Translator: Synopsis

  “JinSeo is good at acting, aren’t you?”


  “…Thank you.”


  KangYoon lightly said to brighten the mood, but Min JinSeo was frozen stiff.

  “Were you practicing alone? If I remember correctly, acting classes are not here.”


  “This…”


  Min JinSeo avoided KangYoon’s eyes.

  The place Min JinSeo was in now was not a practice room for practicing acting, but a dance practice room.

  When KangYoon saw her trembling so much, KangYoon said in a softer voice.

  “Why? Is it something difficult to say?”


  “It’s nothing like that…. I’m sorry!!”


  Min JInSeo suddenly lowered her head abruptly and kept repeating the word sorry.

  KangYoon couldn’t understand.

  “What’s up?”


  “They said I shouldn’t practice acting for a while so… I’m sorry. However, I felt I would lose my senses if I don’t practice for long… I’m sorry.”


  “Wait a minute. To not practice acting?”


  What the heck does this mean…


  At the words he suddenly heard, KangYoon was confused. However, he was able to know soon.

  “The trainers said to all the trainees to focus on being selected for the girl group… I’m sorry. I intended to do it for a short time, just a short time, but I…”


  The point was that.

  An order to focus on dancing and singing for the selection for the girl group fell whether it was the acting classes or the singer classes.

  It was an adverse effect of carrying out the orders too faithfully.

  And she was found practicing acting by Kangyoon, who was responsible for selecting the girl group members. So she was on her nerves.

  KangYoon sighed after understanding the situation.

  ‘A company always become so single-minded if it becomes too big.’


  It was good that he received cooperation after becoming a hot icon, but there were adverse effects.

  To think they want the acting team appears on a singers’ audition.

  Of course, there is a possibility that it may turn out well…


  KangYoon felt sorry now that he felt that he spread damage on her.

  “Finish what you did just now.”


  “Sorry?”


  “You don’t need to match every practice for the girl group. Practice pronunciation while biting a pen, and keep reading scripts too. Every day.”


  Now that she heard, not a scolding, but encouragement from the person responsible for selecting members of the girl group, the one who was confused was Min JinSeo.

  She blinked her big eyes.

  “May I… do that?”


  “You don’t need to follow the company’s orders even while ruining your talent.”


  “Isn’t there perhaps a demerit…”


  “We aren’t that small minded. If the company does that, then come to me. Didn’t you want to become an actress more than a singer?”


  Min JinSeo nodded her head a little.

  With exceptional looks, she was scouted on the street unlike the latest trend, but she liked acting more than singing.

  However, the company pushed singers more than actors.

  Her shy personality and her position as a trainee made her not able to speak anything about the situation.

  However.

  This person, who was in charge of the girl group, ironically gave her a clear path.

  “I understand.”


  “Don’t get pushed around and do what you will. I will talk to them to stop preventing the kids from the acting side from acting.”


  “Thank you.”


  Min JinSeo nodded from the bottom of her heart.

  Was there anyone who became her strength like this in this company?

  No one said to her to become an actress when she was unsure of her identity.

  However, he showed her her path.

  “I will do my best.”


  “Yes. I look forward to the day I read your debut report. Then see you later.”


  “Have a safe trip.”


  KangYoon left Min JinSeo’s practice room with delight.

  He shook his shoulders while heading home, with delight of having met a future top actress.

  ***

  The selection of trainees was smooth.

  KangYoon received full support from the company, and he came down to the practice rooms once in 2 days to look at the practice.

  Normally, an audition to select the candidates would be carried out, but KangYoon didn’t do that. It was thanks to his ability to see the light from the trainee’s practicing.

  The trainees with ability or attractive dancing or good singing – all gave out white light. It definitely had differences to the standard white light.

  Even so, KangYoon, who thought that it wouldn’t be good to see once, came down to see the trainees multiple times and thanks to that, he could differentiate properly.

  “Everyone’s here.”


  KangYoon’s office.

  The six selected girls were frozen stiff. However, excitement could be seen on their frozen figures.

  Girls were girls.

  “Nice to meet you. I will greet you formally. I’m Lee KangYoon.”


  “Good day to you, sir.”


  The girls all stood up from their seats. KangYoon told them to sit down, and he sat on the front. Then he moved onto topic.

  “Starting now, you girls and I will start a marathon to become singers. The first stop will be the debut, and the second stop will be the point of time you girls call ‘hit.’ The next aim would be going overseas. Anyway, until this stage, we need to prepare ourselves well, and we need to encourage each other as a team. The point you girls need to remember is that we are a team, one team. Understand?”


  “Yes.”


  “Questions?”


  KangYoon’s words weren’t long. They would get to know each other and become more friendly while working in the future anyway. Even if he said a lot to them now, they wouldn’t feel it on their skin.

  The first question came from Seo HanYu.

  “Th… then are we practicing together from now on?”


  “You’re correct. Starting from now, you will have different schedules. It will be different from the other trainees. Next.”


  Jung MInAh raised her hand for the second.

  “What type of practice will we be mainly doing?”


  “The 6 of you don’t have any experience working together. We will train with teamwork as the basis. And you will be trained individually to match yourselves. After training, you will have a personal interview with me according to the evaluation results.”


  “Ueh…”


  Jung MinAh showed detestation. To think it’s a personal interview… An expression of hate from the bottom of her heart could be seen on her face. She came to her senses after a while, but it was too late. The trainees were laughing, and KangYoon was also smiling.

  “You just need to achieve good results. Next.”


  The next question came from a girl with short hair.

  “Oh, it’s SamSoon. What is it?”


  “Pfft.”


  When KangYoon mentioned the trainee’s name, everybody laughed. (SamSoon sounds countryside-ish). However, the trainee called SamSoon confidently straightened her back and started asking the question.

  “My question is, ya know, do we hafta go home packing if we fail this?”


  “Pffft!!”


  With a savory Chungcheong Province accent, the leisure from Lee SamSoon’s words made everyone laugh in the first meeting, where they should be tense. Of course, KangYoon was an exception.

  “No. You will be together with me until the end.”


  “Ya~. You’re such a cool person, eh. I just nee’ta practice well?”


  “Of course.”


  Until the end. Together.

  KangYoon emphasized this point. I will take responsibility for you no matter what happens. So you do your best and follow me – KangYoon emphasized again and again. Thanks to the savory accent, the mood was lightened, but the point was delivered to them.

  “Any other questions?”


  “Are we supposed to use our dorms as it is now?”


  It was Christie An’s question. Some girls lived in dorms and some who commuted from home.

  “A notice will be sent out soon. From now, everybody will live together. Not a dorm, but we will prepare a room for you.”


  Then Han JooYeon spoke.

  “What if it’s hard to live together?”


  “I will have to look for another person.”


  KangYoon cut it sharp. There was no compromise on this point. Living together was a vital element. Han JooYeon nodded her head.

  Other than that, KangYoon explained how the practice would be carried out, what they needed for now and what their personal schedules were. The trainees all felt unrealistic since it was the first time they received so much personal care even though they did receive some as trainees.

  “Tomorrow is a vacation. Please rest a lot tomorrow and work hard from the day after. Please take care of me.”


  After the trainees left, KangYoon started writing the report to give to the higher-ups.

  ‘The members for EDDIOS changed from the ‘original.’ Han JooYeon, Jung MinAh, and Christie An are unchanged, but Lee SamSoon, Ailee Jung, and Seo HanYu are entirely new members. No, can we even call this EDDIOS? I didn’t select the other EDDIOS members. Am I alright to take this challenge?’


  While watching the trainees to select the members, of course, he saw the members of the ‘original’ EDDIOS. However, he saw trainees who shone brighter than those original members. KangYoon had to choose. To go the safe path or to adventure. However. KangYoon selected the trainees by the light they gave off, and he decided to trust it.

  ‘Lee SamSoon. It’s a wonder who the scouter is, where on earth did this person scout a trainee like her from? Disregarding her accent, perhaps due to her practicing Taekkyeon (A Korean martial art), her dancing is exceptional. She looks too much like a boy now, but if she grew her hair and wore proper clothing, then she’d have fixed fans who would never stray away from her.’


  The trainers kept pointing out her accent, but it didn’t get fixed easily. SamSoon had a boyish, but at the same time, a girlish double attractiveness, but when her accent came out, everyone collapsed. Thanks to that, the trainers also gave harsh points in star quality. However, KangYoon’s thoughts were different, and he selected her.

  ‘Ailee Jung. A daughter of an affluent household, and a crybaby who never experienced pains. The trainers also tried to stop me from selecting her with all their might. However, what was that light I saw?’


  Her dance was horrible. And her singing too wasn’t that eye-catching. However, sometimes, when she practiced, her light was brighter than the other trainees, and there were times when it looked more beautiful. KangYoon didn’t understand this situation no matter how he wracked his brains, so he hesitated a lot when selecting her. When he calculated the advantages and disadvantages from the evaluation, it wasn’t that bad. Her interpersonal skills were also excellent. KangYoon selected Ailee Jung after a long time of hesitation.

  ‘Seo HanYu. A stereotypical hard worker. I think it’s possible to image-make her to give off a friendliness to the public saying ‘you can become like this if you try hard.’ It might become fancy too.’


  KangYoon wrote his reasons for his selection while writing the report. Of course, he excluded the part about the light. If this report goes up to President Lee HyunJi and passes the transaction, then the project begins for real.

  ‘I will create a singer with my own hands…’


  The more he thought about it, KangYoon was excited. In the ‘past,’ it was a chain of failure. He was a minus planner who ruined every singer he put his hands on. However, he would never become like that again. KangYoon resolved and resolved again that there was no minus anymore.

  ***