Chapter 170

It was something entirely unexpected.

After all, that child had originally lived in Daejeon.

And in my memory, during this period, I was still living in Daejeon, so there was no reason for my parents to come up to Seoul.

“Oppa?”

“A, yeah?”

“Why are you just standing there?”

Su-yeon asked, clearly puzzled.

It seemed I had been frozen in place for quite some time.

Seo-yeon soon shook her head and approached the similarly frozen child.

“Hello?”

“Ah, hello! Wow, you’re the actress unnie. You’re really the actress unnie, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, so Seo-yeon unnie is really an actress.”

Upon hearing that, Su-yeon seemed to puff up her chest in pride.

Watching her like that, she was indeed adorable, but there was something oddly familiar about her demeanor.

Though of course, she would resemble me since she grew up watching me.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“Yuna, Han Yoo-na.”

A name strikingly similar to my past life name.

Hearing it, Seo-yeon felt an odd mixture of emotions, as if this name was tethered to her previous life.

“By any chance, do you have an older brother?”

“Huh? No, I don’t.”

“I see.”

So Yoo-na must be the eldest.

Still, this posed a strangely different timeline.

In her previous life, ‘Joo Seo-yeon’ had been the same age as she currently was.

Meaning, Yoo-na was simply born later.

“By the way, when did you become friends with Su-yeon?”

“Ah, after I moved, I didn’t have any friends at kindergarten.”

Apparently, she had recently moved.

Around the same time as when [Dream Future] had a fan meeting.

They must have visited Seoul then. Her daughter liked [Dream Future], so they attended the fan meeting.

“…Do kids these days watch dramas?”

That thought did cross her mind.

Or maybe [Dream Future] was simply suitable for children to watch as well.

Either way, it was rather peculiar.

“Anyway, let’s head back. Where’s your house?”

“I…”

Regardless, leaving her like this wasn’t an option, so they decided to head back together.

Su-yeon gave two thumbs up, clearly pleased that she was being treated as an older sister.

Though watching her expression, it did seem somewhat… overly outdated, didn’t it?

Even with that thought, she was undeniably cute, so it didn’t matter.

In truth, Seo-yeon didn’t particularly ask any probing questions.

Though curious, she also thought it was inappropriate to interfere with her younger sister’s social life.

Moreover, Seo-yeon believed there was no particular necessity to overthink this matter.

Even though it did linger in her mind a little.

‘This must have just been a coincidental move to Seoul.’

There was nothing special about Yoo-na moving to Seoul.

Judging by how late she was born, her parents must have worked hard.

Because of that diligence, they were promoted quickly and moved their workplace to the Seoul headquarters.

Hence, they relocated the entire family.

There was nothing particularly odd about it.

Still, a few things did feel off, not about Yoo-na but rather about herself.

“Unnie, unnie.”

“Hmm?”

“Look at that!”

Su-yeon tugged at Seo-yeon’s collar as she spoke.

Turning to see what was going on, there was a small event happening by the roadside.

It seemed to be an animation-themed event for children.

“Harara, Harara!”

“Harara?”

A strangely hard-to-describe name.

Yet the pronunciation was easy, making it memorable.

“Yeah, Magical Girl Harara. It’s the cartoon Su-yeon is watching lately.”

Seo-yeon saw an unusually large penguin and beside it, a magical girl with blue hair.

“…Why a penguin?”

The name was peculiar enough, but the setup was as well.

A penguin and a magical girl.

Whoever thought this up certainly made their mark.

Regardless of how strange, it was quite popular with the children today. Seo-yeon noticed not just Su-yeon but many children and parents crowding around the event area.

“Quite the impressive event.”

There was even a stage.

The setup was simple: they would go on stage, children would recreate scenes from the show, and finally, they would use a rubber hammer to hit a game console for points to win a prize.

Naturally, adults were not allowed to participate. Adults hitting objects would be more fitting for fathers, wouldn’t it?

Since there is no noticeable difference in strength between boys and girls at a young age, it was a fair game.

“Unnie, unnie.”

“?”

While pondering all this, Su-yeon tugged at her collar yet again.

She looked straight at Seo-yeon with an intense gaze.

It was clearly a pleading glance from the child.

Seo-yeon instantly understood its meaning.

‘Could it be, is she asking to participate in that?’

Seo-yeon immediately wanted to turn away and walk.

Because it involved reenacting scenes from children’s anime.

Villain role, magical girl role.

Parents and children would split these roles and act out scenes together.

“No way can I do that.”

As a child, Seo-yeon might have eagerly jumped in.

She used to be a shameless girl who didn’t know tension or embarrassment.

An invincible shamelessness born out of unfamiliarity with emotions.

But that was not the case now.

Regardless of appearances, she felt embarrassment properly now.

Really!

“…, aren’t you going to do it?”

“…”

“It’s the magical girl merchandise from this event that Yoo-na really likes.”

It seemed there wasn’t just one type of magical transformation in [Harara].

There were at least fifteen different transformations for the main character Harara alone.

Combine that with other magical girls from the series, and there must be dozens of variations in total.

“Isn’t that kind of like how different flowers bloom in various transformations?”

It somewhat reminded Seo-yeon of the cartoons she had watched in her youth.

Seeing the [Harara Transformation Guide], it was evident that other magical girls also had numerous transformation variations, designed to strain parent’s budgets.

They were a troop of magical girls assembled to drain wallets.

Among these, the current event prize was the transformation form of the magical girl Nanana which Yoo-na adored.

“…”

Seo-yeon could see Yoo-na looking at her with hopeful eyes.

And it wasn’t just that. Seo-yeon’s own sister seemed willing to gift it to Yoo-na, not herself.

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

Seo-yeon closed her eyes tightly.

Even so, Yoo-na was her fan. Plus, it was hard to resist her sister’s request too, so there was no way she could win this battle from the start.

***

Today, Jin Young-yeon, the event’s host, cheerfully watched as lively children participated and the perplexed expressions of their parents, smiling contentedly.

The pay for hosting this kind of event wasn’t great.

But it didn’t matter.

He wasn’t even a professional host, per se. He was a YouTuber who reviewed children’s toys.

Because he focused on content for kids, he was invited to host the event.

Thus, money wasn’t his primary concern.

He was genuinely delighted just by seeing happy parents and children.

‘This promotion is going well.’

Being a toy-review YouTuber, he had thoroughly marketed the latest Harara wand and magical girl sets. Naturally, children were pestering their parents to participate once they heard about this amazing event, leading reluctant parents to join.

After all, children’s toys these days were pricey. But with this event, they could get them for free if they just met the event requirements. So, of course, there was no reason to decline.

The event was progressing for two hours. Now, with just another hour left, they were nearing the event’s conclusion.

“Alright, next participants!”

As Jin Young-yeon called out, a woman standing at the front immediately waved her hand conspicuously.

Why was she so noticeable? First of all, her appearance stood out.

She wore sunglasses and even had a mask covering her face.

She also wore a hat, completing the mysterious ensemble.

If it weren’t for the two energetic girls standing beside her, and if this wasn’t an event setting, she would have surely been eyed suspiciously.

She was conspicuous for sure, and this strange appearance naturally aroused curiosity.

“Alright, please come up, miss wearing sunglasses!”

At the host’s call, the sunglasses-clad woman hesitated slightly before ascending the stage with the two children in tow.

It was indeed a peculiar sight.

Not just Jin Young-yeon, but as the three went on stage, they instantly captured everyone’s attention. Not only due to their number but also because they made a striking combination.

“What’s our little friend’s name?”

“Su-yeon! Joo Su-yeon!”

As she straightened her shoulders and declared her name boldly, for a brief moment, there was a stir among the other parents watching the stage.

Confused by this reaction, Young-yeon tilted his head slightly, unsure why the parents started murmuring when Su-yeon introduced herself.

At that moment, one of the event staff rushed up and whispered something into Young-yeon’s ear.

“It’s the Golden Duckling baby, one of the infants recently featured on that show!”

“Huh?”

“It’s the younger sister who appeared in an episode of actress Joo Seo-yeon’s family story!”

Young-yeon didn’t watch TV shows much. His exposure was mostly limited to YouTube.

He rarely watched TV anyway.

Of course, he knew that there was a show called the Golden Duckling, a variety program featuring younger celebrities and their lives.

But if it was about someone who appeared on that show…

‘Isn’t this family related to an entertainer?’

Realizing this, Young-yeon almost audibly swallowed.

Then, who might the strangely dressed woman be?

A suspicion seemed to form.

The buzzing crowd’s attention, too, turned sharply toward this mysterious woman on stage.

“Umm, first off, did you already go through the event details? Now we’ll be re-creating the scene from the Harara series! You can pick from the options below.”

“Number three!”

She chose instantly as soon as the examples were shown.

It wasn’t surprising.

Among the options, number three appeared to be the simplest.

Harara battling the villain.

Throwing lines dramatically and hitting the villain with an impressive magical girl attack—it was straightforward and simple.

“Great! Now, here’s the magic wand…”

When Young-yeon handed the wand, Su-yeon stopped him with her palm.

“Huh?”

“I will be the villain.”

“Huh?”

“No, I want to be Zero-ro.”

“…”

Here she was choosing the villain? Young-yeon was puzzled.

Children typically opted for the role of the magical girl.

After all, that’s the protagonist and also because it’s ‘pretty.’

Though Zero-ro, the villain in Harara, was indeed cute too.

She had a sharp look, with black hair, crimson eyes, and a somewhat cat-like charm.

She wasn’t a bad choice as a character, and some merchandise for this ‘antagonist’ existed as well.

Yet, who would have thought someone would pick the villain, right here?

“Hold on, so that means…”

Young-yeon glanced at the other figure on the stage. He could clearly see the moment the woman stiffened under her sunglasses, realizing her predicament.

She was clearly now aware of the fate she’d just walked into.

“Would you, by any chance, remove your mask and sunglasses? We need to act out the role…”

“….”

There was a moment of hesitation.

But it was brief.

Slowly taking off her sunglasses and mask, the audience that had been buzzing fell silent.

Then—

“It’s really Joo Seo-yeon!”

“You’re right, the actress from Golden Duckling.”

“Mom, who’s that sister?”

“It’s an actress, darling.”

Suddenly the event turned lively—no one had expected an actress to appear at this children’s event.

It was uncommon for someone of such stature to participate in such events unless they were just here for shopping.

Naturally, the event organizer beamed.

‘This promotion event is surely going to be a hit.’

It was like the star had walked in without being paid to!

Of course, the crowd wondered if she was being paid for it, but honestly, who cared?

It didn’t matter anyway since the prizes were distributed fairly as long as the event conditions were met.

“Alright, miss, here you go. Have you seen Magical Girl Harara?”

“Huh, yeah…”

Right before going on stage, she had reviewed a YouTube video of the clip that would be featured in the event.

Because of that, Seo-yeon couldn’t help but tremble when handling the wand.

This must have been the moment Seo-yeon’s face turned the reddest in her entire life.

She had never felt ashamed of her acting before, but this moment was hard to face with dignity.

Embarrassment!

While it was an emotion she somewhat knew about, she had never felt it hit this hard.

“Wow!! It’s the Magical Girl sister!!”

As if unaware of Seo-yeon’s inner turmoil, Su-yeon, wearing Zero-ro’s cape, lifted her arms and beamed.

Beside her, Yoo-na also clapped her hands gleefully, her eyes twinkling.

Sister, you only take on villain roles, so you should also try a good character.”

In her own way, this was Su-yeon’s small consideration, even though the role of Zero-ro was quite good too.

“Alright, we’ll shout the lines together. Harara, Harara~.”

“Ha, Harara, Harara…”

“Louder! Harara~ Harara, Harara!”

“Ha, Harara, Harara!!”

With an actress on stage, the host Young-yeon became 200% more energetic.

He fully embodied Harara’s lines with full-body motions and a perfect transformation scene!

Thinking herself an actor, she was supposed to show a magnificent performance, but in this moment, Seo-yeon truly drew a blank.

She just tightly shut her eyes.

“Ma, Magical Girl Harara~!!”

And with all her might, she swung the shining magic wand.

And perhaps thanks to her earnest performance, not only did they manage to hit the target score, Su-yeon’s mighty hammer strike easily exceeded it.

Yoo-na was able to take home the desired magical girl toy.

It was truly a fortunate turn of events.

***

“Actress unnie!! Thank you!!”

“Eh, eh…”

Hugging the Magical Girl Nanana prize, Yoo-na smiled brightly in appreciation.

“…This could work out fine.”

Surely, no one captured this moment, right?

It felt strangely awkward between them anyway, so this way was better.

“Yoo-na, you can consider this as a birthday gift from me?”

“Huh? My birthday is when?”

“June 8th!”

Su-yeon answered in Yoo-na’s place.

June 8th.

On hearing that date, Seo-yeon furrowed her brow slightly.

After all, it was the same day as her birthday in her previous life.

“This is a gift from actress unnie, so treasure it! I’ll wave it a lot thinking of you.”

“Uh, uh, right.”

She wished Yoo-na didn’t move it around so much, but then Seo-yeon remembered something she had forgotten to mention.

“Today’s meeting with me should be kept a secret from mommy, alright?”

“Uh? Why?”

“Eh, um, um, well… because being a magical girl is a secret.”

Though she couldn’t confess it was embarrassing, she framed it like that.

Yoo-na’s eyes widened into large circles before she smiled.

“Okay.”

Even if she herself was photographed, Yoo-na was at the back and wouldn’t be clearly noticeable.

So as long as Yoo-na didn’t say anything, her mom probably wouldn’t find out.

With that in mind, Seo-yeon decided to consider it for now.

That is, until a video capturing every moment of Seo-yeon’s appearance today reached 3 million views.

Luckily, Yoo-na wasn’t captured.

Still, regardless, Seo-yeon would need to change her bedding yet again.

---