Episode 121: Breath-Holding Day 1 (3)
The chat reaction I had expected was a tsunami made up entirely of the two words: “ex” and “plain.”
But the actual reaction unfolding right in front of me was a little different from what I’d anticipated.
[LOLLOLLOL]
[Green screen LMAO]
[Ex]
[Wow look at that suit fit, insane]
[What’s with the green background?]
[LOL Yujin’s been watching streamers, huh? LOL]
[Plain]
[So cute LOL]
Roughly speaking, about three-quarters of the people seemed to recognize that my outfit was the standard “streamer apology broadcast” meme, while the remaining quarter didn’t.
There were some who gave the classic reaction to the meme, but even most of those who recognized it chose to just laugh.
[Looks like a lot of people don’t know, so let’s just spam LOL instead lol]
[fr lol]
[What is that?]
[For those who don’t know: Yujin hyung’s outfit right now is the cliché look streamers wear for apology broadcasts. When that happens, viewers traditionally spam “Explain” in chat.]
[If people don’t get it, it’ll totally kill the vibe lol]
It felt like the chat was deliberately being considerate so as not to confuse people who didn’t know the meme.
‘What kind of kind-hearted people are these…’
Thanks to that, the reaction was different from what I’d expected—but if this was the result, it was a very pleasant miscalculation.
‘In that case, I should pivot the concept a little.’
I’d originally planned to start with a grave, somber expression to match the concept.
But in this atmosphere, it felt better to begin on a lighter note.
“This is my first time greeting you all like this. Hello. I’m singer Han Yujin.”
The chat flew by at lightning speed the moment I said the words announcing the scheduled time.
My dynamic vision isn’t particularly great, but even someone with better eyesight would have struggled to read it at that speed. If I’d stuck to the original serious plan, I probably would’ve ended up laughing despite myself.
Before the laughter could leak out, I quickly continued.
“Um… first, I should probably explain why I set up this space today. This morning, I received a very strong message from all of you. I felt like I really had to respond, so I asked the company for help.”
I glanced at the chat window, which had noticeably slowed down as people tried to listen carefully.
[I was shocked too when I saw the article this morning lol]
[Seriously, how did that even happen lol]
[By the way, Yujin’s fast]
[My Way’s always been quick with feedback like this]
[Definitely faster than other singers]
[I work near Gyodae Station—was totally shocked on my way to work lol]
It seemed like no one was unaware of the issue.
Even if someone hadn’t seen it in person or read the article, the fan café had been on fire with this topic all day—there was no way to miss it.
“You sent such a big message asking me to officially release the song ‘Soyagok.’ There’s a bit I need to say about that song. But before that, there’s something I have to say first.”
With that, I stood up from my seat and bowed deeply.
“I’m sorry! My greed got the better of me!”
I raised my voice as much as possible for the apology—precisely to keep the mood from turning too serious.
‘There will definitely be people criticizing the fans who participated.’
Just like Ailee had said—“I never thought it would actually happen.”
The overall vibe in the fan café and the reaction to this incident was overwhelmingly “Wait, it actually worked?”—which meant the number of people actually involved wasn’t as large as it seemed.
In that case, it wouldn’t be strange if some people said things like “That was too much” or “They’re way too hardcore.”
‘Well, if they’d sent trucks or something, it’d be different—but this wasn’t on that level.’
If I took this seriously, it would be like pouring fuel on the fire.
But if I came out and apologized this cleanly and cheerfully?
When the person involved is saying this, who would dare criticize?
That was also why I’d deliberately set up this green chroma key wall.
And why I was now scratching the back of my head sheepishly after straightening up.
It was all part of the plan.
If bowing once could create a result where neither I nor the fans got hurt, I’d bow a hundred times—a thousand times—without hesitation.
“Hylliy sunbaenim’s production and even watching over the Orion kids—Blue Poem didn’t really get proper promotions, did it? Despite that, so many of you listened and loved it, so for this new song, I wanted to show it to you in a slightly different way.”
[Even Shooting Star didn’t have much activity though?]
[Hey now, facts incoming]
I pretended not to see the chat messages that briefly caught my eye in between.
“The Soyagok video I uploaded to the café last week was part of that. My own little surprise event, you could say. I put it up like a teaser, planning to drop the official release quietly and surprise everyone… but because of how little communication there was, I didn’t fully calculate how much anticipation you all would build up. In that sense, I’m truly sorry.”
As I said that and bowed once more, then straightened up, my eyes caught—
[Honestly… I felt the exact same way about the billboards too…]
[One verse and then nothing—that really crossed the line…]
[?? : Stop moving, you’re pulling the bottom card?]
[I can tolerate the dating.]
[I can tolerate the lack of activity.]
[But holding back the song? Grrr I can’t stand it, rawr!]
The chat reactions came in one by one.
Seeing those responses that naturally made me smile again,
“I really didn’t expect this level of anticipation. Honestly, seeing the billboard ads this morning made me feel incredibly good. I kept thinking, ‘How much do they love my songs to go this far?’”
Opening up with the kind of honest feelings I could only show in front of my fans, the chat window quickly filled with laughter too.
[LOL]
[Never thought I’d live to see myself cracking up at a grown man smiling like this LOL]
And amid that laughter, one question appeared.
[So when is Soyagok coming out?]
I used that question as my cue to continue.
“When is Soyagok coming out? At this point, there’s no point in keeping it secret anymore. The scheduled release date for Soyagok is next Monday. There’s still a little time left. But since you’ve already waited so much, I can’t just make you wait another full week without doing anything…”
The issue that started with Soyagok.
Naturally, if there was a main event for this stream, it could only be a live performance of Soyagok.
The moment I stood up for that event—
Bam-ba-ba-bam!
A bright, cheerful fanfare rang out.
‘Fanfare?’
Soyagok was a Korean rendition of a serenade—a song sung in front of a loved one’s house at night.
Its quiet, almost ballad-like atmosphere didn’t match this lively fanfare at all.
‘I didn’t prepare anything like this.’
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a voice came to resolve the mystery.
The problem was… it wasn’t a human voice.
[‘Our Hye-yeon’ has donated 1,000,000 won!]
[I’m the one who took the lead on this billboard ad. I had no idea there was already a plan in place and ended up causing trouble. I just had to wait one week, but I couldn’t hold back… I’m really sorry.]
The mechanical text-to-speech voice read out the message displayed on screen in a flat monotone.
In that instant, everyone froze—me, Ailee, On Dae-ri, and the staff from the content planning team who had come to help.
The only thing moving right now was—
[What the hell?]
[??]
[1 million won?]
[Is this real?]
[Look how generous lol]
[LOL Yujin’s shocked]
[He set the donation limit to 1 million so no one could donate and someone actually did it lol]
[Look at Yujin frozen LOL]
[Why is that so cute, I’m dying]
—the chat window alone.
“Wait—hold on. Didn’t we lock donations?”
“I’m sorry, since we rushed the setup, it looks like we used AZ-ssi’s exact settings… Should I change it now…?”
In response to my question, a member of the content planning team answered in a flustered voice while staring at the laptop.
Watching him frantically try to adjust the settings, I decided to hold off on scolding for now and spoke first.
“This isn’t a broadcast meant to receive donations. Um… ‘Our Hye-yeon’-ssi? I’ll refund the donation amount.”
The moment I blurted out the first response that came to mind—
Bam-ba-ba-bam!
Another fanfare rang out, followed by the mechanical voice, and my eyes snapped back to the screen.
[‘Our Hye-yeon’ has donated 1,000,000 won!]
[No, there’s no need to refund it. Because of my own greed, I caused trouble for so many people. It’s hard to call this compensation, but I’d like to at least make up for some of that effort with this donation.]
The second massive donation in a row made my head spin.
No matter how much experience I have, something like this is impossible to get used to.
‘Hey—no, I said don’t donate!’
That thought must have been written all over my face.
[LOL]
[Ah, you can’t stop the Chairwoman with something like that]
[Yujin’s stream debut is already legendary LOL]
That’s why the chat was exploding like this.
“Uh…”
I was still flustered, but this time I clamped my mouth shut.
There was no guarantee the third donation wouldn’t come right after the second.
Fortunately, it seemed the donation settings had finally been locked—the content planning team member who had been burying his face in the laptop finally lifted his head. Only then did I continue speaking.
The fact that I managed to steady my trembling voice was probably thanks to the know-how I’d built surviving all kinds of absurd surprise situations in my previous life.
“Seeing donations like this… even if I try to refund it, I doubt she’ll respond… But at the same time, it doesn’t sit right with me to just accept this money. Like I said earlier, the billboard ads really made me happy. That kind of thing is usually only for top stars, right? Just that alone was more than enough for me. So the amount donated just now—I’ll make sure it goes to charity in the name of ‘Our Hye-yeon’-ssi. Yes.”
[Donations locked now lol]
[?? : Go ahead and donate, he’ll just give it away anyway]
[Donating feels nice… but shouldn’t we at least ask the staff first lol]
[fr lol]
Even that know-how couldn’t stop the chat from ringing with laughter.
In the middle of it all, one message caught my eye.
[Wait… the ‘Chairwoman’ just now… isn’t that Our Electronics Vice President Woo Hye-yeon? Her name is Woo Hye-yeon after all.]
For a split second, I froze at the name that was mentioned.
Our Group is indisputably Korea’s number-one conglomerate, and Woo Hye-yeon, Vice President of its core electronics division, is famous enough that even someone like me—who has zero interest in business—knows her face.
[Choose the situation where you’d definitely jump out of your seat]
[1. Han Yujin saying “Let’s go for a drive” – 12%]
[2. □□ asking to buy you a drink – 1%]
[3. □□ crying because they got dumped by their girlfriend – 1%]
[4. Woo Hye-yeon saying “I have good news, want to hear it?” – 86%]
In my previous life, there were even polls like that—enough said.
‘Definitely…’
The combination of “Our” and the name “Hye-yeon” was more than enough to spark that kind of speculation.
Of course,
[No way lol]
[Why would Woo Hye-yeon be watching this lol]
[How many Hye-yeons are there in Korea anyway lol]
[Right? I was just throwing it out there]
‘Yeah. That’s more like it.’
Like the rest of the chat, I also thought it was impossible.
Still, to hide that moment of hesitation, I deliberately stood up and turned my back to the chat window.
‘Turning your back to the camera is something that should never happen in a broadcast…’
But hey, I’m not some 16-year veteran idol—I’m a first-year rookie singer now. They’ll probably find it cute.
Even if not, once they saw what was behind me, they wouldn’t have the energy left to say anything.
“There was a little commotion just now. Anyway, back to the main topic… I can’t make you all wait another full week. So I prepared this.”
The green chroma key screen wasn’t just there to recreate the meme.
It was also hiding what came next for the main event.
And now, as the screen was pulled aside, the small stage that Ailee and Manager On had prepared came into view.
“Soyagok live. Obviously, this time it’s the full version.”
As expected.
The chat exploded in spectacular fashion.
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TL Note:
Want to read ahead?
Chapters 122–139 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]
If you joined mainly for this novel, a quick message would really help me decide whether to continue translating it.
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