A History-Making Commercial Shoot (1)
A History-Making Commercial Shoot (1)
The truth was, Alice was convinced she was closer to Yujin than anyone else.
Social media was to blame.
[Alice Littlewood]
(Photo of her drinking Pine-Needle Snow with Yujin)
Pine-Needle Snow again today!
Delicious!
===
72k likes
'Looking at Outstar, Mr. Võ Chí Công and I were the only ones posting photos with Yujin. Hehe.'
After the academy lifted its social-media ban, she reopened her Outstar account.
In the eyes of the people there, she was Yujin's one and only friend.
They posted photos together, and they'd even appeared side by side in the entrance-exam video.
Naturally, everyone envied her for being friends with a celebrity.
Alice was practically bursting with pride.
She and Yujin were Pine-Needle Snow comrades acknowledged by the whole world.
The thought made her so happy she could have laughed aloud.
At least, that had been true until the weekend.
'He spent all day Sunday with Sia? And even went to meet her father!?'
Articles about Yujin joining the Cheonhwa Clan had poured out on Sunday.
His contract with Cheonhwa was worth celebrating, but...
Of all people, the clan head was Sia's father.
And Sia was obviously the one who'd taken him to Cheonhwa.
A daughter had introduced a man to her father?
Even to a Westerner, that was no small matter.
A father was a father, East or West.
When a daughter brought a man home, her father couldn't help but see him as something more.
There was no way Sia didn't know that.
She must have taken him there knowing exactly what it meant, deceiving the innocent Yujin.
To Alice, it was clearly one of Sia's schemes.
She couldn't help but think so.
'I didn't have the right to say anything about who Yujin dated, but... no. That woman was obviously after his abilities, wasn't she? As his comrade, I couldn't tolerate that.'
Obsession flared inside Alice.
Sia was only acting that way because of Yujin's power, anyway.
Even without any of that, Yujin and I were already close comrades.
We'd been that way before I even knew about Yujin's ability.
I became friends with Yujin first, and I was supposed to lose him to Sia, who was only playing the temptress for his ability?
Absolutely not. I had to protect Yujin.
...Even while thinking that, though, technical terms like NTR and BSS kept popping into her head.
Anyway.
Those thoughts put a sharp edge in Alice's expression.
-Ding.
'A DM... Oh?! Th-this was it!!'
A message arrived at just the right time.
Alice shot up from her seat.
Her eyes blazed with resolve.
'I'd accept it, get even closer to Yujin, and...!'
This had happened around twelve hours before she suggested that she and Yujin become idols.
* * *
Monday morning.
Alice dropped a bombshell first thing in the morning.
"Yujin, let's go on TV together!! We're going to be idols!!"
"......?"
Where had idols come from all of a sudden?
It might have made sense coming from Sia, who liked that sort of thing, but Alice only listened to Western pop like the Beatles.
"Actually, I got a DM yesterday asking if we wanted to shoot a Pine-Needle Snow commercial! They must have taken a liking to our Pine-Needle Squad!"
"Ah."
So it was about a commercial.
What had I been thinking?
I regained my composure.
I'd done commercial shoots many times before the regression.
There was no reason to be flustered now.
"A commercial... Honestly, I'm not interested."
"What!? But it's a Pine-Needle Snow commercial! Why not!?"
"If a weird commercial airs, it could ruin your image. You might be stuck with the embarrassment for life."
As the Second-Round Hypnosis Breeding Guy, I thought filming a commercial now would be rash.
My image could suffer depending on the commercial's content...
and worst of all, what if I said something like 'I'm strong, you know' and it was immortalized as a cringe meme?
I didn't want to end up embarrassed like in the First Round, wondering, 'They told me to say a cool line, so why was everyone making fun of me?'
"Don't be like that, okay? Please? It's Pine-Needle Snow! It can only improve our image!"
"I'm telling you, commercials are different."
"It'll be fine! And they also said they'd let us drink Pine-Needle Snow for free for life!"
"Ugh."
No matter how much I explained, Alice refused to give up.
My resolve gradually weakened.
"Do you really want to film the commercial that badly?"
"Of course! You and me—the two members of the Pine-Needle Squad—will spread Pine-Needle Snow across the world!"
I wasn't keen on it, but...
Alice, my wife, wanted it that badly.
The scales that had been tipping toward refusal swung sharply the other way.
The weight that tipped them was love.
'Fine. I'd just bite the bullet and do it.'
"Ahem. Then..."
I made up my mind and cleared my throat.
The answer Alice wanted most.
I was about to tell her, 'Sure, let's film it together.'
———At least, that had been my intention.
-Grab.
"The two of us, comrades in the Pine-Needle Squad, can do it!"
"......!!!!!!?"
The moment she hooked her arm through mine, my mind was obliterated.
A rush of perfume. The fresh vitality unique to a woman in her early twenties.
The resilient softness pressed against my upper arm... different in character from Master's.
What was this? Alice shouldn't have had those feelings for me yet.
Why was she initiating this kind of physical contact? Was this normal in Britain?
"A-A-Alice. Y-your breasts are touching me."
"Don't change the subject~ The Pine-Needle Snow commercial! Let's film it together! We'll cover the whole world in pine needles!"
Through it all, Alice remained utterly innocent.
Apparently, this level of physical contact didn't embarrass her at all.
I couldn't help being impressed.
-Squish squish.
'My wife really was the best...'
Physical contact with my wife, the most beautiful woman in the world.
We were close enough to feel each other's breath.
My heart pounded hard enough to hurt.
All at once, my wife seemed unbearably lovable.
Before the regression, I'd have scooped her up and rushed straight to bed.
And my lower half, too...
-Freeze.
'......!? I-I won't feel any sexual desire for the next hour!!!!'
My long train of thought was cut short by my half-drawn Yujindo.
I hurriedly suppressed my libido with hypnosis.
It had stopped at half-draw because Alice was still only in her early twenties, but...
That overwhelming destructive power, and the intimate physical contact so different from merely looking at her.
Three more seconds and I would've fully drawn my sword.
Even though hypnosis had saved me from disaster, the danger wasn't over.
'It didn't go down immediately.'
It took time to sheath a drawn sword.
Wasn't that common sense every man knew?
Every man had struggled in the bathroom one morning at least once, after all.
And my Yujindo was a two-handed sword.
Even half-drawn, it had an overwhelming presence.
Fortunately, it was still early morning.
No one was around, so I didn't have to worry about dying socially, but...
If Alice herself saw it, I was finished.
What was I supposed to do? Cover it with my hand now?
No. That'd only make it more obvious.
What if I covered it with a book or something...
I hadn't brought anything because I had no intention of studying. I was literally empty-handed.
It was an inescapable, life-or-death crisis.
I chose a frontal assault.
"Alice."
-Grab.
"......!!!!?"
I grabbed Alice's shoulders and pulled her toward me just like that.
Until our eyes met inches apart.
Close enough to be on the verge of a kiss.
"Y-Y-Yujin? What are you doing all of a sudden?"
"It'll be a hard road. Pine-Needle Snow is persecuted in Korea. Some people even insult us as pine caterpillars."
Of course, I wasn't crazy enough to lunge in for a kiss.
I only needed to stop Alice from looking down.
It was a distraction to buy time for my sword to return to its sheath.
"Y-you're... really close..."
"Do you still want to do it—with me?"
"......!!!!!?"
It sounded deadly serious, but beneath the surface they were talking about nothing important.
Would we choose a modest, happy life as ordinary Pine Caterpillars?
Or would we film a commercial and become famous Pine Caterpillars?
"If that's what you want, I'll gladly do it too."
As your fellow Pine Caterpillar, I'd stand with you.
Alice's gaze darted in every direction.
"I-I mean... Huh? Are you serious? You really want to do it? That!!?"
"Of course. I'll work hard so you'll be satisfied."
"Sa-sa-satisfied..."
"I'm not confident in my acting, but I only have to follow the advertiser's directions."
"...Huh?"
Her pupils snapped back into place.
At the same moment, my Yujindo finished sheathing itself.
The plan had been to buy time by speaking needlessly grandly.
Mission complete.
"Well, I made it sound like a big deal, but it might not be anything special, right? Could be a totally normal commercial."
"Ah."
"So if you film it, I'll film it too, Alice. Together, as fellow Pine-Needle comrades."
"Ah... okay. Then let's do it. The commercial shoot."
Alice's gaze seemed a little colder, but...
Well, I had grabbed her shoulders out of nowhere.
Maybe she was wary because the contact had been a little aggressive.
"Since I just signed with Cheonhwa yesterday, they'll negotiate the contract terms for me there. I'll ask them to handle yours, too."
"Okay. I'll reply to the beverage-company representative and tell them that."
-Mutter, mutter.
"You're absurdly wholesome, so why do you phrase things so confusingly? If you say you'll "do it" in an atmosphere like that, of course I'd..."
She kept grumbling for ages, so it seemed her favorability toward me had taken a serious hit.
I felt wronged.
* * *
After a great deal of behind-the-scenes discussion, the Pine-Needle Snow commercial shoot was set for Thursday that week.
It seemed awfully rushed, but...
From the beverage company's perspective, of course they wanted to hurry.
They'd taken a speculative shot at the unattainable Alice and ended up hooking a big fish like me.
They probably wanted to film it before I changed my mind.
Besides, my popularity was probably soaring right now.
Thanks to Cheonhwa's media campaign, I was getting excellent publicity.
If they wanted to capitalize on it, they had to film and air the commercial quickly. Naturally.
So I accepted it without much thought, but...
'Wait, Thursday of the second week?'
A game event suddenly flashed through my mind.
A smile spread across my lips.
I immediately raised my phone.
-Click.
"Father. It's me. Yujin."
[Look who it is. If it isn't Yujin. I enjoyed the ginseng wine you gave me the other day. I could tell the person who made it put their heart into it.]
"...Haha. I'm glad it was to your taste."
After exchanging a formal greeting that pricked my conscience, I got to the point.
"More importantly, about the commercial shoot—could I choose the filming location? Hangang Park."
[Hmm? If that's what you want, it should be possible... but why?]
"Hangang Park is nice, isn't it."
[Well. Alright.]
I asked him to change the filming location.
Hangang Park.
———The place where an A-rank Gate would appear on Thursday.