car.

“There really are fans.”

“Japanese fans.”

Even while heading to the concert venue, the members were dazed.

It was still amazing that there were so many fans even though they hadn’t officially promoted in Japan or done any separate promotions.

“Wow! That’s Tokyo Tower over there.”

“We’ve come to Japan…….”

A moment later.

When Heungmin pointed out the window, the members all turned their heads.

Kijun muttered as if he still couldn’t believe it.

Performing overseas made him feel like a truly popular singer.

“But it’s really close. It feels like we just came to a local performance in Korea.”

Heungmin and Gyusung nodded at Woochul’s words.

However, the scenery outside the window was quite different, though similar to Korea.

The concert venue environment would probably be quite different as well.

First of all, everything would be conducted in Japanese, so it would definitely be more uncomfortable than performing in Korea.

“Is our translator coming to the concert venue separately?”

“Yes. But you’ve all been studying Japanese steadily, so you should be able to handle simple communication, right?”

The car became eerily silent at Team Leader Kim Sukchul’s question.

For days like this, the company had been steadily giving the members foreign language lessons, but…….

The members just looked at Dojae, as if they were looking at the Tokyo Tower.

Dojae chuckled and said.

“You don’t really know just by learning. You have to actually use it to improve.”

The members finally relaxed at Dojae’s consolation not to blame themselves too much.

Before they knew it, the concert venue was visible far outside the window.

***