Chapter 10
Blooming.
It's a girls' high school band made up entirely of second-year students.
According to Yoo Seol-ha, their parents had known one another since they were very young, and because of Seol-ha's influence, they had all started learning instruments in the early years of elementary school.
They had performed at school festivals, busked on the streets, and continued doing music-related activities together until they naturally grew into a professionally oriented band.
‘Maybe that's why their teamwork is so solid.’
The harmony between the instruments and vocals, which couldn't be created in a short period of time, was impressive, as were the instrumentalists who suppressed their individuality to naturally shine the spotlight on the vocalist.
The entire band shared the same belief.
They were a band that could produce a high-level ensemble despite their overall skills not being especially remarkable, because they operated under the shared philosophy that Yoo Seol-ha, the vocalist, was the protagonist and core of Blooming.
And the protagonist, Yoo Seol-ha, had the skill and talent to live up to the expectations of every member of the band.
A refreshing, unique timbre with a boyish quality that couldn't be found anywhere else.
A natural sense of rhythm and a broad vocal range.
Her most distinctive trait was that she deliberately made her breathing rough or let the ends of her lyrics trail off to express emotion.
They might not seem like contenders for the championship just yet, but their talent was considerable.
That was why, from the moment I first heard about this mission, I had planned to bring Blooming onto my team.
The teams would be formed through a draft.
My position in the draft was second. I would be able to bring in the members I wanted without much trouble.
I had already watched the broadcasts several times and decided on my team composition.
What broke me out of my thoughts at that moment was Yoo Seol-ha, her eyes sparkling as she held out a pink, floaty dress.
“Si-yeon! Do you want to try this on?”
“…It's too flashy.”
“Hmm. Si-yeon definitely suits cool tones better than warm ones! Wait right here!”
With that, Yoo Seol-ha scurried away.
What were cool tones and warm tones, anyway?
From the moment I went clothes shopping with a high school girl, I had more or less resigned myself to becoming a dress-up doll.
From her perspective, seeing a cute little kid like me, it was only natural that she'd want to put me in a sparkly princess outfit.
That was more or less human instinct. Even I, after transmigrating into this body, thought I looked incredibly princess-like.
But thinking about something and actually wearing it were two entirely different matters.
Seo Si-yeon's clothing preferences were somewhat similar to mine.
Jeans and dark-colored T-shirts.
She didn't own a single skirt.
As I later recalled, that was actually because she was timid and couldn't bring herself to ask for the clothes she wanted when the orphanage distributed donated clothing.
Regardless, thanks to that, I hadn't needed to pay much attention to clothes.
I did choose cute outfits when going to the filming studio, but I had never worn a skirt even once.
“Ta-da! Isn't this pretty?”
“…It is pretty.”
A short black skirt and knee-high stockings.
And the top was a blouse with fluttering frills and a ribbon, with see-through sleeves…
‘Isn't this manhera fashion?’
It wasn't exactly identical to the manhera clothes I knew, but the overall vibe was more or less the same.
Needless to say, it looked like something I'd rather die than wear.
As someone who had always worn comfortable cotton pants and short sleeves in my previous life, I was certain that putting on such an excessively feminine outfit would feel like my sense of self was being destroyed.
“I-I absolutely can't wear that!”
“Oh, come on. Unnie's buying everything, okay? If you wear this, I'll buy you a parfait later, too!”
“P-parfait…”
Surprisingly, parfait had been one of my favorite foods even in my previous life.
I wasn't especially fond of sweets, but there was something uniquely delicious about parfait.
And now that I liked sweets even more after becoming a girl, I couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to eat an expensive dessert like parfait.
“U-ugh… F-fine.”
In the end, I sold my ego for a parfait.
It should have been humiliating, but somehow, I felt pretty good.
Already salivating at the thought of it, I took small, quick steps into the fitting room.
After struggling into the unfamiliar fabric and dealing with the zipper in the back, I emerged in the outfit, and the gazes of everyone around me turned toward me.
This was a children's clothing store in an outlet mall in Incheon.
Since it was the weekend at Incheon's only large outlet mall, it was packed with people, and even the children's clothing store had a considerable amount of foot traffic.
The one thing I had overlooked was that I had taken off my hat and glasses while changing, which left my blue eyes completely exposed and naturally drew people's attention.
“Huh? S-Si-yeon.”
“Oh. Right.”
Flustered by my completely undisguised face, Yoo Seol-ha accidentally called out my name, and that became the trigger.
“Hey, isn't that the kid from TV?”
“Mom! Look, look! That unnie from TV is here!”
“Oh. Is that Seo Si-yeon?”
It took nearly an entire hour of being held up while taking pictures before we could finally get away.
* * *
Leaving the commotion at the outlet mall behind, we headed to a nearby sushi restaurant that Yoo Seol-ha had reserved in advance.
It was an elegant private-room restaurant, almost too refined for a nine-year-old child.
As I always did, I mixed an appropriate amount of wasabi into my soy sauce and dipped my sushi in it.
“Blegh! Ptooey!”
“Huh? Are you okay, Si-yeon? Ah! You put in way too much wasabi!”
I lowered my head in embarrassment.
I had put in the same amount I used to in my previous life, but it was excessively spicy for Seo Si-yeon's body.
“It's okay. Unnie will put in the right amount!”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Yoo Seol-ha continued working her chopsticks with a bright smile on her face.
I thought for a moment and decided that this was the perfect time to set the stage. After lightly wiping my mouth, I opened it in a dry tone.
“About what you said earlier about the team battle. Aren't you curious why I planned to pick all of Blooming?”
My sudden serious tone brought Yoo Seol-ha's movements to a halt.
She stared blankly at me, then straightened her posture as if she had grown a little tense.
“Uh… yeah. Honestly, I am. We're not exactly an exceptionally talented group, either. We just drew attention well because we're a girls' high school band.”
She was underestimating herself somewhat.
In truth, their ensemble was better than that of most bands in Hongdae.
Individual skill with an instrument could be less important than the synergy created by playing together for a long time, and Blooming was a perfect example of that.
“Blooming's strength is your teamwork. But your weakness is clear, too. Your individual skills are definitely lacking, and aside from you, the other members only play their instruments without showing anything beyond that.”
As my chilling analysis continued, Yoo Seol-ha's eyes began to waver.
That wasn't advice an ordinary fan or viewer could give.
I took my phone out of my bag and played the file I had prepared beforehand.
“This is a demo track I made for Blooming's next round.”
The rhythm that flowed from the speaker was different from a typical band sound.
It had the dreamy yet sophisticated texture of Japanese internet music, but the song had been designed so that Blooming's signature freshness could burst out during the chorus.
Yoo Seol-ha's breathing grew rough. She focused on the melody and hummed softly, then soon stared at me with an astonished expression.
“This… seems like it fits my range and singing style perfectly.”
“I happened to have a suitable song among the ones I'd already made.”
I casually took a sip of tea, picked up a piece of salmon sushi, and put it in my mouth.
Perhaps because it was a fairly expensive place, the food was pretty good.
It was about five hundred times more delicious than the meals we usually ate at Neulneul Orphanage.
As I thought that, I inwardly apologized to the women who cooked our meals at Neulneul Orphanage.
“Blooming's greatest strength inevitably has to be your timbre, Seol-ha. Honestly, the reason you passed the preliminaries and the first round was probably less that they evaluated the entire band and more that they gave extra points to you as a vocalist.”
I paused to catch my breath and popped a piece of beef sushi into my mouth.
The luxurious juices of the meat, something I could never taste in ordinary food, flowed down my throat.
Savoring the ecstatic sensation, I opened my mouth again.
“From that perspective, I brought the song… that would best showcase a vocalist like Yoo Seol-ha.”
Yoo Seol-ha was silent for a while.
The cute nine-year-old child before her was no longer there.
In her place was a monster who had seen through all of Seol-ha's weaknesses and even sought out alternatives for them.
To be honest, I had thought that her considerable skill was genuine, but that it had only been possible because of the show's production…
At that moment, something in Yoo Seol-ha's mind changed.
“……I suddenly got goosebumps. What are you, really?”
“I told you. I'm your team leader. I don't play games I can't win.”
I adjusted my glasses again and continued.
I should have taken off my disguise glasses much earlier, but I'd forgotten and had left them on.
“If you want to tear up the stage with this song in the next round, convince the Blooming members to join. I'll be the leader, but I'll make you the star.”
Yoo Seol-ha nodded as if hypnotized.
Then, with a strange expression on her face, Yoo Seol-ha suddenly asked me an unexpected question.
“But, Si-yeon. Why do you call me ‘Ms. Seol-ha’ instead of ‘Unnie’?”
“Ugh.”
I let out a feeble groan and avoided her gaze.
Because a word as feminine as ‘Unnie’ still wasn't something my ego could bring itself to say.