# Chapter 63
“How are the fan meeting preparations going, hyung?”
“What is there for me to do? Won’t just showing up with this face be enough?”
“That’s right. True. And Irun hyung and the guys say they’ll bring you a welcome gift. They told me not to say what it is or they’d get me, so I can’t tell you that much, but you’ll love it. I’m not happy that you’ll like this gift so much, but I decided to let it go since you seem to enjoy it.”
“What are you talking about? What is it?”
I’d usually be able to guess, but hearing his words, I could only tilt my head in confusion, unable to imagine what it could be.
“What is it?”
“It’s… well, Irun hyung will bring… um, it’s coming.”
What could it be?
Sijin had very clear boundaries—there were things he’d let slide if I asked, and things he absolutely wouldn’t do no matter how much I insisted. This seemed to fall into the latter category, so I gave up early.
Anyway, the day the guys would arrive was just around the corner, so I only needed to wait a few days.
“Don’t skip meals because you’re busy. Make sure you eat properly. I wish you could come with us to events like before.”
“Really?”
“No. I’m just saying.”
Sijin laughed as he said this.
We had already discussed this topic several times.
Since I was taking charge of Crop Five again, it wouldn’t be strange for me to accompany them to events.
However, it was Sijin who decided against it first, saying he couldn’t trust himself to look at me in front of people.
He said his intense longing for me would be too obvious, making people suspicious about our relationship.
“Ah. But hyung. Ah, never mind.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
I thought I wasn’t the type to obsess over such things, but I really didn’t know myself.
Why was I so curious?
I kept asking, determined to find out somehow, but he kept his mouth shut till the end.
Why can’t I win against this guy at times like this?
As I was thinking that regretfully, I heard Sijin’s refreshing laughter.
“Well, I’ll get to work, Manager-nim. I need to go work too.”
“Alright. Make lots of money. Ma stal.”
Sijin laughed for a while, asking why my pronunciation was so cheap, then said goodbye and hung up.
What’s wrong with my pronunciation?
My dazzlingly bright star (Ma stal).
* * *
The fan meeting was a huge success.
But I couldn’t even see that.
I was supposed to be responsible for overseeing the entire fan meeting process, but I was too distracted.
If you asked if I was overwhelmed with emotion because the kids had finally returned…
That was partly true, but when I saw the person who came with the members, I instantly understood what Sijin had been unable to tell me.
Even Irun’s hesitation when he started to say he would “bring” the gift made sense now.
The gift was a person, so he had tilted his head, wondering if “bringing” was the right word.
I was equally shocked by seeing the Crop Five guys at the airport and by seeing Ki Hyunshin who came with them.
After joyfully greeting my kids, the moment I saw Ki Hyunshin beside them, I froze in place, wondering why he was there.
“K-Ki Hyunshin…!!”
I shouted purely out of fanboy excitement, and our members witnessed that moment clearly.
Afterward, for a long time, I had to endure their obsessive, nearly manic questioning—about 50,000 times—asking whether I was happier to see them or Senior Hyunshin.
But that was beyond my control.
“Mr. Ki Hyunshin. It’s truly an honor to meet you.”
When we miraculously escaped from the numerous reporters and fans, I finally managed to pull down my uncontrollably grinning face and said.
“The honor is mine. I thought you were amazing when I saw you on TV, but to have the opportunity to meet you in person like this. Could we take a picture together?”
Ki Hyunshin asked to take a picture with me.
Feeling like I might need to start writing a diary again for the first time since first grade, I nodded blankly.
Then Sijin trudged over, squeezed himself between Ki Hyunshin and me, and took his position.
Then Dagyeong and Yeonwoo attached themselves to each end, and we all took a picture together.
Thinking about it later, if those two hadn’t been there, Ki Hyunshin might have thought Han Sijin was strange.
As we moved to the fan meeting venue, we talked non-stop.
My attention was focused on Ki Hyunshin, who repeatedly told me it was okay to attend to the members first since I must have many questions for them.
Each time, I glanced briefly at our kids, but they shook their heads.
“Did you see the laser beams hyung just shot? His eyes were saying he’d kill us if we interrupted.”
When Jeong Chan tattled on me fearfully, Ki Hyunshin burst out laughing.
“Chan is even saying things like this? He hardly talked when he was with others, like he was always thinking about music.”
Thirty-one years old, a seventh-year artist with six albums.
Those six albums didn’t come out at one-year intervals—they were all released within two years after his debut, leaving countless fans dying of thirst waiting for his new songs.
Needless to say, I was one of them.
Before I knew Crop Five, I thought I had never been so deeply invested in any artist, but that was because I had forgotten about Ki Hyunshin.
And that was also because Ki Hyunshin had been in seclusion for a long time.
If a fan hadn’t recently recognized him in the area where he lived and spread the news, I might have continued not knowing whether Ki Hyunshin was alive or dead.
“I’m a fan. I’ve liked you since your debut.”
“I’m truly honored. Please speak comfortably.”
“Then can I call you hyung?”
I don’t think I’m the type to approach just anyone so directly, but thinking I couldn’t miss this opportunity to call Ki Hyunshin “hyung,” I acted a bit desperate.
“I’d be happy with that. Wow! I need to call home. My family all love you, Seomin-ssi.”
He said with a friendly smile on his approachable face.
He was a friendly hyung, but his true self emerged when he sang.
When he stood on stage, he transformed completely, to the point where people described him as spiritual.
“Wow… wow…”
I couldn’t speak properly and just made those sounds, which made Yeonwoo burst into laughter, asking why I was suffering so much.
After the sudden death of his same-aged composer friend who was called his soulmate, he stopped performing.
But since he hadn’t announced his retirement, fans didn’t give up, longing and waiting for his seventh album, hoping they might hear it someday.
That’s why the firepower was so intense when he appeared at Crop Five’s concert.
“Hyung. Don’t forget this is Crop Five’s fan meeting. It’s a place for us to meet our fans. Not for you to meet Hyunshin hyung. Got it? You need to pull yourself together.”
Irun placed his hand on my shoulder, looking me straight in the eyes while playfully speaking.
I should say of course I know, but I kept getting confused.
How could I not? It was Ki Hyunshin.
Not just the other members, but even Sijin looked at me with amusement, as if finding my behavior fascinating.
“We should have recruited Hyunshin hyung earlier. If you liked Hyunshin hyung this much, you should have said so. If we had told you to come back to Grand Tamer and that we’d recruit Hyunshin hyung, you probably would have come right away.”
At Cha Yeonwoo’s words, all the members looked at me simultaneously.
“No way. Was it really that serious?”
Sijin asked, but I thought now wasn’t the time for such talk.
“Hey. What are you guys talking about? What do you mean recruitment?”
This is a joke, right?
I looked at the members with such eyes, then turned to Ki Hyunshin.
Wanting to ask if this was true.
Ah. Wait, don’t say anything.
My heart might not be able to handle it.
“Oh no. Our hyung looks like his heart’s about to burst.”
As Sijin said with a laugh, Ki Hyunshin made a moved expression.
“Wow. I’m really touched. I wondered if anyone would remember me when I came back.”
“Come on, hyung. That’s not true. When your news article came out, how enthusiastically did people cheer? I showed you the articles.”
Dagyeong threw cold water on his sentiment, but he wasn’t deterred.
Then he looked at me seriously and said,
“I would like to formally request: I want to join Grand Tamer.”
“…”
I couldn’t say anything and just looked at Sijin.
Sijin, am I dead?
With eyes like that.
A satisfied smile spread across Sijin’s face.
It was the face of someone pleased that their carefully prepared gift had hit the mark.
“Then what will Hyunshin hyung do while we’re doing the fan meeting? Could you maybe join us on stage?”
When I asked with a face full of fan enthusiasm, Ki Hyunshin burst into laughter. As if he never expected such a suggestion.
“No. Why would I be at Crop Five’s fan meeting?”
Then his eyes suddenly lit up. From experience, I knew I needed to stay alert at times like this. If I wasn’t careful, I might end up doing something strange.
“Why… are you looking like that?”
“If you form Crop Six, I’ll join you on stage.”
“Hmm. Thinking about it, I don’t think you need to join us on stage after all. The fans are coming to see Crop Five, so it’s better if just Crop Five performs.”
He laughed at how quickly I gave up, while our members made disappointed faces.
