Even after being warned once, the two were still chattering as they pleased, and Ua looked somewhat displeased.
[Dohee: They said it was a blind date, but an actual dog showed up.]
[Seoyun: Ahahaha, then I guess you must be a cow?]
─It’s seriously chaos right from the start
─The Doseoz are each other’s perfect counters lol
─So that’s what they meant by saying blind dates are for any dog or cow lolololol
└I’ve never been on one...
└Actually, me neither...
└ㅠㅠ Let’s stay strong
Even so, this much was well within Ua’s expectations.
From the start, Dohee and Seoyun had plenty of experience, so there was a high chance they would act however they wanted.
[Ua: But seriously, you two are really good at making broadcasts fun.]
One thinly veiled threat was enough.
[Ua: I’ll watch and learn, and make sure to show this exact side of you during our self-content, unni and Dohee.]
Reason returned to both their eyes.
[Dohee: Ahem.]
[Seoyun: Ah! You’re here for the blind date, right?]
[Dohee: No, I’m here for a Carrot Market deal...]
[Seoyun: You do look like a rabbit.]
─Carrot Market deal, this shit lololol
Of course, one might wonder whether they had really come to their senses.
[Dohee: Please sit down first. Your legs must be tired.]
[Seoyun: Yes, yes.]
But at least to Ua, who knew the two of them well, this was sufficient.
[Ua: Since you’re here, start with drinks.]
[Dohee: You must be thirsty, right? Shall we order drinks first?]
[Seoyun: Yes, it is a little hot today.]
[Dohee: So that’s why your face was a little red? I thought you’d had a few daytime drinks before coming! I almost ordered you hangover soup, ahaha.]
[Seoyun: How are you this unfunny? What an awful first impression, really!]
[Dohee: Sorry, my mistake~ Haha!]
At this level, it seemed as if they were at least pretending to accept Ua’s control.
─What a damn mess, seriously lololol
─Are they really listening or not lololol
─Why does Ua look satisfied?
Ua’s radio instruction came in, telling them to proceed with small talk seriously, and Seoyun set down her bright hat and asked politely.
[Seoyun: What is your name?]
[Dohee: I’m Lee Dohee. And yours?]
[Seoyun: I’m Kim Seoyun.]
[Dohee: Even your name is pretty.]
[Seoyun: Oh my.]
A normal conversation continued, surprisingly.
This was exactly what Ua wanted.
[Dohee: How old do I look?]
[Ua: Say people who answer a question with a question are the worst.]
[Seoyun: You’re the worst.]
[Dohee: What? All of a sudden?]
─Why does Ua look so happy lolololol
─Why does she like this so much lololol
She was controlling the two with oversized egos.
She slipped in the things she wanted to say here and there.
[Dohee: I’m nineteen. What about you, Seoyun?]
[Ua: One year younger. Eighteen. Say it with a lisp.]
[Seoyun: One year younger. Eighteen yearsh old!]
[Ua: Tell her she looks old for her age.]
[Dohee: Wow, you look old for your age.]
[Seoyun: What?]
Even Dohee and Seoyun couldn’t tell.
Whether the other person was saying it themselves,
or whether Ua was making them say it.
─Is Ji Ua just talking to herself lolololololol
─Seoyun is especially cute today, is she mine?
[Ua: Try saying, “Since when were we close enough for you to talk casually?”]
[Seoyun: Since when were we close enough for you to talk casually?]
Confusion arose.
[Ua: You said you were eighteen.]
[Dohee: You said you were eighteen.]
[Seoyun: Ji Ua, are you not going to cut it out? That sounded so much like something Lee Dohee would say that I got confused, seriously.]
[Ua: Oh.]
[Dohee: Oh.]
After landing a few lines like that, Ua, looking sufficiently satisfied, seemed to have finished the repertoire she had planned and gave the two of them an order through the radio.
[Ua: Now you two can just talk about whatever you want on your own. (refreshed)]
But once they were actually given freedom, the two fell silent again.
[Dohee: Uh...]
[Seoyun: Mm.]
They looked out the window, unable to meet each other’s eyes.
It was the first blind date for both of them.
─Why did it suddenly get awkward lolololol
─Did you two really come out on a blind date?
[Ua: Why are you being so frustrating? Talk about hobbies. Hobbies.]
[Dohee: Ah, yes. What are your hobbies?]
[Seoyun: Hobbies. Yes.]
Still, the Doseoz had the quick wit to respond swiftly to a given situation.
For a moment, their eyes met with a spark.
Tender feelings passed between them.
[Dohee: By any chance, do you usually enjoy flower arrangement, tea ceremony, and calligraphy?]
[Seoyun: Oh my, how did you know? Could it be that you have the same hobbies?]
[Dohee: Yes, you had a similar atmosphere to me, so I thought your hobbies might be the same too!]
[Seoyun: Oh my!]
[Dohee: Chwahaha!]
─I thought they were normal for a second, and now they’re spouting nonsense again
─Where the hell did Lee Dohee learn that laugh lololol
─“Oh my,” she says
Whenever they happened to be on the same wavelength, the Doseoz were a duo who cherished and flattered each other more than anyone else.
[Dohee: Unni, your eyes are so rooound, you have such a puppy-like face and you’re cute and adorable, but your features are also distinct, so you’re even pretty~]
[Seoyun: Hey~ Anyone would think you were some dazzling doll!]
Ua’s expression crumpled.
She was satisfied, yes.
But this feeling—this wasn’t the feeling she wanted.
* * *
Naeun was sitting down.
Dohee was standing uncomfortably.
[Naeun: You never listen to your unnies.]
[Dohee: Eeeing, me?]
In truth, the one on pins and needles was Naeun.
[Ua: How rude, what do you mean, “eeeing”?]
[Naeun: H-how rude, what do you mean, “eeeing”?]
[Dohee: Oh~ Coming on strong, are we?]
Criticism coming from the mouth of the usually kind Naeun.
As if she weren’t a member of Debonaire.
The kind of person who felt satisfaction when acting as the mastermind.
It was the moment when a little of Ua’s somewhat mischievous personality was revealed to the public.
* * *
At the same time.
Rira was strolling pleasantly through her company building.
Just as stated, it was her company building.
Not long ago, Coral Blue’s seven-year contract had ended, and she had become independent, establishing Rira’s own personal company.
She did have thoughts of later signing other singers and growing its size, but for now, it was a one-person company.
Of course, she still planned to carry out team activities through Haru Entertainment.
Because she had absolutely no intention of giving up Coral Blue.
“They say your guest has arrived at the counter.”
“Guest? Ah. Please bring them to my studio.”
It had already been a month since she established the company, so there weren’t many people left who would send congratulatory wreaths and visit.
She had no choice but to be certain who the guest was.
“How much does something like this cost...”
“About sixty thousand.”
This was the child she wanted to recruit to her company someday.
“Ah, you scared me!”
Lee Dohee, who had been leaning against the back of the sofa and muttering, flinched and turned her head, apparently startled by Rira’s voice.
“Unni, thank you for the hip-hop license!”
“If you talk nonsense, I’ll kick you out.”
“It was a joke.”
Too tired to deal with her, Rira flopped down into her seat.
A sofa that was soft yet helped correct one’s posture.
“But why is the sofa so cheap? If it’s sixty thousand.”
“Is that cheap? Well, it’s not that expensive.”
Lee Dohee narrowed her eyes and stared at her.
“...Don’t tell me dollars?”
“Then did you think it was won?”
Rira answered calmly, regardless.
“...Eighty million won?”
She could feel it just from her gaze.
“I got smacked on the back by my mom for buying a grand piano for two hundred million won... but this...”
Lee Dohee slapped the sofa’s outer leather with her palm.
Her gesture openly wondered whether this wasn’t a waste of money.
“It is a luxury.”
Rira admitted it easily.
It wasn’t as if she had bought it for its performance.
They were simply luxury furnishings arranged for the purpose of intimidating others.
The interior costs that had gone into this sixty-six-square-meter studio alone roughly amounted to the price of a small villa.
“But when you visit the studios of artists overseas, most of them are more extravagant than this, not less.”
She had seen plenty that cost well over tens of billions of won.
“So if you play on the world stage, this is normal...”
Was she finally acknowledging that they played in different leagues?
Rira felt that decorating the place with pointlessly expensive furniture had been worth it.
Rira smiled lightly and placed her hand on Dohee’s thigh.
“Didn’t you get quite a bit in royalties this time too, Dohee? SAME was around 109th on the Billboard chart, wasn’t it?”
“Ah, that hasn’t been settled yet... What, unni, how do you know that?”
Pretending to cover her mouth, Lee Dohee suddenly grinned openly.
“You were secretly paying attention, weren’t you? You kept checking the Billboard chart to see how far it would go, huh? Euhuhu.”
“......”
The thought of smacking her once passed through Rira’s mind.
“Then did you watch our self-content too?”
“Why do you think I would have watched that?”
“...If not, then never mind.”
Rira snapped back, but in truth, she had watched it before.
Even now, it sometimes appeared in her algorithm.
She just hadn’t watched the latest episode. Only the old ones. The old ones.
In any case, Rira furrowed her brow in irritation, then quickly wiped away her expression and spoke.
“Enough. If you’re here, play the song already. You said you wanted my evaluation. Neither of us has time.”
“Ah, right, right.”
She couldn’t help the irritation seeping into her tone, but thanks to that, the quick-witted Lee Dohee promptly took out her phone and connected it to the studio computer.
In the meantime, the plain transparent phone case, not decorated with a single thing, seemed very Lee Dohee-like.
“This song is entirely thanks to you, unni, because you gave me a hip-hop license...”
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, shut your damn mouth.”
“...Gasp.”
This was all her own karma.
Her karma for having felt interested from her first meeting with Lee Dohee and having sent her KakaoTalk messages somewhat first.
‘It’s not as if I ever acted friendly with her, though.’
Whether this was Lee Dohee’s true nature, or whether her personality had been formed based on her abilities and confidence.
Meanwhile, seeing Lee Dohee shrink back, perhaps startled by her harsh words, Rira sighed.
“I’m sorry. I got irritated for a moment. Since I’ve been setting up the company lately, I’ve been a little stressed...”
It had definitely been too much.
She usually avoided swearing, believing that dignity and intellect came from one’s speech.
No matter how much Lee Dohee messed around—
“Well, that can happen, unni. I understand everything~”
“Just keep your mouth shut like that.”
“Gasp...”
In all of Rira’s life, there had been very few people who induced such emotional ups and downs in her, so it was truly astonishing.
“Mmph, mmph.”
Still, Rira didn’t simply dislike Lee Dohee.
Told to shut her mouth, Lee Dohee pointed at the computer while mumbling as if she were doing ventriloquism.
“Mmph, mmph!”
“Hurry up and play it. I get it.”
“Hehe.”
Because of her mischievous personality, that was also rather cute.
‘Cute... is she?’
Following the last time, the thought once again passed through her naturally, and Rira looked at Lee Dohee as she clicked the mouse.
Her appearance was definitely cute.
Unlike Rira, who looked simply cold, she had both cuteness and prettiness coexisting, making her look dazzling, and yet...
“Now, presenting it for the very first time~?”
Before Rira had any room for idle thoughts, Lee Dohee called out playfully and played the song.
“I’ve roughly written a draft of the lyrics for this one, but it’s not finished yet, so I only brought the beat, okay?”
And as if her distracted state just moments ago had been a lie, Rira was instantly drawn into the melody and beat that flowed out.
The sound of a DJ rapidly spinning an LP, the scratch sound.
The core rhythm made of kick and snare.
The emotion built through the bass.
“Oh, judging by your reaction, it must not be bad?”
If Lee Dohee hadn’t brought it, it was a composition no one would think Lee Dohee had written.
Traditional 90s old-school boom bap, East Coast hip-hop.
“Did you write this alone?”
It was a genre with no point of contact with the tracks Lee Dohee had shown so far.
“As expected, the Class 2 Automatic hip-hop license recognized by Rira?”
And yet it was a true hip-hop sound that even listeners in America would likely find natural.
Lee Dohee was already spouting triumphant nonsense again, but since a convincing result was playing, Rira’s mind grew complicated.
“Where did you get the inspiration for this?”
“Ah~ I told you I’ve been listening to hip-hop lately. I was mainly listening to Coral Blue songs and old foreign hip-hop, but I also tried to make it feel sophisticated in a modern way. So I worried a lot about the drum beat and stuff~ Ah, the lyrics are actually incredible. The draft is amazing. Oh right, unni, you said you didn’t watch our self-content, didn’t you?”
Lee Dohee, who had been chattering excitedly, suddenly lifted the corners of her mouth into a grin again and picked up her phone.
“This is the preview for the self-content coming out this week. If you look here, it might show up a bit?”
Without realizing it, Rira’s gaze went to the screen Lee Dohee held out.
A video that seemed to show the members of Debonaire going on blind dates with each other passed by quickly, and a preview appeared at the end.
And the caption displayed at the top.
‘Lee Dohee’s Inspiration Camp?’
[Dohee: When I say “inspiration,” unni, you have to say, “Why are you calling me?” Inspiration~]
[Seoyun: There you go spouting nonsense again, seriously.]
Even Rira thought it sounded like nonsense.