Fanservice

The tour bus continued on through Seoul as Mukashi mulled over what Miya had asked. He kept thinking about it as she stepped off the tour bus at the designated entrance and was escorted into the convention center by a small team of security guards. Eventually, he pulled out his phone and looked up her event, determined to keep an eye on her and keep his mind off of the question she'd posed.
     Miya stood on a small stage in the center of the venue. There were guards around her, and the line of people who were waiting to greet her snaked through the entire venue. Though there were a few other idols present, as well as some food stalls and vendors selling collectibles, none of the stands were nearly as occupied as her own. She looked out over the long line of people waiting to talk to her or snap a selfie with her and braced herself for what was going to happen. 
     The first hour was mostly girls around her own age. They smiled and took photos with her, and a few of them even tried to make small talk. Miya did her best to match their enthusiasm, and when one of the girls who walked up to her was obviously having a bad day, she did her best to cheer her up. As long as she was going to be a K-Pop idol, she was going to do her best to inspire hope in people. 
     The second hour involved more younger girls. Miya got their names and smiled and told them that anything was possible if they would pray for a miracle. Some of them gave her their phone numbers in hushed whispers, and despite the fact that she knew she'd never call them, she treated their whispers and secrecy as if they were the most important things in the world. She knew that she couldn't be there for everyone, but in that moment, she was going to do the best she could to lift their spirits, if only briefly.
     The third hour was a mix of children and parents, along with more groups of teenagers gathered together to see her. She loved the children, and when a mother of three came forward and the smallest one started to cry, she sang a quick, gentle lullaby for the baby that had laid dormant in her mind for years. When the mother asked her where the lullaby had come from, Miya almost slipped.
     "My-" her eyes widened briefly as she remembered how her grandma had used to sing to her, before she'd grown up and her grandpa died. She breathed deeply, then spoke to the mother. "My lullabies, like all my other songs, are little miracles that I'm blessed with in the moment. Not even I know where they all come from." She smiled sweetly at the mother.
     The mother bowed and left respectfully with her children. 
     The fourth hour went past with some men that were Miya's age. Most of them looked like they were pressed for time and would rather be somewhere else, but they were also mostly being led by their girlfriends or younger sisters. Miya smiled as the girls led the men along, but she made sure to keep the interactions timely, both for the men's sake and her own as her break drew nearer and nearer.
     Then it came. 
     She followed the guards until she arrived in a small breakroom. There was a soft couch, a bathroom connected to it, and a table with snacks and drinks provided to her. She settled onto the couch briefly and looked up at the ceiling as she contemplated what she'd done that day. She wondered, briefly, if the Southwell siblings would be interested in coming to one of her fan meet-ups. Her eyes widened and she sat up as she realized that the idea wasn't awful. She resolved to put that in her next letter to the siblings. 
     She thought about how she would suggest it and write it out, before deciding that she would think of that later, after she was done working for the day. She breathed deeply as her break came to a close, took a sip of water, and then followed the guards back out towards the stage.
     The crowd that greeted her was still ridiculously large, but she was ready to meet them with a smile and a miraculous attitude. She gestured for the first fan to step forward. It was a young woman, a tourist who was maybe a year older than Miya, and she was insistent about taking more than one selfie, which was strictly not allowed because of the rules of her meet-ups. 
     "But why can't I take more than one? It's not like you're going anywhere." The woman said. 
     Miya smiled politely at the woman.
     "Ma'am, that's just how the rules are." She said calmly.
     "Well, it's a dumb rule and I don't think you should enforce it. You're the boss here; just let me take another photo with you!"
     Miya felt the urge to let the security guards deal with the tourist woman, but just before she did so, she realized that she wanted to try and do the right thing just a little bit harder. As the guards started to move, Miya spoke up again.
     "Ma'am, you can't take more than one selfie because there's a lot of people behind you who have been waiting just as long for a chance to take a selfie with me. Taking more than one makes it so that the people at the back have less time to do so. Please try to understand; if I had the time to take more selfies with you, I would use it." She said patiently.
     The tourist woman blinked. The guards kept approaching her, but then she raised her hands and started walking out of the area for photographs.
     "I-I'm leaving, don't touch me." 
     The crowd was much more well behaved after that. The hours passed by without incident, with Miya doing her best to brighten up people's days and provide a little encouragement however she could during the brief, less than one minute long interactions. Towards the end of the day, her legs started getting sore from standing, her hair started to feel a little stiff, and the makeup on her face began to feel bothersome, but she kept smiling.
     And she thought about how she wasn't smiling because she felt like it was the only way to be worth anybody's time; she was smiling because she genuinely wanted to make these people's days better. That was part of why she'd become an idol; because they helped make people happy. 
     A memory emerged.
     She was thirteen; her and her grandparents were inside while it rained over their barley fields. They had been listening to the radio, and there had been a K-Pop artist on at that time. It hadn't been a particularly hard day, but the rain made the entire household a little gloomier than it normally was. Then the K-Pop artist started to sing.
     "Don't think you bo-ther me."
     "You make it all ea-sy."
     "And every word you say,"
     "Brightens up all my day,"
     "So baby please stay here,"
     "And pull me closer, near"
     "Enough to hear your heart,"
     "Beat for the two-of-us!"
     And suddenly, the rainy day hadn't seemed as gloomy. Her grandma had smiled slightly, saying that the song was 'completely ridiculous.' Her grandpa had tried to sing along momentarily, but gave up once the chorus came around. She'd sung along with the artist, and though she'd been a little off-beat, her grandparents had assured her that she sounded great.
     She came back to reality as soon as the next fan walked up. 
     It was just a teenage girl, but the girl was wearing something Miya hadn't seen before. The words 'Miyashi Forever' were on the shirt in letters that were a mix of blue and steel gray. Before Miya had the chance to really take in what the shirt said, the girl spoke up.
     "H-hi! I was, um, before the selfie, oh my gosh," the girl looked ecstatic, as if she hadn't actually expected to reach Miya at all, "um, is it true that you and your manager are, um, d-dating?" The girl sounded like she was about to burst from excitement.
     Miya almost hesitated.
     "How do you want me to pose for our photograph together?" She asked politely.
     The girl deflated, then pulled out her phone and asked for Miya to stand a certain way. Miya did her best to do exactly what the girl suggested, and then in order to try and make up for shutting down her question, she stuck out her tongue for the photo playfully. That ended up doing the trick, and the girl went away with a wide smile.
     Once the event ended, she returned to the bus and looked at Mukashi.
     "M-Mukashi... I'm sorry, but I have another question."