Interlude
[Clipped: Miro's cutesy act]
(A video of Miro making a nasal "aing~" voice for 50,000 won.)
ㅗㅜㅑ..
Ha… I'm such a bad Miro-fan…
Damn, that voice is insane.
So this is what 50,000 won buys, huh?
[But why did Miro suddenly start guitar?]
She already goes to vocal lessons, draws, and streams—why pick up guitar too?
Don't ask Miro for reasons.
Info) Miro dropped out of school around the same time as auditions.
ㄴ Didn't she drop out after getting accepted?
ㄴ ㄴ Nope, she just decided to stream and then dropped out.
ㄴ lol, that's so Miro.
She just does whatever she wants, seems like.
At her age, you can start anything.
[Live: Miro's promise]
"If I can't play a full song within a month, I'll do a 24-hour stream."
Can she actually pull that off?
Usually, yeah, you can manage one song in a month.
ㄴ But doesn't Miro already have too much going on?
ㄴ Didn't she look like she had a lot of free time in that collab, though?
Please fail, so she has to do a 24-hour stream. She only does 2–3 hours normally, it's frustrating as hell.
A 24-hour stream is like half a month's worth of Miro streams lol.
[Who the hell provoked her?]
She spent the whole stream just plucking the guitar and then ended it, wtf.
The Guitar Occupation Period has begun, rip.
For real, it's only guitar now.
I miss when she just did World Cup streams.
Guess it's guitar for the next month, gg.
ㄴ Seriously?
ㄴ Yeah, it's totally something she'd do.
ㄴ Lol, won't she lose viewers if she does that?
ㄴ Like she cares about viewers.
ㄴ We're screwed.
[Miro <– Problems with this girl]
Way too young.
She does whatever she wants with no worry about the future.
Look at Anna and Mile—you can tell they're pouring their last energy into this, streaming like crazy.
But Haru, Roa, and Miro—the younger ones—have short streams, take lots of breaks. They're young, so even if this fails, they feel like they can always start over.
As for Maho… stay out of this.
Why bring up Maho, you bastard?
ㄴ Don't you dare touch Maho…
ㄴ This guy's a Mahoski.
ㄴ What's a Mahoski?
ㄴ It's Maho's fandom name, like Miro-dan.
ㄴ Then why "Mahoski"?
ㄴ Go google it yourself, idiot.
Miro doesn't actually take many breaks, the issue is her short stream time.
ㄴ Meanwhile Haru and Roa take tons of breaks.
ㄴ They said they're busy.
ㄴ Oh yeah, Anna and Mile just aren't busy, huh? That's why they stream so much?
ㄴ You really believe "busy"? It's just an excuse. They're out meeting boyfriends.
ㄴ Bullshit.
[Who's the leader of the Celestial Project?]
(Picture of Anna's profile)
(Picture of Miro's profile)
Miro's the leader, upvote VS No, Anna's the leader, downvote
Downvote bombs, lol.
Haven't you seen Anna lead? She's obviously the leader.
ㄴ But Miro gets the most viewers.
ㄴ That only happens when collabs split audiences. For solo streams, Anna's on top.
Miro's just popular with this gallery crowd, lol.
ㄴ She still has her own fandom though.
Come on, you can't compare a nearly 30-year-old washed-up hag to fresh 21-year-old Miro.
ㄴ Miro's a woman too, idiot.
ㄴ Yeah, but she's still pure.
ㄴ And you know that how? lol.
ㄴ She's a hardcore otaku shut-in, watching anime and drawing all day. Where would she find the time for a boyfriend?
ㄴ (If you believe it, it's the truth, cone.)
Shut up, Miro's the queen here.
ㄴ Can't say that when the downvotes are higher, though.
[Did you guys even know this?]
(Celestial Project 2nd-gen recruitment notice)
They're already recruiting 2nd gen lol.
How long has it even been since 1st gen debuted?
ㄴ It's not immediate. They said it'll be private auditions.
I'm applying.
ㄴ Are you a girl?
ㄴ Nope, guy.
[Real-time screwed members… jpg]
(Picture of Haru's profile)
(Picture of Roa's profile)
(Picture of Miro's profile)
"The three lower moons" <– they'll get tossed the moment TheSix finds replacements.
Miro, lower moon? lol.
Careful, Roa's fans will assassinate you.
ㄴ For real, Roa's fans are crazy.
Fact: They're the Three Kings of Pure Fun.
ㄴ If it's "Pure Fun," swap Roa out for Mile instead.
Honestly, wouldn't Anna or Maho be easier to replace? What strengths do they even have?
ㄴ Watch your mouth, bastard.
ㄴ lol, he's triggered.
Today, I finally met up with Hyejeong again after a long while.
We hadn't been able to meet because our schedules didn't line up, but now that the semester was over and she had more free time, we decided to hang out.
We booked a movie, and to kill time, we sat down at a café and chatted. That's when Hyejeong showed me her phone.
"Oh, right. This is you, isn't it?"
On her screen was a post.
"What's this, all of a sudden?"
It looked like a community post that had been shared onto SNS. Something related to me?
Miro-related, maybe? I checked, but the title wasn't about Miro.
[Controversy over Korean illustrator shouted out by famous Japanese manga artist]
"What the…?"
The clickbait-y title was packed with loaded words, the kind that gave me a headache just from reading it.
"This looks like it's about you."
"No way…"
I said that, but the moment I saw the headline, I knew. This was about me.
"Hold on."
I asked for a moment and read through the post.
**[Sato Jun, a famous Japanese manga artist and the creator of Samurai Itou, which is now getting an anime adaptation.
Known for rarely using social media, he recently shared and praised a drawing that immediately caught worldwide attention.
Shockingly, the artist was a Korean illustrator.
What's more, after a short break, the illustrator uploaded a picture in a completely different style from their usual work, which only added to the buzz…
But now, this illustrator's past behavior and words have surfaced, stirring controversy online.
Below are examples of their past comments collected by the author.]**
That was the end of the post, followed by screenshots—clear evidence of "Kim Soohyun" tearing into people who criticized her art.
"Wait, this is…"
Even I couldn't help grimacing at the nasty language.
"Wow… Kim Soohyun never swears in real life, but online you went off like this?"
"But… they started it first."
"True, but look at the comments. The reaction's surprisingly positive."
"Positive?"
"Yeah. The people you cursed at weren't exactly decent themselves. Some say it was refreshing to see you clap back."
And sure enough, the comment section she showed me wasn't bad at all.
Of course, some said I went too far, but plenty thought it was deserved since they provoked me first.
"Not bad, huh?"
"Right? I told you I was surprised. You always send me your drawings, right? Well, someone was drawing in a really similar style, so I checked the nickname—and it was you."
"Ah, I see…"
"If it's ksh, that's obviously Kim Soohyun. What's with the numbers at the end?"
"Oh, those? I just typed something random."
"Sounds like you. So, what happened exactly?"
"Literally just what it says. I uploaded a drawing, and that manga artist shared it."
"Wow, then your followers must've gone up a lot. How many?"
"Not sure right now. I haven't checked in a while."
"Check it now."
"Should I?"
So I turned on my phone and logged back into Bluebird after a long time.
Ignoring the mountain of notifications, I checked my follower count—it had clearly increased since the last time.
"This much."
"Whoa, that's a lot. Not crazy high, though."
"Exactly. It was just one shared drawing."
It had definitely grown, but nothing astronomical.
"So, are you not posting art here anymore?"
"Now that things have calmed down, I'm planning to."
"But don't you get requests? Like commissions, for money?"
"I've always had some. Probably more now, yeah."
"How much do you usually charge?"
"I keep it simple, so just enough for pocket money."
"Really? So you're not doing it anymore?"
"Not sure. Maybe later, if I have time—I'll treat it as a hobby."
I could do it now, but honestly, I didn't feel like it. It wasn't like I was strapped for cash.
"Well, tell me when you do. I want to commission you too."
"You? What for?"
Hyejeong wasn't even into manga, just a total social butterfly—what would she need a commission for?
"For my anniversary with my boyfriend. Print something nice so we can both keep it."
"Oh, if it's that, I'll just do it for free."
"It's fine. Anyway, it's still a while off."
"Alright then."
As I was about to put my phone away, Wonderland came to mind—the track I'd been listening to before meeting Hyejeong.
"Oh, right. There's this song I've been listening to lately. Want to hear it?"
"What song?"
"Hold on."
Originally, I was going to wait until the album dropped before showing anyone, but since we'd met up, I figured it would be fine.
Besides, Hyunsoo had said it was okay to let family or friends hear it.
"Here, I'll lend you my earbuds. Just listen."
I couldn't exactly give her the file, so I handed her my wireless earbuds linked to my phone.
"Wow, you recommending me music? That's new."
"Just because I already had my phone out."
I brushed off her suspicious tone and waited until she put the earbuds in, then hit play.
"Oh… I like this kind of thing."
She must've liked the intro—she immediately said that, then fell silent, fully focused on the song. Meanwhile, I relaxed, scrolling my phone until she finished.
After a short while, the track ended. She nodded as she handed the earbuds back.
"It's really good. What's it called? The voices are new to me."
"Really?"
From her reaction, it seemed she hadn't realized that the female voice in the middle—the feature—was mine.
"Yeah. You know I listen to a lot of music, but I've never heard this before. If it's this good, I'd think it'd be famous."
Since she was in a dance department, she knew a ton of songs, which made her curious.
But this one wasn't released yet.
Even if I told her, she wouldn't be able to find it.
So I shook my head and teased her.
"Not telling."
"What?? Then why let me listen in the first place?"
"Look it up when you have time."
"What the—seriously? Whatever. Anyway, the song really is good. Who's the woman singing in the middle? At least tell me that."
"Eh, if I told you, you'd find it too easily."
"We're not playing Name That Tune here!"
"Enough of that. Isn't it movie time already?"
"Oh! Right, we should get going."
She tried to press me more, but I changed the subject immediately.
Funny enough, a tactic I often used on stream viewers worked just as well on a real friend.
Satisfied with her feedback, I enjoyed the new movie with her.
On the way home after our fun day, I messaged Hyunsoo about letting Hyejeong hear Wonderland.
(Hyunsoo): You let your friend listen? What did she say?
(Me): She liked it. She kept asking what the title was.
(Hyunsoo): Really? That's a relief.
(Hyunsoo): Well, the album will be out soon anyway. You can tell her then.
(Me): Make sure you let me know when it drops. I want to hear the other tracks too.
So far, I'd only heard Wonderland. I didn't know what else the album would include.
Last time I'd been at the studio, Hyunsoo offered to let me listen, but I refused. Spoilers ruin the fun. I preferred the anticipation.
(Hyunsoo): Sure. The audio's basically done now. All that's left is the album cover.
(Me): The cover? What's it going to be like?
(Hyunsoo): I want it illustrated, like a fairy tale vibe. Do you know any artists? Don't VTuber circles have connections to illustrators?
Illustrators? None of the Celestial Project members, probably. The company handled everything for us.
But still…
(Me): Yeah? Want me to recommend someone? I know a good one.
(Hyunsoo): Really? That'd be great.
Outside of being VTuber Miro, as Kim Soohyun I did know at least one.
(Me): Wanna see their work first? Here's the link to their SNS account.
(Hyunsoo): Oh, nice. I'll check it out.
Five minutes later, a reply came.
(Hyunsoo): This is great! Could you introduce me?
(Me): Sure. Want me to set it up right away?
(Hyunsoo): Uh—yes.
(Me): Then I'll send them to your studio tomorrow. You can talk face-to-face.
(Hyunsoo): Tomorrow?? So suddenly?
(Me): Yep. What time works for you?
And just like that, plans were made for tomorrow.
Might as well bring my guitar along too.