LIGHTNOVELWORLD Episode 154
Episode 154
A deep silence filled the living room of the ordinary 30-pyeong apartment.
Steam was rising from the coffee cups placed in front of me, Kim Sol-ji, and Kim Sol-ji’s mother.
‘This is awkward…’
I couldn’t help but think this.
It was inevitable.
First, Kim Sol-ji was blushing, unable to look directly at my face.
But it seemed she didn’t want to avoid looking at me entirely, as she carefully lifted her head whenever she had the chance, only to quickly lower it again.
This behavior was so noticeable that our eyes met several times, and each time she would startle and pretend not to notice.
It didn’t seem like a conversation would be possible at all.
But it wasn’t as if the conversation with Kim Sol-ji’s mother was going smoothly either.
Kim Sol-ji’s mother had bustled about in the kitchen making coffee, and since then, she had been staring intently at my face to an uncomfortable degree.
She had been staring blankly for over 10 minutes, so at first, I worried that she might be angry.
But fortunately, it didn’t seem like she was angry.
A faint smile suddenly appeared on Kim Sol-ji’s mother’s lips as she gazed at my face.
However, her pupils were still dilated, so it was still difficult to speak to her.
‘Still… I should say something first, right?’
Just as I was thinking this and about to open my mouth.
Kim Sol-ji raised her hand abruptly, as if she was about to make an announcement.
“…Um.”
“Yes. Go ahead, Sol-ji-ssi.”
“Ah… Sol-ji-ssi…”
“Yes? What is it? Was the way I addressed you strange?”
Kim Sol-ji squirmed as she answered my question.
“No… I just liked it so much…”
“Ah. I see. Then I’ll keep calling you Sol-ji-ssi. By the way, didn’t you have something to say?”
“R-right! How did you know to come to our house?”
That was certainly something to be curious about.
After all, I had made a surprise visit to this house today.
Of course, that didn’t mean I had visited without any consent.
Kim Sol-ji had agreed to the collection and use of personal information during official fan club activities, and the production team had used that to contact her.
The person they contacted was Kim Sol-ji’s father.
The production team explained the purpose of the program in detail to Kim Sol-ji’s father and obtained his consent.
-So you’re saying you’ll go to our house and introduce this Lee Si-joon person that our daughter likes to my wife?
“Yes. That’s right, sir.”
-What’s the point of that? Don’t tell me Si-joon and our Sol-ji are officially dating or something? Was Si-joon a high school student?
“Ah. He’s not a high school student, and they’re not dating. We’re really just introducing him. After all, parents often don’t know which celebrities their children like.”
-Ah. I see what you mean. To be honest, Sol-ji and my wife have been fighting so much lately. My ears are about to bleed, you know? Anyway, please help them reconcile.
A YouTube content where I unexpectedly visit a fan’s house for a surprise event.
The PD in charge of “Hello, You” relayed Kim Sol-ji’s father’s story with convincing acting, and that’s how I ended up here.
I explained this to Kim Sol-ji.
“…That’s how I came to be here.”
“Then, could it be… this is that program, right? ‘Hello, You’?”
Kim Sol-ji asked, looking at the production team, and the PD in charge, who was standing next to the filming director watching the situation, made a circle with his finger.
“Wow! I’ve seen that before, but I never thought Si-joon oppa would come to my house like this!”
“I find this situation a bit awkward too. By the way, Sol-ji-ssi, you’re a Syrup, right?”
“Yes! I became a fan of oppa during ‘I Will Cast Love’ and joined as a first-generation Syrup!”
“You’re a very long-time fan. I’m really glad to meet you. Have you ever been to a fan meeting?”
“Of course! I saved money by lying to my mom about buying workbooks and… Oops!”
Kim Sol-ji startled and covered her mouth.
Certainly, even to me, Sol-ji’s mistake seemed quite critical.
It wouldn’t be strange if a scolding followed immediately.
So I couldn’t help but think:
‘They said today’s filming concept was mother-daughter reconciliation… Is it possible?’
But for some reason, there was no reaction from Kim Sol-ji’s mother.
When I glanced over, Kim Sol-ji’s mother was still looking at me with an even deeper smile on her lips.
Then she slowly opened her mouth and muttered.
“How… can someone be so handsome?”
And with that, I could roughly guess Kim Sol-ji’s mother’s state.
It was a term not often used these days, but this reaction was clearly…
‘Fan shock.’
That’s right.
It was clear.
Kim Sol-ji seemed to sense it too, as she had an incredulous expression on her face.
It was the first expression I’d seen since visiting this house.
“Wow. If it was going to end up like this anyway, this is completely ridiculous. Mom! That’s why I told you to watch Netflix, right?”
“I know. Why didn’t I watch that good thing? By the way, Sol-ji’s oppa.”
“Yes?”
“You must be very filial, right? You even received an Emmy Award.”
“Ah! Mom! That’s not that kind of award! And Si-joon oppa is…”
“Yes. My mother is in heaven. I received the Emmy Award for the drama.”
The atmosphere became awkward due to the unintended disclosure.
Fortunately, the silence didn’t last long this time.
Suddenly, Kim Sol-ji’s mother started crying.
“Oh. I’m sorry. It’s because of my foolishness. Sol-ji’s oppa had such circumstances.”
“It’s okay. It’s all in the past, really.”
“No, it’s not. You must still have scars. Since you’re an oppa to our Sol-ji, if you need anything, just tell me. Think of me as your mother.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”
I felt dazed by this completely unexpected development.
Kim Sol-ji seemed equally bewildered, her confusion evident.
Then she raised her voice.
“Wow. Total shock. Are you really our mom?”
“What’s wrong with mom?”
“Even today, you were just scolding me about not studying because of that Si-joon or whatever rascal!”
Kim Sol-ji’s mother stuttered in surprise.
“Wh-when did I ever!”
“Today! Just 30 minutes ago!”
“Wh-why are you like this? Did you eat something wrong… People might think mom is an uncultured person.”
“Mom, you are an uncultured person. You’re the only one who hasn’t seen ‘Toema Hwan Ya Dam’ that everyone in the world has seen.”
“That’s because you didn’t teach me how to use Netflix! If you had just taught me that! Would I have been like this?”
It seemed like Kim Sol-ji and her mother were about to start another argument.
Feeling that the filming was becoming difficult, even the PD in charge shook his head.
Thinking this shouldn’t continue, I quickly intervened between the two.
“How to use Netflix!”
“Yes?”
“Shall I teach you?”
“…Really?”
* * *
Should I say it was fortunate?
The atmosphere of “Hello, You” filming improved considerably as I taught them how to use Netflix.
“Oh my! Goodness! There’s something like this?”
“See? I told you we should watch together.”
And so, I, Kim Sol-ji, and Kim Sol-ji’s mother sat together in the living room and watched “Toema Hwan Ya Dam.”
“Ah! Yeon is so cool!”
“Yi-hyun is very handsome too.”
As we watched the drama, occasional conversations continued, and moments of shared laughter emerged.
Seeing mother and daughter laughing with the same expression, I felt relieved.
‘It seems the filming went well with this.’
When I first met the two of them, I didn’t think the filming would wrap up this well.
Reconciling a mother and daughter was something even a method mask couldn’t achieve.
But now Kim Sol-ji and her mother were laughing while watching the same scene, and I felt proud of that fact.
And a few days later.
The edited footage was uploaded to “Hello, You”‘s official YouTube channel.
People seemed quite surprised as the video was uploaded suddenly without any filming notice.
-Wow! Is this real? Si-joon oppa is really appearing on a YouTube channel?
-He even appeared on Hello, You? Isn’t this a small channel?
-It’s not completely unpopular, but compared to Lee Si-joon’s popularity, it is smallㅇㅇ
-It does feel like only fans of the appearing celebrities watch it
-Given how the content is structured, that’s naturalㅋㅋㅋ
-But what made Lee Si-joon appear here?
-An article just came out, seems like it’s for fan service
-He wanted to show a new side to fans who couldn’t come to fan meetings….
-Just god Si-joonㅠㅠ A real fool who only thinks about fansㅠㅠ
-If you watch the middle of the video, he talks with the fan about this fan meeting
-He says he wants to communicate with all fans but can’t, and feels sorryㅠㅠ Touchingㅠㅠ
-No, reallyㅋㅋㅋ Is it right for an actor to rent a stadium for a fan meeting in the first place?ㅋㅋㅋ
-Si-joon feeling sorry for not being able to treat fans well enough while having a 15,000-seat fan meetingㅠㅠ
-I just heard the news and watched the video, isn’t this funny?
-It was funnyㅋㅋㅋ The mother who was so angry suddenly changedㅋㅋㅋ
-It’s normal for anger to disappear when you see Si-joon oppa in person
-At 8:24 you can immediately feel that the mother became a fanㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-How can you not become a fan when Lee Si-joon is right next to you like that?ㅋㅋㅋ
-The dramatic reconciliation of mother and daughter that seemed impossibleㅋㅋㅋ
-But why is it so cute when Lee Si-joon teaches how to use Netflix and puts on Toema Hwan Ya Dam?
-The moments when he’s flustered between the fan and the fan’s mother are also killing pointsㅋㅋㅋ
-I didn’t get fan meeting tickets… but it feels like I’ve seen Si-joon oppa up close, so it’s some consolation
-What consolation?ㅠㅠㅠ It makes me want to go even more! I really wanted to go this time!
-But is Lee Si-joon really that handsome in person? I think he’d be ordinary
-Even just looking at the screen makes you gasp, how could he be ordinary in person?ㅋㅋㅋ
-Haven’t you seen the selfie with Michael Faulkner? He even outshines Hollywood’s top 3ㄷㄷ
-Aren’t squids originally mute creatures? Why are you so noisy
-Syrup 1st gen says: Regardless of gender, after seeing Si-joon oppa in person, you shouldn’t look in the mirror….
-ㅇㅇ Honestly, Si-joon oppa is world top in prettiness too
-Even at the Emmy Awards ceremony, wasn’t Lee Si-joon the prettiest?
Fortunately, the response to the appearance on “Hello, You” wasn’t bad.
It seemed to elicit even greater cheers as the video was released right after the fan meeting ticketing.
And from a few minutes later, even overseas fans started coming to watch the “Hello, You” video and leave comments.
The view count seemed to be increasing faster than expected.
Accordingly, the editing team of “Hello, You” quickly added English subtitles to respond to overseas fans, and naturally, the response to the video grew even bigger.
Then a week later.
Surprisingly, the view count of “Hello, You” surpassed 10 million.