Free Web NovelWhat Han Yeoreum proposed was still an enormously popular show format, one that had received explosive responses when she appeared on it during 〈Youth Disqualified!〉.
“How about a 〈King of Mask Singer〉 busking edition?”
Coincidentally, 〈Funny Bunny Harmony〉 was structured like a musical.
Not only Joy the rabbit diva, but also Richard the tiger, Caroline the black panther, Traven the zebra, and Santiago the penguin all had solo songs.
“That’s good.”
“If it’s busking, does that mean we wear masks out on the street?”
“In animal costumes?! That’s insane!”
The moment 〈King of Mask Singer〉 was mentioned, the voice actors became excited.
Richard the tiger looked toward Joy’s actress, Jeon Ujeong. He recalled the phone call he had received a few days before the dubbing session.
“So what’s the occasion? You actually calling me personally and all.”
“She’s useful.”
The caller had been Geum Bitgang herself. The two of them had once struggled side by side in the foreign-film dubbing scene during their prime.
Geum Bitgang was the person who had utterly shattered his prejudice that non-voice actors had no business touching a dubbing microphone.
At times she became a stern spy, at times a femme fatale who made people dizzy, at times a wife sending her beloved husband off to war.
Geum Bitgang layered Korean emotion over actresses on screen.
And she did it perfectly.
“You mean your favorite doll, noona?”
Richard the tiger immediately realized who Geum Bitgang meant by “useful.”
That was also why he had defended Han Yeoreum in the KBC voice actor waiting room.
“Still, Han Yeoreum seems pretty decent, doesn’t she?”
There was no way the disciple Geum Bitgang cared about that much would be terrible.
That belief was absolute.
If someone lacked talent, Geum Bitgang was the sort of person who would cut them off herself. She separated public and private matters with terrifying clarity.
“So do a good job.”
The line Geum Bitgang tossed out was almost embarrassingly insignificant to even call a favor.
That was all.
“Come on. Of course I’ll treat her well.”
“Not that.”
But Geum Bitgang gave him a hint.
“Make things work well between her and the girl you’re trying to raise.”
Use Han Yeoreum’s recognition to pull Jeon Ujeong upward.
“Looks like they’re preparing another noisy project.”
Only then did Richard the tiger fully understand Geum Bitgang’s intention. It was also something he personally wanted.
“So where are we supposed to wear the costumes?”
He asked Team Leader Seong about the rough event schedule.
“For now we’re thinking Yongsan, Yeongdeungpo, and Wangsimni. If schedules line up, Gangnam, Apgujeong, and Cheongdam Cine City too....”
While Team Leader Seong explained the plan, Jeon Ujeong {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} showed no particular enthusiasm. Richard the tiger lifted a thick index finger and pointed between the two girls one by one.
“Then instead of solo stages, how about forming pairs?”
Jeon Ujeong and Han Yeoreum.
“Before the reveal, three teams go from Yongsan to Wangsimni. Then after we remove the masks, more people will definitely come watch, right? That’s when we hit Gangnam through Cheongdam.”
In other words, if they were going to do it, they might as well go all out. Thanks to Richard the tiger’s supportive attitude, Team Leader Seong’s face brightened noticeably.
“Me?”
The protagonist Joy, Jeon Ujeong, asked back.
“But compared to everyone else having solo songs, Lala doesn’t have any songs at all. What are we supposed to sing?”
She made it painfully obvious she wanted to avoid being paired with Han Yeoreum no matter what. She was crooked, passionate, and brutally honest with her emotions.
“You’re not seriously saying I should split my song with her, right?”
At Jeon Ujeong’s displeased reaction, the other voice actors tactfully kept quiet. They all knew how overjoyed she had been to land the lead role in a Disney animation.
“Then how about a duet with me? I think we’d make a fantastic team.”
Caroline the black panther naturally stepped in.
Caroline’s representative song was practically another title track for 〈Funny Bunny Harmony〉 itself.
Just as Jeon Ujeong’s expression began to soften—
“No. Ujeong has two songs.”
“Huh?”
Richard the tiger said something unexpected. He burst into hearty laughter.
“The original song and the Korean version. Two songs.”
It was the same song, but one was the English version already released in America, while the other was the Korean version Jeon Ujeong had recorded.
“You know people are searching up the music video because of the 〈Funny Bunny Harmony〉 trailer, right? People naturally grow attached to whichever version they hear first.”
Richard the tiger refused to budge.
“So the two of you perform the original version first to hook passersby. Then afterward, you slam them with the Korean version.”
“...”
Jeon Ujeong’s expression twisted even more stubbornly, but she still didn’t answer.
Richard the tiger laughed loudly.
“Ujeong, why do you think people are coming to see this movie?” fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
“Because the graphics are gorgeous and the songs are good.”
“That’s all?”
Richard the tiger looked toward Han Yeoreum.
“A lot of people are probably coming for the chemistry between the older sister and younger sister too, don’t you think? The family love Disney keeps emphasizing.”
Right now, Jeon Ujeong disliked Han Yeoreum so much that she couldn’t see anything else.
The hottest young actress in Korea. JC ENM’s only exclusive actress, whose every project kept reaching new peaks.
“We’re giving people a preview taste of that. Otherwise why would we drag voice actors around the country to hold some nationwide singing contest?”
If Jeon Ujeong used Han Yeoreum properly during this opportunity, she could increase her own name value tremendously.
In this industry, name value wasn’t simply recognition. It was one of the factors that determined the level of roles a voice actor could receive.
Voice actors hidden behind characters rarely had opportunities to promote themselves. Maybe a tiny niche of hardcore voice-actor fans would know them, but the general public was different.
But together with the rising actress Han Yeoreum—
this was the SNS era. If there was even the slightest chance to get your face recognized one more time, you grabbed it.
After finishing a stage with Han Yeoreum and removing the masks together, Jeon Ujeong would become “the voice actress with that one huge moment.”
Character branding.
That was the advantage Jeon Ujeong could gain from this promotion.
And if things went that way, who knew what doors might open for her afterward.
Variety show appearances, documentary narration offers, another lead role in a musical animation, even launching her own Intube channel.
Whatever it was, it would undoubtedly elevate her voice acting career higher than ever before.
Jeon Ujeong was a good voice actress. Richard the tiger wanted to lift her higher despite how easily stubborn she became.
“...Okay. I’ll do it.”
Whether she understood Richard the tiger’s feelings or not, Jeon Ujeong answered in a curt voice.
* * *
On the way home, the office worker boarded a red bus and browsed the internet.
‘There really aren’t any dramas worth watching these days....’
Truthfully, she wasn’t some hardcore drama addict. She just liked having something to kill time with because her commute was long.
So her standards weren’t especially high.
But recently, her tastes had become way too refined. None of the currently airing dramas made her want to keep watching.
‘Maybe it’s because everything I watched lately was too good.’
〈Strange Tales〉, 〈The Great Garland〉, and 〈Unfair Trade〉.
Those three productions had raised her standards absurdly high.
〈Strange Tales〉 with its chilling storyline every single episode, 〈We Rund〉 that had everyone going insane, and 〈Unfair Trade〉, where reading all the theories and interpretations was half the fun.
The office worker had basically become addicted to spicy mala soup to the point mild tteokbokki no longer satisfied her. So today too, she casually surfed the internet out of boredom.
@mailEyeoleum DailySummer
(Han Yeoreum at hanbok ambassador appointment ceremony.jpg)
Baby’s forehead is so round, chestnut baby.
RT 300 Likes 1.2K
WrapYourHeart (MyWomanArchive) @yeomisae
(Han Yeoreum and Do Gyeoul two-shot at hanbok ambassador appointment ceremony.jpg)
Which nerd came up with this setting combo?
RT 3K Likes 11K
└How are their names literally Winter and Summer
└Stylist noona is amazing, did they coordinate outfits together lol
Naturally, news about Han Yeoreum entered her view. Han Yeoreum had always worked nonstop without hiatuses, but lately she really had been accelerating into project after project.
‘The hanbok is so cute~.’
The office worker liked every photo of Han Yeoreum.
Truthfully, when she heard Han Yeoreum became a hanbok ambassador, she hadn’t even been that surprised.
Ever since seeing Han Yeoreum on the 〈Strange Tales〉 filming set, she’d felt like something like this would happen someday.
‘Huh? The Korean trailer’s out.’
She also spotted the Korean trailer for 〈Funny Bunny Harmony〉, which had apparently become a massive success in North America several months ago.
‘Right, Han Yeoreum participated in this too.’
From music videos to dramas to film dubbing. Thinking she was incredibly hardworking, the office worker pressed play on the trailer.
-My name is Joy. And just like my name, I want to live joyfully.
Joy appeared cutting carrot pie at a noisy dining table with a blunt expression.
Even as the backgrounds changed, Joy’s expression remained the same. At the village festival, in bed before sleep—she always looked annoyed.
-But I have a problem too.
Joy stretched the eye mask hanging from one ear and pulled it over her eyes as she tried to sleep.
-It’s that—
But only for a moment.
-I’m not happy at all!
Joy’s bedroom door burst open with a bang. Her flying squirrel younger siblings stormed in.
-Unni!
-Unni unni!
-Unni unni unni!
-Uuunniii-!
Joy tried shaking off the younger siblings clinging to both her arms and legs, but it wasn’t easy.
At some point the eye mask slipped crookedly, revealing one eye. Her right eye looked rebelliously fierce.
-No matter how I think about it, something’s suspicious. My mom and dad are flying squirrels.
As Joy narrated, her parents appeared.
-And my siblings don’t even need explaining.
The flying squirrels bounced one by one across the screen. Joy’s expression remained vicious.
-This is proof I’m actually a rabbit they picked up somewhere. At this rate, there’s no way I can live true to my name.
Joy packed her bag. A single paper lay on her desk.
[Want to become a star?]
It was an audition poster featuring a cool tiger and leopard.
Text stamped itself over Joy’s determined face like a seal.
[Become a superstar and find your real parents!]
An exciting song played over footage of the sexy diva black panther dancing on stage.
-Want to become a star?
The tiger CEO appeared.
Joy running away somewhere. Rhinoceros police officers chasing her. Joy’s parents crying. Her younger siblings flying around searching for their older sister. And a penguin in a tuxedo trapped inside a dark room.
Then the song returned.
But this time it wasn’t the black panther’s voice.
It was Joy’s.
At the dazzling concert hall, just as the black panther prepared to step onto the stage, an unbelievably clear and pure whistle note layered itself over the scene.
[Funny Bunny Harmony]
[Coming to you this May!]
The trailer ended.
Without realizing it, the office worker searched up the release date for 〈Funny Bunny Harmony〉.
* * *
Eun Baekhap was completely peaceful.
Her heart resembled a perfectly calm lake.
She felt the soft spring air with her whole body. Her light hair fluttered in the gentle breeze.
Green grass fields, a vast horizon, Eun Baekhap becoming one with nature....
“Unniiii!”
And then what the fuck?
Han Yeoreum was sprinting toward her from the distance at an absolutely insane speed.
