The time was when [Don’t Stop People: Special Episode From the Stars] was still in the planning stage.
“Wait a moment, Geon-yeol. Who did you just finish talking to?”
[Ha-eun.]
At the unexpected mention of the name, PD Choi Soo-hyeok’s body jolted up involuntarily.
“If it’s Ha-eun, you mean that Lee Ha-eun I know? The one who played young Han Yu-hwa in ‘Don’t Stop People’?”
[Then who else could it be? Anyway, can we make this happen or not?]
“Of course we can! Absolutely!”
[As expected, I knew it would be like that.]
Eventually, Geon-yeol’s way of subtly taking credit for easing PD Choi’s burden.
The call ended with the reminder that this debt should be repaid later during [Don’t Stop People: Special Episode for Lee Geon-yeol].
“Wait… is it really Lee Ha-eun? For real?”
This was unexpected good news for PD Choi Soo-hyeok, who was struggling with guest casting for the special episode from the stars.
He couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, feeling quite drawn to the refreshing news.
He hadn’t even known that Geon-yeol and Ha-eun were acquaintances.
He certainly didn’t predict that Geon-yeol would directly invite Ha-eun to appear on Don’t Stop People.
However, regardless of the intermediary process, Ha-eun was an absolute must-have for the program due to her sensationality.
What variety show PD would refuse a star who was attracting attention both online and offline?
For several days following that, countless meetings day and night generated plots and missions suitable for Ha-eun.
Eventually, when they ran out of ideas to come up with, a meeting with Ha-eun was arranged, confirming her appearance on Don’t Stop People.
Nonetheless, it was inevitable that he felt somewhat worried about Ha-eun.
After all, this would be her first variety show appearance as a complete beginner, and she was only 12 years old.
Regardless of her excellent acting skills and sensationality, physical limits couldn’t be ignored.
Of course, PD Choi Soo-hyeok included considerations for Ha-eun in the missions he prepared.
However, if he made it too obvious he was indulging her, it would definitely lessen the program’s fun.
He also included certain missions that required even an elementary school student like Ha-eun to exert herself to some degree.
Although, none involved any risk of injury.
‘…Please, let it not turn into a talent show.’
To prevent the broadcast content from becoming juvenile, it was clear that Ha-eun had to contribute ‘to some extent.’
If she shows even a slightly enthusiastic side, then veteran entertainers like Sung Yoo-seok would be able to lead effectively thereafter.
As for the broadcasting sense, that was of no concern.
On the contrary, showing a true variety show rookie appearance would likely generate more amusing and delightful scenarios.
No one among the production team, including PD Choi Soo-hyeok, expected Ha-eun to have the polished verbal skills of Sung Yoo-seok.
Nor did they anticipate her to have the playful demeanor of Yoon Si-hyeok or the multi-talented problem-solving skills of Jeon Dong-guk.
What PD Choi Soo-hyeok wished for from Ha-eun was merely to present the young Han Yu-hwa to the viewers once again.
Thus, when the opening finally began.
“The girl is alive and well, yet you ask if she is dead? Did you perhaps have a bad dream last night?”
When Ha-eun’s witty adlib was delivered, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
If she could continue just like that, then I wouldn’t want anything more.
Even when she unexpectedly chose Jeon Dong-guk’s unappetizing food table in the first mission.
Or when she engaged naturally in the bus talks heading to the next mission location without a hint of nervousness.
‘Someday, we definitely need to do a special episode for Geon-yeol.’
I felt immense gratitude toward Geon-yeol for personally casting a broadcasting genius like Ha-eun.
Right now, Ha-eun’s presence was practically the best scenario that PD Choi Soo-hyeok had hoped for back in the day.
However, shortly after that.
Specifically, the very moment when the second mission, <Let the Matching Shoes Fly>, began in search of the fake Park Do-jun.
“I’ll say this one more time, but the closer Ha-eun’s shoes fall to the exact spot, the more points you get. It’s not a game of throwing as far as possible.”
“Um, PD. Can I just throw them however I want?”
“Ah, yes. It doesn’t matter where Ha-eun’s shoes land.”
As soon as that variety of question popped up, which hadn’t been present in any of PD Choi Soo-hyeok’s scenarios,
Ha-eun, with the help of Geon-yeol, hiked up her pink top to reveal her knees, and then with Geon-yeol supporting her, she swung her leg powerfully—
-Whoosh!
Ha-eun sent her delightful floral shoes soaring all the way to the sky.
This was yet another event that wasn’t in PD Choi Soo-hyeok’s scenarios.
Consequently, after about five seconds, when Ha-eun’s shoes began to descend, the landing zone was at least 30 meters away.
‘…Is this shot put?’
Now the other participants, forgetting it was their turn to throw shoes, could only stare in awe at the shoes that had landed far away.
Originally, the concept of this mission assumed that if the real Park Do-jun connected well with Han Yu-hwa, the distances of their shoe throws would be somewhat similar.
It was a mission designed so that the elementary school student Ha-eun wouldn’t feel burdened to throw as far.
“Uh… should we decide on the order first?”
“Hey, Yoo-seok, I’m really asking out of curiosity… does the order even matter?”
“No, didn’t you say earlier it’s not about throwing as far…?!”
“Ha-eun, you planned this! You and Dong-guk must have plotted this in advance!!”
“No wonder, I felt something was off since Dong-guk chose that terrible food earlier…”
Ironically, complaints arose from the adult members, which no one, including PD Choi Soo-hyeok, had anticipated.
In reality, the disappointment came from all the members, excluding the MC Sung Yoo-seok and the athletic Jeon Dong-guk.
Nonetheless, the die—
No, Han Yu-hwa’s shoes had already been thrown.
“Uh, uh! Si-hyeok stepped on the line!”
“I didn’t step on it!!”
As the second mission kicked off with even greater hustle and bustle than PD Choi Soo-hyeok had anticipated.
The very source of all of this, Ha-eun, sat calmly on a makeshift chair, amusingly watching the members’ desperate attempts to throw shoes as far as they could.
“Um, Soo-hyeok hyung… do we not need to retake this?”
“…Let’s just observe for now. A twist like this needs to happen at least once to keep it interesting.”
Following that, the shoe throw challenge continued uninterrupted, ultimately resulting in Jeon Dong-guk, the member with the best physical ability, being declared the winner.
Once again, hints related to the final mission were distributed based on Jeon Dong-guk’s performance.
As they boarded the bus to move to the next mission location, it was no surprise.
“Ha-eun, just in case, are you in any sports teams at school?”
They started talking about Ha-eun’s impressive kicking abilities they had witnessed moments ago.
“No, wait a minute, Geon-seok. Are there any sports teams in elementary school these days?”
“Huh? There aren’t? There used to be when I was in school.”
“That was when it was called national school, so it makes sense there were.”
While there were intermittent exchanges among the members, the majority of the conversation naturally revolved around Ha-eun.
Of course, as a guest, it was entirely normal for the conversation to center on her.
However, even during the third mission, <Protecting Han Yu-hwa with Dodgeball>.
-Whoosh!
-Whoosh, whoosh!
“What do you mean everyone’s avoiding every throw?! This defeats the purpose of Park Do-jun protecting her!”
“Well, Se-young, you throw like garbage.”
“Then you throw it!”
“How is this even difficult? Just watch, and then throw after a sudden fake!!”
-Swack.
“Wow. This time, you caught it completely.”
“I told you so!”
Since the unfolding scene was completely different from PD Choi Soo-hyeok’s scenario,
Once more, the anxious voice of the rookie PD drifted into PD Choi Soo-hyeok’s ears.
“Soo, Soo-hyeok hyung. Is this really okay?”
“…It’s not necessarily bad.”
“Well, as you say, it’s not particularly bad…”
Currently, PD Choi Soo-hyeok’s mind was occupied with revising the editing direction that he had thought out beforehand.
So, he had no spare time to console the anxious rookie PD.
Regardless, Ha-eun was truly flying high.
At this moment, her presence was captivating viewers without any shortcomings.
Of course, it would capture attention in a meaning different from the fifth episode of ‘From the Stars,’ but what of it?
From PD Choi Soo-hyeok’s perspective, as long as the ratings came out well, that was all that mattered.
There were no serious issues that required immediate interruption of the recording.
Thus, as the recording continued without a single pause, the time eventually arrived for the final mission to begin.
“Hey, Boram, has Ha-eun got all her tags on?”
“Ah, yes. She is now supposed to head to the final location with Writer Kim Hyun-jin.”
“Understood. Please tell Writer Kim to contact me when they arrive.”
Not long after that, PD Choi Soo-hyeok received word that Ha-eun had arrived at the final location.
Only then did he call the members waiting in the bus one by one to reveal today’s final mission.
“Currently, Han Yu-hwa is hiding somewhere in this Hanok village, evading the fake Park Do-jun. The winner of today will be the one who discovers Han Yu-hwa before the fake Park Do-jun and accompanies her to the final platform to escape via UFO.”
The task of spreading all the members around the village with the responsible writer followed soon after.
Once it was confirmed that all the members were scattered, he contacted the writers to clarify the identity of today’s villain.
In other words, the fake Park Do-jun.
“And before escaping on the UFO, the ultimate goal of today’s fake Park Do-jun is to remove Han Yu-hwa’s tag to eliminate her. Ah, please make sure to tell them to avoid any physical altercation with Ha-eun.”
He informed all members about the conditions for the member playing the fake Park Do-jun to win.
A sense of tension began to appear on all the members’ faces.
However, entirely opposite to those members,
With a calm demeanor, Ha-eun quietly hid somewhere in the vast Hanok village alongside her VJ.
“Um, Ha-eun…”
“Yes?”
“Actually, we still have about three minutes before we start filming. Would you mind taking a picture with me?”
“Ah, sure.”
After standing next to the warm-looking VJ, she finished forming a peace sign for a commemorative photo.
Up to that moment, she was only thinking about which member would find her first.
‘Would it be Jeon Dong-guk, I wonder?’
She had never really thought about what to do if that member happened to be the fake Park Do-jun.
In the first place, she hadn’t received any information on who the fake Park Do-jun was.
All she knew about the fake Park Do-jun was that he would try to remove her tag.
But, with six real Park Do-juns among the seven,
She didn’t really expect the one and only fake Park Do-jun to find her first.
And then, precisely 20 minutes later.
“Haah, haah…”
As she was hid deep inside, she was finally found, and the person gasped for breath, specifically, it was due to the intense gaze focused solely on her tag, not on Ha-eun herself.
‘…They say the unexpected happens.’
Even the smallest probability shouldn’t be ignored, she belatedly realized.
