Chapter 139
[AIRY]
On a pearlescent print paper, the fan club name ‘Airy’ was written in elegant calligraphy, resembling the opening of an American animated film.
The members soon explained the meaning behind the fan club’s name.
All living things need air. Idols need fans. To exaggerate a bit, what keeps ORCA alive is its fans. Fans are like air.
Reflecting the opinion that just ‘Air’ was somewhat plain and difficult to search for, they added a Y at the end.
Airy and Fairy… by coincidence, the pronunciation is similar.
Hence, the meaning of Airy, the air fairy protecting ORCA, was finally adopted.
Though it wasn’t a guardian angel but a guardian fairy, which was somewhat minor, they agreed that ORCA had its own unique charm.
After all, isn’t a fairy more fitting for the sea than an angel?
They realized when On Raon suggested the name ‘Air’ and Seo Moon-gyeol supplemented it with ‘Airy’.
With their brains, and those of the company employees whose naming skills were evidently below the entry standards, they couldn’t think of a better name!
When Kang Ji-woo conveyed the meeting’s outcome to the company, they immediately gave the OK sign. The company shared the same thoughts as the members.
Even Joo Yeol-eum, the company’s hope, had the ability to judge whether it was a good name or not, but couldn’t create one himself.
Otherwise, they could have considered soliciting fan club name suggestions from the fans.
But since the kids had come up with a decent name themselves, why bother?
ORCA fans, who had gone through farmer, lackey, and fisherman, cheered at the much better, beautiful name with a meaningful connection to ORCA.
– Airyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– It’s pretty
– Are we fairies??
– What about the light stick???ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– Guys, thank you for the beautiful name♥♥♥
They were very satisfied that it wasn’t an embarrassing name to mention anywhere.
[Our fans, oh, now you’re Airy. Airy members can be said to be the first ones to conquer all three realms of land, sea, and air.]
– Raon, why do you look so proud of usㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Land, sea, airㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– That’s rightㅋㅋㅋㅋ We went from land→sea→skyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– I feel strongerㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Seeing the friendly real-time comments and the members celebrating with Airy, I felt an unexpected surge of emotion, my heart pounding.
Having a fan club name gave a clearer sense of belonging than before.
But then.
‘Airy. Air, Lee… Air Lee…?’
When converting it to a Korean-style name.
‘Mr. Lee Gong-gi…’
Finding out the meaning behind the title ‘Lee Gong-gi,’ I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Laughing at something like this…
‘Ah, my pride.’
Due to someone’s trivial wordplay, Mr. Lee Gong-gi later became the nickname for ORCA fans, or rather, Airy.
[And it was Ji-woo hyung who came up with the title Lee Gong-gi. He thought it would be nice to have a Korean name too.]
[Although he’s my age, in this regard, doesn’t he seem quite… like an old man?]
[I’m fine with it though…]
[Yohan hyung, how can you call him an old man? Apologize to Gyeol hyung!]
[Excuse me! I was the one who got cursed at, okay?!]
Even after revealing the fan club name, which was the main purpose of the B-app live broadcast, ORCA continued to chat happily for a while.
The fact that, thanks to ‘Present,’ the members had collectively become interested in a cappella, and that recently their YouTube watch history was filled with a cappella-related videos. (To prove they weren’t bluffing, ORCA performed a simple a cappella for Airy. They did quite well.)
They thanked everyone for helping them finish their ‘Liberation’ activities successfully.
[We’ll prepare well to show you an even better performance next time.]
The fact that the calligraphy of the fan club name shown earlier was done by Seo Moon-gyeol.
[Gyeol is just an artistic person.]
[Even his face is artistic.]
[Haha, I have a drawing that Gyeol hyung drew for me.]
[What. Artist Seo Moon! Give me one too!]
[Hyung, say you won’t!]
[I won’t.]
[….]
[Hyung, not for me either?]
[Okay.]
[Hey, Seo Moon-gyeol. Are you really going to do this?]
– Favoring the youngest siblingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Seo Moon-gyeol.. He is ORCA
– Love you
[Everyone, there’s no discord in the team. We just mix and match like this once a day, so don’t worry too much. As the leader, I should mediate well, but I have no authority…]
[Anyone would think you don’t fight, Kang Ji-woo!]
[Yes……. Anyway, we fight every day, it’s a daily event……]
[Is fighting every day something to brag about?!]
[What? Take off your ring? Huh? Let’s see you take it off once?]
[Everyone, Ji-woo hyung and Yohan hyung have started fighting, but we’re still close.]
[Take it off! That day, I’ll cut ties with you!]
[We’re close…]
[You, you, you! How can you say something like that so easily! Is our time together just a joke to you?!]
[….]
– Yohan, our Joo is a very sensitive friend… please be gentle…
– He said to take off the ring first, but when he heard ‘cut ties,’ his expression showed he was really hurtㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[……Looks like we need a season 2 of ‘Let’s Get Close, ORCA,’ right, Seong-ha?]
[I have nothing to say to Raon, who got a picture from Gyeol hyung and said nothing.]
[What are you talking about! I showed it when we decided our group name!]
[Guys…… please calm down a bit.]
– There are 5 people, 4 are fighting, and the other one caused the fightㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Dangon… Both of them are just so cute, mumbling without raising their voices…
– Unexpected tease for Season 2 of “Friendly ORCA”ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– The staff watching this in front of them must be wondering if it’s a curse or a blessingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Even though they argued often, seeing them hug, snuggle, and laugh made the fans worry less about rumors of discord. Instead, they watched the chaotic live broadcast, laughing along.
The B-app live broadcast, which I accessed because of ORCA, was a new world to me.
Watching On Raon lean his head on the member next to him, straighten his body, and absentmindedly squish his soft cheeks made me smile involuntarily.
I tapped the heart button, which recorded the number of presses, diligently, and when there were moments I didn’t want to miss, I quickly captured the screen. Even knowing my comments would probably get buried by others, I left real-time comments with a hopeful heart.
All that time until ORCA said their final goodbyes and ended the live broadcast for the sake of the staff next to them who needed to go home.
It was all just wonderful.
* * *
After finishing the live broadcast and returning to the dorm, we immediately laid out a feast.
Kang Ji-woo completed the marinated pork ribs he had prepared in advance, and we unwrapped the snacks and drinks we had bought abundantly at the convenience store on our way back.
“Great job finishing the Liberation activities well, you all did great, thank you! Let’s work hard again next year! For ORCA!”
That old-fashioned toast… Reminded me of the old days.
“For ORCA!”
Still, we were just excited now. Of course, what we were drinking wasn’t real alcohol but soda.
‘I want to drink…’
Next year, I’d be the only minor. I even looked up American laws just in case, but the legal drinking age there is 21, even higher than in Korea. Damn!
We all temporarily forgot our physical fatigue, happily munching on snacks and slightly spicy Kang Ji-woo’s pork ribs, chatting away.
“Look at this. There are so many posts about Ji-woo hyung’s incredible vocal power from earlier.”
“Wow, Raon is trending again.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s handsome.”
“Not surprising anymore…”
“I hope our agency really holds a concert. Wouldn’t it be possible?”
“I think our fan club name is cute, like fairies.”
At Gyun Seong-ha’s words, Ban Yo-han, crunching on potato chips, responded.
“I don’t know. Are fairies just cute?”
His tone was oddly cynical.
“What’s your problem now?”
“If you look closely, he’s always so twisted.”
I chimed in with Gyun Seong-ha’s comment.
“Tell us, why are fans fairies?”
“For example… In Cinderella, the fairy godmother gives Cinderella a pumpkin carriage, a dress, and glass slippers.”
‘Is he calling the fairy godmother cute…?’
“So?”
“Anyway, fairies are helpful and cute! Just like what fans do for us!”
Ban Yo-han, listening with an amused smile, spoke brightly.
“Your example is very twinkly.”
“What does ‘twinkly’ mean?!”
“Twinkly means…”
Ban Yo-han, with an annoyingly intellectual face, paused for effect.
“It means…”
Was ‘twinkly’ really something to build up suspense about?
“Twinkly!”
I couldn’t tell if he was drunk or just acting like this.
“Gah! Ban Yo-han, are you drunk on soda…”
Kang Ji-woo, who had been laughing so hard he fell backward, suddenly wrinkled his nose slightly and his expression hardened.
He rolled to the side, stood up, and grabbed Ban Yo-han by the collar.
‘Did he just grab his collar?!’
“You bastard…”
Unfazed by Kang Ji-woo’s heated gaze, Ban Yo-han calmly sipped his soda.
“Hmph…”
No way, that soda…
“You spiked your soda with alcohol, didn’t you!?”
“Come on. Just pretend you didn’t see. Between us!”
“There are kids here, and you’re the older one!”
“So I didn’t mix much. Just a quarter of a quarter.”
“How many glasses have you had!”
“Just three?”
“Still, not as bad as I thought…”
“The first glass was half, the second a quarter…”
He had drunk quite a lot in a short time.
“Crazy bastard…”
“Ji-woo, why don’t we go wild together?”
Ban Yo-han winked. Once I noticed, I could smell the alcohol on him.
“Then just one glass…”
“What one glass! You guys are the same!”
After a while, we managed to return to our conversation after telling the incorrigible 20-somethings to just drink openly.
“Pumpkin carriage! Dress! Glass slippers! Sure, all good. But!”
Ban Yo-han slammed his soda, no, his drink, down on the table with a thud.
I hoped it wouldn’t end in repetitive nonsense again.
“It’s great if they gently place that in front of you! Right?”
Ban Yo-han filled his glass to the brim with soda.
“But what if that pumpkin carriage falls on your head? Would fairies still be just cute?”
“You…”
“Listen! Fairies can present you with a pumpkin carriage, but if they’re in a bad mood, they can drop it on your head and send you off with a squawk! Don’t let your guard down!”
Drip… Drip…
The liquid, mixed with a slight scent of alcohol and sweetness, soaked my hair and trickled down my face.
Unconsciously, I licked the part that ran near my mouth, then quickly came to my senses and swung my fist at Ban Yo-han.
“…You heartless crazy bastard, why did you pour it on my head instead of just saying it?!”
[Inappropriate language use results in a profanity filtering penalty. (Remaining time 00:59:59)]
Get lost!
That night, I made a wish.
For rotten pumpkins to rain down on that bastard’s head!