Just as Seo-yeon had looked into Stella, Stella had also gathered various bits of information about Seo-yeon.
For example, someone in Seo-yeon's fan community had compiled and posted her achievements.
Included among them was the video from
Stella's impression after watching it?
"What is this, a variety show?"
It was labeled as an action movie audition, but honestly, it didn't feel like an audition.
Just a variety show.
It was close to a video of Seo-yeon running wild alone in a variety show where they couldn't even match properly.
Batting away incoming paintballs after 'seeing' them with her hands.
And various other scenes of her clearing missions with astonishing physical abilities.
Then the final battle with Sora felt distinctly different from the rest, giving a strong sense of proper coordination.
"Hmm, a Japanese actress?"
Stella watched the footage on her laptop, chin resting on her hand, and paused to look at Sora.
'Is she better than that Goto Reika girl she showed last time?'
She couldn't remember the face well.
Part of it was that she was completely overshadowed by Seo-yeon's acting, but Stella genuinely had a hard time remembering people's faces.
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The faces she could properly see were virtual faces, not real ones.
She could remember faces from movies or comics, those kinds of places.
But when she met them in person, she couldn't remember them.
Actually, in that sense, she should have remembered Goto Reika's appearance, but that side was literally buried under Seo-yeon's acting, so she simply couldn't. She only remembered the clumsy acting.
"Ahaha, that's heavily exaggerated."
As is typical with variety shows, most of them exaggerate the situations.
This applies even to boring American variety shows.
Especially in today's climate where people search for even slightly more stimulating content, overseas isn't much different.
After all, the competitors for variety shows now are countless internet influencers.
YouTubers and virtual YouTubers.
To chase the raw entertainment they provide, this side has to do things they can't.
So Stella didn't think too deeply about Seo-yeon's exploits.
They were probably scenes constructed over the past year to properly hype her up on broadcasts, given Seo-yeon's major activities.
However, at this level, there were quite a few things that seemed like they might attract backlash.
'Well, that has nothing to do with me.'
Thinking that, Stella recalled the plane ticket she had booked online.
Stella simply thought of the acting of Seo-yeon that Asher Baldwin had personally brought and shown her after watching her.
'Strangely, my eyes keep going to it.'
Chuckling, Stella watched Seo-yeon's acting that she had already seen multiple times.
Her acting.
There was a strangely familiar feeling, as if it resembled her own.
To be precise, the emotional acting that formed its foundation.
Surely that couldn't be the case.
That was why Stella had come to Korea.
Was Seo-yeon actually like that in reality, just as she had seen on her small smartphone screen?
Fortunately, the Seo-yeon she saw in person was exactly that.
Just as Stella had thought, no, even more so.
"What is this, a prank video?"
Prank video is a term for hidden camera in America.
That was how shocking the scene Seo-yeon had just shown was.
Rarely, the smile on Stella's lips faded as she looked around the broken punch machine.
"Hmm."
Stella examined the punch machine.
First, the part of the punch machine that Seo-yeon had hit was slightly bent.
Stella knew logically that hitting this shouldn't bend its iron frame.
More than that, the metal fixtures securing it to the floor had been jostled by the impact just now, with all the screws popping out.
No matter how she looked at it, it was strange for a hidden camera.
The equipment itself wasn't new but old, and looking at the fixed parts, it had been secured there for a long time.
In other words, the punch machine broke after taking Seo-yeon's punch just now.
Indeed, the surrounding crowd was buzzing.
The two actresses who came with Seo-yeon were also looking at her with astounded faces.
As for Seo-yeon, she was rolling her eyes sideways, avoiding their gaze.
A face resembling the expression a puppy makes when it's done something wrong.
"Seo-yeon."
Crouching down and looking at the broken hinges that had held the punch machine, Stella opened her mouth.
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you one thing?"
"Uh, what is it?"
"Which side are you, Marvel or DC?"
At Stella's words, Seo-yeon tilted her head.
For a moment, she didn't understand what she meant.
Was she asking which one she liked better?
"I prefer Marvel."
Seo-yeon answered like that.
One year ago from now, when the Batman vs Superman film from the DC Universe came out as a universal masterpiece, it sparked a major hero movie boom in the American film industry, but Seo-yeon liked Marvel better.
'Because they put out the Avengers before building up the other heroes' narratives.'
Seo-yeon was sad.
Anyway, the live-action adaptation of a comic you like failing is quite a sad thing.
Was the cause that they went too light instead of the serious anguish of heroes like DC?
"Okay. Still, Marvel is a bit better."
Stella said that and raised both hands up.
It was a gesture as if saying she was harmless.
It felt strangely a bit more docile than before.
Anyway, when people see violence beyond imagination, they become cautious.
"Just saying, but I shouldn't hit you, right?"
"I won't hit you."
"Ah, can you actually deflect real bullets too?"
Stella suddenly recalled Seo-yeon batting away paintballs with her hand in
Of course, real bullets are overwhelmingly faster than paintballs, so she said it half as a joke.
"I'm not sure."
She thought Seo-yeon would say it was obviously impossible or unreasonable, but Seo-yeon answered with quite a serious face.
Honestly, Seo-yeon was also curious.
Did her skin have bulletproof functions too?
'I don't know if I could see and deflect them.'
But vaguely, she felt like she wouldn't get hurt.
"Come to think of it, guns are permitted in America, right."
"...Hmm? So?"
"Do you have one too, Stella? A gun."
"If I had to say, I don't have one. My bodyguards do though."
Of course, she had left them all behind when coming overseas.
"You're American but don't even have a gun."
"Ahaha, you know that sounds like a racist statement, right?"
Huh? Does it?
Seo-yeon had purely just thought that.
Wasn't it that Americans carry guns around like cellphones?
"But why?"
"Just that next time you shoot one, I want to watch from next to you."
"You can see that in Korea too."
"If you watch from where they're shooting, you can't see the trajectory."
What was she trying to say?
So she wants to watch from right next to the target when they shoot?
Gradually, Stella became curious whether what Seo-yeon was saying was a joke or serious.
"Joo Seo-yeon."
As the two were having that conversation, Lee Ji-yeon called Seo-yeon with an exasperated face.
Wondering what was going on, she turned her head and saw the crowd of people surrounding them.
Everyone had smartphones in their hands.
And at the very front, a man who appeared to be a game center employee stood with a troubled face.
"...."
Seo-yeon looked at Stella.
"Can I give them that instead of omakase?"
"Ahaha, what. Were you trying to eat something that expensive?"
At Seo-yeon's honest words, Stella laughed.
Well, what could she do.
"Yeah, okay. It's a bet."
Setting aside Seo-yeon's strength, a promise was a promise.
It was a somewhat expensive meal, but that much wasn't really a problem.
***
"What on earth did you do in Japan?"
When she returned to the accommodation after playing around, Park Eun-ha greeted Seo-yeon with those words.
It made sense.
==
Post: Saw Joo Seo-yeon at a game center
I didn't expect to see that face in Japan, not Korea;;;
I was drawing figures at the game center when suddenly I thought an earthquake hit
Everyone rushed out in surprise and she was just standing in front of the punch machine like it was nothing
It was so absurd I just took a picture
(Photo of Joo Seo-yeon in front of the punch machine)
Replies:
- Should've at least said something to her
└ Does it look like you could say something to her after seeing that
└ Why couldn't I?
└ What if she sees my face and hits me
- But what's that, did she break the punch machine?
- Someone took a video of that, says it just ended up like that when she hit it with her fist.
└ Crazy.... What happens if she hits a person with that?
└ What do you think happens?
==
The first thing Park Eun-ha showed her was a post uploaded on the Korean internet.
Since Akihabara was a tourist spot, it wasn't just Japanese people there.
There were clearly many Koreans too, so it spreading on the internet was fast.
Moreover.
"There's a post on Twitter too. It hasn't hit the trends yet, but the video is circulating?"
"...A video?"
"The scene of Seo-yeon hitting the punch machine."
Wait, that was caught on video?
Seo-yeon quickly checked the video and felt a bit relieved.
'The video quality isn't good.'
Seo-yeon's face wasn't clearly distinguishable.
Instead, Stella's face next to her watching it was very visible.
It seemed the current topic was about the mysterious punch machine girl and Stella watching it.
She didn't know, but Stella seemed to be quite popular in Japan.
Unlike Korea, when Stella walked around in Japan, more eyes were on her than in Korea.
However, with Seo-yeon, Jo Seo-hee, and Lee Ji-yeon beside her, no one dared approach.
"Thanks to that, I played comfortably. Seo-yeon, you were much more reliable than our bodyguards."
Stella said that to Park Eun-ha before they parted.
With her hand covering her mouth, like a proper young lady.
Except when she was with Seo-yeon, that was roughly what she was like.
A pure young lady like a fairy that people imagined.
Thanks to that, Park Eun-ha didn't particularly scold Seo-yeon either.
"Just don't cause too much trouble. This is overseas, so it's different from Korea."
"Yes."
"Okay, that's fine. Of course, I know Seo-yeon isn't the type to cause trouble, but I'm saying this just in case."
Honestly, becoming a topic on Twitter wasn't a bad thing.
Same for the Korean internet.
Originally, the photos and video quality weren't good, so it wouldn't spread properly.
If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, it wouldn't be believable.
"Ah."
At Park Eun-ha's words, Lee Ji-yeon let out a flustered exclamation as if something had come to mind.
Of course, Park Eun-ha didn't seem to notice, but Jo Seo-hee, who was right next to her, heard it.
"What's wrong?"
"I filmed everything of Joo Seo-yeon hitting the punch machine earlier."
"Huh?"
"And I think I gave it all to the Japanese staff."
Ji-yeon had received a request from the staff while playing to film the three of them like a vlog.
So not only Stella meeting and playing with them, but also Seo-yeon hitting the punch machine was all captured on video.
"Did they say it was video to put in the documentary?"
"Probably."
"...Hmm."
Seo-hee thought for a moment.
"Well, wouldn't it be okay?"
"Really?"
"There's nothing bad about anything becoming a topic."
And if such footage appeared in the documentary, it would definitely become a topic in Japan too.
This was because 'strong beautiful girl' was a trope that Japan was quite crazy about.
'More than that, Stella.'
Seo-hee crossed her arms while looking at Seo-yeon, who was in conversation with Park Eun-ha.
When they were together, she didn't pay any attention to them.
She only looked at Seo-yeon, only conversed with Seo-yeon.
That was different from intentionally ignoring them.
A subtle sense of incongruity.
Seo-yeon and Ji-yeon didn't seem to notice since they were in that situation, but Seo-hee vaguely knew.
More than anything, unlike the others, Seo-hee knew relatively detailed information about Stella's circumstances.
Given her position, information about famous overseas celebrities was easy to come by.
Especially for the Newlike Group, the leader of the Republic of Korea's cultural industry.
Even though they were recently being chased by the GH Group, the fact that Newlike Group was at the center of the Korean cultural industry hadn't changed.
Jo Seo-hee knew the contents of an interview Stella had done with a small newspaper when she was very young.
The reason she acts.
Now, with the 'fairy' image overlaid on her, you couldn't find that newspaper's article.
But Jo Seo-hee knew.
The reason Stella acts.
***
And the next day.
"We've invited a special guest for today's filming."
Director Baek Min said this to the actors who were admiring the splendid mansion after moving to the filming location.
That was quite a sudden statement, so some showed a bit of a stir.
Among them, actor Lee Sang-soo just stayed quiet.
"They're someone you've already seen several times, so you're familiar with them, so don't worry."
At his words, Seo-yeon could vaguely guess who it was.
No, at this point, not knowing would be foolish.
Right away, they had sent the person in question when Seo-yeon, Jo Seo-hee, and Ji-yeon were playing yesterday.
The staff weren't fools, so they wouldn't easily reveal where they were playing.
Stella had spoken as if she came herself, but it was clear that the conversation had already taken place beforehand.
'Probably, timing-wise, when Stella came to Korea.'
When Stella said she would stay at Seo-yeon's house at that time, such a conversation must have taken place.
Yes, so to speak.
"Wait, don't tell me."
She could hear the actors' voices stirring.
Seo-yeon slowly turned her gaze.
There stood a girl holding a white parasol, wearing a Western-style dress.
A picture-perfect appearance.
She walked slowly, very slowly, and stood in front of Seo-yeon.
Everyone's gaze followed her.
That kind of presence, she had.
"Don't worry, it's just a simple cameo."
And.
"Just like you."
Stella said that and smiled.