“Kaeul, are you ready yet?”
Bom spoke facing the door.
– Mmm.
“Ahjussi is waiting for you.”
– One second!
A few minutes after they waited in front of the entrance, the baby chicken finally poked her head out between a small gap created behind the door.
“You see, ahjussi. I think I’m prepared.”
“Yeah.”
“After three, two, one, tell me what you think straight away. Okay?”
“Right.”
“Don’t hesitate. You have to say ‘pretty’ or ‘not pretty’ straight away. Do you agree to that as well?”
“…”
He gave a faint nod. Getting rid of the frown on her face, the baby chicken heaved out a sigh. Soon, she left the room and revealed herself, while throwing her arms wide open.
“Tada.”
Socks covered her ankles and there was a pair of white legs above that. Once again going above that, a blue tennis skirt was seen and the white long-sleeved shirt sticking to her skin had been tucked inside her skirt.
For him, he did not understand what sort of clothes those were, nor the meaning behind the combination of clothes. So, he automatically said some pre-prepared words.
“It’s pretty.”
“Uwah, no hesitation!”
Only then did Kaeul make a bright smile. She was concerned about choosing pretty clothes from around thirty minutes ago and Yu Jitae was bored of the wait. He probably would’ve said the same thing even if she wore a paper bag but oblivious or not to his thoughts, she jumped up and down in excitement.
“Let’s go.”
Yu Jitae headed to the Lair headquarters with Bom and Kaeul behind. Usually, he would have gone to restaurants or the arcade but now was the time for a field trip. They were dragons, and would inevitably be the target of attention in Lair. Since they would be frequently visiting the headquarters, he was planning to have them see it beforehand.
“It would have been nice if Yeorum-unni came along.”
“You’re right.”
Yeorum seemed to have been engrossed in dramas recently and didn’t leave her room. He checked it with a glance and realised they were gory dramas.
The headquarters had been built with the colosseum in mind and tall buildings forming a long, circular donut shape welcomed them. On top of the donut-shaped building was a large magic stone with its diameter being around 15 metres, floating in the sky.
“Uwah, unni. Do you see that?! It’s enormous!”
Kaeul raised her arms up.
Despite still being a holiday, countless staff members, professors and cadets were walking around as Bom and Kaeul watched people with interest.
“Uh? Aren’t you Cadet Bom, by any chance?”
That was when a woman in her late thirties walked up with a smile. Her blue name badge, proving her status as a staff member, had her post, ‘Lair PR Team 3 Team Leader’ written next to her name, Yong Dohee.
“Do you know me?”
“Yes yes. I heard from Professor Myung Jong. Wahh, you look prettier in real life. Did you dye your hair?”
“Ah, yes. Thanks.”
“This lady here is your younger sister? Wah, the power of DNA…”
The amicable woman approached without shying away.
“Hello, sir Guardian. I am Yong Dohee from the PR team.”
Her nature reflected on [Eyes of Equilibrium] was a fairly bright ‘good’ so Yu Jitae did not stop her. It seemed that Bom and Kaeul were likewise not that wary of her.
“I’m Yu Jitae.”
“It feels like your cadets will be meeting the PR team quite frequently. In fact, I had been thinking whether I should visit you for a greeting or not but what a surprise. I’m pleased to meet you.”
“Me too. Please take care of the children.”
Team Leader Yong then started talking about unimportant things with the kids. Fitting her position as a PR member, her stories revolved around Lair’s gossips, which Bom and Kaeul listened to with interest.
In the middle of that, Team Leader Yong suddenly clapped her hands as if she was reminded of something.
“Ah, now’s not the time for this! There’s a dry rehearsal of the entrance ceremony today. Would you like to head there and watch it together?”
A dry rehearsal?
Kaeul gave a positive answer while Bom turned towards Yu Jitae.
He nodded his head.
*
Entrance ceremonies of normal schools wouldn’t have anything to watch but this was Lair – a school gathering boys and girls with exceptional talent from all around the globe. Lair was the foundation of the world’s military force, and was thus a place that gathered the eyes of the entire world.
People had something close to a fantasy towards it, and Lair knew how to make use of it.
Due to that reason, every event within Lair was of a different scale. Lair’s entrance ceremony was an enormous occasion that was transmitted to the entire universe via public TV so its international influence was impressive.
They arrived at the auditorium.
There was an extremely enormous stage as well as countless large and small cameras placed nearby. Since it was a building used as a concert hall, there were dozens of thousands of seats placed in an arch shape.
Overwhelmed by that sheer massive size, Kaeul widened her eyes and blankly stared at the hall. It was so large that it made people feel smaller in comparison.
“Is it that impressive?”
“Yes.”
She then whispered, “My mum’s lair is around this size”.
When the rehearsal began, people moved in a strict order as spotlights constantly moved their focus. In that process, the directing staff members shouted and ran everywhere.
In doubt, Kaeul asked.
“By the way, who’s going to stand on the stage?”
“Ahh, they are the cadets.”
“Yes?”
“The mc, performers, helpers of award ceremonies, the declaration reading members etc. They are all cadets. There’s also an audition for that.”
“Aha.”
With a slightly empty gaze, Kaeul stared at that place.
“Cadet Kaeul is pretty and has a good balanced body so if you took the audition for being an award giver, you might have made it through.”
“Ah, no. I’m not particularly…”
The baby chicken swallowed her words.
That was when the camera meaninglessly facing the audience seats focused on Kaeul as the rehearsal continued. She shrunk her body in surprise before quietly looking back at the camera and waving her hand.
– Hello, Miss cadet over there with a blonde hair!
A staff member acting as the host of the rehearsal spoke through his mic and his loud voice echoed in the enormous concert hall.
“Yes! Hello!”
With a smile, Kaeul replied.
– How did you come here, Miss cadet?
Conversations like this seemed to be a part of the rehearsal. It was because the entrance ceremony was similar to a concert than a rigid, traditional entrance ceremony.
“I came to watch!”
– Ahah, you came to watch? Not anyone can come in here though? Only handsome and pretty people can come in.
The staff member said as a joke. Kaeul blinked her eyes, and tilted her head.
“How did you come in?”
“Uhaha” Laughter escaped the crowd of people watching the rehearsal and despite not knowing the reason behind their laugh, Kaeul copied with a ‘hehe’ smile. Their conversation lasted a few more words and she continuously made the staff members and the audience laugh with her innocent words.
Around that point in time, Bom, who had been watching over with a content smile, asked Team Leader Yong.
“By the way, is it not possible to take the audition now?”
“Yes?”
“The contested positions won’t be possible, but I was wondering if there was an empty spot for an award giving helper or something.”
“Ahh, that would be a bit…”
The team leader made an awkward smile.
“Will it be difficult?”
“It will probably be a bit troublesome. There is a lot of competition for the spots and the first auditions have already all ended today.”
“I see…”
Although unfortunate, there was nothing that could be done about it and soon, the rehearsal came to a close.
On the way back home, Yu Jitae felt Kaeul’s heart beating louder and faster than usual. It was to the point he could hear it without even trying to.
“Kaeul, was it fun?”
“Nn! It was the best.”
The baby chicken replied to Bom’s question with flushed cheeks and seeing that, the Regressor entered contemplation for a brief moment.
It seemed that what was to come, had come.
***
After the rehearsal ended, the directing staff rewound the tape of the day and watched it all and the same was for the overall directing producer, Ha Junsoo. He, whose value increased every day as the best producer of Korea, was called out to Lair twice a year to take control of directing the entrance ceremonies.
Like always, the schedule given by Lair was packed. The first audition of cadets as well as a rehearsal held to decide on the general procedure of the ceremony – these things which usually would require three days had to be reduced down to one day.
“But this year’s freshmen are all quite decent.”
“I know right? They’re handsome, pretty. And they also seem more mature.”
“How was that girl from India? I thought she was quite capable.”
“I’m more into Ailesh than her.”
“Ah, you mean that person directly under Britain’s royal family… that girl?”
“She was insane. Damn her body could kill someone…”
Hearing that, Ha Junsoo erupted in anger.
“Kill my ass. I’ll kill you instead! Are you not going to focus?”
“Aigo, mister producer. We are already dying.”
The members whined, saying “My back is broken” and “My eyes are dead” but it had no effect toward Ha Junsoo and his steel nature. When he opened his eyes wide open and glared, the members gave awkward smiles and turned their heads.
There was always a brave one in the mix though. One of the team members glanced at him and read Ha Junsoo’s mood before opening his mouth.
“In any case, what’s your opinion, producer? Don’t you think this year’s entrance ceremony will be quite the spectacle?”
“Gunyoung.”
“Yes?”
“Stop spouting nonsense and work. Work!”
In the end, they were forced to focus on work in silence.
‘It is quite decent.’
Ha Junsoo, was in fact relatively satisfied. Compared to last year, this year’s new cadets looked better and the overall picture of the entrance ceremony was something to look forward to.
But as always, there were no perfect performances and everything was always slightly lacking for him. ‘Isn’t there anything closer to perfect somewhere?’ A thought closer to an ideology remained in a corner of his head but others could not comprehend his perfectionist way of thinking.
It had been around twenty years since he started working in this field and frustration was a common feeling. He had now learned how to be satisfied in the midst of average, decent things.
To put it in good terms, it was a non-greedy mind and in bad terms, it would be self-compromise.
It was, until…
‘Huh?’
While watching the video of the rehearsal, Ha Junsoo’s eyes were attracted to the main screen, as the camera focused on a blonde-haired cadet amongst the audience seats.
– Only handsome and pretty people can come in.
– How did you come in?
– Uhaha!
Rewinding it back, Ha Junsoo played the video yet again and around the time the girl’s part was about to end, he rewound it again.
He felt something strange. Ha Junsoo was watching the face hanging on the screen inside the video. The quality wasn’t good and the colour was out of place as well, and yet it felt like he was being oddly absorbed into it as he watched.
What is happening? Why was he feeling in this way?
Was it because she was pretty? That was indeed true. The blonde was so pretty that she even gave off a repulsive aura, but her beauty wasn’t the end it seemed.
He had directed countless concerts as a director and had seen a numerous number of pretty and handsome people. Among them, there hadn’t been anyone that sucked his gaze like she did.
Curiosity overflowed his limits.
There was a desire to see her in person.
“Mister Namjoon.”
“Yes?”
“This girl, which audition did she apply for?”
“Who?”
The person in charge of auditions walked up and saw the screen. Then, he rolled his eyes in thought.
“Who is this?”
“You don’t know her, Mister Namjoon?’
“She is pretty… but there wasn’t anyone like this in the audition.”
“What? Are you sure it’s not a mistake?”
“Hmm. I don’t think I would…”
He meant it because he wouldn’t ever forget a face like that if he had seen it.
“Can’t you like, find her, in any way? Hmm?”
“Mhmm…”
Even when he brought the other staff members, there was no-one that knew who it was and in the end, the staff that had acted as the mc was scolded for some reason, for not asking her name.
That was when someone shouted.
“Wait!”
“Why? Why?”
“Producer. You see this, at the back of the screen – that blue thing. Isn’t that the name badge of a staff member?”
“Huh, you’re right. You’re right!”
Ha Junsoo made a clap.
“Contact her immediately.”