In the CEO’s office at Luna Entertainment.

Normally, it would only be CEO Jeong Do-chul in this room. However, after a long conversation the previous night, Lee Joon and Lee Gun-yeol had joined him. The reason they were meeting Jeong in his official capacity rather than in a casual setting was simple: they had a favor to ask from him as the CEO of Luna Entertainment, not just as their close friend.

"Look at you two, acting all high and mighty now that you're doing well. Back in the day, you couldn't even look me in the eye."

"Hyung, please, just listen to what we have to say first. We didn’t come to see you early in the morning for nothing."

With that, Lee Joon played an MP3 file from his laptop. Jeong paused his commentary and began listening to the rough recording of Double Lee’s new song.

After about three minutes, the playback ended, and Jeong's lips finally parted to speak.

"Never mind you two, but where on earth did you find that vocalist?"

The question referred to the ethereal female vocal that had captivated Jeong’s ears during the chorus. Lee Gun-yeol’s response to this was almost like a riddle.

"You know her, hyung."

"Look here, Gun-yeol, I’m not in the mood for riddles with grown men at my age."

Frowning, Jeong implicitly told him to drop the riddles. With a light sigh, Lee Gun-yeol eventually revealed the vocalist’s identity.

"It’s Ha-eun."

"You’re talking about that actress, right?"

"Who else would we mean by Ha-eun?"

Jeong met the unwavering gaze of Lee Gun-yeol, who was known for his honesty, especially when it came to music. It seemed the captivating voice indeed belonged to Ha-eun.

But the bigger question was why Double Lee had chosen to play this recording for Jeong. Jeong had a suspicion, but he decided to hear them out first.

"You remember, hyung, how you teased us about volunteering to train a kid back then?"

"I wasn’t teasing. It’s just that it’s unusual to teach someone for years over one music video."

"To be honest, we had other intentions. Of course, we were grateful to Ha-eun, but there was more to it."

What followed was the true reason why Double Lee had continued teaching Ha-eun for so long.

"Just like you raised us years ago, we wanted to guide Ha-eun—to mold her into a singer who could perfectly match our style."

"She’d probably be disappointed to hear that."

"But she was the one who asked to learn music first. It’s a win-win."

They could have found plenty of skilled singers if they’d wanted, but they’d never found anyone who could capture Double Lee’s unique vibe as well as Ha-eun did. 

"So, all we could teach her was our style."

"Who’s complaining?"

"No, it’s just...you’ve been looking at us like we’re trash this whole time."

Instead of compromising with a close-enough voice, they decided to create a perfect match from scratch. This was only possible because Ha-eun had initially asked them to teach her.

"Hyung, don’t you think Ha-eun’s voice fits our songs better than any featuring singer we’ve used before?"

It was only natural, after all. They had personally refined and shaped Ha-eun’s voice over a decade, making it more compatible with their music than any other voice in the world.

"Then why don’t you just ask her directly? Why are you holding onto my coattails?"

"Well, we tried, but...she kept mentioning something about a ‘red pill’ and seemed reluctant."

"Red pill? Is she sick?"

"No, not a real pill...actually, we don’t really know what she meant."

Finally, Double Lee explained their true purpose.

"Hyung, could you try convincing her for us? Coming from you, she might actually give it some thought."

"So, you’re pleading with an old man just because you can’t persuade one girl. Really, you’re doing great."

With a wave and a dismissive gesture, Jeong indicated he understood and sent them on their way, telling them to email the recording to him. 

Once he was alone, memories of Ha-eun began bubbling up in Jeong’s mind, surfacing briefly like soap bubbles before popping.

There was the memory of when he took Ha-eun to meet Director Kwon Jong-hyuk for *The Neighbor Uncle*. Then, when she landed the role of Kim Ji-ah and won the New Actress Award at the end-of-year ceremony.

A few years later, she starred in the high-profile drama *My Love From the Stars*, which became wildly popular. The message boards at UBS Broadcasting nearly overflowed with posts demanding that Han Yoo-hwa be revived.

<Han Yoo-hwa’s memory is enough. If she says so, I’ll hold my tongue. Just give her a happy life.>
‘...This reads so awkwardly. Must’ve been written by a foreigner using a translator.’

He remembered the praise Ha-eun received for her convincing performance, which had averted that crisis. Then, there was her dangerous escape scene from *Don’t Stop People*, which was still talked about.

And finally, there was the recent memory of Ha-eun visiting him to discuss another dream she had.

‘So, there’s no contractual issue with the Fantasia audition, right?’

‘For now, no. But I’d advise against it if you plan to slack off on your acting career.’

‘I’ll keep working hard as an actress. But, by the way, if any roles involving cross-dressing come up, could you let me know?’

‘I can, but...why cross-dressing?’

‘It’d be fun, and I think I’d stand out.’

This provided him a reason to call Ha-eun to the CEO’s office. Coincidentally, he’d recently come across a role involving cross-dressing.

So, as soon as lunch hour rolled around, he contacted Ha-eun’s manager, Joo Jung-yoon, and asked her to bring Ha-eun to his office. When Ha-eun arrived right at 4 p.m., Jeong greeted her with a choice.

"I have some good news and some news that could either be exciting or stressful. Which would you like to hear first?"

It was his way of giving her the option between the cross-dressing role and the Double Lee featuring offer. In a cautious voice, Ha-eun opted to hear the latter first.

"Then, I’ll be blunt. I want you to help those guys."

Jeong began by explaining how Double Lee had visited him that morning, shared their recording, and even voiced their desire to make Ha-eun debut as a singer. He asked Ha-eun why she was reluctant to pursue a singing career.

"It doesn’t seem like you look down on singers like some actors do. So, you must have your own reasons, right?"

"...Yes."

"Just out of curiosity, does it have anything to do with that *Fantasia* thing?"

With a nod, Ha-eun confirmed. Jeong paused to think, then spoke again.

"You mentioned before that the *Fantasia* audition wasn’t for you but for a character named ‘Dia,’ right?"

"Yes."

"Then, what if we created one more character? A fictional persona who could feature in Double Lee’s songs?"

This suggestion offered Ha-eun a way to fulfill Double Lee’s request without increasing her own fame. Technically, it wasn’t Ha-eun’s public image that needed to stay low-key, but rather her voice’s.

Turning down a proposal crafted by the CEO himself was difficult. Besides, the *Fantasia* audition hadn’t even begun, while Jeong’s suggestion was an immediate issue that needed solving.

"I’ll...talk it over with the guys."

With that vague response, Ha-eun managed to navigate her way through the choice in front of her. She then cautiously asked about the "good news" Jeong had mentioned.

"Oh, that. There’s a cross-dressing role you wanted—this one’s even a lead."

To her surprise, the role was in the drama she had told Da-yeon she wanted to be part of.

"That’d be *Moonlight Drawn by Clouds*. I hear it’s based on a novel."

"Oh, yes. I’ve read it a few times. It’s really entertaining."

"So, you’d love to be in such a fascinating story?"

"...Yes."

They ended the discussion by adding her name to the candidate list for the lead female role in *Moonlight Drawn by Clouds*. However, Jeong couldn’t shake off one concern and decided to mention it.

"The director is known for being particular. I’ve heard he insists on the lead performing all the swordplay scenes themselves and even makes his casting decisions based on those scenes."

In other words, if Ha-eun wanted this lead role, she’d have to learn action sequences typical of historical dramas. For her, this was a golden opportunity.

"So, I’ll need to join an action school, right? And combine rigorous exercise with training all day?"

Which also meant she could resume the workouts she hadn’t done for four days.

"Are you sure it won’t be too difficult?"

"No, I could start at an action school tomorrow! Actually, I really want to."

"...?"

Instead, Ha-eun eagerly requested to attend action school. Jeong was a bit taken aback by her enthusiasm.

In a way, it made sense. Action schools were notoriously tough and not an ideal place for a young actress like Ha-eun. Why would she be so thrilled to go to such a place?

Yet her determination seemed genuine, so Jeong reluctantly agreed to introduce her to an action school he knew

. Shortly afterward, Ha-eun made another request.

"Um, CEO, could I borrow a practice room? Just for a short while, maybe 10 minutes?"

"Sure, we have plenty of empty practice rooms. Planning to shoot a TikTok or something?"

"What? Oh, no. I just wanted to record a dance cover of an idol routine for myself."

She didn’t mention that the dance video would be submitted for the *Fantasia* audition. Nor did she reveal that *Fantasia* was looking for videos showing applicants’ "talent."

Some of the VTubers she remembered had once been idol trainees, so she thought submitting a video that mirrored their idol-like image would score her extra points.

Moreover, if she submitted the idol song recording she’d practiced so diligently, she was confident she’d stand out among the many *Fantasia* audition hopefuls.