The First Single

The next day arrived — the day the song dropped.

I kept the stream title simple: [New Song Out Now]. A little underwhelming, sure, but I'd burned every last ounce of creative firepower on yesterday's stunt, and right now absolutely nothing came to mind that could farm that kind of attention again…

"Alright, everyone — today's the day the song drops!"

Recording stories?

Do I have any recording stories to tell?

And besides—

"Excuse me, the song has to come out FIRST before I can talk about recording it. Guys, this is your first original song, remember? I can only comment on the parts I recorded once the song actually exists. What exactly am I supposed to spill right now?"

…Why on earth do I have simps, again?

The question genuinely gnawed at me, but I decided to let it go. There are plenty of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠things in this world better left unknown…

"Hm… this is a bit dull. Let's kill time by predicting who's going to cry today, shall we?"

Thankfully, I had a cheat key perfect for steering the conversation today, so I decided to put it to use.

Hmm, let me think about it…

"I'd say everyone except me and Teri is going to cry."

The three trainees were practically guaranteed, and Yuna was far too emotional for her own good. As for Yerin, my gut said she'd hold out.

"Nope. Somi is more emotional than you'd think."

Really? She looked plenty emotional from where I was standing.

Well, I suppose everyone sees people differently.

And while we're at it—

"Now that I think about it, I'm pretty emotional myself."

I just don't show it. Doesn't that count as emotional?

That's harsh.

You watched my donation from [WithMirZero], didn't you?

And you saw that, and you still don't believe in my emotional depth?

"Hm… funny, Teri seemed way stranger than me, though…"

The strange one is whoever looks at me and thinks cute. And yet here they are, treating ME like the weird one.

"That's slander."

"Alright! Five minutes left, everybody — go use the bathroom now!"

It felt like more and more people had been calling me a shameless entertainer lately. I didn't care whatever they threw at me as slander, but wasn't this getting a bit excessive?

Anyway, after messing around like that, the moment to reveal the song finally arrived.

"Okay! Countdown! Five, four, three—"

"Two, one, zero! Here we go!"

Our very first song — the single album Our Story — was a fresh, innocent girl-group track.

July had just begun, right in the thick of summer, so the timing couldn't have been better.

"Fresh and innocent"? On Rose? You might be tempted to laugh — but it works.

My real face might be another matter, but on paper, in illustration form, innocent suits me just fine.

It's a 2D animated music video, so there's no dissonance whatsoever.

And my voice?

Pfft. That would be the silliest question of all.

A throat capable of expressing any emotion at will — you think it can't manage this?

My own self-flattery was cut short by the sound of singing pouring out of the video.

Minseo's clear, bell-like voice — perfect for an idol song — opened the track, then handed off to Yubin and Sua, whose tones matched hers closely, and then came the first chorus.

My part.

Layer upon layer of harmonies wove themselves around my voice, blending into one.

Recording those stacked vocals had been an absolute nightmare…

That was the viewers' reaction during my part.

The song carried on — Yuna's distinctive timbre, Yerin's low register — and drew to a close on my celestial voice one last time.

By now I'd adapted enough to have ascended to the level where a million-won donation from that man barely fazed me.

Hm. I've grown so much.

That aside, it seemed the viewers genuinely liked the song. Shall I reward them with a little service, then?

"Ah, thank you so much for the million-won donation."

I put on the pure, innocent tone I'd used while singing.

Even to my own ears it sounded completely different from my usual voice — I could only imagine what the viewers thought.

Naturally, the reaction was stellar.

"Who else would it be? It's me."

Stream with this voice from now on, they say?

"Hm. That sounds exhausting."

The viewers' delight at the novel sensation of my innocent voice had been fun to watch —

— but the outrage when I dropped it was even more entertaining.

Still, no matter. As I mentioned earlier, I had a topic-deflection cheat key ready for today.

"Now then, let's check on who's crying, shall we?"

Ah — spoiled.

Oh well. I'd made those predictions precisely because I expected that outcome anyway.

Spoiled or not, I clicked into each member's stream to confirm, and sure enough — everyone but Yerin was in tears.

"Hm… now this is a tough call…"

I was truly torn…

"Oh, I'm not ending the stream. I was debating whether or not to go tease a crying member."

Poking at someone mid-sob with a "why are you crying?" is the single greatest joy in the world, after all.

What I was actually doing was measuring whether I could handle the fallout.

"Shall I go poke our eldest unnie just a little?"

Ring-ring.

"Hello? Wooju?"

The sound of Minseo hiccupping on the other end sparked an entirely different idea in my head.

"Why are you CRYING?! Who made our unnie cry!"

Minseo's voice grew even more waterlogged than before, escalating into a full-blown wail.

"Oh. There it is."

Thankfully, things had gone exactly as planned.

"Oh, I just switched my stream BGM for a second there."

Anyway, I waited a moment for Minseo — who still couldn't get her words out — and before long the waterworks subsided and her usual voice returned.

"Wooju, things like that aren't supposed to be said — they're supposed to be shown."

"Wouldn't it be faster to accept that I don't do sympathy?"

From my experience, most people adapted to me quickly enough.