“Princess is off~”
“Make sure you eat properly, and call every day.”
“Call every day... Well, if Mom calls, I won’t exactly refuse.”
“Oh, honestly.”
Because of my packed schedule, I left home like that.
I immediately returned to the dorm and quickly finished the work I had left.
I also had to prepare for the next year-end stage.
I was really busy.
This time especially, the new schedule had left me even more exhausted.
Because I was going to be an MC at SBC’s year-end music festival on Christmas.
“Hello.”
“Oh, Dohui, you’re busy, but you’re doing the MC job too. It must be exhausting, huh?”
The PD of *Popular Songs* greeted me warmly.
“Not at all.”
I was tired, having just finished prerecording the stage that would air today with the older girls, but it was still a good thing.
“It’s not like I have to prepare a separate stage, and being an MC only means working hard for one day. It’s nothing.”
They must have offered it because I had received favorable reviews while hosting *Popular Songs*. Though I supposed my popularity had played a part, too.
“Ah, if it were up to me, I would’ve loved for you to recreate that special stage here too, Dohui.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Your agency kept refusing, saying it had been planned as a one-time-only performance, so you couldn’t do it. You have no idea how disappointed I was.”
It seemed the director had taken care of cutting that off.
“Ah~ But that really is how it is.”
Just as he said, that stage had been meant to be a one-time-only performance, shown exactly once before our comeback.
That was the only way to make the memory linger more powerfully.
“Maybe we can do it once at one of our concerts later. Something a little more casual.”
“Oh, really? Then you have to invite me when that happens, okay? I really loved it.”
“Yes, of course.”
The PD made a genuinely disappointed face.
For some reason, I felt proud.
The news that the ratings had shot up at the Watermelon Music Awards had probably spread among the PDs in no time.
Television broadcasts tended to reflect trends and memes late because of their delays, but the PDs who planned the programs were sensitive to trends and usually picked them up quickly.
“Oh, and somewhere in today’s script, there’s a bit about ‘Dohui Syndrome’... They want you to strike that Dohui pose once. Is that okay?”
See? He was already talking about Dohui Syndrome.
“But is there such a pose?”
“...There isn’t? The junior writer just put it in, so I assumed...”
What in the world was this Dohui pose even I, Dohui, didn’t know about?
“Can’t you just pose however you normally do?”
“What should I do, pretend to play the piano or something...?”
“Oh, I looked it up. It says, ‘Dohui’s appearance while holding the microphone and giving her acceptance speech at the Watermelon Music Awards became a hot topic.’”
“I-I see...? I’ll just hold the microphone and host in a soft, gentle manner, then...?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
This was suddenly a little difficult.
Somehow... even I was having trouble keeping up.
* * *
And so another day came to an end. After finishing both the stage and the hosting, our members returned to the dorm at three in the morning.
“I’m dying...”
Unlike me, who collapsed onto the floor the moment I arrived, utterly exhausted—
“Since I kind of want to do something right now, should we have a small Christmas party? We don’t have a schedule tomorrow, either.”
“Should we? Then shall we cut the cake?”
U-a and Seoyun were saying some bizarre things.
“Have you lost your minds...? Do it tomorrow after you wake up. Tomorrow.”
“Come to think of it, Dohui must be really tired... Go to sleep.”
“Yeah, you just sleep.”
In the meantime, Kimchi climbed onto my body as I lay sprawled on the floor.
She grabbed my head, smacked my butt, and took a horseback-riding stance.
“Giddyup!”
“...Hey, get down.”
“Hey—? The maknae is the youngest, but you don’t have any stamina, and what’s with the lack of manners?”
“Haa...”
I wanted to yell at her to try hosting an MC job herself, then pound on her head until she was as limp as kimchi, but—
“No. I can’t.”
I was too tired even for that.
“Come on, Chiyo, stop bothering Dohui and go wash up so we can sleep. Unnie’s really tired too.”
Fortunately, Naeun stepped in and stopped Chiyo directly.
Of course, Chiyo was not the sort of creature who could actually be stopped.
“Honestly... what does it mean to grow old? Even passionate Naeun says she’s tired.”
All that accomplished was making Naeun take the brunt of the provocation instead.
“Chiyo, today was busy and long in a lot of ways... And I’m not that old. I’m twenty-two, only three years older than you. That’s not old at all.”
“Then are we having a Christmas party?”
“No, not that...”
“And isn’t Naeun-chan twenty-three?”
“That’s Korean age. The international age system was introduced quite a while ago now.”
“Tsk, tsk... Even I, a Japanese person, use Korean age when I’m in Korea.”
While Naeun, who had complained about being tired, was unusually long-winded today and was dealing with Chiyo perfectly—
“I’m twenty-two...”
I quietly and obediently crawled toward the bathroom.
Then, once the sound of water started, the energetic voice and knocking that usually encouraged me through my cleansing routine came from outside the door.
“Ah, what? When did Dohui get into the bathroom? No, today’s an even-numbered day! I’m first, this is my bathroom!!”
“Unng...”
“Don’t act cute and come out quickly!”
I could only wish to advise her to possess the wisdom Naeun had shown by moving her toiletries into the kitchen beforehand.
Even so, I came out almost immediately.
“Ah, I’m tired. Unnie, I’m out...”
Eight minutes was a new record.
Basically immediate.
“No, today’s an even-numbered day!”
“Huh...? It’s the twenty-sixth now because midnight passed. I thought it was still the twenty-fifth, an odd-numbered day, since you said we were having a Christmas party.”
“Then what was all that acting cute earlier about?”
“Unng... Unnie, I’m cute, right...?”
“...Well, you are fairly cute.”
“Then cute Dohui is going to sleep now.”
I was tired.
“Don’t wake me until lunch tomorrow...”
“Get lost. I’m going to wake you like crazy.”
“Unng.”
On days without a schedule, I needed to sleep for a long time, until I felt properly refreshed. That was the only way to recharge and get through the day again.
“I’m seriously going to wake you.”
There was no need to worry, anyway, since Seoyun was a member who slept in even later than I did...
I collapsed straight onto my bed and closed my eyes.
Sleepiness swept over me the moment I lay down.
When I woke, it was morning—not the late afternoon when I had planned to get up.
“Ah... what the heck.”
Because of the phone that had been buzzing endlessly.
—Bzzzzzz
“Haa... Who’s calling this early in the morning...?”
If it was Mom, I decided, I would answer and immediately announce that her allowance was being cut as punishment. Relying on touch instead of my swollen-shut eyes, I groped around and picked up the phone.
“...Yeees, hello.”
[Ung~ Dohui, it’s Unnie. What were you doing this morning, Dohui?]
What was this now?
“Hoo...”
Even while exhausted, I sighed.
It was definitely the voice I knew, but the way she was speaking was so strange.
“I was just sleeping...”
[Did I wake you? You must’ve been tired yesterday.]
Her distinctive rap-like tone couldn’t be hidden by her manner of speech.
It was Harang.
“I guess... But, Unnie.”
[Ung?]
Honestly, I immediately realized why she had called.
[Why, Dohuiii?]
It made sense. That gentle, faintly affected tone was absolutely not Harang’s usual phone voice.
“Haa.”
Normally, Harang would spout some ridiculous nonsense in a terrible dialect, like, *Hey, Yi Dohui, what are you doing! Then what is Gwon Hana doing?*—the sort of thing that wouldn’t even make me laugh.
Or the moment I answered, she would start an improv skit in Japanese, saying, *Moshi moshi? Ano, Dohui-chan?*
Even if I asked, “Hello?” she would suddenly start singing whatever song she had been listening to, and no matter how many times I asked what she wanted, she would laugh only after finishing the song.
“Unnie.”
[Ung-ung! Whyyy?]
Anyway, Harang was not the sort of ordinary person who called mainly to talk about something. Most of the time, she called for fun rather than for any particular reason.
“It’s a broadcast... No. Go ahead and say it.”
And then an excited voice instantly cut in after hearing me.
[Mission failed!]
[What? No, no, why is this a failure!?]
So it really had been a variety-show shoot.
[You’re not supposed to let them know it’s a broadcast!]
[No, but why!? How would she know whether I was asking if she’d been watching the broadcast lately or when it would air? Hey, right? This is Yi Dohui, right!?]
What was I supposed to say?
“Oh my gosh, this was a broadcast? I had no idea...”
[PD, listen to this! She says she didn’t know!]
“So this is how I’m supposed to respond?”
[See? Anyone could tell from your tone that you knew.]
[Hey—!]
[Dohui, you have a good sense for this!]
[Harang was so confident she’d succeed!]
The boisterous commotion on the other end naturally drove away my sleepiness.
[No, she really didn’t know! She’s just joking around now!]
I rubbed my eyes and pressed the button beside me to open the automatic curtains.
The sunlight came pouring in, making me even more awake...
[Dohui, hello! This is *Variety Mission: Super Planet*!]
“Ah, yes, hello. This is Debonair’s Yi Dohui.”
More importantly, Harang had gotten onto a better variety program than I’d expected.
[Harang has just given you a phone mission. Did you happen to know about it!?]
That voice belonged to a star-level PD whose name recognition surpassed that of most entertainers.
[Dohui, be honest! You really didn’t know, right!?]
It wouldn’t have been strange if Harang had been chosen as a permanent cast member. She was, after all, a renowned variety-show member of Seven, famous for never letting the audio go silent.
“Be honest?”
[Yes, you have to answer honestly!]
Well, if someone who had contacted me not long ago to say she was about to debut suddenly called me up and started speaking in that ridiculous tone, who wouldn’t realize she was appearing on a variety show to promote her debut?
“I really didn’t kno—didn’t know. I’m not supposed to know, right?”
[See? That doesn’t sound like the tone of someone who didn’t know, Dohui!]
[She said she didn’t know!]
Still, at this hour, it was obviously a phone mission involving food, so I had to help her get fed. That was only fair.
“Yes, I didn’t know. I’m still half asleep...”
[That’s right, Yi Dohui can’t even talk properly when she first wakes up!]
I had tried to help her get a meal, and now she was slandering me?
[Oh dear, we’re sorry for waking you.]
“No, Harang should be the one apologizing.”
[Hey!]
She was slandering me and everything.
“What was the phone mission, anyway?”
[To hear the younger sister she considered the cutest tell her that she was cute in return!]
“...Ah.”
The younger sister she considered cute...
Was that something I should be happy about or not?
Honestly, wasn’t Yaeun cuter than me?
“But Harang is cute too. The more I see you.”
[That’s what I’m saying! I’m so cute.]
Good grief. I couldn’t be bothered to humor her. Should I just hang up?
[Anyway, the mission has failed.]
[But PD, Dohui honestly said she didn’t know!]
[Exactly. You arbitrarily declared the mission a failure and interrupted the flow, PD.]
Harang’s voice and the voices of what seemed to be her fellow cast members rang out again, filled with indignation.
Yaaawn... I was still a little tired.
What should I eat for breakfast?
Should I just go back to sleep?
[Then let’s do this. We’ll give her a new opportunity!]
[Yes, yes!]
Could I hang up now?
[It feels a little strange to do another phone mission with someone new, but it would be a shame to end our call with Dohui, wouldn’t it?]
So I couldn’t.
[Therefore, we have a very simple general-knowledge quiz prepared as the next snack mission. I’m going to ask Dohui five questions. If she gets just three of them right, we’ll count it as a success.]
“Huh?”
Why was I suddenly involved?
[Please, Dohui! We came all the way to Thailand, so I have to eat a Thai breakfast!]
“Unnie, you already ate tons when we went on tour.”
[No, this is different! And do you know how much I’ve dieted lately because I’m debuting? I’ll buy you a meal next time!]
Good grief.
“Um... I don’t know if I’ll be good at a general-knowledge quiz.”
Judging by the fact that I only had to get three out of five questions right—
It didn’t seem like it would necessarily be easy.
[Oh, it’s fine! We just didn’t want to end the call, so we’ll make it easy. And if you get all five questions right, we’ll provide a meal and snacks for everyone!]
[Dohui, please!]
[Pleaseee!]
“Haha... I’ll give it a try.”
This was tiring first thing after waking up.