Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Chick's Dream (2)
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"Gaeul, you still not ready?"
Bom said to the door.
-Mm.
"Ajusshi's waiting."
-Just a sec!
After waiting in the entryway for a few minutes, the chick poked her head out through the crack in the door.
"Hey, Ajusshi. I think I'm ready now."
"Yeah."
"On the count of one, two, three, judge me right away. Got it?"
"Sure."
"No hesitating. Say pretty or not pretty right off the bat. You got that too?"
"......"
He nodded lightly.
The chick relaxed her expression, then let out a deep breath. Soon, she stepped out of the room and spread her arms wide.
"Ta-da."
Socks covering her ankles. White legs above them. And above that, a blue tennis skirt. The long-sleeved white t-shirt clung tightly to her body, tucked neatly into the skirt.
He had no idea what those clothes were or what the outfit meant. So he reflexively gave the prepared response.
"Pretty."
"Whoa, no hesitation!"
Only then did Gaeul beam. She'd been fussing for nearly thirty minutes picking out cute clothes, and Yoo Ji-tae had found the wait boring. He'd probably have said she was pretty even in a paper bag, but oblivious to that, she bounced excitedly on her toes.
"Let's go."
Yoo Ji-tae took Bom and Gaeul toward Lair headquarters. Normally, he'd head to a restaurant or entertainment spot, but today was field trip day. They were dragons, bound to draw attention in Lair anyway, and they'd be visiting headquarters often, so he figured a preview tour was in order.
"Too bad Yeoreum unni can't come."
"Yeah."
Yeoreum was glued to some drama lately and hadn't left her room. From a quick peek, it was a bloody one.
Headquarters resembled a colosseum—a long, round, tall doughnut-shaped building awaited them.
A massive magic stone, fifteen meters across, floated in the sky above the doughnut structure.
"Wow. Unni, look at that! It's huge!"
Gaeul threw her arms wide.
Even during break, staff, professors, and cadets bustled about, and Bom and Gaeul watched them with fascination.
"Hey, aren't you Cadet Yoo Bom?"
A woman in her late thirties approached cheerfully.
Her blue name tag, marking her as staff, read 'Lair PR Department, PR Team 3 Leader.' Her name was Yong Do-hee.
"Do you know me?"
"Yeah, yeah. Professor Myeong Jong told me. Wow, you're even prettier in person. Did you dye your hair?"
"Ah, yeah. Thanks."
"And this little miss is your sister? Wow, those genes..."
The friendly woman approached without hesitation.
"Hello, Guardian. I'm Yong Do-hee from PR."
The woman's Scales Eye reading showed a bright good alignment, so Yoo Ji-tae didn't stop her. Bom and Gaeul didn't seem wary either.
"Yoo Ji-tae."
"Figured you'd be meeting PR a lot, so I was gonna drop by to say hi anyway. Nice running into you here. Looking forward to working together."
"Same here. Take good care of the kids."
Team Leader Yong then chatted idly with them, true to her PR role—gossip about Lair. Bom and Gaeul listened with interest.
Suddenly, she clapped as if remembering something.
"Oh, right! Not the time for this. There's a dry rehearsal for the entrance ceremony today. Want to come watch?"
Dry rehearsal?
Gaeul said yes, and Bom looked to Yoo Ji-tae.
He nodded.
*
A normal school's entrance ceremony might be nothing special, but this was Lair. A school gathering the world's most promising boys and girls.
Lair formed the backbone of global martial power, drawing eyes from around the world.
People harbored fantasies.
And Lair knew how to exploit them.
Every Lair event matched that scale. The entrance ceremony was a mega-event broadcast worldwide on major networks, with massive international impact.
They arrived at the hall.
An enormous stage. Massive cameras everywhere. As a performance venue, it had tens of thousands of seats arching out. Its sheer size overwhelmed; Gaeul stared blankly, eyes wide.
It made people feel tiny. It was that vast.
"That amazing?"
"Yeah."
'Mom's nest is about this big,' the chick whispered.
As rehearsal began, people moved in perfect sync, lights sweeping the area. Performance directors shouted and dashed about.
Curious, Gaeul asked,
"So who stands on the stage?"
"Ah, the cadets."
"Huh?"
"Hosts, performers, award assistants, declaration readers—all cadets. There was an audition."
"Oh."
Gaeul gazed at it with a dazed look.
"With your proportions and looks, Cadet Gaeul, you could've made it as an award assistant if you'd auditioned."
"Ah, no, I'm not really..."
The chick trailed off.
Then, a camera sweeping the audience aimlessly for rehearsal caught Gaeul.
She flinched, huddled, then slowly looked at the camera and waved.
-Hello there, yellow-haired cadet!
A performance team member acting as host boomed through the mic, voice filling the vast hall.
"Hi! Hello!"
Gaeul waved and smiled back.
-How'd a cadet like you end up here?
Apparently part of the rehearsal script. It wasn't a stiff ceremony but a show-like event.
"Just sightseeing!"
-Oh, sightseeing? Not just anyone can come in here. Only the handsome and pretty.
The team member joked.
Gaeul blinked, then tilted her head.
"How'd you get in?"
Laughter erupted from the watchers. 'Hehe.' Gaeul laughed along, clueless why.
The banter continued a bit, Gaeul's innocent remarks drawing laughs from the team and audience repeatedly.
By then, Bom, watching warmly, asked Team Leader Yong,
"By the way, about that audition. Any chance for late entries?"
"Pardon?"
"Nothing tough, but something like award assistant—might there be spots?"
"Ah, well..."
Team Leader Yong smiled awkwardly.
"No good?"
"Probably tricky. High competition, and primary auditions wrapped today."
"I see..."
Regrettable, but unavoidable.
Rehearsal ended there.
On the way home, Yoo Ji-tae noticed Gaeul's heartbeat louder and faster than usual, even without focusing.
"Have fun, Gaeul?"
"Yeah! Best ever."
The chick replied, cheeks flushed.
The regressor watched her, lost in thought briefly.
Seemed like it had come to pass.
After rehearsal, the performance team reviewed the footage. Lead producer Ha Jun-su did too.
Ha Jun-su, Korea's top director on the rise, wielded the baton for Lair's entrance ceremony twice yearly.
Lair's schedule was always packed. Primary auditions for cadet selection, skeletal rehearsals—he crammed three days' work into one.
"Newbies were pretty solid this year, though."
"Right? Good-looking bunch. Less green too."
"That Indian girl? Had real vibe."
"Nah, the Irish one for me."
"Ah, the British royal special forces... her?"
"She killed it. Man, that body..."
Ha Jun-su snapped irritably.
"Killed what? I'll kill you all. Focus on work!"
"Aw, PD-nim, we're dying here."
'My back's breaking.' 'Eyes falling out.' The team whined. But iron-fisted Ha Jun-su wasn't swayed. He glared, and some awkwardly turned away. Still, one bold soul piped up.
"Anyway, PD-nim, what do you think? This year's ceremony should look good, right?"
"Geon-young."
"Yes?"
"No bullshit. Work!"
In the end, the team buckled down silently.
'Usable stuff.'
Truth was, Ha Jun-su was quite satisfied.
This year's freshmen outshone last. The ceremony visuals would shape up nicely.
But no performance was ever perfect. Something always nagged at him. Wasn't there something more ideal out there? That idealistic itch lingered.
Others didn't get his perfectionism.
Twenty years in, though, he'd grown chronic to the dissatisfaction. Learned to settle among the decent.
Positively, detachment. Negatively, coping delusion.
That was the case...
'Hm?'
While scanning rehearsal footage, Ha Jun-su's eyes locked on the main screen.
A yellow-haired cadet in the audience zoomed in.
-Only the handsome and pretty.
-How'd you get in?
-Hahaha!
Ha Jun-su rewound and replayed.
At the girl's part's end, he rewound again.
A strange feeling hit him. Grainy footage, off colors. Yet it drew him in oddly.
What was this? Why the pull?
Pretty? Sure, strikingly so. But not just that.
He'd directed countless shows, seen hordes of beauties and hunks. None hooked his gaze like this.
Curiosity surged.
Wanted to see her face in person.
"Nam-jun."
"Yes?"
"Which auditionee is she?"
"Who?"
The audition manager peered, then rolled his eyes.
"Who's this?"
"You don't know?"
"Pretty... but no one like her auditioned."
"What? Mistake?"
"Nah, wouldn't forget that face."
Exactly.
No one knew her, even after polling others.
The host actor even got chewed out for not asking her name.
Then someone shouted.
"Ah!"
"What?"
"PD-nim, there. Blue thing in the back. Staff badge?"
"Oh, right!"
Ha Jun-su clapped.
"Contact her now."