Haru uploaded a song sung by Hana to NewTube. The response was absolutely fiery. Most people who listened to Hana’s song hit the like button.
– “I could sleep like a baby listening to this song.”
– “Definitely not human, so the song feels different, huh?”
– “Listening to this song makes my heart feel at ease…”
People who listened to Hana’s lullaby were each pointing out the good points. Most said Hana’s song was perfect for bedtime, like a lullaby. Haru also uploaded a non-lullaby version, and it had such an impact that it climbed to the trending videos.
“Isn’t this blowing up too much?”
Haru looked at the Research Institute channel, which had already surpassed 100,000 subscribers. Just a few days ago, the subscriber count wasn’t that high, but seeing such a steep rise made her slowly realize Hana’s popularity. The comments were heartwarming, probably because she was cute and young. Occasionally, there were weird jokes, but Haru stepped in to delete those comments herself.
“I didn’t know I’d get this famous.”
Bora also never dreamed NewTube would suddenly take off like this. But Hana’s song had an unexpected effect. Neither Bora nor Haru could have imagined having such a talent.
—
Seoju was a working adult suffering from severe insomnia. He had always struggled to sleep at night, and his company’s shift work made it even worse. The constantly changing sleep schedule was absolutely brutal for him.
It got so bad that he went to the hospital for medication and even agonized over whether to quit his job. The medication worked, but not enough, and quitting at his age was too ambiguous.
If he were in his 20s, he could’ve quit and looked for another job, but being in his 30s made it awkward to switch companies. With his shift work not building much career experience, switching jobs felt like a risky gamble for Seoju.
So, it was natural for him to watch NewTube before bed. Since he couldn’t sleep, he needed something to pass the time. And NewTube’s shorts were perfect for killing time.
“Can’t sleep again today…”
He had to go to work in 5 hours, but sleep didn’t seem likely. Just as he was thinking he’d have to pull another all-nighter, Seoju came across a video of a little girl with green hair singing.
She sang a lullaby and other songs, and his eyes were strangely drawn to it. He turned off the shorts and went to the official channel to listen to the girl named Hana singing. The songs were ordinary, but her voice was truly unique. No singer could sing like this little girl.
It wasn’t that she sang exceptionally well, but her voice was so peculiar and oddly soothing. It felt like listening to a song in the middle of a forest. Her clear voice echoed in his ears, and the resonating sound was incredibly pleasant. It was like a forest orchestra.
“What is this voice…”
Seoju was mesmerized as he watched the video, closing his eyes to savor Hana’s voice. But before the third video ended, he fell into a deep sleep. He couldn’t remember the last time he slept so comfortably.
The next day, Seoju woke up feeling refreshed and checked the time. He felt like he might be late. Waking up without feeling tired usually meant something bad was about to happen. But the time was just right for work.
All over the country, many people like Seoju watched Hana’s singing video and slept soundly.
– “Thank you so much to the creator who uploaded this video. I finally slept well after suffering from insomnia. Thanks to you, I had the sweetest sleep.”
– “I used to dread going to bed every night, but after discovering Hana’s song, I’m no longer scared of the night! Please never delete this!”
– “The singing kid is so cute. Can I meet her someday? She’s my idol.”
– “My mom is battling illness in the hospital, but after listening to Hana’s song, she slept with a peaceful expression for the first time in a long while. She woke up feeling great and so happy.”
Hana’s song was becoming famous as the national lullaby for people suffering from insomnia.
—
I wandered alone through this massive building. Going outside wasn’t allowed yet.
It didn’t work out, but inside the building, it didn’t matter how I acted. After waking up early in the morning for the first time in a while, I stood quietly at the building’s main entrance.
Watching people come and go was another kind of fun. And there was always something I used to do.
“Hi!”
As I greeted everyone coming in, a few people patted my head and went on their way. Most responded well to my greetings, but some seemed a bit shy and awkwardly accepted them.
This body is greeting them, and that’s the reaction I get… It was enough to make me want to yell, but being the merciful one, I decided to let it slide. As I greeted everyone entering the building, I saw a familiar face.
“Haru, hi!”
I saw Haru coming to work with a tired expression. When she saw me, she started approaching with a look that said, “Why are you here!?” Haru came over, put her hands on my sides, and then suddenly lifted me up and carried me somewhere.
“Hana, why are you here?”
“I was bored in my room…”
“Let’s go up. We have to study today, right?”
“No!!!”
I tried to struggle and escape, but Haru’s hold was too strong. As she held me and patted my head, I felt my resistance weakening. Haru’s embrace was always warm and comforting. In that short moment, I fell asleep and woke up to find myself back in my room.
I looked at the books on my desk with a lost expression. Haru had left them as homework before leaving. Solving problems first thing in the morning… But Haru told me that the level of the problems was appropriate for someone about to enter elementary school.
In other words, I was trapped in this room until I finished solving them. Of course, it wasn’t forced, but if I didn’t do the homework and played instead, Haru would look at me with a sad expression, so I ended up doing the homework out of guilt.
‘It’s just elementary school level problems anyway, so I’ll finish them quickly and then play!’
With that determination in mind, I opened the book. However… it wasn’t as easy as I thought. Math was somewhat easy, but Korean was the real problem. This clumsy body had the answers in my head, but my hand just couldn’t write them down properly.
After an hour-long struggle, I finally finished the workbook Haru had given me. Exhausted, I dove straight into bed. As I was resting for a bit, Bora came into my room.
“Hana? Are you asleep?”
I didn’t answer, burying my face in the pillow. My head was burning from solving problems that even a Nobel Prize winner would find difficult. I needed to cool it down with some sleep.
But Bora, like a ghost, sensed that I wasn’t asleep. My act didn’t seem to work on her.
“Why are you pretending to sleep? I prepared something you like.”
At Bora’s words, my ears perked up. I lifted my head from the pillow and ran over with my short legs, clinging to Bora’s thigh. Bora’s thigh was just the right thickness for a comfortable hold.
“Come on, let’s go, Hana~”
What I loved most was spending time in a sunny spot while drinking water. During this, a masseuse living in the building would come up and give me a massage. The cool feeling and the slow rise of my belly were incomparable.
Even though I was only 135cm tall, I thought that if I kept basking in the sunlight, I might grow taller. I hoped to reach at least 170cm. It was tall for a girl, but compared to my past life, it wasn’t that tall. Still, a man’s dignity required me to surpass 170cm. Female models are much taller, aren’t they?
And so, I spent a pleasant afternoon enjoying the masseuse’s massage.
