Chapter 26: Just Ordinary Colleagues

"Unnie, it seems like there are quite a lot of fans for that rookie today."

"Which rookie?"

"You know, the one you collaborated with."

Inside the green room at the SBS Gayo Daejeon, Kim Winter was watching the warm-up video playing on the television. Judging by the placards held up in the crowd, it seemed that the junior of IU-sunbaenim had already become a very popular artist.

"Oh, him."

"With his digital charts ranking so high, the quality and engagement of his fanbase are bound to be impressive as well."

Karina glanced at the television with feigned indifference, and as expected, she saw Lin Shouxia walking down the red carpet. That guy was going to be performing on stage with Shin Yuna today, right? She wondered how their rehearsals had gone. She bit her lip, lowered her head, and her gaze gradually lost its focus.

In truth, she felt conflicted. A part of her wanted Lin Shouxia to seize the opportunity and show off his charm on stage, but another part of her didn't want to see the chemistry between him and Shin Yuna during their collaboration.

"Unnie, are you a fan of his?"

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

"But I saw his name in my streaming history. Didn't you borrow my Melon account that day, Unnie?"

Kim Winter spoke cautiously, terrified of angering her leader and facing the consequences, yet she was too gossipy to let it go; she was dying to know what kind of story existed between the two of them.

"Speaking of which, I think I saw that name in the history too. Lin Shouxia, right?"

Seeing an opportunity for gossip, Ningning, the youngest, leaned in as well. She scrolled through the playback history on the phone held in her hand until she found the rather unfamiliar name.

"Yes, that's the one."

"Ah~ looking at him on TV, he really is a handsome guy."

Their agency, SM, was known as a "flower garden," and their standards for visuals were incredibly high. Even the founder, Lee Soo-man, had once uttered a quote worthy of being recorded in K-pop history: "Putting good-looking kids in the center makes the whole group look beautiful."

As an artist under a company that upheld such a philosophy, even the self-proclaimed well-informed Kim Winter had to admit that the person on the screen was exceptionally good-looking. At the very least, he was better looking than some of her own seniors.

"Unnie, didn't you have a collaboration with him?"

"What's his personality like?"

"What's his family background?"

"Hey! I went to film a TikTok, not to go on a blind date!"

The girl was somewhat annoyed, her face flushing red as she reached out to discipline her pesky teammates.

...

"Tsk, what a handsome face."

As a solo rookie who had just debuted, Lin Shouxia was assigned by the broadcasting station to share a waiting room with the members of Stray Kids. Bang Chan, taking on the role of the senior, led the rookie around to greet the various groups; now, they were in ITZY's room.

"We see oppas all the time, so seeing Shouxia-xi now feels like parting the clouds to see the sun," Shin Ryujin said, linking her arm with the youngest member as she stood before the two men, carefully scrutinizing the face that so many people adored.

"Ryujin-ah, we're from the same company at least, there's no need to undermine us like that, right?"

"I'm just speaking the truth. The oppas get called ugly by fans every day, but all the news articles about Shouxia-xi talk about how good-looking he is."

"Do you like him?"

"If you like him, why don't you let Yuna give up this opportunity to you?"

Bang Chan wasn't one to suffer a loss. Looking at the little maknae standing beside Shin Ryujin, pursing her lips to hide a smile, he retorted without backing down. It was clear that Yuna was very satisfied with the partner the company had chosen for her. Rather than bickering with Shin Ryujin, it was better to shift the battle to Yuna. One had to look out for their own partner, after all.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I wouldn't dream of competing with Yuna." Shin Ryujin deftly released the maknae’s hand and gave her a light push, attempting to shove her toward Lin Shouxia.

Shin Yuna clearly wasn't prepared; she stumbled and nearly fell face-first, but fortunately, one hand caught her while another carefully steadied her back. She looked up, her eyes meeting the man's...

"Are you okay?" Lin Shouxia avoided Shin Yuna's gaze, steadying the girl before shifting his eyes toward the white wall beside them. He wondered which group's waiting room was nearby; it was surprisingly noisy.

"I'm fine."

Shin Yuna shook her head, gave the man a lingering look, and smiled in the direction of the others.

"Yeji-ah, the room next door seems to be the aespa waiting room. I'm going over to see Karina." Knowing she had caused trouble, Shin Ryujin tried to make a run for it. She had only meant to tease the two kids, but she hadn't realized she had taken the joke a bit too far.

"Come back, we'll all go together in a minute."

Hwang Yeji waved her hand, calling the would-be runaway back to her side. Because they shared common friends, the relationship between ITZY and aespa had always been quite good. Since a rookie was here, they might as well go visit their friends in Lin Shouxia's name.

"Bang Chan-oppa, call Shouxia-xi, we're ready to head out."

Hwang Yeji sat up from the sofa and clapped her hands, beginning to round up her teammates. Tsk, it was just meeting a senior; did the rookie really need to be this nervous? She heard he had filmed a TikTok challenge with Karina a few days ago—could this kid be an aespa fan?

"Unnie, I think I saw that rookie you like."

"What 'like'? He's just a colleague I've collaborated with."

Karina was deeply distressed. Her teammates were hopeless; they were always trying to stir up romantic rumors about her. Weren't they afraid someone outside might be eavesdropping? Besides... who said she liked him? She just appreciated his music and wanted to take care of her best friend's younger brother!

"The kind of 'regular colleague' who helps people boost their Melon streams~"

The smug Kim Winter grinned, her voice dripping with sarcasm. As expected, she was immediately suppressed by their leader.

"Unnie, I won't talk nonsense anymore."

"Unnie, you, you let go!"

"Unnie, someone's coming! There's some movement outside the door."

The person in question was filled with regret now—deep, deep regret. She shouldn't have fabricated rumors about her leader; she had nearly forgotten that Karina was the real power-wielding leader within the company.

Hearing Kim Winter's plea for mercy, Karina finally released the troublemaking puppy. She cleared her throat, smoothed out her hair and her wrinkled stage outfit, and prepared to await the visit from the other artists.

"Shouxia-xi, you go ahead and knock."

Bang Chan gave a gentle push, nudging the only junior in the group forward. Their debut dates were all much earlier than aespa's, so the rookie was the only one who would have to respectfully address them as seniors.