Hobbyist VTuber

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Generally, people prefer winning to losing in competitions.

And this applies even to pure, untainted children who are yet to experience the ways of the world.

Simply put, they feel good when they win and feel bad when they lose.

Or perhaps, they want to hear their parents’ praise.

Children too, in their own way, exhibit a competitive spirit that rivals that of adults.

It’s just that they don’t experience instances worthy of being called ‘competition’ as often as adults do.

“The 7th Beautiful Kindergarten Fall Sports Day will now commence~~~!”

However, now that the voice of the host announcing the start of the fall sports day echoed across the vast futsal field.

With events worthy of the name ‘competition’ like tug-of-war and relay races beginning shortly,

even the usual bright eyes of the children could not help but turn serious.

Unlike usual, they couldn’t afford to let their guard down, especially since numerous parents were watching them.

Except for one person.

Haa-eun, who until just a few months ago had been going to a film set instead of kindergarten, felt the weight of people’s attention for a different reason.

“Darling, isn’t that the kid from [Neighbor Uncle] over there?”

“Definitely looks a bit different from regular kids—”

“Is it alright if I ask them for a photo with our child later?”

‘…Should I just go to the bathroom or something?’

Even the kids from the same class who had only thought of Haa-eun as the pretty girl found themselves covertly glancing at her.

With all these gazes on her, it wasn’t surprising that Haa-eun felt some burden.

This was, ironically, the first time she truly felt her newfound fame.

Of course, she was aware that the film [Neighbor Uncle] starring her had set a staggering record of 7 million tickets sold.

But to be honest, she hadn’t grasped the fact that she was now a celebrity until now.

The reason being, since the film’s press conference, there hadn’t been any situations where she was exposed to the public.

In the past, the only places Haa-eun had been outside of kindergarten were the nearby open space often used for exercise or Doublie’s studio.

The open space near her home was one thing, but even going to Doublie’s studio meant riding in Jae-young’s van, making it unlikely that anyone would recognize her and approach her.

Thus, this fall sports day marked the first time in her seven years of life that she directly encountered the public.

It was bound to be a continuous string of experiences she had never had before.

Of course, Haa-eun didn’t think that nobody would recognize her, but still…

‘It’s a bit overwhelming when they keep staring like that.’

Having someone find her fascinating felt stranger than she had anticipated.

To exaggerate a bit, it was like being a beluga whale in an aquarium.

“Our daughter has become quite the celebrity! Everyone is talking about her.”

“Uh, Dad… Should I have worn a mask or something?”

“Hmm, that might have attracted even more attention.”

In the end, it was probably better for Haa-eun to just relax and take it easy, according to Sung-yoon’s brief advice.

The playful question of why she felt burdened by people’s gazes when she hadn’t done anything wrong wasn’t really wrong either.

It wasn’t that he was mistaken; it was just that the scale of gazes she was receiving was overwhelmingly unmanageable, even with a changed mindset.

When the first event of the fall sports day, [Ball Breaking], began,

Haa-eun recalled the time she threw the ball a while back, and her bean bag hit the target in just three throws.

-Whispers.

-Sidelong glances.

She nervously scratched her head as the stares toward Haa-eun became prickly on the back of her neck.

However, she didn’t notice that there were different types of gazes mixed in with the usual ones.

[Oh dear, it seems the blue team’s target wasn’t properly secured.]

Soon, after less than 15 seconds into the ball-breaking event, the flustered host managed to wrap things up,

and after all the other events were concluded,

“Mom has finally shown off some skills after a long time, how’s that, Haa-eun? Is it delicious?”

“Yes, it’s tasty.”

It wasn’t until lunch arrived that Haa-eun could finally enjoy the box meal made by Nayoun, free from the eyes of others.

About an hour later, the last event and highlight of the sports day, [Relay Race], began preparations.

As is customary for the last event of any sports day, it held a substantial amount of points that could overshadow previous scores.

Haa-eun, who had been training for this moment over the past few days, tightened the laces of her sneakers.

Among all the events in the sports day, this was the one that could clearly determine winners and losers.

The excitement of the children, who had been deeply absorbed in the back-and-forth score between the blue team and the red team, reached its peak.

[Alright, all participating children from the blue and red teams, prepare! 3, 2, 1… Go!]

“Go blue team!!”

“Cheer for the red team!!”

The issue was that some of the children’s heightened excitement translated into a level of nervousness bad enough to affect their complexion.

Among them was Haa-eun’s immediate predecessor in the relay race, and that was a bigger problem.

-Wham!

“Ugh, uuuh… Waaah!!”

‘…Oh no.’

The biggest problem was that a kid who was doing relatively well up to that point lost balance and fell, bursting into tears.

Right after that, a bright smile appeared on the face of Haa-eun’s counterpart.

“Hehe, I think your team has lost~. Well, I’m off first!”

Just like that, the kid who had provoked Haa-eun took off running after receiving the baton.

The previous relay runner made their way toward Haa-eun, supported by a teacher.

“Sorry, sorry, Haa-eun… Waaaah…”

As they handed over the baton covered in dirt while sobbing uncontrollably,

“It’s okay, Eun-seo.”

-Huff.

“We’re going to win.”

With a calm expression, she declared victory and started running.

*

Bak Yejun.

Age: 7.

“Hehe, I think your team has lost~. Well, I’m off first!”

The kid who had just provoked Haa-eun believed he had already won against her.

This was understandable; Haa-eun was now over half a lap behind.

If he just kept running like this, he would win against Haa-eun in front of numerous spectators.

While it could technically be said that this was all because Haa-eun’s previous runner had stumbled, he felt thrilled at the thought of beating her.

After all, how many times had he heard Haa-eun’s name?

Children in Byeollim class, as well as their homeroom teacher, and even Yejun’s parents had all talked about Haa-eun.

Her stunningly beautiful appearance that made her shine even when silent.

Her genuinely nice personality, having never once lost her temper.

A celebrity already in movies and on TV screens.

Given how everyone around him spoke so highly of Haa-eun, it wasn’t surprising that Yejun felt a sense of disdain.

‘…What’s so great about her anyway.’

Unbeknownst to Yejun, jealousy toward Haa-eun burgeoned deeply within him.

And the vague sense of admiration.

For Yejun, Haa-eun was someone he envied, yet also looked up to.

Thus, the chance to beat Haa-eun in front of everybody was as precious as gold.

Now, it would only be a few seconds before he could proudly declare his victory with the white finish tape around him.

But why…

“Uh, uh, uh…!!”

Why was it that everyone, including Yejun’s parents, was staring not at him, but at something behind him?

With such wide eyes.

‘No way…’

In that moment, imagining a situation that didn’t make sense even to him, Yejun turned his head back.

“…Hello.”

-Shiver.

“What, what, what is this!!”

A chill ran down his spine at the sight of Haa-eun’s serene gaze, now in reality instead of in imagination.

Coincidentally, there were only twenty steps left to the finish line.

No way he was going to accept losing to Haa-eun this close, so he pushed himself to run with all his might.

Yet rather than stretching the distance between them, it closed in.

-Swoosh!

Reaching only about five steps from the finish line, he suddenly took off into the air.

Just like the cheetah he had seen in a documentary on TV last night pouncing on its prey.

-Thwack.

Haa-eun snatched the pristine finish tape right in front of Yejun.

Immediately, Haa-eun, clutching the tape that stretched like rubber, rolled on the ground.

However, she quickly regained her balance as if rolling in the dirt was nothing,

and zipped past a numb and stunned Yejun, heading towards the kids from Byeollim class running in from afar.

“Waaah, ugh, uuuuh…. Waaah!!”

The overwhelming emotions hit Yejun, a mere 7-year-old, like a ton of bricks.

What finally burst forth was an uncontrollable sob.

Even when the teacher from Byeollim rushed over, kindly trying to console Yejun, it felt devastatingly painful, frustrating, and embarrassing.

If he had just run and lost without saying a word, it wouldn’t have been this humiliating.

The fact that Haa-eun had not even given him a sidelong glance after narrowly defeating him was the largest wound of all.

But ironically, the very person who had inflicted this irremediable wound, Haa-eun, thought to herself,

‘…That was really close.’

She had thought of Yejun as a pretty good runner.

The previous dismissal of Yejun had not actually been to belittle him, but because she had been captivated by the sight of her own previous runner, all teary-eyed, running toward her.

Anyway, since the ultimate winner of the relay race and this fall sports day was declared to be Haa-eun’s blue team,

she had the set of writing instruments that was the prize for first place in her hands—later she would find out that, for some reason, even the second-place prize was the same set of writing instruments.

Returning to Nayoun, who had been cheering for her diligently from under the tent,

And almost simultaneously, for the first time in her seven years of life.

“No jumping onto the dirt to get the finish tape no matter what!”

She got a proper scolding from Nayoun for taking such a dangerous risk by jumping so close to the finish line.

Sung-yoon, who was confused as to why she was getting scolded even though she won, got reprimanded as well.

But hey, overall it turned out to be quite a meaningful day.

Even if she was banned from exercising for a week as a result of the shock she gave Nayoun by running,

she didn’t really have any regrets.

Thus, Haa-eun’s first period of self-reflection came to an end.

On one of those early November days when various fallen leaves began gently drifting down to the ground,

“H-Haa-eun is… a candidate for Best New Actress, you say?”

Unexpected news reached Haa-eun’s ears while she was having her usual singing lesson at Doublie’s studio.