Chapter 34
Raising a Fallen Idol
It was right before Ruha met Park Miso.
“Yaaawn— I’m so tired I could die.”
Ruha’s tiny mouth stretched wide as she let out a big yawn.
Tears welled in her eyes as she slowly kicked off the blanket.
After a full day of RE:VIVAL’s second competition filming and a one-on-one with Yoon Tae-jin, Ruha’s schedule hadn’t ended until dawn.
When she was working on songs, pulling all-nighters was normal; adding directing and filming sessions made it even worse.
But lately—
“I’ve been unusually tired these days.”
Was it because her body had gotten younger?
She couldn’t even open her eyes until the sun was high in the sky.
“Good thing I slept at home. If I’d stayed at the dorm, I’d have gone crazy from the kids’ snoring.”
Ugh. Just imagining it made her shudder.
Rrrrr—
Her phone buzzed.
“Hello?”
“You sure you’re okay? Let’s just go together.”
It was Yoon Tae-jin’s worried voice.
“Do I sound like a kid? I said I’m fine.”
“Kid? You look like a five-year-old. If you wander around alone, someone’ll report a missing child.”
“Shut up. If you’ve got time to nag, buy the boys something nice to eat. They worked all day yesterday—they deserve something good.”
“Oh~ Jin Do-hyun, huh? What’s this? You’ve grown attached already?”
“…”
…Had she, really? Surely not.
Then again, spending every single day together, it would be stranger not to.
“I’m hanging up, I have to get ready.”
“Okay, be careful out there. You know what to do if something happens, right? That kid’s smartwatch I gave you—there’s an SOS butto—”
Click—
Ruha abruptly hung up.
“Ugh, getting older just made him chattier.”
She grumbled, but the corners of her mouth curved up.
“Thank you!”
“Oh my, what a polite little one.”
The taxi driver looked fondly at Ruha.
“I get that a lot. Take care, sir~”
“Sure thing~”
Hop! Ruha jumped out of the cab and took a deep breath.
“Mmm~ the smell.”
Exhaust fumes and fine dust—not exactly fresh air, but since her body shrank, she’d rarely walked alone without a “guardian.”
Strolling through the city by herself in this small body felt strangely liberating.
“Is this why kids can’t wait to grow up?”
The silly thought made her chuckle.
“Hmm, that must be it.”
Ahead was a commercial building, its signs crammed together.
At the end of the first floor: her destination—Smile Realty.
Feeling oddly free, she took a few steps forward—then stopped.
“…?”
Her head turned slowly.
At a convenience store a few doors down, a man sat at a table, watching her quietly.
“…!”
Her breath caught.
It was that manager—the one who’d suddenly appeared on her first day at Clef Entertainment, driven her to the office, then vanished without a trace.
“Y-you mutt—!”
Tap-tap-tap—!
Her short legs pounded the pavement, and her tiny fists trembled in the air.
“You—what the hell!?”
Panting, Ruha stood before him, glaring.
The man greeted her calmly, as if he’d been expecting this.
“PD-nim, how have you been?”
“What? ‘How have I been’? Are you kidding me!?”
Her voice was a tangled mix of anger, confusion, and fear.
“You’re very worked up. Why don’t we sit first?”
“Ha!”
She was ready to curse him out and smash her fist into his smug face—but strangely, her mind cooled instead.
“…Hmph.”
Ruha pressed her lips tight and sat down.
“You must have a lot of questions.”
“You think? That’s what you call this?”
She gave a twisted smirk.
“It is you, right? Why did you do this to me? What do you want? What the hell did I do wrong?”
“…”
The man was silent for a moment, then spoke with a faintly regretful look.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. If there’s any fault… it’s mine.”
Ruha’s eyebrow twitched.
“Ha! At least you know. Then hurry up and change me back.”
“Sorry, but… that’s difficult right now. It’s a bit complicated.”
“What? You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
Bang—!
She slammed the table. Her small palm turned red.
“Are you okay?”
He looked at her with genuine concern.
“…What?”
The man sighed softly and glanced at his watch.
“There’s no time.”
“Don’t change the subject! You said it’s your fault—so fix me! Put me back the way I was!”
“PD-nim, let me just tell you one thing.”
His expression hardened, his voice dropping low—almost a whisper.
“There are people waiting for you.”
“…Who’s waiting for me?”
Ruha’s face twisted.
The man smiled faintly.
“I think you’ve already found one of them.”
“Found? Found who?”
“Ah… there really isn’t any time left.”
He glanced past Ruha’s shoulder.
When she turned, she saw people pouring out of the real estate office.
“Do you like stars?”
Her head snapped back toward him.
“…Stars?”
“A single star is beautiful, yes. But when there are many together, the night sky shines brighter—and more beautifully.”
“…”
Ruha was speechless.
It made no sense. She didn’t want to understand.
Sensing her turmoil, the man smiled gently.
“You’ll understand soon. There’s no star that truly shines alone. Even when you can’t see them, they’re always there.”
He crinkled his nose playfully, then stood up.
“Oh—and RE:VIVAL is fun to watch. How about shining together with those five stars of yours?”
What…?
She couldn’t tell what he meant—or what emotion lay behind his words.
But his expression unsettled her: his mouth smiled, yet his eyes trembled, as if barely holding back sorrow.
A lump rose in her throat.
Crash—!
She turned reflexively. A passerby had dropped their bag and was scrambling to pick up their things.
When she looked back—
“…”
The man was gone.
As if he’d never been there at all.
“Wow! The weather’s amazing!”
“Look at the clouds!”
A few days later, at a park near the dorm.
The LUMIS members’ awkward reactions filled the air.
“Cut! Doha, just a little more natural, please!”
PD Lee Geon-woo’s voice rang across the park.
“A-ah, yes!”
Baek Doha scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, and fixed his posture.
“Hyung, copy me! ‘Wow~ the weather’s amazing~ bbuing~!’”
Kang Ian rubbed his cheeks with his fists, showing off exaggerated cuteness, loosening the mood with his natural variety instincts. Laughter rippled through the set.
“…Sorry, I can’t go that far.”
“No way! That kind of thing suits Eungyeol better!”
Doha laughed shyly, while Ryu Sian chimed in teasingly.
“M-me!?”
Cha Eungyeol blinked in panic.
“…”
Watching from a distance was one man—or rather, one child.
“Ahh~ refreshing!”
The sound of a straw slurping up a drink followed by Ruha’s satisfied sigh.
Under a large tree sat a tiny camping chair labeled “Ruha.”
Like a director’s chair, it looked specially made for her.
Wearing sunglasses that covered half her face, Ruha sipped from a “Piano Fairy Doremi” juice box in one hand and held a back scratcher in the other, gazing over the scene like it was her own film set.
Her legs, too short to reach the ground, dangled freely in the air.
“Oh my god, how adorable!”
“She’s too cute!”
“She’s definitely a reincarnated old soul!”
No matter how many times they saw her, the staff couldn’t get used to “Old Soul Ruha.”
Their laughter burst out uncontrollably.
Ruha, unfazed, simply kept sipping her drink.
“Director!”
PD Lee Geon-woo approached.
“Oh, yes! PD-nim!”
Yoon Tae-jin immediately bowed.
“The opening shoot for RE:VIVAL looks good enough as is.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to check on this personally…”
“Haha, no worries. Might as well while we’re here.”
His gaze shifted toward Ruha.
“We’ll have the LUMIS boys change outfits and rest, then start filming right here. Since it’s the first episode of <LUMIS House>, how about starting with them chatting happily together—with Ruha joining in?”
Today was the first day of shooting <LUMIS House>, the group’s own content.
They were also sneaking in a short clip for RE:VIVAL’s third performance opening.
“That sounds great!”
Tae-jin nodded enthusiastically.
“No, no.”
Ruha shook her head lightly, eyes gleaming sharply behind her shades.
“…?”
Everyone turned toward her.
“Which episode is this? I saw last time the ‘legend appearance’ scene got huge reactions.”
“Oh! Our youngest, Episode 4!”
Manager Choi Eun-bi answered quickly.
“…Are you LUMIS’s manager or Ruha’s manager?”
Tae-jin narrowed his eyes.
“Me? Of course I’m LUMIS’s manager!”
“…Good. That’s a relief.”
Eun-bi beamed innocently, while Tae-jin sighed, shaking his head.
Watching them, PD Lee chuckled.
“What do you think, Director? Honestly, I agree with Ruha—if the LUMIS boys open together and she enters later, it’ll look better visually. Would make a great short clip, too.”
“If that’s your creative judgment, PD-nim, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Haha, perfect. Let’s set up for that. Ruha, get ready too.”
“Yeeees~”
“…Ha, ha. Sure…”
PD Lee smiled awkwardly and walked off.
As he left, Tae-jin scolded quietly,
“Hey! What did you do to the PD? Why’s he scared of you?”
“Me? Nothing.”
Ruha’s curt reply came without hesitation.
“…”
Tae-jin sighed, dumbfounded. Then his eyes dropped to his phone screen.
“Burn it up. Burn it up, huh…”
His expression darkened.
Burn it up — the song Ruha had chosen for RE:VIVAL’s third round performance.
