Chapter 96
Oh Yoori called herself an egotist. And she lived a life fitting that label.
Rather than getting involved in other people’s business, she focused on herself, investing in her own development whenever she had the spare energy to think about others.
This was all based on a very simple calculation.
Investing in her growth was far more efficient at raising her worth than building relationships to boost her standing. So, she invested in herself.
This was her way of life and her formula.
Of course, the improvement of her standing was not the only reason.
Oh Yoori learned early in her short life that this was the way to live a life without exhaustion.
…In fact, this was the main reason for her that was more significant than any improvement in standing.
Regardless of the reason, she followed this formula rigorously, even at a young age.
As a result, she excelled in many areas such as mathematics, reasoning, linguistics, memorization, and arts.
In specific fields, she displayed superiority beyond mere excellence.
Oh Yoori had talent. And she had the mental fortitude to fully develop that talent.
Knowing those two weapons better than anyone else, she was willing to utilize them. After a certain incident, she deemed the challenge of becoming an idol to be worthwhile and began her investment in effort.
Thus, she joined Flower Entertainment, which was actively recruiting trainees to expand its ranks, and there she proved her excellence, successfully raising her name to the top tier.
She even got invited to participate in Girl 100, which only had one available ticket from Flower.
Despite achieving remarkable results in a short time after starting her investment, Oh Yoori did not act rashly. She knew she could still grow, so she went about her daily efforts as naturally and diligently as resolving her scheduled meals and sleep.
Just because one can, doesn’t mean everyone takes action.
However, Oh Yoori could turn capability into action simply because she could.
For her, success was perhaps a given.
“Seriously, I wish the others would just follow your lead even half as much. Is there no one else who’s grown up? You’re the youngest here, after all!”
“No, everyone is working hard, I promise!”
“Ha, hard work, my foot. Everyone else is just pretending to put in effort, … well, I’ll admit Eunbyeol is the one genuinely trying, but hard work doesn’t guarantee success in this industry. I wonder when the President will finally kick her out. Honestly, it’s a waste of resources and talent…”
“It’s not like hard work guarantees success in the entertainment industry. I wonder when the president will kick her out. Honestly, it’s just a waste of talent and money…”
“…”
But then, someone caught her eye.
It was Seo Eunbyeol, a girl who’s 20 years old yet hasn’t even made it into a debut group.
At that age, it’s not an exaggeration to say she was already given a death sentence as a trainee.
She had enough looks to be called beautiful. She had the basic competitiveness to challenge the entertainment world. Yet, despite aspiring to be an idol trainee, she couldn’t dance. She also couldn’t sing. Even minimizing the difficulty of post-production and choreography couldn’t hide her lack of skills.
It was a desperate flaw for someone dreaming of an idol career.
Seo Eunbyeol was strangely famous within Flower Entertainment.
And naturally, it was for not-so-good reasons.
Her name was spread among the trainees and employees of Flower as a long-term trainee, a dimwit, a burden, and a flop.
Oh Yoori found it hard to understand why she remained in Flower despite such insults.
If those insults were just baseless rumors, and if she was actually building her skills through her time at Flower, it could be understood as a phase of endurance.
However, the evaluations from others were not false. Seo Eunbyeol truly lacked talent.
After all, she was the only one who followed Yoori’s brutally tough training schedule every single day.
The absence of progress despite such effort could only be explained by a lack of talent.
She knew this fact all too well.
That’s why Yoori found it even harder to understand her.
She must know she’s talentless, so why waste her time staying here?
“Yuri, Yuri! Where are you going?”
“…”
“Staying to practice dance basics again? I wanna join too!”
Seo Eunbyeol kept approaching her.
Her intentions were as clear as day. She had experienced it too many times already.
Yoori knew this type of person very well.
The type that prowls around successful people, wondering if they might get a crumb. The type she considered inefficient—investing in others rather than in herself.
She disliked this type of person.
If someone made inefficient choices and wasted their own time, it honestly didn’t bother her. However, those kinds of people never stopped there.
They weren’t the type to let things end there.
They’d offer unsolicited favors and then inflate their worth, demanding a price from Oh Yoori equal to their “generosity.” If the price wasn’t paid, they’d sulk and either slander her or display malice. Throughout this, Oh Yoori had no say in the matter.
It was little more than extortion.
However, if someone like that had some authority or backing like Seo Eunbyeol, then there might have been a sliver of social courtesy to be shown. But she was just a total loser with none of that.
Because of this, Oh Yoori ignored her when she suggested training together, asked about hobbies, or offered snacks. It was just too much of a waste to even spare her a glance or any psychological effort.
“Yuri Yuri! Let’s go together!”
“….”
Yet, whether she was oblivious or pretending not to notice, she kept clinging on. Oh Yoori thought that by ignoring her, she would eventually tire and leave, but apparently, that was a flawed assumption.
Having nearly given up, Oh Yoori let her follow.
Then one day…
“Isn’t Oh Yoori so rude?”
Right when she was about to change clothes in the dressing room, she overheard talk about herself from the outer dressing room.
“She acts all hard-working, buttering up the Team Leader and the Manager, but she’s just shamelessly trying to take credit for everything!”
“Yeah, she definitely draws a line between the trainees.”
“That’s all because of her sense of superiority. But the evaluations she’s bragging about? They were probably obtained through different means!”
“Different means?”
“Why? I can’t bring myself to say it, but you know what I mean.”
It was low-class and somehow irritating, but she had grown used to it. Though the wording might differ slightly, those were the kinds of comments that trailed behind her every time she proved her abilities.
Losers couldn’t acknowledge their own shortcomings, leading them to deflect blame onto others.
Such words held no weight for her whatsoever.
But it seemed someone disagreed.
“If you have something to say, just say it to me directly. Stop slandering her behind her back.”
It was Seo Eunbyeol, stretching in the corner.
It was Seo Eunbyeol.
“Don’t you think that’s a bit embarrassing?”
The trainee Kim Hanbi, who was criticized, didn’t hide her displeasure and raised her voice.
“Ha, Oh Yoori’s lackey is here? Aren’t you ashamed to stick close to that kid at your age?”
“At least I’m living without making up nonsense about you behind your back.”
“…Wow, look at you, a long-term trainee with some pride! Hahaha, you all find this funny, right? Guys?”
She spoke to the other trainees around her, who were looking on with a mix of pity and amusement.
“Kim Hanbi, do you think the kids cheering you on actually agree with you? No, they’re just pretending to empathize. They don’t want to deal with you if they say something rude.”
Seo Eunbyeol shot back with an endless, irritating smirk.
“And they talk behind your back, saying, ‘Hanbi unnie seems really jealous,’ and ‘Yeah, giving in is such a hassle.’”
“…That two-faced witch.”
Just then, the manager, alerted by the commotion, rushed in to break up the budding fight.
It was like an annual event that happened whenever prideful trainees were gathered in one place. There weren’t any significant changes after that incident.
Except for a slight change in Oh Yoori.
Oh Yoori saw Seo Eunbyeol’s antics as a kind of formal act to gain favor.
It seemed she was trying to invest more value in Oh Yoori than she had initially thought.
Even though Oh Yoori showed no reaction to her friendly remarks whatsoever.
From Oh Yoori’s perspective, it was really a foolish investment.
She had no intention of reciprocating.
“Yuri Yuri, good morning again!”
“…Good morning.”
“…?”
Yet, she thought it might be better to at least acknowledge a greeting from now on.
That was the reason for her slight change of heart.
“Yuri Yuri accepted my greeting? …Eek!”
Seeing her act all exaggerated made her feel a bit regretful.
“Thanks! Yuri! Let’s do our best today too!”
“….”
But soon, she felt that this little change of heart wasn’t so bad after all.
*
And as time passed, when having Seo Eunbyeol by her side became a natural part of her life, Oh Yoori found out that Seo Eunbyeol was being asked to entertain guests.
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