Behind Ha-eun, neatly wrapped gift boxes were stacked up.
In front of her, a beautiful birthday cake was placed on a white table.
A few steps away from Ha-eun, Ju Jung-yoon and several other staff members were setting up for Ha-eun's birthday broadcast.
Once they finished adjusting the camera angles, Ju Jung-yoon’s voice finally rang out.
"Don’t be too nervous. Just think of it like a video call."
"Ah, okay..."
To be honest, Ha-eun wasn’t particularly nervous.
After all, she had been streaming as a VTuber for over half a year.
She didn’t think there would be much difference doing a broadcast as the actress Lee Ha-eun instead of Diah.
In fact, this wasn’t her first Instagram live broadcast either.
Of course, the unrealistically high viewership of 44,000 still didn’t quite sink in.
The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.
How many broadcasts would Diah have to do to reach 44,000 viewers?
‘...This feels strange.’
As she was caught in this ambiguous feeling, Ju Jung-yoon asked if she was ready to begin the broadcast.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
And just like that, the broadcast started.
As Ha-eun’s image appeared on the vertical screen, the chat speed surged dramatically.
‘...I can’t read this.’
The chat was scrolling so fast that Ha-eun’s eyes were spinning.
It wasn’t just in Korean; English, Chinese, and Japanese were mixed in, confirming that she wasn’t seeing things.
For a brief moment, she was flustered.
After all, her previous Instagram live broadcasts weren’t like this.
‘...What’s so different about a birthday stream?’
Looking back, her previous Instagram live streams had been spontaneous and unannounced.
But this birthday stream was an official broadcast with a prior announcement from the agency.
This was bound to be different from the casual streams she did on her own time.
In any case, she had to focus on the broadcast now.
"Hello, this is Lee Ha-eun."
She waved lightly at the camera and greeted the viewers beyond the screen.
Almost immediately, she was met with reactions that felt somewhat different from Diah’s broadcasts.
While Diah’s broadcasts felt more like a conversation with friends, the Instagram live stream had the atmosphere of a fan meeting.
"Oh, the cake? A fan ordered it custom-made for me. Look, my initials are even on it."
Even when Ha-eun placed the number-shaped candles on the cake and lit them, the chat was filled with comments from fans.
However, when Ha-eun asked them to sing Happy Birthday with her, the chat became completely filled with the lyrics of the song.
Right after Ha-eun blew out the candles, the chat exploded with clapping emojis and "Clap clap clap clap."
"Now I’m really 19. Time flies so fast."
The chat speed was still incredibly fast, but Ju Jung-yoon and the other staff members pointed out questions that Ha-eun should answer.
"Someone’s asking who wished you a happy 19th birthday first among your friends."
"Hm, hold on a second."
She quickly pulled out her phone.
She scrolled through the messages from her friends and found the first birthday wish, then spoke again.
[Min Da-yeon] - Happy Birthday
[Min Da-yeon] - Min Da-yeon sent a gift and message.
[Min Da-yeon] - (image of an expensive gift coupon)
"Da-yeon wished me first. Then it was Director Kwon Jae-hyeop. The third was a friend from school."
When she received the signal that it was time to move on, she slowly lowered her hand.
She reached for the white cake knife.
After a moment, Ha-eun carefully cut her birthday cake, then took a small bite to savor it.
"Mmm... It’s delicious. How did they know exactly what I like?"
She moved the knife again and cut another piece of cake.
The piece of cake was raised in front of the camera.
"It’s so moist inside. The whipped cream on the outside is really sweet too."
One hand holding the cake, the other making a heart with her fingers, Ha-eun paused without saying a word.
"Got it... Oh, you want me to do a different pose?"
After doing two or three different poses as requested by the viewers, the capture time was finally over.
Only then did Ha-eun lift her phone to show the many gift boxes behind her on the broadcast screen.
"You really sent so many presents. They even wrapped them beautifully, so it feels a shame to open them."
She spent some time looking at the various gift boxes of different sizes and shapes, expressing her thanks to her fans.
As the time to end the broadcast drew near, she returned the phone to its original position.
After the farewell, Ha-eun said,
"Thank you for celebrating my 19th birthday. See you next time~."
With that, beep.
Ha-eun’s finger slowly pressed the Instagram live broadcast’s end button.
Ju Jung-yoon’s surprised voice was heard immediately after.
"Ha-eun, you did such a great job with the broadcast."
"You could have done it on your own."
Ha-eun gave a shy smile in response to Ju Jung-yoon’s compliment on how skillfully she had hosted the broadcast.
After all, she had been doing solo broadcasts for over half a year now.
Of course, she had no intention of telling the truth.
That was why she silently helped Ju Jung-yoon gather her birthday presents.
As expected, as predicted before the broadcast,
It was impossible to carry all of Ha-eun’s birthday presents at once.
So, the presents that couldn’t fit in Ju Jung-yoon’s van were saved for later.
They were then transported to Ha-eun’s room after heading to her house.
However, Ha-eun’s schedule wasn’t over yet.
In a few hours, she had to board Ju Jung-yoon’s van again for the filming of The Sunshine.
Time passed, and as usual, Ha-eun changed into her beautiful hanbok, waiting.
-Knock knock.
A knock echoed from beyond Ha-eun’s waiting room.
The person who entered was actor Ba Jin-hyeok, who played the supporting role of "Hwang Tae-seong" in The Sunshine.
"Ha-eun, could you follow me for a moment?"
Ha-eun gave a puzzled look at Ba Jin-hyeok’s sudden request, but since there was no reason to refuse, she followed him out of the waiting room.
After walking side by side with Ba Jin-hyeok for about five minutes,
"Ha-eun, we’ve arrived~!"
They arrived at a familiar set where a few familiar faces were gathered.
Someone walked out from a few steps away.
"Happy birthday to you~. Happy birthday to you~."
The unexpected singing voice came from the writer of The Sunshine, who was in charge of Ha-eun’s character.
A round of rhythmic applause followed.
All the staff gathered around were celebrating Ha-eun’s birthday.
Even Ba Jin-hyeok, who had brought Ha-eun here, was celebrating her birthday.
"Now, blow out the candle before the wind blows, Ha-eun. Oh, don’t forget to make a wish."
As Ba Jin-hyeok said, Ha-eun blew out the candle again, and the area was filled with applause.
A quiet smile appeared on Ha-eun’s face, which had been there since the beginning.
"Everyone... thank you."
She didn’t mention the birthday party she’d already had earlier in the morning.
After all, there was no rule that she could only have one birthday party.
So, Ha-eun’s surprise birthday party, which would later be featured in The Sunshine’s making film, ended smoothly without any issues.
Not long after, the filming of The Sunshine began.
"Alright, let’s begin. ...Action!"
The scene to be filmed today was the reunion between Ha-eun’s character, Kim Jung-hyun, and her old friend, Hwang Tae-seong.
The reunion took place less than a week after Kim Jung-hyun had left to help the righteous army at the request of Park Joo-ho.
Upon hearing that he was recovering, I hurried over. Are you feeling better?
However, Hwang Tae-seong wasn’t just Kim Jung-hyun’s old friend; he was also her betrothed.
So, meeting him after several years, emotions were naturally mixed.
But ultimately, happy memories from childhood resurfaced.
Long time no see.
With a gentle smile, they exchanged a steady gaze.
Underneath the soft expression directed at Hwang Tae-seong, there was a sense of joy.
I was worried because I hadn’t heard from you, but I’m relieved to see you’re alright.
For a brief moment, Ba Jin-hyeok was at a loss for words after hearing Ha-eun’s calm voice.
It was a side of Ha-eun that he wasn’t used to seeing.
It’s still cold outside, so let’s talk inside, shall we?
As Ha-eun turned away from Ba Jin-hyeok and started walking, a deep, indescribable aura radiated from her.
Even though the scene they were filming was a simple everyday moment, the intensity of the emotions wasn’t light.
The friendship between Kim Jung-hyun and Hwang Tae-seong was palpable.
At the same time, there was a vague affection directed toward someone other than Hwang Tae-seong.
You’ve changed a lot in the time I’ve been away.
Hwang Tae-seong’s words were full of meaning.
He had cherished Kim Jung-hyun since childhood, and now, his feelings were stronger than he had anticipated.
It felt like the depth of his emotions had suddenly intensified.
Everything felt different.
At least, today, it certainly felt different.
Why are you standing still? Your feet haven’t frozen, have they?
At that moment, Kim Jung-hyun flashed a small smile toward Hwang Tae-seong.
Yet, the intense aura surrounding her made it hard to distinguish between acting and reality.
However, Ha-eun didn’t know that this unexpected change started with her surprise birthday party.
At this moment, Ha-eun was simply enjoying herself.
What Ha-eun herself didn’t know was that her acting had begun to reflect Diah’s emotional lines.