Moon nights - a summer romance in Seoul

Chapter 19: Jonghyun

Author's note:

Make sure to listen to these three songs while reading the chapter (they are part of the moon nights playlist):

Stray Kids - DLMLU
Boyfriend - Good Night
5sos - Youngblood

Enjoy the show! 🤍

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Will I ever stop beating myself up over things I have no control over
Or is this what makes me human

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Today was the day of the launch.

One of the reasons why I had gone viral on the internet and grew such a following within the last year was thanks to the readers of a series called "the rockstars." They had picked me as their favorite fc for the lead singer and guitarist, Tommy, and ever since I have seen videos and photos of me edited within context of the books on a daily occurrence. Which I didn't mind, I loved seeing the results of those edits. Not only as a confidence boost in an industry where self doubt is sadly part of the ultimate package but also seeing the engagement between people who bond over books. It was adorable.

Today was the launch of the final book of the six-book long series, and to celebrate the release of the series finale, the author and her publisher had organized a launch party of a different kind:

Reaching out to every fandom fc, they managed to get all four guys, the readers had chosen as their favourite fc, to get together in Seoul to attend the event. Not only to attend the event but also to perform a couple of songs. Yes, I was busy the past two weeks because we were practicing the setlist consisting of three songs to perform at the event, like the band "Maniac" of the series.
We were bringing their favorite fictional characters to life. I loved the idea the second I heard of it and immediately agreed to my manager on the phone call to accept the job.

I used to play guitar when I was younger, and muscle memory helped me out by learning the easier riffs on the electric guitar with the buzzing strings under my touch. Light to the touch. Easy to get lost into the sounds. Music was always an escape route that I preferred over the busy crowds of the city.

It was singing that worried me the most as the only experience of me singing was from karaoke bars. Surprisingly, it turned out better than we imagined. The soundtracks were even recorded to help with the performance's quality as a backtrack. We couldn't believe it was us singing when we heard all three songs as soundtracks.

The best and my personal favorite part of the event was the surprise for the launch attendees: the final book as a goodie from the event with actual photocards of one of us for the ultimate experience. Genius. Or should I say, maniac?

The creation of the photo cards was one of the strictest time plans I had ever worked on on set. We had come in at 4 am to get our hair and make-up done. Immediately began the photo shooting once one of us was ready to go. The photo shoot lasted from 6 to 7 am. I was really tired and had fallen asleep on the couch of the studio once I was done so I don't really remember when we wrapped up the photos. Running on adrenaline, nervousness and caffeine, I was excited to see the reaction to the surprise.

My outfit consisted of Tommy's signature look: black skinny jeans, black boots, a white tea, and a statement black leather jacket. It was simple, but the key to his appearance was his rockstar aura, the author had explained to me before the photo shooting had begun. Putting on an extra layer of cockiness and confidence, I let the character speak and pose for me today. With fox eyes make-up and lipstick stains decorating my neck, I managed to wrap up posing for the photocards the quickest. Call it experience. Now they had to retouch, print, and distribute the photocards inside the books. I truly loved this idea.
25 photo cards of each of us.