Prince From Another Dimension Becomes An Idol [EN]: Chapter 162

#162.

***

A cafe in Haeundae, boasting a wide ocean view.

The cafe, usually bustling with customers on weekends, was relatively quiet on a weekday afternoon.

Two women in their twenties sat by the window with a great view of the sea, exclaiming over their waffles.

“Damn, this is good.”

“Yeah, these waffles are the real deal.”

“Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, it’s crazy.”

One had her hair in pigtails and wore a lace-filled dress, while the other had a short haircut, a loose-fitting short-sleeved shirt, and jeans.

Judging by their styles alone, it was hard to imagine how they ended up at the same table.

One looked to be in her early twenties, while the other seemed to be in her late twenties, making the difference even more noticeable.

However, if you listened to their conversation for a moment…

“There was a reason why Busan’s best [restaurants] recommended it.”

“I know, right? The ‘#MostGather_BestRestaurants’ hashtag never fails. Everything I’ve eaten in Busan this time has been delicious, right?”

“Totally. How about going to a pork rind place for dinner tonight? It’ll be good there too, right?!”

“With the batting average so far, it feels like it’ll be 100% or 1000% delicious.”

“Ugh… I’m hungry again.”

“I’m worried because the wait times are supposed to be insane.”

“We still have to wait, though. We came all the way to Busan; we have to eat everything before we leave, sis!”

“Yeah, yeah. It would be nice if the others could try everything while they’re here in Busan too.”

Both were die-hard fans of MOST [the band] and had come down to Busan from Seoul to see the Busan concert performance this afternoon.

Since they came to see the concert, they were staying in Busan for two nights and three days, going on a food tour.

In addition to the food tour, they were planning to meet ‘internet friends’ living in Busan tomorrow.

Of course, the two of them were also ‘internet friends’ and ‘Twitter friends’ they had met on Tweety [a fictionalized version of Twitter].

“Ugh… OMG. So funny.”

“Why, why? What is it?”

As Seri was finishing her waffle and scrolling through Tweety on her phone, she burst out laughing, and Solmi quickly asked.

“Oh… the sock meme I posted is getting a lot of RTs [retweets].”

At Seri’s words, Solmi smiled and sipped her green tea latte.

As a fan of Heungmin, she had been drinking green tea lattes at cafes lately, as it was Heungmin’s favorite.

In front of Seri, a fan of Dojae, was an Americano [a type of coffee].

“Oh… how did you even find that meme? It’s hilarious.”

“I think it’ll hit 2K soon?”

“Wow. Our Seri is a retweet star now.”

The ‘sock meme’ that Seri had popularized on Twitter was a picture she had found and posted of ‘Sock,’ MOST’s trainer and main choreographer, from a news article.

The photo was taken during an interview Sock did five years ago when he first created his dance team.

It was a bizarre, comical pose, clearly taken when the reporter asked him to ‘show us some dance moves,’ complete with a blank stare…
A truly ridiculous photo.

There was only one reason why Seri found this photo.

One of the biggest topics among fans who had attended the concert was, of course, the ‘pre-debut video,’ and the question of who dared to scold Gijun in it.

Naturally, fans quickly found out that he was Sock, the trainer who had been with MOST since before their debut.

Seri searched for Sock a little more and even found an embarrassing photo from his past, adding the caption [Can’t you do it right? How are you going to debut like that?] above the attached photo.

In many ways, it was bound to get a lot of retweets.

As a spin-off, people were attaching Sock’s photo and creating ‘How are you going to…?’ series, such as [Can’t you do it right? How are you going to get a job like that?].

“Ah. The others will laugh so hard when they see this, right?”

“Isn’t Sock going to sue me?”

“Oh, maybe. But if he’s going to do that, he should sue the reporter first.”

“That’s true. But some of the younger fans are genuinely leaving hate comments for Sock after seeing the video at the concert. Asking why he scolded their *oppa* [term of endearment for an older brother or male celebrity].”

“There are still such innocent kids? How cute…”

Solmi muttered, as if reminded of the old days.

It was because Solmi, who had spent half her life as a ‘fangirl,’ had gone through it all.

Seeing Seri brush back her short hair with a smile, Solmi said,

“Seri, your haircut really suits you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Ah… wasn’t Heungmin’s hair so cool yesterday? It was a little shorter than at the Seoul concert… I think it looks even better. The length is perfect now.”

“How do you always manage to bring it back to Heungmin *oppa*…”

Seri and Solmi made eye contact and chuckled.

It was because they knew that no matter what they talked about, it would eventually lead back to MOST.

As they were laughing and chatting away,

Seri exclaimed ‘OMG’ once again.

“OMG. Someone’s selling the debut album photocard I’ve been looking for!”

“Really? Dojae’s is so hard to find. There’s a reward for being a retweet star.”

“I know, right? Ugh… don’t trade. I’ll pay you anything…”

“How much are they selling it for?”

“I told them to make an offer first.”

“It’s only the first full album, and we’re already this fast… It’s a tragedy that we didn’t buy them from the debut.”

“I know…”

While Seri was frantically tapping on her phone,

Solmi, who had no one to talk to, got up to refill her coffee.

“OMG…”

“What’s so amazing, sis…? OMG.”

Solmi and Seri froze in place, unable to say another word.

“What are you guys drinking?”

“Ah. It’s getting chilly now. Iced green tea latte!”

“I’ll have an iced mocha latte! What about Dojae *hyung* [term of endearment for an older brother or male friend]?”

“I’ll have an iced Americano.”

“Me too! Iced Americano with an extra shot! Oh, they say the waffles are good here. Should we get some waffles too? Gilju *hyung*?”

It was Jung Gilju and the MOST members.

“Is this… a dream?”

“No, sis…”

The two of them remained frozen in their seats, their eyes constantly scanning the members’ movements.

The people who had shone like sparkling stars on stage last night were moving right in front of them.

Fortunately, there was only one other couple in the cafe, and Louie, feeling their intense gaze, looked at them.

“…..!”

Louie hadn’t expected them to be their fans.

However, he naturally smiled at the gaze that seemed to recognize them.

“Louie…”

Solmi couldn’t even finish calling Louie’s name and closed her mouth at his bright smile.

Just then,

Dojae, who had finished ordering, looked around to find a seat and made eye contact with Seri next to Solmi.

‘Arrest! Arrest!’

It was as if she heard a hallucination of someone shouting ‘Arrest!’ from somewhere, like a scene in a drama.

The moment Seri made eye contact with Dojae, who had his hair down naturally without any styling and was wearing neat clothes,

Her heart truly felt like it had stopped.

Dojae wasn’t just special on stage.

Even offstage, a special aura seemed to surround him, something that felt separate from the world…

“Dojae *oppa*…..!”

Seri unknowingly called out Dojae’s name in a loud voice and then quickly covered her mouth with her hand in surprise.

“Gasp.”

At that moment, the gazes of all the members, including Jung Gilju, poured towards Seri and Solmi’s table.

Seri felt like crying.

What if the members left because they knew they had fans…

She felt like jumping into the Haeundae sea right away.

Fortunately, the members, who had already ordered, did not leave the cafe.

Instead, they waved at the two of them and went to sit at the opposite table.

Only Jung Gilju stared at them with a sharp look.

“Ah… the kids are so nice.”

“They say luck doesn’t favor those who are destined, but maybe we weren’t destined.”

“Maybe we just wanted to see them too desperately.”

“How could we meet them here?”

The two of them continued their conversation, still fixing their eyes on the members and trying to calm their hearts.

They didn’t forget to look away from time to time so that the members wouldn’t feel too burdened.

However, it wasn’t easy for the members not to notice Solmi and Seri, who were rummaging through their luggage and starting to put on the goods they had bought at the Seoul concert…

“Those two seem to be our fans for real.”

“Judging by the hats, they must be fans of Dojae and Heungmin *hyung*.”

“What, my fans?”

Heungmin excitedly checked Solmi’s side.

She was definitely wearing a cap with MIN written on it.

“We have fans in Busan too…..”

At Gyusun’s words, Heungmin retorted as if asking what he was talking about.

“We had a concert in Busan yesterday. That’s why they’re here.”

“Ah. Still, it feels kind of amazing. We just came to any cafe, and there are fans here…..”

“Our fans are now all over the country! All over the world!”

Heungmin said in a proud voice, and the members chuckled lightly.

The first national tour, which started in Seoul, had just finished in Busan yesterday, passing through Gyeonggi, Daejeon, Gwangju, and Daegu.

The members were physically exhausted from the tight performance schedule that had continued almost weekly, but their spirits were at their peak.

The more they performed in front of fans who had come solely to see them, the more the members’ heads and hearts were filled with the thought that they had made the right choice to become singers and that they were happy to be members of MOST.

This feeling couldn’t last forever, but they wanted to enjoy it as much as possible.

It felt like it would be a little empty when they returned to their daily lives of preparing for the next album.

The reason they decided to spend a day in Busan was to enjoy the joy and lingering feelings of the national tour a little more before returning to Seoul.

“I hope the next tour isn’t a national tour, but an overseas tour…..”

It was a quiet but strong statement.

The members turned to Gijun with surprised eyes at his ambition.

It was something they had all been thinking about, but they didn’t expect Gijun to say it out loud.

“It will happen.”

At that moment, Dojae said in a confident tone.

The members were once again surprised and looked at Dojae.

They weren’t surprised because it was an unexpected statement.

“We can do it.”

When Dojae said it, it felt like everything would really come true.

And in fact, it wasn’t an impossible story.

“Gosh. It’s thrilling just thinking about it!”

“I know…..”

Louie and Gyusun had overwhelmed expressions.

“Wow. A world tour… I thought that was a real, real dream.”

Woocheol also muttered with a trembling expression.

Certainly, after having their first concert, they had higher expectations and desires for bigger stages and performances.

“But before that, we have to prepare well for the next album.”

At Gijun’s words, the members nodded as if agreeing.

Jung Gilju wore a pleased expression as he watched the members, who were imagining and actually drawing a bright future without being told to do so.

It definitely wasn’t because the employee was bringing the waffles.

***

The members signed autographs for Solmi and Seri as they left the cafe.

Seri became a retweet star once again with ‘The time I met MOST at a cafe in Busan,’ and after that, she began to worship Sock as a god of luck.

And the members who left the cafe spent time together exploring Haeundae and various tourist attractions in Busan, creating memories.

Evening time.

A little early, the members returned to the hotel and gathered in the room that Gijun and Louie were using.

It was to watch the first episode of 〈Eat, Drink, Live〉.