Chapter 140: Surprisingly, three people who are new to each other, Part 3

Hayoon disliked being late.

She usually arrived ten, or at least five, minutes early to account for unforeseen circumstances.

She preferred arriving early to being even a minute late.

“Ugh…”

“Hey, brat. Wake up.”

“Huh? Wha…?”

Today, however, was off to a bad start.

Sharing a bed with Seo Ji-woo had disrupted their sleep schedules.

Seo Ji-woo, in particular, was dead to the world, taking forever to wake up.

This caused the first delay.

“Seriously? A service adjustment now?”

“A five-minute delay. This is getting tight, Hayoon.”

“We still have time. If we make the transfer quickly, we should be fine.”

Unfortunately, they encountered a subway service adjustment, forcing them to sit and wait with the doors open. More time slipped by.

“Ah…!”

“Oh…”

“
… this is crazy.”

They rushed to make their transfer, only to watch the train pull away.

The subway had now delayed them twice.

“What is going on today?”

“I know, right? This is ridiculous.”

“This bad luck is getting out of hand.”

Even after reaching their destination and exiting the station, their bad luck persisted.

The traffic lights seemed to conspire against them, turning red just as they approached.

They resigned themselves to being late.

“Sorry… we’ll be about three minutes late…”

Even with the delays, they would only be three minutes late, thanks to leaving with ample time.

However, Hayoon couldn’t just leave it at that.

She sent an apologetic message to the group chat.

Exactly three minutes late, they arrived at the entrance of the study cafe.

“Oh.”

“Uh!”

“Ah!”

Baek-seol, Jo A-yeong, and Seo Ji-woo, recognizing each other from Hayoon’s descriptions and selfies, reacted with varying degrees of surprise.

“…”

“…”

“…”

They all looked at Hayoon expectantly, as if asking, “What now?” Hayoon chuckled, thinking that this shared experience somehow made them feel like a team.

Inside the study cafe’s presentation room, which offered a degree of soundproofing, Hayoon had chosen this location for the meeting, wanting a private space for their discussion.

She had the three women sit at a round table.

“Okay, let’s start with introductions. As you know, I’m Min Hayoon, CEO of BGG Company, and also the Vtuber and illustrator, Haru. Nice to meet you all.”

“Waaaang.”

“It’s been a while.”

“I already know you.”

Seo Ji-woo, Baek-seol, and Jo A-yeong responded playfully to Hayoon’s introduction.

Hayoon briefly wondered what it would have been like if she had attended an all-girls high school.

After a moment of silence, she continued.

“Let’s start with Lucy, Seo Ji-woo, our first recruit. Please come forward.”

“Ah, yes.”

Seo Ji-woo hesitantly stood beside Hayoon.

“She’s my age. You might not know this, but I recruited Ji-woo, who was active as the utaite, Lucy.”

“She even hit 200,000 subscribers, right?”

Despite her apparent nervousness, Seo Ji-woo interjected smoothly.

The mention of 200,000 subscribers impressed Baek-seol and Jo A-yeong, who also had YouTube channels.

“Lucy is diligently following the same success formula as Scarlet, our first Vtuber. You two should also focus on growing your channels during these next two months leading up to your debut. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

Baek-seol and Jo A-yeong nodded obediently, as if being assigned homework.

The phrase “success formula” seemed to resonate with them.

“Next, A-yeong unnie, would you come forward?”

“Yes.”

It was now Jo A-yeong’s turn.

“This is Jo A-yeong, who will debut as Vivian. She currently runs a small utaite channel, and I’m thinking of focusing her content on dance.”

“Dance?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, never mind.”

Baek-seol, taken aback by the mention of dance, glanced at Jo A-yeong’s chest, then back at Hayoon.

Hayoon’s expression was clear and unwavering.

Her clear eyes conveyed honesty and conviction.

‘She’s going to dance with those?’

That felt unfair… Baek-seol grumbled internally, but she couldn’t criticize someone for using their natural assets.

“Next, Baek-seol.”

“My title is a bit formal, don’t you think, CEO?”

“Should I call you unnie, then?”

“No, it’s fine. I wasn’t serious.”

“Hmm, I see…”

Finally, it was Baek-seol’s turn.

Hayoon’s subtle flirting was deflected with a casual, slightly feminine response.

“This is Baek-seol, who will be Shiro Yuki, focusing on ASMR content.”

“Honestly, I’m a bit worried. You all have amazing voices, but mine is pretty average.”

“Don’t be so modest. Your ASMR channel is doing quite well.”

“Yeah, well, that’s thanks to the scripts.”

Baek-seol, with her characteristic playful banter, returned to her seat.

The introductions were over; it was time for the main discussion.

“The reason I brought you all together is for your debut stage. We have two months, and it’s time to start practicing seriously.”

“Practice? You mean for the songs? They’ll probably be covers, right? In that case, we can just sing songs we’ve already uploaded to YouTube. Do we really need to practice?”

Baek-seol, eager to learn, raised her hand.

It was an excellent question.

She wasn’t questioning the need for practice itself, but rather the necessity of starting two months in advance.

“Good question. You’ll each be assigned two original songs, and we need to prepare thoroughly.”

“Two songs?”

This time, it was Seo Ji-woo who reacted.

She was clearly excited about the prospect of new songs.

Hayoon didn’t disappoint.

“One group song and one solo song, two songs total. The concert will likely consist of covers, solos, and the group performance, so you need to practice three songs in total.”

“For the cover, can we just sing a song we’re confident with?”

“Yes, as long as there are no overlaps.”

“Phew, that’s a relief.”

Jo A-yeong, the weakest singer of the three, struggled with technically demanding J-Pop covers.

Her song choices were limited, so the news that they only needed to prepare one cover song was a relief.

“Since this is your debut concert, I want you to give it your all. We’ll be shooting in a studio with full-body tracking, so it would be good to prepare some simple choreography and stage movements. For example, this is a common movement used on music shows…”

Hayoon then launched into a detailed explanation of stage theory.

The introductions and song explanations were merely a prelude.

She delved into stage theory itself, surprising them with the fact that she had learned it all through self-study.

“The key isn’t flashy movements, but clean execution. We need to clearly convey who we are…”

She went further, incorporating Vtuber fandom dynamics and characteristics into their performance goals.

Hayoon’s meticulously crafted strategies were now being imprinted onto Seo Ji-woo, Baek-seol, and Jo A-yeong. Hayoon’s dedication as CEO commanded their attention.

The two-hour meeting stretched into three.

Finally, as dinner time approached, the meeting seemed to be nearing its end.

“Do you all understand?”

Hayoon, seemingly satisfied, asked for their feedback.

“Yes…”

“I understand…”

“It’s difficult…”

Seo Ji-woo, Baek-seol, and Jo A-yeong looked slightly dazed from information overload.

Hayoon considered extending the room reservation, but…

‘It’s dinner time…’

Keeping them any longer might result in a mutiny. It was time to feed them.

“Since this is the first time we’ve all gathered as Trinity, dinner is on me. Choose between Chinese, Japanese, or Western.”

She declared, pulling out her card. Business dinners with employees were tax deductible! A tax-funded feast. The three women cheered.

“Japanese!”

“Western!”

“Chinese!”

Jo A-yeong chose Japanese, Baek-seol chose Western, and Seo Ji-woo chose Chinese.

While their preferences didn’t align, Hayoon felt a sense of satisfaction.

This kind of dynamic would create amazing chemistry for their broadcasts.