Chapter 75 Chapter 75

The audition was originally scheduled to end at 6 o'clock, but because several contestants had to sing extra time, it was dragged on until the evening. Jin Chengxun was a gentle person and patiently agreed to those who pleaded for "one more minute". Although the fact was,

The fate of most people is decided in the first three seconds. When I walked out of the old building, it was already dark. The light box of the convenience store across the street was lit alone, making the surroundings even more desolate. In order to save costs,

Audition venues are mostly located in the suburbs, and returning to the hotel requires a specially arranged bus. Busan's summer nights are more humid than Seoul's, and the ground still retains the heat of the day. Lia, carrying a simple canvas bag, walked towards the waiting bus on the roadside.

Sitting side by side with Kim Sung-hoon in the back of the car, the cabin was unusually quiet, the exhaustion of the day leaving many people drifting off to sleep, the low hum of the engine like a lullaby. Lia pulled out her phone, her notification bar overflowing with unread messages. Today was her birthday.

Although Xia Qing had been thinking about this day for a few days, she had never had the habit of celebrating her birthday. In addition, she was too busy during the day and had not thought about it for a while. Now that she finally had time,

She flipped through the messages one by one - from family, friends, producers, and even... Zheng Lai Cai.

Zheng Laicai somehow found out her birthday and sent her a blessing early. The message was as concise as ever, and Lia could almost imagine the tone she would say in person. [Eight Directions of Wealth] Happy birthday, gift↓ Followed by,

It was a slow-loading image: a photo of a document, the title prominently reading "SBS drama 'Scent of a Woman' OST Production Plan Summary." The center row prominently read: Track 02. Main

The theme song — composed by Lia Kim, with "Confirmed" written in bold red next to it. Starring: Kim Sun-Ah, Lee Dong-Wook. Lia breathed a sigh of relief. Without a doubt,

It's another TV series that's about to become a big hit.

The songs she gave Zheng Laicai all ended up with their respective destinations. Initially, she thought Zheng Laicai was just a simple executor, but it wasn't until she saw her works appearing in popular TV series on the three major TV stations that she realized this seemingly friendly "sister" was actually one of the industry's top producers, controlling a wealth of resources and connections.

After returning from studying abroad in her early twenties, she joined a television station as an assistant producer. As she gained experience, she quickly established her own production company, investing in several hit dramas and quickly gaining a reputation within the industry. The father she mentioned earlier as having "some money" wasn't just any small business owner, but the chairman of a large construction company.

To be honest, if it weren't for that emergency OST, Lia and her would never have met. Just as she finished replying to all the messages one by one, the bus arrived at the hotel entrance.

After saying goodbye to the other staff members, Lia returned to her room with her roommate, Yelin. Yelin was a new photographer at YG, and she was accompanying them to shoot footage for future promotional images.

Because they were still relatively young, they needed to share a room to save money. Although Lia was younger, she was considered a senior at the company, so on their first day together, she made the decision not to use honorifics. The two quickly became close.

"I'm so tired--" Yilin threw herself on the sofa as soon as she entered the door and didn't want to move for a long time.

This kind of running around was something that senior people with some experience could easily push off, but in the end, it all fell on her. Including today, she hadn't been home for a whole month.

Lia had adapted fairly well. She'd grown up accustomed to a busy schedule, and even with a non-stop day, she could still maintain her spirits. "Take a shower and get some rest. We have another day ahead of us tomorrow."

"I don't want to move..." Yelin fiddled with her phone lazily, wishing she could just grow on the sofa. Lia chuckled softly and found an empty seat at the other end of the sofa. Her eyes fell on the phone screen and she began to daydream.

The pinned account sent a simple "Happy Birthday" message early this morning. Knowing from the beginning that they wouldn't be able to meet in June, Yu Seungho had already found a free day to celebrate her birthday in advance.

In fact, they should have gotten used to this situation of not being able to meet each other. Both of them were extremely busy, and they could understand each other's helplessness.

But even though she understood, she didn't feel it during the day, but now that she had some free time, she still felt a sense of emptiness rising in her heart. She pursed her lips, not sure if it was an illusion, but her chest felt like something was blocking it, a dull feeling. She wanted to meet him.

She wanted to hear him say "Happy Birthday" in person. "Happy Birthday?" Yilin's uncertain voice suddenly rang in her ears. Lia was startled and turned to look at her - it seemed that she had not told Yilin that today was her birthday.

"Ah, it's actually true?" Yilin raised her phone in surprise, "GDnim sent a photo, and the comments said it might be to celebrate your birthday." Lia was a little puzzled and leaned in to take a closer look.

What does "maybe it's to celebrate her birthday" mean? She had already received Kwon Ji-yong's blessing in the producer group.

Yilin held up her phone, and on the screen was a photo of four people: Teddy, Kush, Kwon Ji-yong, and...her.

In the picture, four people are squeezed on the same sofa. The background is a recording studio in the early morning. Takeout boxes, coffee cans, and several half-opened snack bags are scattered on the table.

Kush rested one hand on Teddy's shoulder, holding the camera with the other. Kwon Ji-yong leaned against the armrest of the sofa, his head tilted slightly, a nonchalant smile on his face. She sat at the edge, her haphazardly tied low ponytail draped casually over her shoulders, and gave the camera a V-sign.

"Always be you......Happy day." Lia whispered the English words on the post.

"The comments are completely chaotic." Yilin simply handed the phone to Lia and let her read it herself, "Because it doesn't look like a birthday greeting, it's just a quarrel now." Lia pursed her lips, took the phone and flipped through it.

The comments section was indeed abuzz. Initially, it was amicable: "The producers' friendship is the best!" "Teddy Oppa is here too!!" "Who understands the recording studio Xiaoquan? I'm eating a lot!!!" "I'm eating too!!"

"Ah, the bearded producer, I'm going to die..." Soon someone noticed her: "Ah, who is this girl? I haven't seen her before?" "Is she new?" "Lia

Kim, don’t new fans know about this? ” “I’ve been behind the scenes for the past few years, so every time I show up, people ask…” “No… no one noticed? It means happy birthday to Lia, right?”

"??? Why did GD wish her a happy birthday?" "Ah... what?" Then they started arguing. "Look carefully, this is a group photo, hehe." "Is it fun to get a piece of everything?"

"I'm a passerby. I checked the information of that talent show. The girl's birthday is really today. I can tell it's for her." "A hater pretending to be a passerby? It's so funny~" "The whole world loves us Lia

Kim~~ Isn’t that what the female fans are trying to express? ” “God damn it, nono” “…Does she have any fans?”

"What?... Isn't it normal to just send birthday wishes? Being open and honest shows that it's nothing." "That's right, what are you arguing about... How can we share our lives in the future like this?"

"He has a girlfriend, a Japanese one." "You just start spreading rumors, don't you, the one above?" ... Lia closed her eyes, her temples aching slightly. She didn't even need to read the rest of the comments to know what they were about.

After the candid photo incident, they've both been very cautious. She's avoided all behind-the-scenes recordings, and if she does appear, she'll stay far away. While Kwon Ji-yong doesn't specifically avoid them and even mentioned her when accepting awards, this is the first time he's posted a photo of them together so directly...

"Don't worry about the comments, they're just bored." Yelin took the phone back and said soothingly, "GDnim's popularity means everything they do will be magnified infinitely."

"Hmm." Lia took a breath, not giving it any more thought. Then, the phone on the sofa armrest lit up—a call. [GD] She was slightly startled.

Yilin had already picked up her phone again, not noticing her current abnormality. She hesitated for a second before pressing the answer button. "Hello?"

As if not expecting her to answer so quickly, the person on the other end was stunned for a moment, and then a tired voice came: "Are you busy?"

"No, I just finished the interview and went back to the hotel." Lia paused, stood up, picked up the room card, and walked out, "Didn't you get enough rest, Oppa?" "Yeah, I have a lot of schedule." He seemed to be lying on his back, his voice muffled.

Lia casually closed the door and walked into the hallway, but she didn't know where to go. She had just wanted to avoid Yelin, so she simply squatted at the door. "Rest more when you have time." "Yeah." He replied vaguely, sounding like a spoiled child.

Lia cleared her throat uncomfortably: "Oppa, is there something you want to talk about?" There was a rustling sound from the other end of the phone, and it seemed that he sat up. Her hesitation and reluctance could be felt through the receiver.

"...Did you see the status I posted?" Lia's heart skipped a beat, realizing he was talking about the photo. "Yeah, I saw it," she replied softly.

"I'm sorry... I didn't think much about it when I posted it." He said in a low voice, with a hint of caution, "If you mind, I can delete it."

For a moment, she actually considered deleting it. But then she made up her mind. "No need to delete it. It's nothing to begin with. Deleting it would make me look guilty, wouldn't it?"

There was a moment of silence on the other side, as if she hadn't expected her to say that. "Yeah." "Thank you, Oppa." Her legs were numb from squatting for so long, so she changed her position and slowly stretched against the wall.

"What... why are you so polite?" He complained softly, "Anyway, when you come back, we can celebrate your birthday together, okay?"

The word "together" seemed slightly emphasized, sounding somewhat... ambiguous. Lia shook her head, feeling a bit strange today, constantly overthinking things. She said "Okay" and waited for him to end the call.

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment, as if he was thinking about what to say. Finally, he said, "Happy birthday, Lia." Lia hung up and put the phone on her lap.

The light from the corridor fell dappled across the blue-gray carpet. It was so quiet that only the low hum of the air conditioning unit could be heard in the distance. She stared at the light and shadow on the ground for a while, until she realized that her legs were completely numb, and every movement was a sharp tingling sensation.

She didn't know when, but the accumulated fatigue gradually surfaced. She had an interview tomorrow, and a meeting back in Seoul the day after. Lia closed her eyes. "Ding—" The elevator opened and closed at the end of the hallway.

Although she wanted to stand up and go back to the room immediately, she felt as if thousands of tiny needles were pricking her legs at the same time. She looked down at the ground, silently praying that the person coming would not find her squatting at the door too strange. "Tap, tap, tap—"

The footsteps gradually approached, finally stopping right in front of her. Lia looked up, a bit bewildered, a look of astonishment still lingering in her eyes. "Happy birthday..."

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