𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 ―𝐝.𝐨.𝐝

Chapter 47

"Huh? Your cousin isn't picking you up?" The taller hyung cocked his head.

We walked out to the parking lot where the bus stop also was. My motorbike was waiting. A dark blue Kawasaki Ninja 400.

"No," I replied as people around me awed. "She dropped it off earlier on her way somewhere."

W-wow!" Ahyun beamed. He asked to touch it, and I nodded.

I took out my helmet from the compartment and put it on.

"Hyungs!" Raebin called out. The four of us turned to him.

"What is it?" Moondae hyung asked.

"If you don't have a schedule, do you want to go see the billboards the fans put up?" He put out his phone and showed us the number of banner ads we had.

"Woah, Moondae, you have 27...that's more than Cha Eugene!" Sejin hyung gasped.

Moondae hyung also looked shocked.

"Let's go together," Raebin continued. "There are quite a few overlapping billboards. And there is a ban on team spoilers, so we could go with Cha Eugene."

Everyone agreed. Ahyun hyung stepped out.

"I-I'm going on a trip...with my parents," he said sadly. So after a few more words were exchanged, he left for his parents' car.

I couldn't leave my bike alone, so I followed the others who rode a taxi. Eugene wanted to ride with me, but I didn't have another helmet.

Because it was a weekday morning, the traffic wasn't too bad. We went individually to see our first ads.

I stared at the tall screen. It was bright. The image of my face was large.

"Hey, let's go," Moondae hyung said, tapping my shoulder. I followed him out and hopped back on my bike to the next destination.

But there was a crowd there.

"Cha Eugene, it's really him!"

"Oh my god, they came together."

Within a blink of an eye, the crowd grew larger. After everyone exchanged glances, we ran out of the station without taking pictures.

"Jeez, even when we're wearing masks-!"

They barely managed to catch a taxi, and I followed them behind. 

I noticed another taxi behind me. I turned and saw a girl in the passenger seat with a camera.

I called Moondae hyung.

"Moondae hyung," I said when he answered. "There are people following us."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"She's holding a camera."

The other side went quiet.

"I'll get them off our tail," I voiced. "Don't worry."

"...Alright, but stay on the phone."

I could hear the others talking about what to do next. Quietly, I slipped deeper into traffic as the car followed me. Then I found an alleyway and headed there. The car couldn't follow me very well, so I lost it easily.*

*Lots of the small streets are literally 1 car lanes and are realllyyy hard to drive in. Idk how cars get through there.

"I lost them," I told them through the phone. There was a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Eugene saw an ad for a mascot suit pop-up store, so we decided to wear doll suits and go separately. I'll send you the address," Sejin hyung said. I copied his message into the navigation app.

After about twenty minutes, I got to the store. I parked nearby and walked inside where everyone was waiting.

Eugene was already holding a white tiger mask. It looked heavy.

"Oh, Seungmin! Look at this!" he beamed, blabbering half in Korean and half in English.

An employee came up to me with a pen and paper.

"C-could I ask for an autograph?" she whispered, her eyes sparkling.

I glanced at the others. They nodded, so I knew they already gave theirs.

With a polite smile, I did my signature and returned the paper to her. Then I looked at the masks.

"What are you going to pick?" Raebin asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. The only doll mask I've ever worn was the white rabbit. But Raebin already chose a bunny.

"...I guess this is much different from a mask though," I thought as I stared at the large costumes.

"Hey, why not go for this?" Sejin hyung grinned, handing me a black cat mask. "Everyone calls you Moondae's kitty."

I could hear Moondae hyung sigh lightly as he went to the cashier with his puppy mask.

I also paid for mine, and then we went separately to the stations. Moondae hyung set up a map on my phone that listed where all my banner ads were before sending me off.

It was fun to go around with the mask.

People would laugh when they saw me and ask to take photos together. Some handed me candy and photos of 'Cho Seungmin' without knowing that I was 'Cho Seungmin.'

I could also look at the banners for a long time without anyone chasing me. I read many of the sticky notes wishing me good luck.

There were so many, it almost covered the entirety of the board except my face.

"This many people know me."

Surprisingly, it wasn't a bad feeling.

Some people offered to take pictures of me in front of the billboard. Because I couldn't talk, I patted their heads in thanks.

I toured ten places before I decided it was enough. It was fun to see people react so joyfully to my mask. It was the opposite of how people saw me with my rabbit mask.

Sitting on my bike a distance away from the station, I sighed and took the cat mask off.

"Crazy, it's Cho Seungmin."

I turned to see someone with her phone out, pointed at me.

The sun was already setting, so I thought it was fine to be caught now since I was done.

I smiled and put a finger to my lip. I didn't want others chasing me.

Then I put on my riding helmet and drove off quickly into the street.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

SO CUTE AUGH