Guess Who I Am
Ha, it's freezing to death out here.
Just yesterday I'd been thinking summer clothes were jumping the gun a bit. Time to formally retract that statement.
This place was a steam bath. I sat slumped in a chair, barely managing to breathe, when someone opened the trailer door and stepped inside.
It was singer Kang Sehyun.
"Yeonjae. You must be exhausted. You okay?"
"Yes. Sorry, but could you take this head off for me?"
"Oh! Sorry, sorry!"
He rushed over, fumbling, and pulled the doll mask off my head. The rush of liberation was indescribable. Wow. This was not a normal kind of suffering.
'We're shooting our own content tomorrow, and I desperately need your help.'
When I'd taken that call from Kang Sehyun last night, in the middle of a photo shoot, I had no idea things would come to this.
For one thing, I didn't know what "own content" meant, so I'd stupidly asked him to explain.
'It's short for "self-produced content." We make one variety-style episode a week, just us members, and upload it. You've never heard of "Space On"?'
I had not. Not once in my life.
His voice had sounded so glum that I promised to get back to him and hung up. After the shoot wrapped, I looked it up — and it turned out to be far bigger than I'd expected.
'The views are over two million across the board, for starters.'
I couldn't click through every episode, but the production scale rivaled anything on a terrestrial network. The Space members were all great talkers, and I spotted comments saying even fans of other groups watched it regularly.
'I wonder if Noh Bihyeok will do stuff like this once he debuts.'
If you wanted to be an idol, you'd probably need about twelve bodies to survive it.
So I asked why on earth my help was needed for a Space shoot, and Kang Sehyun mumbled something vague and evasive.
It looked suspicious as anything, but I owed him one from last time, and it felt wrong to refuse. I had no schedule anyway, so I said yes and showed up this morning at the place he'd told me.
The moment I saw this sitting on the chair, my face went rigid.
'Today's concept is "converting citizens into Space fans." You wear a mascot costume, go up to people, chat a little, and promote us. That's it.'
'If it's not too rude of me to ask, could you explain why exactly I need to wear a mascot costume…'
'We did this exact concept two years ago, in costume. But the writers said the material was getting stale, so this time each member invited their closest celebrity friend to do it instead.'
…
There was more than one thing I failed to understand here — I honestly didn't know where to start with the objections.
That I apparently counted as one of singer Kang Sehyun's "closest celebrity friends" was, of course, surprising in itself.
But what I understood least of all was the logic of calling me for a mission that required walking up to total strangers and striking up conversation.
'Self-produced or not, it's still a variety show. Variety!'
I was not, as a rule, a funny person. And he knew that perfectly well.
When I asked what on earth he'd been thinking, the answer I got was something else entirely.
'Well, the costume was a deer…'
'…Are you serious right now?'
'Remember how that deer pajama set you wore at the sports festival went viral? It made me think of you, so I called. It was supposed to be someone else, but he suddenly texted last night saying he couldn't. I'm really sorry.'
'How do you even know about that photo, hyung? I only posted it on the fan cafe.'
'Your fans work hard at promotion, huh? That picture was everywhere I looked.'
Hah. If I'd known this would happen, I should have said no when Jinbae hyung asked whether he could upload those photos to the fan cafe.
It was too late to take them down, and whining that I couldn't do it wasn't an option either. I swallowed a deep sigh as I put on the mascot suit and offered only one remark.
Told him not to blame me if his screen time got edited down to nothing because of me.
'Still, I didn't expect it to be this brutal.'
Approaching strangers was harder than I'd imagined.
Busy modern people breezed right past me without a flicker of hesitation. I'd just spent two hours wandering the streets and come back with nothing to show for it.
My hair was damp with sweat, and I hadn't done a single thing worth sweating over.
"I'm sorry. For no good reason, I—"
"It's fine. Are the others doing better, by any chance?"
"Huh? Oh, uh. Well."
Kang Sehyun rolled his eyes.
'Damn. Looks like I'm the only one who couldn't pull in any footage.'
See? Why did he call me?
I felt like a performer shoved onto a stage with no rehearsal, and it didn't sit well with me. Even worse when the audience seats were all empty.
'No point moping about it.'
I had to focus on what was in front of me. I took a deep breath and lifted my head.
'I just need to do the one thing I'm good at.'
For the record, that list had exactly one item on it.
"Hyung, I'm heading back out. Help me put the costume on, please."
"Oh — okay. Sorry about this. Just one interview! Just one, then you're done. I'll put in a good word with the editing team, I swear."
"Don't bother. When I give the signal in a bit, come out."
"…Huh?"
Ignoring his blank, bewildered echo, I steeled myself with quiet resolve.
'From this moment on, I am Kang Sehyun.'
Hong Jiyeon had taken her first half-day off since joining the broadcasting station, and she was blissfully happy.
'I'm outside at this hour! In daylight!'
The sky was a crisp, clear blue. Even looking at it with her own eyes, she could scarcely believe it.
'I'm supposed to be welded to the editing room right now.'
A day this sunny practically begged for an outing, but an exhausted office worker wanted only one thing: rest. She was power-walking home, thinking of nothing but a shower and her bed the instant she got in the door.
That was when a person in a deer mascot costume came bouncing into her path.
"Hello there~! Terribly~ sorry to bother you, but could I borrow just a moment of your time for an interview?"
"Ah…"
It was a voice so refreshingly pleasant that even Hong Jiyeon — a woman who had callously turned down countless "Have you heard of our temple?" solicitors — faltered for a beat.
The costume muffled it slightly, sure, but the voice itself was impossibly bright.
While Hong Jiyeon hesitated, the deer turned on the charm.
"I know, you're in a hurry. I'm so sorry. Actually, I'm a celebrity!"
"…I'm sorry?"
"See those cameras back there? I'm in the middle of a mission right now."
The deer stretched a paw backward. Sure enough — several cameras and a small crowd of staff.
'Those are real cameras.'
As Hong Jiyeon turned around with a flustered expression, the deer whispered quickly:
"They'll blur you out in the edit, so don't worry about a thing."
The words were pitched low, too quiet for any microphone to catch.
Hong Jiyeon nodded along in a daze, and the deer immediately switched back to its bright stage voice.
"All you have to do is guess who I am, and I get to go home! Could you maybe help me out, just this once? Please?"
"Ah, I'm sorry, but I don't really follow celebrities."
It was a shameless lie, considering celebrity faces were what she stared at every working day.
'Sorry, but I cannot be bothered right now.'
Every minute and second ticking past felt like a waste. She felt genuinely bad for someone working this hard at his job, but she herself was simply running on fumes. With an apologetic smile, she was already beginning to edge away—
"Sob. I'm a little hurt, you know. We've actually met before…"
"…Excuse me?"
"You work at the broadcasting station, don't you? I recognized your face right away — do you really not remember me…? Was our friendship… only ever worth this much to you?"
The refreshing voice had morphed, in the space of a breath, into a dying tree branch.
You're wearing a full-body mascot costume. How exactly was I supposed to recognize you.
The moment Hong Jiyeon choked up and lost the ability to speak, the deer laid the pity on thicker still.
"I'm truly sorry for taking your time. I'm just desperate to get off work too. Sob, sob. All you have to do is guess my name. I'm begging you."
A deer bowing apologetically with its stubby plush paws pressed together — it was adorable, and pitiful, and utterly unfair.
Fine. Might as well just guess fast and end this quickly.
"All right. I just have to guess the name, right? Any hints?"
"Of course! I'm a singer!"
The deer grabbed the microphone and mimed belting out a song. Even the brief gesture was dripping with aegyo.
'A singer? Going by the age range, probably an idol.'
Judging by the build under the costume, they couldn't be older than their late teens, tops.
'Ugh, but if it's someone I don't know, this is going to get awkward fast.'
Worry flickered across Hong Jiyeon's face, and the deer smiled brightly.
"And for the record — I'm very, very famous!"
"Famous? How famous?"
"All I can say is, you'll definitely know who I am!"
She let out a small breath of relief at the sheer confidence of that posture. Meanwhile, a parade of boy group names was already scrolling through her head.
"Singing our song would make it way too easy, so instead — I'll show you exactly one move!"
The deer formed a finger gun, then slowly traced a hand down the curve of its waist.
Hong Jiyeon almost blurted a word out, then caught herself.
'No, hold on. The voice is too young for Space… wait, aren't they all my age anyway? No — but isn't that literally Space's choreography?'
The deer laughed merrily at her visibly confused expression.
"Remember: you get exactly one chance. Only one of the seven can be named."
…
That meaningful tone settled it for her. Seven members — it was Space, all right.
Now, who was the maknae of Space again? Choi Injun, wasn't it?
'Maknaes are always that full of aegyo, so it has to be him, right?'
And if it wasn't… well, sorry, but that was Hong Jiyeon's problem to not care about.
"Last hint! I actually act, too."
Nailed on. Choi Injun was famous as the group's acting idol.
Hong Jiyeon was just about to shout the name with an easier heart—
That was the instant the other person leaned in close. Two black plastic eyes arrived without warning, inches from her face.
"And what I did just now was acting, too."
"…?"
"I was imitating one of our members. He's the exact opposite of me in personality, so it was a little embarrassing to copy him… haha, but it was fun."
Hong Jiyeon's eyes wavered.
'What… what happened to the mood just now?'
The bouncy, bubbly voice had sunk into something level and calm. The hands that had been flailing about exaggeratedly had gone quiet, fidgeting awkwardly at the back of the neck instead.
It was as if a completely different person had swapped places with him in a blink.
"The member I was imitating is so full of energy that just being around him perks me up more than I'd like to admit. I only approached you because of the mission, but… you looked so worn out that I thought maybe a little of his spirit would help. That's all it was."
"Ah… yes…."
An apology — sorry for messing with you like that — flowed out of the deer as smooth as anything.
It was such a steady, dependable way of speaking. And somewhere, somehow… familiar. Who was it? Whose voice was this?
'That tone is really, really familiar.'
Hong Jiyeon was still racking her brain over the remaining six members when the deer, waiting patiently with its answer unclaimed, gave its nose a soft sniff.
At the sight of that gesture, Hong Jiyeon shouted before she knew she was going to.
"Kang Sehyun! It's Kang Sehyun, isn't it?!"
She was sure of it. She broke into a wide grin.
'I've watched him do that little nose-sniff a hundred times.'
She was the one who edited the live broadcast held in celebration of the Hello, My Summer finale. Watching an hour-plus livestream dozens of times over, she'd even picked up on the fact that Kang Sehyun had a habit of rubbing his nose.
'If it's Kang Sehyun, him bumping into me in person makes sense, and the acting makes sense too.'
Space had exactly two members who acted: Choi Injun and Kang Sehyun.
And the moment the tone dropped into that calm register — nothing like the aegyo from a minute ago — it carried the unmistakable weight of a leader. Of course it did.
Flushed with the thrill of having guessed right, Hong Jiyeon smiled brightly, and the deer laughed right along with her.
It was that peculiar laugh of Kang Sehyun's, famous enough that even non-fans recognized it instantly.
'How did I not get it sooner?'
No wonder the voice felt familiar. Now that she looked at it, it was simply Kang Sehyun, pure and simple.
As Hong Jiyeon glowed with satisfaction, the deer grinned and pointed rhythmically at her shoulder — at something behind her.
'…? Behind me?'
Before she knew it, Hong Jiyeon turned around.
"Haha. Hello there."
And standing behind her was Kang Sehyun, in the flesh, in perfectly clean clothes.
"GAH!!"
Hong Jiyeon jerked back, gasping, her eyes ping-ponging between Kang Sehyun and the deer.
At the sight, Kang Sehyun burst out laughing — and the deer made the exact same sound.
Confronted with this utterly incomprehensible situation, all Hong Jiyeon could do was stand there with her mouth hanging open.
Then, slowly, the deer raised its hands and lifted off the mascot head.
"…!!!!"
"It's been a while."
And there, smiling brightly at her, stood her personal fairy — Lee Yeonjae.