Episode 20: Is She, Like, a Delinquent?
I’m well aware.
A one-month probationary employee tossing around the company name and exchanging contacts could look bad.
At best, it seems like I’m overzealous, high on my new manager role.
At worst, it looks like I’m using my position to hit on girls.
Either way, I can’t deny it’s overstepping my place.
“Why’d you give out your contact info?”
Team Leader Jeon Min-yong asked, probing my intentions.
I hid my plan to recruit Seon-yu for Free Sense and answered half-truthfully.
“I was dropping the kids off at the dorm, and she caught my eye, so I asked if she’d be interested in being a trainee.”
“Hmm, you don’t have the clout to be handing out your contact info yet. You don’t have that kind of authority.”
“Sorry about that.”
“I don’t think you had bad intentions, but the company might not see it that way. That’s the problem.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“It’s good to be enthusiastic, but take it step by step. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“What are the kids up to?”
“They’re practicing.”
“Good. You’ll need to keep looking after them for a while.”
“Are you super busy?”
“Ugh, team leader duties are killing me. First time doing this.”
“No schedules for Free Sense?”
“Well, a few events and interviews came up, and they’re under review. There’s also a cable variety show guest spot… Nothing’s confirmed yet, so I’ll let you know if anything’s finalized.”
“Got it. I won’t tell the kids for now.”
“Good. Keep up the work.”
So, the buzz is bringing in some schedules after all.
No dramatic turnaround, but it’s flowing quietly as I expected, which is both fascinating and confidence-boosting.
The scolding about Seon-yu dampened my mood, but this felt like a small reward.
“Oh, right, Team Leader.”
“Yeah?”
“Did you know Jin-ah wrote a novel before joining Free Sense?”
“Huh? What novel?”
“A web novel.”
“Like, officially serialized, or just something she scribbled?”
“It was serialized on Searchnet and Coconet, paywalled, and had pretty good views.”
“Really? Jin-ah’s like an onion—peel one layer, and there’s more. What is she, a nutcracker doll?”
Ignoring the dad joke.
“What’s the genre? Romance?”
“It’s about a girl group. I read a bit last night, and it’s fun. Feels like it’s about her but not quite. Could we use it for promotion?”
“What’s the title? I read some stuff on Searchnet too.”
“SSS-Class Legendary Trainee.”
“Huh? I know that one.”
“You’ve read it?”
“Didn’t read it, but it was always high in the rankings, so the title’s familiar. Jin-ah wrote that?”
“Yup.”
“But what’s ‘Legeno’? I see it all over the internet these days. Is it, like, reggae music?”
“No… Some streamer misread ‘legend’ as ‘Legeno,’ and it became a meme.”
“What? I can’t keep up with these trends.”
“Me neither, honestly.”
“Anyway, I’ve got work to do. Talk later.”
“Alright, good luck.”
After the call outside the practice room, I lit a cigarette.
So, Seon-yu seems interested, huh?
She called the company to verify my identity, so she’s not uninterested.
Maybe I should use this as an excuse to reach out.
I haven’t contacted her since getting her number.
Gotta keep the connection alive, so…
“Let’s give it a shot…”
It was daytime, a good time to call, so I dialed Seon-yu.
She picked up just as the call was about to end.
“Hello?”
“Hi, this is Kang Hyun-jong from VIP Entertainment. We exchanged contacts a few days ago…”
“Yes, hello.”
“Are you free to talk?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
I asked with a light, slightly joking tone.
“Did you call our company?”
“Oh… yeah.”
“Haha, I knew it was you, Seon-yu-ssi.”
“Why?”
“Team Leader told me someone called to check if I work there. You’re the only one I gave my contact info to.”
“Yeah, that was me.”
“Got it. I’m not calling just because of that—I wanted to check in too.”
“Oh, I see.”
“I heard you were a trainee at Jeje Entertainment.”
“Huh? How’d you know? Did I mention that…?”
“No, one of our Free Sense members used to be at Jeje. When I showed her your picture, she recognized you.”
“Who’s the member?”
“Ah-hyun. Kwon Ah-hyun.”
“Ah-hyun… who was that again? So many trainees…”
“She won ‘The Singer Junior’.”
“Oh, that unnie. But she wasn’t a full-time trainee, right?”
“Yeah, she was there for vocal lessons for about a month.”
“So she’s in Free Sense too?”
“Yup, our main vocalist.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Beyond training together briefly, there didn’t seem to be much connection between them.
“When you’re free, let’s grab a meal with our members.”
“Um, by the way…”
“Yeah?”
“When I checked, VIP said they’re not planning to debut a new girl group… So why’d you take my contact info?”
Oh, she even checked that with the company.
“Are you looking into actors or something?”
“No, it’s not that… It’s not really a phone call kind of talk. Let’s meet in person later.”
“Now I’m even more curious.”
Oh, look at that.
Seon-yu’s starting to show some interest.
Feeling bolder, I pushed forward.
“Are you free tomorrow?”
“What time? I’m done with school at 3.”
Nice, nice.
“Oh, right, you’re a student. So, are you free after 3?”
“Yeah.”
“Where do you live?”
“Hanam.”
“Alright, we’ll come to you after school. Where’s your school?”
“Songpa-gu.”
Whoa.
I just set up a meeting out of nowhere?
The company barely cares about Free Sense’s practice schedule.
Since they don’t have official schedules, the members show up to practice on their own, so there’s no issue there.
I don’t have any reason to go to the company either, and Team Leader Jeon’s too busy to pay attention to us, so stepping out for a couple of hours should be fine.
☆ Today’s Future Video ☆
[Sibling Celebrities Part 3: ‘Idol’ Edition]
***
The next day.
The Free Sense members and I left the practice room and hopped on the subway.
Seon-yu’s school was Saebit Arts High School, known for churning out idol hopefuls.
Hearing that Seon-yu attended Saebit, Seung-ah muttered with an analyst’s expression,
“Saebit High and Jeje Entertainment… She’s on the idol elite track.”
“Oh, really?”
“I heard Saebit and Jeje are the hottest combo these days.”
“There’s a track like that?”
Seung-ah looked at Ah-hyun proudly and continued,
“Still, it’s nothing compared to an audition winner’s fast-pass.”
Exactly.
If Saebit High and a top agency like Jeje are the elite track for trainees, Ah-hyun, who won an audition program, is a pureblood who skipped the line.
After placing high in audition shows, agencies come knocking with offers, and winners get way more options.
When Ah-hyun won ‘The Singer Junior’, she was young, so big agencies must’ve been all over her.
Plus, she broke the stereotype that vocalists lack looks with her pretty face, boosting her value even more.
So why did someone in her position choose VIP, a fledgling label back then?
Sure, plenty of promising talents like Ah-hyun shine briefly and fade, but I was curious why she picked a mere label like VIP.
Ah-hyun, perhaps regretting her choice, answered self-deprecatingly.
“What’s the point of being a winner? Look at our reality.”
“We’re the late-bloomer type, so don’t talk like that. Sit here, Miss Winner.”
Seung-ah grabbed Jin-ah’s shoulder, pulling her into a seat left by a passenger, comforting her.
A lot of seats opened up at this stop, so Seung-ah and Jin-ah sat next to Ah-hyun, while I took a seat across from them.
I secretly hoped someone might recognize Free Sense, but no one did.
They probably just saw three pretty girls hanging out.
Even if our kids aren’t considered top-tier idol visuals, they’re on a different level compared to non-celebrities.
Put them in the same frame as other passengers, and the difference is stark—their face size and proportions are from another species.
If I were on the subway and saw those three sitting in a row, I wouldn’t be able to look away.
Sure enough, even if people didn’t recognize them as idols, everyone in our car glanced at them at least once.
They didn’t stare outright, but those who looked kept stealing glances.
The members, oblivious or not, were giggling among themselves with carefree faces.
They didn’t seem to mind public transport.
I’d been snapping photos of their everyday moments since we boarded.
Looking through my gallery at past photos, they shone brightest when they smiled.
I pictured the complete five-member Free Sense from the future video.
Lee Seung-ah, Kwon Ah-hyun, Baek Jin-ah, Seo Seon-yu, and the yet-to-appear fifth member…
No matter how you slice it, a huge part of an idol’s popularity comes down to looks, and the visual balance of this group is more than competitive.
The current three have likable vibes, Seon-yu could hold her own against a Tier 1 group’s center, and the second new member isn’t far behind.
Ever since I saw the future video of the complete five-member Free Sense, just imagining them together makes my heart race with excitement.
—“The next stop is Munjeong, Munjeong Station. The doors will open on the right.”
“Let’s get off.”
We exited the subway, took a bus, and got off at the stop in front of Seon-yu’s school.
It was right by the school gate.
We arrived about 20 minutes early, and students were just starting to leave as school let out.
As expected of an arts high school for rich kids, luxury foreign cars and music academy shuttle buses lined up near the gate.
We waited for Seon-yu at a children’s park across from the school.
As soon as we entered, Seung-ah squealed and hopped on a swing, while Ah-hyun, Jin-ah, and I sat on a bench. I sent Seon-yu a message.
Me: [We’re here, waiting at the playground across from the school]
Seo Seon-yu: [Okay, I’m heading out now]
At a gazebo to the left of the entrance, four Saebit female students were already hanging out.
Heavy makeup, vibrant hair colors, and loud banter laced with profanity carried over to us.
Ah-hyun looked at them with a fond, grandmotherly smile and said,
“Haa, those were the days. Their uniforms are cute.”
I turned to Ah-hyun.
“Where’d you go to school?”
“Just a regular humanities high school.”
“Have you always loved singing? Where’d you learn?”
“I got formal lessons from a trainer after passing ‘The Singer’ prelims. Before that, I just practiced on my own with YouTube.”
“You’re a total talent bug too.”
“Nah, there are tons of kids who sing better than me.”
While chatting with Ah-hyun, Seung-ah kept squealing on the swing.
I thought she was being a bit loud, and sure enough, the group at the gazebo started complaining audibly, clearly for us to hear.
“Ugh, so freaking loud. Did they rent out the playground or what?”
“What’s with them?”
“They don’t look like they’re from our school.”
Seung-ah heard them, toned down her squeals, apologized with a “Sorry,” and trudged back to the bench, looking dejected.
Ah-hyun, on the other hand, got annoyed.
“Can’t people make noise at a playground? It’s not a café or a library. So irritating…”
She didn’t say it for them to hear, keeping her voice low and muttering timidly despite her rough words.
Cute.
“Isn’t that her?”
Jin-ah said, looking toward the park entrance.
Seon-yu was walking over, eyes on her phone.
She seemed to notice us but deliberately avoided looking our way, carrying herself with a cool, aloof air.
“Yeah, that’s her.”
As Seon-yu passed the gazebo, one of the girls suddenly stood up and gave her an exaggerated 90-degree bow, like a gangster.
“Well, well, what brings our precious princess to this humble place!”
Seon-yu looked up from her phone, glanced at the girl, then briefly at us, as if aware of our presence. With a voice barely holding back anger, she replied,
“Hey, stop it…”
“Oh, my apologies! How dare I speak to the princess!”
“I said stop. I’m done putting up with this.”
Another girl chimed in, bowing mockingly.
“Of course, the princess shouldn’t have to endure this.”
What’s this vibe?
Seon-yu kept glancing at us, clearly trying to defuse the situation.
But three of the four girls took turns bowing to her mockingly.
Seung-ah, sounding nervous, whispered to me,
“Is she, like, a delinquent…?”
Is her personality that bad?
No.
Something’s off.
Why does it look like Seon-yu is the one being bullied?
At that moment—
Thwack!
Seon-yu threw a straight punch at the face of the girl who first taunted her, shouting, “I said stop!”