Chapter 3 - Bunny mask
It was the day of the awaited meet-and-greet and Sejeong was preparing herself in one of the staff rooms. 'Blue Bird Bookstore' was the company's newest investment, boasting 4-floors, and complete with its own café and bakery. After years of construction, the store was finally opening its doors for the public and Daisy was apart of their marketing scheme.
The bookstore was so big that Sejeong needed Manager Seo's help navigating her way into the staff room.
"This is my masks?" Sejeong said while holding up a big, furry bunny mask.
"It's cute isn't it?"
"Are you kidding me, I look like I belong in some horror action game."
Manager Seo softly laughed and patted Sejeong's bunny head. "It suits you."
Sejeong rolled her eyes, knowing that Manager Seo wouldn't be able to see under the mask and took big strides. It was difficult to see from the mask and she would need to practice how to walk.
"You need some help? You look like a just born giraffe."
"I'm fine, and how do you know what a baby giraffe walks like anyways?"
Manager Seo grabbed Sejeong's hand and escorted her to meeting hall. Even from a distance, Sejeong could hear the shuffle of a big crowd and excitement in the air.
"How many people are here today?"
"Five hundred," Manager Seo replied.
"Five Hundred!" Sejeong knew that her fans were eager to finally know Daisy's identity, but she wasn't expecting to meet so many people in one day.
"Yep, Ms. Daisy didn't you know that you were popular? Thousands of people wanted to come, but for capacity and safety, we limited to your top five hundred fans."
Suddenly, Sejeong felt her stomach turn and twist. She had never been in front of such an audience, and, and, what if she messed up? She took a big gulp and her body stiffened as they reached the site. Was it the stuffiness of the mask? Her head felt dizzy and beams of sweat started to roll down her forehead.
"Hey," Manager Seo said, tightening his hold around her hand, "you're going to be great. Twenty, remember?"
Sejeong let out a small laugh."Yes, twenty."
"Ladies and gentlemen, please stand in an orderly line and can we get a round of applause for your favourite author, Daisy!" This was her cue. When she stepped out into the audience, the book store roared in cheerful energy.
"Wow, is it really her?" she heard one person say. "I can't believe I'm really seeing Daisy!" Another person shouted out. Everyone had their phones out, and Sejeong couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the amount of attention she was receiving. Eventually, the event staff ushered the audience down and tried to reorganize the now disorientated line.
"Please get back into line! Everyone with a ticket will get a chance to meet the author! Please wait for your turn!"
The meet-and-greet finally started. One by one, fans came to her table with big smiles and her books. The job was fairly simple. All Sejeong needed to do was to sign their copies and exchange a few words with her fans, and so far, everyone had nothing but praise to share. Some even began to cry and shared how impactful her writing was. This made Sejeong think about that magazine interview. When she watched videos of Tryangle, it was common to see fans cry, but never in a million years did she think she'd be on the receiving end of such emotion. Her heart filled up with a warm fuzzy feeling. 'I'm glad I agreed to do this,' she thought.
The event finally came to a close and staff began to clean up the area. Sejeong rubbed her right wrist and tried to stretch some of the tension away, focusing her attention to the crowd behind the barricade. Manager Seo said that the meet-and-greet participants were chosen through a draw, and many fans who weren't lucky would still come to see her. She waved to the crowd and they let out a collective scream. They came all the way to see her, and she felt sorry that she couldn't give much more than a wave in return.
Just as the screams calmed down, a tall man jumped from the crowd. His height made his appearance clear, a black coat, face mask, sunglasses, and a deep bucket hat. No matter how you looked at it, he had suspicious attire going on.
"Ms. Daisy!" the suspicious man yelled. In response, security took no time in grabbing the man's arms and they began to drag him away. "No, no, please wait! It's a misunderstanding! I'm not a suspicious person!" he tried to protest. But it was no use. Manager Seo didn't exaggerate when he said extra caution would be taken throughout the event, Blue Bird Media was taking no chances with their biggest author.
"I'm Jooyoung!" the man screamed out, "Jooyoung from Tryangle!"
The crowd began to instantly heat up at the announcement of a celebrity appearance. In a matter of seconds, people began to push and run towards the man.
"No way, it's actually Jooyoung!" they said while pulling out their phones. The meeting hall turned into a big mess, and even security couldn't manage to control the crowd.
Daisy was standing on a elevated platform and could see the entire meeting hall turn into a riot. Her gaze focused on the man—her precious Jooyoung! If he was telling the truth, Sejeong's idol was about to get crushed by a crowd. Her crowd! As a Trio, she had to protect him! She jumped over the barricade and pushed her way towards him.
"This way!" she said, grabbing the cuff of his jacket.
Sejeong used the complete chaos to slip into one of the backdoors.
"Jooyoung, are you okay!" she asked, catching her breath.
Jooyoung lifted up the rim of his hat, and there was no mistaking it. It was one of her boys, leader of Tryangle, Jooyoung Lim.
"Do you know me?" he asked. Sejeong couldn't help but laugh at that question. Did she know him? Did she know him? She had been a fan since their debut, attended every concert, and made sure to buy every album, and here he was, asking if she knew him.
"Of course I do. Is there anyone that doesn't know Jooyoung Lim in this country?" she replied with a smile. Except, she was still wearing the bunny mask, so he wouldn't know that she found amusement in his question.
"Ms. Daisy, no, author Daisy, you have no idea how much I've wanted to meet you."