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It all started with an email from the band’s social media team.
Liang Chen—label director and Aaron Z’s father—walked into the meeting room looking both confused and irritated. He had his laptop open, brightness at 100% and the font size cranked up to 150%, like he was about to read a bedtime story to a room full of senior citizens.
“Can someone explain what the hell this is?” he demanded.
The guys were sprawled across the couch like lazy cats. Jesse was flipping through a houseplant catalog, Tae Young was folding napkins into origami, Aaron T was messing around with a voice-changing app, and Robaire was checking his eyebrows in the front-facing camera.
Aaron Z, sitting in the corner with his laptop, didn’t even look up.
“What thing?”
Liang turned the screen so everyone could see a website with glowing neon letters and a design that somehow looked too modern:
★★ 4★TownCon 2025 ★★ — The largest unofficial 4★Town convention.
“Who organized this?” Liang said, frowning. “Look at this! They’re selling tickets, hosting panel discussions—there’s even a cosplay contest.”
“And why are you yelling like we killed someone?” Aaron T said, scratching his head. “I mean… it sounds fun. Is there food?”
“This is trademark infringement, misuse of image, and quite possibly a crime against good taste,” Liang growled.
“Where is it?” Jesse asked, far too interested.
“At the North City Convention Center. This weekend. And listen to this!” Liang read from the page: “‘Meet the real 4★Town! Or at least, the best imitators the internet could find.’”
Robaire sat up straight.
“Imitators? There are people pretending to be us?”
“Yep. And there’s a guy called ‘Robeard’ with 800 thousand followers,” Aaron Z added, already looking it up on his laptop. “He’s… wow. He’s very muscular.”
Robaire pressed his lips together.
“More muscular than me?”
“…Mmm,” Aaron Z said, not fully answering.
“This is an insult!” Robaire shot to his feet. “We can’t let a bunch of fake 4★Town steal all the fans’ love!”
“Then let’s go,” Aaron T said with a sly grin. “Disguised as ourselves. No one will recognize us if we exaggerate a little.”
Tae Young looked up from the napkin swan he was folding.
“You want to infiltrate a 4★Town convention… dressed as 4★Town?”
“Exactly!” Aaron T said, already excited. “We go as fans in costume. We enjoy the event, eat nachos, see how wild the impersonations are—and then we reveal who we are at the end. Spy movie style. Who’s in?”
There was a pause.
“If I can buy merch without being asked for autographs, I’m in,” Jesse said.
“If they sell Korean snacks, I’m in too,” Tae Young added.
“I just want to see Robaire’s face when he gets mistaken for his own double,” Aaron Z muttered.
Robaire sighed, crossing his arms.
“Fine. But if this ‘Robeard’ guy tries to hug me, I’m calling security.”
And just like that, the most ridiculous mission in 4★Town history was officially underway: infiltrate their own convention, go unnoticed, and find out just how replaceable they really were…
Spoiler: apparently, very replaceable.
They arrived at the convention center on a Saturday morning, dressed like low-budget versions of themselves.
Robaire wore an overly shiny black wig and a piece of official merch featuring a promotional image of his own face. Jesse had on a face mask to hide his features, a sleeveless shirt that read “I Love 4★Town”, and—for some reason—a cowboy hat. Tae Young had spray-painted his hair platinum blonde and was wearing a crane-patterned kimono because, “they probably can’t tell Japan and Korea apart anyway.” Aaron T rocked a sequined jacket and oversized star-shaped glasses that covered half his face. And Aaron Z… just threw on a beanie to hide his locs, a 4★Town hoodie, and an expression that screamed I hate being here.
And no one.
Recognized.
Them.
“See? It worked,” Aaron T said, delighted. “We’re completely unrecognizable.”
“I am literally me,” Robaire muttered, offended, pointing at his own face. “And that lady just told me I looks nothing like Robaire!”
“Well, to be fair, that ‘Robeard’ guy is pretty built,” Aaron Z commented, pointing at a poster where the impersonator was holding a guitar and a puppy at the same time—shirtless.
“That doesn’t even make sense!” Robaire snapped. “I’ve never played guitar in my life!”
“Shhh, look,” Tae Young whispered. “It’s the panel: ‘Which 4★Town member would you be in real life?’”
They approached the panel room as quietly as possible (which, realistically, is not very quiet for five grown men).
Inside, an influencer wearing cat ears was holding the mic:
“I’d totally be Jesse, obviously, because I have strong dad instincts and I’m also really good at pottery.”
Applause.
“And you?” they asked, pointing at a fan in an Aaron T shirt.
“I’m such an Aaron T. I’m the life of the party, I’m always cracking jokes, and I probably have undiagnosed ADHD.”
Aaron T clutched his chest.
“That kid gets me.”
But the real humiliation came when they walked into the cosplay hall.
On a makeshift stage with strobe lights flashing, the most… intense lookalikes imaginable were strutting their stuff.
“Let’s give it up for the ‘Realistic Robaire’ category!” the host announced. “Our next contestant is Robeard, from Florida, performing ‘Nobody Like U’—jazz trap acoustic version.”
A six-foot-six man with muscles like carved stone and a superhero jawline stepped onto the stage. He sang, he danced, and in a dramatic final move, he blew kisses to the crowd… before signing off in French.
“I’m… in shock,” Robaire whispered, pale.
“I’m sorry, man, but I think you lost,” Jesse said, patting his shoulder.
“I can’t get over the French,” Aaron Z muttered. “You can barely say ‘croissant.’”
“I can say ‘merci’!” Robaire snapped. “With an accent and everything!”
“Quiet,” Aaron T said, lowering his star-shaped glasses. “Guys—look! That booth! They’ve got printed fanfics!”
Like moths to a flame, they drifted toward a stand titled “4★Feelings.”
There, neatly stacked, was a comic with an illustrated cover and a bright pink title:
“Chords of Love: Aaron Z x Jesse.”
Aaron Z froze. Jesse raised an eyebrow.
“…Do I marry you?” Jesse asked, flipping through the book like it was an IKEA catalog.
“Don’t open that!” Aaron Z groaned, trying to snatch it away. “Don’t touch that with your suburban dad hands!”
“Oh, there are drawings,” Jesse reported calmly. “A lot of drawings.”
Tae Young pulled out his phone.
“This is going straight to the group chat.”
“NOOOO!” Aaron Z and Robaire shouted at the same time—for very different reasons.
After the emotional damage from the fanfic—and the public humiliation courtesy of “Robeard”—the guys regrouped next to a cotton candy machine.
Jesse was chewing thoughtfully, wearing a zen-like expression. Aaron Z couldn’t stop staring at his reflection in a lollipop wrapper, wondering if he really did have “slow-burn romance protagonist energy.” Robaire had opened a translation app on his phone and was quietly repeating:
“Je suis le vrai Robaire… Je suis le vrai Robaire…”
Aaron T, on the other hand, was having the time of his life.
“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to us! Nobody recognizes us—we have total freedom! I even bought stickers of myself where I look hotter than in real life!”
“Which is concerning,” Tae Young said, sipping a matcha smoothie with three tiny paper umbrellas. “Although I have to admit, it’s nice not being the center of attention for once.”
And so they wandered from booth to booth—buying bootleg merch, signing autographs as if they were impersonators of themselves (“With love, Aarón—with an H”), and collecting stickers, keychains, and increasingly unhinged conspiracy theories (“Tae Young is actually a vegan vampire”).
Until they reached the moment everyone feared: the trivia contest.
“How well do you know 4★Town?” shouted the host—a guy dressed as Tae Young, but with fairy wings for some reason.
“Oh, we’re winning this for sure,” Aaron T said confidently, jumping into the competition without a second thought.
“Are you insane?” Robaire asked. “You have the memory of a goldfish! You once thought we had a member named Thomas!”
“That’s not my fault,” T shot back. “Tae’s name is complicated.”
Still, they all ended up on stage as Team “Townish Vibes.” Their opponents? A group of superfans dressed as 4★Town… but better. One of them even had embroidery on his jacket nicer than the official merch.
First question:
“What is Jesse’s middle name?”
The guys looked at each other. Silence.
“He has a middle name?” Tae Young asked, confused.
“Wasn’t it… Tobias?” Aaron Z whispered.
“That was the owl we had as a pet for a week,” Jesse said.
“Five seconds,” the host warned.
“James!” Aaron T shouted.
“Correct answer.”
Everyone froze.
“How did you know that?!” Robaire exclaimed.
“And you didn’t trust me,” T said proudly.
But their luck didn’t last. In the fourth round, they were asked which ingredient Jesse always removes from his tacos.
“Cilantro?” Aaron Z guessed.
“No, that’s me,” Tae Young said.
“Tomato?” T tried.
“I hate tomatoes!” Jesse snapped. “I’ve said that in five interviews!”
“Time’s up. Point goes to Team ‘Town 2.0.’”
“This is rigged!” Robaire shouted. “I am Robaire! ME! Not that fake with the discount pecs!”
“Sure, Robaire. And I’m the real Tae Young,” the host replied flatly.
That’s when Aaron Z decided he’d had enough.
He stepped up onto the stage. Grabbed the microphone.
“Hi,” he said. “This is going to sound crazy… but we’re 4★Town.”
There was an awkward silence.
A single laugh.
And then—
“That’s exactly what a method impersonator would say!” someone shouted from the crowd.
The audience erupted into applause for their “commitment to the bit.”
“Bravo! Such dedication to the role!”
“Give them the prize!”
And just like that, 4★Town won the trivia contest…
As people who were very much not themselves.
Back in the van, everyone was exhausted… and buried under bags of merch, half-open snacks, and a bootleg Jesse plushie whose eyes were very clearly sewn on wrong.
“So… this is what it feels like to not be recognized?” Robaire muttered, hugging his jacket like it was an emotional support blanket.
“Do you feel better?” Jesse asked, adjusting his action figure (which had a paint defect that made it look like it was crying).
“No. But… I bought this book: ‘French for Beginners with Low Self-Esteem.’ It’s a start.”
“I’m proud of you,” Aaron T said, patting his shoulder. “I got this mug that says ‘Aaron T is my therapist.’ I’m gonna use it every day.”
“You’re not a therapist,” Tae Young muttered.
“Not yet.”
Meanwhile, Aaron Z was flipping through the printed fanfic he had somehow ended up taking (and signing, for some reason). On the cover, he and Jesse were getting married in Paris while Robaire cried dramatically in a fountain.
“Do you think the fans know something we don’t?” he asked with a nervous laugh.
Jesse raised an eyebrow. Robaire shot him a quick glance. Aaron T simply said:
“I already booked a chapel. Just in case.”
There was a moment of silence.
And then they all burst out laughing.
They laughed until their stomachs hurt. Laughed at the confusion, the impersonators—at life itself.
“Maybe we should do this more often,” Jesse said.
“Get replaced by cosplayers?” Tae Young asked.
“No. Laugh like this,” Jesse replied.
Aaron Z looked out the window, watching the city lights fade into the distance.
“Next time… should we go as alternate-universe 4★Town? Like in space? Or with superpowers?”
“4★Town Rangers!” T shouted. “I’ll be red, Tae can be yellow, and Robaire can be black.”
“Why do I have to be black?” Robaire asked.
No one answered.