Top Girl Group Scenario Rewritten with My Own Hands - Chapter 41

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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 41
“…So, I’m going to have you do the intro performance for Ga Dae-seom.”
“……, Me?!”
“You’re the most comfortable and skilled at moving your body to the piano, like with Contemporary Dance or Ballet.”
The words Ju Hyerin had heard from Seo Jieon days ago kept circling through her mind.
“We’re going to mashup Rachmaninoff’s Elegy with ‘Blue’ in the intro. We need to spike the immersion there and flow into ‘Do It Now’—and I think you’d be perfect for it, Hyerin. Think through the overall concept of how to execute it. I’ll send you the intro sketch.”
Ju Hyerin was holed up in a corner of the Vocal Practice Room, listening to that sketch again and again. The performance concept was already taking shape, but…….
Just as her thoughts were deepening, her phone vibrated.
The caller ID: [Producer Sim Yujeong].
“Hello…?”
“Ah, Hyerin. Are you at the practice room right now? …I heard Seo Jieon went to the hospital, so I figured the session recording for the intro probably hasn’t been passed to you yet—I wanted to send it to you ahead of time. I just sent it over KakaoTalk, so just check the overall feel for me, okay? It’s not finalized yet.”
Producer Sim Yujeong also knew that Ju Hyerin was taking on the intro performance for this Ga Dae-seom.
Since Seo Jieon was at the hospital, it seemed she was sending the audio ahead to her to avoid disrupting anything urgent.
Ju Hyerin offered her thanks, hung up, and checked her messages.
– Producer Sim Yujeong: [Ga Dae-seom Intro_Session Recording.mp3]
Rachmaninoff was a classical composer Ju Hyerin knew well.
During her figure skating days, Rachmaninoff’s music often filled her ears on the ice.
It was a thought she’d had back then too—Rachmaninoff’s music carried a cold, lonely feeling. Winter, or perhaps a rainy summer…….
“The intro is called ‘rainy day.’ It starts like this—”
As Jieon had described, the music began like a heavy downpour pouring from a summer sky thick with dark clouds.
But as the mashup with “Blue,” a track on the album that paid homage to the subdued tone of classical music, began to blend in, the mood of the piece shifted gradually.
“—like this. Clearing away the storm clouds to reveal a bright, crisp sky with a rainbow and sunlight? A sense of sinking into a fantasy? That’s what you need to express through the intro solo and choreography.”
“Wow.”
“Of course, I trust you, our Hyerin.”
“Ugh…….”
The ballad “Blue,” which employed a variety of classical instrumental sessions, flowed with a fantastical climax—building and then bursting open.
Weaving this within the intro and arranging it to feel a bit more dramatic than usual led into “Do It Now!”—a piece designed to carry you forward.
“The most important thing about a special stage, in my opinion, is……immersion.”
“Yes.”
“Even if you’re bored, if you can’t take your eyes off it, or if you get curious enough to want to see the next stage—if you can draw them in like that, it’s really good. Usually the intro does that job.”
“…….”
“You’ve got to pull it off, yeah? Ah, not trying to pressure you. The direction will keep being looked after by me and the performance team, so you just focus on the choreography.”
“Okay…….”
Words she’d already heard weeks ago echoed through her mind.
Hearing the actual recording that would be used, rather than just the sketch, gave her a clearer sense of how Seo Jieon’s direction would come together.
“Maybe I should reach out and check on her…….”
After much deliberation, Ju Hyerin grabbed her phone and headed downstairs to the Dance Practice Room.
This wasn’t the moment for hollow check-ins asking if she was alright—what Seo Jieon needed was the skill to reproduce exactly what she envisioned, without having to push herself further.
***
“…What time is it now?”
“It’s only 6:30. The directing is already arranged for Producer Yujeong to handle, so just rest.”
At my manager’s firm words, I couldn’t bring myself to say I’d head to the company, and I dropped back down onto the bed.
Certainly, after the IV and getting some of my condition back, I can see it now.
I’m done for right now.
Or rather, I’m definitely going to be done for.
Where did I even build up this stamina in the first place?!
I’d push myself out for workouts even while getting torn to shreds by Go Hyunseo, and I’d force myself to finish every meal even when I was too lazy to bother—all to painstakingly build up what little stamina I had.
And now you’re cutting 20% off it in an instant? Does this world have no moral code?!
Pre-emptively tossing the directing over to Sim Yujeong after accounting for best and worst-case scenarios was definitely the right call.
It also worked perfectly as an excuse to send the members who kept worrying after me to the company under the guise of special stage audio recording.
‘Status Window? I keep forgetting because I haven’t been calling it up……’
==========
PROFILE
Name: Seo Jieon
Age: 21
Affiliation: EVERGREET
HP ♥♥♥♡♡
———-
VOCAL Lv.72
DANCE Lv.55
SPECIAL – Composition/Producing Lv.57
Instrument: Guitar Lv.81
Instrument: Piano Lv.79
Instrument: Bass Lv.55
Trait – Tuning (A): Discord becomes harmony. A keen sense that catches irregularities faster than anyone else, and swift problem-solving done without anyone knowing.
==========
Just to be safe, I checked my Status Window profile after a while, and there was nothing wrong with my HP. I’m wondering if it’s simply being maintained in a Penalty state…….
Ah, but at least all this skipping around has paid off. My Composition/Producing level and Dance level went up quite a bit. Vocal probably went up too, so I’m not that surprised.
Ah… ah.
After testing my voice quietly, I realized it was just body aches—my throat hadn’t given out. That’s really fortunate.
I mean, if my throat had given out, that would be seriously catastrophic…… What singer gets a summer cold bad enough to lose their voice?
“Manager, I think I need to head back to the company now.”
“What? Producer Yujeong is supposed to handle the directing…….”
“No, I’m going to do today’s recording and get the mixing to Producer Yujeong quickly. My condition doesn’t really feel like I could handle the mixing myself…….”
My manager’s expression hovered somewhere between ‘Is this really okay?’ and ‘What you’re saying makes sense, but…….’ She stared at me intently.
She probably knows. That just telling me to rest won’t actually solve anything…….
“Nothing gets resolved just because I rest, and besides, if I mess up the collab stage that’s an even bigger deal. I think I need to go to practice.”
“…Sigh. Alright. Let me call the team lead and get you discharged. Get ready. One day of rest would probably be fine though…….”
“I feel better mentally if I do today’s work today. When I skip a day, the next day’s workload becomes unbearable.”
I smiled with the corners of my mouth raised, and my manager shook her head in disbelief before leaving the hospital room.
Staying at the hospital longer won’t solve anything anyway since this isn’t really a health issue.
Work…….
I should get to it.
I don’t want to act like some deranged workaholic.
It’s just that there’s no replacement right now, so I end up doing everything…….
***
“You’re really insane.”
“What now, bringing that up again…….”
“Yeah, I should’ve recognized it back when you were like this for your entrance exam. Aren’t you crazy? Do you see how you look right now?”
“I’m not literally dying, so let’s not waste energy here…… I’m going in to record my part for the last time.”
“Geez, you really don’t listen, and I’m supposed to think that’s somehow pretty…….”
“So you’re not going to monitor? If you’re not, get out. I’ll do it.”
“Who said I’m not? Isn’t there a place to rest in the company? Go rest for a bit.”
“There isn’t. It’s all employee space. Noah, I’m sorry I’m so late.”
Noah and Jo Eunbin of Ashcode watched carefully for cues between Producer Sim Yujeong and Seo Jieon’s expressions amid the tension, then flinched at the gaze suddenly turning toward them, stepping back slightly.
The special stage AR directing that was originally scheduled to start at 7 PM became the responsibility of Producer Sim Yujeong, who had been participating in EVERGREET’s music, when Seo Jieon suddenly went to the hospital.
After about an hour of recording from EVERGREET members, when it was Ashcode’s turn and Jo Eunbin went into the recording booth first, Seo Jieon—supposedly at the hospital—showed up in the recording studio looking half-dead.
No matter how much you insist it’s not your fault, it’s scary to see someone angry. Producer Sim Yujeong, who seemed genuinely worked up, was frightening, but even scarier was Seo Jieon casually deflecting the producer’s harsh words and taking the empty chair in front of the recording booth that had been prepared.
“Oh, no! It’s fine! I…, more than that, are you feeling okay?”
“I can manage. The recording will probably run a bit longer than planned, but would it be alright if we head to the practice room together afterward? It’s not a cold, so you don’t need to worry about catching anything.”
Jo Eunbin was truly at a loss for words. Even a complete stranger could see her complexion was bad—like this?!
She’d thought she’d lived pretty ruthlessly herself, surviving at a major entertainment company, but seeing this genuine specimen of single-mindedness made her realize she was incomparable.
She honestly had no idea why someone like this was only debuting now at a company that wasn’t even a specialist idol agency…….
“Of course we’re fine. Still, maybe today you should…….”
“I should go too. We’re all doing this together. We can’t mess up the stage.”
Sharp, intense eyes gazed clearly at Jo Eunbin inside the recording booth.
Jo Eunbin really wanted to cry…… A beautiful woman with a naturally cold impression, staring with an expression you couldn’t even begin to read, and with a gaunt face from illness—only her eyes alive and clear—was eerie to the point of being chilling.
In a word, it was a threatening gaze.
Like she was threatening: ‘If we mess up the stage again, the public opinion will be irrecoverable, won’t it?’
Jo Eunbin knew it. The current public opinion toward Ashcode wasn’t good.
And especially because the stage performances had bad reviews, she also knew that nothing was as fatal as messing up the stage again. Even if it was a rather hastily decided collab stage.
When Jo Eunbin nodded, recording began again.
“That wasn’t bad just now, but could you sing it a bit more three-dimensionally? Open up the space, you know? Just one more take.”
“The spatial sense is good, but the pitch went a bit sharp, so let me redo this one more time and move on.”
“Hmm……, want to try one more time?”
Of course, that recording process wasn’t easy either.
What Seo Jieon was asking for was closer to ‘feeling’ than what PN’s engineers asked for, and because it was for stage AR recording, things that could have been glossed over ended up with her asking one more time to make sure the exact feeling came through—and that still didn’t quite happen.
(She did record it again. Jo Eunbin had felt the same way about the last recording not being quite right.)
“Hold on, before Ujin records, let me just listen to the members’ fixed recordings once. Give me a second.”
“Don’t you trust me?”
“Well, I do trust you because it’s Hyunseo and Jae-i, but shouldn’t I just listen and catch any issues early so I’m comfortable and you’re comfortable?”
“Fine, you perfectionist…….”
“Yeah, I know that about myself.”
That standard seemed to apply not just to Ashcode but to EVERGREET members as well.
Jo Eunbin watched Seo Jieon listen to all the recordings that had been done before she arrived, then decide the power felt subtly lacking and call over Hyun Jae-i from the practice room to redo the recording right there.
“Ujin, if you raise your voice, does the pitch go sharp? Or should I try singing it louder and stronger? Right now it feels too light.”
“I’ll do it again. If the lyrical feel and vocal tone don’t match, it just doesn’t sound pretty.”
“Ra-eun, put more power in it too. Use more breath and let your voice come out stronger. When you listen to the original, you hear how it digs in where it needs to. If you can’t find the feel, just think of following the original rhythm exactly.”
“I’ll do one more take. Just think about really pressing down when you’re supposed to press, that thought alone, and try again.”
The remaining Ashcode members also went through a less-than-smooth recording process, and finally when it was Seo Jieon’s own turn.
Jo Eunbin unconsciously had hope. Since the member had good vocals, wouldn’t it wrap up quickly?
“—Ah, let’s scrap this take. The pitch aside, today’s feel is just not working.”
“I think it’s fine.”
“No, if we were doing live over this it’d be whatever. But since we’re going with lip-sync AR, this needs to be better.”
But who would’ve thought the standard she applied to herself would be even more demanding than that? It felt more than double what she’d applied to the others.
Most of all, Seo Jieon sang well. Regardless of her poor physical condition, she boasted high-quality vocals.
Yet she kept getting annoyed, saying the feel wasn’t there, and calling for ‘another take.’
“Hey, didn’t you say you had to get to practice?!”
“Ugh, I’m not happy with this…… Can you just send me my recording separately?”
“You’re crazy…… Do whatever you want. Do I just do all the mixing myself?”
“Yeah. If I tried to mix right now I’d drop dead.”
“Even one thing like that gives you some objectivity about yourself, doesn’t it?”
“I know the difference between life and death.”
The recording finally ended after Producer Sim Yujeong got frustrated.
Though it seemed Seo Jieon’s own recording wouldn’t be final, and she planned to send a fresh take tomorrow or the day after…….
“Sorry for running long. Go ahead to PN first, and we’ll head over soon. Thank you for your hard work—see you then.”
Watching Seo Jieon smile as warmly as she could manage while escorting them and the members out of the recording studio, Jo Eunbin could only nod.
There really are people like this.
All she could say was that it was truly a series of surprises.
Rewriting the Top Girl Group Scenario with My Own Hands
Author
: Nam Seo-rang
Production Date
: January 5, 2026
Publisher
: ACES Media Inc.
Editor
: ACES Media Editorial Team
Address
: 325 Urban Bench Building 4F, Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by ACES Media Inc. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder,
and the contents may not be used in any form or means without permission from the company and the author.
This e-book is protected by copyright law, and unauthorized republication or reproduction may result in legal liability.
UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260102083.0041

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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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