Chapter 7: The tension has eased, it’s good

With just a day left until the press conference, I maintained a routine of eating, sleeping, practicing my script, and playing Tanniping.

Han Seoyoung was by my side.

Her official position was Chief Secretary.

Under normal circumstances, she would have been busy accompanying me through my hectic schedule, traveling nationwide.

For her, it would have been a great opportunity to build recognition.

But with me suddenly turning into an elementary schooler, all of that had gone up in smoke.

Instead, she had taken on the role of my guardian.

She was still terribly inexperienced at it, though.

But honestly, so was I.

“Candidate, are you okay with the lunchbox?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“You usually like spicy pork bulgogi, don’t you? That’s why I bought this.”

“Uh, uh… it’s tasty…”

“It’s not spicy, is it? This one’s not spicy at all.”

“Uh, uh… no, it’s not spicy…”

“Goodness! Then why are you sweating so much? Is it spicy? It is spicy, isn’t it?!”

“Uh, uh, uhhh! Water…!!!”

My tastes had completely reverted to those of a kid.

Craving a hamburger more than spicy pork was one thing, but now I couldn’t even eat the pork dish I used to enjoy because it was just too spicy.

“Drink some milk!”

I quickly grabbed the milk she handed me and gulped it down.

Gulp, gulp.

Ah, plain milk.

I would’ve preferred strawberry or chocolate flavor, but oh well.

At least the milk helped calm the spiciness.

“…!”

Instead, it triggered hiccups.

“Oh my. You’ve spilled it everywhere!”

Han Seoyoung busied herself wiping the milk off my mouth and clothes, leaving her own meal half-eaten.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bought spicy pork.”

“It’s tasty… hic!”

“Don’t force yourself to eat it. I’ll get something else.”

I quickly grabbed the edge of her coat.

“Can’t I just eat the side dishes? The side dishes are tasty…”

Honestly, even without the spicy pork, I could just eat the black beans and braised fish cake.

My stomach had shrunk since turning into a kid, anyway.

And so, we stumbled even through something as simple as eating a meal.

“Why is nothing going smoothly…”

Han Seoyoung looked quite exhausted.

It was understandable.

She had dropped everything to follow me into politics, only to end up as a guardian to an elementary schooler.

Still, there wasn’t a better solution.

No one else could take care of me like she could.

She might be a bit inexperienced as a guardian, but as an aide, she was irreplaceable.

“If you’re done eating, should we practice the script some more?”

“Yes… hic.”

“Can’t get rid of the hiccups? Try holding your breath.”

“One…”

No matter what I tried, the hiccups wouldn’t stop.

In the end, I had to start practicing my script in that condition.

With time running out, I had no choice.

“I’ve prepared many policies and pledges to… hic… be a capable presidential candidate who… hic…”

I glanced at Han Seoyoung, but she was nodding off in her chair.

Her dark circles were practically touching her chin.

‘She must be as exhausted as I am…’

She was a junior and colleague who had been with me since college.

Back then, she was just an adorable junior I found endearing.

Seeing her in a suit, diligently following me around, was funny at first.

Now, she’d grown so much that she felt reliable and trustworthy.

Not wanting to wake her, I decided to practice quietly.

I tiptoed past her to the desk and placed a pink dolphin toy on her chair.

The toy’s name was Dolly.

“Dolly, I need to do well tomorrow, so you’ll have to help me. Please…”

I whispered to Dolly and resumed practicing for a long time.

Han Seoyoung, meanwhile, dreamed vividly.

‘So cute! So adorable! Candidate, let me hug you!’

In her dream, she hugged Kang Jiwoo to her heart’s content.

She kneaded his hands, stretched his cheeks, kissed him repeatedly, and nuzzled her face against his like someone overwhelmed by cuteness.

In reality, she couldn’t act that way because she respected him as a candidate.

But when she pulled back, she found…

‘Hey, Han Seoyoung. What are you doing?’

‘S-senior? When did you return to normal?’

Kang Jiwoo had reverted to his original self.

What followed was a sequence too suggestive to describe.

“Ahh… N-not there…!”

Startled by her own sleep talk, she woke up.

She sat there for a moment, replaying her dream with embarrassment.

Remembering every word she had muttered, she felt utterly mortified.

‘Han Seoyoung, you’ve lost your mind from exhaustion.’

She shook off the lingering humiliation and refocused on reality.

The office was quiet.

It was around noon.

What was supposed to be a short nap ended up stretching over three hours.

“I should’ve checked in with the candidate one last time…?”

It was too late for regrets.

Time had flown too far.

Kang Jiwoo appeared to be asleep, slumped over the desk.

“Was she practicing alone?”

I walked closer to the desk.

Kang Jiwoo was peacefully dozing off, drooling on her notebook with the most lovable expression.

She was even snoring softly—clearly exhausted.

“She’s always cute, but her sleeping face… it’s like an angel’s…”

I found myself healing just by staring blankly at her face.

That peace didn’t last long.

Kang Jiwoo stirred in her sleep, accidentally triggering a video on the laptop.

It was a Taniping video.

“Watching Taniping again? She’s unbelievable.”

Kang Jiwoo really loved Taniping.

Even during practice, she’d often go off on tangents about tanniping or mimic its speech patterns.

“So the moment I dozed off, she couldn’t resist and went back to watching Tanniping videos.”

Honestly, it was a little annoying.

If she devoted even half the attention she gave to Taniping toward her speech, how great would that be?

She gets so nervous during practice—how would she handle the real thing with its incomparable pressure?

Han Seoyoung was genuinely worried about Kang Jiwoo.

However, her gaze was drawn to the video’s title:

[Episode 27: Help Shy-Ping With Their Presentation!]

Shy-Ping, the timid fairy.

It seemed to be about helping them with their presentation.

Maybe Kang Jiwoo wasn’t just watching Taniping for fun but was trying to get advice from the animated fairy?

Curious, Han Seoyoung glanced at the notebook.

There were words scrawled across it in Kang Jiwoo’s messy handwriting:

1. Say “I am the best.”

2. Imagine everyone looking at me as cute Tanipings.

3. Remember my friends’ support.

“She was studying while watching Taniping… I’m so sorry for doubting you, Candidate!”

A warm smile spread across her face.

She was so adorable that Seoyoung felt the urge to shower her with kisses right then and there.

But she couldn’t wake her up.

At the bottom of the notebook, the writing continued.

It read like a letter to herself:

-To my supportive friends: Director Bong Soohee Ping, Bodyguard Park Cheol Ping, Lee Soyoon Ping from the labor office, Byeonosa Ping, Grandpa Ping…? And my favorite, Han Seoyoung Real-Boss Ping!

So I have to do well tomorrow.

If I mess up, my friends will hate me…

“Ah…”

A soft groan escaped Han Seoyoung.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Have I been putting too much pressure on her…?”

Come to think of it, hadn’t she been too hard on her this whole time?

Though she claimed to care for Kang Jiwoo, her mind had been solely focused on the press conference.

“I’m sorry, Jiwoo-Ping!”

Han Seoyoung gently woke the sleeping Kang Jiwoo and hugged her.

“Let’s get you to a bed.”

“Mmm… I don’t wanna sleep…”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go sleep. Time to snooze.”

She decided to take her to the lounge and let her rest there.

“I shouldn’t just rely on the candidate. I need to figure out how I can be her support too.”

Han Seoyoung resolved herself.

If something bad were to happen, if this adorable child were to be attacked by someone, she would throw herself in the way to protect her.

—

The day of the press conference.

While media outlets prepared their live broadcasts, a mysterious super chat appeared:

[Super Chat]

[¥2,000 – Thank you!]

– “Jiwoo-chan! You can do it! Many Japanese citizens are cheering for you!”

For some reason, the South Korean presidential candidate had a suspiciously high level of popularity in Japan.

– “What’s this about? Why is a South Korean presidential candidate’s press conference so popular here?”

“Because she’s adorable, duh.”

[¥100,000 – Thank you!]

– “We are from the Japanese Pension Organization. Officially, our organization supports Jiwoo-chan’s presidential campaign.”

– “What the hell?! Did they actually just show up here?!”

– “Are the auditors watching this?”

– “Eh? Is it true they’re using Japanese pensions to sponsor her?”

“Like it’d actually be true, lol.”

[¥10,000 – Thank you!]

– “If she gets elected, could she just be a unification president for Korea and Japan?”

– “This guy’s a genius?”

-“LOL, fully support it.”

– “Yes, please. Let us crawl under Korea’s leadership!”

Broadcasts with a large Korean audience, on the other hand, had messy chatrooms.

Well, that’s only natural, considering there are many supporters of other party candidates.

However, the Japanese side consumed it purely for entertainment, making their chatrooms much more pleasant.

Regardless, the press conference was the important part.

Han Seoyoung was the first to step onto the stage.

“We will now begin the candidate’s press conference.

During the speech, we kindly ask you to refrain from taking photos with flash.

Questions will be taken after the speech is concluded.

As the candidate is still recovering from aftereffects, we request the cooperation of all reporters.”

Standing on the stage, Han Seoyoung found herself slightly nervous.

Even for a fully grown adult, this stage felt too overwhelming.

The audience consisted of about 500 reporters.

It was suffocatingly crowded.

Will Jiwoo sunbae be okay?

Worry filled her thoughts.

But at this moment, all she could do was trust Kang Jiwoo.

“The candidate will now enter.”

Kang Jiwoo scanned the stage briefly, then walked stiffly, like a robot.

She struggled to climb onto the chair.

Her pale face seemed to reflect her inner turmoil.

All Han Seoyoung could do now was pray from below the stage.

“Ah, hello…”

Click click click click!

A barrage of flash photography exploded.

Didn’t I say no flash photography?!

The reporters were relentless.

“I… I can’t see…”

Blinded by the intense light, Kang Jiwoo kept blinking furiously.

Eventually—

“Hic!”

She started hiccupping.

Speaking in front of people had always been a regular part of my life, my job.

Maybe that’s why I had underestimated it.

Murmur murmur.

The press conference room at the National Assembly was packed.

The air felt heavy.

So many people were focusing on me.

Click click click click!

Party members in front tried to stop the flashes.

But the reporters paid no heed and kept firing away.

Large cameras all focused on me.

Scary.

They looked like black monsters, terrifying.

The reporters soon began murmuring again.

“What’s this?”

“She can’t even speak?”

“And they want to run her for president? Are they out of their minds?”

“They’re just chasing clout.”

“Is that even the real Kang Jiwoo?”

I didn’t mind being criticized myself.

I was used to playing that role.

But when my colleagues were criticized because of me… that was unbearably painful.

“Hic.”

The hiccups wouldn’t stop.

Tears felt like they were about to fall too.

A child, trembling and crying in front of the press.

No one would want to vote for such a child as president.

“119…”

I managed to hold back the tears somehow.

But that was all I could do.

My body wouldn’t cooperate.

I couldn’t even imagine my voice coming out.

At that moment—

“Candidate!”

“…!”

A woman in a mascot costume waved her hand.

It was Han Seoyoung.

“Look here! Over here!!”

She was dressed in a silly blue fur-covered mascot costume.

I recognized it immediately.

That’s Dangdangi!

The mascot’s name was Dangdangi.

Back in the early days when Han Seoyoung and I were nobodies in this field,

it was the mascot character of the party’s predecessor, designed by Han Seoyoung herself.

We had nothing back then, so we made this mascot costume based on her design and used it for campaigns.

It was a clumsy yet adorable character filled with bittersweet memories.

I didn’t know why Han Seoyoung had dug up that old costume,

but I soon understood her reason.

“Jiwoo ping! It’s me, Siljang ping!”

“Si… Siljang ping…!”

Before I knew it, my body responded.

Han Seoyoung exaggerated her movements to draw my attention.

Soon, she even put a mascot head on Bong Soohee, who was standing nearby.

She even forced one onto Assemblyman Park Seokji.

“Director ping! Grandpa ping!”

“That’s right, Jiwoo Ping! All of us!”

“We’re all here! Everyone is cheering for Jiwoo Ping!”

So, they were trying to cheer me on.

I didn’t know Han Seyoung had such a pure side to her.

It was childish, but I still liked it.

“Hoo.”

Before I knew it, my hiccups had stopped.

The flashes were still going off, but I didn’t mind.

‘I can’t see clearly.’

The constant barrage of flashes had blinded me.

But my heart felt calm and settled.

The suffocating air, the countless gazes, and even the large black cameras all felt a little more familiar now.

With a bit more composure, I could speak confidently, just like my old self.

“Hello! This is Jiwoo Ping!”

“It’s not Jiwoo Ping; it’s Kang Jiwoo!”

“Oh…! I-I’m Kang Jiwoo…!”

Hm. Off to an embarrassing start.

But it’s okay.

It helped me relax, so it’s all good.

Everything’s good.