Chapter 35

Before the airing of Episode 2 of “You Who Came from the Stars.”

“[‘You Who Came from the Stars’ first broadcast rating surpasses 20%!]”

“[UBS’s ‘You Who Came from the Stars’ captures viewers’ hearts from the very first airing]”

“[Top star duo Yu Seong-a and Ha Yoon-seong’s stellar performances completely overshadow MBS’s ‘Face Queen’]”

“…As expected, nothing has changed.”

Currently, in front of Ha Eun, articles about Episode 1 of “You Who Came from the Stars” were laid out.

However, even after seeing so many articles, Ha Eun was not particularly surprised or flustered.

After all, she had known for quite some time that “You Who Came from the Stars” would be a great success.

For Ha Eun, these articles felt like the inevitable had happened.

This was partly because Ha Eun did not appear in Episode 1.

In other words, she regarded the articles about Episode 1 as something separate from herself.

However, when the preview for Episode 2 aired immediately after Episode 1 ended.

The teaser that was released featured Ha Eun for the first time in her hanbok, which had already been a topic of discussion.

The scenes that the past Yu Seong-a had referred to as Ha Eun’s solo stage.

In other words, there was no way not to care about the reactions to the preview that announced the start of the past segment from Episode 2 to Episode 5.

Thus, from the Thursday morning following the airing of the Episode 2 preview, Ha Eun found herself surprisingly paying attention to her classmates.

She realized that the interest in her was gradually increasing among the children, especially those who had often spoken about the young Han Yu-hwa.

Up until that point, Ha Eun had planned to accept the growing interest in her without rejecting it in any particular way.

And occasionally, when some curious children came to her, she had plenty of stories about the drama filming to share.

“Hey, you’re Lee Ha-eun… right? I have something to ask, so just a moment─”

“Hey, don’t you know that coming into another class gets you a point deduction?”

Thus, Ha Eun still didn’t understand why Min Da-yeon harshly chased off the kids who came to find her.

She simply thought it was just another instance of Min Da-yeon being grumpy or a bit irritable.

That was why Ha Eun had intentionally asked Min Da-yeon to watch “You Who Came from the Stars.”

Knowing Min Da-yeon, there was a possibility that she’d refuse to watch the show due to her high self-esteem.

Ha Eun wanted to make sure to show her acting to Min Da-yeon, who had once competed with her for the role of young Han Yu-hwa.

After all, Min Da-yeon was the only one who knew what Ha Eun had prepared over the past four years.

“I worked hard on it, so please watch the live broadcast, senior.”

“…!…!!”

As expected, the mention of “senior” made Min Da-yeon’s shoulders and nose rise high into the sky.

Now, Ha Eun had a good excuse that she asked first, making it highly likely that Min Da-yeon would end up watching “You Who Came from the Stars.”

So, as time passed and finally, Episode 2 of “You Who Came from the Stars” began to air.

And after Ha Eun watched Episode 2 from start to finish with Na-yeon.

As soon as the preview for Episode 3 began airing, Yu Seong-a called Ha Eun.

[It’s nice to see the results of my nagging. Of course, I’ll still keep watching, but, well, the child doppelganger was definitely not it. I’m looking forward to next week.]

Even after receiving such genuine praise, Ha Eun was still only focused on the fact that “You Who Came from the Stars” was sailing smoothly without any issues.

Finally, as it was always the case, she logged into Da Ramji’s broadcast, continuing to watch until just before falling asleep.

Waking up at her usual time, she headed to school with a lightened step.

Thus, without having a clue about the extent of the impact of the drama, which had surpassed a 20% rating since the first episode.

Ha Eun was only thinking about whether Daulby had watched “You Who Came from the Stars” in today’s singing class.

“Hey, Ha Eun. Can you come outside for a moment?”

“Uh? Why?”

“Oh, um… my friends want to meet you.”

Taking advantage of the moment Min Da-yeon stepped away, a girl from the same class brought Ha Eun outside the classroom.

Precisely a few seconds later, they confronted an overwhelming crowd.

– Wow, she’s really pretty….

– I’ve never seen a celebrity before.

– Do you think she’d accept if I asked for an autograph?

– I want to hold her hand once.

With an astonishing crowd filling the corridor in front of Ha Eun’s classroom, even reaching the stairs leading upstairs, Ha Eun thought, ‘…This is bad.’

Realizing just how dangerous the thought of accepting attention directed at her was, Ha Eun belatedly understood it.

What had merely been stealing glances and quietly murmuring about her in the past had turned into a completely different scene.

To be precise, if Ha Eun had wanted to break through the countless people before her, she could have done so.

However, if by any chance she forced her way through the kids and someone got hurt.

[Child actor ‘Lee Ha-eun’ school violence controversy, a red flag raised for “You Who Came from the Stars”]

It was obvious that numerous issues, big and small, would arise.

Yet just standing in the midst of such a crowd would surely lead to other types of problems before long.

‘What should I do, really….’

As the crowd of kids continued to close in on her, Ha Eun was sweating bullets.

Then, with a ringing sound, someone started filming a video of Ha Eun looking bewildered.

– Grab!

Suddenly, a white hand shot out from among the kids and pulled Ha Eun.

“Run, you fool!”

‘…Min Da-yeon?’

Min Da-yeon quickly led Ha Eun through the crowd, finally bringing her into a café near the school.

Ha Eun felt a momentary illusion like a princess kidnapped by a demon king and rescued by a hero.

However, what Min Da-yeon just did was, in a strict sense, no different from skipping school without permission.

Ha Eun asked Min Da-yeon if this was really okay.

“Is that what you’re worried about right now? Lee Ha-eun, you were really about to get in big trouble!”

Ha Eun was momentarily at a loss for words due to Min Da-yeon’s unreserved concern.

What followed was a series of Min Da-yeon’s sharp and fierce remarks, distant from any sense of warmth.

To anyone listening, it might have sounded like Min Da-yeon and Ha Eun were in a fight.

Yet for some reason, Ha Eun had been quietly listening to Min Da-yeon.

“After everyone else goes home, we’ll go get your bag, okay?”

“…Okay.”

That was because not a single word from Min Da-yeon was harmful to Ha Eun.

In fact, Min Da-yeon was so frustrated with Ha Eun’s obliviousness to her status as a celebrity that she was on the verge of bursting.

‘…So that’s why they say once you start listening, you can’t stop.’

As Ha Eun gradually began to understand why Min Da-yeon had chased away the kids who had come to her.

She could only feel gratitude toward her.

Regardless of her motives, the fact remained that Min Da-yeon had helped Ha Eun.

Afterward, Ha Eun silently gazed at Min Da-yeon for a while, pondering if this was what people called tsundere.

As if sensing it, Min Da-yeon’s sharp voice came again.

“What are you staring at, stupid?”

Min Da-yeon looked like a pufferfish puffed up with thorns, with no kindness whatsoever.

However, the very situation of being saved by Min Da-yeon was both strange and amusing for Ha Eun.

“No, it’s just… you really are a senior. I learned a lot.”

Ha Eun burst into a genuine smile, grateful that Min Da-yeon was there.

Min Da-yeon’s ears turned bright red in an instant.

“You, that… senior… are you teasing me?”

In the face of her half-suspicious, half-convinced question, Ha Eun averted her gaze and exercised her right to silence.

As a result, Min Da-yeon, who had transformed a quarter of her suspicion into conviction, glared at Ha Eun as if she could kill her.

“Okay, okay. You two must be hungry, so let’s drink something first.”

That was quickly quelled by Kim Jin-soo, Min Da-yeon’s manager, who returned to the table with strawberry lattes and mango ade.

Afterward, Ha Eun brought up the question she had most wanted to ask Min Da-yeon.

“Episode 2 of ‘You Who Came from the Stars,’ how was it?”

“It wasn’t… unbearable or anything.”

To be honest, Ha Eun didn’t care much about Min Da-yeon’s evaluation.

No matter how harsh Min Da-yeon’s critique was, it wouldn’t change the fact that Ha Eun had done her best.

However, the week after next, when Episode 5 aired, would coincidentally be Ha Eun’s birthday.

Since it was during winter break anyway, Ha Eun, wanting to have a slightly different birthday, opened her mouth.

“On the Wednesday after next, let me sleep over, Da-yeon.”

“What… what did you say?!”

“Why are you so surprised? You slept over last time, remember?”

“Well, that is true… but why all of a sudden?”

“I’ve always wanted to try sleeping over at a friend’s house.”

Ha Eun asked for a day of Min Da-yeon’s life as her 12th birthday gift.

Of course, it wasn’t an immediate “yes,” but there was no rejection either.

As time passed, the day of Episode 5’s airing finally arrived.

Coincidentally, it was also Ha Eun’s 12th birthday.

– Ding dong~.

Ha Eun was able to press Min Da-yeon’s doorbell instead of her home’s door lock with her index finger.

***

“Shuran! It’s time for Episode 5 to start! What are you doing in there─”

“…I can’t watch it.”

“Uh? Why?”

“It ended with the soldiers chasing them in Episode 4. If even one of them is hurt, I really don’t think I can handle it, sis.”

“Oh, come on. They’re the protagonists. They won’t die, right? They’ll somehow manage to escape.”

“I hope that’s the case… but I have a bad feeling.”

Then, Shuran’s sister, Li Wei, heard those gloomy words whispering into her ear, threatening to flood the UBS broadcast message board if anything happened to the protagonists.

At that moment, she thought it was just a passing comment.

Many others who had just heard similar mutterings from their daughter, sister, or friend felt the same way.

While it couldn’t be denied that “You Who Came from the Stars” was extraordinarily popular.

Still, it was only a fictional story, with fictional characters.

Surely, they wouldn’t take it that far? They thought and shrugged it off.

---