The cute mascot of Baekhak Entertainment.
The CEO who appears suspiciously often on the first floor.
Baek Seung-won’s nickname is “Factory Manager.”
Although it’s a nickname commonly used as an insult among idol fandoms, the wise can deduce Baekhak Entertainment’s business methods from this nickname.
Baekhak Entertainment does not pursue “innovation.”
Because innovation is a risky path.
It was definitely Gu Yu-na’s voice, but it was something hard to believe coming from her.
Hurriedly entering a restroom stall, Min Hyo-min locked the door.
Only then did Min Hyo-min regain her composure.
‘She won’t chase me anymore, right…?’
Regaining her senses, she noticed a mirror in front of her.
It was a mirror on the inside of the restroom door.
Her reflection in the mirror was a mess.
Her neatly maintained beige hair was disheveled.
Her eyes were swollen red from tears.
What was it that made her cry again?
Right. Min Hyo-chan. That bastard…
“To think he’s my older brother…!”
Thinking about what her jerk of a brother said, tears came flooding back.
As she wiped away the tears streaming down with her sleeve and sobbed, a voice came from beyond the door.
Min Hyo-min shuddered in surprise.
Only then did she understand the situation.
‘I’ve caused a scene…’
For an idol, image is everything.
The moment the image collapses, everything collapses.
Thus, the thought of the story ‘Benivis Min Hyo-min fought with her brother at school and ran away crying in the corridor’ spreading on the internet would be a terrible blow.
So, Min Hyo-min suppressed her feelings and spoke in a calm voice.
“It’s, it’s okay. I’m really okay now.”
But only a strange ‘Hmm-‘ sound continued from beyond the restroom door, with no real response coming back.
Just when Min Hyo-min, trembling with anxiety, was trying to smooth things over…
Gu Yu-na, who knows nothing of human hearts, deeply pierced her with a sharp remark.
“You shouldn’t approach literature that way.”
Min Hyo-min was too stunned to even get angry.
Min Hyo-min, having experienced life as a trainee, had become adept at grasping the context of conversations, so it didn’t take her long to interpret what Gu Yu-na meant.
The fact that Min Hyo-min didn’t swear at this moment was proof of her gentle nature.
Pushed to her limits, Min Hyo-min exploded.
When people get angry, it’s human instinct to flinch, but Gu Yu-na was something more (or perhaps less) than human.
Min Hyo-min couldn’t see her, but Gu Yu-na, behind the door, tilted her head in confusion.
Min Hyo-min took that question as a provocation, not seeing Gu Yu-na’s expression.
However, as an idol, she was in a profession where she couldn’t fight back against attacks, so she voiced her suffering instead.
“You…! Are you mocking me too? Stop it! Please, just stop tormenting me!”
Ordinary people are reluctant to engage with someone emotionally unstable.
It’s because an unstable person is not a suitable conversation partner as they are aggressive, impulsive, and not in their right mind, making a positive outcome in conversations unlikely. Therefore, when someone becomes unstable, people often say, “Let’s give them some time to think,” and step back.
However, Gu Yu-na lacked such processes.
That was Gu Yu-na’s uniqueness, or peculiarity.
“Then what is it? Did you not like the girl group maknae concept and wanted to transform into a literary girl?”
Min Hyo-min was confused.
She even started to confuse her own thoughts.
‘Why did I say I wanted to learn about literature?’
Was it to increase her popularity by associating with Moon In-seop?
Did she want to develop a skill other than dancing and singing?
Was she dissatisfied with the cute maknae concept given by the company?
Was it to look good on the variety show the CEO put her in?
Did she want to make friends at school?
Did she think it would be cool to show off her literary knowledge on TV?
“I don’t know! Sob, sob…”
Min Hyo-min couldn’t find the answer.
A person’s heart cannot be summarized in a single phrase. The human heart is more complex and bizarre than any computer. There’s no way to derive answers from there.
It was strange that Gu Yu-na wasn’t .
But there is a way for an ordinary person to summarize their own complex and bizarre heart in one sentence.
“If you want to know that, you need to write novels.”
“If you study literature, you can find out.”
Literature is a study of the inner self.
It is a discipline of language and thought.
So, if you want to know your heart, you need to study literature.
That’s why Gu Yu-na does literature.
Gu Yu-na, who could not understand the hearts of others, learned about human emotions through literature.
Therefore, Min Hyo-min, who also did not understand her own heart, could come to know herself through literature.
“Writing does not lie.”
Gu Yu-na spoke after finishing her thoughts.
“It doesn’t change its words later out of cowardice either. Because it remains forever. Once you write it down, it never disappears. So you have to be very careful when you write.”
“It can be fun too. You can interpret the same sentence in different ways, and just by rearranging the sentences, you can create completely different meanings. And then you might understand unknown emotions and feelings…”
“I had so many unknown emotions, so I started learning to write, but it seems like the opposite for you. You seem to have too many thoughts in your heart. So learn literature. Then it will be resolved.”
That was not an invitation but almost an order.
Having said her piece, Gu Yu-na turned around without hesitation.
And she went on her way.
Realizing that Gu Yu-na was leaving just by the sound of her footsteps, Min Hyo-min hurriedly opened the door and dashed out.
Gu Yu-na stopped because someone asked her to.
And since someone called her, she asked the reason.
Gu Yu-na’s expressionless face opened.
In contrast, Min Hyo-min, engulfed in a myriad of emotions that couldn’t be described with just one, asked Gu Yu-na with a complex expression and in a complicated voice.
“…If I learn literature, will anything change for me?”
There was no hesitation in Gu Yu-na’s response.
It was because she had already learned all these things from Author Moon.
“You might become a better person.”
That phrase seemed to pierce through Min Hyo-min’s mind.
Min Hyo-min made a decision.
“Are you going to teach me…?”
Meanwhile, Moon In-seop outside the restroom was also harboring complex thoughts.
First was the satisfaction of seeing how much Gu Yu-na had grown.
Second was the uneasiness about how much Gu Yu-na had grown.
Uneasiness means that there is something lingering in the mind that is not quite clear or settled.
Gu Yu-na was weighing on Moon In-seop’s mind.