TDOCD Chapter 12

 Chapter 12

Introductions  

"I'm, um..."

 Though she appeared as mature as Han Da-min, her image was completely different. While Da-min exuded confidence and glamour, this girl gave off a pure and delicate impression. Her bright red ears betrayed her discomfort at being the center of attention—a trait that only enhanced her gentle demeanor.

 It was impressive that she'd managed to raise her hand second despite being so shy. After fidgeting momentarily, her eyes trembling, she finally found her voice.

 "I-I'm twenty-one years old, and my name is Seo Ra-eun. Please take care of me."

 She quickly sat down. Her nervous self-introduction actually elicited enthusiastic responses from the other members.

 "Wow! Looking forward to working with you!"

 "Unnie, you're so pretty!"

 "Oh... no... thank you..." Ra-eun frantically waved her hands and shook her head, her face so red it looked ready to burst.

 After watching her fidgeting hands for a moment, I spoke up. "I'll go next."

 My introduction was fairly ordinary.

 "I'm Ryu Ji-ye, twenty years old. Since we're on the same team now, I hope we can help each other out. Please take care of me."

 The remaining two members then took their turns. The girl sitting next to me was Min Ha-young, also twenty years old like me.

 "My specialty is dancing. I'm confident about it!" Despite her bold declaration, delivered in quite a resonant voice, she nervously glanced around before quickly taking her seat.

 Well, she must be an exceptional dancer to speak so confidently. I made a mental note to check her status window when I got the chance.

 The final member, who had the youngest-looking face, seemed somewhat familiar. When everyone's attention turned to her, she spoke with a somewhat prim expression.

 "I'm Choi Song-yi. Seventeen years old."

 That's it?

 "...Please take care of me!" she added hastily.

 "Seventeen, wow!" Da-min and Ha-young responded enthusiastically.

 As Song-yi was about to sit back down after a quick bow, Ra-eun timidly raised her hand.

 "Excuse me... Haven't you appeared on TV?"

 "Ah... yes, Goldenbell Kindergarten. Thank you." Song-yi quickly responded and sat down, clearly not wanting to discuss it further. This left Ra-eun awkwardly scratching her neck, visibly regretting having asked the question.

 'Goldenbell Kindergarten' on TV—was that a children's program? I vaguely remembered watching it when I was young. Apparently, it was still running.

 Ha-young then remarked curiously, "I saw you on 'Parent's Guidebook.'"

 Oh, she'd appeared on that too? 'Parent's Guidebook' was an observational reality show where celebrities discovered their children's circumstances and thoughts that they might have missed due to their busy schedules. Though I didn't regularly watch such programs, I knew about it from how frequently clips appeared on YouTube Shorts during its peak.

 Her appearance on that show suggested her parents were celebrities, which probably explained why she'd been on TV since childhood, including children's programs. But like Da-min, she didn't seem particularly eager to discuss her past experiences.

 Fair enough—I wouldn't want people constantly talking about Hong Jin Group when introducing myself either.

 At any rate, everyone had successfully completed their introductions.

 "Nice to meet you all, looking forward to working together."

 "Yes, please take care of us."

 And then the conference room fell back into silence.

 The awkward atmosphere persisted despite the introductions. Just as I was considering asking if anyone had eaten yet, a knock at the door preceded a familiar face that made my heart stop.

 "Hello~"

 I couldn't help but freeze. Even knowing the cameras were rolling, I couldn't manage my expression.

 "Oh? Wow!"

 "Oh... ah! No way! Wow! Hello!"

 The members jumped up at her appearance, covering their mouths and starting to bounce around excitedly.

 The person who had entered the room, smiling brightly at the unexpectedly enthusiastic response, was none other than Yu-hwa. Ji Yu-hwa. My former groupmate.

 "Sorry to keep you all waiting! I brought some snacks to help ease your nerves while we talk."

 With her elegantly styled brown hair and eyes both gentle and determined, she was different yet instantly recognizable. Despite her different hairstyle, outfit, and overall aura, I recognized her immediately.

 She had the members sit down and spoke in a kind voice: "Though it seems you all already know me, let me properly introduce myself. Hello, I'm Yu-hwa, a member of Sierra, and I'll be the mentor for F team from now on."

 I struggled to suppress the emotions threatening to burst forth. After becoming Ryu Ji-ye, I had searched for information about the other members, including Hong Yeo-eun (my former self). Out of the seven members, three had continued in the entertainment industry, either debuting with different groups or pursuing other activities.

 In this changed world, Yu-hwa was doing much better than we had before, performing with other idols. Seeing that had both relieved me and left me feeling bitter that we hadn't been able to showcase such talent in our previous life.

 Unaware of my inner turmoil, Yu-hwa continued speaking with her usual bright smile.

 "I overheard that you've all already introduced yourselves? Oh, would it be okay if I speak more casually from now on?"

 "Yes!" "Of course!" The members responded in impossibly docile voices.

 "Great, then that's what I'll do. Now that we're all gathered here, shall we start with what needs to be done first?" Yu-hwa clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Let's decide on the song we'll be performing on stage."

 ---

 "Ji-ye, what kind of song would you like?"

 Da-min's awkward question snapped me back to reality. "Ah, um," I couldn't help but respond with a startled voice.

 Why do I keep doing this? I shouldn't be so obviously distracted. I had been staring at Yu-hwa continuously, shocked by our sudden encounter.

 This isn't the time for this.

 Yu-hwa must have noticed my staring because she tilted her head with a gentle smile. "You've been looking at me like that for a while now~ You're making me shy."

 "Ah, I'm sorry. I'm just such a huge fan of yours, senior... I didn't even realize I was staring."

 "Oh, really? That's sweet of you, but let's focus on the task at hand."

 "I'm sorry. I apologize to the other members too." I bowed my head awkwardly to the members before focusing on the whiteboard where song candidates were written.

 As expected, there were many performance-focused songs listed:

 - [Blueberry], known as Sierra's most difficult and intense choreography.

 - [Close], a B-side track from their second album with a fast beat and seemingly simple arrangement.

 - And Sierra's representative hit song [Rising], a dance track with a strong J-ROCK feel, themed around a school club concept.

 The group "Sierra" that Yu-hwa currently belonged to hadn't existed when I was Hong Yeo-eun. So while these songs hadn't originally existed, it's not like I'd never heard them. I'd listened to all of Yu-hwa's group's songs, after all.

 What a thing sentiment is. Even while feeling my insides being eaten away by the fact that my precious former member had become part of a different group, I'd still forced myself to listen to everything and eventually even managed to say I "liked" them.

 Since this would be the group's first performance for viewers, everyone seemed to have picked difficult songs that could showcase all the members' skills. It wasn't a bad strategy.

 Except for Da-min, whose status window I'd checked, I didn't know the skill levels of the others yet. But considering they were selected as individual trainees through such fierce competition, they must all be at least above average.

 The members must have chosen songs taking into account both their own abilities and those of the others. However...

 It was weak.

 Of course, the songs themselves weren't weak at all, but... When placed alongside other groups with powerful skills and, more importantly, strong company backing, could we really make a definitive impact with these songs?

 No matter how I thought about it, the answer was no. There was bound to be at least one other group with a similar concept doing these kinds of songs.

 Then, what concept would be unlikely to overlap in the competition...?