Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Daeun's Broadcast Debut
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The director bowed his head.
"Just once, please help us out."
And Erina, standing beside him, also spoke up with a deeply apologetic expression.
"Please help us, just this once."
They were asking for help.
"This is tricky."
To be honest, I had no real ambition for TV. Whether I did it or not, it wouldn't make much difference.
That was because if I wanted fame, there were countless ways to get it without TV.
For example, by holding more exhibitions, or accepting one of the endless invitations for overseas shows.
But up until now, I'd only done the exhibitions I wanted to do.
I didn't like being tied down anywhere, and I hated owing favors, just like Director Go always said.
But this time was different.
Because the one who wanted to do it wasn't me—it was Daeun.
"I kind of want to say no."
For some reason, Daeun's insistence made me incredibly happy.
Just hearing her say she wanted to do something herself filled me with pride. That's why we'd gone to the Imagination Playground before, too.
I looked at such a Daeun and carefully asked,
"Is this really what you want, Daeun?"
"Yeah! Daeun wants to do it!"
I hadn't expected her to be this enthusiastic.
Daeun's eyes sparkled as she looked around at all the cameras set up everywhere.
I asked her once more.
"If you really want to, Daddy wants to let you. So think about it seriously and tell me—how do you really feel?"
"Daeun's feelings..."
Daeun closed her eyes, as if checking her own heart, and sank into thought.
A moment later, she opened her eyes and said,
"I want to do it."
Tsk.
When she put it like that, I had to let her.
Someone might say I was giving too much say to such a young child, but honestly, this shoot was something we could take or leave.
With the director and Erina bowing their heads like this, nothing bad would happen to hurt Daeun.
Plus, as her dad, I'd be right there beside her.
If she just acted like her usual self, there shouldn't be any problems—in fact, it could make for a great memory.
That's why I gave permission.
"If that's what you want."
I smiled brightly.
"You can do it."
"Really!"
Daeun jumped up and down as she asked again, and I nodded with a big grin.
"Of course. But you have to have a super-duper super fun time doing it."
"Yeah! Thank you, Daddy!"
Then she turned to the two people sighing in relief and said,
"Daddy says Daeun can do it!"
"Phew, we're saved. Thank you so much, our cute little artist!"
"Thank you so much. We'll be in your hands then, sir."
Sir, when he wasn't even an artist or painter. It was an awkward title if there ever was one, but for some reason...
"Haha, please take good care of our Daeun."
Somehow, this awkward situation felt pretty good.
"This might not be so bad."
"Alright, we're starting the shoot right away! Everyone, standby!"
And just like that, a bit out of the blue, Daeun's TV appearance was decided.
Tap, tap, tap.
"Hmm hmm hmm!"
Erina's makeup artist applied lotion to Daeun's face.
We couldn't use harsh cosmetics on such delicate child skin, but even this much seemed to satisfy Daeun fully.
"Nyum nyum nyum!"
Daeun hummed a tune nonstop, swinging her legs. The director and I smiled happily at the sight.
"She's too cute—who's daughter is she?"
At my words, the director looked at me with deep envy and asked,
"Do you know what this is?"
"Yeah, what?"
"If you search 'daughter' and 'son' on the internet, you get totally opposite results."
"Yeah?"
What was this about? Just then,
The director sighed and explained.
"When you search 'daughter,' stuff like 'The Joy of Raising a Daughter' comes up at the top."
Oh, I hadn't known that. But that wasn't the point.
The real reason for telling me this was probably what came up when you searched 'son.'
"But for 'son,'
'I'm going insane because of my son.'
That's the top search term."
So that's why the director was saying this.
"N-No way..."
"Now I get why raising a daughter is so fun, happy, and enjoyable."
He didn't say anything else.
He just said he envied me as a dad raising a daughter, but why did it feel like the director was on the verge of tears?
"Are sons... that tough?"
At that moment, the director's eyes shook wildly, and he muttered,
"W-Why on earth do they do that? Why? Was I like that as a kid? Why are all sons..."
Whoa, what on earth had happened to get this intense reaction?
I hurriedly patted the director's shoulder.
In response, he spoke with a half-dazed look.
"I heard this story—that moms in houses raising sons have shorter lifespans."
What the heck were sons?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't figure anything out right now.
All I knew was that the director's face, who was raising a son, was growing darker by the second.
Then the director changed his expression and said,
"Still, thank you so much for helping. As someone raising a kid myself, not many parents would let their child do something just because they want to blindly. In that sense, you seem amazing, artist. If it were me... I'd want to go home."
Was it empathy from also raising a child?
"I didn't do anything special. I just let her because she wanted to."
To that, the director pinpointed exactly,
"That's what makes it hard. You really are great."
"Haha, come on."
It felt like flattery, but rejecting it outright would look weird.
I smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.
"By the way, don't you usually not use the original script?"
With the guest changed, they'd obviously need to revise the script accordingly.
Especially since it went from an adult to a child.
"Yes, we did some quick improv tweaks... but Erina said something. That she'd already planned to do it with Daeun yesterday."
"Oh!"
If it was something planned yesterday, it must be them drawing each other's portraits.
I nodded repeatedly and explained.
"You might have heard, but Daeun loves looking at pictures, so she asked Erina to show her some. And Erina said she wanted to see Daeun's drawings too..."
"Drawings? Does Daeun draw?"
"Yeah, didn't you know?"
Seeing the director nod that he hadn't known, I briefly explained how Daeun and I ended up here.
"Ho ho, amazing. To think she'd hold her own exhibition at such a young age."
"Well, it's all thanks to President Jeong."
"I met her once for cooperation on the shoot, and she's no ordinary person. I pride myself on meeting a lot of people, but she really impressed me."
That sounded less like praise and more like worship.
"Since someone like her chose her, Daeun's the amazing one."
The conversation circled back to praising Daeun.
Just then, Erina approached, preparations done.
"Is our cute little artist ready?"
"Yeah, just finishing up... Oh, looks like she's done."
Right on cue, Daeun finished her basic makeup, got up, and ran over to us.
"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"
Daeun, who kept calling me as she ran, looked up at me with sparkling eyes and asked,
"Is Daeun pretty?"
Was she asking how the makeup looked?
I nodded emphatically and said honestly,
"You're sooooo pretty, I almost didn't recognize you!"
"Really?"
Then I leaned close to her ear and whispered,
"Anyone would think our Daeun is the star of the show."
Hee-!
Seeing Daeun smile happily, the director looked a bit uneasy.
"Ahaha, I don't usually feel this way, but today it feels especially burdensome."
"Yeah?"
"It feels like there's a huge weight on my shoulders."
I wondered why he was saying this all of a sudden.
"Can I really convey Daeun's cuteness just as it is to everyone?"
Ah... that really startled me.
I'd thought it was something bad. Erina seemed to think the same.
"Ah! You scared me!"
"Why, what'd I do?"
"Use your subject and object right. Don't make people misunderstand."
"Haha, got it. Got it. So let's start shooting now."
With that, the director spoke to Daeun, even prettier after makeup.
"Alright, our pretty little artist—ready to start filming?"
Daeun raised her hand high and shouted at the director's words.
"Yes! Daeun's ready!"
"Okay! Let's start filming!"
With the director's shout, filming finally began.
Ding-dong-!
[Recording Day Morning.]
The first scene started with Erina alone in a spacious studio, painting.
Swish swish.
In the silent interior, with no voices at all, only the sound of the brush scraping the canvas could be heard.
Ding-dong-!
A doorbell broke the silence.
[Oh! They're here!]
Erina stood from her seat with a bright expression and hurried toward the door.
A moment later, someone entered through the door.
It was a child who looked no older than five.
"Auntie!"
"Oh, Daeun!"
Erina welcomed the child called Daeun warmly, and Daeun greeted her back, shouting,
"Daeun came to draw!"
At the word "draw," one of the panelists watching the screen asked Erina,
"Oh, she looks so young—does that kid draw too?"
"Daeun. Her name is Daeun."
"Ah, Daeun. What a super cute name."
At the compliment, Erina narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
"Nah, our Daeun hasn't even started being cute yet—don't say that already."
"Yeah? Hasn't even started?"
"You'll see when the later scenes come up—you might faint."
The panelist who asked gulped and said,
"I-Is it that cute? Ah, now I'm really looking forward to it..."
He said that, but his face was full of anticipation.
"Y-Yeah, you can look forward to it. That day... I think it was the day I laughed the most lately."
At Erina's words, all the panelists watching the screen grew expectant.
A child's cuteness overdose—who wouldn't get excited?
But the broadcast had only just started.
"Shall we keep watching then?"
The host hurriedly resumed the footage, and moments later.
"Eeeee! So cute!"
"Ahh! Too cute!"
Screams of cuteness erupted from everyone watching.