Chapter 371: Choose (14)

As I stepped into the studio, the first person to greet me was Oh Yoo-Wol. "Welcome, Eden."

"Hello." I looked around the surprisingly large

UTube

studio. It was filled with various gaming consoles, DDR machines[1], monitors, and other arcade games.

The place looked like a gamer's paradise, the kind of place that would make Goh Yoo-Joon go crazy with excitement. It was clear that a lot of thought had gone into preparing this room.

"This room was prepared especially for you, Eden. The show will be more relaxing than a broadcast, so just have fun and enjoy yourself," Oh Yoo-Wol explained with a warm smile. It seemed like this filming was going to be more of a casual, fun setup rather than a formal production.

This put me a little more at ease. The atmosphere was lively and inviting, almost making me forget that I was here for work.

Oh Yoo-Wol took the lead in explaining the day's plan, his enthusiasm contagious. He made sure to walk me through every detail and ensure I felt comfortable before we started filming. Soon enough, the cameras started rolling, and his energy only seemed to amplify.

"Hey, everyone! It's Oh Yoo-Wol from "Oh Yoo-Wol Does Everything!" Today, I have a very special guest. Honestly, I can't believe this is happening," he said dramatically while pushing his hair back for added effect.

"You all have been asking for this guest non-stop in the comments, emails, and DMs. Your requests have been overwhelming, and I really wanted to make it happen for you. It took a lot of effort, but we finally did it! Drum roll, please!"

Oh Yoo-Wol raised his fists triumphantly and spun around with excitement. His infectious excitement filled the room and made it hard not to smile along with him.

He was clearly a natural in front of the camera as he handled everything without a script and made it look effortless. I had no idea he was this charismatic and funny. On

Introduce My Singer

, he always seemed so composed and mature. Here, he was like a different person, vibrant and full of life.

Oh Yoo-Wol glanced at me and gave a big smile. "Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The most requested, hardest-to-book star in our channel’s history! Let’s just call him over as soon as possible! Waaah"

Following his cue, I stepped into the frame and greeted. "Hello."

"Yes, everyone, we have Eden here today!" Oh Yoo-Wol clapped his hands excitedly.

"Hi, I’m Eden," I said by lowering my voice slightly.

Oh Yoo-Wol chuckled and clapped again, the sound echoing in the spacious studio. "I’ve been wanting to have you on my channel for a long time. Ever since you appeared on

Introduce My Singer,

so many of our Early Summers have been asking for you to come on Playground for Everything!"

"Ah, thank you so much for inviting me. It’s an honor," I replied.

For reference, Early Summers was the name of Oh Yoo-Wol's subscribers and fans, and Playground for Everything was the specific concept in his video contents that I was appearing on.

"First of all, your mask looks a bit different today," Oh Yoo-Wol noted, leaning in a bit as if to get a closer look.

"Yes, since I’ll be wearing it for a long time today, I chose a more breathable one." I adjusted the mask slightly for effect.

"Your usual mask is cool, but this one looks fresh and airy. Do you choose your masks yourself?"

It was a relief to talk about something so straightforward. "No, my stylists take care of it. They make sure it suits the show I’m appearing on."

During our pre-show chat, Oh Yoo-Wol asked many questions but stayed true to his promise not to bring up my dialect. He didn’t ask any probing questions either, which made me relax a bit more.

"Now, Eden. Could you turn around and take a look at what we've prepared for you?" He pointed to the gaming consoles and arcade machines behind me. The array of equipment was impressive as each piece was meticulously placed to create an ultimate gaming setup. "We were wondering what you might like, so we asked your manager. He said you love games."

"That's right. I do love games." I felt a bit more at ease as the conversation shifted to a familiar topic.

"Oh, what kind of games do you like? PC games, console games, or arcade games?"

"I like them all, but I’ve been playing a lot of PC games lately," I replied, thinking about the hours I had spent in front of my computer.

"Oh, I see. What games do you play?"

I thought about the balloon-popping game I’d been hooked on recently but decided against mentioning it. "Just multiple online games."

"Do you play console games too?"

There was a time when the members and I were obsessed with "Rasputin" in the dancing game, but this would make it more obvious who I really was.

"I haven’t played that many console games since I mostly prefer games that use the keyboard."

"Well, this is your chance to try out some console games. They are a lot of fun." Oh Yoo-Wol encouraged, his enthusiasm unwavering.

"Sure, I’ll give it a shot."

"I picked out a lot of games we can play together." Oh Yoo-Wol led me to the gaming area with a big monitor and cameras set up to capture everything. As he fiddled with the joystick, he turned to me with a sly smile, a twinkle of mischief in his eye.

Something about that smile made me uneasy.

He continued. "Although it's a bit past its peak in popularity, do you like dancing, Eden?"

I tried to hide my bewilderment. "Um, dancing?"

A knowing look appeared in his eyes. "There's this game called Just Dance. Have you ever played it?"

"..."

Of course I had. We used to spend hours playing it, especially the song "Rasputin" as I mentioned. But talking about that would be too revealing.

I stared at Oh Yoo-Wol, trying to gauge his intentions. I had stopped him from asking about singing, dialect, and making me talk a lot, but he was trying to trick me with different things. He had done his homework and was connecting me to this game to uncover my identity subtly. His investigative approach was impressive, if not a bit intimidating.

I stayed frozen instead of answering him, then Oh Yoo-Wol smiled again. "Ah, no pressure. If you’re not comfortable, we can start with something else. Are you feeling a bit nervous?"

"Yeah, a little."

"We have plenty of games ready, not just the ones behind us. By the way, do you dance at all, Eden?"

"No—" I began, but then I paused.

Why was I hiding this? Everyone already knew who I was. I said I play games, but I claimed I hadn’t tried console games, and now I was pretending I couldn’t dance. Trying to hide it would only make me look like I was putting on a front for the

UTube

channel.

Reina had already told me that since everyone knew, all I had to do was deny it if anyone asked directly. I came today determined to give my best, so there was no need to hide what I was good at. I nodded and said to the camera. "I can dance a bit. I learned before debuting."

"Ah, before debuting. Interesting. Great! So how about we have some fun with a dance game? This one is called Random Dance Challenge! Well, we didn’t create the game. You’ve probably heard of it, right?"

"Yes, I have."

"Let me explain the rules briefly."

The game was similar to those on many shows, where you had to dance to randomly selected songs. However, since Eden only had ballad songs, they’d picked random songs from other artists. And to add to the challenge, the songs would speed up, slow down, get muted, or be replaced with sound effects.

"Am I doing this by myself?"

"Oh no, of course not. I’ll join you. I am terrible at dancing, so please don’t laugh at me. I’m really bad at it."

"I’m not that good either."

"Really?" He said, but there was a knowing twinkle in his eye. Oh Yoo-Wol led me to another camera. "Let’s take turns dancing in the marked spot. Ready to start?"

"Ready."

"I’m thrilled to have you participating so eagerly. Who should go first?"

"...Why don’t you go first, Yoo-Wol?"

"Alright, I will show you how it’s done. Music, please!"

A staff member behind the camera started the music.

"Hmm! Remember, no laughing!" he said playfully as he stepped up. The song that played was High Tension’s debut track You are Shining. "Oh, I know this song! I watched

Pick We Up

and checked out all the debut tracks from the contestants. I even remember some of the choreography."

Oh Yoo-Wol started dancing. He was confident, but... Oh, boy.

"Haha..."

"Hey! Don’t laugh! I will watch how well you dance next, Eden."

He was really bad. I could recognize parts of the choreography, but his movements were so uncoordinated that it was almost funny. He moved like someone who had rhythm but no clear idea of the dance steps, making him look floppy and unstructured. Well, this was expected since he was not a dance singer.

"Next song, please! Get me out of here!" Oh Yoo-Wol shouted, pretending to be embarrassed before quickly stepping toward the back of the room.

I stepped up as he moved back, and the staff switched to a new song.

"..."

As soon as the song started, I turned to look at Oh Yoo-Wol. Was this deliberate? It felt too coincidental because the song "Goblin" by Allure was playing.

1. Dance Dance Revolution machines are arcade gaming systems that challenge players to step on a dance pad in time with music. I think it’s the one that the main character of Kissing Booth on Netflix does haha ☜