Top Girl Group Scenario Rewritten with My Own Hands - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 16
Park Ji-yeon🔒 @ny_ung2
· 3 hours ago
Figure skating men’s short and free program performance was garbage ugh
I woke up at 7 AM on a Sunday for this and what am I now
│
Kim Si-hyeon🔒 @duckkwek11
· 3 minutes ago
You just woke up early lol
│
Park Ji-yeon🔒 @ny_ung2
· 1 minute ago
Great friend you are, totally helpful
Her Twibble handle was “Park Ji-yeon,” and she closed the app with a heavy sigh.
It wasn’t just because of the pitiful performance in the men’s short and free program from the Grand Prix event unfolding far away in the United States—the one she’d dragged herself out of bed at 7 AM on a Sunday to watch, defying all expectations. Not just because of that.
…Yeah, she was frustrated. But genuinely, that wasn’t the whole reason.
It was mid-November now, and it had been nearly a month since she’d last seen her ultimate bias.
She’d blown the entire weekend flying from Seoul to Gimhae for the Youth Olympic selection trials, and she’d even shown up late to school on Monday—something she’d never done before—all for that.
And yet Park Ji-yeon had absolutely no regrets about going all the way to Gimhae to see the Youth Olympic trials.
First, because her ultimate bias in men’s singles had pulled off the impressive feat of a clean short and free program for the first time that season and secured her spot in the Youth Olympics. Second, because….
“Oh my gosh, it’s been so long! I wish I’d brought something for you….”
“Who are you again?”
“I’m the person who cheered you on back when you were in the elementary division at the rookie competition!”
On free skate day, Sunday, she’d met Joo Hye-rin—her ultimate bias in women’s singles, her life’s ultimate bias—someone she’d spent over a year wondering about, not knowing if she was alive or dead, just worrying endlessly.
My real daughter, truly my own daughter….
Of course, Hye-rin’s parents were the ones who gave birth to her and raised her….
She had watched every single one of Joo Hye-rin’s competitions; somewhere in her external hard drive was a photo of Hye-rin from elementary school, fourth grade, at a rookie competition, performing cleanly and bouncing excitedly afterward.
“I’m not skating anymore. Um…. I’m sorry for not keeping in touch even though you always cheered me on.”
Maybe that’s why she felt a catch in her throat when Hye-rin said something like that, awkwardly.
Part of her wanted to shout back: Why are you apologizing?! What do you have to be sorry for?!
But you couldn’t yell at your ultimate bias, could you? All she could manage was: “It’s okay, I’m just glad you’re doing well.”
‘At least I know she’s doing okay now. I’ll miss seeing her for a while, but….’
Hye-rin, who didn’t even have an Instagram account, let alone any social media—knowing she was alright was something in itself.
Was this what it meant to have a life’s ultimate bias? Park Ji-yeon found herself wishing only for Hye-rin’s happiness, what her friends on Twibble would call “true love devotion.”
She’d loved Hye-rin for so long because she’d looked so purely joyful on the ice, but as long as she was happy, that was enough….
‘But who was that person standing next to Hye-rin? They seemed about Hye-min’s age….’
Of course she knew Hye-rin had an older sister.
And Joo Hye-min, Hye-rin’s older sister, was also a former figure skater. There was no way she wouldn’t recognize her face!
Someone new, someone whose age seemed closer to Hye-rin’s sister than to Hye-rin, a beautiful woman she was seeing for the first time. Even with a dark blue cap pulled down over her face, she was genuinely pretty.
She knew it wasn’t proper manners to think this of someone she’d just met, but she’d almost blurted out something like “Damn, you’re gorgeous.” Who on earth was this person?
‘…But I don’t need to know. Get it together and do your assignment, Park Ji-yeon!’
Fan activity was fan activity, real life was real life, and assignments were assignments.
Whether or not Park Ji-yeon accepted her ultimate bias’s retirement, however she felt about it, the world kept turning.
Like, for instance, the required major assignment due at midnight tonight….
Why did humans love things in the first place?
If they didn’t love, they wouldn’t suffer….
Pushing these oddly philosophical thoughts aside, she settled down vaguely in front of her laptop.
It was just noon now, so she had twelve hours until the deadline…!
Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz!
‘…What?’
She’d just gotten herself in gear to tackle the assignment, and now these messages? She didn’t have anyone who’d contact her anyway.
Park Ji-yeon stared at the desktop version of her messaging app, which showed no preview since she hadn’t logged in yet.
Buzz!
Buzz!
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz-buzz-buzz!!
“Geez, shut up for a second….”
Let’s see who was being so annoyingly loud. She logged in with seventy percent irritation and thirty percent curiosity.
She could’ve sworn she’d silenced most of the group chats!
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Yo
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : This is insane
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : @Park Ji-yeon
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Ji-yeon
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : www.twibble……
==========
Prove Rookies @PRookies_official
Profile Photo #Hye-rin #HYERIN
#ProveRookies #MusicProve
(Profile photo of Hye-rin in jeans and a white blouse)
(Another angle of Hye-rin laughing playfully)
==========
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : This girl
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Isn’t she your daughter?
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Hye-rin
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : Holy crap
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : What the…????
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : How did Duck find out about this
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : www.twibble……
==========
Prove Rookies @PRookies_official
Profile Photo #Hyun-seo #HYUNSEO
#ProveRookies #MusicProve
(Profile photo of Hyun-seo in jeans and a white blouse)
(Close-up of Hyun-seo’s face, gaze turned to the side)
==========
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : I
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Just confirmed
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : The rumors about my daughter’s imminent debut
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : And there
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Your daughter is there too?
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : This is killing me
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : But like
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : Why are they announcing members
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : At Sunday noon?
“…Is this real?”
Is this real crap —
The text her fingers typed and the sound coming from her mouth matched.
Park Ji-yeon was shocked. Genuinely, truly shocked.
What the hell is Hye-rin doing there…?!
She hurriedly clicked on the Twibble link in question.
No matter how many times she looked, it was definitely her Hye-rin, but how on earth had this happened?
=========
Prove Rookies @PRookies_official
Group Profile Photo
#Sua #SUA #Jion #JION #Hyun-seo #HYUNSEO
#Jaei #JAEI #Hye-rin #HYERIN #Han-byul #HANBYUL
#ProveRookies #MusicProve
(Group photo of six members in the same outfits as their individual profile photos)
==========
“…Oh!”
It was that person she’d seen standing next to Hye-rin at the selection trials!
Now that she thought about it, she’d seemed too beautiful to be a regular person—turns out she was an idol trainee. But wait, did that mean Hye-rin was a trainee too?!
Still holding onto her confusion, she opened the chat window again.
The sole group chat where she kept notifications on was the “Yeong-ri-bi” group (Ji-yeon + Duck + Bib)—friends she’d known for almost ten years, though whether they were sane was debatable. That chat was blowing up today.
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : You really didn’t know
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : You just said one thing
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : And disappeared
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : That’s hilarious
Of course you knew —
You would’ve —
Posted about it constantly —
About missing Hye-rin —
Made a whole scene —
Right? —
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ sorry
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Straight up hilarious
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : How many years has it been

A K-pop drifter —
Forever ago —
My oppa’s dead fish eyes —
Completely off K-pop —
That was true. She was currently off K-pop, and had been for quite some time—a pure figure skating fan now.
Though it looked like her days as an off-K-pop person were about to become ancient history….
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : ㅋㅋ
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Meet up at Sangam
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : Don’t have fun without me
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : I’ll curse you
– Lim Ji-su(Bib) : I’ll make it rain on every offline event
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Come see Prove Rookies then
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : But there is
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Someone in the group
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : I think you’d like
No one cares —
About my opinion —
Great friends I have —
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : ㅋㅋ
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : But you love Hye-rin, right?
Damn it —
Of course I love her —
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : I got it ma’am
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : See you at Sangam
So annoying —
But I think I’m going anyway —
Yeah, she had a feeling she’d go. Separate from how bewildering all this was!
Anyway, when Hye-rin officially debuted, she’d obviously be hitting up the offline events. That’s just what having an ultimate bias meant….
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : Welcome
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : First time in the idol game?
– Kim Si-hyeon(Duck) : ㅎ
Duck—with the second account nickname “Quack”—seemed absolutely delighted to be making fun of her like this.
They shared a bias in her former K-pop days—that legendary issue where she’d kept spouting “Is that really? No way? For real for real? Dead fish eyes guy fanfic” before they both quit K-pop together.
But Duck had supposedly buried her bones in K-pop, suddenly watched some girl group survival show without anyone asking, and ended up picking a new ultimate bias from it.
That was Go Hyun-seo from the Dream Girls Project. One of the Prove Rookies announced alongside Hye-rin!
Somehow her entire worldview felt like it was crashing down.
She’d thought of “debut” in terms of Hye-rin—as in selection trials, Junior Grand Prix, Junior World Championships debut, the kind of debut used for first competitions….
Park Ji-yeon ran through the subjects that came before the word “debut” one by one.
Selection trials, Junior Grand Prix, Junior Worlds, and idol debut let’s go.
Wasn’t that last one completely out of place?
Is my daughter really debuting?
As an idol?
Really…?
Over an hour had passed before she knew it, but assignments had already vanished from her mind long ago.
***
If I had to name one thing a debut idol needs above all else, I’d say it’s awareness.
Because in this industry, even if you have a good song, good choreography, and good members, if nobody knows about it, it all gets buried.
In that sense, “awareness” becomes a term that encompasses quite a lot. Whether it’s knowing the music, knowing the members, or knowing them through trending short-form video challenges—it all becomes that sense of “Oh, I know them!”
We’re planning to raise this awareness as much as possible before debut.
With what?
Familiarity marketing.
Showing people things they’ve seen before, things they’ve heard, things they’ve come across in YouTube algorithms, things they’ve seen in Instagram reels or TikTok…. We’ll show those things again.
“They also rent figure skates here, not just hockey skates. Since you’re here anyway, want to try some figure skates, unnie? You can rent them from the practice area over there.”
“Is there a big difference?”
“Huge! The blade itself is completely different. Hockey skates are more comfortable for beginners, but figure skates are way more precise and delicate.”
That’s why I was at the ice rink with Joo Hye-rin, who was happily tying her skate laces while chattering away beside me.
It’s 9 PM, late, but the skaters on the ice are moving intensely.
The company rented the ice from 9:30 to 11 PM. With the late hour and short staffing, it was just Hye-rin and me with a smartphone for filming.
This girl downplayed her figure skating career, but that wasn’t right.
As evidenced by her competition video surpassing one million YouTube views, Joo Hye-rin was a genuine figure skating prospect.
In sixth grade, she competed directly against prominent active national team members and was selected for the national team—one of only eight chosen,
and in middle school, at her first competition—the Junior Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan—she won gold.
I’m not sure of the details, but apparently the Junior Grand Prix is one of the few ISU-sanctioned competitions for junior-level skaters. It’s where talented junior skaters from around the world compete.
Gold on her first try? Hardly nothing—when I looked it up, articles and news videos were everywhere calling her “the prodigy of figure skating.”
Before I came back to this timeline, Joo Hye-rin had an unusually large Japanese fanbase, and one reason seemed to be her strong performance at the Osaka Junior Grand Prix and the Tokyo Grand Prix Final during her competitive days.
When you watch her competition videos from then, you understand why. Japan takes figure skating seriously, and she had this “figure skating fairy” image.
“…Are you listening?”
“Huh? Yeah. I mean, honestly, even listening I don’t really get it.”
“You’ve skated before, haven’t you, unnie?”
“Yeah. Once? Why?”
“That was probably hockey skates, right? Rental places almost never give out figure skates…. Let’s try them today. You’re holding the phone anyway, not me.”
She was looking up at me with these puppy-dog eyes like she wanted me to skate with her—she really was like a cat in boots sometimes….
“…Fine, whatever. It’s not that hard anyway.”
“Yes! What shoe size do you wear, unnie?”
“Size 230 athletic shoes. Are skates different?”
“Athletes have different preferred sizes. But for just one day, renting in your regular shoe size should be fine?”
Though come to think of it, unnie has pretty small feet. I wear 245!
Hye-rin rattled on happily and then darted off to get the skates.
While Hye-rin was gone, I watched the athletes training on the ice.
Contrary to its image, figure skating wasn’t just graceful and beautiful. I’d read somewhere that it was one of the most physically demanding events in the Winter Olympics—I learned that because of Hye-rin when I looked it up.
I don’t generally like this kind of bias, but… I think I need to use it this time.
The public tires quickly from complex information.
Even if they show interest, the moment fatigue sets in, they look away—and that’s just ordinary people. What about a debut group with no background information?
Which is why a new artist’s character is necessarily simple and necessarily flat.
Why? Because too much complexity and depth makes people tired.
Fairy-like and graceful and pretty…. A sport with artistic scores or something (Hye-rin corrected me that it’s called PCS not artistic score, but I’m still not sure what the difference is), a sport where artistry stands out.
That’s the public perception of “figure skating.”
And Hye-rin’s image as an athlete aligns almost uncannily with that “public perception of a figure skater.”
It paid off to act as guardian to that friend Hye-rin, going all the way down to Gimhae in October to see some selection trials. Thanks to that, I naturally got into conversations with Hye-rin about figure skating, and I learned that it wasn’t a painful subject.
As a bonus, I got to watch a figure skating competition in person for the first time ever, and I actually enjoyed it. People were flying right in front of my eyes.
Back in the original timeline, I couldn’t bring up figure skating around Hye-rin without thinking. What if she had trauma? What if she didn’t like talking about it?
It was presented as an injury retirement on the surface, and since there seemed to be real issues underneath, I just left it at that.
I recalled the conversation I’d had with Hye-rin on the KTX train heading back to Seoul.
“You don’t hate skating or anything like that, right?”
“Right! I really like skating itself.”
“So here’s what we do—let’s shoot one skating content piece. Something that goes up right after the team reveal.”
“Huh…? I guess it’s fine, but what are you thinking?”
“I dunno, nostalgia play?”
“…?”
Let me emphasize: Joo Hye-rin is a former national team figure skater.
In the idol industry where each character needs to stand out, that’s a uniquely striking background—it’d be a waste not to use it.
“You know that video of yours from your competitive days that hit a million views? The Nutcracker program.”
“Oh my gosh, you watched that?!”
“I did. You were really good. So endearing, so fairy-like….”
“That’s so embarrassing…. I actually cried that day, not just during the performance….”
“I saw that too. You looked so childlike and cute. Why though?”
“Ugh, unnie, seriously!”
“Keep your voice down, okay? Anyway, do you still remember it? Do you think you could do it if I asked?”
“Um, I haven’t skated in over a year, so I’d have to try to know. I’d really have to see if I could do it….”
“Doesn’t have to be technically perfect. Before the final spin…, is that a step?”
“If it’s Junior Grand Prix, maybe? The senior version has choreography after that.”
“Right, anyway that part. Do you think you could do that choreography again if I asked?”
“Since I’m not worrying about levels… I think I could manage it.”
“Good. Let’s do it.”
“Content?”
“Bingo. Think you can give it a shot?”
National team background, plus the owner of a one-million-view competition video.
The “adorable figure skater” Joo Hye-rin, the kind you’ve probably seen on YouTube at least once if you have even a passing interest in figure skating (or even if you don’t).
A link between “figure skater Joo Hye-rin” and “idol Hye-rin.”
We’re about to create that connection starting now.
How?
Through scene recreation.
Otherwise known as the “Is that her?” strategy.
Rewriting Top Girl Group Scenarios by My Own Hand
Author
: Nam Seo-rang
Production Date
: January 5, 2026
Publisher
: ACE Systems Media Inc.
Editor
: ACE Systems Media Editorial Team
Address
: 4F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by ACE Systems Media Inc. under contract with the copyright holder, and
no part of the contents may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
This e-book is a copyrighted work protected by copyright law, and unauthorized reprinting or reproduction may result in legal liability.
UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260102083.0016

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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