Chapter 14: Be startled.

Saturday, 10 AM.

Kim Heejung, a Korean Angel Center counselor, took a day off to sit in front of the TV.

Normally, this would be the time she was fast asleep, but today was an exception.

Because….

• Angel~ We’ll just capture you in hanbok for a moment, then we’ll depart~!

• Uh… yes, yes….

• Hmm~ Could you just turn lightly in place once?

• Huh? Oh, yes….

Today was the first day of the Angel’s nationwide trip broadcast.

“Ah… insane… she’s truly too cute.”

Kim Heejung covered her wide-open mouth with both hands and muttered softly.

The sight of the small and precious Angel twirling, her hanbok fluttering.

Every single scene was so precious that she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen.

‘Truly, truly, it was a good decision to take a day off…!’

What if she had gone to work as usual today?

Just briefly imagining that scenario, she felt her mind instantly become hazy.

If she had, she would surely have regretted this moment for the rest of her life.

Thump, thump.

Anyway, from the TV screen, the Angel’s voice, now inside the car, could be heard.

• Wow, there’s a bed inside the car!

• Yes, that’s right. It’s an RV.

• H-can I lie down…?

• Huh? Of course. Naturally! We prepared all of this for you, Angel, so please use it comfortably.

Thud.

• Hehe….

• How is it? Is it soft! We paid special attention to it because you’ll be spending a lot of time in the car this time.

• Yes… it’s good…. It’s good….

The Angel’s face, smiling happily while lying on the bed, was briefly zoomed in.

Whack!

At that sight, Kim Heejung hit her forehead hard enough to leave a red mark.

It was a situation where she simply couldn’t maintain her sanity without doing this.

“Hah, no…! Isn’t she truly excessively cute….”

She felt a heart-wrenching pain and stroked her face.

She could bet this program would definitely not be good for heart health.

Then, Lee Hyejin’s image appeared on the TV screen.

She was showing the Angel her phone screen.

• Angel, would you please look here too?

• Yes, huh…? What’s that…?

• Oh~ This is the broadcast screen where Angel is appearing. These texts below are what people watching the broadcast are saying.

The Angel’s profile, staring intently at the phone with a gentle voice, was shown on screen.

Jump! Crash! Thud!

At that sight, Kim Heejung hurriedly grabbed her laptop from her room and settled back in front of the TV.

This broadcast was simultaneously aired on TV and the internet, so communication was possible, assuming the Angel saw the screen.

Therefore, she quickly accessed the broadcast on her laptop, and,

“Wh-what…? One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million, ten million… T-two hundred million…!?”

She was utterly agape at the absurd and overwhelming number of viewers.

But her acceptance was faster than anyone else’s.

“That’s right, that’s right! She’s our Angel, so this many views are naturally the bare minimum!”

This was because Kim Heejung was more genuinely captivated by the Angel than anyone else.

So, feeling proud that so many people worldwide were watching, she happily tried to type a chat message, and.

[ You can use the chat window after checking the notice. ]

Unfortunately, it was impossible due to lack of permission.

“… Huh? Notice?”

She tilted her head at the unfamiliar situation.

What kind of permission was needed to type in chat?

However, even so, she had no time to hesitate.

She had to quickly type a message while the Angel was still looking at the chat window.

For that reason, she immediately clicked the link connected to the chat window, and.

“Please verify your identity?”

This time, it immediately connected to a site requesting personal information such as her name and address.

For a moment, she wondered if it was a phishing site, but of course, that couldn’t be.

“No wonder the chat was only in Korean….”

Anyway, Kim Heejung quickly proceeded with identity verification.

Once the verification was successful, another message appeared.

[ Disrespectful remarks to the Angel may result in imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won. ]

“Th-that’s, well, good. Of course, it should be like this.”

She felt bewildered by the message but immediately conceded.

She simply couldn’t tolerate the thought of someone making disrespectful remarks to her precious little Angel.

Anyway, she finally tried to type a chat message, and.

• Softly breathing.

In that short moment, the Angel was already asleep.

“…”

Kim Heejung stared blankly at the screen, feeling somewhat empty.

Then she softly murmured.

“Ah, ah… but she’s still cute… Hehe….”

Travel.

What is travel?

I pondered, trying to recall memories from my past life.

Naturally, the memories in my mind were still fragmented and sparse.

But even so, I could quickly be certain that I had never traveled anywhere like this before.

And at the same time, that this was definitely not an ordinary trip.

Because…,

“Angel~! Could you lift your skirt just a little bit~?”

“Angel, please turn a little to the right~!”

“Angel~ Please smile at the camera~”

It was clear that people wouldn’t normally take this many photos.

Right now, as soon as I arrived at my destination.

Without knowing where this place was at all, I was surrounded by people and being filmed excessively.

I heard this was also part of a photobook production?

Anyway, it was happening separately from the broadcast film crew.

Click, click, click.

The sound of shutters echoed incessantly for a long time.

And I, too, struck various poses.

Of course, at first, moving according to instructions was incredibly embarrassing.

Having to strike cute poses under the gaze of so many people brought immense shame.

But surprisingly, that feeling lasted only for a very short time.

The mounting fatigue and laziness quickly dulled that emotion.

‘… Is this a good thing?’

Feeling uncertain, I gently settled into the chair Park Gyutae had prepared for me.

Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to successfully finish the filming, and now I was taking a short break before genuinely sightseeing the place.

“Angel~ Try this.”

Then, Lee Hyejin inserted a straw into a cold drink and brought it to my lips.

Slurp.

Without even checking what it was, I took a long sip and tasted it. It was a sweet and sour strawberry flavor.

‘Delicious…!’

I instantly felt happiness swell within me again.

I began to savor it pleasantly, and then something suddenly came to mind, and I asked.

“By the way, where is this place?”

“Oh~ It’s a folk village.”

“Folk village…?”

I had absolutely no memory of this place.

Feeling puzzled by the very unfamiliar atmosphere and scenery, Lee Hyejin suddenly showed me her phone screen again.

It was the chat from people watching the broadcast I was on.

“Shall we talk for a bit while you rest?”

“Hmm…”

No…?

That word honestly came to mind immediately because I felt lazy.

Of course, I didn’t voice it.

Even from just a brief look earlier, everyone liked me so much that I felt bad about cutting them off bluntly.

“Uh… hello?”

So, in the end, I greeted them again.

• Hello!!!

• Angel, you’re cute!

• I love you!

As expected, words poured out again at an incredibly fast pace.

The speed was so fast that it was impossible to read.

I waited, flustered, for the text to slow down a bit, then asked.

“D-don’t you find talking to me boring…?”

Honestly, objectively, I’m not someone who’s good at conversation at all.

I appreciate everyone liking me, but no matter how I think about it, talking to me would probably be boring.

However, people seemed to think differently, as an unexpected answer appeared.

• Just looking at Angel’s face is fun!

• You’re so entertaining just breathing.

‘Huh…?’

Though I couldn’t understand what that meant.

What does it mean that just looking at my face is fun…?

Does it mean my face looks funny?

And why breathing…?

“Th-that’s so? Then that’s a relief….”

I tilted my head and thought about what to say next.

After a long while, I opened my mouth again.

“I, I like sweet things.”

Something completely random and out of the blue.

Nevertheless, this was the result of my tremendous effort to lead the conversation in my own way.

• Of course, we know!

• Of course~ There’s no one in South Korea who doesn’t know that, right?

For some reason, it was a story everyone already knew.

Wh-what…? Why is that obvious…?

Why does everyone know that…!?

I stared blankly at the chat window, greatly flustered.

Then, this time, I also saw this message in the middle.

• I saw you eating mango shaved ice yesterday! We’ll tell them to buy it for you often!

“……?”

Y-yes!? H-how did you even see that…!?

This is getting a bit scary now!?

I was so surprised that I almost dropped my phone.

It was a shocking story, enough to make goosebumps rise all over my body.

‘A-am I… being monitored, by any chance…?’

Suddenly, people’s gazes started to feel twice as scary.

Softly breathing.

Small, regular breaths echoed from the bed in the RV.

At that, Park Gyutae looked at Lee Hyejin and whispered very softly.

“Angel’s asleep. Let’s go out.”

“Oh, yes.”

They quietly and carefully got out of the car so as not to wake the Angel.

It was 9 PM now, and they had finished the tour without incident, up until the folk village’s night opening hours.

“Ughhh…!”

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Lee Hyejin stretched and groaned, completely exhausted.

Then, she let out a small sigh and said.

“Where’s next?”

“I wonder…? That’s up to the film crew and the higher-ups.”

“… Ugh.”

At Park Gyutae’s answer, Lee Hyejin slumped into a folding chair in front of the car with a displeased expression.

She was clearly not happy with the Angel’s current position, being used for political purposes.

Park Gyutae, noticing this, took a seat on the adjacent chair and said.

“Hey, what’s there for you to be unhappy about? Angels from other countries all do this much.”

“I know~ I know, but I just feel like I lied a bit, and it bothers me.”

“What lie?”

“… Calling it a ‘trip’ to Angel.”

Lee Hyejin sighed deeply again.

Park Gyutae said.

“Why is that a lie? Even if there are a lot of extra things, a trip is a trip, isn’t it?”

“… No, what kind of trip is this! This is just a promotional video shoot for Korea!”

“That’s true, but you seemed to enjoy yourself today, didn’t you?”

“Well… that’s true, but….”

Stung by the accurate remark, Lee Hyejin was speechless and clicked her tongue.

Park Gyutae continued.

“And originally, countries around the world were desperate to bring Angels over for this kind of thing, so what can we do differently?”

“… So, you’re saying you’re fine with this?”

“Not that, but since the nation isn’t a charity, it’s good if we all help each other. You saw the viewership numbers for the broadcast today, right?”

“… I saw them.”

Lee Hyejin practically lay down on the chair, answering with a sulky expression.

Park Gyutae, undeterred, continued.

“How much do you think it would cost to get that much promotional effect if you had to pay for it? The higher-ups must have really felt it this time, didn’t they? Now they’ll really grant whatever the Angel asks for.”

“They always did that anyway….”

“Exactly, so they acted that way because they had this kind of expectation.”

“…”

Lee Hyejin clamped her mouth shut at Park Gyutae’s words.

Thud.

Regardless, Park Gyutae picked up a stone from the ground, threw it far away, and said.

“And for the trip, we can just go somewhere else by ourselves next time, what’s the big deal?”

“… Should we? I’d like the beach.”

“The beach? Why the beach all of a sudden?”

“Because, of course, I want to see Angel in a swimsuit.”

“… Y-you, you really….”

Park Gyutae’s look of disdain.

Lee Hyejin, not understanding it at all, instead asked back.

“Huh…? Don’t you want to see her, Senior?”

“Hey, hey…! Are you asking me that!? If I answer that wrong, I’ll be in big trouble, you idiot!”

Park Gyutae yelped and ran away from his seat.