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“Am I 10 minutes late to the promise?”

I can understand that.

Unlike us adults, Haeun is still a high school student.

Honestly, I could just assume that classes ran late today and let it slide.

Wanting to become a VTuber even as a high school student.

I can relate to that too.

There’s no age limit for being a VTuber, after all.

Finding out what you want to do at a young age and even passing an audition is something to commend Haeun for instead.

However, still…

“Could you give me your autograph?”

“Us?”

I simply couldn’t comprehend how the person who should be receiving the autograph is the one asking for it.

No matter how you spin it, Haeun is the most famous person here right now.

She is the one most widely acknowledged for her charm as well.

I mean, why on earth would we need the autographs of people who haven’t even debuted yet?

If they truly wanted autographs, they should have asked the already debuted Danamji Jihye Min instead.

“I already got it from Danamji.”

“Oh, you did…”

It hadn’t even been seconds after that when I met Haeun’s desperate gaze and cautious voice again.

Seeing Haeun, who radiated nothing but sincerity, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse, and in the end, we all ended up giving our autographs.

Part of it was because I couldn’t dare to reject a request from a famous actress like Haeun.

And so, the sketchbook filled with four signatures was carefully tucked into Haeun’s bag at that moment.

‘…Wait a minute. Four people?’

Realizing something was off a bit late, Haeun’s mind was filled with question marks.

There were a total of six people in the room.

Excluding Jihye Min, that leaves five of us.

In other words, the total number of finalists gathered here in the Fantasia was five, not the original four.

Afterward, Haeun moved a little closer to Jihye Min, who was standing behind her.

“Why is one person added?”

Whispering in a slightly flustered voice near Jihye Min’s ear made her realize she hadn’t informed Haeun about some things.

“Originally, it’s right to say four, including you, Haeun. But I couldn’t let any one of those four go, so I decided to increase the slot by one.”

“Is that even okay?”

“What’s the big deal? Adding just one more person isn’t going to kill anyone.”

Jihye Min added that these were all individuals remarkable enough to warrant enlarging the Fantasia’s numbers.

Since Jihye Min is the project leader, I couldn’t argue further.

In a way, it might be a fortunate turn of events.

Ultimately, all the members Haeun thought of would indeed be able to debut under the name Fantasia.

Haeun felt a bit relieved, secretly worried that one of the members would miss out on Fantasia activities because of her.

The real issue, however, was the distance Haeun felt from the other members.

“Hmm, it was all lively just a moment ago. Why has everyone suddenly quieted down? You can talk comfortably with Haeun too~.”

‘Comfortably? …How on earth?’

Either way, the other members were just ordinary people.

Some had gained recognition in fields they excelled in or had some level of fame, but that was TV, to begin with.

Even if you casually stopped anyone on the street and asked if they knew her, they’d definitely nod.

Even if they didn’t recognize Haeun, that little girl Han Yuhwa from the other side could never be unnoticed.

Strictly speaking, there were plenty of words that could explain someone like Haeun apart from little Han Yuhwa.

But was there really any need to go into detail explaining Lee Haeun?

From the perspective of the other members, Haeun was unquestionably an ecological disruptor.

When Jihye Min first heard about Haeun, she honestly thought Haeun was just doing VTuber activities for some brief fun.

And this was the same conclusion Jihye Min had come to when she first discovered Haeun was an entertainer.

“I totally understand why you’d ask such questions. But Haeun is more sincere about Fantasia than anyone else. If not, you can give me a slap.”

I did my utmost to convey Haeun’s existence to the others.

Showing them Haeun’s audition video was part of that effort.

“She sings really well, doesn’t she? I was shocked when I first heard it.”

“…What are people like us supposed to do for a living?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Ah…Nothing.”

Thanks to that, the misunderstanding among the other members quickly cleared up.

The problem lay with how overwhelmed they were by Haeun’s extraordinary singing and dancing skills.

Therefore, the suggestion or plea from Jihye Min to converse freely with Haeun was quite a challenging task.

Recognizing Haeun’s sincerity toward VTubing was a different matter than comfortably chatting with her.

Ultimately, as the awkward atmosphere lingered on, Jihye Min couldn’t take it anymore.

“…I didn’t want to resort to this method.”

She picked up a small remote control sitting on the table and pressed a button.

And simultaneously, familiar voices played on the wall monitor.

[So, what’s the comic or anime that left the biggest impression on you, Yena?]

[Haikyuu!]

[Haikyuu? Isn’t that a rip-off of Slam Dunk─]

[What did you just say?]

[Ms. Eunhye, you have a webtoon artist role in your career section. Could you tell us what webtoon that is?]

[Well, um, it was a comic that was actually really unpopular…so it’s kinda hard to mention it…]

After that, videos of interviews for each member played in order.

The last clip, as expected, was Haeun’s interview video.

[Mint Chocolate vs. Hawaiian Pizza.]

[Mint Chocolate.]

[Why?]

[Hawaiian Pizza isn’t food.]

Following that, there was a lengthy video filled with Haeun’s personal preferences and stories.

This was all part of Jihye Min’s plan to lower Haeun’s aura as an actress.

Gradually, it became clear that most of the questions were directed at Haeun, which meant the strategy was indeed effective.

At least a dialogue was opened between Haeun and the other members.

However, from Haeun’s standpoint, revealing personal stories in front of people she had longed to meet was something else entirely.

“Haeun, who did you like the most among the instructors? I thought Roy was pretty charismatic.”

“Well, um…Izumi…”

“Oh right, Izumi was there. Definitely charismatic as well.”

I answered the questions directed at me while trying to hide my flushed ears.

During that moment, a common thought settled in the minds of the other members.

‘She’s cute.’

‘So cute.’

‘Adorable!’

The vague sense of distance towards Haeun had vanished entirely.

Perhaps that was why.

“Well, since everyone here is older than Haeun, feel free to speak up. It’s okay, right, Haeun?”

“Y-yeah… It’s okay.”

Jihye Min’s final scheme to enable a more comfortable conversation between Haeun and the other members unfolded.

A4 papers for avatar concept creation were distributed to all the members about ten minutes later.

“The time is ample, so take your time to discuss with each other~.”

And soon, the sight of each of them creating their avatars filled the room with a lively atmosphere, just like when Haeun hadn’t arrived.

This time, it was Haeun who seemed nervous around the members, but everything was somehow flowing, so I didn’t think it was a major issue.

Most importantly, the awkward atmosphere felt earlier had completely dissipated.

-Creeeak.

I figured it was no longer necessary for Jihye Min to observe.

To the Fantasia members, Jihye Min was merely their ‘representative.’

Thus, as Jihye Min stepped out into the lengthy hallway, leaving only the Fantasia members in the room, she briefly pressed her ear against the door.

– Um, Ms. Miso, why did you choose the nickname Milo?

– Because it’s “Miso.” I took “smile” and removed the ‘s.’ Also, my avatar hairpin has a Miso pattern.

– By the way, the concept art for Dia is really pretty! Did you draw this yourself, Haeun?

– Ah, no. I commissioned it from an illustrator. I can’t draw well.

The room’s atmosphere hadn’t strayed far from the harmonious environment Jihye Min had envisioned.

Thank goodness, in many aspects.

*

“Eunhye is in, Miso is in, and Maria and Haeun are… just walked in.”

“Hey, Yena. Don’t you have to invite the representative?”

“The representative mentioned she would create a separate chat room later, including the general manager.”

It was late evening, when even the sunset had begun to vanish.

The Fantasia members, having just stepped outside the building, were exchanging contact numbers while promising their next meeting.

Of course, Haeun also shared her contact number with the other members.

However, the reactions were…

“This is the contact number of an entertainer…!”

“I never thought I’d get a celebrity’s number. Amazing.”

“I will consider it a glorious honor to have your number, actress Lee Haeun~!”

There were mischievous comments sprinkled with a bit of playfulness.

Ultimately, as all the members began to disperse to their respective homes, they hurriedly fled toward Joo Jeong Yoon’s van at almost a running pace.

Even when they boarded Joo Jeong Yoon’s van, Haeun just wanted to get home quickly and rest comfortably in her bed.

However, for Haeun, unfortunately…

「───♪ ──♪─♪」

The lyrics and voice of the song Joo Jeong Yoon was playing felt strangely familiar.

Realizing much too late that Joo Jeong Yoon was listening to the newly released album from Deobly.

And it was only the songs that Haeun had featured in.

“…Even you are doing this?”

“Um, I just have it playing by the real-time music chart rankings.”

Soon, Joo Jeong Yoon shared the performance results of Deobly’s new album.

The news that they achieved lineup in the charts was also added.

“An article titled <Who is Pinocchio, the Sudden Emerging Vocalist?> was even published.”

“…That’s a lie, right?”

“I knew you’d say that so I took screenshots. Look here. The article title is really Pinocchio, isn’t it?”

Thus, a screenshot from Joo Jeong Yoon’s phone was thrust in front of Haeun’s eyes.

At this moment, even though Haeun was still denying her relation to Pinocchio saying she had no idea who it was, she found herself cornered.

“Then can I use the song ‘Tunnel’ as my ringtone?”

With Joo Jeong Yoon’s cheeky voice, Haeun retreated to the back seat.

Yet, not long after, she had to return to the passenger seat.

“Tomorrow at 7 PM is the audition for the casting of ‘The Moonlight Cast by Clouds.’”

A new topic of Haeun’s preparations surfaced.

The outfit style she needed to wear for the casting at Yeongwol Station was also discussed.

“To start, put on a pressure vest. Then, you need pressure bandages over that.”

“Can’t we just use the pressure bandages? They didn’t use anything like a pressure vest in the novel.”

“If you just put on the bandages, it would hurt a lot! If you crush your chest too much, you can’t breathe properly.”

Joo Jeong Yoon’s comment, reminding her of Haeun’s chest size, echoed as a critique rather than advice.

Almost simultaneously, Haeun had lowered her head slightly, and then remarked, “…I don’t think it’s that big.”

This was just a casual remark from Joo Jeong Yoon, whose little chest was more of a complex than anything else.

Of course, Haeun wasn’t just throwing out empty words.

Having just been with Jihye Min, who had shown her what real size is just a few hours ago.

Compared to Jihye Min, Haeun felt very ordinary.

Since then, Joo Jeong Yoon had turned her eyes away and ignored Haeun, who was on the thinner side.

And as time passed.

As the moment drew close to the casting for Yeongwol Station, only about ten minutes away, Haeun suddenly asked.

“Hey, is this really a sword?”

“No, it’s a prop.”

‘…It feels quite heavy for a prop.’

I was intrigued by a prop sword that had a different texture and weight compared to the plastic swords used in the action school of Kim Gyu-tae.

It seemed like it could slice through the dogbane blossoming on the outdoor set without a hitch, just like a real sword.