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Today is the day I’ve scheduled to collaborate with Harbin.

Since the collaboration time is in the evening, I headed out in the afternoon and arrived right in front of Harbin’s house.

Ding dong.

“I’m here!”

I went right up to the door, rang the bell, and as I waited, the door opened and Harbin appeared.

“….”

The moment the door swung open, our eyes briefly met.

“…Can I come in?”

“Y-yes, please come in.”

I stepped inside a little awkwardly.

Harbin was living alone in a new villa, and just looking at the building’s exterior and stepping inside made it clear that it was quite luxurious.

I wondered if I should look for a place like this when I move out later.

Following Harbin’s lead, I sat at the table, and Harbin sat across from me.

And then….

“I knew it….”

Harbin said this while squinting her eyes shut.

“Haha….”

“Ugh….”

As if recalling a past conversation, she lowered her face in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry about that time. The manager told me to hide it.”

“Ugh….”

Watching Harbin seeming like she might crawl under the desk, I felt a bit ashamed.

Is it really that embarrassing?

I thought she would be mentally prepared by now, but apparently not.

The way she pulled the hood of her black hoodie tight, hiding her face like a hedgehog, was somewhat amusing.

“…Should we have another consultation?”

“Ahh…!”

After a brief moment of awkwardness, Harbin managed to confront me with a forced calm expression.

Seeing her settle down quickly made me think that maybe I had prolonged the awkwardness for no reason.

“You said you’re releasing your second album? How’s it going?”

“Uh? Ah, yes… We’re in the middle of recording.”

“Oh, is that so?”

I thought it was nearly done since I saw the announcement, but finding out they were still recording was unexpected.

Making a music video would take time too; are they working on both simultaneously?

“Is the recording taking a while?”

“Ah, yes… Everyone’s really working hard. This time, there’s a knife….”

“I see….”

After some back and forth, a silence fell between us once more.

Everything was fine, but it felt a bit strange….

Will time help us ease this?

After all, this is the first time we’ve met as seniors and juniors.

“F-first, let’s go to the room.”

Harbin, sensing the awkwardness, changed the subject.

Room, huh… Thinking back, I did come to collaborate.

I hope this collaboration goes well despite the awkwardness.

Well, we’re both professionals, so I think we’ll be fine once the broadcast starts.

The room Harbin led me into was even better decorated than I imagined.

The posters on the wall were really impressive.

Who is that? An international rapper?

“Oh, that person is an American rapper that I really like…”

“Oh, I see.”

“Do you know them?”

“Uh? No?”

It’s not like I would know any rappers.

I probably wouldn’t even recognize famous domestic rappers.

I’ve had no connections whatsoever.

“I-I see… Well, I’ll set up the equipment first.”

And just like that, the conversation ended again, and we were left in a tighter space than before.

I awkwardly sat on the bed while Harbin worked diligently setting up at her computer desk.

Watching Harbin set up behind me, I thought about today’s broadcast.

Today, we’ll be doing the World Cup after a long time.

It was actually Harbin who mentioned it, not me.

It’s a hip-hop 64-team tournament—very much on brand for Harbin.

After a bit of waiting, the setup was completed, and we ended up sitting side by side on the bed, even more awkwardly than before.

Hmm, this is annoying; don’t we have anything to say?

“Um… You really like hip-hop, don’t you?”

Not wanting to stay silent any longer, I awkwardly brought up a topic.

“Ah, yes… I’ve liked it since I was in school.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes… In fact, I’ve been on a program before…”

“A program?”

I was intrigued by this newfound fact.

Had she been on a show too?

“Yes… It was a famous survival show… I got eliminated in the second round and was completely edited out.”

“Oh….”

But that means she passed the first round, right?

That alone is impressive.

“I feel a bit regretful thinking about it. I wonder how it would have turned out if I had done better.”

Survival shows, huh….

Now that I think about it, wasn’t Lee Kang-jun also from an audition program?

Slightly recalling her nostalgic expression, I casually spoke up.

“Actually, I know someone who became known through an audition program.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but do you know what happened to them?”

“What happened?”

I wondered if it was appropriate to talk about Lee Kang-jun like this… but considering that he’s pretty well-known now, it should be fine.

I could always treat Harbin to a meal next time or something.

“I heard they were quickly forgotten. They did some events, but…”

“Huh?”

“But now they’re making great songs and are active again. It’s been quite a while since the audition though.”

Of course, starting off with an audition program can be a great springboard, but there’s no need to feel overwhelmingly disappointed.

Opportunities always arise.

“And you’ve now made it to the celestial realm, right? You have so much potential.”

Especially since Harbin probably didn’t miss out on any opportunities.

Celestial realm is just fantastic.

With content being the name of the game, the other celestial realm members’ broadcasts generally have viewer support.

Having the title of a V-tuber in the country is unique, and the company provides abundant support, making it the best environment to try things out.

I mean, I’m the one who’s been whining about wanting a concert while making songs.

“That’s true.”

After hearing my words, Harbin pondered for a moment and nodded, seemingly finding them valid.

Then….

“….”

“….”

An awkward silence fell upon us again.

This is driving me crazy.

I can’t let this go on like this.

“Should we start the broadcast?”

“Um… Isn’t it a bit early?”

“Well, what’s wrong with that?”

We don’t need to jump straight into the main content.

More than that, if we keep this up, I might explode from awkwardness.

We’re both professionals, so once we start the broadcast, no matter what, we’ll automatically ramp up the energy, and the awkwardness should fade.

It’s a well-known fact that broadcasting together is the best way to become friends.

I learned that from my collaboration with Seo Eun-ha.

“Should I turn it on then?”

“Yes, please do.”

With that, we switched on the broadcast.

-???

-You came quickly!

-Miro, is that you?

Even though it’s an early broadcast, I noticed some people waiting, and the chat began to scroll quickly.

“Ah, ah, hello!”

Since it’s Harbin’s broadcast, I let her take the lead first.

As I observed Harbin directing the broadcast from behind, it seemed my turn was up as she subtly gave me hints.

“Okay, then please welcome our guest!”

“Ah, everyone, it’s Miro.”

“Everyone, please give a round of applause! Senior Miro is here with us.”

Suddenly, the awkward vibe that had been torturing me vanished, and Harbin’s voice brightened as she engaged me without hesitation, almost bringing me to tears.

…We should’ve done this sooner.

The suffocating atmosphere from earlier was truly dreadful.

Anyhow, we passed the time chatting lightly until the broadcast time I had announced approached.

More viewers started to settle in.

“Okay, then what we’ll do today is this.”

As time was about to start, Harbin opened up the World Cup link she had prepared and displayed it on the screen….

“What is this?”

As I looked at the screen Harbin pulled up, my surprise couldn’t be contained.

“Huh?”

“It’s… foreign hip-hop?”

No way.

I thought Harbin was preparing a tournament for domestic hip-hop, but she brought in foreign hip-hop instead.

-???

-What the heck is this? lol

-?

The viewers collectively filled the chat with question marks.

Of course, how would they know foreign hip-hop?

No matter how famous a hip-hop song is abroad, its impact is probably not that significant domestically.

Especially considering our viewers would rather listen to J-pop if they’re going to enjoy foreign songs.

“L-let’s just get started.”

We had to carry on with the broadcast, so I announced the beginning of the World Cup, albeit reluctantly.

-lol

-Miro must want to go home lol

“Go home….”

“Miro?”

“No, I didn’t mean anything….”

Regardless, as soon as I initiated the World Cup, two videos appeared.

Both had cool black gentlemen as thumbnails.

-Wow

-They look cool

-Oh dang

…They do look pretty impressive, but how does the music sound?

“Whoa, they’ve already shown up right from the start.”

In contrast to my concerns, Harbin displayed a level of energy I never would have imagined.

Is this Harbin’s usual broadcasting energy?

Maybe she’s just excited at the moment.

“Do you know both of them?”

“Ah, yes, the person on the left is my role model….”

Hmm… Yeah, I can tell Harbin is genuinely passionate about hip-hop.

“Oh! I also love the person on the right, back when I was in high school…”

Just look at her; she’s gushing over the two black rappers like a child.

She’s probably way more serious about hip-hop than I thought.

“Alright, shall we give both a listen?”

“Let’s start with the right! This one’s a bit lighter.”

But….

“Wow, this is insane. Even listening again, this album is really….”

“…Now let’s listen to the left.”

But….

“How about it? After listening to both, isn’t it hard to choose between one? Ugh, honestly, even after a long time, they’re both still great….”

I’m not so sure about that.

“I-is it really that good?”

I really don’t know.

“…Excuse me?”

I could feel Harbin’s icy gaze staring at me….

“Are the left and right similar? Are they the same genre?”

“…What?”

-lol

-Miro speaks the truth! Mica Cola

-Of course, Miro’s candidness lol

Well, I don’t care.

I’ll stick with my own beliefs.

 

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