-Things will pop up like landmines once she arrives in Korea. Although I don’t know what this is about, I’ll let you know.

We hung up. I sat there rigidly for a few minutes before getting up. I heard a commotion from outside the waiting room. Busy footsteps and voices pulled me back to reality. This wasn’t a good time to be lost in my thoughts.

I put away thoughts about Son Chaeyoung and my foresight ability for now.

Then I went to the girls who were waiting for me.

*

“Hello, we are Neptune!”

Cheers erupted in the crowd. Maybe it was because of the overwhelming number of cheering men, but their spirit was incredible. It was like seeing a charging elephant shake the ground.

‘I’m Lee Taehee.’ ‘I’m Im Seoyoung.’ The cheers grew louder as each member introduced themselves. I guessed this back when we were surrounded by people and couldn’t move, but their reactions were more heated than ever. It was completely boiling.

Lee Taehee settled Im Seoyoung, whose smile hung up to her ears, back down. Four figures took their position under the misty stage lights. The silence was short-lived. The rhythmical introduction drastically raised the audience’s expectations.

At that moment, they were blinding.

I watched their performance from below the stage. Although I had to wear a hat and a mask, I could feel the audience’s reaction with my skin. Also, I wanted to see them, not from the side or the back, but right here.

I wanted to see each of them radiate their presence like they were each under a spotlight.

The audience loudly sang along with them and shouted Neptune and their names.

Satisfaction bloomed in my chest. I laughed quietly.

The scheduled twenty minutes passed, and their extra performance began.

The heated didn’t cool and continued to build. A few hardcore Babel fans protested, bringing up the schedule, but their commotion was insignificant. They couldn’t garner a single ounce of attention from the wild crowd.

Neptune’s on-the-spot performance was so successful that I was worried for nothing.

Team Leader Yoon also looked relieved as he approached me. He showered me with thanks and praised Neptune.

“Chief, with their ability to mobilize the audience, I think you’ll be able to sell concert tickets?”

“A concert?”

“Yes, when will Neptune have a solo concert?”

A solo concert.

Just the mention of that deeply weighed down on me.

Although boy groups proceeded with solo concerts once they gained sufficient popularity because of their fandom, the meaning behind this word was different for girl groups, whose fandom was usually less active. I had thought that it would be difficult to sell a Neptune solo concert unless we sold it under Lee Songha’s name.

I slowly looked back at the stage before saying,

“I don’t think it’ll be too long.”

“Babel members really want to show you all a great performance, but they are just not quite ready yet. This event was made possible with your hard-earned tuition, so of course, you need to see their perfect performance, right? Right?”

The host spoke slyly, but the front row’s reaction was cold.

The back rows were quiet because Neptune had heated the mood, but their complaints might spread like cancer cells if the mood degrades. The audience’s passion and enthusiasm cooled down as though they were being doused in the cold rain as the host’s remarks grew longer.

And behind the stage…

“We-we’ll be on our way!”

“Girls, take deep breaths! Deep breaths! Stay calm. Think that you are late into your pregnancies!”

“They are high schoolers, dummy.”

The exhausted Neptune members each said some words of encouragement as they surrounded the goldfish. I could hear the bustling audience from here. The four members of Pretty Girls looked nervous as they were about to go on stage, but they were still courageous.

The goldfish, who spun around Chief Lee Taeshin, looked up at me.

“Chief, we’ll have a problem-free delivery.”^{1}

“Uh, yeah.”

Soon, the host’s voice said,

“A lot of people have been interested in these people these days. They are going to start their official performance right here! The stars of a sudden, special performance!”

The host pumped up the crowd and as it seemed like it was about to burst, he shouted,

“Pretty Girls!”

I saw the goldfish go out on stage and went back down the stage as well.

I examined the audience’s reactions.

“Who? Who are they?”

“Pretty Girls, man. But why are they here all of a sudden?”

“They weren’t on the schedule, right? What the heck? Are they an add-on to Neptune?”

“Add-on? Can’t you be more considerate considering there are people actually excited about this development?”

“They seemed fine. Are they going to perform the song they made on the broadcast?”

I slowly walked past them as they talked.

Soon, I heard a woman’s voice, who seemed to be Babel’s fan.

“A film crew is filming this! We already have bad rumors running around about how we are thoughtless and hardcore because we have a lot of young kids in our fandom. If we slip up here, we’ll be criticized to death! We need to take the lead before they cause any trouble!”

Just then, the Pretty Girls goldfish, who came out in a line, bowed deeply.

“Hello!”

Their voices trembled slightly, but the moment they shouted their clear greeting, an ear-piercing cheer, no, an ardent scream erupted from the direction of Babel’s fandom. The reaction was so incredible, it shocked not only the people around them but Pretty Girls as well.

Their reactions gradually spread out and behind them.

Under their deafening cheers, Pretty Girls shouted their chant in a teary voice.

“We are Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Girls!”

*

Lee Kwanwoo handed me the phone.

“Chief, there’s a call for you. It’s Chief Lee Bongjoon.”

“Thanks.”

I wiped away the cream on my cheek and neck and answered the phone.

Kim Hyunjo and the Team 3 Leader brought over cake in celebration of Pretty Girls’ successful performance last night, but for some reason, half of it went on my clothes. The sweet smell filled my nose.

“Hello, Chief Lee?”

-You’re in the office right now, right?

His voice was interspersed with chuckles.

-Quickly come up to the Team 2 office. Let’s talk.

Was this about Son Chaeyoung?

First, I brushed myself off and got up. I told them I was going to meet Chief Lee Bongjoon, and Lee Kwanwoo hastily cut the remaining cake. He packed two slices, saying that Seo Jijoon might be there as well.

When I went up to their office, Chief Lee Bongjoon was standing in front of the Team 2 Leader’s office while glancing at the office door. I didn’t know what was going on, but the team leader’s angry shouts rang outside.

Chief Lee Bongjoon licked his lips at the plate and my appearance and gestured at me.

“Son Chaeyoung arrived.”

Now that I thought about it, I could hear a woman’s voice come from inside as well.

Chief Lee Bongjoon shook his head in astonishment.

“She brought a bomb with her. The reason why she was so quiet in the US must have been to gain momentum before doing this crazy thing.”

A bomb?

Don’t tell me that she was going to retire?

“What kind of bomb?”

“Son Chaeyoung said she wants to shoot nude.”

What?

“… Pardon? A nude film? Like a nude scene?”

“No, a nude photo shoot!”

The plate slipped from my hand. I managed to grab it before it fell on the floor. I wiped my cake-covered hand on the plate as I tried to decipher this information.

A nude photo shoot.

A well-off actress in her twenties, one that was known as the embodiment of innocence at that, wanted to do a nude photo shoot.

“Is she craz… Ah, she is.”

“She’s probably not serious.”

Chief Lee Bongjoon said as he lamented over the mushed cake.

“She probably said that she wanted to do a nude photoshoot because the team leader has been constantly pressuring her to pick a project. She’s so protective of her filmography, do you really think she’s going to do a nude photo shoot?”

Just then, the door of the team leader’s office swung open.

I saw Son Chaeyoung through the opening. Our eyes met. Son Chaeyoung’s expression became odd when she saw me. I didn’t know whether it was surprise or displeasure, but it was an indecipherable expression. Her lips opened loosely before closing.

Son Chaeyoung’s gaze dropped. Her lips became crooked when she saw the cake.

“Chaeyoung!”

An unpleasant, irritated voice approached from within the office.

“You need to have limits! Are you out of your mind?”

“What’s new?”

“Nu-what? Do you want to get cut from all your commercials and have to pay up their fees? Are you going to quit acting? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden after working in this industry for more than ten years? You need to take on good projects when they are begging you to join!”

“All the scripts and scenarios you chose were no good.”

“Wh-what?”

“Rather than doing those, I think it’ll be more worthwhile stripping down for a photo shoot.”

Son Chaeyoung shot back before opening the door wide and stepping out.

The Team 2 Leader immediately followed after her. He paused when he saw me. His darkened face turned red, pale, then rotten. It looked like it would become moldy soon. He took a ragged breath. Chief Lee Bongjoon stealthily stepped away from me.

However, the Team 2 Leader’s priority was Son Chaeyoung over us.

“Chaeyoung, Son Chaeyoung! The CEO even…!”

“Team leader.”

Son Chaeyoung frowned.

“Don’t bring up the CEO in front of me. It pisses me off.”

“That’s! What I mean is!”

“I’ll do a project when I want to. So stop pestering me!”

Son Chaeyoung skillfully cut him off before turning her gaze. Then she walked towards me.

It seemed like she was going to pass Chief Lee Bongjoon and me before she stopped.

“What are you looking at?”

What do you think?

Before I could reply, she said,

“If I do that photoshoot, I’ll send it to you by phone.”

“Pardon?”

“Since I have your number.”

Son Chaeyoung lightly shook her phone then passed me without waiting for a reply. Her sharp heels tapped the floor as she left.

When we could no longer hear her footsteps, Chief Lee Bongjoon mumbled,

“The crazy bitch is back.”

^{1} Reference to the pregnancy comment by Im Seoyoung.