Overnight Fame
And so began Week Two of My Idol Academia.
Through the phone Lee Jiwoo handed me, I scrolled through the flood of internet articles that had poured out the moment the first episode aired.
But the one that really caught my eye was this:
"…Holy crap."
Of course, having lived a previous life, I already knew My Idol Academia was going to be a hit. But ratings this high already?
I was staring blankly at the viewership articles when Lee Jiwoo scrolled further down and pointed at something else.
"Yerin! Forget the ratings articles for a second. Look at the ones below!"
"The ones below…?"
I followed her finger down the screen, and—
An article about me. And that wasn't the only one zeroing in on me.
Reporters churning out articles about me like a factory assembly line. Of course, they had so little actual information on me that none of the pieces contained anything particularly meaningful… but the sheer volume of articles alone told me just how much exposure I'd gotten with the public and the media.
"Yerin, that's not even all of it. I checked the other communities too… here, look."
This time, Lee Jiwoo showed me a post from an internet community board.
"……."
"And posts like this aren't just one or two — there are dozens, hundreds of them. The comment counts are way higher than that."
"…In that case."
Lee Jiwoo grinned, resting a hand on my shoulder.
"Congratulations. You're famous now."
Nineteen years since being reborn in Ha Yerin's body. I had finally stepped past the boundary of being an ordinary person… and properly set foot into the world of entertainment.
"Boss! A bunch of the articles are mentioning Hyeongje Entertainment because of Yerin! Thanks to her, we're walking the flower path now!"
"Is that so…."
Lee Jiwoo — who used to be terrified of Kang Hyeongman for looking like a gangster, and was now the exclusive trainer at Hyeongje Entertainment — beamed at him with pure cheer.
"Our company needs to grow too! Hire more staff, recruit more trainees! And…!"
"Alright, alright, just calm down first…."
If anything, Kang Hyeongman seemed to be the one struggling to handle Lee Jiwoo's energy.
Lee Jiwoo and Kang Hyeongman. The two of them sincerely celebrated my first broadcast debut, then launched into a discussion about Hyeongje Entertainment's future.
I slipped out of the monitoring room in the meantime and stepped onto the terrace. I needed to cool my overheated head and feel the cold air on my face.
A gust of wind swept past.
"Haa…."
As expected, the breeze cleared my mind a little and settled my chest. But still—
My hands were trembling.
People I didn't even know had seen my face through a screen… learned my name… and called out for me. How was I supposed to put this feeling into words?
…It was terrifying. My racing heart wouldn't calm down. But at the same time—
I want to do even better.
A hunger to show more of myself to people… to be recognized even more. The fear of being watched and the thrill of it were so tangled together I couldn't quiet either one.
Maybe I… was always cut out to be a celebrity?
I let out a small, private laugh at the thought — and that was when it happened.
The terrace door creaked open.
"…Yerin."
"Suhyeon-ssaem."
Someone stepped through. It was Kang Suhyeon.
"You'll catch a cold. It's still freezing out — what are you doing out here?"
"Well… I just couldn't get my heart to settle down."
"Ah…."
Kang Suhyeon flinched slightly at my words, then nodded and came to stand beside me.
"Yeah. Of course you couldn't."
"Do you know this feeling too, ssaem?"
"No. I don't. But… I've seen a lot of kids just like you."
Something flickered behind her eyes — as if scenes from the past were passing through them. She'd spent a long time at a major agency like JJ, after all… she was probably overlaying me with the countless students she'd taught before.
"Yerin, you'll probably never forget this feeling for the rest of your life. The moment you first introduced yourself to the public…."
"Yes…."
I nodded quietly. Just as she said… I had a gut feeling that I would never forget this moment for as long as I lived.
Kang Suhyeon watched me nod, then smiled gently and asked,
"Filming for Week Two of MIA starts again tomorrow, right?"
"Yes. They want us there by nine in the morning."
Starting tomorrow, Week Two of My Idol Academia would be filmed back on that same set. From Week Two onward, teams would be formed for the competition stages and voting results would be announced… so in practice, this was where the real game began.
"……."
After I finished speaking, Kang Suhyeon hesitated for a long while before asking,
"Seol… she's not exactly the warm type, is she?"
"……!"
I hadn't expected Kang Suhyeon to bring up Yu Seol first, so I was briefly caught off guard. Then, after a moment—
"No…."
I nodded. Yu Seol really wasn't the warm type. On camera she projected a cute, friendly image, but in reality she kept walls up and treated others coldly.
My answer darkened Kang Suhyeon's expression again.
"…Seol will probably keep building those walls going forward, and sometimes she'll show that cold side of hers."
"……."
"…But I'd hope you don't hate her too much for it. Seol… wasn't always like that, you know."
Yu Seol hadn't always been that kind of person… Then what had changed her?
As those thoughts churned through my mind, Kang Suhyeon gently covered my hand with hers and spoke in a heavy voice.
"It's going to get really hard from here on out, Yerin. The entertainment industry… this business isn't just the glamorous, laughter-filled place it looks like from the outside."
"Ssaem…."
"I'm leaving because it scares me and wears me down… but you, my last student — I want you to keep smiling right up until the very end. I'll always be cheering for you from behind."
A small smile rested on Kang Suhyeon's lips as she said it. Through that smile, I could tell every word she'd just spoken was genuine.
Kang Suhyeon. Always expressionless, yet warm-hearted — my first vocal trainer, from whom I'd learned so much. So I would keep the promise she'd asked of me.
"I won't lose my smile, right up until the very end."
I had a face a hundred times more blank and cold than Kang Suhyeon's… but just as she said, I would not lose my smile until the final moment.
"Good, Yerin. That's enough… that's enough…."
And just as Kang Suhyeon and I stood there holding hands—
The door slid open.
"Huh? So this is where you two were."
Lee Jiwoo and Kang Hyeongman stepped onto the terrace. Kang Hyeongman asked me in a slightly worried voice,
"Yerin, you've got to be back on set starting tomorrow, don't you? If you need to get up early, you should go to bed soon. Get your coat on — I'll drive you home."
"Ah… actually, Boss. Could you maybe arrange somewhere else for me to stay tonight?"
"Hm? You're not sleeping at home?"
"Well…."
In answer to Kang Hyeongman's question, I held up my phone — which had been going absolutely berserk for a while now.
"If I go home right now, I don't think these two will leave me alone."
Kang Hyeongman took one look at the indiscriminate barrage of calls and messages from my parents, his face crumpling as he nodded.
"…I'll arrange a place for you to stay tonight. Right now."
"Thank you."
At least we'd watched Episode 1 of MIA at Hyeongje Entertainment. If I'd watched it at home, I couldn't even imagine how much my parents would have clung to me and spun me around. Just picturing it was exhausting.
And so that night, I didn't go home. I spent the night at a hotel Kang Hyeongman booked for me.
The next morning.
Kang Hyeongman picked me up as if it were the most natural thing in the world and drove me to the My Idol Academia set.
"I stopped by your place at dawn and packed your things, but I'm not sure I got everything."
"I checked in the car earlier — everything I need is there. Thank you."
"…Good."
Kang Hyeongman nodded with his usual blank expression.
"Everything else — including dealing with your parents and anything outside — we'll handle all of it. You just focus on putting on a good showing at MIA. Understood?"
"…Yes. I'm always grateful, Boss."
"What am I even doing? You're the one doing all the hard work."
That made me laugh a little in disbelief. He picked me up by car every day, bought me meals, hired trainers, and even took care of my family — how was that "not doing anything"?
No matter how many times I thought about it, he was a boss I was truly grateful for.
"Then I'll be off, Boss."
"Go on."
I bowed deeply to Kang Hyeongman and headed into the set. My first stop was the dorms — I wanted to unpack my things in my room first.
I was walking toward the dorms with my backpack on when—
"Unnie—!"
"…Hm?"
I turned toward the voice calling me, and—
"Unnieee—!"
"…Gah."
Park Yujeong, beaming with a sunny smile, came flying at me and threw her arms around my neck.
"I missed you, unnie!"
"…Y-yeah. Me too, Yujeong…."
"Unnie! You watched the broadcast yesterday, right? Oh my god! You looked even more insane on TV? And the viewer reactions!"
Even after time apart, Yujeong was still every bit the golden retriever. As I ruffled her hair, I noticed other contestants heading toward the dorms around us. Together with Park Yujeong, I watched the participants arriving at the MIA set one by one.
"…Yerin."
"Hm…? Unnie?"
Among them was another voice calling my name. One I could never fail to recognize — Lee Hyejeong's.
I turned toward the sound of her voice behind me. And then—
"……Huh?"
"……."
"…Hyejeong-unnie?"
The moment I looked her way, I froze completely in place at a sight I hadn't expected at all.