78: Another one

“That's true, geniuses seem to be like that, but her singing is really amazing. I wish she could teach me.” Minnie was now a fan.

Normally, Song Yuqi wouldn't watch if Xu Zhiyou didn't, but now, as soon as she heard Xu Zhiyou had an activity, she would make time to watch, no matter how busy she was.

“You're not bad either, believe in yourself!”

“Oh my, I didn't expect you to praise me. How embarrassing!” It was the first time Minnie had heard Song Yuqi praise her singing.

“You're embarrassed? Hurry up and watch, then do your homework.”

At least get a high school diploma to leave yourself a fallback. If she couldn't debut, she could go back to tutoring for a year and get into a good university. Reckless behavior was not advisable.

“Working like a dog every day, and then you still have to do homework when you get back. Just watching you gives me goosebumps.” Minnie genuinely admired Song Yuqi.

Are all people from Xia Country so resilient? She found out that Xu Zhiyou was also incredibly hardworking when she was at Juilliard.

“I'm used to it. I feel like school is the easiest part. When the weekend comes, all those tutoring classes, that's the real pain.”

“I'll give you moral support.” Minnie refused that kind of study habit; she couldn't stand it at all.

...

Back on stage, their song was coming to an end, creating another unique atmosphere.

“Lee Juri, Unnie, she writes so well. I wish she could write songs for me.” Park Jiyeon wiped away a tear.

“Ji-yeon, just wait. It's really not suitable right now. Even if she wanted to write, Yang Hyun-suk wouldn't let her do it.”

Lee Juri thought, 'Luckily I didn't say anything back then, otherwise, if I were rejected, it would be difficult to ask for songs again in the future.'

“We flopped again. We finally squeezed into the weekly chart, but we were gone in a few hours. Sigh!” Ham Eun-jung scrolled on her phone, sighing.

“Isn't that destined? I knew it when we recorded it; it was too subpar. It was only because of our accumulated fans from before that we might have even squeezed in.”

Jeon Bo-ram saw it clearly; she had no hope for this comeback.

“Boram, that's so hurtful!”

“Be good, you're still young. Take your time. If it doesn't work out, debut as an actress. Anyway, your acting is very good, so there's nothing to fear.”

Park Jiyeon was in her prime, but she debuted too young. By the time she understood things, she was already irrelevant. Kpop was just that distorted.

...

As expected, they won first place. Kim Jennie, Park Chaeyoung, Lisa, and she, the four of them had discussed it privately: they had to let Kim Ji-soo carry the banner.

Kim Ji-soo glared at the four of them, picked up the microphone, and began her hesitant, Jisoo-style speech.

Xu Zhiyou, meanwhile, stood with Bae Joo-hyun again. The two of them poked each other and had a great time, completely oblivious that the camera was focused on them.

“Double-chef delight! My two favorite women, look how happy they are playing.”

“Damn, these two must be true love, so sweet!”

“Did you see the set of photos Seulgi posted behind closed doors? Guess who's the top and who's the bottom! Beautiful women love to hang out with beautiful women.”

“No need to ask, Irene is definitely the bottom. She was pressed against the wall, how could she be the top? Zoe is so handsome.”

“No, absolutely not. What about our Rose? In-group consumption is fine, but Zoe is always our Rose's. No arguments.”

“What do you mean 'your Rose's'? That's Kim Jennie's, okay?”

“Kim Ji-soo's!”

“Lisa's!”

“Only children make choices. If I were Zoe, I'd want them all.”

“I agree, but personally, I think she's a better match with Kim Ji-soo. They have such great chemistry.”

“Count me in, I think so too.”

...

Watching the bullet comments, Song Yuqi found it quite surreal. What was all this about? Where did Xu Zhiyou act abnormally? She hadn't seen it.

“Minnie, what do you think?”

“I'm looking with my eyes. When I debut, Zoe will be mine, and no one can take her away.”

“Are you crazy? I'm asking why fans are so obsessed with shipping. Can you be normal?”

“Beautiful women sticking together, why are your thoughts so dirty?” Minnie loved to stick with beautiful women; people like her were commonly called 'face-cons'.

“Minnie, are you clinging to me because you're coveting my beauty?” Song Yuqi strongly suspected she was exactly like that.

Minnie joked, “Otherwise? If you were even a little bit ugly, I wouldn't even look at you properly. Haha!”

“Ugh, stay away from me. I'm very normal. My Old Song family is counting on me to carry on the family line. I can't let you corrupt me.”

“I will corrupt you! Come here and let your Minnie Senior kiss you.”

“Get lost! There's a pervert here.”

“Hahaha~”

...

“Sunny Eonni, what are you looking at?”

Lim Yoona saw Lee Sun-kyu there, not playing games, just staring at her phone and giggling foolishly. Anyone who didn't know would think she was having an episode.

“A great beauty, just like Irene. I'd call her the prettiest I've ever seen, without exception.”

Lim Yoona and Kwon Yu-ri were both curious about her words. They walked over and saw Xu Zhiyou, who was picking at her fingers with Bae Joo-hyun.

The two of them looked at Lee Sun-kyu with disdain, then Lim Yoona said, “Why don't you just say Zoe? Why use so many adjectives? Does it make you seem cultured?”

“Aren't you curious when she became so familiar with Irene? Irene is very aloof.”

“Zoe's personality is quite interesting. It's not strange that Irene can get along with her!” Kwon Yu-ri had also seen Xu Zhiyou's behind-the-scenes footage.

She could tell that Xu Zhiyou was genuinely herself, not putting on an act.

“Let's find some time to have Irene introduce us. Such a pretty and cute little sister, we absolutely have to meet her!”

Lim Yoona also loved to hang out with beautiful women; good-looking people tend to be a bit 'face-con'.

“Wait, I'll message Irene right now. Isn't she with Zoe at the moment? Let her say something. Anyway, we have time, so we'll go find her.”

Lee Sun-kyu grunted a few times and sent a message to Bae Joo-hyun. Bae Joo-hyun was very familiar with them, being from a junior group that Lee Sun-kyu used to look after.

“The younger generation is so strong now! All self-composed songs.”

Kim Taeyeon saw Xu Zhiyou's name in the song production column, thinking, 'She doesn't want anyone else to earn any money!'

Lim Yoona wagged her index finger, correcting Kim Taeyeon, “NONONO, Taeyeon Eonni, it's not that the younger generation is strong now; it's that Kpop has never, ever produced someone like her from beginning to end.”

“I think the music industry is also like this. Zoe is too versatile.” Seohyun greatly admired Xu Zhiyou and paid close attention to her affairs.

“Look, look, the maknae has certified it, so it's high quality.”

Seeing Lim Yoona being so smug, Lee Sun-kyu scornfully said, “Yoona, anyone who didn't know would think Zoe was you. Why are you so smug?”