Free Web Novel‘No one called you, so why the hell are you butting in?’
Han Yeoreum beamed at Ji Haebeom and immediately started bragging.
“Senior Eun Baekhap just told me she thinks my next project is going to do amazingly well. She’s really cheering me on with her whole heart. Like, fighting! Hey! Like that. I’m genuinely touched....”
I never said that, you lunatic....
“Really? Baekhap did? Mm.”
Eun Baekhap wanted to drive her fist straight into Ji Haebeom’s face, that smug smile saying he understood everything.
By then Han Yeoreum had already quickened her pace and slipped away from Eun Baekhap. Her light footsteps almost sounded eager to get on the plane and fly to Taiwan as soon as possible.
The passersby who had been staring wide-eyed at Eun Baekhap after her sudden outburst soon returned to what they were doing, while some simply took real-life photos with their cameras.
It looked like the situation had been roughly smoothed over.
‘But no... what the hell.’
Only then did Eun Baekhap realize that brat had escaped before they’d even set a proper date.
‘That little brat is insanely good at striking and disappearing in the weirdest moments...?’
* * *
The news that the 〈The Great Garland〉 team had boarded a flight to Taiwan was the hottest possible topic among K-drama fans.
“Kyaaaaa!”
Meiling screamed while looking at the Youstagram story of an Intube creator she had cleverly followed for celebrity sighting reviews.
“Unnieee....”
Her friends immediately crowded around her.
Jiarong, Xinlei, and Weixin all leaned their heads together to stare at the photo of Yeoreum unnie.
“So cute....”
“Cute.”
“See? Cuteee.”
“Super cute!”
That was just how stanning worked.
Love meant finding someone endlessly adorable, even if they were older than you.
Incidentally, all four girls had the exact same hairstyle.
Every single one of them had blunt bob cuts.
They had all cut it after seeing the photos Han Yeoreum uploaded to Youstagram before Yeon Huijae’s part in 〈The Great Garland〉 had even aired.
“She’s finally coming....”
“I’ve been waiting for this day.”
“She’s seriously so cute—.”
“Meiling. When did they say it starts? Tell us one more time!”
Han Yeoreum’s popularity in Taiwan was still going strong.
How strong?
Every pouch belonging to girls who touched up their makeup by the classroom windows during break always had Brand A’s lip balm—the one Han Yeoreum supposedly used.
The 〈Strange Tales〉 OST still came up regularly during lunchtime song requests, and even the phone wallpapers of the top academic students who had never seemed interested in celebrities were Han Yeoreum.
〈Youth Disqualified!〉 still hadn’t aired in Taiwan, but Intube was something everyone could watch equally.
The clip of Han Yeoreum singing while playing guitar had hit one million views on a Taiwan Teentok K-pop introduction account.
Because of that, the go-to background music for Taiwanese girls’ Teentok videos had become the song from the University Song Festival winner.
Teentok
K-girl makeup grwm
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-I always end up clicking K-makeup videos no matter what ( •̀_•́) honestly I’m not even good at makeup, I just love watching
˪︎ Same. At least it’s pleasing to the eyes!
-I wish more Korean cosmetics would come here.... :( They’re seriously unbeatable in color makeup.
Familiar song. But I never get tired of it
˪︎ Everyone really uses this. It’s amazing how this audio shows up no matter what video you click.
˪︎ Well it’s Yoeluem’s song, so of course it’s popular (♡´▿`♡)
At this point, if it was Han Yeoreum, people simply liked and watched everything.
After 〈Strange Tales〉, the fact that she had sung a Taiwanese song at the fan meeting and done the Ruel interview played a huge part, and even the fact that 〈The Great Garland〉’s reward vacation had come to Taiwan had pushed her into the ranks of a national actress in Taiwan off just two works.
“Meiling. Hurry and persuade your father.”
Xinlei said it with a grave expression.
“When is 〈Youth Disqualified!〉 coming here?! Waiting is torture.”
“Same....”
“Guys. It hasn’t even finished airing in Korea yet.”
“Tell him to let us watch simultaneously. Meiling. If it’s K-TV, it can be done.”
Even Weixin and Jiarong grabbed Meiling and shook her.
Nodding as if she had made up her mind, Meiling declared,
“I’ll kick my dad out of the house. If he stays at the broadcasting station long enough, he’ll come up with a good idea.”
Everyone instantly agreed.
The innocent Lin Zhihao was now in danger of being exiled from his own home.
“Han Yeoreum barely appears in 〈The Great Garland〉. Same with 〈Faster Than the Law〉.”
“Cute....”
“But she’ll probably do lots of schedules while she’s here this time, right? Right, Meiling?”
“The only thing I know for sure is one talk show. And apparently she’s filming an ad too.”
At the crumb Meiling brought back, Xinlei, Jiarong, and Weixin all lowered their heads dramatically.
“That’s going to be cute....”
“It’s definitely going to be cute.”
“What do we do if it’s too cute!”
In their minds, Han Yeoreum was already the new ad model for Burger Queen, Seven Twelve, and 95 °C Bakery Café.
“All right, everyone, back to your seats!”
But the daydreaming didn’t last long.
Their teacher had entered the classroom.
“Ha....”
Last time, when 〈Faster Than the Law〉 entered the country, Meiling had personally skipped out and gone to the airport.
Now she stared sadly out the window.
‘I want to become a university student already....’
Once she became a university student, she felt like she’d finally be able to proudly go see Yeoreum unnie.
She hated being a high schooler trapped in this prison called school, forced to wear this prison uniform called a school uniform, unable to go see Yeoreum unnie.
‘But when I become a university student... Yeoreum unnie will be even more popular, right?’
Looking at the airplane crossing the blue sky, Meiling hardened her resolve.
‘Still, just wait till I’m in university. I’m following her all the way to Korea.’
* * *
“Ah.... I should’ve gone....”
And here too, despite already being a university student, Park Sumin—SweetWatermelon—could only sigh while looking at the celebrity sighting Intuber’s story, sad that she hadn’t been able to attend Han Yeoreum’s real-life schedule.
“No. If I went and unnie remembered me, that’d be a disaster.”
She clenched her teeth.
She couldn’t let an impulsive decision interfere with her ten-year long-term project.
If she kept slowly getting closer through Han Yeoreum’s younger brother, eventually the day would come when she’d even get messages asking what airport fashion looked best.
She couldn’t ruin things over something this small.
“She’s seriously so cute today.... The stylist deserves an award....”
Han Yeoreum’s styling today was completely different from the recent 〈Youth Disqualified!〉 sighting posts.
She looked like she had stepped straight out of the new Creamy Soda mango-flavor commercial.
SweetWatermelon captured the airport photo.
When she saw the image saved in her gallery, she briefly hugged her phone to her chest.
The grip tok she had bought at the 〈The Great Garland〉 pop-up sparkled especially brightly today.
“Hi, Park Sumin.”
As luck would have it, Han Taeyang, whose lecture building overlapped with hers, greeted her.
“You do okay on the exam?”
“So-so. You?”
“Me? Well....”
Even in this moment, SweetWatermelon calculated.
What kind of [N O V E L I G H T] answer would let her story reach Han Yeoreum’s ears “naturally”?
“Guess you bombed it. Good effort.”
But Han Taeyang concluded before she could even answer.
‘Unnie can’t think I’m stupid!’
SweetWatermelon shook her head violently.
“I did well. Really well. Judging people like that is a bad habit. Fix it.”
“Ah, right. Have you tried that yet?”
“What.”
“Creamy Soda mango flavor.”
At those words, SweetWatermelon’s heart turned sweet.
Because Creamy Soda was so popular, whenever a new flavor came out it was nearly impossible to get for several days.
And near the university district, stock vanished even faster.
She’d struck out several times already, but thanks to Han Yeoreum’s face on the sticker label, she hadn’t even been angry.
“...No.... Not yet.”
“Want me to bring you some?”
“....”
“We’ve got it piled up at home.”
What do I even say here so it sounds cool when it reaches Yeoreum unnie’s ears.
SweetWatermelon’s brain froze.
If she accepted too eagerly, she’d look desperate.
If she politely refused and he accepted that refusal literally, that was also a problem.
What if he later told Han Yeoreum, “Noona, my friends don’t really like Creamy Soda. Park Sumin? I was gonna give it to her but she turned it down.”
That would be catastrophic.
But she also couldn’t claim she’d already tried it.
She had literally just said she hadn’t.
‘Good.’
She decided on a response that was neither positive nor negative.
As expected of the genius who had never lost first place in class.
All she had to do was say: “Sounds delicious.”
However.
There was one thing SweetWatermelon had overlooked.
“Tha...! Cough, cough—!”
That the more overwhelmed an otaku became, the more likely they were to start coughing.
“Tha? Is your hometown in Gyeongsang?”
Her face turned bright red as she coughed.
She needed to say that wasn’t it, but Han Taeyang just nodded as if he had figured something out.
“Must be coming down with a cold. Guess you shouldn’t drink.”
Right then, his classmates called from the distance.
“Hey— Han Taeyang, what are you doing—”
“Yeah— coming!”
Getting up from his seat, Han Taeyang gave SweetWatermelon a quick goodbye and walked away.
She could only stare after him helplessly.
“You lunatic.... You said you’d give it to me....”
Only after the coughing finally stopped much later did SweetWatermelon, with bitter disappointment in her heart, head into CS25 with a sliver of hope.
Ding—.
For some reason the little bell sounded especially clear today.
Han Yeoreum’s sticker was still attached to the alcohol refrigerator.
SweetWatermelon walked toward unnie.
“Ah!”
And in that very first step, she spotted it.
“There it is! It’s here! It’s here!”
She was happier than when she’d received her university acceptance notice.
Grabbing the refrigerator handle, she shouted in delight.
She took out every single mango flavor can available, hugging the Creamy Soda cans to her chest as her heart turned sweet all over again.
‘I’ll drink this later while watching 〈Youth Disqualified!〉!’
Because Creamy Soda was low alcohol, no matter how much she drank it never really made her drunk, making it the perfect drink to have alone.
“Hic....”
And a little later, as if she really were drunk, SweetWatermelon murmured while watching 〈Youth Disqualified!〉,
“This is so sad....”
On the screen, Na Yuna was calmly confessing her secret.
* * *
The three, who had developed a slight distance between them, met again because of Go Yungyo’s cold.
Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.
Burning with fever, Go Yungyo frowned.
Her face was flushed red.
Still half-unable to open her eyes, she groped for the constantly vibrating phone.
“Hello... Mom.”
-Why did you take so long to answer?
At her mother’s voice, Yungyo suddenly felt miserable and pressed her lips into a straight line.
Everything in her body hurt.
“I think I caught a cold....”
When people got sick, they became more childish.
Maybe it wasn’t only the body that weakened, but the heart too.
It made her want someone to comfort her.
Her mother sighed on the other end.
-Do you have medicine at home? Is your fever high? Honestly, you’ve always been such a handful since you were little... you need to go to the hospital. Isn’t that why I deliberately got you a place close to one?
For some reason, her mother’s worried words made her feel better.
Moments like this created the illusion that maybe, just maybe, she had become her mother’s first priority. freēwebnovel.com
Curling into herself, Yungyo whimpered.
-Yungyo. After graduation, you’re moving back home, right?
“....”
Her mother never missed timing like this.
If anything, she must have thought now—while Yungyo was sick—was the perfect opening.
-It’s lonely getting sick when you’re living away from home. Right? If you were here, Mom would make the porridge you like and take you to the hospital. My baby.
“Mom... I told you last time, I don’t want to move back down there... I want to settle down here....”
The end of Yungyo’s voice cracked dryly.
But her mother refused to give up.
Because I love you.
Because we’re family.
Because you’re a girl and need your parents’ protection.
Because the world is dangerous and scary.
The reasons kept coming endlessly.
“...Mom. We agreed I’d take a leave of absence because of the caregiving.”
At last, Yungyo shot back, her voice trembling with tears.
Silence fell from the other end.
She had sacrificed a year and a half of a critical time in her life for her younger sibling’s future.
Because—
-Yungyo, you’re misunderstanding something very deeply. No one lives alone in this world, okay? You taking care of your sibling is the same as parents taking care of their child. Ever since you went to Seoul, you’ve been soaked in individualism and always talk like this....
Because we’re family.
-There’s a reason people say blood is thicker than water. It hurts Mom when you act like this. As the older sister, you look after your sibling, and as the younger sibling, they look after you. How can you cut things off so coldly like slicing a radish—
“I don’t know. I’m sick.”
-Stop being stubborn—
“I said I’m sick.”
Yungyo repeated only that.
Then her narration came in.
-Mom is always like this. She uses love as a weapon to make me kneel. What really makes me angry, what really, really makes me angry is—
“Why does Mom keep doing this when I said I’m sick....”
-It’s always me who gives in. Maybe the one obsessed with family isn’t Mom, but me.
[We... in our hearts at least... are all... yooouth~ ^^* Youth Disqualified live thread... @>——]
-Please stop making people cry by layering narration like this
-TT_TT Yungyo is SUCH a Korean eldest daughter it hurts so bad... I relate so much, even though I know I’m not my mom’s first priority I still keep expecting it
˪︎ same;; it wrecks my pride so bad
˪︎ Even trying to act cool and brush it off is eldest-daughter syndrome..ㅜ
Still sniffling, Yungyo hung up.
But the vibration started again.
Bzz. Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.
Stubbornly, Yungyo refused to answer.
It would probably ring a few more times and stop.
But it came again.
“I said I’m sick! I said I’m sick. Will someone just...!”
-You’re sick?
The voice on the other end belonged to Jeong Heejeong.
