The Variety Show Watch Party

"Honestly, I thought we were getting along just fine."

The moment those words left my mouth, the preview ended and the actual video began to play.

"Hello, everyone! I'm Evermore's Kang Yeseul! Today I have a very special guest with me — let me introduce her! Solana's very own Rose!"

"Yes. I'm Rose of Solana."

"Rose is a VTuber — a virtual entity — so while you'll hear her voice, she won't be appearing on screen! We ask for your understanding!"

"Wait, she wasn't like that from the very beginning... was she?"

"Right?"

Things had started out polite enough, I was sure of it. So when exactly had it gone off the rails?

"Rose! That's really going too far—"

"Yes? Did you have something to say?"

"Um...!"

"Yes?"

"Um... no, never mind... yes..."

"It was from the very beginning!"

"Now hold on, that one's a little unfair to me."

Yeseul had chickened out at the sight of my face entirely of her own accord. That didn't count as me bullying her, did it?

"Go ahead and file your complaint while looking at my face."

"What...? No, that's..."

"That situation was exactly the same."

"...I see."

"Yeseul? Am I scary?"

Ah. So this is where it started.

"It WAS the beginning!"

"Hmm... strictly speaking, that was the early section, not the very beginning."

After all, we were already a minute into the edited cut at that point.

...Though at the actual shoot, it had been about three minutes in.

"...I feel so bad for Yeseul."

"Tell me about it... should one of us have gone along with her after all?"

"No, then she'd have flattened both of you instead."

"...Yeah, probably."

That remark was followed by a brief silence, and the television promptly filled the empty air.

"No... but our song was perfectly fine..."

"Sorry? Could you say that one more time?"

"...Nothing. Never mind."

"...She asked that on purpose, didn't she."

"No? I genuinely didn't hear her. That's all it was."

"Hmm..."

She doesn't buy it?

...I can't exactly blame her.

Sigh... is having an expert eye for broadcast moments a crime now? Given all the karma I'd built up to that point, I accepted the verdict gracefully.

Meanwhile the video rolled on, and the conversation turned to something I'd said during the promo broadcast for our first single.

"But! I had SO much I wanted to say back then, you know!"

At those words, the camera closed in on Yeseul, complete with the bold captions so characteristic of idol variety shows.

"Right?!"

"Yes! Seriously, what was with those outfits?! They dressed all my girls in the strangest things!"

"For the record, I thought the designs themselves were lovely. The clothes simply went looking for the wrong owners."

"...Rose?"

"Yes?"

"...Nothing."

Between the well-timed BGM and the editing, the feeling of wanting to fire back but finding yourself utterly unable came through crystal clear.

Great editing job, honestly.

"Wow... so this is what it feels like when it happens to me every day?"

"That's right?"

Since Minseo had taken more hits from me than anyone, she apparently related to on-screen Yeseul a little too well.

"You had it better than her, unnie."

"What?! I get it worse!"

As Minseo protested, the picture of aggrieved innocence, Yerin gazed at Yeseul on the screen with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something like pity and answered.

"Yeseul was there face-to-face with Yeonwoo. Just the two of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them, alone..."

"...Ah."

"You were never alone with her, unnie."

"That's true... she really did have it rougher than me..."

"Is it appropriate to be saying that right in front of me?"

You do realize I'm hearing every word of this, right?

Yerin replied with a tone of pure incredulity.

"When people say your face is terrifying, you don't argue either — because it's just facts."

Well, that's... technically true, but.

Uh... I... had nothing.

I rummaged around for a rebuttal, thought it over thoroughly, and came up empty, so I changed the subject.

"...Let's just watch the video."

"Look at that. Nothing to say, so she deflects."

I let Sua's follow-up strike sail past one ear and fixed my attention on the screen.

Before anyone noticed, the prepared footage ended and we'd moved into Part 2. A staff member came in, handed over a raffle box, and left.

"...And this is...?"

At Yeseul's question, the PD explained what the box was for.

"Alright! Inside this box are some of Evermore's most famous songs! Now, draw one, and the two of you will perform it as a duet!"

"A duet?! Just like that?!"

Above the flabbergasted Yeseul's head, a caption appeared: 'Had absolutely no idea.'

"You didn't know either?"

"Right?"

I'd been caught ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slightly off guard myself, hearing about it for the first time on camera. But when I stopped to think, the whole shoot existed to promote our group, and promotion practically always meant singing or dancing, so it had made sense in the end.

"Oh...! What song did you get?!"

"Patience. It's coming up any second."

It was literally about to play. Why the rush?

"Huh...?"

"Whoa... is there really such a thing as a god of broadcasting?"

Yeseul held the slip of paper she'd drawn up to the camera.

"This wasn't rigged, was it?!"

"Nope. That really happened live."

I'd doubted it was genuine for a second myself, for the record.

"No way... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it's Pure Love..."

Pure Love was the very song that had gotten eliminated during our taste-test World Cup for being not my style.

"But honestly, I think it'd suit Yeonwoo, don't you?"

"Right? It's a much brighter, bubblier track than anything of ours — but I bet she'd nail it."

"Hmm... you can go ahead and set your expectations high."

"Oh! You're THAT confident?!"

"Well. She did sing it well."

And since this was the edited cut, it had surely been mixed, too. My voice happens to take mixing beautifully, so there was no way it wouldn't sound great.

"So how should we split the parts?"

"Reaction-time battle."

"What?!"

"Let's find out right now! Cue the backing track!"

"...You seriously went in without dividing the parts first?"

"Yep."

Half the fun of singing group songs at the noraebang is the mad scramble for parts, isn't it?

And for the audience, it's simply more entertaining this way.

"Now, hold on just a moment—!"

"There IS no 'moment' to be had!"

The instant I finished speaking, the instrumental came pouring out.

"Ah, this part was edited."

"Huh? What was?"

"The staff panicked and ran around in circles for a good ten seconds or so."

"...They probably told the staff to split the parts and had never in their lives met someone who said 'let's battle for them' instead."

You think?

Seems perfectly plausible to me.

Anyway, on screen the intro was drawing to a close, and the first line arrived.

"From the—"

"From the very first meeting, the two of us~"

Yeseul and I collided on the very first line.

"Wow... she just flat-out overrode her."

I, naturally, kept singing without a hitch, while Yeseul pulled the microphone away from her mouth.

As I listened to the rest of the song, the mixing had clearly done its job — it sounded noticeably better than it had on the day.

"The mixing came out really nice."

"Wait — Yeonwoo! Did you sing with a different voice for every member?!"

"Sorry? Yes. I did."

Since we were filming a promo video anyway, I figured variety was the way to go, so I'd sung my heart out channeling the original track.

"Wow... this voice is so refreshing right now?"

"Right?! It doesn't even sound like Yeonwoo!"

"Setting that aside — how are the parts splitting up so cleanly...?"

"Ah, I only sang specific members' parts, so Yeseul caught on partway through."

She was quick on the uptake, that one. That was the moment I remembered she was a working idol.

The first stretch had been an unholy mess, but the song steadied as it went, and from the second verse onward the breathing was pristine all the way to the final note.

"Wow... so THAT'S why she was so confident..."

"Right? Told you she sang well."

Mostly thanks to the mixing, though.

"Rose, you could sing this well this whole time?!"

"Obviously. Did you think I couldn't?"

"No! I— that's not what I—"

"...You were laughing at that part, weren't you."

"Nope."

Laughing out loud would have been poor manners, so I'd confined mine strictly to the inside.

"Oh, that reminds me — we were supposed to watch this over dinner, and I completely forgot."

Just as predicted, the edited cut had turned out so well I'd forgotten all about eating.

"Ah! You're right! It hasn't gone cold, has it?!"

"Still warm."

"Phew!"

I picked up my spoon and took a bite. Mm. Not bad at all.

"Oh! This is delicious!"

"What...? Why doesn't my cooking ever taste like this...? The ingredients are practically the same..."

"Because you get set in your ways with cooking as you get older, that's why."

"HEY! Kim Yubin!"

And so we ate, tidied up, and everyone headed home for the night.

"Yes, Yeseul? You've seen that it's up, right?"

"Ah! Yes! Our fans say they loved seeing this completely different side of me!"

"Did they, now?"

What a relief.

"Yes! They said it was adorable — first time in my career anyone's seen me so thoroughly cowed!"

Hmm...?

"...And?"

"They keep asking what on earth you did to make me unable to even look at your face!"

...I'm not about to get terrorized on a broadcast, am I?

Fortunately, no such terror materialized.

Phew! That gave me a fright!