Prologue (2)
After wrapping up my preparations in a halfhearted rush, I hurried out of the apartment.
Nakyeong, ever the understanding one, let me go without a fight, so I managed to leave early.
Even if, at my age, I now had a curfew.
"Just try not coming home by eleven."
So on my way out, I set an alarm for thirty minutes before the deadline.
No matter what, I couldn't stand the thought of my own daughter lighting up a cigarette right in front of me.
Where did she say this place was again…?
After about five minutes of walking, I reached the area near the beer hall Choi Yeonjeong had mentioned and pulled out my phone to call her.
"Yeah. I'm right out front. Mm. Mm-hmm. Got it."
At her invitation to come inside, I peered carefully into the interior and stepped in with cautious feet.
"Welcome."
"Whoa…! You're way better-looking in person!"
There, dressed casually and nursing a beer, Choi Yeonjeong and a young woman with a plain, unassuming face greeted me warmly.
So this is the person?
She had to be the one Yeonjeong said wanted to meet me.
"Sit over here."
Yeonjeong shifted her hips to make room, and I slid carefully into the seat beside her.
In the narrow booth, with Yeonjeong's already wide hips, we ended up pressed tightly together whether I liked it or not.
"It's a little tight—you okay? The bigger tables were all full."
"It's fine. But this is…?"
"Ah. Hello!"
As if she'd been waiting for the cue, she thrust out her hand for a handshake at once, introducing herself as Hwang Areum and declaring herself my fan.
"I work as a variety show writer at NTV!"
So she was a variety writer at a broadcasting station.
"Wow. NTV?"
"Yes. Have you heard of I Live Roughly?"
And not just any show—she was the writer for one of the biggest hits on air.
"Of course I know it! I catch it at home sometimes. The clips that go up are fun too."
"Aww. Hearing that you enjoy our show…! On behalf of the team, thank you so much!"
"The pleasure's all mine, meeting someone important like you."
In the easy, cheerful atmosphere we exchanged greetings, then naturally sipped beer while talking about Yeonjeong's channel.
"Ahh. So you really just ended up on camera by pure chance?"
"That's right. I only planned to grab a meal, and then Yeonjeong suddenly showed up with a camera."
"Kind of… a hidden-camera bit?"
"Hah. That explains it."
Hwang Areum wasn't just a fan in name. She claimed she'd watched every video Yeonjeong uploaded multiple times.
She'd even rewatched the Japan trip video uploaded today three times over.
I still haven't watched it myself.
It was almost startling that someone more passionate than the person actually in the videos existed.
"As a fan, there's something I've been dying to ask personally…. Would it be too rude to ask just one question…?"
"Ask away."
"Heh heh. Since you gave me the opening…. That Tokyo video that went up today—the part where you only booked one room and one bed."
"Ah… that."
"Was that staged?"
"No. She genuinely messed up the reservation."
"What, it just… happened?"
"Oh my god."
Once she learned the full story, Hwang Areum poured out genuine admiration and clapped her hands together with a sharp smack.
Then her expression suddenly turned serious as she spoke to us.
"Teacher…! Please, just once—appear on our show!"
So this was the real point all along.
"Actually, Areum wants to cast both of us together."
"Cast? Me too?"
"Yes. We've been trying to book Yeonjeong for ages."
Failed every time, she added, then urged us to at least hear the concept she had in mind.
"We open with 'First Look Inside Choi Yeonjeong's House' to grab attention! Show the place, a bit of her everyday life, and then—right on cue—Dohyeon drops by and we slam the finishing blow!"
Even from that rough sketch, I could already picture exactly what kind of show it would become.
"If Dohyeon appears too, we can fill two weeks of episodes. This is guaranteed! We'll smash our highest ratings. I'll bet everything on it!"
Hwang Areum spoke with absolute confidence that they could generate even bigger buzz than before.
"Would you consider it?"
For me, it was a hard sell.
The internet and television were completely different animals, after all.
"Hmm. I appreciate the offer, but… I'm still just a regular person. Appearing on TV feels a bit… overwhelming."
But.
"I don't know. Calling yourself a regular person is a stretch, isn't it?"
"Ah. I was thinking the same…."
Yeonjeong and Hwang Areum clearly saw it differently.
"There are over three million people worldwide who know your face. You're already way past 'regular person' level."
"Our peak household rating is a little under two and a half million."
Hearing the actual numbers left me a little rattled.
"It works out like that…?"
I had never imagined that appearing on Yeonjeong's channel a few times would create that kind of recognition.
People who show up in videos with ten million views still go unrecognized on the street, don't they?
I figured Yeonjeong was famous—not me.
"Bluntly speaking, most of the rookies who appear on our show don't even hit a million people who know them combined."
"That's true. Most people who are just starting to blow up don't have high name recognition yet…. A lot of them are less famous than you, Dohyeon."
Apparently I'd been mistaken.
"Uh…."
Thoroughly battered by the numbers and feeling light-headed, I searched for the right words, turning over how to answer.
…And right then.
"Just try going on once."
"…What?"
Yeonjeong started coaxing me, sly and casual.
"You already thought raising your profile would be better, didn't you?"
Now that things had come this far, she was saying we might as well row hard while the tide was in.
"Even people who've never been on TV can do it, right?"
At Yeonjeong's sidelong glance, Hwang Areum jumped in with eager enthusiasm, as if she'd been waiting for the cue.
"Exactly. There's really nothing hard about it. It's basically observational variety, so you don't even have to try to be funny. The 'script' is just a script in name—you hang out for a bit in a house with cameras set up and that's the end of it."
"Just like usual."
"Yes, yes. You can drink casually like always, smoke if you want. If something feels off, we'll cut every last bit of it."
It was a flawless pincer attack, as if they'd rehearsed it in advance.
"Hmm…."
A little fuzzy from the alcohol, I forced myself to turn the idea over carefully in my head.
"It's not like we're filming right away, so take your time thinking it over. The shooting schedule will mostly…."
"Areum. By when do we need an answer?"
Yeonjeong and Hwang Areum started coordinating the schedule between themselves, leaving me out of it.
"Sorry? …Ah, right. As soon as possible. Yes. At the latest this…."
"Would tomorrow work?"
"…Not this—tomorrow! Yes. By tomorrow…. If you reply through Yeonjeong, I'd really appreciate it."
In the end, while my mind wandered for just a moment, the conclusion landed on needing an answer by tomorrow.
"…Understood. I'll sort it out and let you know by tomorrow afternoon."
Broadcasting stations really did keep a brutal schedule.
It was the period when Choi Yeonjeong was forcibly turning Han Dohyeon into a celebrity.
At the same time.
Crouched on her chair, Cheon Seo-hui stared quietly at the elegant box sitting on her desk.
It was the cookie gift set Dohyeon had handed her as a present that afternoon.
—I thought of you, so I bought it. Take it.
Remembering Dohyeon's offhand yet thoughtful voice, Seo-hui buried her face between her knees.
Whether it was her imagination or not, her face felt burning hot.
…Thought of me….
She slowly pulled the memory free and carefully dissected every word of what he had said.
He went to eat, happened to pass a bakery, thought of me, and bought a gift he figured I'd like.
Wondering if some deeper meaning might be hidden inside, she lingered over every syllable, savoring the weight of it.
…Does that mean he always thinks of me, even on ordinary days?
Earlier, Seo-hui had looked up the price of the cookie set and startled herself without meaning to.
Just a fancy box with a few cookies and snacks inside, yet it easily cleared tens of thousands of won.
No matter how well-off someone was, they didn't casually spend that kind of money on a person they had no interest in.
And thinking of someone who wasn't even there and bringing them something—that was rarer still.
Yet Dohyeon had gone out of his way to buy the gift, spend the money, and bring it to her.
Which meant….
From the very beginning, the existence called "Seo-hui" had been lodged firmly inside Dohyeon's head.
"…!"
Her heart plummeted. As her pulse thundered harder, Seo-hui bit down hard on her lip without thinking and stared at the cookies.
Then.
No. That can't be it.
She shook her head firmly, burying her face in her knees again.
Or… is it?
She lifted her head once more.
No.
And lowered it again, repeating the cycle.
She was starting to understand why people said someone could go crazy.
"…Haa…."
After fretting for a long while, Seo-hui scratched irritably at her hair and opened the box.
Thinking she might as well clear her head a little, she took out one cookie and powered on the old laptop sitting on her desk….
A moment later.
"……?"
One recommended video that had ridden the algorithm into her feed caught her eye.
Japan Trip with My Guy Friend
The video already had over a million views. Side by side on a bed, a man and a woman reclined together.
It was Choi Yeonjeong's video—the talk of the town.
Teacher…?
Dohyeon sprang to mind at once. Seo-hui swallowed hard and carefully pressed play.
And then.
"We're at the airport. Next to me is…. Dohyeon."
"Hello. I'm the one-day manager."
At the unmistakable sight of him appearing on screen, her heart dropped again with a heavy thud.
Clearly….
For an instant the thumbnail of the two of them floated before her eyes.
It felt like someone had smashed the back of her head with a hammer.
"……."
Still reeling from the shock, Seo-hui blankly scrubbed through the video.
At the airport.
"It's your first overseas trip—how does it feel?"
"…You want me to be honest?"
"Yes."
"I'm scared some foreigner might talk to me. No, that old guy earlier—he was totally about to say something to me."
"Pfft…. Guess you'll have to hold my hand the whole time, right?"
"I'll cling to you like my life depends on it."
On the plane too.
"Whoa, what kind of plane is this nice? It feels like a really wide train."
"Right? First time I've flown this model either, but it's better than I expected."
"…Can we use the beds on this?"
"They say if you ask, they'll convert them. Want to lie down side by side?"
"Come on, it's only a short flight."
Dohyeon and Yeonjeong flaunted their closeness at every opportunity.
"Ha…."
As Seo-hui watched in silence, her face grew steadily darker and more dangerous.
Then.
"Hey…."
At last the problematic scene arrived.
"There's only one bed here? Did they give us the wrong room?"
On screen, Dohyeon looked genuinely flustered.
His words and actions felt far too sincere to be acting.
In contrast.
"I must've booked it wrong."
Yeonjeong's reaction was oddly calm.
"Sorry. Honestly, I never even checked how many beds there were."
As if she had done it on purpose.
…What is this?
A strange revulsion made Seo-hui furrow her brow without thinking. She glared daggers at Yeonjeong on the screen.
"You gonna be okay? It'll be uncomfortable…."
"Uncomfortable? Earlier I checked—this sofa's softer than the bed in my master bedroom at home."
In the end the bed incident wrapped up with Dohyeon sleeping on the sofa.
"Cheers."
"Cheers!"
A short drinking scene followed, and then suddenly the camera showed the two of them lying side by side on the bed.
"You know you slept next to me?"
"…I know. When I opened my eyes, there you were."
"God, Han Dohyeon's drunk habits are insane."
"That's your fault."
Just like that, the two of them exchanged a brief, casual conversation and moved on to preparing for the next part of the trip as if nothing had happened.
As if it had always been that way—completely natural.
"……."
Unable to watch any further, Seo-hui slammed the video shut. She stared blankly at the cookie still in her hand and thought.
Really.
Really—had Teacher….
Even in the moments he spent with Choi Yeonjeong….
Thought of her?
Unfortunately, Seo-hui already knew the answer.
He didn't.
If he had, he would have been the one to message first during the stretches of silence.
Thud.
She closed the laptop, quietly pulled her knees in, and buried her face against them.
Endlessly resenting herself for having gotten so excited over something as trivial as cookies.