Free Web NovelEven while I was in the middle of practicing, the idol I was co-hosting with didn’t arrive until quite a long time had passed, due to a Japan schedule, and—
“Starting today, the ranking system will be different. Viewers will participate as producers! That, too—”
In the end, something went wrong.
“....”
Hey, Seo Eden. It’s your turn to speak now. Why aren’t you saying anything?
I stared straight ahead without looking to the side. If I turned my head now, it would be obvious that it was a broadcast accident.
Relying on an idol’s seasoned instinct for reading the room, Seo Eden forced a line in.
“A big! role—”
Hey. That’s the wrong line. The next line is supposed to be ‘globally.’
“Yes, Eden! That’s right. We’ll be combining pre-vote scores with global pre-vote scores.”
Next, once again, it was Seo Eden’s part. I could feel her panic.
‘...This won’t do.’
In a live broadcast, even a single second of dead air is enough for people to sense a broadcast accident. I changed the script.
* * *
Seo Eden was smiling brightly, but cold sweat ran down her back.
‘This is bad....’
She had definitely organized the cue cards properly earlier, but in the rush of grabbing them, it seemed a few cards had gotten mixed up.
“You can vote through the app below! And now, Eden—please say a word asking the viewers watching MusicN to vote.”
Seo Eden, who had always trusted her short-term memory, felt tearfully grateful to Han Yeoreum for stepping in beside her.
But she managed her expression as if nothing were wrong.
“Yes, MusicN! We’re waiting for your votes, so please show lots of interest. And now, Yeoreum—shall we introduce the next song?”
Facing the camera with the red light on, Seo Eden put on her usual cute act, then tossed the comment back to Han Yeoreum.
“A ballad that goes perfectly with autumn....”
Finally, the camera light went off. The intro music flowed onto the stage.
“Whew....”
Seo Eden quietly let out a sigh. Fans were standing below the MC platform, looking up at her.
Anyone could tell that was Seo Eden’s mistake just now. She had a bad feeling about the kind of posts that would soon go up.
[Seo Eden’s so half-hearted compared to when she’s on stage lol if she’s gonna be that stiff why even MC lololol looks like she won’t renew and will ditch it f*ck]
“Haa....”
Beside her, Han Yeoreum also let out a big sigh. This wasn’t the time for that. She needed to quickly check the cue cards again—and before that, say thank you.
But then, Han Yeoreum lightly tapped her own cue card with her finger.
“Hm?”
“Make your expression look troubled. Roughly.”
It was practically ventriloquism.
Han Yeoreum looked at Seo Eden with an expression that said, ‘Things almost went wrong just now, but it definitely wasn’t Seo Eden’s fault.... There’s some kind of problem, right? What on earth was it? Everything was fine when we practiced.’
‘Oh, this....’
Something clicked.
I had an unfounded belief that targeted posts about Seo Eden wouldn’t go up on the portal sites. Han Yeoreum deliberately turned her head to look toward the staff area. Then she shook her head slightly.
“This.” freēwebnovel.com
“Uh....”
She handed over the cue card she was holding. Seo Eden took it without thinking. Han Yeoreum acted as if the problem had been with Seo Eden’s cue cards from the start.
“Eden, what’s wrong?”
Questions started coming one by one from the fan section below. Before Seo Eden could answer, Han Yeoreum spoke first.
“There was a slight issue with the cue cards....”
Nice....
Even knowing how opportunistic she was being, Seo Eden was overwhelmingly happy. It felt like she was drifting farther away from the portal site’s main page.
-Should’ve put in instead of Seo Eden T_T loool ugh I hate her
︎fr if she’s just gonna stand there like a background prop ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) why even MC
The countless comments that had dominated her thoughts seemed to dissolve away.
“Eden, are you okay?”
“That startled you, didn’t it—!”
When fans spoke to her, Seo Eden managed her expression as usual. Then she drooped her eyebrows dramatically and nodded.
“So cute—!”
Exclamations burst out from all around. A staff member signaled them to get ready again.
‘But if she gave me her cue cards, what about her side...?’
Just as panic was about to flood Seo Eden’s head again, the camera lights turned on without waiting.
“The next stage is—an act with a charm you just can’t stop wanting to hear....”
Han Yeoreum was a real pro. It was as if she’d memorized all the cue cards outright.
She continued hosting while pretending to read Seo Eden’s shuffled cue cards.
‘She could’ve made it obvious she memorized everything....’
It was clearly consideration for Seo Eden. Even if there were cue card issues, this prevented a situation where people would say: pro MC Han Yeoreum who memorized everything versus stiff, useless Seo Eden by comparison.
The stage introduction flowed smoothly.
“Please show us the key choreography point of your comeback song just once!”
Some of the performers came up to the MC platform for brief interviews and song introductions. Thankfully, light choreography was something Seo Eden could easily follow—she was an idol, after all.
“Eden, didn’t you practice way too hard?”
Beside her, Han Yeoreum laughed as if the choreography was too difficult, even as she tried to follow along.
Seo Eden relaxed. This pushed away the label of Seo Eden who couldn’t even MC but stubbornly clung to the spot while insisting on solo activities.
“Eden! Give us a hand heart!”
“Eden—! Wink! Just one wink!”
Seo Eden felt at ease. So she gave the best fan service she ever had. With Han Yeoreum beside her every time they moved on, everything flowed smoothly. ƒrēewebnovel.com
When Part 1 ended and they briefly went inside during the ad break before Part 2, Seo Eden sincerely thanked Han Yeoreum.
“Thank you so much.... If it weren’t for you today, Yeoreum-nim, it would’ve been a disaster. I’ll definitely! repay you.”
Seo Eden bowed ninety degrees. When she lifted her head, Han Yeoreum’s expression was—
“Really?”
It was different from the bright smile she wore in front of the camera.
* * *
As expected of Han Yeoreum. Saving a live broadcast that was about to turn into a mess like this.
I admired myself anew and spoke seriously to Seo Eden.
“Let’s go with the most cost-effective route. Don’t say anything like ‘this was the problem’ or whatever. Let people assume it wasn’t either of our faults. And don’t say anything on SNS. Let’s not get innocent staff members cursed at for no reason.”
“Ah, yes. Right.”
Maybe because she’d lived in a group, her understanding was quick. I continued, looking at Seo Eden, who seemed to grasp exactly what I meant.
“And later, don’t add my name with something like ‘I was really in trouble then, but she helped me.’ Oh—no. It’s fine. Really. Let’s just keep it as colleagues doing what’s best.”
“Ah, yes! Understood.”
And we had to be careful—very careful.
Getting some help from Seo Eden’s overseas recognition as an idol was fine, but there was no benefit in becoming disliked by domestic fans. Keeping things properly professional was much better.
‘I’ve always been monitoring this kind of thing in my spare time....’
Whether it’s dramas, films, plays, or musicals, fans usually gather in minor gallery-style communities on specific sites. Which means I know the abyss to a certain extent.
‘Just thinking about it already makes a corner of my heart feel damp and dark....’
No. Anyway. Enough of that. What mattered was what came next.
“Instead, Seo Eden—you’re a professional idol, right? I want you to help me a bit.”
“...Specifically how?”
