Idol
As I stepped into the studio, I could feel the gaze of the unfamiliar man, as if he were thinking, "What on earth is with her?"
"Dropping by all of a sudden, what are you even saying?"
"Hahaha… just kidding."
At Hyun-soo's scolding, I gave an awkward laugh. Streaming so often lately had made spouting nonsense into a habit.
"So then, who are you…?"
Since I came in so naturally, the man who'd been here first looked a little flustered as he asked me.
Hmm, what should I say?
I suddenly felt the urge to mess around again, and my eyes landed right on Kang-hyuk's guitar.
"Oh, I'm the guitarist for this band."
I said it casually as I picked up Kang-hyuk's guitar.
"…Huh? Wasn't that Hyuk-hyung's guitar?"
Hyuk-hyung?
So he must be at least a bit close to the others here.
"He and I are fighting over the starting spot."
"I see…."
Behind him, I caught sight of Kang-hyuk approaching with an exasperated expression.
"What starting spot? You can't even play a full song, can you?"
"I can now. Want me to go busk outside?"
"Busking? To do that, you need to play at least five songs."
Ah.
Right, you wouldn't just play one song at a busking gig.
"…Should I just do lip-sync guitar? Play the track in the background."
"Are you insane?"
What? Wasn't that… a decent idea? Not that outrageous.
Anyway, I put the guitar back down and ended my little prank.
Then I asked what I'd been wondering about from the start.
"But more importantly—who is this?"
Just who was this guy, really?
He had to be some kind of entertainer, right?
"I'm Lee Hyun-jun from Beasts."
"An idol?"
"Yes."
So he really was an idol.
Well, with that flashy appearance, how could he not be?
Now that I looked closely, his black hair had white streaks running through it.
"I figured as much."
"Oh? You think so?"
"You look flashy."
I just said exactly what crossed my mind, and he looked a little surprised.
"You're pretty blunt, huh?"
"I just said what I thought."
His clothes weren't particularly flashy, but his looks were.
Actually, maybe that made him stand out even more—the contrast with his outfit?
"Then… don't I look familiar at all?"
At Hyun-jun's question, I gave an awkward laugh. Honestly, I hadn't even recognized Moon Chang-sik before. Like I'd recognize a male idol.
"Well… not really. I don't watch TV much."
"Ha… I thought so."
Why the sigh?
Was he… not a popular idol?
From my perspective, he looked like he could easily be in the top tier. Was the industry's bar raised that high nowadays?
"Uh… cheer up. I'm sure one day you'll shine."
I mean, what good would my words do, but it was something I could at least say.
"…Huh? Ahahaha."
But strangely, he laughed at my words.
What? Did I just commit Misstep #21241 of the season?
"I'm actually very popular."
"…What?"
"Our latest album sold over a million copies."
"…A million?!"
Wait—he didn't mean one million YouTube views. He meant album sales?
Even if one album cost only ten bucks… that was insane.
"Oh, um, I don't really listen to idol music, so I didn't know."
I rushed to explain.
What had I just said to a top idol?
"No worries. These days, male idols don't have the same mainstream reach, right? Unless you're globally famous, people outside the fanbase don't know you."
"Ah, I see."
Now that he mentioned it, when people talk about idols these days, it's always girl groups that come to mind.
Female idols aim for mass appeal, while male idols go deeper into niche markets.
It's basically like being an elite minority.
"But then… who are you? You don't seem to be Hyun-soo's girlfriend, and it's clear you're no real guitarist either."
"Hahaha… My name's Kim Soo-hyun, but honestly I don't really have a job, so there's not much to say."
"…What?"
"I'm unemployed. Just came here to hang out."
I plopped down on the nearest sofa.
Come to think of it, maybe being a VTuber meant that to outsiders, you just had to say you were unemployed.
If I said I was a streamer, they'd ask my channel name, and then boom—Miro the VTuber would be outed.
Yeah, "unemployed" was safer.
"Oh, so you're not working right now?"
Hmm… maybe "jobless" gave too pitiful an image.
Ah, but there was one thing I could call "work."
Before I possessed this body, female Kim Soo-hyun's main source of income.
"I do freelance art commissions. Just small money, but enough for pocket money."
"Art?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty good at drawing."
"Oh… sometimes fans give me portraits they've drawn."
"Oh really? Want me to draw one for you?"
"You'd do that?"
Of course. I owed him after that misunderstanding anyway. What's a quick sketch?
"What? Draw one for me too!"
At that moment, Ah-young, who'd been listening in, raised her hand.
"Yeah! It doesn't take that long to draw, right?"
"Then me too. You need to pay me back for borrowing my guitar without asking."
And now Kang-hyuk too. Well, since it had come to this—
"Fine, I'll just draw all of you. Line up one at a time."
Might as well.
"Are you sure you're okay with that?"
"I said it's fine. Hand me a pen and notebook, Hyun-soo."
Taking the pen and notebook from a concerned Hyun-soo, I decided to start with Hyun-jun.
"My fans say my face is hard to draw. What do you think?"
"It's not hard, just tedious. You've got piercings, streaked hair…"
Annoying details, sure—but actually, distinctive features usually made for better character drawings.
So, flexing my skills for the first time in a while, I started sketching with a ballpoint pen.
According to female Kim Soo-hyun's memories, she used to draw a lot back in school.
I had the memories, but not the nostalgia. After all, it hadn't really been me.
Still, with that strange feeling in the back of my mind, I finished a sketch that turned out pretty well.
Even I was satisfied with it.
Distinctive looks made the drawing pop more when stylized.
"Mm, this should do."
"Oh, I'm excited to see it."
Hyun-jun accepted the drawing with an eager expression—and then his eyes widened.
"You… you really just drew this now? Seriously?"
"Pretty good, right? Not many fans could reach this level of quality."
"No, seriously, this is really well drawn."
It seemed Hyun-jun hadn't expected much from my drawing.
But what could I do? I was a pro among pros.
"Wow, Soo-hyun, you really drew this?"
Even Ah-young, who had just come over from another corner, gasped in surprise.
Ah, it felt good to show my real talent again after so long.
The clumsy Miro, bad at singing and guitar, was gone.
What remained was KSH, the professional illustrator.
So I quickly moved on and drew Ah-young, who eagerly asked to be next. Then Kang-hyuk, who had secretly been hoping for one too.
And eventually, I drew the remaining band members and even Hyun-soo.
By the time I was finished, the sunset had already painted the sky outside.
"Is it evening already?"
I hadn't realized how much time had passed while drawing one portrait after another.
"You didn't even notice? You were so focused."
"It's been a while since I last picked up a pen."
Come to think of it, it really had been a long time since I last drew.
I'd been caught up in so many different things lately.
Still, now that the second single was out and I had more free time, maybe I could spend it drawing again.
"With that level of skill? Wouldn't it be a waste not to?"
"Well, I do draw regularly, just not recently."
As if I'd ever abandon drawing.
It was one of my greatest assets.
And besides, I was only human—of course I'd want to improve further.
Even if my current skill was already good enough to get by, I still wanted to push myself a little more.
Someday, I'd dedicate time to real practice again.
As Hyun-soo and the band members admired the row of portraits I'd drawn and pinned neatly on the studio wall, Hyun-jun, who had been filming some kind of song challenge with Hyun-soo earlier, approached me.
"Um, excuse me."
"Yes?"
He picked up the portrait I'd set aside carefully and asked,
"Would it be okay if I posted this on Instagram? It feels like a waste to keep it to myself."
"Uh…."
Was it really okay? I hesitated, but then nodded.
"Well, I don't see why not."
It wasn't like anyone would know who drew it, and if anything, it would just end up promoting my account.
"Just don't say who drew it. I don't mind if fans figure it out on their own, though."
"Mm… I guess that should be fine?"
He looked a little unsure about posting it, but I just smirked.
"What's the worst that could happen? I see celebrities post all sorts of random stuff on Instagram."
Sure, sometimes it stirred up controversy, but this was just a portrait.
No way it could cause trouble.
"Then I'll just say I went to a friend's studio, and a friend of a friend drew it for me."
"Yeah, that works."
And with that, our conversation ended.
By now it was evening, and I was getting ready to head home when Hyun-soo came over.
"Heading out since it's late?"
"Yeah, I should get home early."
"We never manage to have dinner together, huh."
"If I don't go home, Madam Jang has to eat alone."
She'd secretly been happy that I'd been eating dinner with her again at the family home.
Who knew when I'd move out again, but for now, I tried to eat with her in the evenings.
"By the way, how did you get to know that idol?"
It was a question I'd meant to ask earlier but hadn't had the chance because of all the drawing.
It wasn't like Hyun-soo normally had chances to befriend idols.
"Ah—met on a variety show. Turns out he was my middle school senior."
"Middle school?"
"Yeah, so we got talking and became friends. He came today to film some kind of challenge video."
"Yeah, I saw that. He was good at dancing, huh?"
"Are you teasing me?"
I just shrugged at Hyun-soo's comment.
Anyone would look bad dancing next to an idol.
"Still, I bet he's better than me."
"You can't dance?"
"Not at all. I'm hopeless with physical stuff."
I flopped my arms around weakly.
"I've got no muscle at all."
I, Soo-hyun, was made of nothing but skin and bones.
"Pfft, you should at least work out a little."
"You're one to talk."
Hyun-soo's stage name was Slim Gold. A solid build was the last thing anyone would associate with him.
He was probably skinnier than that idol who was clearly managing himself carefully.
"Hah, true enough. Oh—mind if I post my portrait on Instagram too?"
"I don't mind, but you even use Instagram?"
"Yeah, sometimes I post with the band members. It's pretty popular."
"Then how about posting the whole row?"
I pointed at the line of portraits hanging on the wall.
They really had come out well, if I said so myself.
"Yeah, people started liking the band after that variety show. This'll make them happy."
Well, of course. They were fun people, and with the genius high school singer plus the band's chaotic energy—
It was practically a ready-made movie script. Naturally, people loved it.
"What about me?"
"Uh… people are already asking, but it's hard to answer. What should I even say?"
"Yeah, good luck with that."
"Excuse me?"
"Anyway, today was fun. Next time I'll practice a new guitar piece and bring it!"
And with that, I headed home after a day of nothing but drawing in Hyun-soo's studio.
When I got back, the thought of my portraits going up on Instagram bothered me a little—just a little. But really, what was there to worry about?
Still, what a day. So many things happened, and none of them were safe for broadcast.
Guess tonight's stream would have no random chit-chat.
Instead, I'd just dive right into Civilization.
Bringing my viewers—still fired up from the unprecedented success of the second single—into a Civilization stream?
Oh, this was going to be good.
I couldn't wait to go live.
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