Po wasn't someone who followed the idol scene, whether it was girl groups or boy groups. He might enjoy some idol songs but had no idea whose songs they were. Whatever Spotify shuffled for him, he listened to it.
Whatever songs played frequently in restaurants or convenience stores, he could hum along to. He didn't like going to concerts because there were too many people, and the travel was inconvenient.
His connection with Mars, the number one T-Pop group, was limited to songs he heard while making breakfast, seeing the five members on banners while riding the train, or on standees in front of convenience stores.
The closest he got to them was through his best friend, Baifern, who was a hardcore fan of Mars and also the admin of the group's biggest fanbase, called Sphere.
"You!" Baifern's voice came before she even sat down opposite him in a Scandinavian-style café.
"Mars is having a fan meet. Can you cover it for me? I just got a last-minute client event."
Po glared at his friend, annoyed that she didn't even bother to greet him properly.
"Sorry, let me try again." She stood up, stepped back three paces, and walked over at the same pace, this time greeting him, "Hey, you! How's it going? You doing okay?"
Po gave her a half-hearted smile. Baifern returned a forced one. There was no sincerity in either exchange before she cut straight to the point.
"Mars is having a fan meet. Can you cover it for me? I just got a last-minute client event."
"Wow, thanks for giving me one line of air time and not even letting me reply."
"So, can you go or not?"
"Well, I'll check my schedule..."
"Don't pretend like you're checking your schedule. You don't have a job.
You can't fool me."
"But I don't like events like this. There are too many people. Just let me edit clips of those five monkeys from home instead."
"Monkeys? Who's a monkey? Don't talk about my boys like that!" Baifern grabbed a tissue from the table and whacked him on the head.
"My boys are adorable!"
"Alright, alright."
"Okay, so you're going. This Sunday, Winner Hall, 2 PM to 4 PM. I want photos of them smiling and greeting the camera. Here's the ticket." She shoved the ticket across the table. "It's a bit far, but your camera quality is good enough. As the admin of the fanbase, I can't not have footage from this event. Got it?"
"Well..." Before Po could even answer, she transferred money into his account.
"Done! Deal closed. I've got to head back to work now-so busy, it's insane. I've sent the design draft to the client three times, and they've rejected it every single time. The agency life is so depressing." She gathered her stuff and glanced at the untouched croissant on Po's plate. "I'll take this." She popped it into her mouth and left.
"You didn't even find out if I'm doing okay," Po called after her. Baifern replied, her voice muffled by the croissant, "If you're not okay, go see a doctor!"
Po sighed, looking at the fan meet ticket in front of him with the faces of the five members-Thame, Jun, Dylan, Pepper, and Nano.
That summed up his relationship with Mars.
TO BE CONTINUED.