Chapter 57: Can Ye-ji Really Blow Up the Kitchen?

"What on earth are you doing, unnie? We are about to debut, aren't you nervous at all? You look way too happy!"

Shin Ryujin, the true center of the group, looked at her remarkably dependable eldest sister. It seemed utterly bizarre that the older girl was suddenly sitting there holding her phone and chuckling strangely. Who knew what kind of good news she could possibly be hearing?

"Ryujin, do you remember Mr. Cha Lun-hoo? The national hero who made such huge waves in the news a while ago? He just sent a message to congratulate us on our debut, and I've invited him to come to our debut showcase."

Yeji saw no reason to keep secrets from this younger member. Generally speaking, the girls in this group were quite sensible. Aside from the youngest being a bit mischievous and noisy, they were all composed and well-behaved youngsters who knew their boundaries.

"Ah! Mr. Cha Lun-hoo? Isn't he Sunbae Suzy's boyfriend? Unnie, you shouldn't be privately contacting him, or you'll get scolded by a big sunbae."

Ryujin handed over a bottle of sports drink. Sweat trickled down the jawline of her sharp, resolute face, giving off an aura of youthful vitality that made Yeji rather envious of her large, striking eyes. She truly was an unadulterated, traditional beauty.

In truth, Ryujin didn't care much for this so-called hero. Before she left her previous circles, she had heard Somi boasting about knowing the guy. What kind of good person could possibly hang out with someone like Somi? Besides, how could a man who frequented nightlife spots remain unstained? It was all just a carefully crafted persona.

She had heard that her group's leader shared some hometown ties with him and had even talked about buying his autobiography for everyone to study—she looked every bit like a little fangirl. Newly debuted female idols needed to be extremely vigilant when it came to romantic matters.

Ryujin's relationship with Somi was far from harmonious. That little foreigner always threw her weight around based on her seniority, looking down on everyone and complaining that splitting their income equally among the members was unfair to her. She never bothered to look at her own actual worth, genuinely believing that winning the center position on a survival show was purely the result of her own abilities. The two had even traded verbal jabs and clashed on multiple occasions.

"Jeon, I'm not doing this for anything other than to deflate your ego. Don't go thinking you're the most talented trainee here. When it comes to vocals and tone, I don't shy away from you; when it comes to dancing, I'm even better than you!"

"Fine! Let's compete on the same stage tomorrow and see who takes home a first-place trophy and who goes home empty-handed!"

Although minor conflicts among trainees were common, both of them were proud individuals. Yeji usually tried to play the peacemaker, but Somi was accustomed to walking her own path and clearly had no desire to integrate into the collective.

"That girl at least knows when to quit. Yuna is so much better than her—she's young, has incredible dancing skills, and is extremely cute."

***

Although she felt Ryujin's words were slightly inappropriate, Yeji actually shared the same sentiment in her heart. She just found herself genuinely curious as to why someone as unlikable as Somi had ever gotten involved with Mr. Cha Lun-hoo.

"He's just coming to watch the performance as a fan. Mr. Cha said he wants to become our fan, so we should give our very first signed debut album to him!"

Captain Yeji seemed utterly delighted to have acquired such a fan. Ryujin wanted to say something, but closed her mouth again. The other girl had made her intentions clear, and there was nothing she could do about whether Cha Lun-hoo chose to be an ITZY fan or not.

Regardless, the captain was a very reliable person. Even though they hadn't debuted yet, Ryujin trusted her unconditionally. If it were Yuna instead, the situation would be entirely different; that little troublemaker was a restless spirit who needed to be kept in check every now and then.

"What a bore. I was actually hoping to see you fight a big sunbae for a man!"

Ryujin began sketching out a script where the old king was dead and a new monarch had rightfully ascended. In her narrative, her team leader was the new trailblazer of JYP girl groups, and people like Bae Suzy and Somi were mere mobs compared to her. Her playful, trolling demeanor caused Yeji to narrow her apricot-like eyes in mock anger. Unfortunately, lacking any aggressive stage makeup, she looked completely devoid of intimidation.

She had originally thought her eldest unnie was a formidable character, but unexpectedly, she turned out to be a softhearted girl. While she took great care of the younger members and everyone was generally willing to listen to her, she constantly failed to keep the mischievous Yuna under control.

"You said you wanted to send a gift to a newly debuted young artist—what kind of gift would be best?"

After getting off work, Cha Lun-hoo hung up his suit jacket. He felt like he was growing increasingly resistant to the idea of living in Suzy's luxury home. One could only conclude that habit was a terrifying thing; their rather unusual relationship seemed to be growing steadily more stable by the day.

Occasionally, the media managed to capture a few traces of them, but by offering no response, they left the fans to fend for Suzy's honor. Meanwhile, some of his own work activities had been dug up by netizens, and even his small fan club had begun rallying and shouting slogans.

He had no idea that once his autobiography was published, that tiny fan club would rapidly expand. The general framework of the book was already established, and recently he had been dealing with publishers and promotional details. In short, there was a mountain of troublesome tasks, though fortunately Reporter Chen had been advising him along the way, helping him avoid a fair share of pitfalls.

"Mhm? What are you up to? Trying to hit on young girls right in front of me! You eat my food, you live in my house, aren't you being a bit too outrageous?"

Suzy widened her eyes, acting as if she had suffered the most grave injustice, portraying him as an unmitigated scoundrel—a gigolo who leeched off women for food and shelter. But seeing the trace of a smile lingering at the corners of the woman's eyes, he knew that taking her seriously meant losing, so he simply didn't take the bait.

***

"That junior at your company, the little girl named Hwang Yeji—I have a feeling she's going to be a successful idol one day. She's a resilient kid; it truly is remarkable that she can endure so much hardship just to debut."

Cha Lun-hoo always saw shades of Sejeong in this cat-like girl—perhaps a version of Sejeong who worked even harder. He sincerely hoped her efforts would be rewarded with good results.

"I'm going with you, just to make sure you don't have any opportunities to flirt around. All those girls are pretty, especially that Shin Yuna."

Unlike Cha Lun-hoo, who had his eyes on the feline captain, Suzy sympathized with them because she was also a youngest member and shared a similar positioning as the visual center, allowing her to easily find resonance with them. She hoped her teammates would treat Yeji well and not ostracize her out of jealousy the way she herself had experienced.

"Every time I see her, I feel a sense of closeness. She's like a little rabbit, and her figure is so great—she's going to be huge in the future."

Perhaps big rabbits simply liked little rabbits. Suzy declared that even though her contract with JYP was entering its final month, she wanted to give these juniors a helpful boost and send them off on their journey with debut gifts and blessings.

Suzy's words reminded Cha Lun-hoo of that good girl who didn't look like she frequented clubs, drank alcohol, or picked fights. Truly, idols like this possessed genuine human beauty, which made it all the more understandable why someone like Somi couldn't survive in the company.

This big rabbit didn't seem to mind appearing in public with him anymore and wanted to insert herself into every little matter. Yet, he didn't dislike the feeling at all; it almost seemed as though he genuinely had a major celebrity girlfriend.

"As for your idea of giving them a gift, I was thinking since they live together in a dorm, they probably cook for themselves occasionally. They can't possibly eat takeout all the time. I feel like getting them a set of kitchenware would be very practical."

In truth, Suzy herself only knew how to make the simplest of dishes, but during the time they had lived together, she rarely saw him order delivery. Instead, he would buy ingredients and cook for himself, meaning the kitchen was used with very high frequency.

"That makes a lot of sense! Yeji looks like someone who is quite good at cooking; children from humble backgrounds learn to take care of themselves early, after all. Besides, there are five members in the group—surely not a single one of them is clueless? They couldn't possibly blow up the kitchen, could they?"