Chapter: 78
At that moment, Park Jung-woo doubted his ears.
I mean, can you blame him?
In all the world, who drops a “Hey, it’s my birthday today!” just before parting ways?
“What?”
Jung-woo asked again, his brain still catching up.
He had no idea how to follow up on that.
It wasn’t just Jung-woo who was flustered; even the camera crew, including Shin Young-woo PD, looked utterly perplexed.
“Excuse me? It’s your birthday?”
“Yes, it’s my birthday! So I’ll be taking my leave now. Thanks for all your hard work!”
With a half-bow, she was ready to depart.
In such a casual atmosphere, a quick goodbye seemed ordinary, but…
“No, no, no, wait, W-Wait!!”
“Please, just hold on a sec!”
“?”
Caught off guard by the sudden protests from the cast, Seoyeon merely tilted her head in confusion.
*
Though the sudden detainment was shocking, it didn’t last long.
They merely pulled together a small cake for her to blow out some candles—nothing too extravagant.
Jung-woo continued to fidget with a dissatisfied look, but he didn’t make any further complaints.
“Oh my, dear. What kind of gifts have you gotten?”
Upon returning home, my mom, wearing an apron, was wide-eyed as Min Sua seemed equally blown away.
“They gave them to me since I said I was going home.”
“Is that so?”
Clearly, she was baffled that I returned with so many gifts.
Why, can’t I get a few presents?
‘It’s just that I may seem a bit… different at school.’
Though I was well-liked by my superiors in the working world.
‘Oh, speaking of which, I forgot to check how the filming turned out.’
Unlike dramas, I didn’t have the moment to take peeks between variety show segments.
I had meant to check during the wrap, but I completely overlooked it.
‘Oh well.’
After all, variety shows air quickly.
They’d probably show it next week or the week after.
“Seoyeon! Time to blow out the candles!!”
My mom’s shout rang from outside.
Typically, I spend my birthday with family.
Not that I lack friends, or Lee Ji-yeon was busy or anything.
No, it’s always been this way, no matter the little details.
“Now our daughter is truly seventeen!”
With a tearful expression, Min Sua lit the candles.
The flickering lights caught my eye.
Four family members lined up around the square dining table.
An annual sight, yet every time felt refreshing.
Suddenly, I recalled something from earlier in Daejeon.
A woman walking hand-in-hand with a little girl.
In that moment, there was no trace of ‘me’.
Honestly, I’d figured it out long ago.
‘Because I have been reborn anew.’
To prevent the sense of ‘me’ from splitting into two.
For some reason, that seems to be the case.
The unsighted face of the woman who held the child’s hand was something I had seen only once.
“Seoyeon?”
My mom looked at me, bewildered.
Before long, the brightness of the cake lit up the now dark table.
“……”
The loss of the past.
I recognized what Chae Seo-ah must feel while looking at others.
Having avoided it all this time, the pain arose in full force.
But…
“No, no.”
I shook my head.
And blew out the candles with vigor.
With my family’s applause echoing around,
I closed my eyes, watching the final candle flicker out.
Seoyeon and Joo Su-yeon were different.
That person was a stranger to me now.
Naturally, that existence would have no influence over me.
‘Only…’
Upon opening my eyes, I smiled brightly.
At those gazing at me.
‘Someday…’
Not as The Chaser,
But someday, I hope they’ll come to watch the movie I’ll create.
That was my tiny wish.
Nothing more.
*
Anyway…
What’s significant today isn’t just my birthday.
And rightly so.
‘Ramiel’s first broadcast!’
For reasons unknown, Ramiel‘s first live was set for today.
“Happy birthday, Joo Seoyeon!”
When the clock hit midnight last night, Lee Ji-yeon sent a Kakao message along with a gift.
Of course, there was no mention of Ramiel in it.
A message like the hundreds I’ve received for the past ten years.
“Hmm.”
Seoyeon gazed silently at it before turning on the computer.
She had adjusted her speakers to catch the Ramiel broadcast later today.
‘Maybe that magician will show up too?’
Surely they wouldn’t have brought him out for the very first episode.
Even while feeling anxious about it.
No, I was more puzzled about why they even started broadcasting in the first place.
Even if I wanted to ask, it would be tragic if I turned out to be a ‘red pill’ in the equation!
Besides, I couldn’t pry into Lee Ji-yeon’s private life.
I simmered in my bubbling thoughts while waiting for the first broadcast to start.
Of course, very few people were waiting.
Thirty people.
Actually, for a first live, thirty people waiting felt like a pretty big deal!
I honestly expected to be the only one there.
Upon receiving a notification, Ramiel’s first broadcast began streaming.
“Hello!”
The first thing that came through was a crisp voice.
Lee Ji-yeon’s distinct tone that she often relayed to me.
Very much like the voice I had often heard in my past life.
Not too light and rather calm.
‘No magician, huh.’
I felt relieved watching the stream.
If that magician showed up today, I’d have rushed straight to the voice acting academy!
“My name is Ramiel. I am a harpy…”
Upon hearing ‘harpy’, chat exploded.
With only thirty people present, five additional comments sprung up before that number stalled.
It wasn’t like a corporate seminar, so you could see how that made sense.
“What? Oh, you thought I was an angel? The reason I’m a harpy is… well.”
A vague response trailed.
True to a first broadcast, it was a little awkward, with a brief introduction about the character Ramiel.
Why she was a harpy.
What her backstory was, pretty much laid out.
All of it mirrored my memories of Ramiel to the letter.
The character Ramiel was supposed to be a harpy who couldn’t sing.
Driven by curiosity for the human world, she ventured out.
That was supposed to be the gist of it.
“I once saw a certain notebook. It probably came from the human world.”
Ramiel said.
The character of Ramiel, her RP story.
“Inside that notebook were tales about the human world. This outfit, and these clothes were illustrated in my friend’s notebook.”
But then, Ramiel’s next statement deviated from what I had known.
The narrative about being unable to sing wasn’t part of her premise.
The notebook.
A reference I’d never seen in my past life was introduced now.
And that notebook…
“Joo Seoyeon.”
Elementary school.
The Lee Ji-yeon that became my classmate once spotted the notes I doodled during class.
“What are all these doodles?”
“……”
Doodles?
I hadn’t really doodled them.
It was, well, writing about things from my past life.
‘My memories are…’
I could vividly recall the media I had seen in my past, along with various web novels and comics.
All that I was able to pull back to memory effortlessly, like a ‘rerun’.
I could extract that memory anytime, and recall associated articles or news too, but…
‘When it comes to Vtubers…’
That was purely something I could grasp alone.
With the passage of time, even if I wanted to remember them like before, they just wouldn’t resurface clearly.
Gradually fading.
That was the nature of human memory.
Of course, I was clueless at first.
Since all my memories surfaced as vividly as ever.
But as time went on, I started noticing the difference.
I could feel it gradually becoming blurry.
The vivid memories I once had were simply due to how much I loved those things.
So, I occasionally found myself jotting down those memories in a notebook.
Settings about Ramiel.
Designs of clothing and personality traits.
It wasn’t for anything extravagant.
Honestly, the earlier me didn’t really matter.
But forgetting things I once loved felt a bit tragic.
“……Hmm.”
With my mouth shut, Lee Ji-yeon addressed my notes.
“Is she a harpy, not an angel? What’s a harpy?”
“……?”
“You seem awfully curious about what I scribbled.”
Lee Ji-yeon’s question came from her childlike innocence.
‘The setting of Ramiel has that fairytale-like vibe.’
Casually, I narrated Ramiel’s story.
At the time, I didn’t even realize that Lee Ji-yeon was the same person as Ramiel.
I never really gave it a second thought.
I had actually forgotten by now.
“The owner of that notebook came to the world seeking me.”
Said Ramiel, wearing an inviting smile.
“That outfit serves as a guide to find the notebook’s owner, my friend.”
I quietly gazed at her calm voice, feeling a strange emotion swirl in my chest.
The deep current I had sensed earlier when I blew out the candles with my family.
“Today, I emerged from the world because it was that friend’s birthday. No? You think that isn’t enough to find a friend?”
With a hand over her mouth, Ramiel chuckled elegantly.
That scene perfectly manifested Lee Ji-yeon’s essence, yet it was still distinctly Ramiel.
“No.”
Ramiel declared firmly.
“Most likely, my friend. Well, the owner of the notebook seems quite persistent. She will find me soon enough. In fact, she may even be watching me right now.”
As Ramiel spoke, her gaze flicked towards the chat before she flashed a soft smile.
“Happy birthday.”
With a wink, Ramiel’s words zapped my consciousness into oblivion.
*
“Wow, the PV turned out awesome!”
Chae Dong-jin, the producer, recapped the footage, rewinding it repeatedly.
Things seemed to be wrapping up with remaining shoots close to their end.
Considering when filming started, it was done in a blink!
The GH Group was thrilled with the rapid progress too.
“Chae Seo-ah has been very well hidden in this PV.”
“Yeah, that amount is perfect.”
They showed a brief glimpse of the convenience store part-time worker’s face, but that was nowhere near the killer in the rain.
Wearing a raincoat, it was tough to pinpoint their gender, giving off a rather masculine vibe during that chase scene.
“Is that a stunt double?”
Team Leader Kim from the PR team prompted, shaking his head.
“Nope, that’s all Joo Seoyeon in those shots.”
“Wow, I’d heard about it, but are you serious? She runs this well?”
Team Leader Kim’s observation made Chae Dong-jin smile awkwardly.
‘He’d probably pass out if he knew that was just a reshoot.’
And one that was done too quickly.
Even if I told them the truth, there’s no way they’d believe it.
“The PV is going live tonight, right?”
“Yep, that’s right. The movie hits theaters four months from now.”
“Wow, that’s quick.”
“For this one, since there’s no CGI, the post-production will be fast. Until then, we’ll focus on promoting it.”
Those were certainly satisfying words.
Getting things so smoothly after shooting was rare.
“This movie will shine a spotlight on quite a few actors. Especially…”
They implied someone’s involvement without naming names.
But I’m pretty sure it was the same name hanging in both their minds.
The killer, Chae Seo-ah, aka Joo Seoyeon.
She’s bound to be the rising star to storm through in The Chaser.
A twinkling star who has returned.
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