The Daughter of a Conglomerate Family Has Debuted - Chapter 323

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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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I glared at Kael with fed-up eyes and approached him.

“I came straight here as soon as I got off stage, you know? I even came wearing my costume.”

Standing in front of Cael Arden, who looked completely uninterested, I ran my hand over my costume once and pointed at him with my finger.

“And yet you’re lying around without even putting on your costume?”

Of course, it’s true that I arrived a bit later than the originally scheduled time, but the stage performance ran late and naturally got delayed, so it’s not my fault and there’s nothing to apologize for.

“You really need to fix that way of speaking that makes people feel awkward by saying things you don’t need to say, you know?”

When I spoke irritably, Cael Arden chuckled.

Knowing it wasn’t my fault, he deliberately said such things to get an apology – for Cael Arden, this was his way of showing intimacy or joking around.

Having lived his whole life in a position of power, even his jokes come across as power trips.

“What did I even do?”

Cael Arden kept being annoyingly playful and evasive until the end, then belatedly headed to the dressing room.

He told me I was late and threatened me not to be late for meetings, but when it came to himself, even changing clothes was leisurely and relaxed.

If this was how it was going to be, why did he tell me to come so quickly…

‘I ran here for nothing.’

I let out a deep sigh and sat down on the sofa.

He’s really such a difficult person to work with.

Our Flora fans seem to want me to do more collaborative work with Cael Arden.

‘Absolutely not.’

I understand the fans’ feelings since I hit an unprecedented career high starting with my collaboration with Cael Arden…

But I can’t do it.

Actually, Cael Arden has naturally brought up working on the next project several times, but each time I pretend not to hear.

It’s a time when Flora’s activities are more important than individual activities, and I also want to be with the members more.

No matter how much he acknowledges and treats me well, his characteristically arrogant attitude always brings stress to schedules with him.

Separate from gratitude, I sometimes get the feeling that I’m being looked down upon.

It’s been 20 minutes of waiting for Cael Arden, who’s holed up in the dressing room and won’t come out, while I chew over his words and actions.

Finally, the curtain opened and Cael Arden came out.

“Pfft.”

As soon as I saw him, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Pink sparkly suspender pants matching the color of my costume, and a bow tie.

Cael Arden was dressed in an outfit that didn’t suit his usual image at all.

He’s someone who usually insists on maintaining a sharp, popular young man image.

When I laughed, the staff members also started laughing as if teasing him.

“Why are you laughing?”

Cael Arden himself seemed very awkward, sheepishly fiddling with his shirt while raising the corners of his mouth.

“I’m only wearing this because I have no choice this time. If I wasn’t performing on stage with you, I would never wear this.”

“What an honor.”

I replied with laughter still in my voice and held up my mobile phone camera to Cael Arden.

Cael Arden looked at me with disbelief, but reflexively looked at the camera and adjusted his expression and posture.

His words about being willing to wear this specially just this once because he was performing on stage with me seemed sincere.

The song I collaborated on with Cael Arden became the biggest hit of his entire singing career, so no matter how prickly and annoying he acts, I can see that he’s giving special treatment to me and this song in his own way.

As I looked at Cael Arden with the intention of teasing him thoroughly, he clicked his tongue and turned his gaze to the staff.

“Stop staring. When are we going on stage?”

“There’s still a little time left. Take it easy.”

Cael Arden sighed as if he was already tired and plopped down on the sofa.

“Ji-ye, don’t be nervous. We’re perfect anyway.”

“Do I look nervous to you?”

“If you’re not nervous, then never mind. I watched your stage earlier. Your performance is really good as expected.”

“You watched our stage?”

“I did.”

You, who completely dismissed K-pop as just a dancing group? When I looked at him with a very surprised face, Cael Arden calmly nodded.

“Why do you keep doubting what I say? I still don’t like K-pop, but I acknowledge you guys. That popularity isn’t something you can easily obtain.”

Oh please, whatever. I laughed and responded half-heartedly, then shifted my gaze to my mobile phone.

Is there anything more wasteful of time than enjoying leisure in a waiting room before a performance?

No matter how often I’ve practiced harmonizing with him, practice is never enough.

As I was humming the lyrics on my phone, Cael Arden, who had somehow approached me, subtly started harmonizing.

“Haha.”

I laughed softly, stopped humming, and stood up abruptly.

“If we’re going to practice together, let’s not do it so quietly – let’s practice the dancing together too.”

“What?”

Cael Arden looked at me in confusion, then awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth and shook his head.

“We already practiced the dancing. During practice and rehearsal.”

All the staff here are watching us.

This place is full of people (mainly dancers and Cael Arden’s musical family) who giggle and say it’s funny just watching me and Cael Arden have a conversation.

For some reason I don’t understand, their laughter gets louder when Cael Arden dances.

“Ji-ye is right. We should practice before going up, shouldn’t we?”

“Is there not enough space? Should we move aside?”

“Ji-ye, give up. Kael has weird stubbornness and absolutely won’t do embarrassing things.”

“What’s embarrassing about dancing?”

“Hey, just try dancing. We need to film it and post it on social media.”

‘Somewhat mocking tone.’

They constantly tease someone as if mockery is their daily routine, and often that target becomes their employer, Cael Arden.

Especially when Cael Arden does something he wouldn’t normally do, like now, they tease him even more.

Cael Arden is usually someone very far removed from dancing, and singing while dancing is also far from the music he pursues.

Such a person has to wear sparkly pink clothes, sing, and even do rhythmic movement-like dancing. Having to do something completely opposite to his personality, they seem to want to tease him that much.

‘Of course, this time I was the one who led him into it.’

I deliberately suggested practicing dancing even though I knew he’d get teased.

After all, jokes are fun when they’re exchanged back and forth.

Cael Arden gave his teasing colleagues the middle finger along with explicit curses, then looked at me.

“I won’t do it. Just practice individually or practice by yourself.”

“Why.”

I giggled, tilted my chin, gestured for him to do as he pleased, and started humming the song again.

Cael Arden is fun to mess with subtly, but if I go further than this, he’ll really get angry.

When I focused on the song, Cael Arden started harmonizing again.

Still, since we’ve harmonized together so often, even when we sing suddenly on the spot, our harmony and rhythm match up quickly.

‘The singing is always perfect.’

Cael Arden looked very satisfied with the smoothly flowing song, but actually I wasn’t completely satisfied.

Cael Arden had maintained his attachment to singing even while acting and his skills were good, so the singing was always great.

What I’m worried about for the upcoming stage isn’t the singing but the dancing.

‘It really will be okay, right?’

During rehearsal, it was a bit shaky.

I thought he had gotten somewhat used to dancing and singing while filming the musical movie, but that wasn’t the case.

Cael Arden was at a level where he couldn’t sing when he focused on dancing, and wouldn’t dance when he focused on singing – he couldn’t do both together.

I once asked him how he managed filming the musical movie if this was the case.

According to him, it was lip sync during filming, so it didn’t really feel like singing.

Anyway, for that reason, we initially tried to create a musical-style stage but changed it to simple rhythmic movement level for Cael Arden’s sake, but even this feels shaky and worrying.

But what can I do? Cael Arden refuses to practice outside of regular practice time.

The musical concept was something the planning team pushed for and Cael Arden reluctantly accepted, so I can’t force him to practice for fear he might quit.

…If he makes a mistake, I’ll have to cover for it, I guess.

“I’m totally a K-pop idol now. This is… really ridiculous.”

While Cael Arden was grumbling annoyingly and I was ignoring the laughter to practice singing, a staff member came in to let us know it was our turn.

“Let’s go, Ji-ye.”

Kael Arden leisurely got up and left the waiting room first.

I hope it ends well without any problems.

I quietly prayed that Kael Arden wouldn’t forget the choreography while focusing on singing, and followed behind him.

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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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