'So the red pill is quite a dangerous thing.'
The reason Jo Seo-hee became a virtual YouTuber was because of Seo-yeon.
To be exact, she had asked Ji-yeon for advice on how to get along with Seo-yeon, who had been strangely prickly toward her at the time.
"There is a better way, but honestly, I'm not sure if you can pull it off."
Ji-yeon, who had been talking about this and that, suddenly brought that up.
That's just how people are.
Even if it's nothing major, when you hear the words, "I don't think you can do it?", you inexplicably get competitive.
At the time, Jo Seo-hee was no different.
Of course, there was also the reason that it was the way to get closest to Seo-yeon.
"Virtual YouTuber?"
It was a very unfamiliar profession to Seo-hee.
She had heard of regular YouTubers or streamers, but broadcasting using a virtual avatar?
She found that part dubious, but hearing that Seo-yeon really liked it, she started it half in doubt, which became the catalyst.
And, as mentioned before, Jo Seo-hee quite enjoyed broadcasting.
It relieved her stress to some extent.
This side had its own share of bad fans or potential problems, but most issues were solved by the law.
The legal team of the group Seo-hee could mobilize was one of the top in Korea.
Even the class commonly referred to as chaebols couldn't compare to Newlike Group, Seo-hee's backing.
Currently, the cultural industry of South Korea was solidifying into a duopoly between Newlike Group and GH Group.
Originally, GH was far ahead, but after Chairman Jo Seok-hwan took office, Newlike Group had taken the lead.
'And one of the blades GH Group prepared to overturn that situation is Ju Seo-yeon.'
It was clear they were preparing various things starting with
Anyway, Seo-hee didn't care much about such things.
As an actress, she had never received any backup from Newlike Group.
Her father's work was her father's work.
And she had her own work.
Honestly, from Seo-hee's standpoint, she didn't even mind being pushed back by GH Group.
It's all the same anyway, isn't it?
Just that kind of feeling.
The amount of money earned might differ a bit, but for her, who had no financial worries anyway, it was just a feeling of, "I guess that's how it is."
Honestly, even if the company went bankrupt right now, Seo-hee was in a position to live perfectly well and comfortably as an individual.
Anyway, leaving such trivial company issues aside, the important thing was being a VTuber.
'Honestly, I was half in doubt.'
She started because of Seo-yeon, but from Seo-hee's perspective, who was now doing it quite seriously, she was honestly flustered.
No, she had heard the words.
"Seo-yeon, stop playing around and get up."
"Huh? Wait. Did she really faint?"
"...Really?"
Jo Seo-hee, who was poking Seo-yeon's cheek, panicked.
Who would have thought the red pill was that dangerous.
"I told you."
Of course, Lee Ji-yeon just said that sullenly.
But, words aside.
When she searched about the red pill, she often saw comments on internet communities like, "Keugh, red pill." "She's doing VTuber because of that look, lol."
But it was only to that extent; who would have known she'd actually faint from it.
'As Lee Ji-yeon said, she really does like it.'
Then were the things she said while donating to my virtual avatar 'Alice' all sincere too?
'If only she treated me half as sweetly.'
When broadcasting as Alice, Seo-yeon couldn't have been sweeter.
- Ah, I'm weak to young lady-type characters.
- Alice is so cute ㅠㅠㅜ
Sending 100,000 won donations every time along with such chats made Seo-hee honestly a bit troubled.
The feeling of receiving 100,000 won in charity from a friend was incredibly subtle.
Especially for Seo-hee, who always bought things for others but never received any.
'Did she forget I'm from a chaebol family?'
If looking at her purely as an actress, that might be possible, but hadn't Seo-yeon become somewhat aware of it by now?
She even took her to Mirinae Park last time.
But looking at it now, it seemed like she didn't care about the person inside and was purely giving money to 'Alice.'
"Here's the money I received this time."
"...It's quite a lot? It's almost similar to mine?"
"Huh?"
The money she received like that was handed right over to Lee Ji-yeon, and it seemed Ji-yeon passed it on to Seo-yeon's parents. And that money was used by Seo-yeon's parents as allowance or living expenses.
"Similar? Ah, don't tell me..."
Seo-hee immediately realized what Ji-yeon's words meant.
Probably, it meant that the donation amount Seo-yeon sent had brought Alice close to Lamiel.
Originally, there was a much bigger difference.
"Hehe, at this rate, won't I receive more?"
Jo Seo-hee covered her mouth with her hand and laughed, "Ho ho ho."
It was Alice's gesture, so to speak.
At Seo-hee's appearance, Ji-yeon's eyes looked even more sullenly at her.
"I was going to stream hard for the time being anyway."
"...Huh? You haven't forgotten we're in the middle of filming, right?"
"Yeon Seon-ye's acting references Lamiel a lot, so it helps me quite a bit."
Is that so?
But in reality, Lee Ji-yeon's acting this time was very good.
To the extent that even Seo-hee got swept up in the impromptu ad-lib.
Sometimes, an actor's ad-lib can far surpass the original script.
But to a director who hates ad-libs, it was like touching a dragon's reverse scale.
Director Baek Min was exactly that type, so she was a bit tense.
Honestly, with Director Baek Min's usual style, it wouldn't have been strange if he had made them reshoot the scene entirely.
However, it seemed the scene came out so beautifully this time.
Especially, the scene of Michiko running off holding hands with Yeon Seon-ye at the end was legendary.
The script just had 'a scene where she holds hands and helps up the fallen Michiko,' but the scene became overly impactful.
"If we insert background music here, this might actually be really good?"
Even the sound director said so.
Director Baek Min also gave a small warning, but he acknowledged Ji-yeon's ad-libbing skills.
'That kind of reflex isn't something that comes from effort.'
Seo-hee thought as she looked at Ji-yeon, who was staring at her with a sullen face.
Her acting skills were certainly lower compared to Jo Seo-hee or Seo-yeon, but her reflexes were entirely different.
It wasn't for nothing that Lamiel's stream grew in an instant.
The sense that popped up in an instant truly belonged to the realm of talent.
'Talent...'
It was a very subtle word for Seo-hee.
When she was young, everyone praised Seo-hee as a genius actress, but at some point, such words disappeared.
Of course, if you ask if she has no talent at all, that's not the case.
In the first place, in the arts and physical education fields, without talent, you can't even debut properly.
However, if you ask if it's the same talent as her mother, it felt like it wasn't.
Those who knew Seo-hee's identity naturally compared her to her mother.
"She's definitely great, but..."
Remarks that felt like someone was being superimposed over Seo-hee's face.
In the past, it hurt her pride, but now she just accepted it.
Anyway, Seo-hee knew.
That such reactions came out because she didn't possess the same starlight as Seo-yeon.
Just as her father said, she wasn't born with that much talent for acting.
Her mother's talent.
That she hadn't inherited that brilliance.
"Anyway, Jo Seo-hee, don't get cocky. I'll widen the gap again next time."
"Huh? No, no. I don't intend to compete over something like this?"
"For someone who doesn't, you're smiling."
At Ji-yeon's "Hmph," Seo-hee crossed her arms.
Well, anyway, winning is a joyous thing.
Both as a VTuber and as an actress.
Even if it's a bit lacking right now, she intended to definitely obtain her goal someday.
That her lacking talent, too, someday... she just vaguely thought.
Like that, having gotten one over on Ji-yeon and feeling good, Seo-hee headed to the filming set with a beaming smile.
There weren't many scenes to shoot today, and since it was a day of filming with Seo-yeon, she was planning to suggest they finish quickly and go shopping.
'As expected, when I act with Seo-yeon, I feel like my skills go up a bit too?'
Among her peer actors, there was no one who could properly match Seo-hee's acting.
However, Seo-yeon not only matched Seo-hee's acting but also brought out more potential beyond that.
'Like that time I was doing the physical struggle scene with Seo-yeon.'
At that time, Seo-hee had definitely immersed herself several times more than her usual acting.
She thought she had immersed herself in 'Michiko' just as Seo-yeon had immersed herself in 'Yuina'.
Was it called Method?
It was a story too distant for Seo-hee, but she felt she had experienced exactly what it was.
Completely falling into a character was a somewhat unfamiliar experience for Seo-hee.
"Hey. After we finish today, shopping... what's wrong?"
Seo-hee, who had been talking so cheerfully, couldn't help but ask back at Seo-yeon's strange reaction.
"Ah, it's nothing."
That was because Seo-yeon's answering face was exactly that of a 'puppy that did something wrong.'
Since Lee Ji-yeon had said that was the face Ju Seo-yeon made when she had done something wrong.
***
'Should I just comfortably speak casually to her even now?'
Seo-yeon fell into agony.
Is it commonly called 'dropping the roleplay'?
This, somehow, knowing Jo Seo-hee's past, made her wonder if she was in the wrong.
'But she's the one who said 'parachute' first...'
Even if she tried to make that excuse, it was also true that she had dragged it out for a while.
Because Jo Seo-hee had apologized a long time ago.
Of course, Seo-yeon was also joking, but after knowing this backstory, she felt a truly hard-to-describe emotion.
'Chronologically, at that time, Jo Seo-hee hadn't lost her mother long before.'
To be exact, Jo Seo-hee's period of activity was after her mother, Baek Seo-ran, died.
In other words, it meant she started acting after her mother died.
Seo-yeon couldn't easily imagine what state of mind Jo Seo-hee must have been in to start acting back then.
If it were her past self, who didn't understand emotions, she definitely wouldn't have thought much of it.
But now, having gained so much, Seo-yeon couldn't bear to imagine it.
If something like that happened to her mother, Su-ah...
Seo-yeon wasn't mentally weak.
But if she lost the precious things she had barely gained, she didn't know what state she would be in.
In the first place, it hadn't been long since she properly recognized the emotion of 'liking' something.
'She started acting in that situation, but there was no mention of Newlike Group.'
To be exact, in the stories about 'child actress Jo Seo-hee' at the time, there was no information about Newlike Group or Baek Seo-ran.
In other words, she had started from scratch purely under the name 'Jo Seo-hee.'
From her position, Seo-yeon, who had dropped in out of nowhere through the director's recommendation at the time, might have looked disagreeable.
Even her remark about her being a 'parachute' wasn't strange at all considering those circumstances.
'Just how mentally strong is she?'
Separate from that, seeing Jo Seo-hee staring at her blankly, Seo-yeon couldn't help but be shocked for the first time.
It was a bit much to say, but Jo Seo-hee's face, both when she encountered her as a child and now, had no shadow.
'Even the first discoverer was herself.'
Jo Seo-hee was the first to discover her mother's body after her extreme death.
It wouldn't be strange if it became a lifelong trauma, but seeing her so perfectly fine, it was beyond extraordinary.
For Seo-yeon, who fainted from the VTuber red pill, Seo-hee's mentality was horrifyingly astounding.
Seo-yeon was also generally mentally strong, except for VTubers.
Ah, and except for scary things.
Seo-yeon also didn't spout nonsense like she didn't feel fear anymore.
I'm totally weak to fear.
Hing.
That kind of feeling.
Anyway, she didn't waver at anything else beyond that.
But hadn't that crossed that ordinary line?
Anyway, since Seo-hee was that fine, her father, Jo Seok-hwan, must have said those things to Seo-yeon and Ji-yeon.
Because he knew that if the two knew that fact and brought it up, Jo Seo-hee would respond perfectly fine.
What kind of trust was that.
"Seo-yeon, want to go shopping? Today's filming will end quickly too. Should we call Lee Ji-yeon?"
"...Yeah, I will."
Seo-yeon hesitated a bit before answering Seo-hee like that.
Then.
"...Casual speech?"
At Seo-yeon's words lacking honorifics, Jo Seo-hee inadvertently said that.
Then she covered her mouth with both hands.
No, the nuance of the words was a bit weird.
"'Casual speech?'—it sounded like 'You're speaking casually to me?', so Seo-hee shook her head.
As if that wasn't her intention.
"...I'll speak formally after all."
"No no no no, casual speech is totally fine too? But why?? What brought this on?"
"..."
Even if she asked what brought it on, how could Seo-yeon answer?
She couldn't say, "I saw an old article, and I felt it was a bit much to speak casually."
'I shouldn't have spoken casually. I should've just kept talking the same.'
For now, she thought she should stick to formal speech and observe her reactions.
When a more proper opportunity arises, she'd drop the formalities...
'Is this what they call digging your own grave?'
Seo-yeon reflected on it.
That from now on, she should have a broader mind and treat others generously.
Like that, a few days later.
["Hello? So you're Ju Seo-yeon? Your eyes looked a bit redder in the video, are they contacts? Unique taste?"]
Until she met one impudent fairy, that is.