"M-Music video?"
Seoyeon felt her own voice trembling.
It was bound to.
She thought a commercial would just be taking a few photos with her younger sister and shooting one for a TV ad.
But an MV?
A music video?
Why on earth would they shoot that for a commercial!
"Ah, well, it's a long story..."
"Please explain, even if it's long."
"Unni, do you not want to shoot the commercial with Suyeon?"
"N-No, it's not that I don't want to shoot the commercial, Suyeon."
She couldn't help but squeeze her eyes shut at the sight of her younger sister looking up at her with her index finger in her mouth.
It was the face Jo Seohee often made when she felt wronged.
Still, she felt she needed to know the reason.
Why a music video was suddenly included.
"Didn't Actor Jo Seoyeon recently make a name for herself as a huge issue overseas?"
"By recently... are you referring to the French Biennale?"
"Yes. The two-shot with the British princess there was truly amazing. I heard fans even gave you the nickname 'Princess Seoyeon' after seeing that, right?"
"..."
Princess Seoyeon.
She felt like she was hearing that title for the first time... Huh?
'Come to think of it, in the fan community recently.'
Seoyeon recalled what happened in the fan community recently.
Recently, Seoyeon's fan community saw a massive influx of fans after the France incident, and as a result, the bulletin boards became highly active.
- Princess Seoyeon is so pretty ㅠㅠㅠ
- fr fr Jo Seoyeon is really pretty
- It seems like there are more people trying to slander her for no reason, probably fans of other actors, right?
Seoyeon's eyes narrowed after reading roughly those kinds of posts.
'This is definitely slander, right?'
It was a relief that VS-related posts had decreased, but that nickname severely bothered her.
Princess Seoyeon? Who would call her by such a cringeworthy title.
- lolol Princess lolol No matter how pretty and innocent Jo Seoyeon is, Princess is a bit...
Seoyeon quickly typed.
For reference, her main account was banned, so she was using her dad's ID.
- ?? Are you a fan?
- If you saw Jo Seoyeon during the France incident, you wouldn't say that???
- Don't you realize your statement is a bit contradictory? Pretty and innocent <<< Princess is right
- Ugh, you newbies, Jo Seoyeon didn't rise with that kind of image, you know?
- fr lol Jo Seoyeon rose with a lively image lol What Princess
- nnn Jo Seoyeon's original image is quite diverse lol There was the magical girl recently too
- Isn't the fan cafe ruining the actor's image?
'Huh.'
Seoyeon realized that the single line of chat she posted had sparked a flame war in the fan community.
Thus began the long Jo Seoyeon Image Liberation War.
A battle between Gorilla vs. Princess ended up lasting until dawn.
And the result.
- Ah, this guy is trolling.
Seoyeon, the root cause of all the flames, ended up getting a 30-day ban.
'Are Mom and Suyeon the only accounts left now...'
Seoyeon thought she needed to be careful anew and quietly went to sleep.
That was roughly a week ago.
Seoyeon looked at the man in front of her.
She gazed at Sim Jinsoo, the team leader of the 'Magical Girl Harara' character business department, who had just mentioned 'Princess Seoyeon' with a serious face.
It seemed like he was genuinely sincere, without any lies.
'Don't tell me it's not trolling and a meme like that actually formed?'
Seoyeon pondered for a moment how to react.
Hmm, come to think of it, what? It is somewhat similar, isn't it?
"I'm thankful to the fans for creating such an image. Honestly, it feels a bit undeserved."
"As expected of Actor Jo Seoyeon! You truly are humble!"
Seoyeon decided to admit it.
Well, it can't be helped, right?
Everyone says she's pretty and dignified, so stubbornly denying it would be a bit...
Being pretty is a fact, so isn't it half true?
"...Suyeon, why are you looking at me with those eyes?"
"Yeah, no, Unni was always a bit shameless."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Seoyeon said so and gently stroked her sister's head.
At that touch, Suyeon stiffened and subtly gauged Seoyeon's mood.
The fact that her expression closely resembled the one she made when she did something wrong proved that she was indeed her sister.
"Anyway, to continue, it became a hot topic overseas like that. And coincidentally, our company is considering distributing Harara overseas this time. We're also planning overseas events. Among the advertisements that could be used then, a music video was included."
"In other words, you're thinking of using me to advertise overseas..."
"Yes. The more methods, the better. Above all, wouldn't it be great to include a song sung by Actor Jo Seoyeon herself as the OST for the Harara animation!"
"M-My song? Why my song of all things..."
What in the world was this about.
She was an actor, not a singer.
At Seoyeon's reaction, Department Head Sim Jinsoo looked at her with a rather puzzled face.
"Huh? Aren't you the skilled singer who had a close match with that 'Yeohee' on Masked Singer? I even heard that the OST for last year's biggest KMB drama hit, Sky Garden, was also by Actor Jo Seoyeon?"
Ah, so it's coming from here.
Seoyeon couldn't even bring herself to deny it and just gaped.
Actually, Seoyeon could sing a bit now.
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But if you ask whether she sings as well as a professional singer, that wasn't the case.
Honestly, the song carried a lot of weight back then, and she just deceived the audience well enough to get by.
Basically, Seoyeon's voice was undeniably innate.
It was clear that to some extent, things were covered just by her voice alone.
"I'm not very good at singing songs that require a lot of technique."
"It's fine. Since it's a children's cartoon, the OST is on the easier side for kids to sing."
"..."
Seoyeon was at a loss for words at that.
'What is this? Have I already agreed to do it? Even the music video?'
She hadn't even answered yet, but it felt like the music video was already confirmed, leaving her confused.
Reading Seoyeon's reaction, Sim Jinsoo suddenly came to his senses.
"A-Ah, of course, this is only a plan. If there is any part Actor Jo Seoyeon wishes for, we can coordinate it however you'd like!"
He added that, probably because he felt Seoyeon's reaction wasn't good.
He had recited his grand plan after telling Seoyeon to speak up first, but it would be a big problem if Seoyeon refused.
The moment he was watching Seoyeon with cold sweat running down.
"Unni! Suyeon likes Unni's songs. Can I look forward to it?"
A fairy-like reinforcement arrived.
To Suyeon, it seemed like it would be great if Seoyeon sang and appeared in the music video together.
Just that pure reason.
"No~?"
At her sister's words, sparkling her large eyes, Seoyeon calmly closed her eyes.
"I-It's no big deal, I'll give it a try!"
...If her cute sister wished for it, as the older sister, she had no choice but to meet those expectations.
***
"Now, the response to observation variety shows is also getting lukewarm."
"Because too many copies came out."
"When one gets popular, a lot of similar ones usually come out."
"Anyway, MDC is the problem. Just like the broadcasting station's name, they're just..."
"Whoa, calm down, calm down."
All broadcasting station PDs are like that, but variety show PDs in particular were a profession that had to quickly grasp recent trends.
Especially at a time when YouTube broadcasts were emerging.
Simply funny, dopamine-stimulating things had all moved to YouTube.
Honestly, the broadcasting station wanted to try those things too, but there were limits to public broadcast variety shows.
First of all, because it was a public broadcast, the morality demanded by citizens had also greatly increased.
Accordingly, censorship became strict, making it much harder to film variety shows like in the past.
"Well, those times were good, but it's also true that there was a lot of abusive behavior."
"Oh my, you'll hear it."
Young PDs.
Those who had somewhat established themselves in KMB recently laughed as they said that.
But that laughter didn't last long.
Mainly because the variety shows being planned recently were in a rather ambiguous state.
"A cooking variety show, how about it?"
"Huh?"
The one who brought that up was PD Shin Youngwoo.
A PD who hosted
He didn't step down because there was a particular problem.
It was just a situation where he was brought in as emergency support because KMB's recent variety shows had lackluster results compared to other variety shows.
"A cooking variety show is a bit..."
"Will something like that work?"
"The reason observation variety shows have lost some popularity is because of the disconnect from reality. But cooking? People can easily follow along when they watch. Or they can easily experience it themselves when they go to a restaurant."
Accessibility, so to speak.
And he could feel the recent well-being boom.
If they targeted this situation well, it would be possible to achieve quite good results with a cooking variety show.
"Especially these days, there are quite a few young people who cook themselves, right? If we gather young celebrities and do a cooking survival variety show..."
"Hmm... Honestly, I'm not really sure."
"What about giving missions to directly gather ingredients in between, like in Uninhabited Survival?"
"I'm thinking about that, but wouldn't it be a bit too much?"
"But that's what makes it fun."
"Because the cooking could end up taking a backseat."
"Ah, that's true too."
A cooking survival program.
Centered around young celebrities, no less?
"You mean idols or young actors, right?"
Thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem like a bad idea.
"If we compose the judging panel entirely with proper chefs and businessmen, it will become more serious. As if it's not simply a show-off variety show."
"True, if young celebrities do it, the public will be able to approach cooking more easily too."
Young celebrities almost had no image of being good at cooking.
Especially since some idols even had an image of being completely clueless, an idol or actor who cooks would rather have an opportunity to improve their image.
"Maybe it's not bad?"
"Right?"
But since there hadn't been a cooking variety show yet, there was an ambiguous feeling about whether it would catch on.
'Still.'
It didn't feel entirely bad.
Since other broadcasting stations didn't have cooking-related variety shows either, if they targeted this opportunity well, it would be possible to lead the trend.
"PD Shin."
"Yes?"
"If you're saying you'll organize it around young celebrities, do you have a celebrity in mind? It seems like you definitely do."
The reason he specifically pointed out young celebrities caught their attention.
At those words, PD Shin Youngwoo laughed heartily.
"Actor Jo Seoyeon is also very close to me."
"Huh? Really?"
"She told me to let her know if we planned another variety show like that, saying how fun Uninhabited Survival was."
"...Isn't Uninhabited Survival and Cooking Survival too different?"
"Well, if you just attach 'Survival' to it, isn't it all similar?"
But Jo Seoyeon.
If they could recruit her, it would be perfect.
'Is there anyone among young celebrities who wouldn't care about Actor Jo Seoyeon?'
Among young celebrities, Jo Seoyeon was a hot potato in many ways.
Someone would feel jealousy.
Someone would feel admiration.
From the past to the present, there is no star who has caused as much buzz in such a short period as Seoyeon.
There would also be those trying to get in line with her.
Or there might be those trying to take her down and divert the buzz she gathered to themselves.
Because they are young actors, they are hotter than anyone else.
And because they have strong pride, they are easy to move.
Moreover, when it comes to cooking, isn't it the exact opposite of the talents Seoyeon has shown so far?
No, rather, there's a firmly rooted perception that she can't do it.
Just look at the Japanese variety show she recently appeared on.
"I will try contacting Actor Jo Seoyeon once."
At PD Shin Youngwoo's determined words, the other PDs nodded...
"Ah, but shouldn't you tell the department head first?"
"...Right?"
Come to think of it, they needed the department head's permission first.
Shin Youngwoo scrambled to the variety department head's office.
A short while later, the new variety show plot he had planned was submitted to the meeting.
The result was 6:4.
It was a plan that passed by the narrowest of margins.
***
"Unni, it's so cute!!"
"..."
Seoyeon blushed as she looked at the cutesy black dress draped over her body.
Although Seoyeon mostly lacked facial expressions, her expressions were particularly pronounced for one emotion.
Embarrassment!
Shame!
'S-Still, Zeroro is better than Harara.'
It was a familiar black dress, wasn't it.
The weapon she was holding was a black sickle with a cat pattern drawn on it.
With its cutesy composition, it definitely felt like it would be popular.
'It's not for nothing that adults like these elements.'
Harara and other characters were relatively cutesy, but Zeroro had a particularly stand-out design.
'The outfit Jo Seohee wore before seemed a bit different.'
The filming director said the outfit was refined as it entered Harara Season 5.
There was no particular exposure, but it was very stylish, so it didn't really feel cringeworthy.
"...My song is going to be inserted into this music video too, right?"
"Yes, for the commercial, we plan to just play a rough audio and proceed. Ah, of course, it's fine if you sing."
"I-I'll just pretend to sing..."
At Seoyeon's words, spoken in a relatively unconfident tone, the filming director—no, the entire filming staff—wore delighted smiles.
'At first, I thought she had a somewhat fierce impression.'
'She's still a student after all.'
'Miss Seoyeon is much more girlish than she looked on TV?'
If Seoyeon had read the staff's thoughts like this, she might have fainted from shame.
If Lee Jiyeon or Park Jungwoo had seen it, they would have given her a look saying they saw something they shouldn't have.
If it were Jo Seohee, she would immediately make a fuss trying to capture it in a photo.
It was roughly that kind of feeling.
'Still.'
Seoyeon glanced back at her younger sister.
Her fairy-like younger sister in a pure white outfit.
"Unni! Look at Suyeon! It's Harara, Harara!"
At the sight of her sister jumping around, Seoyeon's lips relaxed into a loose smile.
Anyways, her younger sister was cute.
Her skill at occasionally scratching her nerves was extraordinary, but her younger sister was still cute.
Behind such a sister, a staff member brought something.
What could it be.
"Is it a wire belt?"
"Ah, yes. There's a scene where she floats in the air. But it's hard to fix her posture, so I'm a bit worried."
Since Harara was a magical girl, it seemed there were flying scenes.
If they didn't strap it on securely and have people holding her from the sides, it would be quite difficult with a child's muscle strength.
"Ah, it's fine. If you just strap my sister around the waist, she'll fix her posture well on her own."
"Huh? No way. Kids have heavy heads, so..."
"It'll be fine."
At the staff's worried words, Seoyeon smiled softly and looked at Suyeon.
The sight of her younger sister dancing, waving her magic wand around.
And, she saw Sua, who had come to the filming set for the first time in a while.
Sua's eyes were full of worry.
For reference, that worry wasn't about something happening to them.
It was the look of worrying that her daughters might cause some unnecessary accident.
'Our daughters are too healthy(?)...'
Of course, Suyeon wasn't as healthy(?) as Seoyeon.
However, unlike the young Seoyeon who didn't cause problems because she was mature, Suyeon was literally the embodiment of liveliness.
Because she was literally a girl of that age, Sua had reasons to worry.
In many ways, that is.