Chapter 296: Should We Send Him All the Way?
NaUiJunseo @asiokvww313
Hehe, happy birthday, Junseo.
#Junseo's_TwentyThird_Year_Will_Shine_Like_A_Star
#Happy_Birthday_To_HeheJunseo
ActTV @acttv9072
It feels like I met Ha Junseo just yesterday, but it's already been four years.
We love you so much, our teddy bear.
#Junseo_And_Byeoldol
#Junseo's_TwentyThird_Year_Will_Shine_Like_A_Star
Byeoldoridori @stardori77
Ha Junseo's face is public welfare.
Ha Junseo's dance lines are the nation.
Ha Junseo's existence is Heaven.
#Happy_Birthday_To_HeheJunseo
#Junseo's_TwentyThird_Year_Will_Shine_Like_A_Star
While Ha Junseo's birthday hashtags continuously trended in real time on JjaekJjaek—
March 16.
It was Ha Junseo's birthday.
“Waaaaah! Happy birthday, Junseo hyung!”
“It's Junseo hyung's birthday today?”
“Eat first thing in the morning.”
From early in the morning, Stardust's dorm was bustling with Junseo's birthday celebration.
Led by Kang Siwoo, Ha Junseo sat down at the dining table.
A steaming bowl of hot seaweed soup.
Urged on by his younger members to hurry and eat, Ha Junseo picked up his spoon.
“Wow, this is delicious.”
“It's a recipe Sehyun and Siwoo hyung worked on!”
“Mmm.
You made it well.”
Taking a spoonful of seaweed soup, Ha Junseo smiled happily.
They had simmered the anchovy broth well, leaving the soup refreshing with a clean finish.
Their schedule had ended late the previous night, so they couldn't have had much time.
He was touched by the younger members' thoughtfulness in preparing seaweed soup for him anyway.
“When did you make this?”
“You always cook seaweed soup for us on our birthdays.
We couldn't exactly skip yours.”
Jin Sehyun grinned as he picked up his spoon as well.
Chewing on some seaweed, Seohan gave a thumbs-up.
“This is seriously good.”
“Kang Siwoo's cooking keeps getting better every day...!”
“I helped make it too.”
“Mm-hmm, Sehyun too!”
Seo Ian smiled brightly after praising them both.
Just then—
Cha Seongbin's eyes sparkled as he spoke.
“Oh, right.
I heard you got a birthday billboard.”
“A billboard?”
Ever since their debut, birthday billboards had become an annual tradition.
Back during the Starf Project, they'd actually gone to see them in person because they wanted to feel the fans' support up close, and every fan sighting had helped attract more attention.
But after debuting, circumstances made that difficult, so they'd settled for photos fans took instead....
“Should we go see your billboard ourselves, like we did during Starf?”
“In person...?”
Ha Junseo's eyes widened.
It wasn't impossible if they got the company's permission, but it was certainly an unexpected suggestion.
“It does sound fun....”
Ha Junseo trailed off thoughtfully.
“If we sneak over really quickly, don't you think no one will notice?”
“...I'm not so sure.”
“Then I guess I'll just go by myself and wish Junseo a happy birthday~.”
“Hm?”
Clicking his tongue as if disappointed, Cha Seongbin continued,
“Even if I have no one to go with~.”
“Are you really going?”
“I guess I'll have to go all alone, lonely and miserable~.
Well, maybe I won't go after all...?”
Listening quietly, Seohan let out a small laugh.
It was a scene he'd definitely seen before.
Cha Seongbin's shameless way of subtly inviting himself along on the billboard tour during the Stardust Project, despite barely knowing anyone.
'Ah, I don't have to go.'
'Yeah, even if I have no one to go with. Even if I have to go all alone, lonely and miserable....'
'Or maybe I won't go after all....'
'Maybe it's because it's winter, but my heart... feels cold.'
How had this guy's routine not changed at all after all these years?
“Maybe it's because of the last cold snap of winter, but my heart....”
In the end, Cha Seongbin's nonsense was cut off by Seo Haim's sudden outburst.
“Let's go!!!”
Seo Haim shot to his feet, fist raised.
“Let's go!!!”
Judging by his determined expression, it looked like he was about to run off and get permission from their manager immediately.
The one caught off guard by this unexpected enthusiasm was Ha Junseo.
“What?
Why's everyone acting like this?”
“If we cover our faces completely, nobody will recognize us!”
Would they really not?
Scratching his head, Seohan cautiously watched his older members.
Judging from the atmosphere, it looked like he had no choice but to join.
Sure enough—
Jin Sehyun also started getting to his feet.
“What?
Why are you standing too?”
“Looking at how things are going, I think we have to.”
“Sehyun-ah, you've got good instincts~.”
Shaking his head in disbelief, Seohan stood up alongside Jin Sehyun.
Kang Siwoo patted Ha Junseo on the shoulder with a smile.
“Come on.
Hurry and follow us.”
“What about my opinion?
Doesn't my opinion matter?”
“Didn't you hear what Siwoo hyung said?
It was basically the equivalent of, 'Meet me on the rooftop.'”
“Come on.
He was smiling when he said it, so he couldn't have meant it like that~.”
Grinning brightly, Cha Seongbin happily trotted after Jin Sehyun.
“Sehyun-ah, did you already find where it is?”
“Searching right now!”
“We're... actually going?”
The birthday boy looked half out of his mind.
And just like that—
Ignoring Ha Junseo's opinion entirely, they all set off together on a billboard tour.
Gangnam-gu Office Station, Line 7.
Seven suspicious-looking figures entered the station.
Most of them were bundled up from head to toe.
If it had been winter, it would've been one thing, but in March, their outfits looked completely out of place.
If they lingered too long here, they'd definitely get caught.
As a result, everyone unconsciously picked up the pace.
“Hmm, I think it should be this way....”
Search King Jin Sehyun had already figured out the locations of every birthday billboard on the way over.
They had deliberately come here instead of Hongdae Entrance Station or Gangnam Station because those places would be too crowded.
Yet from the entrance alone, something already felt off.
“There are a lot of people.”
With even his eyes wrapped in a scarf, Ha Junseo spoke worriedly.
Seohan looked at him with an incredulous laugh.
“Hyung, I've been wondering.
How can you even see through that?”
“Surprisingly well....”
“You look exactly like an airport thief.”
Jin Sehyun's brutally honest comment immediately made everyone burst into laughter.
“If anything happened in this station, you'd be the first person the police would drag away.”
“Even if nothing happened, if I were a cop I'd still bring you in for questioning once.”
“Ahahahaha! Ahahaha!”
If you're going to hide yourself, at least do it reasonably.
Looking that suspicious practically guaranteed people would stare.
Pulling his cap lower, Seohan clicked his tongue and followed behind.
Meanwhile, Leader Kang Siwoo remained focused on finding the billboard alongside Jin Sehyun.
“I think we're almost there.”
“Oh, isn't that it?”
It was.
Fortunately, the station wasn't that complicated, so they quickly found Ha Junseo's birthday billboard.
“Wow, that's it!”
A huge billboard even larger than the ones from Starf, filled with a photo of Ha Junseo.
#Junseo's_TwentyThird_Year_Will_Shine_Like_A_Star
Judging from his white hair, it was a stage photo taken during their Dream the Star promotions.
Looking at it like this, the Stardust Project really did feel like it had happened only yesterday.
Cha Seongbin quietly muttered in excitement.
“Wow, they picked a really good photo.”
“Shh.”
From here on, they needed to be careful.
Keeping his body low, Ha Junseo slowly approached the billboard.
Glancing around—
There seemed to be quite a few fans who had come specifically to photograph it.
Some fans placed Post-it notes on Ha Junseo's billboard before quickly heading on their way.
A few people seemed to glance toward them briefly, but it was probably because of their strange outfits.
They'd expected a huge crowd to gather and chaos to erupt....
Yet somehow—
It was quiet.
Seo Haim's eyes sparkled.
“I think we actually succeeded!”
“What if we were just suffering from celebrity syndrome all along?”
“Ahem....
Is this really how famous we are?”
It somehow felt even stranger not being recognized!
Cha Seongbin awkwardly laughed.
Still, it was fortunate they were able to take photos far more easily than expected.
“Hurry, hurry!”
“Stand over here.”
“Taking the picture!”
Perhaps because everyone still remembered the billboard tour from Starf, they moved faster and more efficiently than ever.
Click.
Click.
After taking photos to preserve as memories, they hurriedly left the station before anyone could recognize them.
“See?
Once we covered everything up, nobody recognized us.”
“So Junseo hyung's sealing technique actually worked?”
“I guess it did!”
...That was merely the members' misunderstanding.
[Universe Dust Came Together to See Ha Junseo's Billboard]
(Photo)
(Photo)
I took these from far away, so they might be hard to see.
But it's definitely them. LOL.
They literally shine even from 100 kilometers away, so there's no way you could mistake them.
Even with masks on, they were practically glowing. ;;
I pretended not to notice and secretly overheard them talking.
It was seriously so funny. LOL.
Ha Junseo: I think we succeeded?
Cha Seongbin: Yeah, I don't think we got caught.
Jin Sehyun: What if we just had celebrity syndrome all along?
Ha Junseo: (Proud) See? Nobody recognized us once we covered everything.
That's what they said before leaving. LOLLLLLLLLL.
Guys....
Did you really think fans wouldn't recognize you just because you covered your faces? 😭
Especially Ha Junseo.
He seriously looked like No-Face.
Fans who actually go all the way there to visit the billboard....
Do you really think they wouldn't recognize your faces... just because you're wearing masks...?
└ LOLLLLLLLLLL.
└ It's so cute that they actually thought they wouldn't be recognized. 😭
└ There were seven of them too. Even the number matched. LOL.
The fans who were there were incredible.
The members thought they'd gotten away with it because nobody reacted.
Of course respecting their privacy is the right thing to do, but it's still so admirable. 😭
└ 22222 If it were me, I'd try not to react, then faint while covering my mouth and end up being carried away.
└ LOLLLLLLLLL. What kind of scenario is that?
└ ???: Idol fan faints after seeing member in real life, taken away by 119.
└ Honestly, I'd faint too if I saw Ha Junseo in person.
They all gathered on their day off just to celebrate the eldest member's birthday. 😭 Universe Dust's friendship is so heartwarming.
└ This is real friendship!!
└ They met through a survival show, yet they're as close as if they'd trained together for ten years. 😭
└ Our babies, stay together forever!
.
.
.
That night.
Search King Jin Sehyun shattered their illusion.
“Everyone already knew we were there.”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ah....”
The members finally learned the truth.
Ha Junseo, who had been happily bouncing around celebrating the success of his sealing technique, laughed awkwardly in embarrassment.
“So... they were pretending not to notice us....”
“I'm grateful, honestly.
If even one person had screamed, things would've gotten out of hand.”
“Exactly, exactly.”
If that had happened, they would've had to fight through a flood of people just to make it back to the van.
Everyone maintaining order for safety's sake was something they were genuinely grateful for.
“Still, it was fun going outside.”
“Did the pictures come out well?”
“Yep.
Should we upload them to Stargram?”
As they happily reminisced about their long-awaited billboard tour, Kang Siwoo returned from the kitchen carrying snacks.
“Alright.
Shall we get started?”
10 p.m.
Only about two hours remained before Ha Junseo's birthday officially ended.
There was no way they could let such an important day pass like this.
The moment Seohan saw the pile of green bottles Kang Siwoo was carrying, he swallowed hard.
“...You're serious?”
“We've got to start Junseo's birthday party.”
“Waaaaaaah!”
It was the first Ha Junseo birthday party where every single member was finally an adult.
There were no schedules tomorrow either.
Tonight, they fully intended to go all the way.
“Sounds good to me~.
Should we make somaek?”
Grinning, Cha Seongbin brought over two more bottles of beer.
Meanwhile, Ha Junseo quietly glanced toward one particular person.
Sitting across from him, Cha Seongbin silently mouthed the words,
'Do Seohan?'
Nod.
'Should we send him all the way?'
Nod.
The two exchanged meaningful looks.