At the start, it resembled the tone of a music box.

  A feeble, somewhat trembling voice.

  And yet a timbre so clear and bright that it made people wonder how a human could have such a clear voice.

  Perhaps that was because she wasn’t a human. Or perhaps because it was the voice of a child that was destined to be immersed in receiving love from a crowd of people.

  However, the clear voice was filled with concern. She was noticeably nervous as she carefully let out word by word and tone by tone, that it concerned the onlookers. Gyeoul similarly turned nervous and clenched her hands.

  It was like an extremely clear and beautiful lake but ripples could be felt from the voice. When the kids were starting to feel slightly doubtful,

  “…”


  Kaeul stopped singing. Even that appeared like a part of the performance so the kids waited for a bit, but the song didn’t continue.

  “Oi.”


  “Nn?”


  “What is that. Why did you stop?”


  “N, nn? Why!?”


  “Why are you stopping in the middle of a song.”


  Kaeul returned an awkward smile to Yeorum’s question.

  “But I haven’t sung past that before…?”


  “What? So you stopped there every single time?”


  “Nn.”


  “Even at the karaoke?”


  “Nn…”


  “Ayish. You joking? Isn’t that why that bi*ch called Yuran or whatever looked down on you? You need to finish a song after starting it.”


  “Is that how it is…? Uhh… but…”


  “What ‘but’. Do it again. From the start.”


  “Uaaahh… I, I…!”


  Kaeul covered her face with her hands and crouched.

  “I can’t do it. I want to hide…”


  Yeorum clicked her tongue in response while Bom found her cute and smiled.

  “Go on Kaeul. That was quite good,” said Bom.

  “Uh? Really…?”


  “Nn. It was a shame that you stopped right when it was about to get even better. You should’ve sung a bit more. Why did you stop there?”


  “That’s where I always stopped…”


  “Always? Even when you first sang it?”


  “Nn…”


  “Why did you stop there when you were first singing it?”


  “It’s nothing but… Yuran said I was trembling too much, and said I should do it again later…”


  Kaeul’s words caused everyone to go silent. When Yeorum opened her mouth, she gathered the eyes of everyone else. She tried to pick the right words but the only words that appeared in her mind were bad ones so she closed her mouth.

  “Let’s try again,” Yu Jitae suggested.

  After gloomily giving a nod, Kaeul readied herself once again. And then, after a sigh, she slowly started singing again.

  It was a clear and bright voice, but the nervousness was slightly greater than before. She was like a blade dancer dancing on a bladetop. Beautiful but unstable; tranquil but not calm.

  Her voice quivered, concerned about making a mistake. Watching that, Gyeoul also became more nervous and with a pair of uneasy eyes she grabbed onto Yu Jitae’s sleeves.

  Kaeul’s eyes distractedly glancing at the ground caused the audience to be even more nervous. Once she neared the part where she had stopped before, she closed her eyes, no longer able to endure the nervousness.

  In that instant, the essence of the song flipped. The voice resembling a music box soon turned into the clear timbre of a string instrument. It sounded rather raw because it wasn’t polished, but her voice started drawing a picture inside the heads of the listeners.

  The lyrics continued

  Even if the road is rugged and steep,

  Even if only the cliff awaits you,

  Go on.

  If you go on,

  “Some time or other…”


  In the distant future, some time or other…


  Gyeoul’s hand clenching on Yu Jitae’s sleeves slowly relaxed, but the Regressor found it to be a shame.

  The naturally rising timbre went high and clear but didn’t give the feeling of a hail like BY. Her voice exploding forth at a high note was powerful but didn’t give off the feeling of a cannonball like BY.

  Her gentle whisper after a rupture of emotions was enough to shake the fingertips of some listeners but didn’t have the power to make 44,000 visitors shed tears at a stadium.

  However, it seemed that the Regressor was the only one who thought like that.

  After the song came to an end, Bom, Yeorum and Gyeoul all clapped. Compliments like ‘Not bad,’ and ‘That was good,’ were shared.

  Kaeul opened her eyes that had been closed shut and asked carefully.

  “W, w, was that okay?”


  Yu Jitae replied while touching the back of his neck.

  “It was good. Nice job.”


  “…I also, think it was good. Very good.”


  After Yu Jitae replied, Gyeoul gave a clap.

  “W, what about you unni? Why, why aren’t you saying anything?”


  “Say what.”


  “Nn…? You’re not swearing?”


  “Didn’t you hear me? I said you did well.”


  “Nnn?”


  She couldn’t understand the situation after hearing Yeorum’s acknowledgement.

  Kaeul had never considered herself a good singer till now. Because of that, she was rather befuddled by the reaction and in fact couldn’t believe them.

  Maybe I’m not good? Ahjussi and Gyeoul always treat me well, and Yeorum-unni is a bit strange in the head right?

  The most honest one has always been Bom-unni.

  Bom was silent, but when Kaeul looked at her with a worried gaze, she touched her lips and replied with an indifferent expression.

  “Kaeul. Did you ever have an unrequited love for someone when you were in Askalifa? Or did your loved one die?”


  “Nn? No? Why…?”


  “You don’t? That’s weird. Because you were nervous, your singing was just so-so.”


  “Un, un.”


  “But when you were singing, you…”


  After carefully choosing her words, Bom awkwardly opened her mouth.

  “…You sounded like a wife that lost her husband.”


  *

  Was it that good?

  The Regressor didn’t have a discerning ear and thus couldn’t really tell. The only feeling he got was that it was lacking in comparison to BY.

  He showed the video to Team Leader Yong Dohee and she also gave a fairly positive reaction.

  “…”


  After the song, Team Leader Yong gave a bright smile.

  “Is it okay?”


  “Wah, it’s great. So she did know how to sing.”


  Kaeul was shaking so much and the video made that even more apparent so Yu Jitae was slightly worried but fortunately, it was met with a good reception.

  “Her voice is really pretty. I knew she would be good.”


  “Is that enough for her to get on stage?”


  “Yes. I need confirmation from the director but this should be enough in my opinion.”


  After saying that, Team Leader Yong added.

  “But while her voice and tone are all great, it’s a little bit unstable and that’s a bit of a shame.”


  “Ah.”


  “Well, I think it was fine even if we take that into account. She will be fine 100%. I’ll give you another call after getting the approval of the director.”


  Yu Jitae returned to the dormitory and relayed her words to the kids – that it wasn’t certain but would most likely be fine.

  “R, really!?”


  Relying on the certainty of the team leader, they started creating the baby chicken mask as well. This one looked completely different from the one that Clone 1 was using in America.

  “That’s awesome, Kaeul. Really great.”


  “Wasn’t gonna go to the festival, but I guess I have to go.”


  Bom and Yeorum congratulated her and they ordered fried chicken that night for a celebration. However, even with her favourite fried chicken in front, Kaeul was stupefied and couldn’t really taste the chicken.

  A few days passed by.

  Kaeul hummed by herself in her room and practised singing.

  It was a holiday and the kids were always at home so they listened to her sing from the side and helped her with the practice. While having dinner and enjoying a delicious snack, the conversation topic always shifted to the firework festival.

  These days, they always chatted about Kaeul at night.

  At noon, Kaeul had gone to the society meeting for a bit and seemed to have chatted with Jung Yuran there. Apparently, things didn’t go the way she wanted it to and she complained to her unnis. Hearing that, Yeorum made a serious expression and told Kaeul to replay that situation.

  “Do I have to…?”


  “Of course you do. Or else how do we know exactly what’s happening?”


  Bom showed her agreement with a nod.

  Kaeul rolled her eyes around and unwillingly closed her eyes. Then, she recalled her vivid memories of the past.

  By the time she opened her eyes again, there was a somewhat fierce look on her eyes.

  “…Oh my, did I? I must have mistaken the date.”


  Kaeul composedly smiled and imitated someone.

  “But the way you’re putting it makes it sound weird.”


  She threw a glance to the side.

  “It sounds as if, I told you the wrong date on purpose to make you eat shi*.”


  Then, she gave a radiant smile.

  That was the end and Yeorum was the first one to react. She seemed to have recalled someone from that smile and suddenly grabbed Kaeul by the collar.

  “Aoh, this little bi*ch. You smiling?”


  “Uwahh…! It’s me! Kaeul…!”


  “I know.”


  “Why? Why are you mad? What did Yuran’s words sound like?”


  Wearing a scowl on her face, Yeorum placed a salt shaker and a pepper shaker on the table.

  “Look. You’re salt, and that b*tch is pepper.”


  “O, okay.”


  “Pepper said that to salt when there were people around, yeah.”


  “I guess?”


  “So she said that on the outside while being conscious of other people, while implying that you’re tactless and rude.”


  Yeorum picked the pepper shaker up and pushed salt with it. The salt shaker soon fell.

  Astonished, Kaeul turned towards Bom but Bom also returned a nod.

  “Whoa…”


  She became disheartened.

  “I really didn’t know that… I thought we were friends…”


  Yu Jitae, who was sitting next to them, touched the back of his neck. At their school, Bom was uninterested in forming relationships with other people while Yeorum only knew how to go forward. Therefore, the two of them rarely ever got in a strife with others.

  However, Kaeul who formed several friendships was in a way destined to have non-violent conflicts like other cadets. In situations like this, the other kids would be better at giving her advice than Yu Jitae.

  “You know what.”


  Yeorum opened her mouth with a fairly serious look on her face.

  “You need to know how to get angry.”


  “Nn?”


  “You said that you were put in a bad mood when she said something strange.”


  “Yeah…”


  “Then freakin’ ask them what the fuc* is wrong with them. Otherwise, those human guys and bi*ches will all look down on you even more. If something is weird, you need to address it and you need to get angry when you must. Being depressed by yourself is a damn wasteful thing to do. Isn’t it?”


  “But getting angry is bad, right…? I don’t like emotional fights.”


  “She hurt you first.”


  “Even then…”


  “Oi. Yu Kaeul, you retard.”


  Yeorum said with a frown.

  “You. Listen to me.”


  “Nn…”


  “If one person definitely has to get hurt, then don’t become the victim. Be the assailant instead.”


  “…”


  “I can’t stand you becoming a victim somewhere.”


  Her words caused Kaeul to close her mouth. Kaeul had a complicated look on her face.

  “I thought, we were friends…” she murmured.

  That was when Yu Jitae’s phone rang.

  “Guys. The PR team,” he said and the kids turned silent in response. Yu Jitae changed the call to speaker mode as they listened to Team Leader Yong’s voice leave the phone.

  – We got the confirmation! The Director liked it a lot!

  “Ohh. That’s good, Kaeul…!”


  “That’s good.”


  Bom and Yeorum praised her left and right. Kaeul’s disheartened look slowly dissipated and she blinked her eyes with a brighter expression.

  – Ah but you see, Mister Jitae. There’s actually a problem.

  “A problem?”


  – Yes yes… Cadet Kaeul sang ‘Some time or other’, right? And that was also what you applied to the song contest with.

  “It was.”


  – That song happened to overlap with another participant’s song.

  Hearing that, Yu Jitae turned to Kaeul.

  After going, ‘Uhh?’ for a second, Kaeul turned to Yeorum.

  Yeorum was the one that told her to go with this song, and the reason she suggested this particular piece was because it was Jung Yuran’s favourite song.

  And Jung Yuran, who was aspiring to become a singer, had also applied to the Masked Singing Contest.

  – Because the performance is all in all, a contest, we can’t have overlapping songs. Since that’s how it is, can Cadet Kaeul change to a different song by any chance?

  “Have you talked to the other participant already?”


  – Yes yes. I actually contacted them first, and they said they can’t change it.

  “I understand. Please wait a little bit.”


  After turning the watch over to silent mode, he asked Kaeul.

  “What do you want to do. Do you want to change to a different song?”


  The disheartened Kaeul widened her eyes.

  “Umm, I… uhh…”


  Suddenly, she turned to Yeorum as if she remembered something and soon bit her lips.

  The whole room was silent for some time and Kaeul’s regular breaths were the only source of sound. It was unclear what she was thinking of, but a small flicker of anger flashed across her expression that had always been bright.

  She appeared to have decided on something as her indecisiveness vanished.

  “I don’t want to change…”


  Her aura changed. “That’s more like it,” said Yeorum with a bright smile on her face.

  Yu Jitae cancelled the silent mode and relayed her decision. He said, ‘Sorry, but we don’t want to change’, and hearing that, Yong Dohee sounded slightly flustered as she then talked to someone else for quite some time. The word, ‘Director’ was heard in the background.

  – Ah, sorry about that. That took longer than I thought.

  “That’s alright.”


  – We will do a rehearsal and the director will listen to both songs in person before choosing the better singer for the performance. Would that be okay?

  There was around a week left until the festival.

  “But isn’t the rehearsal next week? If someone has to change the song, they won’t have enough time to prepare for the next song.”


  – Ah yes. So because of that, we wanted to do another rehearsal.

  “Another one.”


  – Yes yes. There’s actually two more participants with overlapping songs. We’re calling them over right now, because we wanted to decide by today.

  In other words…


  – Can you take the mask and come right now?