Chapter 225

Chapter 225

Siren fans didn’t appear to think too deeply about the release of the new lightsticks. They just laughed it off, thinking there was nothing special about lightsticks coming out after a group’s activity period was over. They simply wondered whether the lightsticks would be worth their prices and if they would be true to their images.

With its release, the number of people who ordered the sticks increased, and eventually, interest in the lightsticks began to die down. It was then, that afternoon, a mysterious and suspicious-looking booth was installed in Hongdae, Seong-Su, Euljiro, Gangnam, Jeong-ro, and Sincheon[1]. Every spot that could be considered a hot spot in Seoul had one of these booths installed.

And not just in Seoul but these booths could even be sighted in places like Incheon, Chuncheonin Gangwon province, Gwanju in Jeolla province, Busan in Gyeongsang province, and Daejeon in Chuncheong province. Since the installation of booths was common in these areas, people didn’t pay much heed to them. Most of the public was already used to seeing pop-up stores like these come and go. They just thought some kind of new movie or product was coming out again, and these booths existed to promote them.

Yet, around the time when these booths were finished being installed, a Siren’s fan from Gwanju where the booth was completed earliest uploaded a post.

—???What is this??? Are our guys doing something again? (Pic of Booth.jpg)

It was a long, rectangular booth installed on the main street of Gwangju. The exterior of the booth was a simple writing on a blue background.

—Siren. 2022. 07. 25

Siren. July 25th. Though only the group’s name and date were written on it, it was very easy for an idol fan to deduce what that information meant.

—July 25th??? Are they having a comeback?

—???

—What? But their activities just ended a couple of days ago.

—Is this for real?

—What in the world? This is crazy

—This is great news, but don’t they need more rest???

Whether they did a comeback on July 25th or not, it was clear Siren was going to do something again and this would be the continuation of their activity period. Though fans were shocked at first, they began to celebrate the news of Siren’s continued activities. It was then people raised more questions.

—Why is this only in Gwangju? It’s not like they are going to only do a comeback there

People wondered why the booth was only installed at Gwangju but their questions were soon answered.

—Hold up. Our area also has this!!! This is what they had been setting up since lunchtime

—This is insane. There’s one in front of my house too

—That’s what they had in front of my company

Just within an area, more Siren booths were completed. The booths inside Seoul soon reached their full form and people from other areas took pictures of booths near them and uploaded them.

—What in the world are they planning for them to install booths all over the nation?

—What if they randomly appear in one of the booths? They could be playing a guessing game with the fans

Reply: Seriously? Hahahaha That will be crazy

—I’m serious. What’s going on? Because of how huge this scale is, I have no idea what they are going to do. Did they collaborate with a company to release a product?

Reply: But I don’t see any company logos besides Siren’s. There was no article released either

Reply: That’s true

Now, people’s curiosity was about the contents inside the booth. Yet, there was no way they could find out what was inside since the booths weren’t open yet.

—They say admissions are only allowed from tomorrow

Flick.

A green neon light began to bloom upwards in the air. It looked like it was supposed to be a firefly on a summer night. With the small green light, she was able to assess her surroundings somewhat. Followed by the light, she moved her feet. Though she still felt like she was walking in the darkness, she was able to make out the figures in front of her and didn’t clash with anybody. Then, after going around a couple of corners and walking for around one minute, her feet sank.

Psh.

“Huh?”

“Wow!”

She felt her feet sink into sand, and she realized then why the staff here had told them to enter the place barefoot. She clearly felt a fine sand shift between her toes and wondered how many years it had been since she stepped on sand barefoot.

‘When did I...go on a summer vacation...?’

It had been six years since she first joined her company and was recently promoted as a manager. Because of how busy she had been at work, she never thought about taking days off during the summer to go on a vacation. Even on the occasional days where she had the day off, she just spent the day at home sleeping, watching Siren videos, or watching shows from various media sites. Thus, all sorts of feelings swept inside her as sand touched her feet.

‘Why am I getting so emotional about this? I should go.’ Her surroundings were still dark, and she headed forward while stepping on the sand. Soon afterward, she turned corners again and heard the waves moving.

Shaaaa— Shaaaa—

She turned another corner, and the smell of the ocean began to come in. If she closed her eyes, it would feel as if she was standing on a sandy beach. Then, she sensed it instinctively then what was beyond this corner. She passed the last corner and—

Shaaaaaa—!

“Wow...” Everything she had seen until now was a buildup for this moment. Blue light poured in from all over the place, and it gave her a more effective impact because she just came out from the darkness. She felt as if she had dived into the ocean and heard ocean waves ringing from all over the place. Smell of the ocean faintly spread across space and the sensation of the sand on the floor soothed her heart.

‘What...also the wind...?’

A soft breeze just pleasant enough flowed in. This space drew out all the sensations one might feel at a beach. Instead of a Siren’s pop-up booth, its quality felt like a pop-up zone intended to provide a vacation feeling inside the middle of the city. Not just her but the other four people who entered the space were immersing themselves in the space in a daze. They just didn’t have water around them but her brain was already unable to decipher between this space and the real ocean.

—You came?

From far away, she heard a familiar voice.

‘Yeon-Hoon?’ Drawn by Yeon-Hoon’s voice, she walked towards the next corner. The closer she got to the space, she heard the other members’ voices.

—I wanted to see you.

—Could you come closer?

It was as if she was seeing Siren from the mythologies. Their voices had been reverberated so that it sounded as if someone was calling them from deep inside the ocean. Along with the others, she circled around the corner and reached the last section. This space utilized ScreenX and light beams were shooting on three walls to maximize their immersion. In this section, she saw five Siren members sitting on a yacht and looking at them.

The wind blew across their loose shirts and linen pants. Their hairstyles didn’t look carefully set and the members looked pure and natural, making the video look strangely fantastical.

“Wow...” Anyone would’ve been impressed by the sight. The quality of the video was high enough to be a scene from a movie. It was then, the Yeon-Hoon from the video approached the edge of the yacht.

—Do you want to come up?

If she could, she wanted to grab his hand and climb onto the yacht but she couldn’t. She regretfully extended out her hand when she heard a familiar voice from behind.

“You aren’t going to go up?”

“...Huh?” Her heart thumped maddeningly. She turned her head and looked behind her.

“Should I grab your hand?”

Yeon-Hoon from the screen was...standing behind her.

1. Districts in Seoul ☜