We Are Dreaming Idol! (First Public Release)
For a full week after I returned from My Idol Academia, the power dynamic between me and my parents had completely flipped.
One day Mom called me over with a pitiful look on her face.
“Yerin… could you come sit with me for a second?”
“What is it?”
“Well… our household money’s completely run out…. Do you think you could spare some of last month’s part-time wages for living expenses?”
“…….”
It looked like outright robbery, but for my parents this was actually remarkably gentlemanly. Normally they just unlocked my account without a word and took the money.
“Hic… from now on Mom will be thrifty and careful with the household. So please, just a little for living expenses….”
Tiny tears gathered at the corners of her eyes as she spoke. Apparently my recent hard line had forced her to switch tactics to the waterworks. Parental tear campaigns had always worked on me before. Come to think of it, the time I replaced Dad’s graphics card had been pure tear strategy too.
Hic… sob…. Yerin…. Could you replace Daddy’s graphics card? The one I’ve got is so garbage…. Games are hic….
…Dad, this isn’t the time for games. You need to find a job and start earning….
Waaaaah—! If I just had a better graphics card… just a better one, the stress would melt away and I’d find a job so much faster—! Waaaaaah!
Haa… so how much do you need….
Thanks, Yerin! Daddy’ll cover most of it—you just chip in two million won!
But the me of now was different. Looking at Mom’s tears… I felt nothing at all.
“Why should I hand over money I earned from a part-time job for living expenses?”
“Why…? Because we’re family, of course….”
“Ah, then how about this.”
I pointed toward Mom’s closet.
“Your closet is stuffed with clothes you never wear. If you pick out a few and sell them secondhand, that should cover living expenses, right? Use that.”
Naturally, the moment Mom heard that—
“Whaaat—!! Absolutely not—!!”
—the tears vanished and she shrieked.
“Do you know how hard Mom worked to buy those clothes! Why should I sell them for living expenses!”
“Why? Because we’re family.”
“Ugh…!”
Throwing her own words straight back at her left Mom glaring at me with pure resentment. That expression of hers was actually pretty. The fact that I, Ha Yerin, had been born with this face owed a lot to my parents. Especially Mom—when she was young, men lined up to give her anything she wanted. That vanity still clung to her; she couldn’t resist luxury brands. She’d scrape together every last won to buy them, and when the money ran out she’d sob pitifully and cling to little me. There had been times I felt sorry for her… but now she just looked childish. Dad was no different.
“Y-Yerin…. Daddy’s so hungry—side dishes don’t matter, could you just make some rice?”
“Figure it out yourself.”
“But… Daddy doesn’t know how to cook.”
A man his age who still couldn’t cook. Dad was handsome enough that if he appeared on TV right now, middle-aged aunties would go crazy calling him a silver fox. I’d seen his high-school graduation photo once—calling him a face genius wouldn’t have been an exaggeration. Even my grandfather’s generation had been loaded. And yet… right after marrying Mom, Grandfather passed away and Dad gambled away the entire fortune. Whenever he drank he would launch into the old stories. There had been times I felt sorry for him too… now he just looked pathetic.
“If you can’t cook, ask Mom to do it!”
“You… you… Yerin! What kind of way is that to talk to your father! How can a child speak to her parents like—”
“When Mom and Dad never fulfilled their duties as parents, why should I fulfill mine as a child?”
The instant those words left my mouth, both of them pulled genuine long faces at me.
“O-our pretty daughter Yerin…!”
“How could you say something like that…!”
This wasn’t tear acting. This was real.
“Hah…….”
Their faces were so detestable… and yet the longer I looked, the more my resolve started to soften, so I simply walked out of the house.
“…I’m going out. Feed yourselves.”
“Where are you going at this hour—!”
“Yerin—!”
And so the cold war in our household continued.
The family cold war finally ended on the seventh day after I returned from My Idol Academia.
“I’m ho—”
The moment I came home from school as usual, I was met with Mom and Dad sitting in the living room with dark expressions.
“…Ha Yerin. Come sit here.”
“…….”
My parents were childish and terrible people, but they weren’t the type to pull rank and manufacture a heavy atmosphere. Yet for some reason the usual light mood had been replaced by a chill that filled the living room, so I steeled myself a little and sat in front of them.
“What’s going on?”
“…While you were at school, Mom and Dad talked all day. About how you’ve changed lately.”
Please. If they had that much free time they could’ve been looking for jobs. Truly carefree people. I snorted inwardly and answered.
“And?”
“Until now we never said anything because you were such a kind, well-mannered daughter. But looking at recent events, your behavior has gone too far.”
Dad wore a stern face as he spoke; Mom nodded along.
“So… Mom and Dad have concluded that you need discipline.”
“…Discipline? How exactly are you going to discipline me?”
At my question Dad fetched something from behind and held it out.
Thud.
It was a ballpoint pen and a stack of A4 paper that looked like at least several dozen sheets.
“Here. One hundred sheets of A4. Write a reflection on everything you did wrong to Mom and Dad.”
So that was their idea of discipline—just a reflection essay. Not exactly a heavy punishment for something called “discipline,” but…
“…No.”
Of course I had no intention of going along with it.
“What right do Mom and Dad even have to discipline me? The ones who failed at being parents all this time are you two—you should be the ones writing reflections.”
“Ha Yerin! How dare you speak to your mother and father like that!”
Mom raised her clear voice in anger. Dad, rarely, also wore a furious expression and barked at me.
“Yerin! Exactly how have we failed as parents? We gave birth to you… raised you…. Sent you to school! And… um… anyway!!”
“A filial daughter can do a little housework for her parents! Was cooking and washing a few dishes really that hard?”
“Of course you can feel tired and resentful. But you still have to speak respectfully to Mom and Dad!”
“How did that sweet Yerin turn into this….”
After carpet-bombing me with nonsense in a one-two punch, they set the A4 paper in front of me and said,
“We’ve spoiled you too much.”
“We’re correcting it starting now, so write the reflection.”
“No.”
“Ahem—! Ha Yerin! Is that any way to treat your parents…!”
The conversation was looping endlessly when—
Bzzzt—.
“……!”
The moment Dad raised his voice, a phone suddenly started vibrating. I always kept mine on silent, so it wasn’t mine. The sound was coming from Dad’s pocket—his, then.
“Who is it at a time like this?”
Dad snapped irritably and answered without even checking the caller.
And then—
“Hello! Who is this! What—who? ……Ah, CEO Kang.”
The instant he realized it was Kang Hyeongman, he immediately straightened up and became meek.
“Yes, haha. Doing well. Yes yes. Come on~ when have I ever bullied Yerin~ Yes, but why the call…? Yes?”
Mid-call Dad turned to me.
“Yerin! CEO Kang says he’s called you a lot—didn’t you see?”
“…Calls?”
At his words I pulled out my phone and checked.
…Apparently I’d set it to silent and never noticed.
“…I had it on silent, so I didn’t see them.”
“Yes, sir. Yerin says she carelessly left her phone on silent and missed them. Ah, yes—shall I put her on now.”
Dad handed me the phone with a slightly awkward expression; I took it.
“Yerin.”
“CEO.”
Given the situation just now, his voice felt strangely welcome.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Nothing major—have you checked the video yet?”
“…Video? What….”
I tilted my head, and Kang Hyeongman explained.
“The My Idol Academia group theme song video went up at midnight last night. You should take a look.”
“Ah.”
Right—they’d said the video would drop sometime this week. So that had been last night.
I immediately pulled out my own phone and opened YouTube. Without even searching, the algorithm had already pushed the group theme song video into my recommended feed.
And that video was—
It had already surpassed 1.7 million views before a full day had even passed.
“Huh…? These view counts….”
“Yes, the views came out better than expected. I’ll hang up—watch it carefully. Check your own screen time in the video too.”
Click.
With that, his business finished, Kang Hyeongman hung up. I set Dad’s phone down, rubbed my eyes, and checked the view count again.
…I hadn’t misread it.
1.7 million in seventeen hours….
Of course I’d known from my previous life that My Idol Academia had been a massive hit. But this much?
“…….”
Staring blankly at the screen at numbers far beyond my expectations…
“Y-Yerin, what is this. V-views at 1.7 million….”
“I-is this you, Yerin…? H-hurry and play it.”
The parents who had been about to discipline me now clustered around me, staring at the phone screen. Before I knew it, Mom and Dad’s hands were resting affectionately on my shoulders.