Chapter 127
After his conversation with Seoha, Myeongjeon decided to appear on Producer Jung Taeyoung’s program. It was less because Seoha’s words had influenced him than because it felt like sacrificing himself for the greater good.
‘In the end, rumors are bound to disappear someday. What remains afterward is the benefit brought by the rumor at the time.’
Myeongjeon repeated that to himself. The whole Dae-yo High School Girl business was ridiculous, but in any case, it wasn’t doing him tremendous harm. Besides, unlike the previous school-bullying stigma (strictly speaking, it hadn’t been a false accusation), failing to clear it up wouldn’t ruin his life. If he simply let the fame run its course, wasn’t there a chance it might make him even more famous?
Of course, that was assuming he could endure the embarrassment.
‘Think long-term, Myeongjeon. It’ll only be embarrassing for a moment, won’t it?’
Gritting his teeth, Myeongjeon thought that over. As far as he was concerned, this would just blow up as a one-time issue and then pass.
How many entertainers had become the subject of public scandals? People had gotten electrocuted, cried over having liposuction, impersonated successful idols, and called comfort women prostitutes or sexually harassed idols on internet broadcasts. And those people were all living comfortably.
Compared to them, what Myeongjeon had done? It was an incredibly minor matter. He had merely tried to make the way he spoke as ‘Seo Myeongjeon’ a little more high-school-girl-like (at least, that was what he had thought), only for his tongue to get twisted. It was the sort of thing that would end with people on the internet saying, “How cute~”
[Hello. This is Ha Suyeon.
I received the email you sent…]
Thinking that, he wrote an email accepting the appearance, completely unaware of what lay ahead.
* * *
[Hello! I’m Producer Kim Gaeun from Channel Freepuru! Producer Jung Taeyoung passed along the relevant details! First of all, I’d like to say how grateful I am that you’ve agreed to appear…]
Myeongjeon read through the message. It was a reply to the email he had sent earlier. The fact that the reply had come from the producer of the actual secondary channel he would appear on, rather than Producer Jung, who had proposed the appearance, made it seem as though they had definitely decided to cast him.
She seemed like an incredibly positive person, even judging by her writing alone. And when he said that weekends might be difficult because of his session work, she even showed enough enthusiasm to say that she would come to him instead. He had only encountered her through her writing, but Myeongjeon could feel his favorable impression of her growing in several ways.
That was before they actually met.
They met near Myeongjeon’s house, at a newly opened place. It was a stylish café with tiled floors and an industrial atmosphere, though it had the common sort of trendy look these days.
Myeongjeon was drinking a coffee piled high with cream in the quiet back of the café when he saw someone open the door and run toward him like a retriever.
“Hello.”
“Wow…! Hello! I’m Producer Kim Gaeun!”
She panted as she caught her breath, dragged out a chair, and sat down. Then she abruptly stood up again to order a coffee, sat down, abruptly stood up again, and disappeared into the restroom. She seemed hectic but energetic.
“Ah, I’m sorry! I, um, sort of ran here! I’m a little out of breath!”
“It’s all right. Sit for a moment and catch your breath.”
“Ah, yes! Thank you!”
She gulped down the iced Americano that appeared almost instantly, then sat in her chair and huffed and puffed as she recovered. After a while, Producer Kim Gaeun finally regained her composure and handed Myeongjeon her business card first.
“I’m Kim Gaeun! Please take my business card first!”
“Ah, yes. I don’t have a business card to give you…”
“That’s all right! I already have your contact information! A business card is something that’s only necessary for people who need one!”
Saying that, Producer Gaeun began taking out all sorts of things. Myeongjeon watched the process with interest. A pen came out, then a notebook, then various other items. A cookie wrapped in a crumpled, broken-looking package also emerged, but it went straight back into her bag along with Gaeun’s gloomy expression.
‘Was she going to give this to me?’
Seeing that, Myeongjeon wondered if Gaeun was a fan of his. Why else would she carefully wrap a cookie for a performer she had never met before? He wasn’t a lovestruck adolescent who thought as far as grandchildren from nothing more than exchanged glances or a brief touch of the hands, but looking for a reason behind a certain degree of goodwill was perfectly normal.
“I’m a huge fan, so I really wanted to meet you! I watched your work, your songs, and your appearances on broadcasts, and I had so much fun! That’s why I mentioned you to Producer Taeyoung, and it seems he remembered!”
“Ah, thank you.”
Myeongjeon scratched his head slightly. So this was the price of popularity. He hadn’t been unpopular during his ‘Seo Myeongjeon’ days, but ever since becoming ‘Ha Suyeon,’ it felt as though his popularity had completely exploded. If this many people kept recognizing him, continuing his musical career was going to get difficult. He wished everyone would show a little restraint.
“Which song made you become a fan?”
“Ah… It wasn’t a particular song! It was when you appeared on Music Letter last time…”
At those words, Myeongjeon had an ominous feeling. She hadn’t become a fan after hearing one of his songs, but after watching Music Letter? If it hadn’t been the music, there was only one possible explanation.
“When I saw you say ‘~dae-yo!’ I thought—ah, this might be rude…! But you were just so cute!”
“Th-thank you…”
“Pardon?”
“Thank you…”
The greeting had come out through clenched teeth before he knew it. When Gaeun questioned him, Myeongjeon reproached himself for that reaction and gave her a proper greeting. No matter how much he disliked the reason she had become his fan, a fan was still a fan. He had to know how to be grateful.
Of course, it would have been better if she hadn’t become a fan for that reason.
After that, they talked at length about the show. Producer Kim Gaeun, who had been delighted to see ‘Ha Suyeon’ as though she were a retriever, became serious as soon as they began discussing the program.
“The format will be roughly like this.”
Gaeun brought out a PPT and several storyboards and explained them to him. According to her, the program Myeongjeon would be appearing on was a brand-new show that Gaeun was launching.
“We’ll bring together YouTubers, influencers, musicians… people who are somewhat famous or seem like they’ll have good chemistry. Then we’ll drop them in a particular city and have them survive by earning money through busking… That’s the sort of program it’ll be.”
“So is it going for a Two Days and One Night kind of feeling?”
“Ah, no! It’s not like that.”
The moment he heard her explanation, Myeongjeon thought of an old program famous for its ‘as long as it’s not me’ mentality. But wasn’t this obviously the same sort of thing? Gather several people, let some survive and turn others into beggars. “I made good money~” That sort of feeling.
“It’ll be more healing and emotional. There’ll be some humor too, but the direction will be to showcase the participants’ singing and talents and give viewers something they’ll enjoy.”
“Sounds good.”
Myeongjeon indicated his agreement. Since healing and similar concepts were the trend these days, he saw no reason to go against the current with a broadcast. Trends became trends because they worked.
“However, as I mentioned before…”
“Before?”
“Yes. Producer Taeyoung probably passed along the details about the character aspect. Since this is a broadcast, simply filming the program isn’t enough to make it entertaining. That means we have to create distinct characters.”
‘In other words, gathering a few ordinary people and filming them wouldn’t be interesting, so they’ll give everyone a character and draw entertainment from that… Is that it?’
Myeongjeon thought it was an understandable choice. After all, broadcasts existed to create entertainment. Even if they showed a documentary, it had to be an interesting documentary. Who would enjoy a few ordinary people going, “Ah… hello…” among themselves, singing, feeling awkward, and then eating a meal?
“If you participate, I think Suyeon’s character will be something along the lines of ‘Dae-yo’ and a bubbly high school girl.”
“…A bubbly high school girl?”
Myeongjeon asked again in disbelief. Bubbly? It was an idea that could only have come from someone insane. What on earth about Myeongjeon was bubbly? And besides…
“The character I showed on Invasion 2024 wasn’t bubbly at all. Wouldn’t it be strange to suddenly assign me that kind of character on this program?”
“Ah… It’ll be fine! You can just say you were nervous.”
“That’s… um… no.”
Myeongjeon decided to keep his words to himself. It seemed he had no choice but to accept it. Since he was going to do it anyway, wasn’t it better to go along without complaining? That way, it would improve his image, and so on and so forth…
Once all the discussions regarding the appearance had concluded.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Pulling his exhausted mind back together, Myeongjeon said goodbye to Gaeun. The mental attacks from high school girls had been troublesome enough, but somehow, the mental attack from this one person felt even stronger than those from all the high school girls combined.
“Ah…! Suyeon! Wait, just a moment.”
“Yes?”
“Could I ask you for just one thing? It might be rude, but…!”
If she knew it was rude, shouldn’t she refrain from saying it? Myeongjeon thought that, but then shook his head and erased the thought. She must have said it that way because she, too, was in a situation where she had to ask despite the imposition.
“Could you please use the ‘-dae-yo’ speech pattern just once…!”
‘Not at all, huh.’
Myeongjeon looked at Gaeun as he thought that. She was trying to hire him, so it was difficult to say anything. Besides, she even claimed to be a fan. How could he coldly refuse her? Whether he liked it or not, he should at least show it to her once.
“Understood-dae-yo.”
But Gaeun looked slightly dubious at his response.
“It’s a little… It seems a little different…!”
“I did it the way I usually do, but I don’t know what’s different-dae-yo.”
Even after being shown the ‘dae-yo,’ Gaeun still wasn’t satisfied. Her disappointment was obvious, but Myeongjeon decided to end things there. He had shown it to her, so that was the end of it. If she wasn’t satisfied, that was her problem.
“Then I’ll see you next time-dae-yo.”
Myeongjeon said that and stood up, twisting his speech slightly to maintain the ‘dae-yo.’ At his words, Gaeun’s eyes lit up as she cried, “That’s it!”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to see! The embarrassed expression after making a mistake while pretending to be expressionless! The slightly reddened ears! The hands that don’t know what to do!”
Gaeun grew excited like an otaku, listing all sorts of other points she liked without even being asked. Realizing that she had been acting that way without knowing it, Myeongjeon became even more embarrassed and wanted to run away. Even the café owner was watching the farce unfold.
The situation was a complete disaster.
* * *
He was a staff member working under Producer Kim Gaeun. He didn’t have a particularly important role at the filming site, but it was the sort of role that was nevertheless essential.
“All right, we’ll have a meeting today. Then we’ll go straight into our first shoot. Before we begin, let’s shout out a cheer. Everyone, come on over.”
The serious side of Producer Gaeun, who smiled brightly and bustled around energetically every day. He felt a sense of alienation at seeing her transformed like that, shouted, “Fighting!” with everyone else, and returned to his place. Meanwhile, the cast members began arriving one after another.
‘How long is this meeting going to take? I hope it doesn’t last too long.’
He thought that because he didn’t want to experience anything like an endless wait. As though someone had heard his wish, the meeting that had seemed to be running a little long ended, and the cast came pouring down.
‘Wow, that person is really beautiful.’
As he looked over the six cast members, from people whose names he had heard at least once to people he had never heard of at all, he spotted an extraordinarily beautiful person. They still had a distinctly youthful air, but it was obvious that they were beautiful. He couldn’t even imagine what they would look like once they had fully grown.
“All right, then let’s begin filming~!”
With the six cast members standing before her, Producer Kim Gaeun shouted that out. At her words, the cameras began to roll.