Chapter 13: The Doorway and the White Hair

At 6:00 AM, the dawn had not yet fully broken.

I stood at the entrance of the agency, staring at the “Read” receipt on my phone.

The message I sent 3 minutes ago read:

[Be here before 6:30. For every minute you are late, you will add an hour of practice.]

Read.

No reply.

I put away my phone and unlocked the door to go inside.

Just then, the door to the inner room opened.

A white figure stepped out — Chuxue.

An old acquaintance.

“Morning,” she greeted me indifferently.

I looked at Chuxue, my eyebrows twitching.

“Morning.”

However —

“Miss Chuxue, I don’t believe I ever gave you a key.”

How exactly did you get in?

My confusion was blatant; I had no intention of hiding it.

She gave a small smile.

“I was touring the place.”

“Touring?”

“Mhm, touring.”

I looked at her with a gaze so fierce it practically screamed that I wanted to throw her out immediately.

But I couldn’t.

This woman was incredibly thick-skinned and didn’t show a hint of emotion.

Moreover, she had already opened the door.

I confirmed in my mind that I hadn’t lost my keys and that the location of the spare key hadn’t been leaked.

That left only one possibility:

She had used special means.

The moment I realized that, I knew this white-haired girl was the type who would use any means necessary to achieve her goals.

I pulled out my phone.

“Hello? I’d like to report an illegal entr — “

*Slap — *

Halfway through my call to the police, she grabbed my hand.

For a moment, our strengths clashed, and we were locked in a stalemate in midair.

“My, my… Mr. Lin sure is being playful,” she whispered, her eyes narrowing.

“I don’t particularly like playful children.”

“The feeling is mutual,” I replied, refusing to back down an inch against this cheeky girl’s provocation.

“Hello? What’s going on over there?! Are you in danger?!”

The voice on the other end of the line was still shouting, sounding quite anxious.

There was definitely danger, and it was right in front of me.

‘I really want to shout that out.’

But I could feel that if I did, her other hand would be over my mouth in an instant.

“Heh heh heh…”

The sound of this wretched girl’s laughter made me feel uneasy.

I could only watch as my phone was slowly pulled further away from me.

I didn’t have a way out.

Though it was somewhat shameful to admit, it was a simple fact that I, a man, could not match her in terms of strength.

Because I was both the President and Jewel Princess Alice, my stamina and physical fitness were much higher than the average person’s.

Unfortunately, I had never deliberately trained for raw strength.

‘I can’t exactly let everyone see a “Muscle Alice,” can I?’

As a female idol, that would be a total disaster.

To make matters worse, this wicked white-haired girl was also an idol, and her frame was a bit larger than mine.

My usual advantages didn’t count for much here.

“Yes, I’m sorry. My ‘child’ was just being ‘playful.’ I apologize for the trouble.”

In the end, we reached a compromise.

“Fine. Please, come in.”

I put a lot of emphasis on the word “fine,” and she definitely caught it.

Yet, she remained smiling.

‘Dammit!’

Even though I was grumbling in my heart, I didn’t actually throw her out.

Now wasn’t the time to completely burn bridges.

I suspected that even if I changed to an electronic lock tomorrow, she would still find a way to show up.

(But I changed to an electronic lock the next day anyway.)

***

6:29 AM.

The door burst open, and Su Nian rushed in, panting as if she had just finished a full marathon.

“Huff… huff… President… I’m… I’m not late, right…?”

I glanced at the time.

6:29:58 AM.

“No,” I said.

My tone was a bit cold because I was still irritated by the morning’s events, but I spoke the truth.

She doubled over with her hands on her knees, her hair a complete mess and her face still damp with water — she had probably splashed her face with cold water to wake up.

“Good… that’s good…”

“But in your current state, you can’t even do a proper warm-up.”

She looked up, stunned.

“Huh?”

“Go sit down. Start after you’ve caught your breath.”

I pointed to a chair by the wall and turned to go into the inner room.

The sound of her dragging footsteps followed, followed by the screech of chair legs against the floor.

“Wait a minute! Why are you here too?!”

Then came Su Nian’s scream.

It seemed she had noticed the “uninvited guest” as well.

I believed she would join me in resisting this invader.

“This is great! Miss Chuxue, I have so many things I want to ask you!”

I take it back.

This simpleton is an idiot.

When I came back out, I was carrying a bag.

“Eat.”

I placed the bag on the table next to her.

Then I shot a glance at that cheeky white-haired girl.

“There’s none for you.”

“Thank you for your concern, President Lin, but I’ve already eaten.”

While I was busy matching wits with the intruder, Su Nian’s eyes lit up as she looked at the contents of the bag — three rice balls.

“…President?”

I turned back to speak to her.

“Pick one: waking up at 6:00 to make rice balls, or waking up at 6:00 to go for a run.”

She froze for a moment, then grinned.

“Hehe — “

“Eat.”

“Yes, sir!”

***

7:00 AM sharp.

Su Nian stood in the center of the dance studio.

The rice balls had been finished, and her hair was tied back properly.

The white-haired girl was still there, but I intended to ignore her.

I stood across from Su Nian, holding a notebook.

“Lesson one.”

She straightened her back.

“The basic skill of an idol isn’t singing or dancing.”

“Then what is it?”

“Stamina.”

I snapped the notebook shut.

“A single dance lasts 3 minutes. If you dance three in a row, an amateur will be out of breath. If you can’t even handle a warm-up, there’s no point in talking about what comes next.”

She nodded.

“So, the first item — running.”

“Running?”

“Yes. Along the river, 5 kilometers.”

She blinked.

“Just… running?”

“Just running.”

“Nothing else?”

“There is. We’ll talk after you finish.”

She stood there, seemingly thinking it was too easy.

Chuxue chuckled from the sidelines.

I didn’t offer an explanation.

“We’re leaving now. I’ll follow on my bike.”

***

40 minutes later.

Su Nian leaned against the river railing, gasping for air.

I stood beside her, pushing my bicycle.

“Which… which kilometer are we on…?”

“The third.”

“There are… there are still 2 kilometers left?”

“Yes.”

Her legs were already starting to shake.

It wasn’t just exhaustion; her muscles hadn’t adapted to this level of intensity yet.

“Do you want to rest?”

Chuxue had changed into sports clothes and was running alongside us.

By comparison, she looked perfectly relaxed.

Su Nian looked up, glancing at Chuxue and then at me.

The confusion in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a stubborn determination.

“…No.”

She pushed off the railing and straightened up.

Then she continued to run.

I followed behind.

***

8:20 AM.

Chuxue was walking slowly to gradually lower her heart rate.

Su Nian, on the other hand, was sprawled out on the agency floor like a stranded fish.

It was just like yesterday.

And yet, it was different.

Yesterday, she was “exhausted to the point of collapse.”

Today, she had “finished the run.”

“Water.”

I didn’t give it to her; I gave it to Chuxue.

“Thank you.”

Chuxue was covered in sweat.

Her tight athletic wear highlighted her curvaceous figure, perfectly accentuating her form.

One look and anyone would associate her with being an idol.

“Water! President!”

Su Nian thought I hadn’t heard her and shouted again.

“Not for you.”

“Why — “

She stared at me blankly, never imagining I would refuse such a simple request.

She then turned to look at Chuxue, who was drinking water while showing a bit of a — suggestive view — and complained.

“President, you’re lecherous and biased!”

Thwack!

I slammed the water bottle onto her head.

“Ow!”

I have no idea how she reached that conclusion.

“Hehe…”

Beside us, Chuxue seemed amused.

She covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking as she tried to stifle her laughter.

“You can’t drink right after excessive exercise. Wait until you’ve cooled down.”

Similarly, I never thought she wouldn’t know something so basic.

It made me worry about my initial concerns…

Had I really recruited an idiot?

3 minutes later.

I handed her the water bottle.

She reached out to take it, her fingers trembling.

“President…”

“Mhm?”

“The 5 kilometers… why was it so tiring…?”

“Because you’ve never run it before.”

She took a huge gulp of water and lay back down.

I sat nearby, waiting for her breathing to even out.

“Second item.”

She let out a groan.

“Stretching. Otherwise, you won’t be able to move tomorrow.”

She paused for a moment, then slowly crawled back up.

***

9:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

Basic training.

Posture.

Breathing.

Vocalization.

The simplest musical scales.

She did each task seriously.

But each one was… how should I put it…

“Su Nian.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re tone-deaf.”

“Waaaaah!”

***

2:00 PM.

Practicing basic dance moves following a video.

She began the routine.

The first eight beats.

The second eight beats.

The third eight beats.

I tapped the floor beside her.

“That’s not right.”

“Why not?!”

“Look closely.”

“Ugh!”

***

4:00 PM.

She was finally able to complete those four sets of eight beats perfectly.

Though she was still half a beat slow, and her movements were stiff, and she was far from looking “good” —

She finished it.

That was the end of it.

“Eh? Is that it?!”

“For now. But there’s more tomorrow.”

I looked at the girl in front of me who acted like a total fool.

I knew I had to explain.

“You can still move right now, but that might not be true tomorrow.”

“No way! I’m in great shape!”

Su Nian protested.

I rolled up the notebook I was writing in and gave her another sharp thwack on the head.

Thwack!

“Ouch!”

Sometimes I really wonder if I’ve hit her too many times and made her go simple.

If she were in good shape, she wouldn’t have been stuck on the floor unable to move after this morning’s run.

She didn’t even bother to look at Chuxue —

As much as I disliked her, her basic skills were indeed rock solid.

I wrote down the last line of text and handed her the new notebook.

“Take this.”

“Oh… what’s this?”

The notebook contained several things:

A list of shows she should watch.

Which video creators were the most professional.

Materials ranging from technical learning to psychological situational simulations.

“These are things you can still do if you don’t want to rest today.”

With that, I left for a moment.

I left her there to figure it out on her own.

I had done everything I needed to do.

The life of an idol is like this; from here on, it’s just repetition — endless repetition until she can finally stand on a stage.

Her tasks were over, but mine were just beginning.

Click.

I walked into my office and locked the door.

After confirming that the white-haired girl wouldn’t be able to get in for the time being, I sat back in my desk chair and pulled out my phone to start selecting —

Work.

The investment I had made in Su Nian far exceeded my expectations, and she wouldn’t be able to generate value in the short term.

More investment would be required later on.

Money is the kind of thing where, even if you have some, it disappears instantly once you start spending it.

I had to prepare in advance.

I didn’t want to lose everything because of another “accident.”

I swiped my finger across the screen:

Advertisements.

Performances.

Product endorsements.

I sorted through them one by one.

Either the timeframe was too long, the dates didn’t align, or the positions were already filled.

Although “Alice” was a free idol and quite famous, I still had to book schedules and apply for spots in advance.

While the “Supernova” staff would likely be more than happy to replace another idol with her, that wasn’t what I wanted to do.

Time.

It couldn’t take too long.

Location.

It couldn’t be too far.

Finances.

If it was too cheap, it would lower her brand value.

Efficiency…

Finally, after layers of filtering, I slowly…

Stopped my gaze on a project I would never have considered before.

And that was —

A swimsuit photo shoot.