NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 163
I don’t know what happened yesterday, but the reactions of the other members towards me, except for Seo Yoo-jin, were definitely strange.
“Unnie, are you awake? You remember what happened yesterday, right? …You don’t? Hehe.”
…Park Yoo-jung too.
“Unnie, did you sleep well? …About yesterday, eh, let’s not talk about it.”
…Na Han-na as well.
“Ye-rin, are you up? …Let’s try to avoid drinking next time.”
…Lee Hye-jeong too.
And….
“Ye-rin.”
“…Seol unnie.”
“If you suggest drinking again next time, I’ll break your legs.”
“…….”
Yoo Seol also left me a chilling remark while smiling.
…It’s clear that I did mess up yesterday.
So, after finishing my preparations and before Manager Oppa picked us up, I asked the members when we were all gathered.
“…Did I drink a lot yesterday?”
“Nope, we each only had one highball yesterday.”
…So, I got so drunk from just one highball? Really?
I wasn’t this bad in my past life either… It seems like Ha Ye-rin’s body is more sensitive to alcohol than I imagined.
‘No way can one little highball get someone drunk….’
As I shook my head in disbelief, Na Han-na, sitting on the couch, spoke worriedly to the members.
“But… do you think we might get caught? If we get found out for drinking secretly, we’re in big trouble….”
“Pfft, we hid the leftover drinks well, and everyone showered this morning. Besides, we only had one highball each; what’s the chance of getting caught?”
Everyone nodded at Lee Hye-jeong’s words.
Honestly, we used the big word “drinking party,” but all we had was just a highball each.
It would be hard for the company to find any evidence that we drank.
But then…
Swish.
“…Um.”
Seo Yoo-jin, who was sitting right next to me, raised her hand with an anxious look.
“…I was going to say this earlier, but I think I smell alcohol coming from Ye-rin unnie.”
“…….”
As soon as I heard that, I sniffed my body.
“…No way, it’s been hours, I showered, and I only had one highball, so there’s no way I smell like alcohol… …?”
The smell of alcohol… is coming from me?
A grassy smoky scent and a sharp alcoholic aroma.
Anyone would recognize that as the smell of alcohol.
‘This crazy body. You still can’t break down the alcohol?’
As I hesitated in confusion, the other members, sensing something was off, leaned in and sniffed me too.
“Huff, this is….”
“I think it smells like alcohol?”
“It’s not too strong, but we might get caught if we’re not careful.”
After confirming that I smell like alcohol, worry blossomed on the faces of the other members.
For sure, if there were idols having secret drinking parties right from the first day of their schedule, the company wouldn’t take it lightly.
Thinking about the burden I might cause for everyone, I bowed my head apologetically to my members.
“…I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“…….”
I didn’t mean to seek sympathy, but as I apologized and made a pitiful face, the members stroked my back to comfort me.
“No, unnie, thanks to you we had fun yesterday.”
“We all agreed to have fun together yesterday. What’s there for you to apologize for?”
“And the smell isn’t that strong. If we hide it well, they probably won’t notice.”
“…Really? But they probably wouldn’t catch on, right?”
“Of course, they aren’t dogs; how could they possibly smell it?”
We sang songs of hope, convinced that our small drinking party yesterday would never be found out.
And then it happened…
“Are you all out of your minds?!”
…A death flag.
Actually, we got caught by the manager oppa who came to pick us up.
“Hey guys! I’m here to pick you up!”
Our road manager oppa for Rookies was clearly a good guy, handpicked by the company.
He was punctual, always smiling, and radiated positive vibes just by being there.
And more than anything, his biggest strength was knowing how to maintain boundaries.
He never set foot into the Rookies dormitory, always keeping professionalism no matter what.
But that manager oppa…
“Quick, get in a comfy spot. We’re leaving right now… huh?”
As I passed in front of him, he seemed to feel something was off and frowned.
“…….”
Then, as if he realized something was wrong, he stared at me for a few seconds…
“…Okay, let’s leave right away!”
…He turned his head away, pretending nothing happened.
Seeing that made us sure our manager oppa caught on to our little escapade.
“Oh no, unnie! I think we’re caught!”
“B-but look at how he’s not saying anything; it means he wants to keep it a secret, right?”
…Right, if he really wanted to scold us, he would have done it by now.
With both anxiety and hope in our hearts, we headed toward the NAS Entertainment headquarters.
But the problem started from there.
“Welcome!”
As we entered the meeting room, exclusively prepared for Rookies, only Director Jeong and Han Si-woo were there to greet us.
They both smiled as if something joyful was happening.
But then…
“Please have a seat…”
“…Huh?”
As they tried to sit us down, they seemed to sense something was off and tilted their heads.
And then…
Swish.
‘……Crap.’
It was as if they all glanced at me at once.
…The smell of alcohol isn’t that strong. Are these people all dogs or something?
Feeling like everything was over, I bowed my head in resignation as the manager oppa whispered something into Director Jeong’s ear.
After hearing everything, Director Jeong shot me a serious glance and then asked us.
“…The reason I called Rookies here today was to discuss the schedule. However, before we talk about that, there’s something I must ask.”
“…….”
“I don’t think this is the case, but did you all drink alcohol yesterday?”
Boom.
As soon as Director Jeong said those words, I raised my hand and confessed.
“I-I drank yesterday…!”
Of course….
“B-but! The other members don’t know about it. I drank alone….”
I mixed in a slight lie saying the others didn’t know and I drank by myself.
The other members looked at me meaningfully…
“Oh, no! I also drank!”
“…Me too.”
“Me too…!”
“…Actually, I was the one who brought the drinks. I’m the one who convinced the members to drink.”
“…We all had one highball. We’re sorry.”
One by one, we raised our hands and confessed the truth.
As Director Jeong and Han Si-woo watched the members all confess, their expressions began to soften a bit.
Then, they spoke in a warm voice.
“What you did was wrong, but seeing you all united like this is very nice. Teamwork is just as crucial for idols as individual talent. If you maintain this level of teamwork during your year of Rookies activities, I’m sure Rookies will achieve great things.”
Hearing Director Jeong’s kind words, we smiled at each other.
It seemed like they were willing to forgive us for secretively drinking yesterday…
“…Now, let me say a few more things. You all are about to debut; is it appropriate for idols to drink at their dorms?!”
…Of course, it wasn’t appropriate at all.
Director Jeong’s lecture was quite long.
After that, we had to endure an hour-long barrage of his nagging.
One hour later.
“…So remember what I just said and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“…Yes.”
Director Jeong was very similar to Yoo Seol in the sense that he could nag someone to death.
We nodded in agreement, dazed by the lecture.
“Cough, now let’s move on to the schedule for Rookies, and Producer Han Si-woo will continue.”
After that, Director Jeong finished his nagging and Han Si-woo, who had been quietly observing, took his place.
Han Si-woo, smiling, said to us, still reeling from Director Jeong’s lecture.
“Ha, everyone. As someone who has been part of a group, I understand how you feel.”
I thought his expression was somehow sympathetic, so I asked him.
“Producer Han Si-woo, did you have similar incidents during your group days?”
“Oh man, if something like this happened in my time, we’d get beaten up. We would get yelled at for losing our minds.”
“…….”
Han Si-woo, who had been a cold critic in Na Ah Ah, seemed to have changed his strategy and was now laughing while hitting us.
But he didn’t seem like he was trying to scold us; he quickly shifted the subject.
“Anyway, everyone, the album schedule for Rookies has been set.”
When he said that, everyone perked up and focused on him.
And….
“Our Rookies will be releasing a total of 2 mini-albums and 2 digital singles over the next year.”
“…Huh?!”
Everyone was thrown off by Han Si-woo’s following words.
Two mini-albums and two singles, huh?
If you divide one year by 4, that’s 3 months.
Han Si-woo’s words meant we would release new songs four times and have four new activity periods.
‘Does this mean they plan to wear us out over the next year….’
I was already certain that the next year would entail considerable hardships.
“And we have decided on a group concept. Since our Rookies were created by Na Ah Ah, we will continue the concept from Na Ah Ah.”
“Continuing the concept from Na Ah Ah means….”
“You are transfer students at an idol academy. The songs released from Rookies will be related to your school life. The first mini-album will reflect that as well.”
Han Si-woo said that while pulling out his laptop.
There was a confident look on his face.
“In fact, the first album for Rookies is already planned out. The concept of the song is purity and dreaminess. To summarize, it will be a story about six mysterious girls who transferred to an idol academy.”
Wow, they have already planned things out; the work is moving pretty fast.
Or maybe Han Si-woo had already prepared a song beforehand.
Regardless, the Han Si-woo in front of me is the leading idol producer in Korea.
And such a legendary producer wrote a song for us.
With bursting anticipation, Yoo Seol, representing us, asked Han Si-woo.
“…Producer Han Si-woo, what’s the title of the song?”
Han Si-woo smiled softly and replied.
“It’s Rookies’ first mini-album title track, [Secret Girl].”
Then he pressed a key on the keyboard, and the song started playing.
The melody of [Secret Girl] began to play.