From the first semester final exams at Naerae Arts High School.
At the same time, about four days had passed since Veterans hit ten million viewers.
"There's going to be a lot of paparazzi following you, so let's stay home for a while."
"Hmm, but I have to go jogging with Seol in the morning."
"Jogging... fine. Jogging is okay. But try not to go out otherwise."
"Got it."
Following Ju Jung-yoon's advice, Ha-eun was currently staying home with Baek-seol.
She had no desire to have unwanted photos taken by paparazzi, after all.
With the promotional schedule for Veterans wrapped up, there were no upcoming engagements, and she had nowhere in particular to go.
Even if she did go out, it was only for school or Doublely's studio for vocal practice.
And even then, she moved in Ju Jung-yoon's van, so there was virtually no chance of her being exposed.
The only real possibility of being spotted was the occasional trip to her favorite bakery or the convenience store near her house when she wanted to grab a snack.
No way I can even step near LUX.
The LUX lounge, which she used to visit about twice a month, was completely out of the question now.
If news got out that Ha-eun was frequenting LUX, it would be a disaster in and of itself.
No one understood the consequences of Ha-eun being linked to LUX better than she did.
That was why all discussions regarding the first joint collaboration between the first and second generations of Illusionary Realm members were being handled entirely through Discord.
"Three hours... no, about two hours left."
Thinking about the upcoming Illusionary Realm collab in a few hours, Ha-eun stepped into the quiet living room.
Na-yeon and Seong-yoon had gone out to the theater to watch Veterans together.
"I hope they enjoy it."
Technically, quite some time had passed since Veterans had been released.
But since Seong-yoon had a full-time job, it had been difficult for him to set aside time to watch it until now.
In other words, at this moment, only Ha-eun and Baek-seol were at home.
Maybe that was why—
"Seol, I'm bored."
Feeling a little restless, Ha-eun sprawled out in front of Baek-seol, trying to strike up a conversation.
Of course, no response came back.
Blink. Blink.
Blink. Blink.
"Hmm...."
For a moment, Ha-eun made eye contact with Baek-seol, who was simply staring at her in silence.
“...Maybe I should do some research in advance.”
She decided to kill time by looking up various tourist attractions in Europe, where she would be traveling in a few weeks.
Right after that thought, she got up from the living room floor and scooped up Baek-seol in her arms.
Creak.
She stepped into her pristine white soundproof booth.
Within seconds, she powered on her computer and sat down with Baek-seol in her lap.
But just as she was about to search for famous sites in Lisbon, Portugal—
♪~
♪~
♪~
Yoo Sung-jae
"Huh?"
The ringing phone displayed a very familiar name.
Surprised by the unexpected call, she picked up, and a careful voice came through the speaker.
[ Ha-eun, I'm in the middle of a shoot. Is this a good time to talk? ]
"Hmm, yeah, it's fine. What are you filming?"
[ Oh, uh, because Veterans hit ten million, I’m on a variety show for an interview. ]
Then, he added that he wanted to do a short phone interview with her.
Clearing her throat, Ha-eun told Yoo Sung-jae that she was ready.
However, the voice that responded wasn't Yoo Sung-jae's.
[ Hello, Ha-eun! This is Seong Yoo-seok! ]
"O-oh, yes! Hello!"
[ You sound cheerful. Mind if I ask what you were up to just now? ]
"Uh... just... relaxing at home with my dog."
[ Oh, right! That’s right, you adopted a dog recently. ]
...How the hell does he know all this?
Ha-eun was startled to hear Seong Yoo-seok’s voice, even though she had known him for nearly eight years.
She hadn't expected to get a call from Yoo Sung-jae, let alone end up talking to Seong Yoo-seok.
[ Anyway, I just wanted to call and congratulate you on Veterans hitting ten million viewers. And I have a few quick questions for you. ]
When he asked if it was okay to continue the interview, Ha-eun reflexively nodded as she replied.
But then, she connected the dots—
A variety show interview.
And Seong Yoo-seok.
"...Wait, are you filming Seong-terview right now?"
[ Huh? How’d you guess? ]
"Just... had a feeling. I actually watch Seong-terview pretty often."
There was only one possible variety show that fit the situation.
That was why she had been able to guess the program Yoo {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Sung-jae was filming right away.
[ Wow, I didn’t expect you to be a fan of our show, Ha-eun. Thanks for watching~! ]
Right after that, Seong Yoo-seok asked her to say a quick hello to the viewers of Seong-terview.
So, after clearing her throat again—
"Hello, this is actress Lee Ha-eun."
For the first time in her nineteen years of life, Ha-eun smoothly kicked off a live phone interview.
Then came the first round of simple questions.
[ Sung-jae said that the most diligent actor on the Veterans set was you, Ha-eun. ]
“Diligent...? Me?”
[ He said you were always the first to arrive on set. Was he mistaken? ]
“Oh, that’s what he meant. It wasn’t always, but I did usually end up being the first one there.”
As she answered Seong Yoo-seok’s questions about what it was like on the set of Veterans, the conversation naturally shifted to Min Da-yeon, who had made a cameo in the film.
[ There was a familiar face in Veterans. From what I heard, it was thanks to you that Min Da-yeon got the cameo. ]
“Oh, yeah. It was the day Da-yeon sent a coffee truck to the set—”
Ha-eun then went on to explain how she had suggested the cameo to Da-yeon, how surprisingly well Da-yeon had pulled off the office look, and how they had even watched Veterans together after its release.
[ Wow, you and Min Da-yeon must be really close. ]
“Oh, yeah. We’ve been friends since elementary school.”
[ Ah, since elementary school. I guess that saying is true—birds of a feather flock together~. ]
With that, Seong Yoo-seok wrapped up his final question about Da-yeon and began to conclude the interview. Ha-eun instinctively lowered her head slightly as she responded.
[ Once again, congratulations on Veterans reaching ten million viewers. And with that, we’ll say goodbye. Thanks for your time, Ha-eun~! ]
“Oh, yes. Thank you.”
About five seconds later—click.
The call ended as Seong Yoo-seok pressed the button in place of Yoo Sung-jae.
A quiet stillness settled in.
But the lingering impression of having just done an interview with Seong Yoo-seok didn’t fade easily.
"Things really have changed, haven’t they...?"
For the first time, Ha-eun truly felt it.
She was now an actress in a ten-million-viewer film.
She had taken a few more steps toward her dream—toward becoming a superstar.
That was why she reached down and gave Baek-seol, who was lying on her lap, an extra firm pat.
“I just talked to Seong Yoo-seok, Seol. Isn’t that crazy?”
Blink. Blink.
Blink. Blink.
Lick.
“Ack, your tongue’s out! I have to take a picture.”
A few seconds later—click.
The camera captured Baek-seol resting her chin on Ha-eun’s palm, sticking out her tongue.
So this is what they mean when they say just having someone near you is healing.
The warmth of Baek-seol’s body against her palm and lap made her feel completely at ease.
But just as she raised her phone to take another picture—
♪♬~
♪♬~
♪♬~
[ Daramji (Illusionary Realm Boss) ]
“Huh?”
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.
This time, the call came through her computer.
Tilting her head slightly, she clicked the "Answer" button on Discord, and Ji Hye-min’s voice came through.
[ You picked up right away? Are you at your computer? ]
“Oh, yeah. I was just hanging out with Seol.”
[ Huh, your voice... sounds oddly calm. Did you warm up your vocals beforehand? ]
“Oh, uh... I was just on the phone with Seong Yoo-seok, so I guess my voice got warmed up.”
Ha-eun casually mentioned that she had been on a call with Seong Yoo-seok.
[ W-Wait... You talked to Seong Yoo-seok?! For real? Why? How? Are you filming something right now? ]
Ji Hye-min’s reaction was far more dramatic than expected.
Slightly flustered, Ha-eun quickly asked why she had called in the first place.
“No, no, I wasn’t filming anything. It was just a simple phone interview. Anyway, what’s up?”
[ Oh, right. About that— ]
Ji Hye-min had called to talk about the upcoming Illusionary Realm group collab.
More specifically, she had a role in mind that she wanted Ha-eun to play during the event.
[ We were thinking you could be the undercover cop for this round of Kyoto Heist. ]
“Undercover cop?”
[ Yeah. Instead of just a regular cop or thief, I thought it’d be more fun if we had someone playing a secret role. And you’re great at acting, after all. ]
She went on to remind Ha-eun of the first Illusionary Realm group collab a year ago, where Diah had played a major role.
Ji Hye-min thought that with Diah’s mischievous image, an undercover cop—essentially a traitor—would be a perfect fit.
[ So? Want to give it a shot? ]
“Oh, yeah! That sounds really fun.”
However, what Ha-eun didn’t know at the time—
Was that Ji Hye-min had given Min Da-yeon a very similar offer.
Except Da-yeon’s role was the exact opposite—an infiltrator working for the thieves.
[ Honestly, I think you’d be the best at pretending to be a cop, Da-yeon. Want to give it a shot? ]
“Well... sure, I’ll do it.”
And so, a truly extravagant scene was about to unfold—
Two famous actresses, performing completely free of charge, role-playing a secret identity game on a live internet stream.
“This is peak luxury. Right, Dong-jin?”
“Well, no one actually knows they’re real actresses... but it’s definitely going to be entertaining.”