Chapter 73

I already knew what the first thing to say when I met Ha Eun would be.

I had practiced it a few times.

But as I faced her, all I could convey was the sound of my guilt-ridden tears.

– Gwaak.

With trembling hands, I barely reached out and grabbed the hem of Ha Eun’s cherry blossom-colored jeogori.

At that moment, all I thought was that I had to make sure she wouldn’t leave.

“Please, don’t hate me…”

The emotions that had been rotting deep inside my heart burst out all at once.

Thick tears fell in droplets from my bloodshot eyes.

I was out of breath.

My hunched shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

There were so many things I wanted to say.

So many things I had to say.

“…I never hated you.”

In a calm voice, just like any other day, I ultimately crumbled without showing any sincerity.

Eventually, a quiet consideration emerged, gently offering its embrace.

The piece of cake that smelled sweet had long since been toppled.

The bright white door of the waiting room had also somehow been firmly closed.

Even so, nothing else mattered.

I couldn’t care about anything other than the person who was still my friend.

***

“…I’m sorry I was bothered by your grades.”

– Nod.

“I’m sorry I forced you to look for my ads.”

– Nod.

“I’m sorry I applied for the role of Queen Yoon without telling you… Why do you keep nodding?”

With a slightly sharpened gaze, Ha Eun explained that her nods meant she was listening well.

However, among all the things Da Yeon had apologized for, there weren’t really any that had hurt her.

I never expected her to apologize for everything in detail either.

Thus, when Da Yeon, having finished a brief hesitation, extended her hand in front of Ha Eun.

‘Is she really 18?’

I looked back and forth between Da Yeon’s serious eyes and her hand in slight confusion.

In the end, I did have a handshake of reconciliation, unable to resist Da Yeon’s strong will.

The problem was that it didn’t end there.

A shadow had approached right in front of Ha Eun and finally embraced her once more.

“…How old is our Da Yeon?”

“Sh-shut up! You said hugging is what makes it a reconciliation…”

‘If she knows I said that, she’ll faint.’

And so, I quietly held her until Da Yeon was satisfied.

If I think about it, I couldn’t deny that I had some responsibility too.

It was a little later when Da Yeon brought up another matter that had been on her mind.

“Uh, back then. When you came to find me at the filming location, what were you looking for?”

“Ah, um… I didn’t know what had changed about me.”

The story that followed was about rumors concerning Ha Eun.

More specifically, it was about the sudden emergence of her dating rumor one day.

However, before Ha Eun could finish her story, Da Yeon interjected.

“So, who is it?”

She asked about a boyfriend who didn’t even exist.

“I’m not dating anyone.”

“What? Did you break up already?”

“No… I never had a boyfriend to begin with.”

“So you got dumped, huh? Yeah, just assume there’s no boyfriend like that.”

As a result, unnecessary misunderstandings piled up.

On top of that, Da Yeon’s compassionate gaze toward Ha Eun only added to the confusion.

Thus, after clearly stating that Ha Eun had 0 dating experiences, she asked,

“Why does everyone think I have a boyfriend? What on earth makes them think that?”

In an emotional tone that was uncharacteristic of Ha Eun, she questioned Da Yeon about the source of this suspicion that had been tormenting her for a long time.

Da Yeon, after a moment of reflecting on her memories, provided three reasons.

“Anyone who only looks at textbooks suddenly starts talking with a happy expression one day.”

I wasn’t sure what kind of happy expression Da Yeon meant.

Lately, the only people I had exchanged text messages with were the members of Fantasia.

“When you get a call, you always disappear to places like the bathroom to answer.”

Also, those calls were either with the members of Fantasia or with Jee Hye-min.

For Ha Eun, who couldn’t let anyone discover that she was Diah, this was a natural choice.

“Most importantly, your throat is hoarse in the morning.”

“Why is that a problem?”

“It shows that you were chatting late at night with your boyfriend.”

The person I was chatting with late into the night wasn’t Ha Eun’s boyfriend, but rather the viewers of Diah, the Nowhere People.

In the first place, chatting with anyone other than the Nowhere People late at night was a disqualification to be a Virtual YouTuber.

Ultimately, every single thing was a misunderstanding.

However, to clear up that misunderstanding, I had to reveal secrets about the Virtual YouTuber broadcasts, too.

“I feel wronged.”

“What are you even upset about if you can’t explain it properly?”

“Anyway, I really feel wronged.”

I felt frustrated as I continued to wash my face dry.

It was then that I sensed someone’s presence from beyond the waiting room’s white door.

‘Oh, right.’

With that, I approached the firmly closed door.

I carefully opened it,

“Did you finish your conversation with Da Yeon well?”

I came face to face with Yu Sung-jae, who had been waiting at the door of the waiting room.

“Ah, yes. Thanks to you.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

He then added that he wondered what had made me suddenly cry.

Yet, he didn’t ask exactly what it was about.

To be precise, I had heard some voices leaking through the crack of the door to some extent.

It just seemed like a complicated affair for a third party like Yu Sung-jae to get involved in.

“Well, I’ll take my leave now. See you on Friday.”

“Uh, about that… I have a live broadcast schedule on Friday.”

“Oh? Didn’t we agree to watch the first broadcast together? I thought the venue was already booked.”

“I’m really sorry. It just so happened that our schedules overlapped.”

The first broadcast of [Moonlight Through the Clouds] was this Friday.

The production team and the cast were supposed to watch it together, and I was promised to attend as the lead actress.

The problem was that the live final of [SIT ON THE MONEY] was also on this Friday.

Fortunately, the live final of [SIT ON THE MONEY] was scheduled to wrap up by 10 PM, so it wouldn’t overlap with the first episode of [Moonlight Through the Clouds], which started at 10:30 PM.

‘There should be some promotional effect.’

When it’s revealed on the final stage of [SIT ON THE MONEY] that the true identity of Pinocchio is Ha Eun, interest in [Moonlight Through the Clouds], which Ha Eun stars in, should also be drawn.

Since I would just appear briefly as a featured singer with Hwang Ji-hyuk, I didn’t expect an extremely high promotional effect.

However, as long as it could contribute even a little to the success of [Moonlight Through the Clouds], that would be enough for me.

After all, [Moonlight Through the Clouds] held a great deal of meaning for Ha Eun.

“Even so, my heart will be with you.”

“Since I can’t see Ha Eun’s heart, I’ll take a big teddy bear and stick a picture of you on it and sit it in a chair.”

“…You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m serious. I’m going to post a proof shot on SNS too~.”

He added with a playful voice that he would also include the hashtag “#Betrayer.”

Before Ha Eun could say anything, he dashed away.

Thus, as I looked at Yu Sung-jae, who was slowly walking away, I squinted my eyes.

“…What kind of program shoots at night?”

I was startled by Da Yeon, who had been standing right behind me and almost stumbled.

After all, Ha Eun’s participation in [SIT ON THE MONEY] was confidential.

“Pinocchio is our secret weapon, so let’s keep it a secret until the final stage.”

This had been Lee Jun’s judgment that it would be best to hide the very existence of the singer Pinocchio.

This was also a strategy for a more shocking final stage performance.

Although we had to inform Jee Hye-min, the person in charge of Fantasia, about the identity of Pinocchio and seek her approval, it was difficult to inform Da Yeon about it as well.

Thus,

“If I tell you what kind of program it is, I’ll get caught. I signed a non-disclosure agreement.”

I drew the line, stating that I couldn’t tell her about the program I was appearing in, mentioning a non-existent non-disclosure agreement.

Seeing Da Yeon’s puzzled expression, I suggested that we go change our clothes and changed the topic to the outfits they were wearing.

After that, there were no issues until I arrived at the dressing room, walking in step with Da Yeon after such a long time.

However, when I arrived at the dressing room, returned the outfit I had on, and changed back into my regular clothes.

“Wait? Why is this wet?”

“Um, about that… I’m sorry. I spilled water by mistake.”

I had to pretend that Da Yeon’s tears on Ha Eun’s cherry blossom-colored jeogori were just marks from spilling water.

There was no need to unnecessarily spread what happened with Da Yeon.

So, just as Ha Eun was about to finish getting ready to go home, at that moment,

– Snap.

Da Yeon, who had been waiting at the door of the dressing room, tightly grasped Ha Eun’s hand.

However, it seemed she wasn’t reassured just by holding hands, as she soon linked her arm with Ha Eun’s.

“Are you not hungry?”

“Hmm, I haven’t eaten anything…”

“Then let’s go eat together. Jin-soo oppa reserved the restaurant.”

She invited Ha Eun to go out for dinner with her.

She also added that today was Da Yeon’s birthday.

“I still haven’t blown out the candles.”

“…How old is our Da Yeon?”

“C-come on! You can at least celebrate a birthday party with me!”

Thus, in the end, instead of Jo Jung-yoon’s van, we got into Kim Jin-soo’s van and headed to a nearby restaurant.

Since it was nearly 10 PM, there was not a single customer in the restaurant except for Ha Eun and Da Yeon.

But it didn’t matter at all.

Just having one friend sitting across the table was enough to ward off loneliness.

Da Yeon, who had been a bit excited for some reason,

So, perhaps that was why.

“Hey, Lee Ha-eun, do you remember Da Ramji?”

The memories from when Da Yeon first visited Ha Eun’s house a few years ago were sparked in Da Yeon’s mind.

The problem was,

“That person has started a project or something to train new broadcasters, and it’s really interesting. Do you want to check it out?”

Da Yeon tried to share her new hobby gained while being apart from Ha Eun.

Ha Eun’s expression and gaze stiffened simultaneously, unable to catch onto Da Yeon’s behavior.

Then, completely unaware, Da Yeon exclaimed,

“Hi—!!”

“How is it? Isn’t it cute?”

In the end, clips from Diah’s broadcasts began playing in front of Ha Eun.

For quite a while thereafter, the high-pitched voice of Diah filled the quiet restaurant, and Ha Eun thought to herself.

‘…Why is this happening to me?’

She seriously contemplated whether to bolt from her seat right then and there.

She wanted to hide, even if it meant finding a mouse hole.

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