Chapter 101

“Then, is Ha Eun—”

“Instructor.”

“Are you going to teach all four of us?”

Ha Eun’s gaze was met with Yena’s question, mixing curiosity about the cover song project and the singer Pinocchio.

The other members, aside from Yena, exchanged glances at Ha Eun and Jee Hye-min with similar expressions.

Jee Hye-min’s response came shortly after.

“Once each of you has decided on the cover song you will sing, we will separately enroll you in a vocal academy. Ha Eun will just confirm things along the way.”

No matter how you looked at it, it would be practically impossible for Ha Eun to teach all the members of the Fantasia.

Ha Eun’s schedule wasn’t particularly free either.

However, the opportunity to teach songs to those she had admired for a long time was something Ha Eun couldn’t pass up.

She planned to squeeze in whatever little free time she had to dedicate it to the vocal training of the Fantasia members.

After all, Ha Eun had taken singing lessons from Daulby for over ten years.

Surely, if she distilled all those countless lessons into a form to share with the Fantasia members, it would result in pleasant cover songs.

Anyway, with the introduction of the special vocal trainer for Fantasia’s first cover song project completed,

It was now time for the members to select songs from the candidate list they had prepared ahead of time that they wanted to sing.

“You don’t have to choose only from these songs. If there’s a song you personally want to cover, feel free to mention it.”

The next part was the time for song appreciation.

The songs prepared by LUX and those that the Fantasia members had in mind echoed through the spacious meeting room one after another.

Ha Eun, who had already decided on Diah’s cover song a long time ago, silently observed the other members selecting their cover songs.

However.

“I want this one!”

“Oh, did you also like ‘Young Adolescence,’ unnie?”

After many discussions among the Fantasia members, the songs chosen as cover songs were, for some reason, the same ones they had heard in their past lives.

Even the member who would sing those familiar songs was just like in their past lives.

“What do you think, Ha Eun? …No, what do you think, instructor?”

“I think it’s fine. It matches the virtual avatar image well.”

Ha Eun was able to respond positively to the questions related to the cover songs posed by the Fantasia members.

After all, she had already heard them produce good results multiple times.

‘I’m looking forward to this.’

Ha Eun had no doubt that this cover song project would succeed.

She thought they would definitely be able to prepare the cover song without any issues.

It was after this that Jee Hye-min’s voice suggested they take some time to see what the current singing abilities of the Fantasia members were.

“We need to know what level everyone is at so we can figure out how to approach the vocal lessons. Everyone, follow me.”

About 10 minutes later, they arrived at a karaoke room near the LUX offices.

The Fantasia members and Jee Hye-min headed into a spacious party room and began to sit down one by one on the soft leather sofas.

Strictly speaking, Ha Eun had been to karaoke as a child with her family, so it wasn’t that unfamiliar to her.

However, the people sitting around her now were all those whom Ha Eun had admired in her past life.

“Ugh, it feels like I’m really at karaoke with actual singers…”

“…The only real singer here is you, though?”

In a literal dreamlike scene, Ha Eun’s heart began to race faster.

With her head filled with fan emotions for Fantasia, she could hardly hear Yena’s puzzled voice sitting right next to her.

Not long after, the time for the Fantasia members to sing finally began.

Ha Eun, who had, for some time, lost herself in thought, ended up silently appreciating the performances of the other members.

To be frank, no one was singing perfectly without flaws.

Yet, the slight bits of immaturity felt within the Fantasia members’ songs didn’t bother Ha Eun at all.

So, for Ha Eun, the time of musical enjoyment—at least for her—went on and on until finally, it was Yena’s turn to sing the cover song that Ha Eun had enjoyed most in her past life.

“♪─↗─♬↘─!!”

‘…Huh? This isn’t…’

A bizarre singing tone completely opposite to Ha Eun’s expectations echoed in her ears.

The rhythm was somewhat on point, but the pitch…

“♩↗↗─↗”

It was a horrendous tone that seemed like a real-life version of tone-deafness.

‘N-No…!’

Ha Eun, who had just been silently appreciating, now showed a visibly flustered expression.

The current Yena was far beyond the level of immaturity Ha Eun could tolerate; she was just outright tone-deaf.

“How is it?”

With hurried breaths.

Sweat dripping from her forehead.

A face slightly flushed.

She was definitely trying her hardest to sing.

The only problem was that there was not a single positive element aside from that effort.

As everyone besides Yena looked at her, debating whether to tell the truth, Ha Eun, who had already despaired dozens of times in her heart, finally made a decision.

“I’ll focus on you, unnie. No matter what, I’ll make sure you sing in a human voice.”

She stuck a pointed critique and, for some reason, her intense gaze shocked Yena, causing her to flop down onto the leather sofa.

“Um, representative… Was I that bad?”

-Nod.

“…Ugh…”

After being hit with the fact straight from Jee Hye-min, Yena buried her face in the table in front of her.

Instantly, her ears began to turn red.

However, ultimately, Yena had to lift her head again.

The reason being…

“♪♬──♪──”

A sweet voice that was different from all the voices heard so far began to emerge right next to Yena.

Even without any movement, just quietly sitting and holding the handheld microphone, the aura felt different.

“──♬──♪♪♬─”

An unwavering, stable breath.

With her small lips effortlessly transitioning between falsetto and chest voice, she emitted only pleasant sounds.

Lastly, the unique clear tone of Ha Eun.

“Wow… real singers are different.”

“Ha Eun, she should just release an album instead of a cover song.”

“She’s a cheat character, a cheat character.”

The astonishment from Ha Eun’s song was shared by Yena, along with the other members and Jee Hye-min.

Though all the Fantasia members already knew Ha Eun was the singer Pinocchio, witnessing her singing moment firsthand with their own eyes and ears was more powerful than they had imagined.

Yet, Ha Eun herself was more nervous than during the live finale of “SIT ON THE MONEY” from a few months ago.

Because the tremors the Fantasia members gave her were more intense than the pressure of the many audience members at the live finale.

Thus, she continued to stare only at the monitor of the karaoke machine until the very last moment.

Only when her song had completely ended did she turn her head timidly to ask how it had sounded.

“Whoa~. A current singer is outperforming karaoke beginners~.”

“What are people like us supposed to do for a living?”

“It felt like this is what a live performance is supposed to be.”

Honest praise without pretense returned to her.

The first concern regarding Ha Eun’s outstanding singing ability came right after from Jeong Maria.

“Hey, Ha Eun. When your cover song comes out later, Diah’s original voice is Pinocchio. So, do you think people won’t notice it’s Lee Ha-eun?”

Regardless, it’s undeniable that Pinocchio’s voice and tone are unique.

Since she had already gained a certain level of fame as a singer, it would undoubtedly be hard to hide that identity.

Jeong Maria’s concern was of the same kind that Ha Eun had when she debuted as the rookie singer Pinocchio.

The fact that she hadn’t done a single singing broadcast until now was all due to such concerns.

However, she hadn’t left the matter unattended entirely.

Though she wasn’t fully adept yet, she had refined her vocalization to sing with Diah’s voice.

“That was me singing as an instructor teaching you all.”

-Beep.

“And now, I’m going to sing as Diah.”

For the first time, she began to showcase Diah’s singing to people other than Daulby.

Then, once again, she fixed her gaze on the karaoke machine’s monitor and passionately sang until the very end.

Afterwards, turning her head timidly with a similar expression to moments before.

“How… how was it? Don’t you think they won’t notice this much?”

She asked if the songs of singer Pinocchio and Diah sounded different.

Then, almost simultaneously.

“No, I think… they might not notice…”

“…Phew.”

“You sing well. You do sing well, but, um…”

She was met with reactions quite different from the ones just a few minutes ago, and she tilted her head in confusion.

The real reason for the change in the members’ reactions reached Ha Eun shortly after.

“It’s okay, Ha Eun. No matter what anyone says, Diah is still a one-year-old baby. It makes sense to sing a cover song cutely.”

Yena added, commenting, that she never thought she would witness an actual celebrity acting cute in real life.

At that moment, Ha Eun slowly began to lower her head, realizing how her last song must have sounded.

Then, just as Yena had done a few minutes prior, she made a thud on the table with her head.

When she was with the Fantasia members, she made a firm resolution not to sing with Diah’s voice.

Her ears were already sufficiently flushed.

***

“Ha Eun, you sing well, but you still lack the ability to write songs. We need to form a team.”

It was three days after the meeting regarding the Fantasia cover song project.

Now, as the recording of the upcoming “Infinite Challenge Music Show” was right around the corner, Lee Jun took Ha Eun somewhere.

They finally arrived at a sleek personal studio that looked trendy.

Inside, all the sound equipment was brand new.

“Ah, it’s been a while, Ha Eun. Have you been well?”

Sitting there was Hwang Ji-hyuk, the rapper who performed on stage with Ha Eun a few months ago and the winner of “SIT ON THE MONEY.”

After a brief handshake with Hwang Ji-hyuk, new information came forth.

“For this music festival, Ji-hyuk will be producing for you.”

“What about you?”

“I’m not a guest; I’m a fixed member. I have to team up with other guests, so I won’t be able to focus on you this time.”

He added that since Ha Eun and Hwang Ji-hyuk had already collaborated once before, they would be able to perform quite well together.

Ha Eun noticed Hwang Ji-hyuk was filled with enthusiasm for her.

“For this music festival, you’re not just a featuring artist; you’re the protagonist. I’ll definitely create a song that suits Ha Eun.”

Hwang Ji-hyuk, who had been saying he would repay the favor for making Ha Eun the winner of “SIT ON THE MONEY,” was filled with determination to make her the star of the stage.

Strictly speaking, it had yet to be decided which member of “Infinite Challenge” she would team up with.

However, it was certain that the singer Pinocchio would be the main star of this “Infinite Challenge Music Show.”

“For my grandfather’s honor! Absolutely!”

“Y-You don’t have to go that far. Really.”

Hwang Ji-hyuk was bursting with determination to make Ha Eun the lead on stage.

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