I Have to Sign Her!

I have to sign her!

"CEO!"

Kang Hoyeon bolted for JO Entertainment headquarters the instant she parted ways with Jiwoo at the café. She shoved past the security guards who tried to stop her and burst straight into the CEO's office.

"W-what is it? Why do you look like the building's on fire?"

"CEO! When I came to this company, you said it clearly. You'd grant me one request. Just one!"

"I-I did. I also tacked on that it had to be related to our agency."

Of course she knew that. There was no way he would have offered such an outrageous blank check without conditions attached.

"Then give me a hundred million won!"

"...What?"

Jo Kyuhyun, CEO of JO Entertainment, stared at Kang Hoyeon as if she had just started speaking in tongues. He had promised to hear out any request that would help the company. He had not expected her to walk in and demand a hundred million won out of nowhere.

"Manager Kang Hoyeon... have you lost your mind?"

"Yes! I think I really have!"

Jo Kyuhyun clutched his head. He had assumed she would at least have the decency to look embarrassed after saying something like that. Instead she declared herself insane with her chin up, and the room started to spin.

"I... seem to have misjudged you, Manager Kang. To come out with something this reckless... Please leave."

"No! Watch this first! You can throw me out after that!"

Kang Hoyeon set a tablet down on the table. A video was already queued on the screen.

Jo Kyuhyun hit play, if only to figure out what on earth she was talking about.

The voice that spilled from the speakers was not just a voice. It was a song. And not just any song.

Until the East Sea—

A song no Korean could possibly fail to recognize. The video cut off at the end of the first verse.

"What is this? No... what is this?"

"Well? Has that whetted your appetite?"

"Stop talking nonsense... no. Just tell me. Who is she?"

"Oppa. No—CEO. Let's be straight with each other. That kid you just saw... how much do you think she's worth?"

Kang Hoyeon did not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bother dressing it up. Jo Kyuhyun folded his arms and sank into thought.

"At first, her breathing and vocalization are quite solid. But the further she goes, the more her breath starts to shake and her pitch comes unmoored. Stamina giving out, most likely. There's no other reason she'd sing it that way. If we developed her as a singer-songwriter, I think she'd be more than enough of a prospect."

Kang Hoyeon could only click her tongue. It lined up with her own assessment down to the last word.

Without a word, she queued the next video.

Music spilled out again—a different song this time.

"A dance track? But... why that one, of all things?"

"Quiet. Just watch."

At Kang Hoyeon's word, Jo Kyuhyun shut his mouth and watched.

"What the hell is this?!"

By the time the video ended, Jo Kyuhyun had completely lost his composure.

Choreography interpretation he had never seen before—and a song chosen specifically with her lack of stamina in mind. The girl who had just been running out of breath in the last clip flashed through his head, and he dropped back into his chair. He had gotten so worked up he had actually stood up.

"Wait... she still looks like a high schooler, and she's pulling off choreography like that? And she even has a precise grasp of her own weaknesses?"

The younger they were, the more they practiced desperately hiding their weaknesses instead of fixing them. There was nothing to gain by letting anyone else find out. Watching the shock settle over Jo Kyuhyun's face, Kang Hoyeon smiled.

"Well? Has your evaluation changed from a minute ago?"

"Give me a second. Let me get my thoughts in order."

Jo Kyuhyun scrambled to sort through his head. He was starting to resent his niece for dumping a headache of a trainee like this in his lap.

"If you'd just... shown me this in a year. Next year at the latest. I wouldn't be tearing my hair out like this."

JO Entertainment had been preparing a new idol group. The trainees had all been selected, and they had been planning to announce in a few months. And then Jiwoo had appeared.

Jo Kyuhyun slipped off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So... what's her name?"

"Lee Jiwoo. She says she's a high schooler this year."

"A high schooler did that? From the look of it, that's some other company's audition... don't tell me."

"That's right. When I left, I quietly lifted those filthy bastards' files."

Kang Hoyeon held up two fingers and waggled them. The lines in Jo Kyuhyun's forehead deepened.

"You do know that's a crime, right?"

"It's fine. Audition footage can be shown to the parties involved if they want, and if we have permission, it can even go outside."

"Don't tell me you already...?"

Jo Kyuhyun prayed she had not done what he thought she had done. Kang Hoyeon held up two fingers again.

"I've already met with Jiwoo. And I got her permission. She said I can use the footage. But there's a much bigger problem."

The word problem made Jo Kyuhyun tense. What they had already done was problem enough. If she was calling something bigger than that, it could shake the company down to its roots.

He drew a slow breath, waited for his heart to settle, and asked.

"What's the problem."

"Jiwoo says she'd rather be a VTuber than an idol."

"...That's the problem?"

The answer was so much smaller than he had braced for that the strength went out of him, and he sank back against the sofa.

"Of course it's a huge problem! Look at that face! That is not a face you hide behind some avatar! And with choreography interpretation like that, she could be an actress and it wouldn't even be a stretch! How do you not see that!"

"I do see it... that's exactly why we're here. And you know it too. The virtual idol Brave. There's already a success story. If we wanted to... we could push her."

The virtual idol Brave.

A male idol group that had broken into the industry using the virtual avatars that were all the rage. At first they had been torn apart for calling themselves idols while hiding their faces. Now they stood, in name and in fact, as one of the acts that represented Korea.

They were doing VTuber work too—exactly what Jiwoo wanted.

"There's a path. For the stamina problem, we could use a stand-in, and with a little tweaking we could even lean on lip-sync."

"If we did that..."

"Right. The moment the fans catch on, that's the day she retires from the industry. But she's still young, isn't she?"

Seventeen was not too young to be an idol—but she was still a kid in the middle of growing. The potential was more than enough.

"So that's what the hundred million is for?"

"Huh? What is?"

"You need a hundred million to build that avatar idol, is that it?"

"That, and I was going to offer about thirty million as a signing bonus..."

"Get out!!"

No matter how gifted she was, there was not an entertainment company anywhere that handed thirty million won to a newcomer with no track record.

...Or so he had thought.

Until, a few days later, he saw a video that set the internet on fire.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

The moment I got home, Ji Hyuna let me have it from the living room, arms folded and a storm already on her face.

"It's... ten-twenty... twenty-one..."

"Does that sound like an answer to you? If you're going to be late, you're late! Or you ask someone to bring you home! I walked in and you weren't here—I nearly had a heart attack! And you weren't even picking up!"

I checked my phone. More than ten missed calls. I had gotten so absorbed in singing I had completely forgotten.

"I'm sorry..."

I bowed my head and apologized. This was not the moment to play the wronged party and scream that I had not meant to be late. This one was on me, so I owned it and said I was sorry.

"I'll make sure to contact you from now on."

"...Haa. You only just got out of the hospital. Don't push yourself so hard. What am I supposed to do if you collapse again?"

"Yes. I'm sorry for worrying you. I've been taking care of myself properly since then, so please don't worry."

"...All right. But... your face doesn't look good. Did you run into some weirdo at your part-time job today?"

"No... nothing happened."

I nearly jumped. I had been trying to keep my expression as blank as possible. Ji Hyuna saw straight through it.

"Why so surprised... Before, I noticed and just let it go for the sake of your studying. I am never missing it again."

Her fist clenched tight. The will not to make the same regret twice sat in that grip like a vow.

"So tell me. If there's anything this mom can do, I'll do it."

I told her everything that had happened today. I could have hidden it if I wanted to, but I had no interest in telling a lie that would fall apart in a matter of days.

"Why those... goddamn... bastards! Those fucking pieces of shit! I ought to grind them into paste and sue what's left!"

"Uh, Mom?"

The swearing that poured out of her was so vicious I was hearing words I did not even know existed.

"Don't you worry. This mom will find you another audition!"

"N-no. I'd rather be a VTuber than go to idol auditions."

"A VTuber? What's that?"

I pulled up a livestream on my phone and showed her people doing VTuber work.

A bright, bouncing voice and flashy game sense that were a treat for both the eyes and the ears.

"So. You're saying you want to stream with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fake avatar like that? But streaming..."

Ji Hyuna was openly skeptical the moment the word streaming came up.

"Maybe your mom's just old-fashioned... 'streaming' doesn't sound like a good thing to me... have I gotten that old?"

"Mom...? Never say that anywhere else."

"Hm? Why not?"

"Just... don't."

If we went out together, people would take us for mother and son—no. Sisters, not mother and daughter. That was how young she looked. How was a woman in her forties walking around with a face like that? I had been watching her for a week, and she did not even seem to spend any particular time on her appearance.

"And streaming these days isn't that strange. Like I just showed you, you can talk with people, you can play games, or... there are VTuber idols who sing and dance like regular idols. I already talked to JO Entertainment about that part. I should hear back in a few days."

"I-I see... I didn't know my daughter was this thorough. Then... is there anything Mom can do for you? Should I buy you a computer? From the look of it, you need one to do this VTuber thing, don't you?"

I shook my head.

"I'll buy that with the money from my part-time job. It's not like I can start right away anyway, and I need practice if I'm going to be a VTuber. So... send me to a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vocal academy."

There was a ceiling to what you could do practicing alone. If JO Entertainment called tomorrow and put me into training, that would be one thing—but from the look on Kang Hoyeon's face, they were in the middle of some big project.

No need for them to go to the trouble just for one person like me.

I would handle what I could handle myself.

Before that, though.

Aruru's stream was still rolling on my phone screen.

"I should study broadcasting today too."

Study never ends. Even if you have climbed to the peak of a field, you cannot stop studying. The moment you stop, you fall behind.

I went into my room and started writing down everything I picked up, eyes fixed on the stream. Ji Hyuna watched me work with a small smile, then closed the door behind her.

"Hoo... Zero Entertainment, huh. I should look into them."

Ji Hyuna took out her phone and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠placed a call.