Chapter 7

Ha Eun has been attending kindergarten for three months now.

During this short or long span of three months, her daily life has changed slightly from what she had anticipated.

To be precise, her life outside of kindergarten didn’t change much. After leaving kindergarten, she spent her time on light exercises like jump rope, just as she always had.

Playing catch with her father, Lee Sung-Yoon, two to three times a week and doodling ideas for future Virtual YouTuber broadcasts in her notebook were consistent activities.

However, her life inside kindergarten had become somewhat unique.

“Ha Eun, Min-seo took my toy!”

“Si-woo, you took my crayons!”

Now, whenever disputes or conflicts arose among the children, they almost always rushed to Ha Eun to ask for her thoughts.

When Ha Eun shared her opinions with the other kids, it was received almost like a judge’s verdict, taking on a certain level of authority.

Ha Eun’s uniqueness in kindergarten stemmed from various reasons, but the most critical one was her unusually calm demeanor for her age.

From her very first day, there hadn’t been a single petty argument. Occasionally, misunderstandings would prompt other kids to say unpleasant things to her, but those were merely the childish antics of young children.

Ha Eun had never genuinely been angered by the little tantrums of other kids. Each time, she calmly acknowledged them and moved on, maintaining a serene expression.

Ha Eun was only trying to maintain harmonious relationships with everyone without any ulterior motives. Her parents had only requested one thing when sending her to kindergarten: to get along well with her friends.

However, as she deflected the demands of her classmates with grace, her image transformed from a cute child into an angel descended from the human realm.

Eventually, in a world of innocent children, the idealization of Ha Eun unfolded without her conscious effort, making her an undeniable presence.

In the end, rather than seeking out a teacher, simply bringing Ha Eun along would effortlessly quell any disputes due to her unique calm voice.

The teachers at the kindergarten also observed many things about Ha Eun, who never caused any minor troubles.

It was not common to encounter a child behaving so maturely at such a young age.

“Ha Eun from the Moonlight Class is such a good kid, isn’t she?”

“She’s cheerful, and she doesn’t pick at her food. I envy Ha Eun’s mother.”

Since Ha Eun began attending kindergarten, the frequency of chaos in the classroom had significantly decreased.

In other words, the workload for the kindergarten teachers also gradually lightened.

While it is generally not advisable for teachers to show favoritism towards any child, there was no denying it. Ha Eun in the Moonlight Class was a child that anyone would want to cherish.

Still, Ha Eun could only vaguely sense something was odd.

Having never attended kindergarten before, she didn’t have any established friendships, so she was unsure what exactly was unusual.

Thus, her kindergarten life continued until the autumn leaves turned into white snowflakes.

Around this time, an opportunity for Ha Eun to be noticed outside of kindergarten arrived.

“Hey, Ha Eun. Do you remember Director Kang Eun-tae? I didn’t know, but among his friends—”

The ensuing conversation was about the famous hip-hop crew, Daulby. Not long after, they also received news of an invitation for Ha Eun to appear in Daulby’s new music video for the song “Matchstick.”

Perhaps understandably, this was also something Ha Eun hadn’t anticipated.

“If you feel pressured, it’s okay to decline, Ha Eun. No one will say anything.”

“No, I want to try it.”

Ultimately, she didn’t refuse the offer presented to her.

While the considerable amount of performance fee certainly influenced her choice to once again step in front of the camera, the fact that she had the opportunity to connect with Daulby, who had many hit songs, felt like a significant chance.

After all, the greatest allure of being a Virtual YouTuber is the voice.

Singers like Daulby rely on the charm of their voices in their profession.

Thus, she felt there would be something to gain simply by appearing in the music video of those who had already become successful as singers.

In fact, just participating in Daulby’s music video could become a talking point.

Above all, experiencing something she hadn’t before was something Ha Eun desired.

“Hello, Ha Eun~.”

“Hello.”

She arrived of her own accord at the studio of Daulby, where numerous hit songs were born.

The two individuals she faced were what one might call “celebrities.”

“This uncle in the hat is Lee Geon-yeol. You can just call him uncle comfortably.”

“The chubby uncle in front of you is Lee Jun. You can even call him a pig.”

“What the…?”

Even though the atmosphere was light and the speaking style was casual, the aura felt quite different from Kim Min-jun, with whom she had filmed a children’s nutritional supplement commercial a few months ago.

Shortly after, she finally received the storyboard for the “Matchstick” music video.

However, the complicated and obscure concept embedded within the storyboard proved to be challenging for young Ha Eun to understand.

Judging that verbally explaining would be more effective, Lee Jun decided to illustrate on a whiteboard he had prepared.

However, upon seeing Ha Eun, who was sincerely reading the music video storyboard with a serious expression, he felt compelled to touch a specific scene with his index finger and asked if she could understand what that scene was portraying.

The answers Ha Eun provided afterward were surprisingly closer to correct than wrong.

“It looks like the scene where the matchstick girl is completely abandoned by people.”

“Why do you think she was abandoned? The matchstick girl’s expression is always smiling.”

“That’s… to me, it looks like she’s trying not to cry. The fact that she’s smiling makes her seem even sadder.”

Upon hearing Ha Eun’s interpretation, which was more than 80% aligned with their intent, Lee Geon-yeol couldn’t help but let out a slight exhale, his mouth slightly agape.

He understood now why they wanted to cast the girl.

Even though it was just a short commercial lasting only a minute, the memory of it lingered long after.

The depth of emotions Ha Eun could feel was clearly much greater than her peers.

At the same time, her ability to express emotions easily surpassed the average.

Lee Jun felt foolish for having resorted to finding alternative solutions in the past.

Which child could have been Ha Eun’s alternative?

“Jun, when did you say it would snow?”

“On the 19th. Exactly a week from now.”

Almost simultaneously, pat.

Ha Eun’s hands, just about to turn the last page of the storyboard, were suddenly captured by Lee Geon-yeol.

“The matchstick girl, you’ll do it, right Ha Eun?”

The gaze they shared was filled with a mix of earnestness and anticipation.

At this point, having thoroughly read the storyboard, it was as if she had already committed to appearing in the music video.

-Nod.

With a slow nod, she confirmed her participation in the music video.

“But will we really shoot wearing such bright red clothes?”

“Yeah. Our goal is to convey the distance between fairytales and reality.”

The conversation that followed was about Ha Eun’s costume size.

They would need to try on various versions of the matchstick girl costume they had pre-rented to find the one that suited Ha Eun best.

However, unexpectedly, Ha Eun gently mentioned that there was something she wanted to ask Lee Jun and Lee Geon-yeol.

Despite wanting to catch Ha Eun at all costs, they simply encouraged her to speak up.

They figured they could at least hear her out, even if they couldn’t grant her every difficult request.

Fortunately, the request that eventually came from Ha Eun was not at all difficult.

It was slightly surprising that it was a type of request somewhat distant from what Lee Jun and Lee Geon-yeol had anticipated—like an increase in her remuneration or signing a limited edition CD from Daulby.

“I’d like to learn to sing from uncles at least once a month…”

As a result, no one uttered the words that it couldn’t be done.

Ha Eun’s face began to brighten.

That was the first time that Lee Jun and Lee Geon-yeol saw Ha Eun displaying her childlike nature.

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