Chapter 108

Chapter 108

TL: KSD

People always like to rank things.

Girl groups are no exception.

Every generation of girl groups has its top 3.

However, these rankings are not decided by album sales alone, nor solely by the girl group’s skills; only the public’s perception is the truth.

Thus, a girl group ranked fourth could employ comment manipulation to pull down the third rank and claim a spot in the top 3.

This was often the case with Baekhak Entertainment.

Because they were always pushed aside by the three major entertainment companies led by artist-turned-CEOs, they always seemed to produce girl groups that lingered around the fourth rank.

But ‘Benivis’ was different.

Baek Seung-won’s ambitious project, Benivis, didn’t need such tactics. They secured their spot as one of the top 3 purely through undeniable skill and performance.

Therefore, ‘Benivis’ was like a walking trophy for Baekhak Entertainment. It was proof of the CEO’s discerning eye and a badge of honor for the company’s training system’s prowess.

This is why a girl group, barely two years after debut, became Baekhak Entertainment’s prized jewel.

Who would dare raise their voice and scold the CEO’s favorite treasures?

“I can’t take it anymore!”

But today, it seems the story is a bit different.

“Min Hyo-min, you! How long will you just keep reading books?”

“...Hmph!”

“You...! I’m confiscating all these textbooks! They’re confiscated!”

Benivis’s adorable youngest member, Min Hyo-min.

Even if you reverse it, it’s Min Hyo-min.

A second-year middle school student.

The perfect age for rebellion.

“Why? Am I not allowed to read books?”

“What are you talking about, Hyo-min!”

Min Hyo-min’s rebellious phase has overtaken Baekhak Entertainment!

EP 7 – Isomer

An idol is a comprehensive entertainer.

This means they need to learn both singing and dancing.

Mastering just one of these skills is overwhelming enough.

How can they master both?

The answer is <double the practice time>.

“Hyo-min, do you have time to be doing this? Have you finished your dance practice?”

This applies even to minors. If you want to be an idol, you must go through hellish training without exceptions, and even after becoming an idol, the hard work continues.

That grueling effort is literally done by grinding your bones. A skill that amazes people wears down the choreographer’s knee cartilage.

And Min Hyo-min was the type of person who knew how to make such bone-grinding efforts.

“I finished it all.”

“What?!”

“The choreographer even praised me for practicing a lot...”

Ultimately, Benivis’s general manager, Han Yong-su, couldn’t stop Min Hyo-min’s ruthless ‘reading’ habit.

Like a delinquent teenager, Min Hyo-min nonchalantly turned her gaze back to her book despite whatever the manager said.

And she began to read with a passion, as if indulging in every line.

As if reading was the only drug permitted by the country...

“Sigh... Sigh...”

The girl with beige hair read the book without caring that her fine hair was touching the floor of the practice room.

Manager Han Yong-su felt his heart tearing apart watching her.

How did such a gentle child end up like this...!

“Hello~ I’m the cutie pie maknae of Benivis! Even if you reverse it, I’m still Min Hyo-min! Please take care of me!’

Seeing the Min Hyo-min who used to burst out with such lovable charm and the current Min Hyo-min, it was hard to believe they were the same person.

The truth is, when idols rebel like this, there’s not much that can be done.

Labor laws are in place to protect workers, limiting adults’ working hours, let alone children’s.

The excessive exploitation of minors is strongly regulated by law, and thus the company must operate its idols based on ‘voluntary motivation’.

Of course, as always with laws, there are many loopholes.

Trainees, thinner than those of flies, volunteer for overwork to avoid being cut, and it becomes very simple to handle headstrong idols with a bit of gaslighting and a contract. That’s the reality of this industry.

However, Benivis was Baek Seung-won’s jewel, and it was the same for Manager Han Yong-su. Manager Han Yong-su couldn’t gaslight these gem-like kids...

So all Manager Han Yong-su could do was make a heartfelt appeal.

“Hyo-min!”

Min Hyo-min, engrossed in her book, barely lifted her head.

Manager Han Yong-su choked up again at the indifferent gaze that looked like a teenage daughter looking at her father.

“We...! We decided to become the best idols!”

“......”

“Dropping out of school...! Quitting middle school...! We decided to live in the practice room!”

“......”

“Have you forgotten the promise we made when we dyed our hair beige?!”

Did Manager Han Yong-su’s heartfelt appeal reach her? Min Hyo-min stood up reluctantly, looking utterly bothered.

A glimmer of hope flashed in Manager Han Yong-su’s eyes.

“Hyo-min......?”

Min Hyo-min answered with a gruff expression.

“Sigh... Fine. I won’t read books at the company then. The practice room is too noisy to read anyway...”

The camera quietly shifted angles and captured Gu Yu-na as the playful banter between the two continued.

Gu Yu-na, who had been the cute mascot of the broadcast, was now starting to become a major topic of discussion.

Inspired perhaps by ‘Log Costume Headbutting’, PD Shim Yeon-ho, who had been demanding a fashion show of costumes like deer, giraffe, and Tyrannosaurus from Gu Yu-na, now focused on her literary prowess.

Directed by the PD, the MC interviewed Gu Yu-na.

“Yu-na, you taught Mr. Hyo-min? Really?”

Gu Yu-na, wearing a full-body bear costume, peeked out her face and nodded expressionlessly.

The MC exclaimed in admiration.

“Wow! Then who taught you literature, Yu-na?”

Gu Yu-na pointed a finger and poked me.

While the MC exclaimed as written in the script,

I sighed quietly to myself.

Yes.

That was the problem.

Gu Yu-na’s teaching methods for Min Hyo-min were...

Too much infused with my own influence.

* * *

To be frank...

Gu Yu-na isn’t ‘normal.’

To elaborate carefully, it means she’s slightly off from ordinary people.

To some, Gu Yu-na’s aspect might appear as a disability or a deficiency.

But to me, that was what made her ‘special.’

Because I don’t read Gu Yu-na’s peculiarity as aggressive behavior like others do, but through her cold, indifferent literature.

There was beauty in it.

So, in my view, it was a kind of talent.

Words like psychopath or autistic can’t clearly explain Gu Yu-na’s traits. Those terms are under-researched, inaccurate, and overly tainted by the media.

Thus, the Gu Yu-na I recognize is a type of person who might find it hard to understand others, yet is internally complete.

Gu Hak-jun agreed with me, but Min Chae-won considered her daughter fortunately to be a mild case of autism that didn’t need hospitalization, and a psychopath who was overcome by education.

But Gu Yu-na is just Gu Yu-na.

I liked her literature.

But at some point, it felt like it had disappeared.

“How’s... this?”

Gu Yu-na handed me her work as if handing in homework.

It was a short story she had written with Min Hyo-min.

The plot, theme, development, characters, ending...

“...It’s good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s good, but...”

Yes. It lacked nothing. It was perfect by my standards.

After all, it was written in my style.

But this wasn’t a piece I had written; it was Gu Yu-na’s.

That meant, at some point, Gu Yu-na had started writing in my style.

The novels of Gu Yu-na I knew contained the kind of innovation that made me exclaim right after finishing, “What kind of novel is this!”

What followed was predictable. We fought over it. Through that, we grew. That was the nature of Gu Yu-na’s novels.

But... this...

Wasn’t this too tainted with my own color?

“...”

Recently, the ‘unease’ I felt had gradually become clearer.

The name of that emotion was ‘regret’.

Of course, I don’t think it’s bad that Gu Yu-na has matured early and fits in with others. Making friends from a young age, learning how to deal with people, and blending healthily into society is naturally a good thing. It would likely be a happier path for Gu Yu-na.

But...

For whatever reason, it would be a pity for Gu Yu-na’s literature to disappear from this world like this.

Then there is one way.

“...Hey, Yu-na.”

Just as I taught Gu Yu-na my way of writing, this time, I should teach her the ‘Gu Yu-na style of literature.’

The literature of that time, of Gu Yu-na, still existed within me.

Feeling a dark impulse within me squirm tumultuously, I opened my mouth.

It was Gu Yu-na herself who had implanted that darkness, so I had no particular hesitations.

“Why don’t we write a novel together?”

Yu-na asked without hesitation.

“Sure. What’s the theme?”

“Human deconstruction.”

“...”

Yu-na paused for a moment. Then, after pondering deeply, she smiled subtly, visible only to me.

“Sounds good.”

*****

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