---

“Ah, there it is.”

“Where?”

“Over there, they’re all gathered.”

How long has it been since I left the workshop with Ah-young, arms crossed?

I can see a crowd of people around the subway station.

It’s an obvious group that draws attention from passersby.

“Here it is!”

As Ah-young waves her hand, all the gazes from the gathered crowd shift in an instant.

There are easily more than ten people.

It seems most of those who were supposed to come today have already arrived.

“Thanks for coming out to greet us.”

“Ah-young, it’s been a while.”

Since everyone already knows Ah-young, they recognized her first.

And then…

“Who’s next to you…?”

“Wait, is that Soo-hyun?”

Naturally, all eyes turn to me.

“Ahaha… hello!”

Not everyone here was a stranger to me.

Having done some broadcasting activities, there were indeed familiar faces.

And many from the year-end party were also there.

“Wow, we meet again here.”

Notably, there was that middle-aged variety show star.

We had filmed together for an observational variety show and a program about Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

“Wow, is that Soo-hyun?”

“Is this our first meeting?”

Of course, there were more people I hadn’t met before.

Since I mostly stick to filming and rarely attend these social gatherings, people looked at me curiously.

“So, it was true that Ah-young was close with you?”

“Ahaha….”

“Nice to meet you. I’m…”

“Oh yes, I’m…”

This turned into a brief time of greetings with those I hadn’t met yet.

Feeling too much attention on me, I decided to move to Hyeon-su’s workshop.

“By the way, Hyeon-su is already at the age to enlist.”

“Right? I remember him in a school uniform so clearly.”

Since everyone was a friend of Hyeon-su, most of the conversations naturally revolved around him.

“You’re close with Hyeon-su too, right?”

“Oh, me? Sure?”

“You’ve done a lot of featuring on his tracks.”

Surprisingly, I ended up being bombarded with questions.

Everyone was so curious that they kept talking to me, and I was just answering as we headed to the workshop.

Once we arrived at the workshop, Ah-young opened the door to the basement, and a delicious aroma wafted out.

“What’s this? Did food arrive?”

“It just got here, right on time!”

The table inside was already laid out with food.

It seemed the delivery had already arrived while Ah-young and I were bringing everyone in.

“Wow, this looks delicious!”

“Wow, what is it?”

“I haven’t had chicken in a while.”

There was a variety of food.

Chicken, pizza, snacks, and more.

Each dish had a delightful aroma, carefully selected by Ah-young.

“Everyone, please have a seat.”

Then, Hyeon-su appeared from inside, holding glasses in his hands.

“Hyeon-su, it’s been a while~”

“How have you been?”

“You haven’t shaved your head yet?”

“…Ahaha, I’ve been good. By the way, are you all drinking?”

As he set down the glass, everyone raised their hands.

“We’ll drink it all~”

“Hyeon-su, you’ve been saving liquor, right? I’ll be sure to challenge you today.”

“Maybe I should have brought something from home?”

Everyone exuded an energetic vibe.

It seemed like a drinking party was about to kick off right away.

“Soo-hyun, are you drinking too?”

“I’ll just have a little.”

I was planning to do some broadcasting when I got home today, so I intended to just have a bit.

At most one or two drinks?

“Hey, aren’t you going to drink it all?”

“Oh right. Didn’t you drink that expensive liquor last time?”

“Now that you mention it, I think I did.”

But several people chimed in with comments about my words.

…It seems a few people here were also at the last year-end party, remembering my antics from then.

“…This time, I’ll really just have a little.”

Really, thinking back to that time has me convinced I must only drink a little today.

In any case, after that, we all sat at the table and immediately started eating.

Well, to be precise, it was more like a drinking party.

Rather than eating, everyone was busy emptying their glasses and chatting away.

“Yesterday, you know…”

“Oh right, there was something from last time at the filming location…”

“Do you know that director? We had a fight the other day…”

Watching all this, I felt my energy depleting in real-time.

Living as an actor, I’ve noticed that many entertainers are quite extroverted.

As an introvert, I, Kim Soo-hyun, find it hard to keep up.

…Maybe I’ll just quietly slip away?

Now would be a good chance while Ah-young is excitedly chatting with someone next to her.

Just as I was about to empty my glass and make my exit…

“Ah, Soo-hyun, are you not doing any projects lately?”

One of the actors in front of me spoke up.

“Oh me?”

“Yes, I haven’t heard any news since Sera.”

He’s a young male actor.

His face… is somewhat familiar to me.

I don’t think we’ve worked together, but did he come to Hyeon-su’s year-end party?

“Oh, I think I’ll be doing something soon.”

“Really? Wow, I’ve been waiting for that.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I’ve been keeping track of all the projects you’re in.”

“Hmm… you’ve watched a total of three?”

“Haha! That’s right.”

He grinned widely, looking like quite the social butterfly.

If I had to guess, his social skills are at least on par with Ah-young.

He’s a social animal exhibiting the extreme manifestation of that trait.

“Are you doing more projects, Soo-hyun?”

“What are you filming this time? I’m really looking forward to it.”

Then, the other people around him, showing their overly extroverted expressions, chimed in as well.

Ah…

This feels like it drains my energy even more than filming for shows.

At the year-end party, I was too busy drinking to feel it, but this place doesn’t seem like it’s somewhere I can stay long.

So, while answering their questions appropriately, I pondered when I could make my exit.

“Ah, you’re here?”

“Wow, it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.”

“How have you been lately?”

One side of the workshop became lively as the party continued.

Judging by the reaction, it seemed someone impressive had arrived.

I instinctively turned my gaze to that direction.

And then…

“Oh, Soo-hyun, I see you’re here too.”

The person I’m most familiar with here waves at me.

“Composer?”

It’s none other than Composer Kang Woo-hyeon.

I had thought he was the king of networking in the entertainment industry, and it seems that’s true as he’s swamped with handshake requests from everyone around.

Come to think of it, Ah-young did say the composer was coming earlier.

“You look completely drained.”

Composer Woo-hyeon made his way through to me, effortlessly accepting greetings from others.

“You should go in if you’re too tired.”

Hearing that was like seeing a ray of light.

***

A few minutes later.

“Phew…”

Thanks to the help of the composer who noticed my depleting energy upon arrival, I was able to slip out of the party.

I looked up at the sky, and it was getting a bit dark.

I hadn’t realized I had been there for so long…

But I felt satisfied after eating a hearty meal.

I had some good interactions too.

As I started to head home, everyone exchanged contact information, and my contacts list has suddenly become quite substantial.

Well, it’s not like I will be the one to reach out first, but you never know. I might need someone later.

In any case, I headed home afterwards.

Maybe it’s because the weather is warming up? The night breeze felt pleasantly cool instead of chilly, so I took a little walk.

As I walked without a particular thought in mind, I found myself at the subway station.

Thinking back, I used to take the subway often, but before I knew it, I’ve gotten used to taxis or rides from Park Kang-seok.

Feeling like trying it out again for the first time in a while, I approached it.

But…

“Hm.”

Is it rush hour?

There seem to be quite a few people…

How did I ever manage to take that before?

I turned around and hailed a taxi instead.

Money is the best.

Once I got home comfortably, I washed up quickly and entered the soundproof booth.

After practicing for the auditions without streaming for days, I was determined to turn on the broadcast today.

Fortunately, since I had only a little to drink, my mind was clear.

[Miro Returnsㅎㅎ;;]

As I titled the stream and hit the broadcast button, viewers began flooding in.

-????

-ㅅㅂ, you finally came

-Welcome back lol

-I thought I’d be waiting forever, damn it;;

“Have you all been doing well?”

From the shower of messages, it seems they’ve been waiting for days.

-I didn’t do well, damn it;;

-Too long of a break, isn’t it??

“Ahaha… I’ve been busy with some important matters, so I had to take a few days off.”

-So you’re busier than us??

-Now you’re going to the mainstream for real?

-Please don’t abandon us…

“Hey, who would I abandon?”

Abandon the broadcast?

That’s something unimaginable to me.

Even if the real filming starts, I’ll probably still switch on the stream occasionally, right?

Well, being a supporting role means I’ll definitely have more free time compared to when I filmed with Sera.

Back then… looking back, it was really chaotic.

“Shall we play some games now?”

In any case, saying that, I started up the game.

Honestly, one of the reasons I wanted to stream today was because I wanted to play games.

Having skipped out on games to practice for auditions, my fingers were itching a bit.

-Oh lol

-Should we do the one we played last time??

-Continuing from the blacksmith Miro

“Yes, I’m going to continue from that.”

Today, I’m going to keep playing the medieval warfare game we played last time.

Recently, I’ve been completely immersed in this game, broadcasting it non-stop.

“Well then, let’s get started.”

As I looked at the game screen and pressed the load game button.

Until now, I was actor Kim Soo-hyun, who was drained at the party, but now it’s time for Lu Bu Miro.

 

---