LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 111
The recording has ended.
There were absolutely no NGs during the rehearsal or the actual recording. For top star Han Hye-jin, singing twice at the performance hall was as easy as pie.
Well, to be honest, the flawless image I portray is thanks to the blood, sweat, and tears of intense practice.
Just because I think I’m a top star doesn’t mean my skills magically improve; that would be like a level of hypnosis, wouldn’t it?
It’s simply about easing my tension and boosting my confidence a bit.
Honestly, that much is plenty effective, though.
“Um… Soo-hyun is really strong in the field, huh…?”
After the recording, Tenshi asked, seeming bewildered, and I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Not really.”
“No, it felt completely different from practice…?”
Right, right, were you a bit surprised?
This is sheer devilish talent.
Tenshi, being an angel, wouldn’t know that at all.
“You looked like a completely different person!”
I awkwardly smiled at that.
Well, my acting does tend to hit the mark a bit.
More than that, I’ve been realizing lately that I have considerable talent as an actor.
More so than in singing or painting, for sure.
“Well, at least we finished the recording in just a day.”
“Right! So, shall we go have some fun now?”
“Hmm…”
Tenshi said that, but the sky had already started to darken a bit.
“Once we have dinner, it’ll be night, won’t it?”
“Ah… um… then how about tomorrow?”
“Sure. I have no plans for tomorrow.”
I cleared my entire schedule.
Well, to be honest, I typically don’t have much on my plate anyway.
“Tomorrow is good!”
“Got it. Shall we go eat dinner then?”
“Yes! I want samgyeopsal!”
Samgyeopsal, huh…
Honestly, I’m not too good at finding restaurants, but there’s a decent place near my home.
Since Tenshi helped me find local eateries, is it my turn now?
But since my house is on the outskirts of Seoul… tourists would think it’s too much of a detour to come here.
“Tenshi, where are you staying?”
Now that I think about it, where did she book her hotel? Being a popular VTuber, I would assume a nice place…
“What? No? I need to book one now!”
…Didn’t she not book a hotel while traveling?
Is she a P?
I guess I’d be in the same boat, but…
Well, if she hasn’t booked a hotel, that’s good.
That means I won’t feel awkward showing her around.
“Then, would you like to stay at my house?”
“Excuse me?”
“Since we have plans anyway… or is the hotel more comfortable?”
“No! I’d like that!”
“Ah, but my parents are there, is that okay?”
“Pa, parents…?”
She must want to relax and enjoy her trip, so bringing her to my house with my parents there might be a bit much, huh?
I said it thinking that, but Tenshi shook her head instead.
“It’s fine!”
“Really?”
Manager Kim probably wouldn’t care, but Mrs. Jang tends to meddle a bit.
She’d probably fuss around trying to take care of her…
“Yes!”
Well… if she’s okay with it.
And so, we returned to my neighborhood alongside Tenshi.
“Oh… this place has its own atmosphere, huh?”
We left the bustling city filled with buildings and came to the outskirts of Seoul, but Tenshi seemed to actually be enjoying the ambiance.
I mean, I wanted to feel the local vibe when I went to Japan, so for Tenshi, who likes Korea, this must be a different experience.
“Is this where Soo-hyun is from?”
“Yeah? It’s kind of similar? I went to elementary, middle, and high school around here.”
“Wow…”
Tenshi looked at me with a somewhat peculiar expression.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Oh, it’s just that I was thinking, ‘Soo-hyun was an elementary school student once too!’”
“What kind of obvious statement is that…?”
Am I really that peculiar?
…A little? There are parts of me that are different.
“How was school for you, Soo-hyun? It must have been fun if we went together!”
School life?
She must be asking about the girl version of me, right?
Hmm… girl Kim Soo-hyun’s school days…
“It probably wasn’t that fun? I didn’t talk much.”
“Eh… really? You seem like you’d have been really popular!”
Popularity… well, of course, I had plenty.
“Yes, I was popular.”
“Then why didn’t you talk much? You seem so chatty now.”
Why didn’t girl Kim Soo-hyun have social skills—
As I trace back my memories, it turns out this is an easy question to answer.
“Even if I didn’t talk, I was still immensely popular, you know? Is there really a need to?”
“Eek- that’s so annoying!”
Honestly, someone as pretty as me would shine no matter what I did.
If I’m rude, I seem aloof.
If I’m quiet, I appear graceful.
If I’m lively, I’m pretty with a friendly demeanor.
Just take a look; even Tenshi frowned at first but then nodded as if to understand when she saw my face.
“Life is unfair…”
Unfair, huh… but can Tenshi even say that?
I sneaked a glance at her walking side by side.
With her well-shaped lavender hair, petite figure, and lovely face, she must’ve stolen the hearts of many guys.
“Oh, we arrived.”
“Is that it?”
“Yes.”
The barbecue restaurant we arrived at wasn’t anything special.
Just a bustling local barbecue joint, like one you’d find in any neighborhood.
“Oh….”
In a nutshell, that means it’s dripping with local flavor.
We promptly entered the restaurant, grabbed a table, and looked through the menu to order.
“So… are you going to drink?”
It’s a given in Korea that drinking is a part of dining at a barbecue place, so I asked, and she nodded immediately.
“Yes! I want to try soju!”
“Then here…”
After we picked out some dishes and placed our order, we relaxed for a bit until the meat arrived.
“I’ll grill it for you.”
“Oh… can you grill well?”
“Hmm, well, I can manage it well enough?”
Honestly, girl Kim Soo-hyun couldn’t grill meat.
I had never grilled before.
But male Kim Soo-hyun was different.
When going to a barbecue restaurant, he’d always roll up his sleeves.
Sizzle—
The meat was grilling on the well-heated grill.
As the pink meat gradually started to change color, I cut it into bite-sized pieces and flipped it over to cook evenly.
“Wow…”
Tenshi stared blankly as she watched the process of grilling meat on the grill.
…Isn’t yakiniku popular in Japan?
Grilling meat shouldn’t be that amazing to her.
“Alright, you can eat now.”
“Eh- thank you!”
As I placed the well-grilled meat on Tenshi’s plate, she smiled brightly and dipped the meat in the sauce before eating.
“Eh- it’s delicious.”
“Is it good?”
“Yes!”
Good, I’m glad to hear that.
As I moved meat to my plate, I popped open the soju we just ordered.
“Then, let’s try some alcohol.”
“Heh- are you pouring for me?”
“Consider it an honor.”
“Yup.”
Saying that, I shyly poured soju into her glass, and then filled my own.
How long has it been since I had a drink?
Hmm… was it during my trip to Japan?
I suddenly realized how healthy my life has been.
“Shall we toast?”
As I lifted my glass, Tenshi quickly raised her glass too.
We gently clinked our glasses together.
“Cheers.”
“Heh….”
Tenshi, who’s been giggling for a while now, downed her drink in one go and soon slightly squinted her eyes.
“Urgh…”
“Bitter?”
“A little?”
Well… soju is bitter after all.
Honestly, I still don’t understand why adults find it tasty.
“Quick, eat the side dish.”
“Ah, yes!”
After I said that, she finally started to grab the meat.
Maybe because she’s petite? She looked like a hamster.
Seeing her like that makes you want to feed her something.
I quickly grabbed a leaf of lettuce and wrapped it up for her.
I secretly added a couple of garlic slices in there, then handed it to her, and she opened her mouth wide.
“Do I have to feed you too?”
“Huh?”
“Just kidding.”
Saying that, I placed the wrap in Tenshi’s mouth, then grabbed another leaf of lettuce to prepare my own wrap.
“Cheers.”
Just as I stuffed my mouth full of wraps, Tenshi swiftly snatched the lettuce from my hand and started preparing her own wrap.
A wrap prepared by Murasaki Tenshi, who has 1.6 million subscribers… this is a rare treat.
“Ah- I see.”
“Do you want me to eat it?”
“Eh.”
While still mulling over my wrap, Tenshi’s offering looked a bit… big.
Will that even fit in one bite?
This rookie! How many pieces of meat did she put in there?
But it’s her first wrap, so I couldn’t refuse it… With the attitude of ‘let’s just give it a try,’ I accepted the wrap.
“Yum.”
Tenshi seemed a bit flustered when she saw my mouth filled with the wrap.
But the wrap was already in my mouth.
In case of any unforeseen escape, I covered my mouth with my hand and chewed eagerly on the wrap that was filling my mouth, and I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
Just how much meat did she put in there?
“Ehhehe.”
Did I look funny in that moment?
Tenshi laughed and pulled out her phone, pointing the camera at me.
Does she want to take a picture?
Understanding her intention roughly, I nodded, and indeed, she snapped a photo.
And the photo she showed me was definitely…
“Oh, you look cute!”
“Eh? Is that narcissism?”
With my cheeks puffed out and my mouth covered as I eat the wrap, I actually looked… quite good.
…Should I post this on social media?
If I gathered a bunch of these photos and posted them daily, I could totally be an influencer, right?
As I pondered such thoughts and chewed through the meat-filled wrap, Tenshi had already poured me another glass.
“Shall we toast again?”
Seeing that, I couldn’t help but laugh again.
She’s becoming more and more Korean.
“Well then, cheers.”
We clinked our glasses and downed the drink in one go.
“Ahh.”
Feeling the taste of the less bitter alcohol this time, I took another bite of the side dish.
And even after that, in the deepening night, Tenshi and I continued to clink our glasses as we drank.
The fact that I got scolded by Mrs. Jang when I got home, totally drunk, came later.