Fan Service [Chan]

Chapter 19

"We should take a vote," Lee Know announced "Who is #TeamSeungmin?"

I opened my eyes, too intrigued to miss this. Han, Lee Know, Seungmin, and Hyunjin raised their hands.

"#TeamChan?" he asked and Chan, Changbin, Felix, and I.N. raised their hands this time.

"A tie!" Lee Know gasped mockingly. "Ella, you need to pick the winner. Which are you?"

I could feel all of their eyes burning into me. Chan stiffened beside me and Seungmin waited patiently for my answer, giving me his full attention. How was I to choose when I'd barely gotten to know them?

Chan who had beat someone up to keep me safe? Seungmin who rushed to my aid when I got hurt? Chan who argued with me relentlessly? Seungmin who was agreeable and kind?

"Too close to call?" Lee Know offered me an out when I took too long to answer.

I shrugged but leaned into Chan again.

"We'll find out after our next show when we see whose bed you choose," Lee Know teased and the other guys laughed. My stomach did a flip at the idea of sharing a bed with either of them, especially so publicly.

Chan let go of my hand, and its absence made me sad.

"You only have to do that in public," he mumbled to me.

"What if I want to hold it in private?" I asked, reaching for it again.

"Would you hold Seungmin's too?" he sounded hurt as the question came out of his mouth. My not making a decision in Lee Know's stupid game had actually affected him.

"I'm not asking to hold Seungmin's am I?"

Chan sighed, but he opened his hand for me. I intertwined our fingers. I knew Seungmin noticed since he was sitting across from us, and he slumped back into his chair. Meanwhile, Chan sat taller and prouder.

"Can you send me the pictures we took this morning?"

Chan pulled out his phone and handed it to me to send all of the pictures to myself. When I inputted the first few digits of my phone number to send them over, my number auto-generated. He'd had my contact info this whole time. I texted myself and then clicked the contact card.

"Fan - 2024 April 20" was my name on his phone. I wasn't usually the type to snoop, but I went to his contacts list and scrolled. There were dozens of people named Fan with dates after them. Chan looked over and realized what I was looking at and took back his phone.

"What is that?" I questioned him.

"Can we not do this now?" he spat.

"Am I just another fan? Just a nameless person?" I wasn't sure why it bothered me so much to see the lack of care on my contact card. It wasn't like that mattered.

"No," he began, but I cut him off.

"I thought we were maybe becoming friends," I told him. But I wasn't even sure that was true. The times I'd felt closest were generally times when he'd pitied me. That wasn't much of a relationship or even a friendship.

"We are. I just..."

"You have dozens of fan numbers in there. Nameless, faceless fans. Do you date fans often?" I argued.