Chapter 286: Chapter 286

"Cut! Great work, everyone~."

The call signaling the end of today’s shoot.

All scenes—including the birthday party scene S#75, despite its minor hiccups—had been completed.

Since the scenes weren’t shot in chronological order, it was a bit harder to stay immersed.

But Ha-eun knew they couldn’t always film in script order.

One way or another, she was now an adult.

And a seasoned actress with years of experience.

“Even if I’ve only had lead roles for three years.”

The days of being treated with automatic leniency were long over.

As a proper actor now, she believed she had to be able to overcome these small hurdles.

No one knew what kinds of scenes she might face going forward.

All she could do was give her best each time.

It was a classic approach—but one that had never failed her.

By now, Ha-eun had just returned to the waiting room and changed back into her casual clothes.

Ju Jung-yoon, who had been waiting for her to finish filming, handed her a small slice of cake.

She poked into the cake with a plastic fork and took a bite. A gentle sweetness spread in her mouth.

She’d been eating this brand since she was a kid—there was a reason she was a loyal customer.

The cream wrapped her tongue in softness, and her mental fatigue melted away like snow.

“Tastes like the one from the shoot.”

As she recalled the cake shared with Da-yeon during the filming of S#75, she quietly chewed the fluffy sponge.

Up to that point, things were proceeding just like any other day.

But when Ju Jung-yoon brought up the next schedule item—The Forgotten Child meeting—

right around the time she’d eaten about half the cake with fruit toppings—

"Ha-eun. What are you doing until My Little Live filming? Got anything scheduled?"

Da-yeon appeared in Ha-eun’s waiting room with her manager, Kim Jin-soo.

She had a four-to-five-hour gap before her next activity.

"I have to go dub for The Forgotten Child."

With nothing else planned until her variety show shoot, Da-yeon hesitated.

She could just rest somewhere, but that sounded boring.

So she voiced a personal request.

"Can I... come watch?"

"I’ll treat you to lunch. We can eat together and then head to the studio."

Ha-eun glanced at Ju Jung-yoon in response to Da-yeon’s request to watch the dubbing session.

And asked her to check with the Korean distributor of The Forgotten Child.

"Should I just casually ask if I can bring a friend along?"

There was no issue with Da-yeon watching. But it was still work.

Bringing someone without permission could lead to complications.

Of course, Da-yeon wasn’t the type to cause problems—

but it was still important to follow basic etiquette.

They were both adults now.

"Lee Ha-eun, you’re really into this whole ‘I’m an adult now’ thing lately."

"It... It’s probably just your imagination. Maybe."

Soon after, Ha-eun and Da-yeon climbed into Ju Jung-yoon’s van.

The plan was to eat lunch first, then wait for the distributor’s response before deciding anything.

As it turned out, the answer about Da-yeon tagging along came pretty quickly.

The two had just started eating when the go-ahead arrived.

"So, what are you going to do while I’m dubbing?"

"Just watch, I guess."

"Have you ever seen The Forgotten Child?"

"Then... that’s kind of a spoiler. You sure you’re okay with that?"

And with that, after finishing a light lunch at a well-known Western restaurant,

Ha-eun and Da-yeon headed to a dubbing studio on the outskirts of Seoul.

“It’s a little different from a music studio.”

The black soundproof panels and recording mics weren’t that different from the Doublely studio,

but the wall-spanning monitor and the posters of The Forgotten Child plastered on the side immediately caught Ha-eun’s attention.

After taking a brief tour of the studio where she’d spend the next few hours,

Ha-eun began a short meeting about her dubbing work for The Forgotten Child.

"Have you seen the movie? Or are you already familiar with the story?"

"I haven’t seen it, but I know the gist of the plot."

"Alright then, I’ll walk you through the general flow."

The Forgotten Child centers on a Japanese girl who is forgotten by everyone every year.

She lives in isolation—until one day, for some reason, she meets a boy who keeps remembering her. They spend time together.

“The premise is kind of familiar.”

A girl with a tragic backstory meets a boy fated to remember her—it’s a classic format.

Even if the episodes are different, the structure’s been done many times.

Still, The Forgotten Child was praised for its unique characters,

its high-quality animation, and the emotionally resonant soundtrack.

"How’s your throat today?"

The first dubbing session began smoothly.

In a way, Ha-eun had been doing voice acting for two years now.

"...Don’t ask my name. You won’t remember it anyway."

She already knew how to act with only her voice.

That alone set her apart from many other celebrities trying their hand at voice acting.

"You’re really good. Honestly, I have no feedback."

"Have you practiced voice acting before? You don’t sound like a first-timer."

"U-uh, not really, no."

"Wow... You’re seriously talented."

In the end, today’s dubbing went off without a hitch.

She was a little nervous about how the Noeulis would react when they saw the dubbed version—

but that was a problem for another day.

“When should I tell Maria unnie...”

A little while later, the final monitoring of the dubbed footage wrapped up without issue.

"Excuse me, just a moment."

"Would... Da-yeon like to try dubbing a line? It’s just a short extra role."

A staff member—who had been sneakily glancing at Da-yeon the whole time—finally spoke up.

The idea was to boost the buzz around The Forgotten Child's Korean dub.

If both Ha-eun and Da-yeon participated, it’d do wonders for publicity.

Of course, if her voice acting turned out awkward, they’d have to reconsider.

"What do you think, Da-yeon? Want to try it?"

"Yeah. I’ll tell Jin-soo oppa if it ends up being confirmed later."

And just like that, Da-yeon—who had only come to watch—ended up stepping into the booth.

To be more specific, she began dubbing a child extra from the amusement park scene.

"How old are you, Haruka?"

"I’m fiiive! Years! Old!"

"You can’t go into the haunted house until you’re thirteen. You’re not allowed yet, Haruka."

"Eh... Why not! I wanna! Go to the haunted house too! That unnie got to gooo!"

"Hrk... snrk... kuh..." 😖💦

Ha-eun had to physically grip her own thighs to keep herself composed.

Da-yeon’s youthful voice coming from the studio speakers was just... too overwhelming.

That aside, it was a fantastic dub.

With no noticeable NGs, the staff showered Da-yeon with praise.

"You’re really good at dubbing too, Da-yeon. Must be the actress in you."

"Your immersion is on a whole different level. It didn’t sound awkward at all."

In the end, they told her they hoped she’d officially join the Forgotten Child dub as well.

They’d have to discuss it with her agency, but from the look on her face, Da-yeon herself seemed pretty on board.

"Everyone’s saying I did well... They’re not just being nice, right?"

"Y-Yeah... You really did a great job, Da-yeon..."

Ha-eun averted her gaze as she fought off laughter that kept bubbling up.

Just looking at Da-yeon right now was enough to shake her calm.

The dubbing schedule for Forgotten Child wrapped up shortly after.

Now it was time to head to the UBS set for My Little Live, so Ha-eun and Da-yeon made their way to Ju Jung-yoon’s van.

Before long, Da-yeon spoke up with a puzzled tone.

"Other people are doing cooking, makeup tutorials, wrestling... Is a game okay?"

"We should do what we’re best at. Or... ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ do you maybe want to wrestle me—"

"Why would you say something so terrifying?"

Technically, Da-yeon didn’t deny that this My Little Live episode would blow up.

If anything, she was too worried about it becoming a massive deal.

The community was already buzzing over the news that Ha-eun and Da-yeon would be appearing together.

Once the live broadcast started, the viewer count was sure to skyrocket.

“Is Lee Ha-eun not even a little worried?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

They were appearing as themselves—Ha-eun and Da-yeon—not as Diah and Hida.

But that was just a thin veil.

The viewers tuning in just for the two of them could easily cause a broadcast disaster.

Still, UBS was a major public broadcasting station—they’d know how to handle it.

"Oh, everyone’s gathered. Let’s go say hi first."

So, after greeting the other cast members of My Little Live,

and filming the program’s group opening sequence—

"Mic test, mic test."

"Is the camera feed looking good?"

"Maybe brighten Da-yeon’s side a little. Just bump up the lighting slightly."

Ha-eun and Da-yeon watched the staff run through rehearsals from their setup area.

Then came talk about the winner’s prize.

"I heard the prize for first place is a premium beef set..."

"If we win, don’t divide it—let’s just grill it and eat together."

"We haven’t even started the broadcast and you’re already dreaming about the prize?"

"Honestly, how can we not win? There’s two of us."

Both Ha-eun and Da-yeon were confident about winning My Little Live.

After all, they’d been the hottest topic across SNS and forums just days ago.

They were famous not only in the streaming world,

but as public figures too.

The other guests weren’t exactly pushovers, but compared to them? Not even close.

“Honestly, losing would be more embarrassing.”

The big monitor, the camera mounted on top,

the black streamer mic, keyboard, and mouse—

everything felt familiar to both of them.

About ten minutes later, the broadcast chat appeared. Also very familiar.

[ Broadcast for Team Min Da-yeon & Lee Ha-eun has started. ]

The moment Ha-eun and Da-yeon went live, the chat exploded far more than any of the other guests.

It was a small miracle the My Little Live staff were working overtime to moderate the madness.

"Ah, ah. Can everyone hear us?"

"Hello, I’m Min Da-yeon. And next to me is..."

"Lee Ha-eun. Thanks for joining us."

"Today, we’ve prepared a fun game. I’m sure many of you will recognize it."

For now, Ha-eun led the stream and introduced the content as a game.

The chat was flooded with censored messages, but it didn’t matter—

she was streaming today as actress Lee Ha-eun, not Diah.

Still, a regular game wouldn’t cut it.

So she chose her favorite from her broadcast idea notebook.

Still beloved long after its release as a solid streaming game.

"Today, we’ll be playing Understory. Da-yeon and I are going to do two-player mode."

Since they were already appearing on My Little Live, they figured they might as well aim for an unbeatable record.

The adorable pixel art, the music, and the top-tier gameplay made it the perfect choice.

"So, do I just press the start button now?"

"Ah, yeah. Just click start there."

With that signature click, the most-watched stream on the network officially began.

And the online community? Was absolutely on fire.

ㄴ Ratings are through the roof—cheers 🍻

ㄴ Just pretend you don’t see it 😂

ㄴ You little tricksters 😆

ㄴ Just catch Lee Ha-eun’s IG lives

ㄴ But it’s all flooded with international fans 😅

ㄴ Normies can’t compete 💅

ㄴ Proper rank sorting achieved 😎