Chapter 69: Second Unexpected Talent (1)
Summer break rolled around for the third-years. As Kang Ra-Eun had already expected, the life of a third-year high school student was extremely boring. They were not allowed the freedom to have fun during the school festival, nor did they have school excursions. All they could do was study, study, and study even more.
Third-years could not be happy about summer break either, because they had no other choice but to focus on their studies by going to cram school, hiring a tutor, or holding study groups. Choi Sang-Woon, along with Na Gyu-Rin and Choi Ro-Mi, registered for the same cram school.
Sang-Woon walked to the staff room with Ra-Eun with the questionnaires that the students had filled out at the homeroom teacher’s behest. He cautiously asked her, “Ra-Eun, are you not gonna attend a cram school?”
“A cram school?”
“Yeah. We don’t go to school during summer break, so a lot of our classmates apparently registered for one.”
Ra-Eun did not see the need to go to a cram school because she had been scoring first in the entire school without going to one.
“I don’t think I will,” she answered.
“Oh... really?”
Sang-Woon smacked his lips in disappointment.
“You said you were aiming for Seoul National University, right?”
Ra-Eun nodded at Sang-Woon’s second question. Her only goal was to enroll at SNU.
She asked Sang-Woon back, “What about you?”
“I...” Sang-Woon slurred his words and said with a gulp, “Me too.”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t care which university you went to?”
Sang-Woon once told her while they were preparing for last year’s sports day that he didn’t mind which university he went to, as long as it was a public one. However, his mindset had changed this year.
“I just thought it’d be nice to aim for a good one. They say the fruits of your labor become as big as the goal that you set for yourself, don’t they?” Sang-Woon stated.
“I guess that’s true.”
However, Ra-Eun did not know that 99.9% of the reason that Sang-Woon was aiming for SNU was because of her.
“I-In any case, I’ll aim for SNU as well, so if I get in... let’s play basketball again like we used to, okay?”
Ra-Eun happily accepted. The more familiar faces there were, the better. She did not discriminate between men and women. Rather, she did not feel burdened by Sang-Woon’s offer because she was mentally more comfortable around men. However, there was one thing that she was worried about.
‘He’s gonna have an excruciating time preparing for the entrance exam.’
Ra-Eun knew Sang-Woon’s grades very well. He was right smack in the middle of the ranks. She was curious about whether or not he could create a miracle in the short span of half a year.
***
During summer break, Ra-Eun sometimes went to Starlight Road to study when she couldn’t focus at home. She casually continued her studies with Seo Yi-Seo whenever she was there.
“Our homeroom teacher seems to have really high hopes for you,” Yi-Seo mentioned.
“He told me during the summer break ceremony too. Something about me having to go to SNU for sure to improve the school’s reputation.”
The high school that Ra-Eun was attending was quite far from a prestigious one; it was nothing more than a regular school. Come to think of it, a school’s reputation could change based on how many of their students went to SNU.
“Adults are so sly. They were accusing you of cheating when you first got good grades, but now they’re relying on you...”
Ra-Eun smiled at how Yi-Seo was getting mad for her.
“It’s okay. It’s all in the past anyway.”
Ra-Eun did not mind much since she would have also suspected herself if she was in the homeroom teacher’s shoes. The teachers’ doubts were bound to fade as she continued to prove her ability to them, and that was exactly what had happened.
Ra-Eun herself aside, she was curious about where Yi-Seo was aiming for.
“Where are you going to go?” Ra-Eun asked.
“Are you talking about which university?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t mind wherever, as long as it’s in the metropolitan area. I have something more important to do than university,” Yi-Seo remarked.
“What?”
Yi-Seo tapped on the cafe table with the end of her mechanical pencil. Ra-Eun immediately realized what she was trying to say.
“A cafe?”
Yi-Seo had not been up for inheriting her family’s cafe business at first, but her mind had changed as time went on.
“I saw the appeal of cafes the more I worked in one. So, I’m going to work here with my dad while I attend university for the time being, and set up my own cafe once I gather the money. That’s my dream.”
“That sounds good,” Ra-Eun remarked.
If Yi-Seo set up a cafe, it would become a place that she could go to unwind whenever she was exhausted. Ra-Eun hoped that it would become her second Starlight Road.
***
Ra-Eun and Yi-Seo weren’t the only ones working hard for their dreams. The same went for Han Ga-Ae, who had just transferred to GNF Entertainment. Today was her first day as an artist affiliated with GNF. As she greeted all the important employees of the agency with her new personal manager, she saw Ra-Eun who had come to the building for a short moment.
“Oh, Ra-Eun!”
Ga-Ae's face turned much brighter than before from seeing her same-age friend. Ra-Eun also brightened up since she did not expect to see Ga-Ae here.
“Were you looking around the building?” Ra-Eun asked.
“No, I was just about to. What about you?”
Ga-Ae wondered why Ra-Eun was here when she had announced that she was not going to appear on TV until her SATs were over.
“I’m just here because Chief Jung asked me to look through some good movie scripts that he got for me.”
It was impossible for Ra-Eun to film at the moment, but she was planning on looking through some synopses beforehand so that she could go right into filming after her SATs were over.
Ga-Ae’s manager received a call as the two girls were talking. It seemed urgent.
“Ga-Ae, I’m afraid I’m gonna have to show you around the building another time.”
“Did something happen?” Ga-Ae asked.
“Yeah. Something came up for a road manager of another team, so it looks like they won’t make it to the broadcasting station in time. I’m going to have to go pick up the team.”
It could not be helped, so Ga-Ae saw her manager off.
Ra-Eun expressed to Ga-Ae, “I could show you around, if that’s okay with you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I have nothing to do until my manager gets here anyway.”
Shin Yu-Bin said that she would drive her home once she came back to the company after finishing her external business.
“I’d love that. I’ll be in your care, Ra-Eun.”
Where to start the tour was a concern in and of itself.
***
Entertainment agencies had many more unique facilities than the average company building, mainly the vocal training rooms, choreography practice rooms, recording rooms and the like.
Ga-Ae looked around the choreography practice room in marvel.
“It’s so clean.”
“That’s probably because they only recently did the interior. It’s actually only my second time here.”
Ra-Eun had barely any need to visit the choreography practice room because she was not a singer. GNF had been investing in such facilities because they were planning on bringing in a lot more singing talents apart from Rita and Ga-Ae.
“What’s that room next door? A recording room?” Ga-Ae asked.
“No, that’s the staff break room.”
“Oh, really?”
Ga-Ae was surprised as she went into the break room.
“There’s a karaoke machine in here?”
“Yeah. I think they installed it so that people can sing while they take a break if they want to.”
“Does it work?”
“Yup, but you should close the door if you want to sing. It’ll echo throughout the hallway if you don’t.”
The room was made to be soundproof, so not much sound seeped out as long as the door was closed. Ga-Ae turned on the machine to sing a song since they were here, and selected I Can’t Forget You, the title song of the second album of Nefti, her former group.
Ga-Ae’s elegant voice filled the entire break room as soon as the intro of the song ended.
“I can’t forget the night that we parted~ I spent each and every day in tears~”
It was the first time that Ra-Eun heard Ga-Ae singing live. As she thought, a singer was in a different league.
‘She’s... really good.’
Ra-Eun genuinely could not understand why Ga-Ae barely got any lines in Nefti’s songs when she was this good. But now that she had left the group, the only thing waiting for her now was success.
Ra-Eun listened in delight to her future top star friend’s singing. Ga-Ae looked refreshed after finishing the song, and handed the mic over to Ra-Eun.
“Do you want to sing one too?” she asked.
“Me?”
“Yeah!”
Ra-Eun thought for a moment.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t sung a single time after becoming a woman.’
She had often gone to karaoke bars with friends and work colleagues in her past life to drink and sing. She had been frequently complimented by her acquaintances that she was a good singer, but she was curious if her singing skills were the same after becoming a high school girl.
“Okay, sure,” Ra-Eun answered.
Ra-Eun chose a female singer’s song among the several that she used to sing often.
‘I used to sing in the male key.’
However, there was no need for her to change keys now that she had become a woman. This was also one of the advantages of the change in her gender, albeit a very tiny one.
“I once again recall our happy times together by drawing the memories in my mind~”
Ga-Ae stared at Ra-Eun dumbfoundedly as she listened to her sing. She clapped and showered Ra-Eun with compliments once the song was over.
“You’re so good! You could become a singer!”
Ra-Eun claimed that Ga-Ae was overreacting, but Ga-Ae was dead-serious.
“Have you ever sang in front of your manager unnie and Chief Jung?” Ga-Ae asked.
“No, never.”
There was no way that she had since she had never sung before in this life time.
“I’m sure they would have gone ‘This is it!’ if they heard you singing just now!”
“What’s ‘it?’” Ra-Eun asked.
Ga-Ae answered, “You being an actress and singer.”
1. Seoul National University, or SNU, is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea.
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