Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Is That Kang Yumin?!
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Is that Kang Yumin?!
"I'm Jo Yoona, the PD in charge of production this time."
The woman who seemed to be the representative among the four who entered with the headquarters chief bowed her head first in greeting.
The production staff participating alongside her followed with brief self-introductions, and I bowed my head as well, saying please take care of me.
"Chaewon is so famous that praising her would just wear out our mouths..."
The PD directed a polite gesture toward me.
"You look even taller and more striking in person. I bet you got scouted on the street a ton back in school, right?"
A classic compliment to butter someone up.
Still, it was praise, and she said it with such a warm, easygoing smile that of course it put me in a good mood.
I was about to respond with thanks and some flattery of my own when...
"Whoa, PD, how did you know?"
"Huh?"
"Yumin actually got street-scouted a ridiculous amount. Especially in middle school. He got more than I did back then."
Chaewon jumping in ahead of me.
It was out of nowhere, but her tone was like a mom bragging about her kid, which somehow softened the subtle awkwardness in the air.
"Oh, now that's a story I'm dying to hear."
"That's exactly the kind of thing you save for the content later, right?"
"Ha, you're going to make us hold off on this? I should've set up the camera quick and filmed it."
"Should we reshoot the same scene? And add subtitles like 'We did it again.' That'd make a nice little laugh point."
"Chaewon, ever thought about directing? Your instincts are spot-on."
Natural back-and-forth between the writer and Chaewon.
A guy who looked maybe three or four years older than me at most mounted a phone on a small tripod, while the woman next to him stood and handed us a few sheets of the planning document.
"Yes. First off, we want to thank you both for joining us on this content."
"No, we're the grateful ones to be working with such talented production staff."
"Haha. Then, to live up to your expectations, let me quickly walk you through our planning doc."
Yoona PD stood and moved to the presenter's spot.
She pulled out the presentation remote from her dress shirt pocket and dove right into the briefing with practiced ease.
"As you all know, this content is a variety show with documentary-style editing that unpacks the past, present, and future of the hot-topic childhood friends, Chaewon and Yumin. We'll produce two episodes, 30 to 40 minutes each. The whole concept is positioned as a follow-up to your vlogs, so naturally, the editing will preserve that vlog vibe as much as possible. And with Chaewon offering to help out, thank you again."
"You're the ones putting in the effort for us. Of course we'd help."
"Right. Moving on, we'll start shooting late June and wrap by the end of September. We made the timeline generous on purpose—probably done by August."
Page turn.
I flipped the page in the planning doc accordingly.
"Since it's fan service at heart, there'll be more footage of Chaewon for the present and future parts, so Yumin doesn't need to worry too much."
Thanks to Yoona PD explaining the structure, concept, editing direction, and shooting schedule in such straightforward terms, even a total newbie like me followed along perfectly.
It was actually fascinating and fun learning how all those shows I'd enjoyed came together.
"That's our plan so far. Later, you can meet with our writers for more details. Any questions?"
The presentation wrapped in under 20 minutes, and Chaewon, who'd been listening quietly, raised her hand.
"You said upload around October, right?"
"Yes."
"By October, I'll be deep in tour prep, and Yumin will be back at school starting college life. To highlight the future part, wouldn't it be better to add footage of those two things?"
"We did consider that, but would that be okay?"
Yoona PD held out both hands toward me and Chaewon.
I turned to meet Chaewon's eyes, then nodded.
"No issue there, but even if you film it, you'll probably only get a few seconds' worth. How about we just shoot on our personal phones and hand over the footage?"
"Yeah, you can direct us on how to film, and we'll match it. Way easier that way."
"That'd be perfect for us. So, when should we schedule the next meeting?"
"Four days from now sounds good."
"I'll sync with Yumin then. We've got questions to ask together anyway."
"Haha, you know your stuff. Before we wrap, mind a quick interview?"
Yoona PD met our eyes with a gentle gaze.
Neither Chaewon nor I minded, so we nodded without hesitation.
"Great. Let's start with a few easy ones for Chaewon. You're famous for editing your own vlogs, right...?"
Chaewon's interview went on for a while.
Even just filming the vlog had made me feel how different our lives were, but watching her now—being interviewed on camera in front of everyone—it felt even more surreal.
"Yumin, you look way too amazed."
"...Huh?"
"Someone might think you've never seen Chaewon before."
I guess she'd caught me staring; Yoona PD had turned toward me at some point.
The camera filming Chaewon swung my way too.
"...To me, there's always been just one Han Chaewon, and she's huge now, so yeah, it's wild seeing her like this."
"You were like that during the vlog too. Haven't you watched a ton of Ever MVs in the army?"
"That felt weird too. Especially when you did that ending fairy aegyo thing... Ugh, camera's on, so I'll hold back."
"Hold back what? I wanna hear that review bad enough to pay for it."
"PD, my turn now?"
I ignored Chaewon's chatter and flashed an intentional grin at the camera.
I don't know what was so funny, but the PD and crew burst out laughing.
Thankfully, Chaewon looked just as baffled as me.
Muttering about how cute we were, the PD wiped tears from her eyes and got back to it.
"Yes, Yumin's turn. First question, so we'll keep it easy."
"What's the question?"
"Any casting or ad inquiries after the vlog dropped?"
A high-class curveball I never saw coming.
It was sharp enough that it took a couple beats of real thought, and I couldn't hold back a dry chuckle.
"......Yeah?"
"Word is you've already got dozens of offers for castings and ads. True?"
"...Uh, yeah. Not sure where you heard, but yeah, tons of places reached out—grateful for it. But I turned them all down. Didn't think I could deliver."
I have no idea how they got my number and email, but yeah, offers poured in from everywhere.
From simple product holds to invites on those trendy dating shows.
Seeing the pay they offered had me seriously tempted to fire up an Instagram account right then.
Who knew they dangled that much cash?
In the end, I passed because I figured I couldn't meet their expectations, but it really drove home how powerful fame is.
"But we heard you were the one who suggested this shoot, not Chaewon?"
And man, PDs and writers knew how to build tension.
Whoa, it connects like that?
"...Oh, so that's the main hook."
I let out a hollow laugh and chugged some water from my half-empty bottle.
The girl who'd barely done the vlog was now not just doing ads from fame but another vlog—and I'd pitched it.
Anyone who knew our situation would raise an eyebrow.
"Felt like it wouldn't happen again."
I answered straight.
"Even sharing Chaewon's daily life—that's still celebrity Han Chaewon's daily life. But to me, she's still just my friend. I wanted to capture that time. Time we could leave behind as friends. I wanted to seize that chance."
"......"
"Plus, there was the bet."
I smiled and turned to look at Chaewon.
You'd know what I meant, but her face showed zero flicker—acting or not, I couldn't tell.
"Next question's easy too..."
The rest of the interview wasn't tough.
A few zingers to surprise, sure, but all to keep the vibe lively.
Nothing offensive, so I answered earnestly and relaxed.
"Thank you both so much for your time today."
Interview included, a solid 40 minutes.
Our first meeting with the crew wrapped successfully.
"PD, mind chatting more about editing? Just 20 more minutes?"
But pros gonna pro.
Chaewon had more to say, and the PD matched her enthusiasm.
"I'll head out then. Thanks for all the help today."
I said goodbye to the crew and the headquarters chief one last time, then left the conference room...
"...Han Chaewon?"
"Hey, no goodbye for me?"
Chaewon, mid-chat with the PD, had snuck up beside me with a playful grin.
"Don't you have stuff to discuss with the PD?"
"Still gotta see you off. Look at this outfit I put on just to come here."
"...That again?"
No one else said a word about my clothes, but she always made a fuss.
Thinking wear this again and see, I stood by the elevator.
"Think of it as payback for the provocation?"
You tossed it back casually.
I knew no one was around, so I smiled lightly.
"Actress through and through?"
"Laying a trap and then brazenly provoking?"
"It's a bet. Gotta fight dirty."
"Right. Pull out every trick."
The elevator dinged at my floor.
Short chime, doors slid open.
"In that spirit, wanna throw down one more?"
Four women were already inside.
"Whoa! Is that Kang Yumin?! If yes, give us a circle!!"
"Wow, I never thought I'd meet that Yumin..."
"We're fans~."
"Hehe, big bro Yumin."
"...Ever?"
Hey, that's cheating.