Episode 120: Breath-Holding Day 1 (2)
I went straight to Ailee.
Tae-oh said he found out about the electronic billboards by chance—while listening to the content planning team talk about the first pitch and ceremonial pitch, he happened to glance at a staff member’s monitor and saw it there.
‘Ailee probably already knows too.’
My guess turned out to be exactly right.
“Ah, Yujin-ssi. I was just thinking it was about time you finished, so I was going to send someone over… But from your expression, it looks like you already know.”
The first thing Ailee said the moment she saw me—skipping even a greeting—was that.
It seemed she had deliberately avoided contacting me during the time I was focused on the kids.
In that case, she would have already looked into the full context.
“What happened?”
“Tch… Well…”
As soon as I jumped straight to the point, Ailee clicked her tongue briefly and looked away.
Then,
“I’m sorry. I let my guard down.”
She apologized right away.
“Let your guard down?”
“Yes. There were signs. I even received reports about it.”
Of course there were.
Not many individuals could pull off something like that at a high-traffic transfer station.
No matter how quietly you try to move behind the scenes, something on that scale can’t help but show.
“A lot of people in the comments were saying it was too hasty too. I turned my attention away thinking there was no way it would actually happen… but then it did. I’m sorry, Yujin-ssi.”
Honestly, I didn’t think Ailee needed to apologize.
Even if I had seen it myself, I would have naturally thought, ‘There’s no way this actually gets done.’
But from Ailee’s perspective, she had no choice but to apologize.
Because it actually happened,
[Who’s the face filling up Gyodae Station? Fans’ voices demanding an album!]
And now an article had even come out using the incident as material.
‘The silver lining is…’
The article’s focus wasn’t on something negative like the agency’s lack of communication, but on the insane execution power of my fandom.
[Daily Patch, Reporter Kwak Sun-bin]
That made sense—the writer was none other than our very own trumpet, Kwak-ki-ja-nim.
‘Judging by how the article went up like clockwork the moment the ads started, this guy probably had a hand in it too.’
Maybe not just a hand—he might even be one of the key players. But right now, that wasn’t the important part.
“The apology is enough, so let’s talk response first, Ailee.”
Right now it was just a funny happening we could laugh off, but if we stayed silent here, what started as a joke wouldn’t end as one.
Well, the response itself was so simple there was no need to think about it—so this incident would inevitably end as a joke.
“Yes. Then I’ll upload the Soyagok video today right away.”
The full-version video of that short snippet that had been teasing my fans had been prepared long ago.
It was originally scheduled to go up around next week, but releasing it quickly now was the right move.
But,
“Wait a second, Ailee.”
I stopped her.
“After the fans went this far, just giving them exactly what they want feels a little… off.”
It would quickly become known that the video was simply an extension of the seven cover videos that had been posted every day last week—in other words, it was pre-prepared content.
Sure, plenty of fans would be satisfied with the existing Soyagok video alone.
But there would also inevitably be some who felt just a tiny bit disappointed about that.
‘As Ailee said, I did play hard-to-get.’
If they had just waited quietly without any reaction, I wouldn’t have felt any guilt about it.
But now—knowing I’m in a relationship and still loving my songs, staying patient even when I wasn’t showing my face in the media—and then showing this level of insane execution power… the situation had changed a little.
There was one more reason too, but there was no need to say it out loud.
“Hoo… If you’re willing to handle it that way, Yujin-ssi, it actually makes my job a little easier.”
“It’s not hard or anything. Let’s do ‘that’ this way. It would be a waste to just throw away the existing video, so we’ll upload it according to the original plan. Instead…”
“Add ‘M/V’ to the title? And release the audio on the same day?”
“Is it written on my face or something?”
As expected of Ailee.
I hadn’t even explicitly pointed it out, yet she immediately grasped the core and painted exactly the picture I wanted.
“Not bad at all. Actually, I like it. As I mentioned before, the video itself matches the vibe of Soyagok perfectly, so it’s ideal to use as a music video. Honestly, we could distribute the audio track right this second if we wanted… but it doesn’t seem like you’re doing this purely for the fans’ sake, Yujin-ssi.”
And on top of that, she even picked up on the part I hadn’t bothered to say out loud.
‘To minimize the number of fans who might feel disappointed.’
That reason was purely from the perspective of the singer Han Yujin.
There was another reason, rooted in the mindset of a producer rather than a singer.
‘In the end, it would look like the company is being swayed by the fans’ voices.’
There’s an order to work.
Twisting a schedule that’s already been set in advance inevitably becomes a burden for the company.
Of course, since this incident stemmed partly from my own misjudgment, stubbornly clinging to the original plan here would just come off as a childish power struggle with the fans.
‘But it could set a precedent later.’
Even if I’m fine taking the hit myself since I brought it on,
“Why did they listen to Han Yujin’s Soyagok request, but not ours?”
—if someone else at MyWay ended up suffering because of something like that.
‘Maintain the existing plan, but if there’s a way to additionally soothe the fans, choose that.’
Of course, if there were no alternative, I’d have no choice but to yield to the voices—but this time, there is one.
“OK. We’ll go with your preference, Yujin-ssi. Then while we’re waiting for that time slot, there’s some work left… How about we do a bit of video polishing if we’re treating it as an M/V?”
“I’ll leave that part to you, Ailee.”
“I’ll think a little more about that aspect. And I’ll prepare ‘that’ in advance too. You’re doing it today, right?”
“Yes. After sending the kids home… around 7 p.m. should be good, no?”
“Then I’ll see you then. The content planning team might contact you, so please pick up even if it’s an unknown number?”
The conversation that had started on a somewhat serious note wrapped up with a bit of laughter.
‘Definitely… if I’d gone back ten more years, this would’ve been tough.’
Even now the tech feels frustratingly limited—imagine another decade earlier?
Of course, if that had happened, I would’ve lived as close to my original life as possible (minus the coins) just to meet Zia, so the odds of running into something like this would’ve been close to zero anyway.
“Attention, everyone. We’re doing a Yujin-ssi live stream tonight at 7 p.m. I’m recruiting volunteers to help with extra work.”
Right then, Ailee’s voice drifted over from behind me as she loudly announced my contingency plan to the whole office,
“Pfft.”
And I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
***
A vast office overlooking the wide boulevard cutting through the heart of Seoul and the endless stream of people passing below.
While the owner of the office gazed silently down at the lights,
“Vice President-nim.”
A man entered through the softly opened door and spoke.
“Hm. Good work today. You can head home first.”
A husky yet gentle voice floated over from the figure shrouded in dramatic backlighting.
“…Yes, understood. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
His personal secretary’s duties included escorting the person he called Vice President home, but he withdrew without protest.
And so she continued gazing quietly out the window k,
Click.
At the tiny sound of the door latch engaging, she turned her head ever so slightly and glanced at the wall clock.
“Oh my, it’s only 6:20?”
The words slipped out so naturally that even she didn’t immediately register them as her own.
But it didn’t take her long to realize why.
‘7 p.m… I’ve been thinking about nothing else all day.’
Actually, “all day” was a bit of an exaggeration.
[Today at 7 p.m. KST, Han Yujin-ssi’s live stream will be held on MyWay’s official YouTube channel.]
[This is a space for the artist to personally respond to the voices of EUJN fans, so we ask for your enthusiastic support.]
The notification had arrived on her phone exactly at 3 p.m.
So in reality, it had only been less than four hours of waiting.
Yet the reason she didn’t feel any dissonance in calling it “all day” was probably because the intensity of that anticipation had been so overwhelming.
She checked her phone again.
Only four minutes had passed since the last time.
‘Ha… how did I end up like this at my age…’
Even she hadn’t expected to feel the same heart-pounding flutter she’d experienced during puberty—now well into her forties, three years past forty at that.
Of course, she herself knew best that this pounding had nothing to do with what people commonly called “love.”
In fact, knowing full well that the object of this flutter had been in a long-term relationship for quite some time, she felt not even a hint of jealousy—only a gentle, warm satisfaction at the thought.
‘Why on earth does this kid appeal to me so much?’
Even she couldn’t explain it.
Not only the reason, but she couldn’t even clearly categorize what kind of fondness she felt every time she saw him.
If she had to pick the closest emotion, perhaps “gratitude” came nearest.
‘Gratitude? For what?’
That, too, she couldn’t explain.
Since she couldn’t even make sense of it herself, there was no way she could make anyone else understand.
That was why she had kept the fact that she’d become his fan completely hidden from everyone around her.
The reason she was choosing to watch the 7 p.m. stream from the office instead of going home was part of that same secrecy.
She checked her phone once more.
The time had just passed 6:40.
“Ha…”
As the promised time drew closer, a small feeling named nervousness bloomed in her heart.
The reason for that sigh was simple:
‘Was that… really too rash?’
Because the biggest contributor to the “fans’ voices” that had prompted him to go on air was none other than herself.
There had been a few others who shared her sentiment and joined in, but their numbers had been far too small to pull off such a grand event at a massive transfer station.
Of course, she herself had more than enough power to fill that gap—so she had gone ahead and pushed it through anyway.
‘It feels like things got way too big…’
That nagging feeling wouldn’t go away.
Yet time continued to flow mercilessly onward.
[KST 18:55]
Finally, with the promised time right around the corner, she rose from her seat.
It was only a few steps from the window back to her own desk, but for someone who knew she had caused a major incident, those steps felt unbearably heavy.
But even though there were still a few minutes left until the scheduled time, the moment Han Yujin appeared on her monitor, her heart melted away like snow in spring.
A clean suit.
A white dress shirt that perfectly complemented his fair skin tone.
To her, a tie felt like common sense in this context, but even without one, his neat and polished appearance was the most appealing version of Han Yujin she had seen so far.
‘Oh my. It really suits him.’
So entranced by her slowly melting heart, she didn’t even notice.
The background behind Han Yujin was a wall entirely filled with green.
Of course, from her perspective, that was actually fortunate.
If she had recognized what the combination of a green chroma key wall and a neatly dressed man in a suit typically signified in certain industries, her heart wouldn’t be turning into a puddle of warmth right now.
[Woo Hye-yeon, Vice President, Our Electronics]
The still-bright late-afternoon sunlight glinted off the nameplate on her desk.
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TL Note:
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Chapters 121–137 are available on My Patreon (Premium Tier) together with 5 other novels.
Link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Vritratls
[This series is in the “Regressed Idol” collection]
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