Chapter 23 Chapter 23
She seemed to have split herself into two parts: one standing in front of the camera, performing every movement with perfect expression; the other hidden behind her, mechanically maintaining the functioning of this body.
She was always good at this kind of state—quiet, rational, and expressionless. "Cut!" the director shouted. There weren't many retakes, and the director's instructions were concise and clear, so she hardly needed to repeat them.
She completed all the segments smoothly. Her performance was even better than before, as if she had suddenly broken free from her constraints and immersed herself in the plot. "Not bad, good job." The photographer put away his camera and gave her a thumbs-up.
Lia smiled and bowed in thanks. The crew began to clean up the set, and the noise and footsteps of people were chaotic. She moved among the crowd, bowing, smiling, bowing again, smiling again...
By the time she came to her senses, the second day's filming had concluded. Yongpei finished filming the final dance sequence, picked up the bottle of water on the table, and walked over to her. "Thank you for your hard work," he said with a smile, handing her the water.
"Thank you, senior." She took the bottle and thanked him softly. "You're looking great today. You look much more natural than yesterday." "Maybe... you're getting used to the camera."
"The album's official release might be two or three months away, but once the edited video is finished, I'll show it to you first." "Well, thank you so much for letting me participate in the filming," she said sincerely. "By the way," Yongpei suddenly remembered something.
"The debut program is about to start filming, right?" The news of the new girl group's preparations has spread throughout the company. Even though they have so many schedules that they hardly go back, they have heard about it.
"Well...it's going to be centralized soon. Filming for the show should start in the next week or two," Lia replied obediently. "So, will the seniors be there too?"
"Well... I'm not sure yet. I heard the company is still coordinating the schedule, and our schedule for the first half of the year is almost full." Yongpei smiled helplessly. Lia nodded, not knowing what to say for a moment.
In the distance, the agent waved to Yongpei, indicating that it was time to leave. Yongpei looked at her apologetically and said, "I have a schedule to catch up with later, so I can't take you back to the company."
"It's okay, the company has arranged a shuttle. Go ahead, senior." She smiled and waved her hand. "By the way, do you have MSN?" he asked as he pulled out his phone. "If there are any behind-the-scenes photos, I'll send them to you."
Lia was stunned for a moment, then nodded, pulling out her phone and adding him as a friend. "Let's work together again sometime," Yongpei said softly. "Thank you, senior," she smiled and nodded.
"Don't be so polite. Just like you did to Zhilong, be closer to me." He waved goodbye to her with a smile. Just like you did to Zhilong... She lowered her head. Yes, just like you did to Zhilong. We were all seniors.
Lia was a bit dazed. ... When she returned to the dormitory, it was already dark. A subtle sense of anxiety filled the air.
Cailin was sitting on the floor packing her luggage. In the corner of the living room, clothes and daily necessities were piled up in a mess. "You're back?" She looked up from the chaotic battlefield and glanced at Lia.
"Yeah." Lia took off her coat and casually placed it on the sofa. "Did the shoot go well today?" "It went pretty well. I didn't have many parts."
"You've been so busy these days, shooting the MV and packing your luggage. How come you all happened to do it at the same time?" Cailin complained in a low voice, her hands constantly picking through the pile of clothes.
"Ah... It's really over. There's no way I can clean it up." She sighed again and collapsed to the ground.
"Where are the others? Why are you the only one in the dorm?" Lia walked over and sat next to her, wanting to help her. But the pile of things was so messy that she didn't know where to start, so she gave up.
"Minzhi went home, and Boen-unnie went out for a big meal with her friends - she said she would have to control her weight soon, so she wanted to seize her last chance of freedom." Lia chuckled and didn't respond.
The company's announcement was sudden. They had just announced the debut candidate list when they were asked to move into a new dormitory to facilitate centralized management and filming. They even hired a nutritionist to do a physical assessment.
With the exception of Park Sandara, everyone else had to urgently lose weight before appearing on screen. For an idol survival show, a good-looking face is even more important than talent.
"But... I didn't expect Anne to be chosen. She's been with the company for so many years, I thought they'd at least give her a chance..." Cailin whispered. In the end, only eight trainees participated in the program.
Seven members were chosen from the original A and B groups, with the other being Eunjeong, a new trainee who had been with the company for less than three months. "I don't know what's so special about the newcomer. She's only been training for a short time..." Chaerin grumbled softly.
"Probably, very talented," Lia guessed. As if overnight, the situation had completely changed. The chosen ones, still feeling apprehensive, began to worry about the pressure of surviving on the show.
"Tell me, how many people will be chosen to debut in the end..." Cailin looked at her with a melancholy expression. "If it's still a small group, probably four or five..." Lia pondered. "Yeah... I think so too."
"Don't think too much," Lia patted her shoulder comfortingly, "Hurry up and pack up. Didn't Sister Baoheng say that someone would come to help move things tomorrow morning?" "Okay..." Cailin agreed and buried her head in searching in the chaos again.
Lia looked up at the clock on the wall and saw it was 9 o'clock. She stood up and walked back to the room, pulling out her suitcase.
Her belongings were mostly packed. Aside from the necessities, she hadn't bought anything new—a small suitcase was all she needed for her stay in Korea. She kept her valuables in a separate backpack.
She opened the drawer and found a black notebook lying quietly at the bottom. Lia was stunned for a moment, then gently put it into her bag and walked out of the room. "Eh? Why are you going out again?" Cailin was a little surprised when she saw her pick up her coat.
"I'm going to the office. Teddy still has some finishing work to do." Lia waved her hand, opened the door and walked out. * In the recording studio, Teddy was sitting at the console, adjusting the tracks with headphones on.
Kush was twiddling his phone on the sofa. He greeted her with a grin when she came in. Lia put down her backpack and sat next to Teddy. She waited for him to finish adjusting the audio track before she began reporting on each item.
"I've already processed the demo and track markers, and will back them up later. I'm not sure about the filming situation of the show yet, so I may not be able to come over for a while."
Teddy nodded, his eyes following the mouse cursor to confirm the file information. "Click—" Kush suddenly raised his phone and secretly took a photo. "What are you doing?" Lia turned around, a little helpless.
"As a souvenir." He opened the MSN group with a smile and sent the photo in: K-Flow: From now on, we can only see our Lia-sama on TV, woo woo woo
Teddy glanced at him sideways: "Aren't all the people here?" "Only Zhilong is missing!" Kush argued, "See, he replied to me--" JiYo: Are all of them in the company?
K-Flow: We are short of one, come on, come on (happy puppy.jpg) JiYo: OK
"No way, he actually came..." Kush sat up and looked at Lia with wide eyes, "Are you here to see you?" "Oppa, I'm not going to serve in the military..." Lia couldn't help but complain.
"That's about it. According to my experience, this kind of program takes half a year to shoot..." "Don't worry about him, finish the rest first and go back to rest early." Teddy said lightly, interrupting the conversation between the two.
Once Kush was done with his rambling, the kid wouldn't have gotten any rest tonight. ... The backup process was taking longer than she'd imagined. By the time she'd finished exporting all the tracks and packaging the files, it was already past one in the morning.
Teddy was still working on his computer. Kush had quietly sat up at some point, busying himself at the keyboard. "Click—" The door opened, and Quan Zhilong walked in. "Everything's still here?" he asked, a little surprised.
Lia turned around. He was wearing a baseball cap, his face tightly covered by a large mask. She had seen him just yesterday on the set, but he suddenly felt unfamiliar.
Kush kicked off his swivel chair and immediately flew across the studio to Quan Zhilong: "Waiting for Lia to finish~" As he said this, he nodded at Lia, taking credit. Lia was a little surprised.
She had thought Kush was just killing time in the studio, but she hadn't expected him to have such thoughts. Lia didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and made a heart shape with him. He reached out and exaggeratedly pretended to catch it.
G-Dragon smiled and took off his mask: "Have you eaten yet?" "No." Kush sat up straight immediately, "Are you a big star going to treat us?" Teddy took off his headphones and turned his chair: "Didn't you just eat fried chicken this afternoon?"
"That was in the afternoon." Kush raised three fingers righteously, "I want to eat sashimi from A, barbecue from B, and draft beer from C. It's a perfect meal." "You might as well bring yourself up." Teddy complained.
"Puchi—" Lia couldn't help but burst out laughing. "I'll treat you all, since it's rare that everyone's here," G-Dragon said with a smile. "Yahoo—" Kush cheered.
"If you want to eat everything...you should be able to order delivery for the barbecue and draft beer," Teddy checked his watch, "but the sashimi place doesn't deliver." "What a shame about the baby octopus platter I'd been craving..." Kush lamented.
"I'll go get it." Lia stood up, feeling like a busybody. She reached into her pocket and felt at ease. The pepper spray was still there. She'd been carrying it with her ever since that day when she encountered the drunk in the alley.
"I'll come with you. It's not safe to go out at night," Quan Zhilong said, standing up from the sofa. Lia was startled and looked at him: "Can I go?" What if they were photographed...
"It's okay, I'll cover myself up," he pulled down the brim of his hat and put his mask back on. "It's almost two in the morning, there shouldn't be anyone on the street now!" Kush jumped back onto the sofa with a smile, "Thank you adults, boohoo~"
Lia: I want to withdraw an errand online. She glanced at G-Dragon helplessly. He smiled and nodded at her, then pushed the door open and walked out first. Lia tightened her coat and quickly followed.
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