"A scene money can’t buy."
This sentence perfectly captured the emotions of those who knew Dia’s true identity as they watched her debut stream.
"*Ugh, I told you, it’s about guessing my favorite *food*! Why does Hawaiian pizza keep popping up?*"
- *“Wait, Dia, are you saying Hawaiian pizza isn’t even food?”*
- *“Well, Hawaiian pizza isn’t food, technically, is it?”*
- *“Dia, are you secretly from Italy?”*
- *“Even a one-year-old spirit skips Hawaiian pizza. Dang.”*
Her stream flowed seamlessly.
The tension never dropped for a second.
But what stood out the most was her clear, cheerful voice, which perfectly demonstrated what it means to be lively.
“Is this seriously her first-ever broadcast?”
“She’s an actress. Maybe she prepared a script beforehand.”
For those involved in the Fantasia project, watching Dia’s debut felt like being struck on the back of the head.
Even though they *knew* “newbie VTuber Dia” and “actress Lee Ha-eun” were the same person, it was impossible to connect the two in their minds.
Seeing a renowned actress like Ha-eun hosting a VTuber stream was rare enough.
But delivering a broadcast that perfectly embodied what it means to be a VTuber? That was an entirely different story.
When she auditioned for Fantasia—
No, even when she signed her contract as “Dia” after being accepted—
She had always carried an air of seriousness and gravity.
No one had suspected she had this bubbly, playful side hidden within her.
If someone called her two-faced, they wouldn’t have been entirely wrong.
"*Am I good at LoL? Are you talking about roll cakes?*"
- *“These League players are crazy.”*
- *“Who’s teaching bad things to our Dia?”*
- *“Protect Dia at all costs!”*
- *“Roll cakes are delicious, though.”*
There was nothing anyone could criticize.
Her interactions with viewers felt natural.
Her friendly, approachable tone created no sense of distance.
Nothing about her performance gave room for fault.
The Fantasia project team could only hope the other two members debuting on Wednesday would deliver a performance like hers.
But unlike the project team, who evaluated Dia’s debut from a business perspective, the other Fantasia members who knew her true identity had a different reaction.
**Fantasia Member Group Chat:**
- *[Park Mi-so (Mile)]: This has to be Ha-eun, right?*
- *[Lee Ye-na (Yuna)]: I mean, she doesn’t like Hawaiian pizza, so yeah, it’s definitely her.*
- *[Park Mi-so (Mile)]: The same Ha-eun who used to stutter whenever I asked her anything?*
- *[Jung Maria (Cream)]: Stutter? No way. She was just shy.*
- *[Kim Eun-hye (Lia)]: What do we even do about tomorrow’s stream?*
- *[Lee Ye-na (Yuna)]: Crap, yeah. What do we do about that…*
Their amazement was genuine, mixed with a subtle sense of unease.
Before Dia’s debut, the members had thought of Ha-eun as a young actress with niche interests in subcultures.
They knew her fame, of course, but after meeting her in person, they saw her as more of a younger sibling they could tease.
But now, with Dia unexpectedly pulling in over 6,000 viewers and excelling as a VTuber, they couldn’t help but feel conflicted.
**Fantasia Member Group Chat Continued:**
- *[Park Mi-so (Mile)]: I’m calling her on Discord as soon as the stream ends.*
- *[Kim Eun-hye (Lia)]: Let’s make her pay for fooling us.*
- *[Jung Maria (Cream)]: My bet is she won’t answer.*
- *[Park Mi-so (Mile)]: How dare our youngest ignore her older sister’s call?!*
- *[Jung Maria (Cream)]: Based on viewer numbers, Ha-eun’s the eldest now.*
- *[Park Mi-so (Mile)]: *(defeated lion emoji)*
- *[Lee Ye-na (Yuna)]: *(shivering duck emoji)*
Half-betrayed and half-amused, the members waited eagerly for her stream to end.
- *[Park Mi-so (Mile)]: ? Why is she already offline?*
None of them managed to reach her.
Dia had ended her stream with a teaser for the members debuting on Wednesday and promptly shut down her computer.
**After the Broadcast:**
A deep sigh escaped Ha-eun’s lips.
Her heart still raced.
The adrenaline from pouring her all into the performance lingered, making it difficult to even get up from her chair.
It wasn’t until 20 minutes later that she finally dragged herself out of her soundproof booth and collapsed onto her bed.
She was utterly exhausted—too tired even to notice the missed calls from Ji Hye-min.
But she was also completely happy.
With a radiant smile, she closed her eyes, satisfied that she had given it her all.
The noisy online communities that had erupted during her broadcast didn’t matter.
She was loved as *Dia*.
And that was enough to let her drift into sleep with no lingering thoughts.
### **The Day After**
Dia’s successful debut caused Ha-eun’s already packed schedule to become even busier.
Her days started early with school, followed by shoots for *The Moonlight Split by Clouds* or action training at Kim Kyu-tae’s studio.
She also visited the DoubleLee studio to practice singing as *Dia*, not *Pinocchio*.
After all this, she managed to fit in two to three hours for short streams.
Though she wanted to stream longer, she knew it would harm her health, so she resisted the temptation.
**At the Breakfast Table:**
“So, are you dating someone?”
The unexpected question made Ha-eun choke. She quickly sipped lukewarm barley tea to calm herself before replying.
Her answer was completely truthful, but her father, Sung-yoon, wasn’t convinced.
“I don’t know… you just seem softer lately,” he said.
“Where exactly?” she asked, frowning.
“From head to toe. Like you’ve fallen for someone ridiculously handsome.”
His teasing left her flustered, but she couldn’t tell him the real reason for her change—her secret life as Dia.
At school, a classmate’s casual question—“Ha-eun, do you have a boyfriend now?”—completely shattered her composure.
‘...What’s so different about me?’
During the first break, she rushed to the bathroom, splashed her face with water, and stared into the mirror.
But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t find anything “different.”
The only person who might’ve had an answer was Da-yeon.
Eventually, Ha-eun found Da-yeon—not at school, but at the set of *The Moonlight Split by Clouds*.
Da-yeon was at the end of a hallway, staring intently at her phone.
Ha-eun cautiously approached her, but then froze when she saw what was on Da-yeon’s screen.
It was a paused clip of Dia’s stream.
“...What’s this?” Ha-eun asked, her voice trembling.
Da-yeon turned to her, her usual playful expression replaced by the poised, commanding look of Queen Consort Yoon.
Ha-eun felt her mind go blank as the unmistakable sound of her own voice played softly from Da-yeon’s white earphones.