Chapter 7 - If You Just Do as You're Told
‘Stretch my back? What is he talking about all of a sudden?’
Walking down the hallway, Laura tilted her head in confusion.
‘He's not even a trainer, so what...’
Baek Hyeon-woo was said to be an ordinary person with no experience in the entertainment industry.
He was CEO Baek Yeon-ah's nephew, and since he was currently resting at home, he was said to be helping out with Haram Entertainment's work.
To put it simply, he's just an unemployed nobody.
Is there any need to listen attentively to the advice of such a person?
“Laura, can you take a look at this for a moment?”
“Yes, I understand.”
As Laura entered the practice room, the trainer showed her the laptop screen.
“This, it's what I filmed earlier.”
“Yes...”
A video played on the screen.
It was a video recording of the dance practice from earlier.
“This move here, you see how it's slightly slower compared to Na-eun?”
“……”
Just as the trainer pointed out, Laura's movement was slightly slower than Seo Na-eun's.
“The movement itself is accurate. You got the angle of your arm raise right, too. But the fact that it's one beat... no, about half a beat slow is what bothers me.”
“……”
“To be honest, this much can just be overlooked. It's a fast-paced section, and not many people will notice. But when viewed as a whole, it can give the impression that you're out of sync.”
The trainer replayed just that section repeatedly.
Confirming the sight of herself moving half a beat too slow, Laura bit her lip.
“This part, let's try it again while paying attention to it.”
“I understand.”
As Laura nodded, the trainer gathered the other members who were on break.
“'For me' from the middle of the first verse, we're going to start again from there! Match your timing with Na-eun!”
“Yes…!”
In Newstarz, the one with the most outstanding dance skills is the leader and main dancer, Seo Na-eun.
Her talent for matching the beat had long been unparalleled.
Therefore, the standard for Newstarz's dances was always Seo Na-eun.
Laura didn't feel any particular dissatisfaction with this fact.
Rather, she held a sense of respect for Seo Na-eun.
They weren't close with each other, but she respected Seo Na-eun, who always worked silently to show the best performance.
The reason she had taken a prickly attitude towards Baek Hyeon-woo, who seemed to have gotten strangely close with Seo Na-eun lately, was ultimately because of these feelings.
‘These days, fancam videos are trending and unnie's skills are becoming known to the world... I can't be the one to hold her back.’
She couldn't hold her back.
This was something Laura was saying not only to Baek Hyeon-woo but also to herself.
If she was the only one whose timing was off in the dance, thereby lowering the overall completeness, she would become a nuisance to Seo Na-eun.
It wouldn't matter in a fancam focused only on Seo Na-eun, but it would inevitably give a bad impression to the audience watching live at the venue or the viewers watching the music broadcast.
‘So... I have to do better.’
Thinking such thoughts, Laura began to move her body to the music.
While concentrating on matching Seo Na-eun's movements precisely.
However...
“Laura! You finished the previous move too early just now! If you end the move before it too early just to do the next move faster, you'll ruin everything!”
“Yes…!”
“Now you moved in such a hurry that your arm angle is completely off! Your posture is a mess because you were only conscious of the speed!”
“I'm sorry…!”
“Laura! Try it one more time!”
“I understand…!”
Despite practicing while sweating profusely.
Laura couldn't dance like Seo Na-eun even once.
* * *
“One, two, three...”
Squeak, squeak, squeak.
The sound of indoor shoes rubbing against the practice room floor echoed continuously.
The current time was 11 PM.
Despite all the other members having gone home, Laura was in the practice room doing a personal practice session by herself.
“One, two, three... Ah!”
Thud!
She slipped in the middle of a move and fell.
Enduring the pain, she checked the floor and saw that the beads of sweat that had fallen from Laura had pooled on the floor, making it slippery.
“Ah, seriously...”
Laura sighed and lay down on the practice room floor.
Lying down like that, she stretched out her arm and grabbed her phone, which she had propped up nearby.
“The more I do it, the more it feels like it's getting weirder...”
Checking the video filmed on her phone, Laura let out another sigh.
“I really don't know what the problem is...”
She checked the videos she had practiced with so far one by one, but the more she watched, the more confused she became.
She couldn't figure out what she needed to fix or how.
“Am I just lacking in skill...”
Laura felt a sense of self-loathing.
Seeing that it's not working even after practicing like this, it seems right to just see it as a simple lack of skill.
“I can't help that I can't dance as coolly as Na-eun unnie, but I should at least be able to match the beat.”
Muttering to herself, Laura covered her face with both hands.
“Am I really lacking in talent after all...”
In the past, Laura had lived as a trainee at another entertainment agency.
She worked hard with the goal of becoming an idol, but in the end, she couldn't make it into the debut lineup.
While she was contemplating whether to remain at the agency and aim for the next chance or give up on the path of an idol... she accepted an offer from Haram Entertainment and debuted as a member of Newstarz.
However, despite becoming the idol she had longed to be, Laura had always felt a sense of self-loathing.
It was the self-loathing of wondering if she was lacking in skill as an idol.
At her first agency, she was pushed out by other trainees and failed to debut, and even in Newstarz, she hasn't shown a particularly standout performance and is only being a nuisance to the other members.
“This is just too pathetic...”
Laura, who is of Northern European descent, is an idol who projects a 'cool' image.
Her usual personality is also like that, so everyone thinks Laura has a cool personality.
But her inner self is not cool at all.
A girl who struggles while feeling self-loathing for her lack of skill... that was the idol named Laura.
“You are not pathetic, Laura-ssi.”
“……!”
At the voice that suddenly came from above her, Laura hurriedly lowered the hands that were covering her face.
“Wh-why are you here?”
Because the music had been playing continuously, she hadn't noticed at all.
Before she knew it, Baek Hyeon-woo was looking down at Laura from above.
* * *
“I had some work to do.”
To Laura's question of why he was here, Baek Hyeon-woo answered calmly.
“There were things to move, and it took time because there was more than I thought.”
“Ah…”
Haram Entertainment is short-handed overall.
Team Leader Park Yeong-ho has a cast on his right hand, so it's difficult for him to do strenuous work.
Thanks to that, Baek Hyeon-woo ended up working late into the night by himself.
“Aren't you being overworked?”
“That's just how a manager's job is.”
“Even so...”
“And it's also work for my aunt's company.”
If it were any other company, he would have said he couldn't do it anymore and quit, but Haram Entertainment is his aunt's company.
Since it was a job he started to help his aunt's company, he had no choice but to just work silently.
“I'm supposed to receive part-time pay by the hour for the work I do, so you don't have to worry.”
“I-it's not like I said that because I was worried, okay?”
Laura said, glaring at Baek Hyeon-woo.
“If your work is done, hurry up and leave. Don't loiter around here.”
“I was planning to lock up before I leave.”
Baek Hyeon-woo showed her the key he had received from Park Yeong-ho.
There is an electronic door lock, but separate from that, there's also a place that is locked with a key.
“Then give me the key! I can just lock up and go!”
“I can't do that. I received a request from Na-eun-ssi earlier.”
At the mention of Seo Na-eun's name, Laura's eyes widened.
“Na-eun unnie made a request?”
“She asked me to talk you into it and send you home if it seemed like you were practicing too late, Laura-ssi.”
“……!”
Normally, the Newstarz members don't get along very closely.
However, it's not that there's discord; rather, they are the type to think deeply of one another.
You could feel that from Seo Na-eun's attitude of worrying about Laura as well.
“Na-eun-ssi seemed to be very worried about you, Laura-ssi. She said it seems you're having a hard time because your dancing isn't going well.”
When he told her that Seo Na-eun was worried, Laura's eyes grew moist.
“Still… I'll just practice a little more before I go.”
“Laura-ssi.”
“I have to get it perfect before today is over at least. Because if I give up and quit here, it's too pathetic.”
“As I said before, it's not pathetic at all.”
Baek Hyeon-woo said in a calm voice.
“The way you look now is also good to see.”
“The way I look now? Ah…!”
Realizing she was lying down defenselessly with her arms and legs spread out, Laura hurriedly sat up.
“What kind of strange thing are you saying!”
“I didn't mean it in a strange way.”
Baek Hyeon-woo said in a calm voice.
“The sight of someone who has worked hard and shed sweat cannot possibly be pathetic.”
“What...”
When he worked at the orthopedic clinic, Baek Hyeon-woo would sometimes treat students from the sports teams.
There were many students who got injured from trying too hard in competitions or practice.
Baek Hyeon-woo was feeling the same emotion towards Laura that he had felt while looking at those students.
“But. Since you're putting in the effort anyway, wouldn't it be better to do it efficiently?”
“……?”
Laura blinked her eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
“We perfect it as quickly as possible and finish. Then both you, Laura-ssi, and I can go home early. Na-eun-ssi is worried too, so let's finish as quickly as possible.”
“That's not something that can be done just by wanting to...”
“You can do it.”
Baek Hyeon-woo met Laura's eyes and declared.
“That is, if only your back is properly released, just as I said earlier.”
“Pardon?”
Saying that, Baek Hyeon-woo checked Laura's status window.
The advice he had given Laura in the hallway earlier was also something he had said after seeing her status window.
—---------
[Laura]
Vocal: B-
Dance: B-
Visual: A-
Potential: S
Body Condition: 75%
Mental Condition: 35%
– Motor impairment is occurring due to a problem with the latissimus dorsi muscle of the trunk.
– Mental Condition is severely lowered.
– A negative correction is being applied to Vocal, Dance, and Visual.
—--------
There's nothing he could do about her lowered Mental Condition right now.
However, the problem of her dancing not going well due to the latissimus dorsi muscle was something he could resolve right here and now.
Guiding her dance movements like a trainer would be difficult, but when it came to this kind of area, Baek Hyeon-woo was a veteran.
He had approached it the same way when treating students from the sports teams at the hospital.
Baek Hyeon-woo wasn't a sports coach or a trainer, but he was able to improve the students' athletic performance by correcting their physical imbalances.
So, he just had to do the same for Laura.
“Laura-ssi, I won't be touching your body. Just please move exactly as I tell you to.”
“Yes…?”
To the bewildered Laura, Baek Hyeon-woo said in a confident voice.
“If you just do as I say, the problem will be resolved quickly.”