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“Then, Haeun—”

“Teacher.”

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

Yena’s question, a mixture of curiosity about the cover song project and curiosity about the singer Pinocchio, was directed at Haeun.

The other members, except for Yena, were all looking at Haeun and Jihaemin with similar expressions.

Jihaemin’s answer came back to the members of Fantasy Hwang right after.

“Once everyone’s cover songs are decided, you’ll register for a separate vocal academy. Haeun will just do occasional confirmations.”

No matter how great Haeun was, it was practically impossible to teach all the members of Fantasy Hwang.

Haeun’s schedule wasn’t that free either.

However, opportunities to teach those she had admired for a long time were rare for Haeun as well.

She planned to squeeze all the little free time she had to dedicate to the vocal training of the Fantasy Hwang members.

After all, Haeun had taken singing lessons from Doubly for over ten years.

If she shared the distilled essence of those countless lessons with the members of Fantasy Hwang, surely, a pleasant cover song would be born.

Anyway, now that the introduction of the special vocal training instructor for Fantasy Hwang’s first cover song project was over, it was time for the members to choose a song from the prepared list of candidates they wanted to sing.

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

Next was the time to appreciate songs.

The songs prepared by LUX and the ones the Fantasy Hwang members personally had in mind resonated one after another in the spacious meeting room.

Haeun, who had already decided on a cover song for Dia a long time ago, silently watched the other members as they chose their cover songs.

However.

“I want this one!”

“Oh, did you like the song ‘Youthful Adolescence’ too, Unnie?”

The songs decided upon after numerous discussions among the Fantasy Hwang members turned out to be the exact same songs they had heard in their previous lives for some reason.

Even the member who would sing those familiar songs was the same as in the previous life.

“Haeun, what do you think…? No, what do you, Teacher, think?”

“I think it’s good. It fits well with the virtual avatar image too.”

To the questions from the Fantasy Hwang members about their chosen cover songs, Haeun could confidently answer that they would do well.

After all, she had heard the great results many times already.

‘I’m excited.’

Haeun had no doubt that this cover song project would succeed.

She believed that the cover song could be prepared without any problems.

The voice of Jihaemin suggesting they take some time to check the current skill level of the Fantasy Hwang members came afterward.

“We need to know the current level to decide how to conduct the vocal lessons. Everyone, follow me.”

Roughly ten minutes later, they arrived at a karaoke room nearby the LUX building.

Finally, the members of Fantasy Hwang and Jihaemin started sitting one by one on the soft leather sofas in the spacious party room.

To be precise, although Haeun had been to a karaoke with her family when she was young, the place itself wasn’t unfamiliar.

However, the people sitting around her—on either side and across—were all those whom the previous Haeun had admired.

“Ugh, it really feels like I’m in a karaoke with real singers…”

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

As the surreal scene unfolded, Haeun’s heart began to race.

With her head filled with fan emotions towards Fantasy Hwang, she barely noticed Yena’s puzzled voice sitting right next to her.

Soon after, the singing time for the Fantasy Hwang members finally began.

Having slightly zoned out, Haeun silently listened to the other members sing.

To put it bluntly, none of the songs were flawless or perfect.

However, the small imperfections that Haeun noticed in the Fantasy Hwang members’ songs didn’t matter at all at that moment.

The ear-pleasing—at least for Haeun—time continued and continued until finally, when it was Yena, the owner of Haeun’s favorite cover song from her previous life, turn to sing.

「♪─↗─♬↘─!!」

‘…Huh? That’s not it…?’

A bizarre tone, completely different from Haeun’s expectations, struck her ears.

While the rhythm was somewhat on point, the sound was…

「♩↗↗─↗」

A pitchy tone that seemed to embody the very definition of being tone-deaf.

‘Ah… No…!’

Unlike just moments ago when she was simply appreciating, a visibly flustered expression crossed Haeun’s face.

Current Yena’s level of being tone-deaf lightly exceeded the extent of imperfection Haeun could accommodate.

“How is it?”

Gasping for breath, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead, her face slightly flushed.

It was true that she earnestly tried to sing.

The problem was that there wasn’t even one good quality besides the fact that she tried hard.

As everyone but Yena hesitated, pondering whether to tell the truth with nervous glances, Haeun, who had already mentally despaired countless times, finally made a decision.

“I’ll manage Unnie. No matter what, I’ll make sure to turn her voice into a human voice.”

She delivered a harsh truth into Yena’s ear.

For some reason, Yena, taken aback by Haeun’s blazing gaze, soon sank heavily onto the leather sofa.

“Did I… am I that bad?”

– Nodding.

“…Ugh….”

After getting hit with facts from Jihaemin as well, she buried her face into the table in front of her.

Instantly, her ears began to flush red.

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

The reason was simple.

「♪♬──♪──」

A sweet voice, different from any voice she had heard until now, began to flow right beside Yena.

Despite merely holding the handheld microphone, the aura was distinctly different.

「──♬──♪♪♬─」

With breath control that was perfectly stable, a small mouth casually switching between falsetto and head voice while only letting out a pleasing sound.

Lastly, there was Haeun’s signature clear tone.

‘Wow…. Real singers are really different…’

‘Haeun, she’s not just covering; she should just release an album.’

‘She’s a cheat character, a cheat character.’

Of course, Yena, sitting right next to Haeun, as well as the other members and Jihaemin, were all in awe at Haeun’s singing.

While all the members of Fantasy Hwang already knew that Haeun was the singer Pinocchio, witnessing her singing moment in person had an impact stronger than they had anticipated.

Yet, Haeun herself was more nervous than during the live final of <SIT ON THE MONEY> a few months ago.

Because the trembling she felt from the members of Fantasy Hwang was greater than the pressure from the numerous audience at the live finals.

So, until the absolute end, she could only gaze at the karaoke machine’s monitor.

Only after Haeun’s song completely ended did she timidly turn her head, cautiously asking how her song had gone.

“Woo~. A currently active singer is schooling the singing newbies~.”

“What are people like us supposed to live off of!”

“That really felt like what a singer’s live performance is like.”

Honest praises stripped of pretense came back.

Soon after, Haeun received concerns about her outstanding singing ability from Jeong Maria.

“Um, Haeun, when your cover song comes out, won’t people realize it’s you, since Dia’s real identity is Pinocchio. I mean, Lee Haeun?”

No matter what, it was undeniable that Pinocchio’s voice and tone were unique.

Having gained a certain level of fame as a singer, disguising that identity would surely be difficult.

This concern from Jeong Maria was identical to the kind of worries Haeun had when she first debuted as the rookie singer Pinocchio.

The reason she had never done a singing broadcast was entirely due to such worries.

However, it wasn’t like Haeun hadn’t thought of any countermeasures until now.

Although she wasn’t completely skilled yet, she had honed her voice enough to somewhat sing as Dia.

“Just now, I sang as the vocal instructor teaching Unnie.”

– Beep.

“From now on, it’s me singing as Dia.”

She began to show her song as Dia to people outside of Doubly for the first time.

Then, with her gaze fixated on the karaoke machine’s monitor once more, she passionately poured her heart into the song until the very end.

And like before, with a similar expression, she timidly turned her head again.

“How… is it? I think it might not be caught on to?”

She asked whether people would think Haeun, the singer Pinocchio, and Dia were the same.

And almost simultaneously.

“No, um, I think it might not be caught on to…”

“…Pfft.”

“You’re singing well. You’re singing well, but, um…”

Haeun tilted her head in confusion at the significantly different reactions compared to a few minutes ago.

The real reason behind the members’ changed responses came moments later.

“It’s okay, Haeun. No matter what, Dia is still a one-year-old baby. It’s only fitting to sing cover songs cutely.”

Then followed the remarks from Yena, who never thought she would witness an actual celebrity acting cute.

Finally realizing how her previous song sounded, Haeun began to slowly lower her head.

Thus, just like Yena did a few minutes ago, she thudded her head against the table.

When with the members of Fantasy Hwang, she firmly resolved to never sing in Dia’s voice.

Her ears were already sufficiently flushed red.

*

“It’s true that you sing well, Haeun, but your songwriting skills aren’t there yet, so you need a team.”

Three days had passed since the meeting about Fantasy Hwang’s cover song project.

Now, it was really close to the recording of the <Infinite Challenge Music Festival>, and Lee Joon was taking Haeun somewhere.

Eventually, they arrived at a stylish personal studio that looked sophisticated at first glance.

In this studio, where all the sound equipment inside was brand new,

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

Sat the rapper Hwang Ji-hyeok, who had stood on stage with Haeun a few months prior and was the winner of <SIT ON THE MONEY>.

After shaking hands with Hwang Ji-hyeok, Haeun received some new information.

“I’ll be producing this upcoming music festival, Ji-hyeok.”

“What about you, uncle?”

“I’m not a guest, I’m a fixed member. So I have to team up with the other guests, I won’t be able to help you this time.”

Hwang Ji-hyeok then added that since they already had practiced together once, he was sure they would do well.

Around that time, Haeun began to notice how filled with enthusiasm Ji-hyeok was towards her.

“This time, you’re going out as the main star, not as a featuring artist. I’ll definitely make a song that suits Haeun.”

Hwang Ji-hyeok, who had been saying he’d repay Haeun for winning <SIT ON THE MONEY>, was filled with the determination to make Haeun the main star on stage.

While it had yet to be decided which member of <Infinite Challenge> she would team up with, it was certain that singer Pinocchio would be the star of the upcoming <Infinite Challenge Music Festival>.

“On my grandfather’s honor! Definitely!”

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

Hwang Ji-hyeok was filled with determination to make Haeun the star on stage.