Alice was someone who lived by a strict schedule etched into her mind.
She fell asleep at 4 a.m. and woke at 11 a.m.
Each morning, she took her pet dog for a bathroom walk before having her first meal—a salad, unchanged since her idol days.
Though salad trends evolved over the years, for more than a decade, her mornings had always begun with one.
After eating, she washed up and left for work.
At her studio, she stood before her desk, paired wireless earphones with her laptop, plugged them in, played a song titled 1☆, and brewed drip coffee in the break room.
The rich aroma mingled with Yooin’s song, the very one that had enchanted her.
“It’s always perfect,” she murmured.
The flawless chords, the instrumentals, the way every element aligned—a masterpiece crafted by a six-year-old prodigy. Proof that timeless, crowd-pleasing music didn’t need to chase trends.
The problem?
“Time to write lyrics,” she sighed.
Lyrics were her responsibility. Already daunting, but as both writer and head producer, she also had to consider the idol’s concept.
Well, technically, the concept was built around this song, so maybe she could ignore other factors…
“Ugh… What if they hate it?”
The lyrics were a condition set by the composer—Yooin’s price for granting the song. Fail this, and the entire idol concept would collapse, forcing her to restart from scratch.
The pressure coiled around her.
“Now I’m free… No, too obvious. Fly high, touch the sky? Ugh—”
She gripped her hair. Alice, the genius, stuck on the first line?
A ringtone shattered her misery.
“Hm?”
She checked the screen—and froze.
[Shin Ji-young (Senior)]
Was this really Shin Ji-young? Or a puppet call from Yooin, the composer-turned-tyrant?
Her hand trembled like a novelist dodging their editor’s deadline. Terrifying—but unavoidable.
“H-hello?”
—Alice! It’s me!!
“Y-yes, Senior. What’s wrong?”
—Yeonwoo—no, Yooin—wants to visit. Can we come now?
…Sorry, ma’am. No kids allowed here. She almost defaulted to her old part-time job script, but swallowed the refusal.
“It’s fine!”
—Great! We’re on our way!
After hanging up, Alice nibbled her nails.
“This is a midterm evaluation. Obviously.”
And when she sees that she hasn’t written even a single line, she’ll be utterly disappointed, right?
‘Still haven’t written anything? I can’t just give you the song like this…….’
Imagining Yoo In wearing a haughty expression, acting arrogantly as he rejected her, Alice clutched her head in frustration.
Meanwhile, time began slipping away aimlessly.
She didn’t know exactly where Shin Ji-young and Yoo In lived, but at least somewhere in the metropolitan area.
They’d arrive within two hours at most.
“Ugh, damn it…”
No use overthinking.
Alice hurriedly scribbled down every lyric that sprang to mind—not just one, but multiple lines at once.
Why?
The lyrics that had eluded her for days now flowed effortlessly.
It seemed her brain had shifted into overdrive now that the moment of truth arrived.
Yes, perfect.
She’d write like mad.
Steeling herself, she plunged into lyric writing.
Ding-dong—
How long had she been scribbling in this frenzy? Startled by the doorbell, she whirled around.
Shin Ji-young’s face appeared on the intercom screen.
They were here.
Alice opened the door with trembling hands.
“Hello!”
Shin Ji-young greeted her cheerfully, while Yeon-woo behind her bowed deeply from the waist.
This pure, adorable version of Yoo In starkly contrasted with the condescending figure from her imagination.
Well, imaginary Yoo In had been cute too, but still…!
“Oh! Y-you’re here, sunbaenim! And Yoo In-nim!”
Yoo In—that is, Yeon-woo—peeked out from behind Ji-young as usual, only her head visible as she shyly acknowledged Alice’s greeting.
The imagined Yoo In who’d looked down on her was nowhere to be seen.
“Yeon-woo, greet Miss Alice properly.”
“H-hello…”
Seeing Yeon-woo’s timid greeting, Alice suddenly felt foolish for her earlier nervousness.
“Yes, nice to meet you! How have you been, Yoo In-nim?”
I’ve been counting sleepless nights because of you… She bit back the words.
“Okay…”
“What have you been doing lately?”
Yeon-woo fidgeted before mumbling, “Guitar… piano…”
Ji-young supplemented: “he only plays instruments and composes at home.”
“Ah, is he extremely introverted?”
“No—he was ill before. Plus, his grandmother, who she lives with, is intensely introverted. They rarely go out.”
So he just… stays home composing?
“That’s impressive… So that’s how those songs are born.”
he only started composing less than a month ago… No one would believe me. Ji-young swallowed her prideful remarks.
“His grandmother watches him all day… Oh, your mother, right? She’s remarkable too.”
“My mom? She’s in heaven right now. Sure, she loves her granddaughter, but no one’s more music-obsessed than her.”
"Oh, do you like music?"
"She’s a jazz pianist and also a professor."
"Ah."
While Alice and Ji-young were having a casual chat, Yeon-woo’s gaze remained locked on the recording studio equipment.
A computer, audio interface, outboard gear, monitoring equipment, and more—all things guaranteed to captivate Yeon-woo.
Trance-like, she stared at the setup before scurrying to her aunt, tapping her leg insistently.
"Auntie, auntie!!"
"Hmm?"
"Do you know how to use all that stuff too?"
"Of course!"
"Then why don’t you have any?"
"Because I sold everything when I left to study in the U.S."
Ji-young, too, had owned a studio and recording space before her own departure for studies abroad.
"So… it’s all gone now?"
"I’ll rebuild it someday. After I earn enough money."
"Is it really expensive?"
"Very."
"Then I’ll make lots of money and buy it all for you!"
"Really? Oh, my sweet Yeon-woo—you’re my only treasure. I’ll earn plenty too and leave everything to you someday. Deal?"
"Hehe."
Alice clasped a hand over her mouth as she watched Yeon-woo’s radiant smile.
How can anything in the world be this adorable?
I want a niece like her.
But Alice had no nieces.
"By the way, Aunt Alice—did you finish the lyrics?"
All Alice had was a killer melody and a desperate need for words.
Yeon-woo, still too shy to ask directly, funneled her curiosity through Ji-young instead. Alice’s expression tightened.
"Uh… I wrote some lyrics."
She shuffled through notebooks, crumpled drafts, and her tablet—fragments of verses strewn everywhere from her scattered writing process.
"Hmm…"
Alice assembled the most complete snippets—a verse here, a full chorus there—and offered them to Yeon-woo.
Then—
Ding-dong.
"Huh?"
The doorbell rang, abrupt and ill-timed.
"Who’d come this late?"
Lyrics in hand, Alice checked the intercom screen.
"No way."
Kim Beom-shin’s face filled the monitor, grinning like a fool.
"—Alice in there? C’mon, open up already, will ya?"
His uncharacteristic drawl—a folksy Chungcheong accent—even made Ji-young blink.
"Why’s Senior Kim here?!"
"Right? He’s never visited the studio before."
Ellis opened the door as she spoke. Kim Beom-shin promptly burst through the doorway.
"Surprise!!"
Beom-shin stood with both hands full of snacks, beaming at Ellis.
"...Hello, CEO-nim."
Ellis greeted him with visible discomfort. Though the atmosphere was frosty, Beom-shin brushed it off.
The MZ-generation employees at the company acted the same way—young people never greeted him enthusiastically, and he’d made peace with that.
"Sorry for dropping in unannounced. But I had to see for myself! We’re pouring serious money into launching this new group, you know."
"Naturally, you’d want to check in."
"That track? Mind-blowing, even to me. No wonder this group’s vibe feels special. Shin Ji-young’s about to hit it big—wait, Ji-young’s here?"
Spotting Ji-young, Beom-shin immediately noticed little Yeon-woo hiding behind her, only his face peeking out.
"Who’s this little miss?"
Yeon-woo bristled instantly.
"I’m not a miss!!"
As Yeon-woo shouted, Beom-shin startled. Ji-young cut in:
"Since when is our Yeon-woo a lady? He’s a dashing prince!"
Worried Yeon-woo might burst into tears, Ji-young deliberately hammed it up, pushing him forward.
Yeon-woo stepped ahead of her, chest puffed out defiantly.
Beom-shin’s inner voice squealed, Adorable!!, but he plastered on an apologetic smile.
"My mistake! You’re just so… er, handsome! Got confused, haha!"
His jovial laugh faded when Yeon-woo retreated behind Ji-young again. Beom-shin awkwardly clasped his hands behind his back, feigning interest in the studio.
From his hiding spot, Yeon-woo studied the man.
Nearing 50, Beom-shin’s strict self-care regimen kept him boyish, but to Yeon-woo, he still looked older than his own father—every inch the middle-aged ajusshi.
But...
Around him swarmed more fairies than Yeon-woo had ever seen, their glow outshining even his own. He stared, transfixed.
Meanwhile, Beom-shin deliberately turned away from Yeon-woo and surveyed the room before addressing Ellis.
"Sharp studio! High-end gear too. This’ll be our group’s recording space?"
"That’s the idea."
"What’s that?"
Beom-shin’s eyes gleamed at the papers in Ellis’s hands.
"New composition? Wait—lyrics? Yoo-in wrote these?"
Ellis nodded vacantly.
"Let me see!"
"Ah—it’s not finalized yet."
"Still debating? Pfft. Everyone knows your lyrics are gold. Right, Ji-young?"
"Absolutely. Mind if I join?"
The trio clustered around Ellis’s lyrics.
Yeon-woo watched blankly from the rear. Though the music was genius, he still struggled to read Hangul fluently.
"Hmm… Nothing’s clicking. Shouldn’t the lyrics align with the group’s concept?"
"What’s the concept? Ellis, got one in mind?"
"Maybe… freedom? Or—the song is the concept."
"Honestly? That mindset might just work."
Kim Beomshin spoke with a boyish smile that didn’t match his age, glancing at Ellis and Jiyeong.
"Should I sing all these lyrics myself?"
"Huh?"
"The CEO?"
"Well, since our artists are singing anyway, they’ll need a guide track. I’ll handle it. What do you think?"
Ellis and Jiyeong hesitated.
"What? You think I’m too old for this? Hey, I can nail a guide track!"
"No… it’s not that…"
"The CEO doing a guide…?"
Kim Beomshin as a guide?
That’s absurdly high-end for a demo.
Unfazed by their skepticism, he buzzed with excitement and hovered near the recording booth.
"Going in now? Huh? Alright—guide track duty!"
"Uh… sure…"
As Kim Beomshin entered the booth, Ellis’s demeanor changed. She settled into her seat, quietly marveling.
Using Kim Beomshin for free?
She resolved to enjoy this unexpected luxury.
