As expected of things with the "first" label attached to them, Diah's first solo track, Bright Day, was special. The short melody edited for the teaser continued to linger in Ha-eun’s ears, a clear sign of how impactful it was.
“I guess they really meant it when they said to expect something good.”
- Expectation success
- So when is the full version coming out? So when is the full version coming out? So when is the full version coming out?
- Diah in serious mode, wow
- The 1-year-old is huge, lol
It was definitely a lie to say she hadn’t been expecting it at all. Ever since she heard that the music video was nearly finished, Ha-eun had been counting down the days.
However, when she finally unwrapped the packaging, she found a product far more polished than she had anticipated.
“Hey, this is me~! Praise Diah~!”
Ha-eun’s excited voice was captured by the broadcast mic. It had already been a rewarding day, but with the teaser video as a bonus, dopamine was flowing.
[ orue1001 d 10,000 won! ]
: The lyrics were made by Noeulis, but is there no bonus?
“Bonus? What’s that? Oh, you mean like a performance bonus, right? Got it.”
While Ha-eun usually controlled her emotions with ease, when it came to broadcasting as Diah, it was the opposite. She tended to be swept away by the emotions she felt as Diah.
She didn’t quite understand why this happened. Perhaps it was because it was something the past Ha-eun had always dreamed of. Or maybe it was because she had imagined Diah as a character that was completely opposite to her own nature.
‘What should I do to get a good reaction...?’
If Ha-eun had no memories of her past life, if she had grown up without any bitter memories, living as a daughter of good people from the start...
Perhaps, if she had no past memories, Ha-eun would have become a cheerful girl like Diah. Someone who liked to joke with close friends and always walked around with a smile, a bright girl.
When she broadcasted as Diah, the only time she could truly forget the past life’s memories was during these moments. Maybe that’s why she spoke and acted like a child.
Diah was just a regular girl, expressing emotions without any calculations. She simply spoke and acted honestly, like any normal girl.
It was the only time she could truly be "Lee Ha-eun." For now, at least.
Ha-eun cherished these moments of broadcasting as Diah, perhaps because of this reason.
“Alright, alright. The release is coming up soon, so just wait a little longer~.”
Ha-eun continued chatting with Noeulis, exchanging various bits of banter. As her eyelids began to droop, she knew it was time to end the stream.
“Today was supposed to be a rest day, but I’m happy you all came to watch the stream. See you next time~~~.”
“Before I go, I’ve got some business to take care of.”
[wkxorrudqldnjs33] – Did you know there’s bulgogi with pineapple in it?
[wkxorrudqldnjs33] – Honestly, it might taste good
[wkxorrudqldnjs33] – This is a pineapple-hate crime;;
[wkxorrudqldnjs33] – Kugh, kill them
“Alright, here’s the real final chance. Say pineapple is for dessert!!”
[wkxorrudqldnjs33] – Pineapple is fo
[wkxorrudqldnjs33] – It’s my favorite food
[wkxorrudqldnjs33] – Really, lol
< wkxorrudqldnjs33 has been forcibly kicked out by Diah. >
“Fabricating things will get you banned!! Out you go!!”
Usually, she would fall asleep right away, but today, the lingering feeling from the Bright Day teaser wouldn’t leave her.
Sensing Ha-eun’s presence, Baek-seol climbed the dog steps and rushed to her, lying down beside her.
“Ah, Seol-ah. Did you wait for me?”
“Hmm, alright, alright.”
Ha-eun couldn’t fall asleep right away. Instead, she started telling Baek-seol about everything that had happened today.
She whispered into Baek-seol’s fluffy ears, telling her about the Star Athletics Competition, meeting Song Hyun-min again, the great results in the events, and how she bragged about Bright Day’s teaser on the stream.
Of course, Baek-seol didn’t respond. As usual, she just blinked her eyes while nestled in Ha-eun’s arms.
But it was okay. Just being in Ha-eun’s arms was enough.
“Hmm, where did our Seol learn to be so calm...?”
As Ha-eun continued to stroke Baek-seol’s fluffy head, she eventually closed her eyes. Hours later, when she woke up, all the fatigue from the day had disappeared.
“Oh, so these days, music videos are made like animations? Back in my day, it was almost always filmed.”
“B-but VTubers can’t film, so... music videos have to be done .”
It was around the time when the heat of summer was starting to subside that Ha-eun found herself in Leni’s studio, the only outsider who had discovered Diah’s red medicine.
The conversation they were having until just a moment ago was about Diah’s teaser for Bright Day, which had been released a few days earlier. Leni found Ha-eun to be quite an interesting person, and as a result, she often asked her all sorts of questions.
For example, when Ha-eun had started practicing Diah’s youthful voice. How she was able to sing with two completely different voices: Pinocchio, the singer, and Diah, the VTuber.
“What’s really impressive is that there are no pitch errors. Doesn’t changing your voice usually strain your throat?”
“Maybe it’s because I practiced a lot with the older guys? I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning too.”
As someone who had lived her entire life as a singer, Leni had many «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» questions about vocal techniques. Even though Ha-eun’s natural voice was what it was, the fact that Diah’s youthful voice was now being released as a single was something new and surprising to Leni.
Ha-eun answered Leni’s questions earnestly. Though she wasn’t quite used to talking about Diah yet, it was easier because they were speaking as fellow singers.
‘Maybe it’s because she’s a fellow female singer?’
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Since they were only talking about songs and not Diah’s streams, Ha-eun felt a little less pressure. If Leni had started talking about Diah’s sponsorship reactions like Da-yeon did a few months ago, Ha-eun would probably have had a hard time looking her in the eye.
However, the reason Ha-eun had come to Leni’s studio today was strictly for the Snow Flower music video shoot. After the shooting crew arrived, Ha-eun couldn’t even bring up Diah’s name.
Soon, cameras began to set up all around the recording studio. Ha-eun, who would have to sing Snow Flower alone in front of these cameras, found herself deep in thought.
‘Did they say I should just sing it the way I always have from start to finish?’
The music video for Snow Flower would include two types of scenes: one of Ha-eun singing in the recording studio, and the other mixing scenes from Goblin appropriately.
This was all information Ha-eun already knew, thanks to her past life’s memories. However, unlike before, this time, Ha-eun was the one singing Snow Flower, and for some reason, the filming location was the same as her previous one: Leni’s studio.
‘Maybe it’s because I don’t have my own studio?’
She wasn’t sure if it was just a coincidence or if there was another reason, so she casually asked Leni about the choice of location.
“Oh, it’s just that an older sister I know asked me to borrow it for just one day. Why?”
That was the simple answer she got. Ha-eun felt a little embarrassed for even wondering about it.
‘I was just asking because I wasn’t sure. Maybe I’m overthinking it...’
So, after the small mystery was resolved with a simple coincidence, Ha-eun walked into the fully set-up recording studio.
The melody of Snow Flower began to play through the headphones.
To be honest, she was a little nervous since the song had received hundreds of millions of views in her past life. Leni, the creator of that view count, was watching from the other side.
However, this time, Ha-eun wasn’t just covering the song as a singer. She was performing Snow Flower as herself, Lee Ha-eun, the actress playing Baeksulhwa in Goblin.
“Don’t leave me alone─♪ Now I finally understand the meaning of the gaze I’ve always sent─♪”
For a moment, she became Baeksulhwa, her voice soft and nostalgic. She added a little bit of expression and started creating her own Snow Flower music video.
After recording Snow Flower without any mistakes, the director, reviewing the footage, asked her to do it two more times.
“Ha, Ha-eun, you didn’t make any mistakes, but I think it’d be good to have a comparison to pick the best result. Please?”
After recording Snow Flower fully a few more times, the music video shoot finally ended. The filming crew dismantled the cameras one by one, bidding her farewell with a wish for a good Chuseok holiday.
‘Come to think of it, Chuseok is only a few days away.’
Like most people, Ha-eun also took time off during holidays like Chuseok and Seollal. Though some daily dramas shoot even during holidays, for Ha-eun, holidays were truly holidays.
Of course, she didn’t plan to rest the entire time. On Chuseok day, she would definitely rest, but at the tail end of the holiday, it would be a peak time for broadcasting.
‘Maybe I should do a stream about making songpyeon.’
She wasn’t sure what would happen during this Chuseok holiday, but she definitely didn’t know that it would all lead back to her time at Star Athletics Competition.
As time passed and only three days remained until the release of Bright Day, it also happened to be the last filming day before the Chuseok holiday for Goblin.
“How’s the size? Is it okay?”
“Ah, yes. It’s fine.”
Ha-eun was currently changing clothes in the locker room of a high school with Ju Jung-yoon. The reason for this was that today’s scene was a school life scene for Baeksulhwa.
‘Being bullied for being poor, huh... Hmm...’
In the drama, Baeksulhwa was a student from a very poor background. Her poverty made her the target of teasing from her classmates, and at school, Baeksulhwa endured various kinds of bullying.
This was meant to show how difficult Baeksulhwa’s life was. However, in her past life, Ha-eun had never experienced anything like bullying, and even now, while attending school normally, she had never been subjected to such treatment.
‘Would they really stop if I told them to?’
To Ha-eun, bullying felt like a vague concept—something she had to imagine more than something she could relate to.
Still, this was for a scene in the drama. She was wearing the school uniform that had been prepared for her.
“Alright, then. Let’s begin. 3, 2, 1... Action!”
When the director, Kwon Jae-hyeop, gave the cue, Ha-eun was fully focused on staying true to the script. The main goal was to portray Baeksulhwa’s difficult school life in the cafeteria.
With that in mind, Ha-eun began pretending to eat alone in the corner of the cafeteria, passing by the extra actors playing her classmates.
The extra actors approached Ha-eun at the table.
More precisely, they—
“This, we’re paying for it with our taxes. Why aren’t you thankful?”
One of the extras snatched Ha-eun’s lunch tray and poured the food onto her school uniform.
“...Do you have nothing better to do?”
A sharp, cold emotion leaked through Ha-eun’s voice and eyes, sharper than she had intended. It was frustrating to see perfectly balanced meals wasted like that, and her anger welled up uncontrollably.
This fierce aura from Ha-eun was enough to make the extra actors feel nervous.
‘S-she’s really not angry, right?’
‘She’s three years younger than me... Why does she look just like my older sister when she’s mad?’
Even though they knew it was just acting, they couldn’t help but flinch.
“Aren’t you going to look away?”
“Hey, are you asking for a slap?”
The extras who were supposed to be bullying Baeksulhwa were now terrified of her.
“Cut. Let’s do it again.”
From the director’s point of view, it wasn’t the right take.
Ha-eun had to change into a new uniform because of the mess made with the food.
“I-I’m sorry, Ha-eun. We’ll do it properly this time.”
So, Ha-eun, holding a new lunch tray, sat back at her spot at the table. The extras, once again, approached her with heavy footsteps.
This time, they hesitated before even taking the tray.
They had locked eyes with Ha-eun’s cold gaze once again.
“Ah... I’m sorry! I’ll do it again!”
‘...Why is she acting like that?’