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The scenery is nice.

Finally, arriving at the opening location of <2 Days and 1 Night>, that was Ha-eun’s first thought.

To be fair, <2 Days and 1 Night> is a program that sets out to explore Korea’s hidden tourist spots.

The scenery around the opening location couldn’t help but be beautiful.

However, regardless of whether the purpose was for a variety show appearance to promote <Moonlight Through the Clouds> or not, just the fact that she had come to such a scenic place made Ha-eun a little giddy.

“The air feels nice too.”

The beautiful natural landscape unfolding before Ha-eun’s eyes was a world she had never experienced before.

It was a world she could never have experienced, trapped in a narrow hospital room back then.

Just looking at it was enough.

Just being able to gaze at it was pleasing.

Soon, while Ha-eun continued to look around, she spotted another guest, Yoo Seong-jae.

But unlike Ha-eun, who had no connection to the fixed members of <2 Days and 1 Night>,

“Seong-jae, today you better dive in no matter what.”

“Ah, hyung. I’m an actor, okay? An actor like me makes a living off my image.”

“You can live off a ruined image just fine!”

The MC of <2 Days and 1 Night>, Jang Seong-ho, and the other members were a bit lively even before the opening.

In many ways, it could be said they looked cheerful.

Well, anyway, since every single person beyond there would be spending the next two days and nights with Ha-eun—

Thud.

I took a few more steps closer to greet them before the official filming began.

Before long, when I locked eyes with the oldest member, Jang Seong-ho, I nodded.

“Hello, I’m actor Lee Ha-eun.”

“Ah, nice to meet you! I’m Jang Seong-ho.”

Overall, he had a warm impression.

And in stark contrast to that, his muscular build.

In no time, Jang Seong-ho offered to shake hands, and his right arm was quite impressive.

The remnants of Jang Seong-ho from twenty years ago when he was active as a major league starting pitcher were clearly present.

When I lightly grasped the hand that was extended toward me, it felt like shaking hands with a bear.

However, after the handshake with Ha-eun, Jang Seong-ho asked,

“Um, Ha-eun, do you work out by any chance?”

A question without any clear meaning caught her off guard for a moment, and she blinked in surprise, then finally collected herself and nodded.

“That’s why. When I shook your hand, I felt a workout vibe right away. What kind of workout do you do? Swimming? Track?”

“Just, you know, jogging and jump rope type stuff.”

“Huh? You don’t look like you just do it a little!”

His voice was filled with curiosity.

At this, Ha-eun thought it might be due to her recent sword-fighting acting classes, trailing off at the end.

To be precise, it was true she hadn’t focused on any specific exercise intensively.

Before attending Kim Kyu-tae’s action school, she had never learned any sports at all.

Anyway, she had accomplished the goal of greeting them in advance.

Following that, she turned her eyes to the picturesque scenery surrounding her.

Finally, the preparations for the opening of <2 Days and 1 Night> began about ten minutes later.

After being fitted with a filming microphone by her assigned writer, she was left alone with Yoo Seong-jae to wait for the guests to arrive.

“Ha-eun, how’s your condition?”

“I think it’s okay. How about you, Seong-jae?”

“Honestly, not good. If Seong-ho hyung really does it, I think I’m going to have to dive in.”

“…Oh dear.”

After that, they continued exchanging ordinary, harmless small talk until the opening of <2 Days and 1 Night> began.

Before long, the fixed members of <2 Days and 1 Night> gathered in front of the camera, slowly raising their energy and making the filming location lively.

“Hmm… Watching it on TV every day is one thing, but seeing it with my own two eyes feels completely different.”

“Getting in there personally will probably feel different from what you’ve seen on TV too.”

“Are you joining in on this too, Ha-eun?”

“Well, I just have to play well in the mini-games and avoid diving in.”

That was her sincere thought.

She had no intention of intentionally accepting a penalty just to create a more impressive scene.

She certainly planned to ensure that she wouldn’t find herself in a situation where Ha-eun ended up looking like a drowned rat.

The idea of Ju Jung-yoon appearing under the pretext of bringing spare clothes and trying to take pictures of Ha-eun was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

“So, Prince, good luck.”

“…Thanks for saying that.”

In no time at all, they were just seconds away from introducing the guests.

After the signal came from the staff standing in front of Ha-eun, she walked together with Yoo Seong-jae and presented themselves in front of the camera.

“Today’s guests! Actor Yoo Seong-jae and Lee Ha-eun! Nice to meet you!”

The loud voice vividly conveyed what high tension was like.

After a brief introduction, what kind of people Yoo Seong-jae and Ha-eun were was generally shared.

Then, a short teaser of <Moonlight Through the Clouds>, which the <2 Days and 1 Night> production team had prepared in advance, was played.

In response, Jang Seong-ho and the other fixed members alternately asked questions, sharing various impressions.

The problem was.

“Oh? By the way, didn’t Nam-soo hyung learn kendo?”

“Kendo… I learned it for about five years.”

“Five years? Then you’ve learned everything there is to learn! Alright, it’s time for the athletes to enter!”

Among the fixed members of <2 Days and 1 Night>, ‘Im Nam-soo’ was slowly being pushed forward toward Ha-eun.

The atmosphere was being set for a sword-fighting duel between Ha-eun and Nam-soo, which was even more problematic.

Of course, it was only the atmosphere.

There was no way that they would have a sword duel in the middle of the opening, so Ha-eun planned to just go along with the flow and wrap it up.

But then—

“Alright, we were waiting for this.”

It seemed the production team had anticipated such a situation, as they handed over the sponge swords they had prepared for Ha-eun and Nam-soo.

And there was Im Nam-soo, who looked quite flustered as he made a fuss.

“I didn’t expect you to prepare so thoroughly!”

“When have we ever done things half-heartedly? If you’re scared, just admit you’re scared!”

With that, Ha-eun and Im Nam-soo took their stances and pointed their swords at each other right after.

After all, in a variety show, Nam-soo could only be at the receiving end against guest Ha-eun.

If he genuinely went all out against Ha-eun, no matter how much it was a toy sword, he would face the viewers’ wrath.

Ultimately, for there to be a more entertaining and comedic scene, Nam-soo had to take the brunt of it.

So there was Nam-soo approaching Ha-eun, full of gaps from head to toe.

Then, just a few seconds later—

Swish.

“…Wait a minute. There’s something off about her gaze?”

Feeling a threatening aura coming from Ha-eun right in front of him, Nam-soo unconsciously halted his steps.

However, for the poor Nam-soo, Ha-eun’s sword had already swiftly flown towards him.

Just as he finally realized this late and was about to raise his sword in a hurry—

Thwack!

“Ugh!!”

A dull pain had already struck at Nam-soo’s waist.

It was definitely a sword made of sponge, yet the impact was immense.

“Ah, uh… I’m sorry!”

“Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine. Nam-soo is just putting on a show.”

To be honest, it did look a bit painful even for Jang Seong-ho.

But to ensure a smoother filming process, the cheerful atmosphere unique to <2 Days and 1 Night> had to continue, so he tried to ignore it.

Thus, the opening, which was a bit more chaotic than Ha-eun had thought, came to a somewhat messy conclusion.

After that, they moved to draw lots for the next filming segment, which was passed to all the cast members.

“Alright, each of you draw a lot. The ‘food’ written in that lot, go buy it from the traditional market over there.”

Along with the production team’s mission explanation, Jang Seong-ho encouraged the two guests to draw lots first.

Looking at each other, Yoo Seong-jae and Ha-eun then each drew a lot.

After the other cast members drew theirs one by one, at the signal from MC Jang Seong-ho, they all opened their lots simultaneously.

‘…I didn’t know there was such a bread among them?’

Ha-eun’s lot was for <Chrysanthemum Bread>.

There was no exact location for the shop written on it.

The same was true for the lots drawn by the other cast members.

Thus, Jang Seong-ho took the lead and asked the production team about what to do next.

“Can we just buy it from anywhere?”

“Yes. As long as it’s a shop inside the traditional market, it doesn’t matter where.”

“This might be a silly question, but is it first-come, first-served?”

“Yes, that’s correct. The fastest to bring it back will score the highest… then off you go!”

“?! What do you mean just start immediately without any warning─”

Before Jang Seong-ho, who seemed a bit incredulous, could finish his words, whoosh.

One of the cast members bolted toward the traditional market over there at full speed.

“Who is that?!”

The smallest member among the cast.

Regardless, the speed was swift enough that even the veteran VJ of <2 Days and 1 Night>, who had experienced it all, could barely keep up.

It was Ha-eun.

And she had a very serious expression.

Gone was the slightly awkward look she held among the high-energy members of <2 Days and 1 Night>.

*

[Honestly… I don’t think I can feature this time. I’m sorry, they keep insisting a guardian must stay by my side….]

“No, no, family comes first. We’re fine, you take good care of your mother.”

At that moment when the call ended, Lee Geon-yeol, who had been trying hard to maintain a calm demeanor, immediately turned dark.

Currently, DOUBLE’s participation as a producer in the hip-hop survival program <SIT ON THE MONEY> was approaching its final stages.

Therefore, the withdrawal of the female artist who had promised to feature on the final stage was quite a serious issue.

All the other female artists connected with DOUBLE were already busy with their own schedules.

Of course, he could try asking them, but would any of them willingly appear on the big stage of the live finale of <SIT ON THE MONEY>?

To make matters worse, the spare time to enlist a feature artist was almost zero.

It was a risky situation where even if he started recording the finale song with a new female artist tomorrow, it would be cutting it too close.

“…Let’s go without a featured part on this finale.”

“That’ll surely feel empty.”

“I’ll just have to extend my and Ji-hoon’s parts a bit. There’s no other way.”

Thus, it was decided that this final stage would proceed without any featured artists aside from DOUBLE.

The main rapper for this final stage, ‘Hwang Ji-hoon,’ also could not deny that it was unavoidable.

However, he did not feel that this stage would be the best it could be.

From the start, this finale song had been created with the assumption of featuring a female artist.

The overall atmosphere of the song.

The tone and intentions embedded in the lyrics.

Lastly, the performance concept intended for a grand finale stage.

With the withdrawal of the promised female artist due to unavoidable circumstances, many things had to be abandoned.

For Hwang Ji-hoon, who had lived the life of an unknown rapper until now, this final of <SIT ON THE MONEY> was a literal dream stage.

He did not want to let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip away like this.

The song he wanted to share.

The stage he wanted to showcase.

He believed that he could only truly challenge for the top if he had neither compromises nor regrets regarding either of those two.

He wasn’t sure how the other competitors thought, but at least Hwang Ji-hoon considered it that way.

After a long period of deep contemplation, he sought a way out when the sky fell.

A lifeline that could support him in this unfortunate situation where he had to face the finale with lingering regrets.

Just half an hour later, the only thing that vaguely resembled a lifeline that Hwang Ji-hoon found was this.

However, whether he could grasp that lifeline or not was still uncertain.

So, cautiously, he opened his mouth, which had remained tightly sealed until now.

“Um, hyungs.”

“Why?”

“Well, I was thinking… how about asking Mr. Pinocchio?”

He mentioned the name of a certain female artist who had debuted as a feature on DOUBLE’s 10th album.