Seoyeon had limited options on where to go alone. She managed to grab a meal at a nearby McDonald's.
Even without speaking the language, kiosks were intuitive enough. After eating, she briefly pondered where to head next.
"I’ve already explored so much of Akihabara."
She wanted to check out some secondhand shops, but knowing herself, she'd probably end up buying something she didn’t need. Seoyeon was well aware of her lack of self-restraint when it came to things she liked.
So, the best solution was to avoid temptation altogether.
"Today, I’ll go somewhere besides Akihabara!"
Feeling a mix of excitement and curiosity about exploring on her own, she decided to head toward the train station. The destination that came to mind? Shibuya.
"There’s a lot to see there."
She'd heard that the Pokémon Center in Shibuya was particularly large, and it gave her a good excuse to visit. She boarded the subway with that in mind.
Compared to her otaku-style sightseeing so far, this would be a more subdued form of window-shopping. If Sora had been with her, she would have questioned why Seoyeon hadn’t done this sooner.
"I should get something for Dad."
Seoyeon knew her father, Yeongbin, was a Pokémon fan. She wandered through the store, browsing for something to take back to him when something caught her eye.
"Huh?"
She spotted two women wearing what could only be described as gothic lolita fashion. Their outfits were striking, and their faces were quite pretty. While she’d seen a few people dressed like this in Akihabara, it always left her with the same sense of amazement.
"So people really dress like that in Japan. Incredible," she thought, glancing at them as they walked by.
"This place is always so crowded," one of the women said.
"There’s not much to see, though. Let’s just go to the Lush store downstairs," the other replied.
"This is about the aesthetic, you know?"
Their conversation wasn’t in Japanese—it was in Korean.
"Wait, they’re Korean?"
Seoyeon hadn’t expected that at all. The idea that Koreans would wear such outfits while sightseeing was completely unexpected.
She instinctively followed them with her eyes. Their outfits were what people called "landmine fashion," popular in subcultures lately.
"Why though?"
Were these women just unique? Or was it a cosplay-like trend? Pondering this, she descended a floor from the Pokémon Center and noticed a shop that grabbed her attention.
"Huh?"
It was a store specializing in landmine-style gothic lolita fashion—exactly the kind of clothes the women she’d seen earlier were wearing.
"Interesting."
In an otherwise ordinary shopping mall, this store stood out. Her curiosity got the better of her. As an otaku herself, she couldn’t help but feel drawn to it. Approaching the shop, she felt several pairs of eyes on her.
"Why is everyone staring?"
She was sure her face was well-hidden behind a mask. Did someone recognize her?
"But I’ve only appeared on one variety show!"
Even if the show had gone viral, surely most people wouldn’t know her. She’d covered her face with a black mask and styled her hair differently. While she’d worn her hair down on TV, today, she’d tied it into twin tails.
At first, she thought she was imagining things, but every time she examined the clothes, she felt those stares persist. It wasn’t that anyone had recognized her; rather, it was her appearance that drew attention.
"Wow, seriously? Stunning."
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"Are those contact lenses? Should I ask where she got them?"
"Her clothes look ordinary, but she’s clearly experienced."
Her naturally red, glimmering eyes, paired with the black mask—a staple of landmine fashion—and her twin-tailed hairstyle made her stand out. Even though her clothes were ordinary, she looked every bit the quintessential landmine girl.
Her sharp gaze, pale skin, and strikingly pretty features were impossible to ignore, even with her face partially covered.
A shop assistant approached her.
"Are you looking for anything in particular?" she asked.
Seoyeon blinked at her.
"What’s she saying?"
While she didn’t know much Japanese, she could grasp the gist of what was being said from context.
"Is she asking if I’m looking for clothes?"
The problem was that even if she understood, she didn’t know how to respond.
"Mata setana? Tamare? No, wait, what should I say?"
She recalled the time she’d tried saying, "Hey, woman," to a cashier in a convenience store and been scolded by Sora and Eun-ha afterward. Words like "onna" and "kisama" were now strictly off-limits.
Better to say nothing at all, they’d warned her repeatedly.
Why though? She’d just been repeating lines from anime.
"Um, excuse me."
Seeing her silence, the shop assistant spoke again.
"Are you Korean?"
"...You speak Korean?"
"Of course! I love Korean idols. I visit Korea often, too!"
Though her pronunciation was a bit off, her Korean was surprisingly fluent. To the shop assistant, Seoyeon was captivating. Not only was she beautiful, but her voice was sweet as well.
"Could she be a celebrity? Nah, that’s unlikely."
Still, the thought lingered. She couldn’t imagine a Korean celebrity visiting such a niche store, but she desperately wanted to see Seoyeon in the shop’s clothes.
Channeling her sales expertise, she started making her pitch.
"With those red lenses, this style would suit you perfectly—"
"They’re not lenses."
"Huh?"
The shop assistant looked closely at Seoyeon’s eyes.
Wait, those red eyes weren’t lenses?
"They’re natural?"
Could that even be possible? The assistant felt envious.
"Natural red eyes? That’s amazing."
To someone who loved the black hair and red eyes aesthetic, Seoyeon’s natural look was something to covet.
"All the more reason, miss."
"What?"
"It’s a waste not to dress up with such features! You’d look fantastic."
Seoyeon didn’t know if having red eyes counted as a talent, but she didn’t see how it could be wasted. Was this supposed to mean she had the perfect "landmine girl" look?
Not that it was a title she particularly wanted.
Regardless, the assistant’s enthusiasm was infectious.
"Koreans often buy from us, you know. Since it’s not something you’d typically wear in Korea, they see it as a chance to break free while they’re in Japan. And look, it’s beautiful, right? Don’t you want to try it on? You’d look amazing. Besides, it’s a unique experience—you can’t wear this in Korea!"
Her rapid-fire pitch left Seoyeon thinking, Maybe she’s right? It was something hard to pull off back home...
"Hmm, this could be useful for disguises, too."
And this was Japan, after all—a chance to try something new. Though it wasn’t cosplay, the vibe was similar.
Feeling a strange sense of obligation, Seoyeon gave in.
"Alright, I’ll try it."
Being a little too easily persuaded, Seoyeon was swept away. That was about an hour ago.
Now, Seoyeon was very aware of the stares around her. Honestly, it had been fun at first.
The shop assistant had been thrilled, helping her pick out clothes and matching accessories. Nearby stores had added gothic-style hairpins and jewelry to complete the look.
Dressed in full black gothic lolita attire, with her mask, twin tails, and gothic accessories, Seoyeon had become the center of attention in Shibuya. When she stood in front of the mirror, even bystanders couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.
It had been fine until she stepped out onto the streets of Shibuya, her former clothes tucked neatly into a paper bag.
"What have I done?"
Reality hit her. She’d been caught up in the moment and fallen for a sales pitch.
Looking at her reflection in a café window, she couldn’t deny the outfit suited her. I really am pretty, huh? she thought, indulging in a moment of self-admiration.
But that wasn’t the point. She sighed, trying to console herself.
"It’s an experience... yeah, that’s it."
At least no one would recognize her in this outfit, right?
Or so she thought, until—
"Wait, excuse me! You’re Ju Seoyeon, aren’t you?"
"..."
Even that hope was dashed.
How did they recognize me?!
Two men, panting as they approached her, spoke in Korean. Judging by the cameras in their hands, it wasn’t hard to guess their identities.
Paparazzi!
She tensed, ready to flee.
"We’re journalists! I swear we’re not suspicious!"
Their frantic explanation did little to reassure her.
Whether paparazzi or journalists didn’t matter to Seoyeon. What mattered was that they’d recognized her—while she was dressed like a landmine girl. If this got out, it would definitely spread back to Korea.
And that would surely harm her carefully maintained image as a sophisticated actress...
Or would it?
Is this better than being a crawling ghost?
At least this was fashion. And really, wasn’t this similar to Jo Seohui’s "Zero Ro" costume from that theme park event?
Besides, after what I did on that variety show...
Memories of her crawling performance came flooding back. While people had praised her as a "genius actress," her introduction to the Japanese public as a crawling ghost still stung.
She now understood how hard it was to fix a first impression.
Between being labeled a landmine girl and a crawling ghost, though...
"Who are you?" she asked, deciding to hear the reporters out before bolting.
Meanwhile, Narumi Sora and Park Eun-ha were in despair the moment they woke up.
Seoyeon had disappeared.
Sora looked at Eun-ha with uncertainty.
"Should we call her?"
"I tried already. She’s not answering. What the hell is Seoyeon doing?"
Eun-ha’s exasperated words made Sora flinch. The phrase “what the hell” had come out so naturally that it was hard to deny. Truth be told, Seoyeon did have a knack for getting into trouble.
Whether intentional or not.
More often than not, she failed to realize her celebrity status, frequently walking around without properly covering her face.
Especially in Japan, where she thought no one would recognize her, she’d been parading around with her face fully exposed.
"After what happened yesterday, someone’s bound to recognize her..."
Eun-ha was worried—not about Seoyeon getting into trouble, but about the trouble finding Seoyeon.
She knew. She knew Seoyeon had been obsessed with martial arts manga lately.
When Eun-ha had cautiously asked if Seoyeon planned on taking up martial arts herself, Seoyeon had confidently replied, "Lions don’t train."
It was a line straight out of an anime, paired with a smug smile.
At least it seemed Seoyeon wasn’t planning to pick fights anytime soon, so Eun-ha had felt relieved. But knowing Seoyeon, if someone did pick a fight with her, there was no way she’d back down.
"Maybe we should check the news? Something might have happened," Eun-ha suggested in a panic.
Sora, who had been equally frantic, managed to regain her composure.
"Manager, I don’t think that’s a reasonable idea."
Thinking their celebrity might end up on the news wasn’t exactly comforting. Then again, with Seoyeon, you could never completely rule it out.
"Right, right. I must have panicked. But you know how Seoyeon is—she’s a bit of a wild card. She tends to... blow up in unexpected ways."
For the most part, Seoyeon was a kind and level-headed person. The problem was that when she got excited, she became utterly uncontrollable.
Japan, being deeply tied to Seoyeon’s hobbies, was like a match waiting to ignite. She was practically a ticking time bomb.
"Let’s just keep trying to call her. If we go looking and miss her, it’ll only make things worse."
Seoyeon had at least left a note before vanishing. It said she’d gone to Shibuya.
Not Akihabara, but Shibuya.
So they waited, nervously pacing the hotel room, for hours.
Finally, as the sun began to set, the door creaked open.
"Seoyeon, are you oka—"
Eun-ha rushed to the entrance but froze mid-sentence.
Sora, curious about Eun-ha’s reaction, peeked over her shoulder—and froze as well.
What on earth happened?
They’d thought Seoyeon was a bit of a loose cannon, but to think she’d return as a full-on landmine girl was beyond their imagination.
And then, as if to top it off—
"I had an interview," Seoyeon announced casually.
"Huh? An interview?"
In that outfit?
Sure, she looked stunning—almost too much so. It was like a manga character had walked straight into reality.
"Oh, and it looks like I’ll be doing a cameo in a drama."
"What?!"
Eun-ha and Sora could only stand there, completely dumbfounded.
Nothing about this was expected.