“Oh, where’s Seoyeon? Why are you here alone?”

Kang Chanyul, the CEO of Nova Entertainment, was in a great mood lately. And why wouldn’t he be? Thanks to Seoyeon’s impressive performances, Nova Entertainment's stock had seen a significant rise.

After Hwang Minhwa’s departure, the company was left without any notable actors, leading to whispers that "Nova Entertainment is done for." But now, those whispers seemed like a distant memory.

“Ju Seoyeon went to learn some singing.”

“Singing? Ah, is it for the OST work she’s involved in?”

Kang Chanyul responded casually at first but then paused, sensing something odd in Jiyeon’s tone.

“Wait, is she working with our company’s vocal trainer?”

“No.”

Initially, Seoyeon had planned to ask Han Dayoung, Jiyeon’s VTuber colleague known as the 'Magician,' for help. However, something came up, and Seoyeon suddenly disappeared. From what Jiyeon heard...

“She’s learning from... a friend.”

“A... friend?”

Kang Chanyul couldn't help but think such a thought was rude. Did Seoyeon even have any friends besides Jiyeon?

That’s how limited Seoyeon’s social circle was.

“And what about our vocal trainers?”

Kang Chanyul muttered in disbelief. Nova Entertainment wasn’t some small-time company, and of course, they had their own vocal trainers.

Nova wasn’t just a talent agency focusing on actors; they also managed idols. Naturally, they had several skilled vocal trainers... so why?

“I’m not sure about that.”

Jiyeon’s response left Kang Chanyul feeling both exasperated and puzzled by Seoyeon’s actions.

“Jiyeon.”

“Yes.”

“You’re feeling a bit sour, aren’t you?”

“...”

Kang Chanyul chuckled as Jiyeon gave him a pointed look. Having known her for so long, he could read her thoughts like an open book.

‘Sometimes, they’re just alike.’

Seoyeon often frowned at how many friends Jiyeon had, but Jiyeon, who usually acted all cool and composed, was pretty much the same in this regard.

“...Still, make sure to tell her when she gets back that we do have vocal trainers here.”

“Yes.”

Despite that, Kang Chanyul couldn’t help but worry if Seoyeon was causing trouble somewhere else. After all, Seoyeon had a unique way of thinking that often set her apart.

While such a conversation was happening at Nova Entertainment, there was an unusual silence at Hoyeon Studio, the agency of Summer Girl.

‘Ju Seoyeon?’

Labin swallowed nervously as she looked at the girl standing before her. Of course, she knew who she was.

Wasn’t she the actress who appeared in Dream Future alongside Cha Nahyi?

‘She’s the one from The Chaser.’

Recently, she played the role of a murderer in the million-ticket-selling movie The Chaser. Thanks to that, she had quickly risen to stardom, becoming one of the top contenders in the current trend.

‘Why is she with Cha Nahyi?’

Sure, Cha Nahyi was the most popular member of Summer Girl, but to them, Nahyi was just a boring girl.

Other than being good at singing and having a pretty face, they couldn’t understand why the public liked her so much.

And yet, Cha Nahyi had brought none other than Ju Seoyeon as a guest.

‘No, no, there’s nothing to be scared of. Ju Seoyeon’s a rookie too.’

Even if she had a past as a child actor, she had a 10-year gap in her career. She was practically a rookie.

In terms of time spent in the entertainment industry, Summer Girl had been active longer. What was there to be afraid of?

“...”

As Seoyeon stared at them intently, Labin swallowed again. This girl had an intimidating presence.

Her indifferent gaze made her seem inhuman, like a doll—cold and distant.

‘But...’

Labin couldn’t just sit back and be overwhelmed.

“Oh, how cute.” “Are you a high school student?” “It must be tough, but you’re doing great~.”

The members of Summer Girl started chattering after Labin broke the ice. Their use of the word “cute” was a subtle power play, establishing their dominance.

It was their way of asserting that they were in a position to call someone else "cute."

“...”

Seoyeon just quietly looked at them in response. Her calm gaze made the chatty members of Summer Girl freeze.

It felt as if they were mice caught in front of a snake.

‘She’s got quite the aura, doesn’t she, unnie?’ ‘Then why don’t you try saying something to her?’

The members exchanged glances filled with such thoughts. Meanwhile, Seoyeon...

‘...It’s kind of embarrassing to receive compliments from strangers.’

She was simply a bit embarrassed. After all, it was the first time idols had called her cute. Maybe she should have worn something other than her school uniform.

But it was too much trouble to change.

‘Anyway...’

Seoyeon tilted her head slightly as she looked at the awkwardly frozen members of Summer Girl.

‘Nahyi unnie did say they might be a bit difficult to talk to.’

Maybe they were just like her—people who found it hard to interact with strangers. Seoyeon nodded slightly, thinking it might be her turn to take the lead in this situation.

“I came here to learn some singing from Nahyi unnie.”

Learn to sing? The eyes of the Summer Girl members narrowed at that.

An actress learning to sing?

“So, um, I’ll be borrowing the practice room for a bit. I’ve already gotten permission from the director.”

Seeing their reactions, Nahyi sighed inwardly. Through working with Seoyeon during the drama filming, she had learned that Seoyeon had a surprisingly gentle personality. So gentle, in fact, that it was hard not to worry about how she’d survive in the harsh entertainment industry.

If you had to compare her to a dog breed, she gave off the impression of a Pomeranian or a Retriever.

Because of that, Nahyi couldn’t help but worry about what might happen if Seoyeon ended up surrounded by the more aggressive and fierce members.

‘At least she has a strong presence, so they probably won’t mess with her easily.’

Seoyeon didn’t show much emotional fluctuation. Her calm, steady gaze often made people flinch, and her aura as an actress was quite strong.

‘And then there’s her manager too.’

Even after she brought Seoyeon to the agency, there had been a lot of fuss. For instance...

“Seoyeon, if you joined our agency, we’d take really good care of you. You’ve only recently signed with Nova Entertainment, right? It’s still not too late to switch.”

An actor team leader had approached her with such a proposition. Even her manager had subtly hinted that Hoyeon Studio might be a better fit than Nova Entertainment.

‘...What’s up with them?’

Nahyi knew that Hoyeon Studio had been struggling lately, but wasn’t that extremely rude? It made her face flush with embarrassment.

“Anyway, let’s go.”

Nahyi led Seoyeon to the practice room. Being an agency specialized in idols, Hoyeon had far better facilities than Nova. There were more sound devices and the equipment was top-notch.

Of course, for ordinary vocal training, there wasn’t much use for such facilities. But now that the training had begun, with the other members keeping their distance...

Unexpectedly, Nahyi turned out to be quite strict during training.

“...You’re definitely lacking in technique.”

Nahyi was one of the better singers among idols. So when Seoyeon sang without accompaniment, she couldn’t help but frown.

“You’re good at conveying emotions in the lyrics... I guess that’s because you’re an actress?”

Seoyeon laughed awkwardly at Nahyi’s remark.

‘I used to struggle with conveying emotion in my singing.’

Seoyeon’s singing ability was fairly decent by normal standards. But that’s only considering karaoke-level singing. And because she couldn’t infuse her singing with emotion, it used to sound difficult to describe.

‘Now it’s the opposite.’

It made Seoyeon realize how much effort had gone into polishing her voice for Dream Future. No wonder the viewers readily accepted the storyline where ‘Jo Harin’ was eliminated and ‘Song Soha’ advanced.

Even objectively, Song Soha outclassed Jo Harin in idol skills.

“Seoyeon, you have a good voice. So it’s best to focus on maximizing that...”

And so began Nahyi’s singing lesson.

‘Chest voice? Head voice?’

A slew of terms flew into Seoyeon’s ears. Thinking back, these were the same terms Han Dayoung had used while teaching her at the voice acting academy.

Of course, Dayoung had simplified the concepts into child-friendly terms, knowing that Seoyeon might not grasp the technical jargon.

“...Okay, let’s try it.”

“Yes.”

But Nahyi wasn’t like that. She put Seoyeon through rigorous practice, almost harshly. Not that Seoyeon minded.

With her incredible stamina, Seoyeon could keep singing endlessly without tiring. And as she watched Seoyeon, Nahyi was quietly impressed.

‘Her voice is good, and her stamina is impressive.’

She could feel Seoyeon getting stronger with each practice. It seemed like her earlier training had been solid, laying a good foundation.

But she had internalized it physically rather than mentally, so she couldn’t easily draw on it when needed.

‘She performed better during the filming.’

When filming episode 14, Seoyeon had delivered such a powerful performance that it overwhelmed Nahyi. It was because of that performance that Nahyi’s pride as an idol had been bruised.

‘She’s a bundle of talent.’

Seoyeon was, quite literally, a personification of raw talent.

“Think of singing as a form of acting.”

Nahyi explained as Seoyeon looked at her intently.

“The more you immerse yourself in and understand the lyrics, the better your singing will be. Just like how you immerse yourself in your role when acting.”

If Seoyeon could consistently do that, she would be able to deliver even better performances.

‘The person who asked Seoyeon to sing the OST probably didn’t have high expectations.’

After all, she’s an actress, right? As long as she didn’t make any glaring mistakes, they’d probably praise her. They likely chose a song that wasn’t too challenging.

But Nahyi couldn’t be satisfied with just that. After all, she had witnessed Seoyeon’s talent in episode 14.

“Oh, it’s already this late. Take a break for a moment. I have something I need to take care of.”

After some time had passed, Nahyi remembered that she had been called by the idol planning team leader earlier today. It was probably related to future activities for Summer Girl. Given that Nahyi’s popularity had soared thanks to Dream Future, there was likely something additional for her to do.

“Sigh.”

She was a bit tired, but it was better than not being popular at all. With that thought, she left the practice room.

‘It seems like Hoyeon isn’t in great shape.’

Originally, Hoyeon had been around for quite some time. But it had also been plagued by numerous incidents. For one, they were known to disband groups without hesitation if they weren’t profitable, and there was frequent controversy over favoritism.

And it seemed that the target of that favoritism was...

“Oh? You’re alone?”

She saw a group approaching Seoyeon. It was the members of Summer Girl who had backed off earlier.

They were all slender and had decent looks, but they weren’t particularly outstanding among idols. Someone like Cha Nahyi was more exceptional.

“Where’s Nahyi?” “She stepped out for a bit.”

At Seoyeon’s response, Labin chuckled.

“She sure likes to keep to herself.”

Seoyeon narrowed her eyes at that remark. She recalled the rumors about Summer Girl’s potential disbandment.

“Because of her, we couldn’t even have a proper conversation earlier. What’s she trying to hide?” “She’s probably trying to hog all the attention, isn’t she?” “So, Seoyeon, what do you like?”

The members of Summer Girl chatted around her, some of them asking rude questions. They asked about her specialties and what she was good at.

In response, Seoyeon smiled softly.

“I’m pretty good at magic.”

“...Magic?” “Do you have a coin?”

The members exchanged glances at Seoyeon’s words. A coin? Sure, they had some. It was unexpected that she’d be into magic, but it wasn’t unheard of among entertainers.

“Here.”

Labin quickly handed over a 500-won coin, and Seoyeon took it.

“I’m going to turn this into 250 won.”

“250 won?”

How could she turn 500 won into 250 won? They watched her intently.

Seoyeon held the 500-won coin between her thumb and index finger and pressed down. The coin bent in half.

“?”

The members of Summer Girl stared dumbly at the coin. Then, as they slowly turned their heads...

They saw Seoyeon smiling gently. Her red eyes, gazing at them quietly, weren’t smiling.

“Amazing, right?”

So, unless you want to be folded in half like this coin, you’d better watch yourselves. That was essentially the message. Seoyeon wasn’t in a good mood right now.

Anger.

It was a rare feeling for Seoyeon, but she was definitely experiencing it.