"Just act naturally without being too conscious of the camera."

"Okay."

Kaella answered energetically, but how was anyone supposed to act naturally with a camera attached like this?

Kaella pretended to stay calm on the outside, but inwardly she was flustered and had no idea what she was supposed to do.

-Today’s content theme is Kaella’s day off. We’re filming this for fans who are curious what an idol member does on a day off, so acting naturally is important.

VYNNIA, the girl group under SY, had recently wrapped up promotions and entered a rest period.

That said, even during a rest period, they couldn’t stop activities completely.

Even if they took a short break from broadcasts, radio, or variety shows, things like events and advertisements had to be done during downtime like this.

And before, that would have been the end of it, but lately there was one more thing they had to prepare.

YouTube.

At some point, every agency had started running its own YouTube channel and filming content to upload there.

Of course, even before, singers had uploaded music videos or concert performance clips to YouTube, but lately it had gone beyond that, and producing in-house content like TV variety shows had become the trend.

'Because Iam hit it so absurdly big.'

And really, it made sense. KJ Entertainment, a brand-new agency rather than some major company, had been running the independent channel for its group Iam and had shown tremendous results.

1.5 million subscribers. An average of 1 million views.

Iam’s YouTube channel had shown such enormous influence that it made most major YouTube channels look laughable by comparison.

Whenever a video got uploaded, entertainment news sections would be plastered with related articles, and internet communities would fill up with posts about the content.

That naturally turned into advertising for the group, which then came back as buzz and public recognition in a virtuous cycle.

Before anyone realized it, Iam’s YouTube channel had long since become something not just fans but ordinary members of the public actively sought out too.

Thanks to that, what advertisers coveted most these days was getting PPL into Iam’s YouTube videos.

Was that why?

Other agencies had also started rushing to run their own channels, and now idol-made content had spread like a trend.

Even SY, which had originally been rather passive about changes like this, had recently started planning to properly run dedicated YouTube channels for each of its groups.

And the group chosen as the test case among them was VYNNIA.

'This is awkward.'

And Kaella, who had been chosen as part of the test case and had started filming YouTube content not long ago, was having a hard time with YouTube shoots.

As an idol under SY, Kaella had been taught behavior guidelines and tips for appearing on variety shows from before debut, but even so, variety still wasn’t easy for Kaella.

It was already hard enough to draw laughs while surrounded by veteran entertainers who had been tossed around and seasoned on variety shows for years, and she always found herself worrying about what she should say and how she was supposed to make people laugh.

At least on variety shows, there were veterans who could lead beginners like that along, so Kaella had somehow managed to get through them.

But filming on their own with just the members, like on YouTube, without any outside personalities, made the tension no joke.

The PD of the newly added content team and even the writers all told her to relax, but if things worked just because you decided they would, then there wouldn’t be anything difficult in the world.

"Yo, hisashiburi."

"Sion!"

To make matters worse, this time Kaella had ended up in a situation where even the members weren’t there and she would have to film alone, so in the end she had no choice but to use a cheat code.

The woman now walking toward Kaella and the filming crew, waving brightly, was none other than Lee Sion from Iam.

-Friend··· can I call a friend?

-A friend? If it’s a non-celebrity, they might feel burdened about appearing.

-It’s a celebrity friend! Lee Sion from Iam!

-Lee Sion?!

Because Kaella had asked the company to let her film together with Lee Sion since she absolutely had no confidence she could do it alone, SY Entertainment had been thrown into an uproar.

-Does it make any sense to have a member of another group, and a rival group at that, appear in our content?

-Even if they’re rivals, if Lee Sion shows up on the VYNNIA channel even once, the initial buzz will be enormous.

-In the first place, the whole thing about rival groups not getting along is something people used in the old days. These days, showing them being close is better marketing-wise too.

There had been arguments over whether it was really right to feature a member of a competing group, but in the end they decided it would be more beneficial to have her appear, even went so far as to ask KJ Entertainment for cooperation, and arranged to film together with Lee Sion.

"Sion··· did you maybe not go to the salon today?"

"No. Why?"

"Because you’re wearing a tracksuit."

That was how Lee Sion had readily agreed to appear at Kaella’s request.

Seeing Lee Sion like this, Kaella couldn’t hide her bewilderment.

A face that looked completely bare, and clothes so comfortable that anyone could tell she had just come straight from home.

The look was so natural that not only Kaella but even the filming staff were visibly flustered.

It was such a stark contrast with Kaella, who was filming with her and had gone to the salon early in the morning for makeup and had even been dressed by a stylist.

Of course, because her face was doing all the work, she still looked dressed up anyway.

"Oh, this? It’s what I wear around the dorm as everyday clothes, but I wear it out sometimes too."

"I see···."

"All right then, shall we set off on the Haan-dong tour?"

"Yeah!"

Since Lee Sion herself didn’t seem bothered at all, Kaella decided to just let it go for now.

"Today’s our first time hanging out together."

"I know, right. We’ve been way too busy lately."

Because what mattered right now was that this was the first time she was going out to hang out with Lee Sion.

***

"Hmm··· this nostalgic smell."

"What smell?"

"Maybe the smell of home?"

I took in the nostalgic scenery of Haan-dong, which I was savoring outside Seoul for the first time in a while.

A bed town where, no matter how long you went and no matter how much you looked, all you saw were apartment buildings.

Old memories of the countless legends I had built while roaming this place brushed past my mind like scenes from a movie.

-Haan-dong tour?

-Yeah. That’s my turf.

-Uh··· wouldn’t somewhere like Myeongdong or Garosu-gil be better?

-Come on. Those places are crowded and packed, so they’re exhausting. In Haan-dong, once rush hour passes, it’s hard to even see a human face.

-Okay then, let’s do the Haan-dong tour.

A few days ago, Kaella had contacted me in a hurry asking me to appear in her YouTube content, and I had gladly accepted.

I had some free time anyway since we had recently finished promotions, and we’d been meaning to get food together sometime for a while now but hadn’t managed because of our busy schedules, so I figured we might as well take care of both at once. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Of course—

-Please just go there and sit quietly! Don’t cause trouble!

-What kind of slander is this, acting like I’ve ever caused trouble?

-What? What kind of trouble?! Let me go!! I need to smack that mouth!!

-Hold yourself back, PD! If you hit her right now, the comeback schedule will get delayed!

-Guys, hold PD Raon back, she’s completely lost her reason!

The company had thrown in all sorts of interference because it didn’t like me going on another group’s YouTube channel, but something like that couldn’t stop my loyalty.

Turning your back when a friend calls for you was the sort of thing only Cao Cao would do.

So not only did I agree to join the content, I also suggested a Haan-dong tour to Kaella when she was wondering what we should do there.

Kaella had asked whether somewhere more famous or more trendy would be better, but that was shallow thinking.

Places like that got visited and filmed all the time elsewhere anyway, so they had no distinctive flavor.

As expected, there was only Haan-dong.

"One of Haan-dong’s prides is right here."

"This elementary school?"

"Yep."

And so the first stop on the Haan-dong tour was none other than Hail Elementary School.

"Why is this Haan-dong’s pride?"

"Because I graduated from here."

"Huh?"

"It produced a great figure who’ll become Korea’s richest person twenty years from now, so it’ll be famous later. Better take a photo in advance."

Hail Elementary School.

My alma mater in Haan-dong, and also the place where I had spent my golden years.

-Guess nobody knows. Should Sion answer it once?

-1 meter is 100 centimeters.

-Very good! Everyone clap!

The era when, among kids who still cried for their moms and sometimes peed their pants, I had shone alone like a crane among chickens.

The memory of my kind classmates who used to think two 100-won coins were better and trade them to me for one 500-won coin made my eyes sting for a moment.

"Back then I had the nickname Haan-dong Einstein."

"Right! I heard you were smart when you were little?"

"Why is that in the past tense?"

"Uh··· the school is pretty."

"Right?"

Quickly changing the subject, Kaella looked around saying the school was pretty, and then her eyes widened as if she had spotted something.

"But there’s another school right next to it?"

"Oh, there? That’s Jinseong High School, the neighboring school."

"I’ve never seen an elementary school and a high school right next to each other like this."

It definitely could surprise someone seeing it for the first time, but for some reason Hail Elementary School and Jinseong High School were neighbors that shared the same wall.

"It used to be fun having snowball fights with the Jinseong High kids in winter."

"Huh? Snowball fights?"

"It was a traditional annual event. A true showdown across the wall."

"With high schoolers?"

"Of course. Hail Elementary, under my command, always won."

The nostalgic memories came back to me.

-Hey! What kind of lunatic puts rocks in snowballs?!

-Don’t go easy on them just because they’re elementary school kids! That blue-eyed brat is no joke!

-Ack! Little kids showed up behind us!

Those innocent childhood memories of sending the sixth-grade special forces deep into enemy lines while, at the front, the guards under my command exchanged snow with the high schoolers and fought them head-on.

Though, when I was in sixth grade, one Jinseong High student from the opposing side got hit in the eye and had to be taken to the hospital, so that tradition was banned after that.

"Then shall we move on to the next place?"

"Where’s the next place?"

"Haan Intersection. The alpha and omega of Haan-dong."

After roughly looking around Hail Elementary School, I led Kaella and the filming crew to Haan Intersection, which could be called the holy land of Haan-dong.

Just moving there without doing anything would have been unprofessional, so I gave brief explanations of places we passed along the way, and then—

"The place over there is a restricted zone. No approaching within a 100-meter radius."

"There? Why? It just looks like a normal apartment."

"That’s where Madam Sukja lives."

It seemed that, among them, that most dangerous zone in all of Haan-dong had caught some interest.

So I explained why it was a restricted zone, and at that explanation, not only Kaella but even the filming staff stared at me with round eyes.

"Madam Sukja? Your mother? Then that’s your house!"

"Yep. Which is why it’s restricted. I made a bit of a mistake with Madam Sukja recently."

"If you ask what kind of mistake, then of course I should answer."

Last Chuseok, after finishing the Idol Athletic Championships shoot, I had stopped by home for a bit.

A cozy dinner the whole family shared together for the first time in a while.

Aside from the fact that Mom had cooked it herself, it was a perfect meal.

Then after dinner, just as I was lying down on the couch at home for the first time in a while, about to watch a historical drama like I usually did—

-Sion, pull out some of Mom’s gray hairs.

-I’ll give you money, so go dye it instead.

-Do you want to do it after getting hit, or just do it?

-Hup-cha! How many shall I pull out for you?

Mom had ordered me to pluck out her gray hairs, so, thinking I’d be filial for once in a while, I voluntarily agreed.

Madam Sukja, whose gray hair clearly showed how fleeting the years had been.

Barely a year ago, she’d flown into a rage over my college entrance exam score sheet and pounded on my back like she was galloping across the plains of Manchuria, but now Mother had become so visibly aged that, as I carefully plucked her gray hairs one by one, I reached a conclusion.

Why not pull them all at once?

Absolutely not because I was getting annoyed or because my eyes were tired—simply because it seemed more efficient.

Once a decision was made, it was right to attempt it, so I started gathering Madam Sukja’s gray hairs strand by strand.

And then, once I had collected around twenty or so gray hairs—

Sssnk.

I pulled them out.

"And that’s what happened."

"Is Sion insane? It hurts like crazy even if only a few strands get caught!!"

"Anyway, that’s why it’s best not to go over there. When Madam Sukja is angry, she gains the ability to track my location within a 100-meter radius."

Good thing I realized something had gone wrong while Mom was screaming and fled back to the dorm in a hurry. If things had gone any worse, I’d probably be split in half by now.

"We’re here. This is Haan Intersection."

"···Isn’t this just downtown?"

"Ah-ah! This is one of the only places worth hanging out in all of Gwangmyeong! Are you showing off that you’re from Seoul?"

"No! It’s not like that!"

While we were talking like that, we had already reached Haan Intersection.

At this hour, the students were still in school and the adults had all gone off to Seoul for work, so Haan Intersection in the morning, despite looking perfectly respectable, was quiet because there just wasn’t much foot traffic.

Thanks to that, Kaella and I could wander around comfortably. Thinking about how lately, no matter where I went, people recognized me and crowded around me, making it hard to properly walk around, I found this extremely satisfying.

If it had been in Seoul, with not just me but Kaella too, we would have been surrounded by people and put through the wringer without fail.

"Wow, there really aren’t any people around."

"This is exactly the advantage of a bed town."

After wandering the quiet streets like that, we arrived at a familiar building.

"What’s this place?"

"The hideout."

"The hideout?"

I nodded at Kaella’s question.

"There’s a comic book rental place in the basement, and above ground there’s a convenience store, cram schools, a PC bang, a billiards hall, and even a karaoke room. Even if the world ended, as long as this building stayed intact, life would still be worth living."

A sudden wave of longing for the old days came over me.

The life where I’d skip school, soak in the warm morning sunlight, sneak a 10,000-won bill out of Madam Sukja’s wallet, and head to work at the hideout.

-Hey! Sion’s here?

-What, you already clocked in?

-For us, this is work.

At the billiards hall, I’d settle lunch with the usual old guys by betting a game on jjajangmyeon, and then—

-Lee Sion, now we can start.

-Let’s gooo!

After that I’d loaf around the comic rental shop reading martial arts novels, and once school got out, I’d gather with the other kids at the PC bang and venture into the Rift. Truly good times.

"I miss those days."

"What kind of memories do you have here for you to look so sentimental?"

"Stuff like that. Anyway, since we came all the way to Haan-dong, I’ll treat you to the full course today."

It was time to let Kaella experience those happy memories too.

'I should probably start raising a dedicated jungler soon.'

Our members had no interest in games whatsoever, and LYNX’s maknae Lee Jia had looked interested, so I’d subtly tried to coax her in, but that kid was the sort who couldn’t be allowed to play games.

I tried to raise her as a jungler, and the brat had the nerve to drift off into support instead, saying support looked more fun.

I should probably lightly test Kaella’s talent at the PC bang today, and if I liked what I saw, appoint her my new Rift partner.

Lately, Yunsik, my personal Rift familiar, seemed to be hitting his limits more and more, so I needed a new companion.