Dance is Music Too (5)
“She actually posted it? Take it down right now! Right now!!”
I lunged at Ria, but she darted to the corner of the practice room, hoisting her smartphone high overhead.
“Aw, unnie! Too late already! Check the view count climbing. Taking it down now would just make 'em say we deleted it 'cause it slayed even harder!”
“This is an info leak! I haven't even aired on Voice of Legend yet—last thing I want is this kinda mess dragging me in early!”
It wasn't just embarrassment over my cheongsam look going public. Survival shows live or die by secrecy. A contestant snapping pics in a specific agency's practice room with an active idol, dressed in what looks like next-round mission gear, before episode one even drops? MNA's legal team could slap us with a cease-and-desist, and we'd have zero defense.
I clutched my head, glaring at the fleeing Ria.
She's a total airhead, isn't she?
But seeing her grinning side profile, I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud. Nineteen years old—that explains it. Yeah, prime age for zero impulse control and zero fear of the world. With my past life's mileage, she's barely niece-level. What good would yelling do? I just sighed deeply.
But my real worry was elsewhere.
What if Kim Taesung sees this story?
Just imagining it made my neck stiffen. The guy who heartlessly dumped me. Everyone at Luminus knows we're on bad terms, so seeing their flagship Ria cozying up like this? He'd blow a fuse. Hell, he might even use it as leverage for some silent pressure play.
“Unnie, you don't get it! This is viral marketing gold. The thrill of dropping it right when everyone's dying of curiosity!”
Ria hummed a tune, bouncing back to my side like it was no big deal.
“C'mon, since it's out there anyway! Unnie, let's do our new song challenge together! Naeun too!”
“......What? Challenge?”
“Yeah! Good Night challenge! Moves are super easy.”
I let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“No, I'm good......”
“Sunbae-nim!”
Before I could refuse, Naeun—who'd been quietly watching—grabbed my sleeve, eyes sparkling.
“This is a stepping stone for music too! Dance is just music expressed through the body! Nothing better for groove training!”
Her earnest face left me momentarily stunned.
Dance is music too? Well, not wrong, technically......
“See, sunbae-nim? Even the Invitation stage lives or dies by performance. A chance to learn straight from a top active center like Ria unnie? Can't pass that up!”
Under Naeun's airtight logic, I nearly nodded on reflex.
Oh...... is that right? Is dance just an extension of music?
I'd started out thinking these two were nuts. But with Ria demoing, “Unnie, just swing your arm like this!” and Naeun cheering, “Trust your sense of rhythm, sunbae-nim!”, my common sense was crumbling bit by bit.
This feels straight-up like gaslighting.
“Okay, unnie! Stand here. I'll take center, you right side, Naeun left! Here we go!”
Ria ignored my input, set the formation, and hit play.
Dong, dong, dong—. The upbeat bass of Good Night filled the room.
By the time I snapped to, I was already fluttering my cheongsam hem, mimicking Ria's hand moves.
I'm losing it, for real......
Past-life me would've risen from the grave at this sight. But surprisingly, my reflection in the mirror looked way more fun than I expected.
Am I actually built for this?
“Whoa! Unnie, you're killing it! My celeb for sure!”
Amid Ria's cheers, I was fully gaslit, winking at the camera like a pro.
Kim Taesung who? This beat was too hype to stop.
At the same time, in Sangam-dong's MNA Broadcasting Station, Voice of Legend production center.
“What the hell is this! Is that really Han Jiyeong?!”
The main writer's near-scream drew the assistant directors and writers crowding the editing bay to the monitor.
The screen blared Ria's personal story.
“Whoa...... jackpot. Yeah, that's her. Even tagged.”
“Hold up, were Ria and Han Jiyeong always close? Didn't she leave Luminus on bad terms?”
“Exactly! Rumor was she got tossed the contract termination papers and stormed out. But check the background—that's Luminus HQ's third-floor exclusive practice room!”
The writers spilled intel in a heated debate.
“Tagging her means they're more than casual......”
“Did she dramatically reconcile with CEO Kim Taesung? Or is she rejoining Luminus?”
“Bigger issue: that outfit. Screams Round 2 mission gear, right? Kang Soyoung's Invitation! Total spoiler!”
The point froze the room. Leaking competition concepts pre-air was fatal for survival shows.
One assistant director glanced nervously at main PD Kang.
Kang PD stood arms crossed, silently fixated on the screen—specifically Han Jiyeong's cheongsam.
“Kang PD-nim, should we complain to Luminus? Tell Ria to take it down now?”
Breaking the tension, Kang PD spoke.
“Take it down? Why? She looks stunning.”
“Pardon?”
He smacked the desk and stood.
“It's already viral AF. Pulling it now makes us look petty. And you guys, not seeing this?”
He pointed to the stats below the photo. Ria's global fandom was exploding—English, Japanese, Chinese comments piling up by the tens of thousands in real time.
“Foreign fans are flocking to our show. Velvet Night stans losing it over who the cheongsam goddess buddying with Ria is. This is our ratings and buzz, baby.”
Kang PD's eyes gleamed with excitement.
“That sly fox Kim Taesung...... Had Ria drop this on purpose. Paints Han Jiyeong getting pulled back to his side, while we get the free hype. Offer we can't refuse.”
“So we just...... let it ride?”
“Yeah, leave it. Nah, it's perfect. Full edit overhaul starting now. Cut Han Jiyeong's episode 1 footage to the bone—interviews? All axed.”
His bombshell had the assistant PDs gaping at each other in shock.
“Wait, Kang PD-nim? She's our top draw right now. Strike while the iron's hot—increase her screen time!”
“That's why you're still assistants.”
Kang PD spun his chair, staring them down.
“They've seen the cheongsam via Ria's SNS. Public's foaming to see what stage she pulls in it. We spoon-feed it from ep 1? Buzz dies there.”
He set down his coffee, piercing the edit monitor.
“Oh, and one more. Teaser has Jiyeong's Round 1 stage, yeah? Clip just the punchiest seconds.”
One assistant PD tilted his head.
“Round 1? That acoustic Good Night remix? You're skipping it entirely in ep 1?”
“Whoa...... savage. Pushing Round 1 to ep 2? How will viewers survive the week?”
“Making 'em not survive? That's my job.”