Seo Jung-woo woke up early in the morning, took a light stroll around the neighborhood, and then returned home to prepare breakfast.

“Meat. Meat.”

The meat in this world is just too delicious. So delicious that he wants to eat it even in the morning.

However, pork belly is not considered a typical breakfast menu item in this world.

Instead of pork belly, he grilled some bacon. He also made two fried eggs.

“I can’t believe eggs are this cheap.”

In the other world, chickens are rare, and eggs are expensive.

Chickens can be raised in the city. Unlike cows or pigs, they require less space.

The problem is the feed.

Humans can eat monster meat without issue, but chickens refuse to eat feed made from monster byproducts. If forced to eat it, they either stop laying eggs or die. Synthetic flour feed also causes all sorts of problems.

That’s why large-scale poultry farms don’t exist in the other world.

“Jam goes best with bread.”

He spread strawberry jam on the soft bread. This wasn’t bread made from synthetic flour, nor was it synthetic jam with saccharin for sweetness and artificial strawberry flavor. It was real bread with real strawberry jam.

“Coffee. Coffee.”

He filled a mug with coffee brewed from a coffee maker.

“Ah, the aroma is amazing.”

Just as Seo Jung-woo set the breakfast table and sat down, Seo Sora yawned and came out of her room.

“Haaahhh… Where’s mine?”

“You’re eating breakfast too?”

“I worked hard on recording yesterday, so I’m starving. I’m definitely eating.”

Seo Sora grabbed a plate and took some of Seo Jung-woo’s food. There was plenty of bacon and three fried eggs. She took a few strips of bacon and one fried egg.

“I’m skipping the bread because it makes me gain weight. I’ll just have this.”

“And bacon doesn’t make you gain weight?”

“This is smaller in volume, so it should be fine. I really strongly feel that way.”

The Seo Sora from the other world also tends to escape reality in this manner.

Seo Jung-woo chuckled and turned on the TV.

The news was on.

“Huh?”

The news content was unexpected.

“Yoon Nana, who was miraculously rescued after being kidnapped by a serial killer, is debuting as a singer? Hey, what is this news?”

“Why? I told you we’d debut soon. That’s why the president asked you for help.”

“Yeah, I knew that, but isn’t this way too fast? Did you start recording the moment I said I didn’t want to be embarrassed?”

“We have no other opportunity for promotion. We have to ride the wave of Nana’s kidnapping news. Our company has no money. We even borrowed the recording studio on credit yesterday. There’s no budget for promotion.”

“Is the company really that broke?”

“Yeah. All the employees left, and now it’s just the president and the manager.”

“Did Yoon Nana agree to this?”

“Of course! She’s the most eager about it. She said we can use her however we want, as long as we make it big this time.”

“Her mental toughness is insane.”

“All of us are a little out there.”

“That makes sense, looking at you. But the team name is ‘4cats’? You seem more like a tiger to me.”

“That was actually one of the name candidates. But Nana said tigers aren’t cute, so she didn’t like it. She really loves cute things.”

Seo Jung-woo reported to the police station.

Detective Jo Min-seok, who had arrived earlier, spoke.

“Jung-woo, did you see the news?”

“What news?”

“That Yoon Nana you rescued is debuting as a singer. They even released the song this morning.”

“Oh, yeah. It was faster than I expected.”

“This is beyond fast. Do you think she’s being exploited by her company? Should I look into it?”

“I already checked. Apparently not. She’s the one pushing the hardest for it. So there’s no way it’s exploitation.”

“Wow, you’re already acting like a real detective. Investigating things on your own. But she’s the most eager about it?”

Detective Baek Sung-min walked in and spoke.

“Isn’t it obvious? She must have been terrified when she was kidnapped, but now that she’s safe, she’s taking advantage of the situation. She’s incredible. At least she doesn’t have any trauma from the kidnapping.”

Jo Min-seok looked concerned.

“Or maybe she does, and she’s trying to hide it by being overly active.”

“Either way, it’s better than being consumed by fear, right? I hope the song becomes a hit.”

“For Yoon Nana’s sake?”

Baek Sung-min grinned.

“If the song blows up, we can take a photo with her and get her autograph. We saved her, so she wouldn’t refuse, right?”

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol smacked Baek Sung-min’s back with a file.

“Hey, you didn’t even do anything back then. If anyone gets a photo and autograph, it should be Jung-woo.”

“Then I’ll just join in when Jung-woo takes his photo. Jung-woo, make sure to call me when you get her autograph.”

Seo Jung-woo replied.

“I’m not getting an autograph.”

“Ah, why not! When else would we get a chance to take a photo with a celebrity?”

The day the 24-hour serial killer was caught, every major TV network, online news site, and newspaper was plastered with the story.

It was still a good news topic, but journalists were already looking for the next big story.

That’s when Yoon Nana’s debut as a singer, after being rescued from a kidnapping, was revealed. President Oh Dong-cheol actively reached out to reporters. It was a story that fit their needs perfectly, so multiple media outlets covered it. Her name also climbed the search rankings.

Once something appears in the news and trends in search rankings, many people start checking out the song.

Park Moon-ho was one of those people.

He saw the debut article about 4cats and sneered at Yoon Nana.

“Wow. I felt bad for her because she was a victim, but she’s debuting as a singer just days after being rescued? That’s really something. Does she think singing is that easy?”

He searched for “If We Could Meet Again” with the intention of mocking it.

A one-minute preview was available.

Grumbling, he clicked the preview button.

“Seriously, these days, anyone and everyone thinks they can be a singer…”

His grumbling stopped abruptly.

Even from the intro, ‘If We Could Meet Again’ sounded great. Then 4cats’ vocals began.

For a full minute, he listened in silence.

Then the song suddenly stopped. He snapped out of it. The preview time had ended.

“Ah! Damn it!”

He quickly purchased the full track. It wasn’t expensive.

This time, he turned up the volume and listened carefully from the beginning.

The song was good, and they sang well. It had a distinctive charm different from existing songs, but in a way that was pleasant to hear.

The melody was lively, yet the lyrics spoke of longing.

The cheerful rhythm made him feel upbeat, but suddenly, a wave of nostalgia hit him. The singers delivered their lines brightly, yet the song carried a hint of sorrow.

Those two contrasting emotions stirred something deep within him.

The four-minute song ended.

He sat there blankly for a moment before finally opening his mouth.

“Wow.”

He was genuinely impressed.

“This song is really good.”

It wasn't just the song itself—the 4cats sang it well too.

He played If We Could Meet Again once more and navigated to the online community board he frequented.

“A post this good deserves a recommendation… Oh, there are already plenty.”

Several posts about 4cats’s If We Could Meet Again had already been uploaded to the board. The most popular post, viewed by many, had a flood of comments.

He clicked on the top post. The impressions written there closely matched his own.

Then, he checked the numerous comments below.

– I was singing along all excitedly, and suddenly I almost teared up.

– When I heard they were debuting out of nowhere, I thought they just bought some random song to ride the wave.

– Bought some random song? Nonsense. Look at the song's quality. It’s clear they had been preparing for a long time, and Yoon Nana was kidnapped just before their debut!

– That damn murderer. How could he kidnap such an amazing person?

Seo Jung-woo was mentioned as well.

– Wow. That cop who caught the murderer seriously deserves a medal. Thank you for saving my future wife.

– Excuse me, she’s my wife.

– You two up there! What crime did Yoon Nana commit to deserve this?

– But surely that cop will get an award, right?

– Of course. He might even get a promotion.

– Do people really get promoted just for catching one criminal?

– Not just any criminal—he caught a serial killer. That should count for something, right?

ES Entertainment’s president, Oh Dong-cheol, chuckled as he read through the comments.

“Hahaha. Look at these reactions. Amazing.”

Kim Hyeong-jin spoke up.

“It would’ve been even better publicity if we had released an article mentioning that the detective who caught the criminal is Sora’s real brother. That’s a shame.”

“I would’ve liked to, but that detective is the one who wrote this song. How could we do that? He specifically asked us to keep his identity a secret. There’s nothing we can do about it. Besides, even without using their family connection, this song is going to blow up. I’m sure of it.”

“Still, eventually, people will find out, right?”

“Reporters won’t dig into the detective’s family background. But once our girls get famous, they’ll definitely dig into Sora’s background. When that happens, the truth will come out naturally. But that’s not what’s important right now.”

Oh Dong-cheol rubbed his hands together and grinned.

“We need to get more songs from Sora’s brother. If we want to perform at events, we need at least three songs. Hahaha.”

All four members of 4cats had gathered at a café, squealing as they checked the online reactions.

Yoon Nana exclaimed,

“Wow! I can’t believe we blew up like this all at once.”

Park Ha-yeon raised her fork in the air.

“All hail Dimension!”

Park Da-yeon, chewing on honeyed bread, joined in.

“All hail!”

Yoon Nana, her face flushed with excitement, said,

“Back when I was trapped, I was scared to death. But in just a few days, so much has changed.”

Seo Sora looked slightly concerned.

“Are you okay talking about it?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. When I was rescued, that detective’s aura completely erased my fear.”

“Nana, that wasn’t an aura. It was just your eyes adjusting from the dark to the light.”

“Or maybe it was shining because he really had an aura?”

“Nope, not at all.”

Park Ha-yeon asked Yoon Nana,

“Unnie, was that detective good-looking?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t see his face because of the light. Even when the detectives came to the hospital to investigate, he wasn’t there.”

Seo Sora reached for a piece of bread with her fork. But Park Da-yeon was eating so quickly that there was barely any left.

“Da-yeon, don’t eat everything by yourself. Let me have some—”

Yoon Nana suddenly spoke up.

“I looked up the news and barely managed to find his name. His name is Detective Seo Jung-woo.”

Seo Sora’s fork froze in midair.

In that split second, Park Da-yeon quickly stabbed the last piece of bread with her fork.

“Got it!”

Seo Sora turned toward Yoon Nana.

“What? What’s his name?”

“Detective Seo Jung-woo.”

Seo Sora’s mind spun. She didn’t need long to think.

‘My brother had only ever worked at the local precinct, and that day was his first time at that police station. My brother’s name is also Seo Jung-woo. Wait… What? What?!’

“Sora? What’s wrong?”

Seo Sora quietly stood up.

“I need to make a quick call.”

She stepped outside the café and called Seo Jung-woo.

– Hello?

“Oppa, I just heard something strange. They said the detective who rescued Nana is named Seo Jung-woo.”

– And? What’s strange about that?

“There must be another detective at that station named Seo Jung-woo, right?”

– Do you really think so?

“Then… was it you who rescued Nana?”

– Yeah.

Seo Sora let out a piercing scream.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

– You never asked.

“Ugh! Why do I have to ask to get an answer?!”

– Don’t go spreading rumors. If reporters dig into our relationship and find out I wrote that song, you can forget about getting another one.

At the mention of “another song,” Seo Sora immediately switched to a servile tone.

“Of course, of course. You know how tight-lipped I am.”

– No, I don’t.

Seo Sora’s eyes sparkled.

“But, Oppa… when you say ‘another song’… does that mean you’ll give us another one?”

– We’ll see.

“I pledge my loyalty!”

Seo Sora returned to the café.

Park Ha-yeon asked,

“Unnie, what was that call? You were yelling one second and groveling the next.”

Seo Sora dramatically flipped her long hair and boasted,

“Oh, nothing much. I was just discussing our next song with Dimension.”

The other three immediately leaned toward her.

Park Ha-yeon asked urgently,

“Are we getting another one? Huh? Are we?”

Seo Sora puffed out her chest and laughed confidently.

“Even if he doesn’t give us one, I’ll snatch it from him. Just trust me, my dear twins! Ohohoho!”

“We trust you!”

Yoon Nana asked,

“Sora, I heard you were the one who introduced Dimension to the president. Are you two close?”

“Uh, well… yeah, sort of.”

“The president is super secretive about Dimension. He even told us to keep quiet about the fact that you introduced him. So we never got to ask—what kind of person is he? You can tell us. We won’t tell anyone.”

Seo Sora was at a loss for words.

If she described Seo Jung-woo’s usual lazy self, she’d have to explain how she knew that.

Instead, she thought about Detective Seo Jung-woo. She didn’t know much about his work, but she did know one thing—he had single-handedly caught a serial killer. It had even been on the news.

“He’s… uh, really good at fighting. Super good.”

Yoon Nana imagined an American gangster.

“Like a gangster? Shooting guns and all?”

“No way. This is Korea. There are no guns here.”