On the way back to the dorm after wrapping up the music show MC gig.
Messages flooding in from everywhere saying they enjoyed the first broadcast.
While I was sending some formal thank you messages,
[Kim Ye-eun Unni: (Lion emoji with crossed legs)]
[Kim Ye-eun Unni: What are you doing right now?]
I got a message from Kim Ye-eun Unni, who unexpectedly expected me to send her the special stage cam right away.
[Me: On my way home]
[Me: Why]
[Kim Ye-eun Unni: Just because]
[Kim Ye-eun Unni: You did well as the MC…]
I was wrong about my assumption.
Even a compliment?
‘Well… if you’re a high school senior, you should be more mature by now.’
[Me: I’m just ㅋ]
[Kim Ye-eun Unni: Haha]
Still, it’s a bit disappointing that my expectations were off.
“Yawn”
A big yawn escapes me.
I guess I was feeling tired since I had been up since dawn.
Manager So-young, who had toiled alongside me, was already passed out beside me.
“Do-hee, aren’t you tired? Get some sleep.”
Manager Young-ho, who was driving, encouraged me to rest.
“Aren’t you tired, Manager?”
“I took a nap in the waiting room while you were rehearsing, I’m fine.”
Ah, got it.
I switched my continuously vibrating phone to silent and closed my eyes.
[Kim Ye-eun Unni: But I noticed a few shortcomings as a senior MC!]
[Kim Ye-eun Unni: Keep that in mind~]
[Kim Ye-eun Unni: (fancam video)]
[Kim Ye-eun Unni: (Ye-eun’s MC clip video)]
When I finally arrived at the dorm and checked my phone late,
I replied to all the piled-up messages from Ye-eun Unni.
[Me: Haha ㅗ]
*
A few days after Do-hee’s first MC gig.
“I’m off work now~”
Today, the office worker’s face, which usually bore the stress of work, was visibly relaxed.
—Absolutely NICE!
They were even humming a tune.
Despite being Wednesday, a day they considered trash day (because of their work philosophy), there was one reason to smile.
[Nature Free X Do-hee Lee]
[In-person Fan Signing Event]
Today was Do-hee’s face-to-face fan signing event.
They frequently held events in collaboration with the cosmetics Do-hee was modeling for, and by reserving the product, you could get a chance to enter the lottery—Do-hee was one of the 30 lucky winners.
‘I did buy more cosmetics than usual… but it’s essential skincare, so I have to use it anyway… I can always share with my mom and sister… But more than anything, it’s Do-hee’s first fan signing…!’
—Absolutely Nice!
The office worker, excitement bubbling, hummed a tune and headed to the fan signing event venue immediately.
Arriving at the art hall lobby, they carefully pulled out the winning ticket and ID from their bag, just like they saw online, as if they were about to set them free.
He took it out of his bag.
And handed it to the guard and guide in the lobby.
‘My hands are shaking…’
“Yes, you can go in now.”
‘Phew…’
Inside the art hall, where people had already started lining up since they arrived early.
“Please line up over there in the order you arrived~”
‘Time for the lottery…!’
The office worker waited quietly for their turn.
Then they pulled out their number from the black box.
[Number 3]
‘Holy… that’s super early! Crazy jackpot!’
The staff handed them a name tag and tied a different number strap on their hand.
‘Oh… I should keep this forever.’
Finally, they entered the inside of the art hall.
Seated according to the number, the worker sat down with a racing heart.
Others seemed familiar, setting up camcorders and bringing a lot of stuff, but the lucky person didn’t notice any of that.
The man in seat number 4 smiled pleasantly at the office worker.
“Is this your first time here?”
“Ah, yes. Just got lucky by chance.”
“I figured as much. When you win, you’re just lucky~ Anyway, we’ll have to go in at scheduled time, so let’s chat while we wait.”
“Ah, okay.”
The fairly handsome man made the office worker momentarily think of romance.
‘Did Do-hee… set us up as a couple?’
But just then—
Weeeeeeeing
The man, who had opened his mouth, saw his phone buzzing with a notification, took it out, and checked something, happily grinning.
“Oh, it’s up!”
“What is it?”
He showed the phone.
“Behind the scenes of the first day at work!”
[[SUB] What am I…? You? Trendy song MC. Behind Do-hee and Seung-bin’s first day at work | Maknaes ‘Lee Joo’ MC Ep.0]
“Ah…”
Where did the romance go?
The man was immediately engrossed in watching the video.
The office worker, having prepared questions ahead of time and out of things to do, decided to watch videos on YouTube like the guy next to him.
He clicked on a video about 15 minutes long.
It immediately started with an MC introduction pre-interview.
Do-hee and Seung-bin were sitting next to each other.
[Hello, I’m Joo Seung-bin, the new MC from AiversTu~]
‘He really does look like a handsome tofu, so he seems nice.’
With Seung-bin’s greeting, clips of him and introduction captions passed by.
<19-year-old vocalist of AiversTu, the youngest>
[Prince of beans, Seung side]
[ENTP]
He was good-looking but…
The office worker’s attention wasn’t on this side.
Next up, Do-hee took the microphone right away.
Do-hee, holding the mic while clapping, had a somewhat blank expression.
She had a totally blank expression, didn’t she?
[Ah, hello. I’m the new MC this time…]
Do-hee was staring at the camera, talking to herself.
[…What am I?]
Maybe it was because her voice went through the microphone, but it sounded particularly loud.
And the combination of that line and her expression looked so stupid it could belong in a cartoon that the office worker couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
The guy next to her also burst out laughing at that moment.
People in the back were laughing too, watching the same video.
<ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ>
Of course, the production staff in the video were laughing too.
Except for Do-hee.
[Ah, no…!]
Do-hee seemed flustered, trying to stutter out an excuse.
But subtitles popped up immediately.
[What am I!?]
Along with a fan cam from her Seven days.
Instead of Do-hee introducing herself, a video made by the production staff started playing.
[You're that Seven girl! 17-year-old youngest Do-hee Lee!]
And then there was a quick shot of her playing the piano.
[A genius, but...]
The recent interview.
[What am I…?]
[An idiot...?]
[The confirmed visual center]
The video came back to Do-hee mumbling and Joo Seung-bin, trying to hold back his laughter.
[Let me do it again…]
[Adorable youngest duo from day one!]
[It's not “Maknae-zu”!]
[Do-hee Lee + Joo Seung-bin = Lee-Joo-zu!]
Some fans were watching the video and hurriedly editing some prepared post-it questions.
And soon enough, the host for the fan signing event arrived.
*
I watched the older sister in front of me carefully as I wrote the name she told me on the sign.
The older sister was blushing hard.
I thought it was awkward to ask if she was here for the first time but since I had seen her before, it might be very rude to ask, so…
“Sister, is this your first time here?”
She looked like a first-timer no matter how I saw it.
The vibe was right.
“Yeah, I really wanted to do a fan signing with Do-hee, but I keep missing out…”
“I figured. I can remember every single person as long as I see them just once~”
“Really?”
“Of course. I’m Do-hee Lee? Fan genius~”
I pointed at myself with an exaggerated expression, and the older sister burst into a cute laugh.
“But Do-hee.”
“Yes?”
“But~ why did you forget your name in the interview~?”
“Huh, interview?”
“Yeah! The Yoo MC interview!”
“Uh… the live broadcast? Ah, no? I didn’t have any interviews with live broadcast singers?”
“No~ not that.”
The older sister in front made a playful face.
“It’s about what Do-hee did~ her first MC interview, the behind-the-scenes!”
“Did that, did that get released?”
“Huh? You didn’t know? It was released earlier.”
“Ah, but the Director promised to edit it…!”
My reaction made the fan sister laugh even more.
I knew this would happen.
Those directors wouldn’t miss out on such juicy content.
Somehow, this sister’s post-it question was:
[Q: What is Do-hee?]
[1. Foolish Bunny 2. Clumsy Cat 3. Genius Baby Rat]
This was it.
“Hurry, circle it for me~”
Even though I don’t have a puppy-like face…
My eyes might look a little puppy-ish…
I circled “Genius Baby Rat.”
“Really~?”
I marked it with an X and circled 1.
“Also write ‘Foolish Bunny’ next to Do-hee’s name!”
“Okay…”
*
After finishing the fan signing event, I took out my phone.
As expected, the hot Seven chat room.
[Seven 7]
[Ha-rang Unni: Wow, the youngest’s accuracy is insane]
[Ha-rang Unni: Her words might be harsh but]
[Ha-rang Unni: Warm-hearted Ha-rang Unni?]
[Ha-rang Unni: Agree, also totally agree, 100% agree haha]
[Chae-rin Unni: What are you talking about?]
[Ha-rang Unni: Haha, it’s obvious Chae-rin hasn’t watched the video!]
[Hana Unni: Hahaha, that’s ridiculous]
[Seo-yoon Unni: Damn, so annoying]
[Seo-yoon Unni: I feel like my character’s been interpreted]
[Hana Unni: I actually watched the video with Sara earlier haha]
[Sara Unni: Do-hee, I’m not obvious…]
[Sara Unni: I totally didn’t act cute, watched it totally expressionless…]
[Hana Unni: What are you saying lol]
[Seo-yoon Unni: Annoying, I think I’ll sneak some bread from Do-hee]
Fortunately, the chat was full of them talking about themselves rather than my mistake.
Phew…
Maybe I should tease the quiet Ye-eun Unni a bit.
[Ye-eun Unni: Keep this in mind~]
[Ye-eun Unni:(fan cam video)]
[Ye-eun Unni: (Ye-eun MC clip video)]
[Me: lol, so obvious]
[Ye-eun Unni: T_T]
I entered the behind-the-scenes video first.
I captured the part where I predicted Ye-eun Unni’s reaction.
Then I sent it to Ye-eun Unni in her private chat.
[Me: (photo)]
[Me: So obvious haha]
Immediately, a ‘1’ disappeared.
Just as I was getting curious about her response.
[Ye-eun Unni: lol]
[Ye-eun Unni: (photo) What am I? lol]
[Ye-eun Unni: Clumsy haha]
I need to reteach her some discipline next time we meet.
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