Chapter 23: It Is Shin Yuna

"One iced Americano, please."

"..."

Lin Shouxia paused, his cool, composed face etched with speechlessness. He picked up a paper cup and poured some warm water into it.

"Nuna, I'm not a barista."

"But there's a coffee machine right here. Are you really going to make me drink instant coffee?"

The girl blinked, her eyes seemingly full of unspoken words, and looked at him with a beaming smile. This was the most absurd thing Karina had seen lately. LOEN’s pantry was stocked with everything, yet the man in front of her was pulling a packet of instant coffee from a drawer, poised to dump it into a cup.

"Well then..."

"Would you like some juice, Nuna?"

"No. I only want an iced Americano—the one made by you."

As she spoke, Karina’s small, chubby hands stopped the man who was about to tear open the packaging.

Lin Yinglu was not a reliable older sister. That was Karina’s first thought. How could a biological sister be so self-absorbed, never bothering to teach her younger brother basic life skills? If he weren't handsome enough, a man like this would surely end up alone for the rest of his life.

Fortunately, Lin Shouxia’s face didn't flush from top to bottom as it had several times before. Now, he just looked flustered, unsure of what he should do.

"Ahem." Karina decided to let him off the hook this time. Sometimes pushing too hard wasn't good, and making coffee wasn't exactly a skill one could master overnight.

"I'll just drink the water today." Karina took the cup, swallowed the warm water, crumpled the paper cup, and tossed it into the nearby trash can.

"Remember for next time: I love iced Americanos." She thought for a moment, deciding it was necessary to educate the younger brother for the sake of her good friend. He couldn't go through life not knowing anything, could he? At the very least, he needed to learn a couple of skills to please a girl.

"Understood." Lin Shouxia nodded, committing the information to memory.

"Can we sing now?" Seeing that Lin Shouxia still looked distracted, the girl shook his shoulder. "Surely a short challenge clip doesn't take two days to film?"

Two days was definitely an exaggeration. Not to mention whether Karina had the time, he had a mountain of work to get through himself; he didn't have the luxury of spending two days on a single shoot. However, his tendency to get nervous was a genuine problem. He just hoped that when it came to his collaborative stage with Shin Yuna, this kind of situation wouldn't repeat itself. It was just too embarrassing!

"I won't let that happen. I'll work hard to adjust."

"Then do you want to try one more time?"

Might as well. It wouldn't waste much time, and if Lin Shouxia performed relatively normally, everything else would be easier to handle.

"Uh..."

"Don't be nervous."

Karina reached out and pinched the foolish boy's cheek, unable to suppress a smile. He was really like a younger brother to her. A rather unique, foolish younger brother.

"You’ve already debuted, promoted your songs, and achieved some very successful results. Logically speaking, an artist like you should already be considered a polished product. Why do you still feel nervous when collaborating with your seniors?"

Because... you aren't just an audience member, and because you are Karina.

The man averted his gaze from the girl and walked alone toward the computer in the practice room.

What kind of person was Karina, really? Right now, she lacked the glamour she possessed on stage, the playfulness she showed when they first met, the casual ease she had while eating ramen, and she certainly wasn't the fragile girl who needed him to offer her a coat against the cold. Standing before him now was a gentle, earnest Nuna who sincerely wanted him to succeed.

In many respects, she possessed experience far beyond the length of her career. This was Lin Shouxia’s good fortune, for he had a senior willing to clear his doubts. Yet, it was also Karina’s misfortune; to reach this point, she had endured more cyberbullying before even debuting than many people experienced in a lifetime.

Having known each other for a while, this was the first time Lin Shouxia realized that even though they were the same age, there was such a vast gap in their mental maturity.

"I will adjust."

"Don't just say it."

"I know. I will definitely adjust until I reach a state that makes everyone satisfied."

Debuting as a solo artist was, in fact, an incredibly difficult feat. There were many ways to become famous, but in the end, they could only be categorized into two paths. One was maintaining visibility through various news stories and fan-fiction pairings to keep the artist’s profile high. The other was to let the work speak for itself—the songs make the person famous, and eventually, the person elevates the songs. As a solo singer, he was destined to have no exposure during non-promotional periods.

As a rookie, he had no teammates, and naturally, no "shipping" pairings. The first path was impossible for him. Ultimately, an artist had to rely on their work. Especially for a solo artist like him. The quality of his work would determine so much of his future. Having finally appeared on stage and having had a dream-like start, he wouldn't be the one to wreck his own career.

"Speaking of which, have you received invitations from the TV stations?"

"The Gayo Daejeon is coming up. Will you have a chance to get on stage?"

"I should be going to SBS." The manager had told him that morning that the program lineup was set. One solo, one collaboration—SBS had been generous enough to give him two stages to showcase himself.

"We’re going to SBS, too." As soon as the conversation turned to work, Karina’s mood visibly improved. Lee Sung-joo hadn't gone as far as to cut them off completely. As a girl group hand-picked by Lee Soo-man, being able to get a stage to showcase themselves during these difficult days of internal company strife was something to be happy about. It was just that they hadn't been on stage for so long, and she didn't know how many fans were still waiting for them.

"But you’re probably doing a solo stage, right? The effect should be quite good."

"I have a collaboration stage, too."

"Did SBS pair you up randomly?" Karina smiled. TV stations loved to stir things up at the end of the year, having boy and girl groups perform each other's stages or doing mash-ups, all for the sake of entertaining the audience. "NCT or Stray Kids?"

"I remember they also announced CRAVITY, but you’re more likely to collaborate with a big agency, right?"

TV stations played favorites; higher popularity and a powerful agency behind you meant more resources. Lin Shouxia was, after all, a promising newcomer backed by LOEN. Even out of respect for IU, it was unlikely they would relegate him to collaborating with second- or third-tier groups.

"It is a big agency—JYP's," Lin Shouxia said, feeling a bit awkward. "But it's not a boy group. It's a girl group."

"ITZY’s senior, Shin Yuna..."