The Baby Seizes Fortune - Chapter 41
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 41
* * *
“Wow, so pretty!”
“Like a fairy!”
Watching the three-member girl group dancing on stage, the children’s eyes sparkled.
Before appearing in the children’s choir competition, we got to tour a music broadcast thanks to the PD’s special permission.
-Come me, Come me.
Seeing them roam the stage in baggy pants made me realize even more that I was in the late 1990s.
But then.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
From far down that corridor came cheers that seemed to shake the building.
It sounded like a battlefield.
I could instinctively guess that some very impressive singers were about to appear.
Soon, a four-member male idol group radiating an especially bright aura entered the performance hall for rehearsal.
“Th-th-those people…”
“It’s MIX!”
“My older sister totally loves them!”
“Wow!”
One member had boldly bleached blonde hair, another had a lion’s mane fixed with wax, one had long hair, and the other had shaggy hair covering his eyes.
‘Wow… their hairstyles are incredible.’
Only one or two lights were on above the stage.
Cables were tangled like snakes on the floor, and humming sounds came from the monitor speakers on stage.
Since it was rehearsal, they wore tracksuits instead of formal costumes, but their presence was definitely extraordinary.
Soon the rehearsal began. They showed precise dance moves following the music. The children watching the stage had sparkling eyes.
But the person whose eyes sparkled the most was…
“Huff… huff…”
Teacher Noh Ji-hye, who was clutching her heart and breathing heavily.
‘She’s a MIX fan.’
When I went to the teachers’ office, I saw a frame with MIX photos in it. She seemed to be trying hard to restrain herself, but I could see her shoes dancing to the beat.
“Please give me the mic again.”
The group’s leader Ji Min-hyeok, who had been singing, checked something and spoke, so a staff member handed him the microphone.
His pleasant voice echoed through the performance hall. As the rehearsal was ending, the members swept their sweat-soaked hair up with their hands.
‘It’s such intense dancing, they must be tired.’
Then, among the members about to leave the stage, the leader Ji Min-hyeok looked in our direction.
Soon he nodded while talking with the staff.
“…Do you like them? Those people?”
Suddenly I heard Hee-jae’s voice from beside me.
I glanced at Hee-jae. His face wasn’t clearly visible due to the dim lighting.
“Well, they are cool, aren’t they?”
Their professional appearance burning with passion on stage was cool.
‘Especially MIX’s leader Ji Min-hyeok is a singer and actor that Junho admires.’
“…Should I become a singer?”
At Hee-jae’s words, my eyes twitched.
“Huh?”
“Me too…”
Suddenly one light turned on brightly, and Hee-jae’s previously invisible face was revealed a little.
Hee-jae asked me with an unreadable expression.
“Should I become a singer too? When I grow up later.”
“Eh?”
I chuckled and said.
“Well, being a singer is cool too. But…”
I was about to say, “You’re the heir to Tomorrow Finance,” but stopped.
“Do you like singing?”
“No.”
“Huh? Then why?”
Hee-jae looking at me with obvious eyes had quite a calm gaze. As I was unconsciously getting nervous about what he might say, a mysterious smile briefly crossed Hee-jae’s lips.
‘He’s so strange at times like this.’
Soon the next team came up on stage for rehearsal. Then, Ji Min-hyeok, who had been talking with staff, approached us.
The sitting children went crazy.
Naturally, so did Teacher Noh Ji-hye.
“It’s Ji Min-hyeok!”
“Min-hyeok! Min-hyeok!”
He grinned at the children and teacher, then looked toward Hee-jae and me.
“Um… hello. Are you Chaea?”
* * *
The camera swept across the stage widely, then before the first verse started, it filmed two child performers walking out from the front stairs.
The girl wore a thin chiffon dress that flared slightly below the waist, and the fabric glowed softly whenever it caught the lights, making her look like a piece of light that had settled on the stage.
The angel-like pretty child’s face showed a mix of nervousness and excitement.
The boy next to her wore a white suit that looked like an adult’s outfit scaled down.
His shirt collar was neatly raised, but there was no tie and instead the buttons were fastened all the way up.
“Huh, huh?”
Meanwhile, the PD of 【Typhoon Internal Medicine】, who was watching 【Music Bank】 during a filming break, was startled and called people over.
The small CRT TV at the film set was something actors watched to relax or staff watched during breaks.
“Ah, everyone come here. Where’s Junho! Junho!!”
Junho, who had been practicing his script in a corner, looked toward the PD.
“Here, look at this!”
At the PD’s words, Junho got up from his seat and approached the TV step by step, looking puzzled.
“Isn’t this Chaea?”
Yeong-il, who had come up behind Junho, squinted his eyes.
Junho’s expression also hardened as he looked at Chaea’s face close-up on the CRT screen.
“…Chae, Chaea…?”
Behind the two children, the members of group MIX in black stage costumes slowly approached, contrasting with the children.
-The moment the lights went out, behind the stage that held its breath, the trembling in small hands shines as if for the first time.
Waaaaaaah-
When MIX’s leader Ji Min-hyeok sang the first verse, cheers loud enough to bring down the performance hall erupted from the audience.
Shadows soon fell where Chaea and Hee-jae had been, and the children’s figures disappeared.
Junho, who had been watching that scene blankly, just blinked with a confused expression.
“Chaea, why are you coming out from there…?”
Come to think of it, she did say she was going to a children’s choir competition today.
“Wow, is Junho’s daughter already debuting?”
Yeong-il clapped and spoke, impressed by Chaea’s fairy-like pure appearance.
“I knew she was pretty, but she’s really photogenic too?”
“Right? There’s a reason I had my eye on Chaea.”
The assistant director and PD exchanged words. Junho, who had been dazed until then, felt good about their praise but couldn’t just smile carelessly.
* * *
“Wow, what a clever idea.”
“Good idea, right?”
MIX, who had won first place on ‘Music Bank,’ approached Hee-jae and me standing behind the stage.
MIX’s leader Ji Min-hyeok, who had asked us to be child performers earlier, bent his knees slightly to meet our eye level and spoke to us.
“Thank you, both of you. The stage came alive thanks to you two.”
The method I used to imprint myself on Ji Min-hyeok was an anonymous email I sent him around the time I entered Somang Preschool.
There was later an incident where Ji Min-hyeok belatedly discovered that his manager had been embezzling from him since his debut and sued him. Already knowing this fact, I sent him an email telling him to check into his manager’s embezzlement.
In response to his reply expressing gratitude, I told him that a child named ‘Gu Chaea’ would come to today’s Music Bank recording, and he could show his appreciation to that child. I explained her appearance and characteristics.
‘…Of course, I didn’t expect to actually go up on stage.’
Apparently, one of the stage equipment broke down today, so they had to hastily reorganize everything.
“Is there anything else you want besides the appearance fee? Tell me anything… So, it’s hard to explain in detail, but I want to repay a debt to someone who helped me, and that person said I just need to be grateful to you, Chaea. But now I’ve ended up in debt too.”
I smiled brightly at Ji Min-hyeok’s words and said.
“Then…”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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