Hello everyone! I apologize for not being able to upload a chapter yesterday. I was very busy with school activities/work, and didn't have time to update.
As a small compensation, I'll be uploading two chapters instead. I hope you enjoy them.đź’™
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(Llana's House)
Llana sat at her workstation, headphones on, staring at the digital audio workstation on her screen. The beat of the song pulsed lightly through the room, syncing with her heartbeat.
She had come here around 5:00 Am. She was supposed to head to the company to record a sample of their upcoming performance, but after thinking it over, she decided her own studio would be better.
It was quiet here, private, and allowed her to work without interruption.
At the company, her movements were constantly monitored. Accessing the recording studio required formal permission and waiting for approval before she could even start.
Their schedule was already packed, leaving them only six days to finalize everything. She could not afford to waste a single moment.
Dragging the audio file into the timeline, Llana watched the waveform fill the screen. With a few clicks, she marked the sections she wanted to focus on. The track loaded instantly. Every layer was perfect: beat, instrumentals, harmonies. Lyrics scrolled across the screen, synced to each note.
Tapping her fingers on the desk, Llana let the rhythm pulse through her.
"Alright… let's do this," she muttered.
Recording her vocals was effortless. With her Perfect pitch and vocal limit breaker abilities—every line, every ad-lib, every dynamic shift came naturally. The melody was already in her head; all she had to do was bring it to life.
When the chorus hit, she leaned in, hitting every note with precision and power. Vocals layered perfectly over the harmonies, instruments swelling exactly where they belonged. She moved through the bridge just as smoothly, every beat and pitch falling into place.
Then came the rap. Llana couldn't help letting out a soft groan as she rolled her shoulders. Rap had never been her strong suit. She slowed the tempo, repeating the lines, adjusting her rhythm, tightening her flow.
' A line here, a pause there… ' she ran it again and again, layering takes until it finally felt natural.
"Finally," Llana muttered in satisfaction as she leaned back, relief and quiet pride mixing on her face.
When she played the full track from start to finish, everything clicked. Smooth. Tight. Even the rap....the part that had taken the longest, now fit seamlessly into the song.
"Like that," she whispered, letting the sound wash over her. .
Then her gaze drifted to the clock hanging on the wall.
9:37 a.m.
She froze.
"…Oh crap. I'm late."
She's almost forty minutes late for their team meeting.
Llana didn't waste another second. She hastily shut down the equipment, shoved her things into her bag, swung it over her shoulder, and bolted for the door.
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Momo glanced at the time on her phone for what felt like the nth time. Her brows knit together.
"Is Llana not coming yet?"
"I asked Jihyo-unnie earlier," Chaeyoung said softly. "She said Llana left the Major dorm before six. Maybe something urgent came up."
She could tell Momo was starting to get bored—they'd been waiting for almost an hour, and they hadn't even begun.
Just then, Tzuyu looked down at her phone.
"Llana texted me. She said she missed the time and apologized. She's already on her way."
Momo let out a small breath. "Oh… okay then. Should we at least discuss what to perform while we're waiting?" she asked, a hint of uncertainty in her voice. For once, she looked unsure of what to do while waiting.
"I think it'd be better if we wait for Llana," Chaeyoung said after a moment. To her, Llana had naturally become their unspoken leader.
Tzuyu nodded in agreement.
"Who do you think we'll be up against?"
"Hm… I'm not sure," Chaeyoung replied thoughtfully. "But I'm confident we have one of the best lineups. If we play this right, we're definitely moving up to Major." She chuckled softly.
"Right?" Momo laughed. "Our lineup is complete unlike some other groups. We have you as the rapper, me as the dancer, Llana as the best singer, and Tzuyu as our visual. We've got everything a group needs."
Chaeyoung and Tzuyu couldn't help but laugh along with her.
"They might already be scared," Tzuyu said, imagining the reactions of the other teams.
Just as the three of them were laughing, a soft knock echoed at the door.
"oh it must be Llana, Come in!" Momo called.
The door opened, and Llana peeked in, a small, apologetic smile on her face.
"Llana you're here finally!" Chaeyoung run towards her hugging her excitedly.
"Sorry I'm late…" Llana said quickly, bowing deeply after freeing herself from Chaeyoung.
"Oh, it's nothing. Why are you suddenly being so formal?" Tzuyu raised a brow, teasing her.
Llana let out a small breath. "Right—sorry."
"I've already prepared a song for our performance," she added, lightly tapping the side of her bag.
Then she paused.
"…Have we already talked about what song we're going to perform?"
The moment the words left her mouth, she froze.
Oh no.
Her brows twitched as the realization sank in. She hadn't even asked if they were okay with performing the song she'd made. She hadn't checked at all—she'd just gone ahead and done it on her own.
Idiot.
Llana mentally facepalmed.
Chaeyoung tilted her head, amused. "Actually… we were waiting for you to decide."
Then her words caught up to her.
"Wait," Chaeyoung blinked, eyes snapping back to Llana. "You created a song just now?"
There was genuine disbelief in her voice. She knew better than anyone how difficult songwriting was. Writing lyrics alone could take days,weeks, even. But composing the full track? Structure, melody, arrangement?
That was on a completely different level.
Llana scratching something together in a few hours was almost unthinkable.
Momo's eyes widened too, staring at Llana as if she were looking at an alien. "You mean… from scratch?"
Tzuyu's asked curiously, "Since this morning?"
"…I had the idea already. I just… put it together." Llana hesitated, rubbing the back of her neck. It wasn't really that hard. She hadn't actually composed the song herself. She had just bought it from the system shop, and voilà , everything was already in her head.
But she couldn't exactly say that… not without them thinking she was completely insane.
Chaeyoung let out a short laugh, shaking her head. "That's insane. I struggle with verses for days, and you're out here building an entire song with just few hours. Don't tell me you also have Choreography ready. "
'Ugh… that,' Llana muttered in her mind.
"Where's the song you prepared? I want to hear it already!" Tzuyu asked her eyes fixed on Llana.
"Alright, give me a second to set it up," Llana replied, moving toward her laptop.
" I recorded two versions, one with my voice as a demo and the other minus one. I'll play the one where I'm singing."
The moment the track started playing, Chaeyoung's jaw dropped. "Wow… this is so good! Llana, I love you!" she exclaimed,
lunging at her in a dramatic hug.
"Ugh… unnie," Llana laughed, swatting her away playfully.
"Here are the lyrics. Let's figure out who sings which part," Llana took the printed copies in her bag giving each one to everyone.
"Let's… hmm." Llana paused, thinking it over. "I think the intro suits you, Momo-unnie. Then Tzuyu, and finally me. The three of us can alternate verses."
"Chaeyoung-unnie, you'll take all the rap lines and the ad-libs. Then the last two verses will be sung by all of us. Does that work for everyone?"
She lifted her gaze, scanning their faces.
Momo nodded her her eyes stayed at her copy already trying her lines.
Tzuyu tilted her head slightly, a small smile playing on her lips. "Ne…"
" Okay~" Chaeyoung gives an okay sign.
Seeing no disagreement, Llana nodded and continued, "This song is a little fast, so we should practice first… we don't want our tongues getting all tied up." The song is energetic, fast paced pop-hip hop song the others might found it hard to pronounce.
The three of them groaned, laughing nervously as their words already tangled. English wasn't their strongest suit, and the fast lyrics weren't making it any easier.
Momo pouted. "Ugh… don't even say it—my tongue already twisted."
Tzuyu let out a small sigh. "Ne…me too"
Chaeyoung rolled her eyes dramatically, pointing at them. "You two are already complaining… and you don't even have a rap line!"
Momo blinked, caught off guard. "Hey! Singing them is hard too!"
Tzuyu gave a small, amused smile. "Ne… its not that fast but it's really hard to pronounce"
Chaeyoung laughed, shaking her head. "Just wait until the rap. That's when your tongues really won't survive. Seriously, quit whining—you've got it easy compared to me."
Llana giggled, watching the banter unfold. "Okay, okay… line by line first. We'll speed it up once everyone's comfortable."