101 Fansign

For the past hour and a half, they sat there awkwardly, watching Hayden converse with the CHORUS members. All they gained from there was a picture with the complete CHORUS members alone. That was enough to cover for the hour of awkwardness without talking to them at all.

The sole problem with that was when it was Hayden's turn for a picture. They were all touching Hayden in one way or another. It was obvious how close the twelve people were. Much closer than Daniel could ever hope for. That was a bit depressing for Daniel.

"I guess." Hayden had to admit that. It would be stupid to say that he still wasn't lucky. With Eun-ha alone. He can confidently say that all his bad luck in life was redeemed, but wouldn't say this in front of anybody except Eun-ha. "She's the best thing to ever happen to me. Meeting all of them was the best thing to happen to me."

Afterwards, Hayden wasn't keen on bringing up a new topic and the trio with him was still stuck on processing how close Hayden was with CHORUS. Accordingly, the quartet spent the walk back to the car in silence.

Scarlet was especially hard-pressed. She developed a slight inferiority complex from the women. It was a brutal blow for her, seeing all the true beauty of the CHORUS members. Regardless, as a fan, she was happy. She got an invaluable thing. A personal picture with them without makeup.

Reaching the car, the quartet decided to line up for the Maharlika Hall. It was already 2:30. Modern fansign events let people in as early as two hours.

It was normal that fans will go as early as possible as idols sometime go out and personally interact with the early birds. This was no secret as videos of this is circulating all around the internet.

When Hayden and his group of friends got in, the first thing they noticed was that there were already a few people sitting on the foldable chairs at the area of the fans.

As you can imagine, there were two areas for the fansign event, which is separated by a stanchion. The area in the front contains a long table with eleven chairs on one side and eleven on one side. This was the area where CHORUS sits.

Behind the stanchion was the area for the fans. It contained simple foldable chairs arranged in rows of eleven with ten columns. There was solely 110 people that can attend this first fansign event. As for the 1,000 buyable tickets, that was for the upcoming fansign event prior to CHORUS' departure. This one was the event for the raffle-won tickets, a much more exclusive one. Clearly, being a K-Pop idol is exhausting.

Sitting down on their chairs, the quartet made small talk at times. Daniel and Scarlet were flirting. A few minutes later, the few people that were already there turned to Hayden's direction, recognizing him.

They even snapped a few pictures of him, which Hayden smiled at. Ultimately, the people approached him one by one, wanting a picture with Hayden. Naturally, Hayden obliged. He didn't have to hide the fact that he was a VERSE as this was the first step of his girlfriend reveal in a few years' time.

A few minutes later, when the people settled, the news of Hayden being in CHORUS' fansign event was already trending. This was shown to him by Scarlet, who was browsing her social media at the time.

"Word sure do travels fast." Hayden chuckled. He whispered as he reminded, "By the way, the three of you. Don't do anything that may jeopardize the privacy of my relationship with… Her… Act like everything's normal. Don't you dare tease me about anything."

The trio gulped as Hayden revealed a bit of his killing intent to show how serious he was. They nodded to show their acknowledgement of Hayden's warning.

That was when the CHORUS members showed up. Their makeups were done and they wore fancy dresses of varying colors instead of their casual attire.

It seems that they were going to interact with the early birds. As they were walking out backstage, Hayden received a message from Eun-ha.

"We're coming out for you, teehee~" Hayden chuckled at the sight of this. When he locked eyes with Eun-ha, he shook his head.

Jin-ae and Mieko got a mic from the staff. Jin-ae greeted the early birds, "We'll be stuck in your ears, eyes, and heart. Good afternoon, everyone! CHORUS here."

It was the signature greeting of CHORUS. They all struck cute poses for the fans, during of which, the early birds snapped pictures.

"We have been informed that a special guest has come today for the fansign." Jin-ae spoke in Korean. As the only member known to speak English, Mieko translated it to English. "Mr. Hayden Emperador, world famous gamer and basketball player, is here. We are a big fan. Thank you for supporting us!"

They all bowed to Hayden's direction, much to Hayden's bafflement. He acted embarrassed. Internally, he wanted to form a dry smile. 'What the heck are they doing?'

"Can we please invite you to have a few pictures with us?" Jin-ae followed up. There was a large smile on each of the members' faces. Hayden could read two meanings behind that: They were teasing Hayden and putting up a façade at the same time.

Hayden stood up with a shy smile on his face. When he went to the CHORUS members, he acted befitting that of a fanboy. He timidly shook each of their hands, introducing himself in Korean.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yamamoto Aiko-nim." Hayden moved along the oldest to the youngest, shaking hands with them. Underneath his breath, he gritted his teeth and said without moving his lips, "I hate you guys."

Aiko and the others nearly burst out in laughter. They found Hayden amusing to tease.

The early birds were taking a video, including Daniel, Scarlet, and Zeke. Hayden's act was absurdly convincing. His expression of evidently struggling to keep cool. His 'uncomfortable' movement. And his eyes unable to meet the eyes of the CHORUS members.

The photographers likewise took photos of the CHORUS members with Hayden. Some of the women who just arrived were stunned of Hayden's handsomeness. They disregarded the fact that Hayden 'shrunk' in the presence of Eun-ha and the others.

When that finished… Well, the CHORUS members weren't finished. They asked Hayden for selfies and 'requested' communication links when he already established communication links with them.

At the end, Hayden had a hug with all of them. Hugging Eun-ha, he muttered to her ear, "This is your idea isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." Eun-ha admitted silently.

Surprisingly, when he hugged Mieko, she actually talked to Hayden… Wait, propose a plan was the right term. "Let's play some games together sometime soon. Maybe in one of your videos? I'm sick of getting pig-like teammates."

"Sure, Mieko-ssi." Hayden said. With a glint in his eyes, he said, "I will contact you when the time comes."

As a gamer, Hayden was confident to say that having people to play with you was much better than gaming alone. Grinding away on one game without anybody to come with you was undeniably boring. Even for Hayden, the so-called 'Grindmaster.'

With the conclusion of this little episode, they all expressed their love for Hayden through finger hearts and by saying 'saranghae.' Hayden responded by voluntarily reddening to keep up the act.

This was possible with his Divine Perception, which he discovered he's able to manipulate literally every muscle of his body through it. Probably not though, since he did practice the skill to be able to manipulate the muscles by repetitively sensing his body and putting in a lot of effort to move it. This went for everything else too. It was a pleasant surprise that it was plausible.

Going back to his seat, Hayden behaved elatedly. Pulling out his phone, Hayden started going through his social media accounts.

There it was. The current amount of people posting the recent happenings. Ahh, the digital age, am I right? Anyhow, Hayden opted to not post anything first. He postponed it later, when the fansign event is over.

As for the CHORUS members, they interacted with the rest of the early birds. Eun-ha texted him with angel smile emojis, to which Hayden responded with expressionless emojis. A giggle escaped from Eun-ha when she read that.

Small talks here and there. By 3:00 PM the venue was full of people. The newcomers couldn't help looking at Hayden with mixed feelings. He could sense a combination of jealousy, admiration, and surprise in there. Needless to say, many of them came up to him.

Whilst waiting, Hayden decided to move one of his plans in motion in boredom. To the two's surprise, he created a groupchat with Zeke and Daniel. "Hey, Zeke, want to make some money? Join me and Daniel to make videos."

"What?" Zeke was confused of this. "Why me? I don't play games at all."

"Well, do you really think my plan ends with games?" Hayden messaged, causing Daniel and Zeke to stare at him.

The trio messaged of each other over this suggestion of Hayden's. As for Scarlet, she leaned on Daniel's shoulder as she browsed social media.

Abruptly, Scarlet sent him a trending post. It was a video of Hayden hugging all the CHORUS members. The comments of people were mixed. Some commented he was lucky. Some expressed how jealous there were. And the one type of people that Hayden was banking on: The shippers.

"Predicted it." Hayden snorted at the sight of all those shipping comments. As a gamer, people were especially shipping Hayden and Mieko, the gamer of CHORUS.

The next trending post was Hayden and Eun-ha's embrace that was longer than necessary plus Eun-ha's whisper to Hayden in the midst of said hug. This made the fans ship Hayden and Eun-ha too.

With the powerful observations of people, Hayden expected this. It was too easy to manipulate the overthinking brains of people in this day and age.

The fansign started earlier than usual because the venue was full. When the CHORUS members came out, the VERSEs cheered.

For the second time, Jin-ae did their usual greeting. "We'll be stuck in your ears, eyes, and heart. Good afternoon, everyone! CHORUS here."

The VERSE's cheers upped a notch when they heard this. Blinding flashes from the photographers' cameras shot out. Jin-ae continued, "How are you, everyone? As all of you are complete, we will be entertaining you for the meantime."

Mieko translated it. When the VERSEs heard this, they applauded again. The CHORUS members all positioned themselves in a heart. It was the position of Ba-Dump, one of the most popular songs of CHORUS.

The sound of a heart thumping rang out from the speakers. The beating heart gradually slowed down until it became a flatline. An upbeat music started as the coy lyrics of the song came in.

VERSEs sang along as they recorded the performance. Needless to say, Hayden did the same. It was his 'first time' meeting them after all. In all honesty though, seeing their sweet and cutesy moves personally was a whole new experience for Hayden.

Their charms were shining through the dance. Hayden found them adorable, planting a smile on his face. More so as Eun-ha was discreetly smiling at him whenever she can. He can now understand how much fun having a girlfriend is.

When the song finished, they all started to entertain fans' questions. Many asked of their own questions, such as favorite food, hobbies, and many more. It was the standard fan questions.

Until one person asked, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but are any of you, except Madoka and Jin-ae, in a relationship? Are you planning to be on one?"

Mieko 'translated' to the members. Everyone not in a public relationship or not in a relationship at all abstained from answering. Except Sayuri and Eun-ha.

"I do have a crush on someone." Sayuri teased with a smile. "I think you guys will be surprised. Alas, I will not talk of him."

This answer of Sayuri's earned a gasp and oohs of surprise from everyone in the crowd. It was an unexpected answer. They all felt disappointed that someone will be snatched again so soon. Especially one so popular.

Regardless, as mere fans, they fathomed that having a relationship with them was nothing short of a pipe dream. Any of the CHORUS members were too beautiful. Also, it was 2058, 'sasaengs' are so oversaturated.

"Me too." Eun-ha knowingly smiled. She avoided gazing at Hayden's direction, but Hayden could tell she was teasing him. "I am also eyeing someone. He's quite cute."

A round of sharp inhalation, oohs, and sighs of disappointments rang out. These two best friends were quite notorious for being the 'gayest' members, 'flirting' all the time. It was one of the few reasons why the two was popular, being shipped by people.

"Are you perhaps referring to each other?" The fan asked good-humoredly.

"Perhaps?" Sayuri bobbed her eyebrows mischievously. The two locked eyes. Sayuri walked to Eun-ha and hugged her. Sayuri kissed her on the cheek. It was one of the few displays that made the fans ship them in the first place.

Hayden dryly smiled at them. Suddenly, he had momentary eye contact with Eun-ha. He chuckled as he shook his head. Eun-ha did the same, albeit, she hugged Sayuri back.

It was all basic fan service of them being all flirty to their members. Eventually, the clock struck 4:30 PM, and there it was, the first batch of people raring to go get their signatures getting the signatures for their albums.

Hayden was the first to go to the table to get their signature. He carried his duffle bag with him, leaving people wondering what Hayden was going to give CHORUS. When he sat, he was bathed in the flashes of camera alongside his bag.

"Hello, Aiko-ssi." Hayden bowed respectfully, speaking in Korean. He handed Aiko his photo album with the little slip for the page she would sign. "I have three questions for you."

"Ask away, Hayden-ah." Aiko smiled sweetly at him as she opened the photo album. Once more, camera flashes flooded him and Aiko from all directions.

Hayden could sense that all eyes were on him. It was unnerving for him. It was as if he was in the center of attention. Which he was.

As a wielder, Hayden simply reminded himself of the horrors he has experienced. It was a cinch for him to have nerves of steel in this manner.

"What is your favorite cuisine? Favorite food? And favorite beverage?" Hayden poured all the questions he had. All the while, he was taking out his four gifts for Aiko from his duffle bag, one by one, each stunning the onlookers.

The four gifts were: A loveable snake plushy. A beautiful miniature Aiko. A printed digital portrait encased in an 8.5"x11" wooden picture frame. And a personal handwritten letter with a wax seal of a fancy insignia.

"I made all of these for you, Aiko-ssi. Please accept my gifts." Hayden faintly smiled.

Everyone at the venue had widened eyes. The photographer forgot to take a picture in his astonishment. The staff were all surprised. Aiko didn't make a sound and was petrified at the sight of the four gifts. The rest of CHORUS were distracted.

"Y-you made a-all of this?" Aiko blinked innocently.

"Every single one." Hayden nodded as if this was an easy feat. He pointed to each of the gifts. "I knitted and stuffed this. I was the one to design this using 3D digital rendering. I drew this. And I wrote the letter, of course."

A bout of silence ensued in the venue. Heaps of questions were coursing through everyone's minds. How skilled is Hayden exactly? How much of a fan was Hayden to dedicate four gifts in total, all made personally, and each astoundingly amazing? How much time did this take?

"Uh…" Aiko shook her head to recover from her stupor and utter disbelief. She smiled elegantly. "Ah, yes, the questions. My favorite cuisine is Italian. My favorite food is carbonara. And my favorite beverage is blueberry milktea."

When she was done signing the photo album, she seized the gifts to examine it. She sighed in admiration, "How beautiful. Thank you for these gifts, Hayden-ah. I will treasure it. As for the handwritten letter, I will read that later on."

The two made small talk to get to know each other more. Moving on, Hayden sat in front of Mi-sun. Standard greeting, hand in the album, same questions. It was the same routine with Hayden.

However, the people found out that Hayden wasn't done with the gifts. He laid out the same four different gifts for Mi-sun. What stunned them was that the three of the gifts were vastly different, in design, from the ones he gave to Aiko. The sole object that didn't change all that much was the letter.

When he moved to the next person, Jae-hwa, Hayden still brought out four handmade gifts. If the first two times weren't that strange, this third one and the ones subsequent to that definitely was.

You see, if the two were coincidentally your 'ultimate bias' and 'bias wrecker', it wouldn't be odd to give all those outstanding gifts. Okay, sure, it also wouldn't be outlandish to give handmade gifts.

But at least it should have a bit of a similarity, or some sort of template. Therefore, what truly astounded the fans was how different and unique each of the gifts were. One can see how much admiration Hayden had for CHORUS.

The excitement gradually wore down. There was nothing peculiar with Hayden lauding such beauties with his skill. If anything, it was normal. In this day and age, 'skillful' is a new type of handsome.

As long as you're one of the tops on your field, you will attract respect and love from people irrespective of your own physical appearance.

Hayden was an absurdity of a gamer, a hell of a basketball player, and genuinely attractive to boot. CHORUS on the other hand was at the acme of the music industry, their names being household names.

From this, the shipping began. Especially when the fans noticed Eun-ha acting coy in front of Hayden. The latent attraction between the two stirred the shippers' hearts.

At the conclusion of Hayden's gifts, he returned to his seat. Activating his phone, the first thing that met his eyes was him being tagged all over. His feat of producing personal handmade gifts for CHORUS was at the top of the trending page on social media.

"As expected." Hayden quietly whispered to himself. Till he opened one of the posts. It was from a basketball player in Ghana for the Annual Youth Pride. "Ahh, shit. Here goes the downsides of this plan."