You Were Flirting, Weren't You?
The music ended, and with it Gaeul’s dance came to a close. Dressed in a yellow Adidas tracksuit, Yoo Gaeul seemed determined to hide how winded she was. She drew quiet breaths while cautiously studying our reactions.
The evaluation panel—me, Cheon A-ram, Seo Suyeon, and basic-skills trainer Lee Hyerin—kept our expressions solemn as we weighed our thoughts. As CEO, Cheon A-ram spoke first to align everyone’s opinions.
“Ah, yes! I’ll wait outside. Thank you for watching over me!”
Gaeul bowed deeply at a perfect ninety degrees, then closed the door with exquisite care so it wouldn’t make a sound. Once she was gone, Cheon A-ram let out a low hum.
“…She’s far better than I expected.”
Seo Suyeon offered a careful nod of agreement. “Even to an amateur like me, she looked competent.”
Cheon A-ram turned to the visiting trainer. “Trainer Hyerin, you’ve worked with her for a short time. What’s your impression?”
Lee Hyerin gave a small nod before answering. “To be honest, it would be a stretch to call her a genius. If you’re expecting the same level of performance as Winter, who’s training alongside her, you’ll be disappointed.”
None of us had imagined Gaeul could match Winter’s top-tier talent in both dance and vocals. Still, Lee Hyerin continued.
“That said, she isn’t dull-witted. Teach her a fixed choreography and she’ll absorb it step by step, keeping pace with the team.”
I recalled that Gaeul’s current dance ability sat at C+ and added, “She told me she worked hard in her middle-school broadcast-dance club. It seems she built solid fundamentals there.”
Both Seo Suyeon and Lee Hyerin nodded. Apparently they hadn’t seen her performance as that of a total beginner either.
Yet Cheon A-ram tilted her head, a question forming. “I’m glad she’s more talented than I assumed, but one thing still bothers me.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Why hasn’t she been scouted by any other agency? Did every scout suddenly go blind? Why on earth did they leave a girl like her untouched?”
Seo Suyeon met her gaze. “I suspect her family situation and the one-hundred-million-won figure became obstacles.”
“Even so… surely someone could have at least dangled the promise of a hundred million, even if it was a scam? For a kid like her?”
It was the same doubt I had harbored. To clear it up, I shared what Gaeul had told me.
“Apparently she never once mentioned the hundred million herself. Scouts approached her, but she always turned them down citing personal reasons without explaining her circumstances.”
“Then why did she only bring up the hundred million to you, Team Leader Seon?”
“…How should I know?”
I had simply thrown the number out without any grand plan. There was no special trick behind it.
Seo Suyeon glanced between us. “Perhaps because you’re persuasive with words, she found it convincing?”
“Were there really no scouts who could talk?”
Cheon A-ram still looked unconvinced, but she eventually nodded. It seemed that was the only answer that made sense to her.
At that moment, vocal trainer Lee Hyerin cautiously raised her hand, reading the room. Cheon A-ram gave her permission to speak.
“Do you have a theory? Feel free to share.”
Lee Hyerin looked at my face and said carefully, “…Could it be because of his face?”
“…”
What kind of nonsense was that?
Cheon A-ram pressed her forehead as if the ridiculous statement had given her a headache. “So, Trainer Hyerin, you’re saying Gaeul is so captivated by Team Leader Seon’s face that she spilled every last detail about her personal life?”
“…It seems likely?”
“…”
We each did our utmost to pretend we hadn’t heard her.
“It’s truly fortunate that Gaeul’s dance ability is at that level, President.”
“As Team Leader Seon said, it’s a relief to see that Gaeul—who possesses high-level singing talent—doesn’t seem to carry any major flaws in dance.”
“…Yeah, exactly. It feels like all the effort I put into investor negotiations and registering the welfare foundation was worthwhile. I’m satisfied.”
The ignored Lee Hyerin looked deflated, but that wasn’t my problem.
Cheon A-ram seemed ready to wrap up the evaluation and call Gaeul back in. I decided to pour a little cold water on the warm atmosphere. There was something we needed to discuss while she was still outside.
“On another note, I have something to say about Gaeul’s father.”
“Hm? Didn’t you finalize the contract without issues, Team Leader Seon?”
“The contract went through, but there’s a sticking point.”
Under their unified attention I continued. “This is only according to what Gaeul’s younger sister, Gahyeon, said, but it appears her father has fallen into gambling.”
Seo Suyeon nodded in understanding. “So that’s why they demanded the money so aggressively even though a guardian existed.”
“What about the mother?” Cheon A-ram asked.
“From what I can gather, it seems they’re divorced. They appear to have completely severed contact.”
“Hmm… That’s troubling news.”
I explained why I had raised the topic. “Have you already transferred the contract payment?”
Cheon A-ram nodded. “Yes, it’s already been deposited. But after hearing you, I’m starting to feel uneasy. Maybe we should have structured the contract to deposit the money directly into Gaeul’s account.”
“The atmosphere suggested they wouldn’t have signed unless the money went into that account. They didn’t even seem willing to let her open one.”
Cheon A-ram let out a small sigh. “So the reason you brought this up is to warn that the contract money might be used as gambling funds?”
“Yes. If that happens, I’m worried it would deal a severe blow to Gaeul’s mental state. The most important thing in the world to her is protecting her little sister.”
“Haah… What a headache. Gaeul is still a minor, and that father is the only legal guardian we can reach. From our position it’s difficult to intervene. In the end it’s a family matter, so outsiders like us have a clear line we can’t cross.”
Seo Suyeon and Lee Hyerin continued pondering but couldn’t offer any clear solution. I remained silent as well; no obvious answer came to mind.
In the middle of that heavy quiet, Cheon A-ram suddenly spoke in a bright tone, as if she had found the perfect answer.
“Team Leader Seon.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll pay the settlement money, so how about you go beat that man up once? Getting hit might straighten out his habits.”
“…”
Coming from Cheon A-ram with her particular aura, the words didn’t sound like a joke at all. Lee Hyerin looked visibly startled and kept glancing around nervously.
Yet the suggestion was strangely tempting. If I took it, I could knock out that troublesome quest in one go.
Yeah. Let’s just do it. I couldn’t hold back the Sense of the Sword Saint.
Sense of the Sword Saint
I made up my mind and answered in a grave voice. “Shall I go do it right now?”
“Hey, it was a joke, Team Leader Seon. Why are you suddenly so scary?”
Cheon A-ram laughed playfully and waved her hands in dismissal. I felt deeply disappointed.
“Anyway, I understand we need to stay alert. But it’s also true that we don’t have any solid preventive measures ready yet. So let’s prepare for the future as thoroughly as we can in every related area.”
Seo Suyeon turned to Cheon A-ram. “I’ll look into gambling treatment centers and the relevant laws.”
“Good. I’ll trust you on this, Suyeon. It’s not like he’ll blow the entire contract payment on gambling in a single day, right? Let’s not rush. We’ll prepare everything we can, properly.”
With those final words, Cheon A-ram called for Gaeul, who had been waiting in the corridor. When she returned we finished the evaluation on a warm note, praising her enough to encourage her but not so much that she would grow arrogant.
After the guest evaluation at Two Bear Entertainment ended, someone caught trainer Lee Hyerin just as she was about to head home.
“Trainer Hyerin?”
It was Yoo Gaeul, still wearing the yellow Adidas tracksuit.
“Yes, Gaeul? What is it? Did you still have questions?”
Lee Hyerin responded with genuine pleasure. She had always enjoyed talking with Gaeul, whose golden-retriever-like friendliness made every conversation lively.
Compared to her outgoing profession, Lee Hyerin was quite introverted, which was exactly why she liked Gaeul so much.
“…Yes, I have something to ask.”
Yet Gaeul’s demeanor felt entirely different from usual. If anything, it felt gloomy. Almost frightening.
“Do you like Taeyang oppa?”
Lee Hyerin was caught completely off guard by the unexpected question and answered in a fluster.
“No, no, not at all.”
Gaeul tilted her head. “Then why did you mention Taeyang oppa’s face?”
“…Uh, his face?”
Hyerin felt a wave of embarrassment realizing Gaeul had also heard that mortifying comment during the evaluation. She wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
But that feeling was instantly swept away by Gaeul’s next words.
“Yes, you were flirting, weren’t you?”
Lee Hyerin, rattled by this completely unfamiliar version of Gaeul, still forced herself to respond.
“Wait, Gaeul. That remark seems to be crossing a line. Even if I did feel something for Team Leader Seon and tried to seduce him, why would I have to hear that from you? What does it have to do with you and Team Leader Seon?”
“It has everything to do with me.”
A cold wind swept past, lifting Gaeul’s bangs. The eyes revealed beneath them gleamed with something dark and dangerous.
“If Taeyang oppa ever has to deal with that kind of trouble… I might become a little strange.”
Overwhelmed by that eerie pressure, Lee Hyerin trembled without realizing it. “H-how…?”
Gaeul stared straight into her eyes and answered, as if the matter genuinely troubled her.
“I don’t know that either.”
An emotion the girl could no longer contain was pouring out—thick, dark, and overwhelming. With all the life experience she had accumulated, Lee Hyerin understood at once.
That was a bomb no one should ever touch.