Rest is essential for busy modern individuals.
In a rapidly moving society, if you don’t prove your abilities, you will be left behind.
Instead of resting, you split your personal time for self-development and spend time with your family.
You come home so exhausted that you collapse without even remembering what you used to like.
The point is that it’s important to have your own time.
A time that you truly think of as rest -.
“Hey, are you listening? You look so spaced out.”
“Yeah, I think the left side is better.”
“Left? Are you really sure it’s the left?”
“Uh-huh.”
“It seems like you weren’t paying attention…”
Ji-yeon pouted and gathered the clothes she was holding in her left hand.
The yellow dress looks cute like a chick.
At the age when one chirps the most, a chick-like outfit is like a cheat code.
In contrast, the outfit on the right… isn’t it a bit too drastic?
Especially for a high school student.
“All the kids dress like this these days, oppa.”
“Even so… it’s something else.”
Of course, Ji-yeon’s looks made any outfit she wore pretty.
They say the completion of fashion is the face, and even in that outrageous outfit, her face shone.
But conversely, that also means it doesn’t really matter what she wears.
I don’t know if I’m too Confucian, but is there really a need to take the risk of exposing skin?
“If you’re going to say that much, I won’t wear it, heh.”
Spending time with family is also part of rest.
Although I didn’t come out on my own accord, I knew well that I would live stuck in a room for a lifetime if nobody pulled me out.
I declared a break, under the pretext of spending time with my only younger sibling.
Even though I only appeared in my early broadcasts once, the viewers’ sentiment towards Ji-yeon was like it could break the ceiling.
It felt like I gained a legitimate break card, and I thought to occasionally sell Ji-yeon in the future as I picked up a magazine in front of me.
I took a sip of the black tea beside me and opened the magazine.
A pretty lady was posing with a haughty expression.
Surely, the model was pretty, so the clothes seemed to look good too…
“Cough! Cough!”
I forced myself to swallow the black tea I had in my mouth.
Isn’t that me?
The woman in the magazine was me.
Those clothes seemed somewhat familiar; they were outfits I wore during previous shoots.
Before I knew it, Eun-ha had plopped down in front of me.
“You look beautiful, right?”
“Did you really make a magazine?”
“This isn’t for sale; it’s for keepsake. I made it as a memory.”
Why would you make something like that for a keepsake?
I couldn’t complain to Eun-ha, who was grinning while holding the magazine.
I had felt this before, but she was quite a feeling-based person.
Still, she wouldn’t overstep boundaries; if I asked, she would delete all parts I appeared in from the magazine, shopping mall, and YouTube.
“The clothes Ji-eun wore are all sold out. People have good reviews about them. The sales were astonishing.”
“Really?”
“I have been sending you regular reports… Didn’t you see them?”
It turns out she had been periodically sending me texts about how many products had sold and what kind of praises the model received.
The regular reports were so frequent and passionate that they warranted a grand name.
I… didn’t remember; I think I marked them as read along with the daily pile of spam messages.
I was surprised to think she had been sending texts to me without expecting replies all this time.
“I was just waiting for you to come back to the store. Since you’re busy, I should do something in return.”
“No, no. That’s not necessary.”
Initially, I also had Ji-yeon’s urging, and it was something I wanted for myself.
An effort to get used to my awkward body.
Plus, since I received model fees, the compensation was sufficient.
“I knew you’d say that, so I prepared everything in advance.”
“What?”
“A new collection just came in. The moment I saw how well it was made, I thought of you.”
Eun-ha didn’t seem to feel that way.
I heard that companies give bonuses when a certain level of performance is achieved.
That really resonated with me, having experienced working life, and before I knew it, I accepted it.
She was pulling out shopping bags one by one from somewhere.
I thought as I watched the clothes piling up at a terrifying speed.
Can I wear all of this?
“Ugh…”
I dragged my tired body home.
I only had a little further to go, just a little more.
Eun-ha insisted on walking me home because the night was dangerous, but I firmly turned her down.
Isn’t it more dangerous for my underage younger sibling?
My body felt heavy.
In my left arm were the clothes Eun-ha had given me and in my right were the side dishes Ji-yeon prepared.
In fact, I rarely go out and often skip meals.
When it comes to efficiency, both have little utility, but I couldn’t refuse them.
They both thought of me and prepared, so how could I not accept?
One cannot live life mechanically, always cutting ties.
Especially not in cases where relationships have deepened like this.
“Hah…”
The night air is cool yet cold at the same time.
It’s now cold enough that when I sigh, you can see my breath.
I looked up at the night sky.
The moon is beautiful.
I momentarily sat on a bench nearby, entranced by the night view.
It was just the end of the day as always, but I felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
No, it’s not just another day as always. Strictly speaking.
I, who used to rot in my room without connecting with anyone.
The person who used to feel an inexplicable emptiness day by day was no longer there.
Having let go of fear and stepping out of my cage, though timidly, I was now able to feel the warmth of sunshine as I received excessive love.
Is this… true life?
Then was my past life fake?
I suddenly thought that there was no difference between fake and real.
At the same time, I also thought this phenomenon happening to me was a blessing, not a curse.
A new name and a new life.
It feels like I discovered another side of myself that I didn’t even know about.
Was I this bright of a person?
I’ve also started to talk more.
I wouldn’t say I’ve become chatty, but compared to before, it’s definitely an increase.
In the past, I barely said ten words a day.
I wondered how many minutes I had been dazed, feeling a chilly breeze.
I should go in now.
If I stay any longer, I will freeze to death.
I arrived in front of my house and was about to enter the entrance when.
“….?”
I felt an oddly familiar sense of discomfort.
My sensitive senses pinpointed the cause of this feeling.
It was similar to the feeling when I was in a crowded place, but it felt more viscous and sinister.
Someone… seemed to be watching me.
I felt a shiver and quickly turned to check behind me.
But all I could see was the dark night’s thicket.
I looked back and forth, but it was the same.
Was it just my imagination?
I thought I was mistaken due to fatigue and walked into the building, ignoring the rustling sounds coming from behind.
“Is it okay to proceed like this?”
– Yes, please read the file we sent and proceed as is. I’ve written it in detail, so there’s no need to worry since we will be monitoring it in real time. Do you have any other questions?
“Umm… I don’t have any right now, but I’ll contact you if I do.”
An advertisement came in.
It was similar to the home shopping ads I used to do back in the day.
It’s unique that it’s not on public broadcast but on internet streaming.
It’s a trendy mix of live streaming and e-commerce, focused on the mobile platforms that consumers are familiar with these days.
Seeing this, I felt how much the world has changed.
After all, if I’m changing, how can the world remain the same?
It’s a trendy method of selling products while streaming live.
Typically, a host leads this, but here, I was to take on the host role.
What can I say, I have to conduct the show alone and promote the products.
And what is that product?
“Cold noodles in the middle of winter… they must be out of their minds.”
I thought as I picked up the package of cold noodles that had been delivered in advance.
It was already strange that they entrusted me with a food advertisement, but the thinking of this company seems to differ entirely from others.
Hanareum F&B… perhaps they’re just starting out?
I’m a broadcaster who doesn’t turn on the camera.
In other words, I can’t show myself eating in real-time.
What’s the most important element in food advertising?
While showing food in pictures can suffice, it’s an undeniable fact that showing someone enjoying the food is crucial.
For a company to entrust me with a cold noodle ad, despite having no merit for that aspect, felt crazy.
But that crazy idea did attract me.
Despite receiving numerous advertising offers before, I had never reacted to them, but the reason I accepted this one was simple.
It looked fun.
That’s all, no other reason was needed.
I, too, had no clue what kind of results would happen with this ad.
I turned on the broadcast with a pounding heart.
