Fanboy Mode: Reawakened
1295 Words
The cafeteria noise faded into emptiness. Anxin could no longer hear Wei Wei's voice, nor Wanshang's complaints... even the two chopsticks he had been holding fell to the floor in different directions...
Why? Because on that screen, someone he was familiar with was there... Not a blurry memory... Not an old, worn-out video clip from the past... But on the phone, he was alive—singing and smiling...
Anxin's fingers tightened around the edge of the table. He sat back down then stood up again... The light from the screen reflected in his eyes—although slightly dim, his tired eyes suddenly seemed as if a light had been lit from within...
Geonwoo on stage looked... different.
His features had sharpened, and his movements seemed cleaner, sharper, more confident... His voice seemed more captivating...
But somehow—
Still the same person.
The same boy who used to dance in practice rooms...
The same voice that once echoed through cheap headphones late at night...
The same person who unknowingly—
Saved him...
"Hey, Zhou Anxin... Are you even alive?"
Wei Wei waved her hand aggressively in front of his face...
"Why are you frozen like a statue? If you don't like it, just say so... No one's forcing you to like it..."
"Give me that link right now."
Anxin stood up again and said this, causing people nearby to look over, so Wei Wei made him sit back down...
"Huh...?"
"I said, send me that MV and all their social media accounts."
Because Anxin suddenly stood up again, Wei Wei just blinked and stared at him... What's wrong with this guy, has he lost his mind?
"Oh... This is bad."
Wanshang leaned back slowly and spoke as if sensing danger in the air...
That very night, the peaceful silence of the Zhou family home was shattered...
"HAHAHAHA—HE DEBUTED—HE ACTUALLY DEBUTED—"
Anxin sat cross-legged on his bed, laptop open, phone in one hand, tablet in the other like some kind of multi-device war general...
His hair was still messy from his shower, soft strands of hair falling over his forehead... His oversized T-shirt slipped off one shoulder slightly, but he didn't even notice...
Because right now—
He had entered full fanboy mode...
"Username... username... wait—should I use something cool?"
He typed:
GeonwooSupremacy ❌
ChainOfLoveGW ❌
GWisMyReligion ❌
"...Too ordinary..."
He paused... then slowly grinned...
Finally, he typed a name—
"Geonwoo's Shanghai Cat"
"Now it's perfect... hehe..."
Across the room, his mother stood outside the door, hearing faint manic laughter...
"I'll just pretend I didn't hear that... What is this kid cackling about..."
---
Later that night, the chaos softened...
The room grew quieter, lit only by the soft glow of the phone screen...
Anxin lay back on his bed, phone above his face, replaying an old clip...
A much younger Geonwoo—sweaty, with clumsy dance moves—covering a song in a practice room...
The video quality was bad... The audio wasn't perfect...
But Anxin still remembered...
The hospital smell...
The weight in his chest...
The nights where sleep wouldn't come...
Back then, everything hurt...
Even breathing felt like effort...
And yet—
That voice...
That stupid, stubborn trainee who smiled even when he looked exhausted...
Somehow made it feel like...
Maybe things could get better...
"...You really did it, huh..."
Anxin whispered softly...
Then—
His expression changed in an instant...
His eyes lit up as if he had just thought of something...
His lips curled into a mischievous grin...
"Okay..."
He sat up and cracked his fingers...
"Time to repay my emotional debt... hehe..."
On X, a new post appeared:
🎉 GIVEAWAY 🎉
If MYSTR5 wins on a music show this week—
I'll give 20 winners 100 dollars each...
Yes, I'm serious... So please stream the MV... Vote... Start doing it now."
He hit post, then stared at it, feeling like something was missing...
"...Should I add more?"
He typed again—
If they win twice, I DOUBLE it... For Young Master Zhou, money is nothing, so these are just small matters...
---
Anxin walking to school:
Earphones in, blasting MYSTR5's songs
Slight head bobbing, completely ignoring traffic
Occasionally humming along softly...
In class:
Notebook open
But instead of math formulas…
"STREAM GOALS"
"VOTING SCHEDULE"
"GLOBAL DOMINATION PLAN"
The teacher noticed something unusual about him...
"Zhou Anxin, solve this equation."
Anxin didn't hear the teacher's question, but what was in his mind came out through his mouth...
"Geonwoo deserves first place."
"What are you answering... Pay attention to your studies..."
The classmates started giggling at his answer, so he stuck out his tongue playfully and sat back down...
At lunchtime, Wei Wei came and sat next to him, looked at his face carefully, and asked...
"Hey, how is it... The songs are good, right?... The guys are so handsome, I'm swooning... From now on, they are the kings of my life..."
"I'm not like you, liking every group that comes out... But this time, I'm especially grateful to you... For helping me find my idol again..."
"Huh? Who, who?... Let me see..."
Anxin showed Wei Wei the photo of Geonwoo he had set as his wallpaper... After that, the two of them chatted excitedly until lunchtime ended, and since one day wasn't enough, they even made a schedule for the next day...
When he got home, the post he had put on X was getting a lot of attention... For a new group like this, someone as generous as him doing giveaways is rare, right?... Both fans and non-fans were trying their luck, so it got quite a lot of views...
"Hey, is this for real?... You're not even a fanbar, but you're spending this much just for a music show?"
"Who is this lady?"
"Rich fan spotted???"
Reading everyone's comments, Anxin replied...
"A man of taste."
---
The light from the TV in the bedroom glowed brightly...
Anxin sat dangerously close to the screen, knees pulled up, staring intently at the TV...
The stage lights flashed—
And then Geonwoo appeared...
The performance was powerful...
Sharp movements... Controlled breathing... Perfect timing...
But what captured Anxin—
Was the expression...
Focused, determined... And when he smiled sometimes, he was just too handsome...
"...Yeah."
Anxin whispered.
"That's him."
When the winner was announced—
He gripped the remote tightly and started praying...
"Come on... come on..."
On the screen, 'MYSTR5' appeared in first place, but for three full seconds, Anxin didn't move at all... Then—
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—"
He launched off the couch—
Almost slipped—
Grabbed the table—
Then flopped back onto the couch, kicking his arms and legs wildly and continuing to scream...
His mother rushed into the room, worried by his shouting...
"What happened...?"
"They won."
"...Who?"
"They won."
"Okay..."
Knowing that only the same answer would come out if she asked further, and seeing that her son was fine, Mother Zhou left the room...
Anxin immediately grabbed his phone and posted...
"Alright, time to keep my promise..."
Then he added...
"Geonwoo—
you don't know me,
but you did well."
He paused for a moment and looked at his phone again... Then he deleted that line...
Rewrote...
"Our boy did well."
That night—the room was quiet again...
Anxin sat by the window, city lights reflecting in his eyes...
His usual playful expression softened.
Not gone—
Just quieter...
"You really made it..."
A small smile—
Not loud...
Not chaotic...
Just real.
Then he picked up his phone again...
"Okay, next goal."
His eyes sparkled again.
"Now that we've won one, let's all work hard for the next..."
As soon as he posted, his eyes grew heavy, and he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
- Writer
