MAY 19,2013

'My palms are sweating' she thought to herself, blaming the lights as they shined on her while she finished her last note. She feared the worst when she heard not cheers, no applause or jeers. 'I failed.' a heavy thought for her as her stomach sunk. The song's melody finished and the judges came into view. All of them had a face that was hard to read, even though two had their mouths slightly opened as if they were still trying to form a thought as to what they just listened to. Lee Hyori was the first to speak, "You said that was FTIsland's I Hope correct?" She asked the younger female. Yun nervously nodded, "Yes it was." She stammered. "Wow, you did really good. I never heard the song before but it surprises me that you sung it so well." Lee Hyori complemented causing her to blush. "The rap part near the end." Lee Minwoo added, starting to read off his notes as well. "It was really weak but you picked yourself up so well that I almost would have forgot about it." Kim Taewoo laughed at that, saying he was too into the song to notice the rap instantly. "You have really good energy. Your stamina as isn't the highest so you stayed in your safe zone." He added. At this Seo Inyoung spoke up, "But that isn't bad because as a listener I prefer to have an amazing safe performance rather than an unstable risky performance. I really liked the performance and I also liked that you looked like you singing to someone." Yun smiled at the critiques and felt pride because they weren't heavily negative. They were all things she felt she could fix with practice.

Yun walked off the stage and went back to her seat. A smile proudly placed on her face as she now felt a shift in the air as she walked past the others. Before it felt as if they were looking down on her but now she could tell they knew she was not the one to look over. Her brow raised though when a female around her age was now sitting near the spot she was sitting at. "You did great." She whispered, giving her a thumbs up. Yun looked around to make sure she was talking to her before returning with a thumps up of her own. 'There are cameras watching so it would probably be safe not to have a conversation just yet.' she thought to herself. The rest of the time flew as she watched the rest of the contestants. After an hour and a half the auditions were over and they were given a thirty minute break as the judges deliberated. "Did I bring food?" she mumbled to herself and looked into her bag. Yun inwardly cheered at the sight of the kimbap she had packed earlier.

Taking one bite she realized she was starving. "You are all I need right now. I feel like I just fell in love." she whispered quickly before taking another well deserved bite. "Hungry unnie?" Yun looked up, cheeks slightly stuffed with half chewed kimbap. "Muufff?" She asked the female from earlier. Slowly chewing as the girl giggled as she watched Yun. After she swallowed her food Yun apologized shyly. "I skipped breakfast." The younger female didn't comment on this but instead took the conversation into another direction. "So why are you here unnie?" She asked, Yun felt it was an innocent question and wouldn't harm her in answering. "I wanted to try singing on stage again." she admitted feeling thankful for the chance she has been given. Yun stared at her hands and though on how she enjoyed the adrenaline and sweaty palms that came with the chance. "But what makes you think you will make it?" The girl's next question almost gave Yun whiplash at her quick change of tone. "Excuse me?" Yun asked, making sure she heard correctly. "Didn't you have your chance? No one wants to cheer on used goods so shouldn’t you go back to collecting dust." Yun's jaw dropped at how this female was actually making it sound like she was wasted goods. "Oh unnie, Just remember I care about you and don't want to see you embarrassed in the end." The girl walked away with the upper hand. Yun saw her friends huddled and laughing at what had just unfolded.

Yun looked around and saw the feeling she had before was back. Everyone was looking at her as if she was an animal on display. 'But obviously not one of the crowd favorites.' she thought to herself hearing some snickering followed by a weak shush from the pair a few rows in front of her. Yun bit her inner cheek and put away the rest of her food. Feeling that if she ate now she might end up crying from embarrassment. Instead she decided it would be best to mahjong on her phone until the judges came back. 'Twenty-four more minutes.' she noted and hoped everyone would ignore her until the end of time.

=====================================================================================

Yun walked out of the interview room feeling drained. Because she was selected to join team Minwoo she had to meet her teammates then wait in a long line to be put into an one on one interview. The room was just a black curtain background and a camera facing her. On the other side of the camera was the interviewer asking her questions like how did she feel, nerves, did she enjoy her team turnout, worries and the like. She found it to be an easy thing and she wondered how it was going to be edited into the show and which of her answers would make it to the final turnout. 'Except for her.' She thought to herself, the reason behind her lack of enthusiasm. Her name turned out to be Park Heeyoung, but she told everyone she preferred to be called Dove as she was 'a peaceful person.'. Yun knew the camera caught her rolling her eyes when that was mentioned but she didn't care. She was tried of the girl and didn't enjoy two faced people. Plus she was hungry, Yun decided she was going to every street food booth on the way home.

Her phone rang at the worst time as she was deep in her thoughts. "What do you need?" she asked, regretting her harsh tone when she realized it was Jiyong. "Something happen?" concern laced in his voice. "Nothing, Just on my way home." Yun lied, feeling his eyes roll as soon as she said those words. "What has yeobo down?" He asked in an ageyo voice. Yun laughed at his attempt and again mentioned that everything was fine. "Is something up with you?" She asked him, raising a brow at his chuckling. "I am in South Korea at the moment. I have three days to myself and Gaho misses me." Jiyong said, Yun nodded as she looked around realizing it would be safer to walk away from a major studio when on the phone with Jiyong. "Sounds like fun. I take it Hong Kong loved you?" she asked. "Doesn't everyone though?" He countered, making her to sigh at his ego showing. "I was thinking of seeing you too." He said after a beat. "I also need to be recharged with Yun energy." She found herself blushing at his words, a small smile appearing. "Where are you?" He asked next. Yun told him her current location and she could hear his gears winding on how could he find a route to her.

"There should be a Jaws Tteokbokki at the end of the street if you see the bakery. Take a left turn down that street and I will pick you up from there." He sounded as if he had the location mapped out. "What if I am seen?" She asked worried about paparazzi hanging around. "I picked Kiko up from here before and never got caught so i---" When he stopped mid-sentence Yun worried if her signal had dropped. "Ok Ji, I will see you there." Yun hung up and started to follow the directions given to her. 'Did he feel awkward for mentioning Kiko?' she wondered. She couldn't lie to herself and say she felt nothing about the idea he past loves. 'I just prefer not to think about it. I have an ex and he doesn't seem interested in my past.' It took fifteen minutes for Yun to reach the location. Her stomach growling loudly as she past Jaws and caused her to debate for a moment if it would be rude of her to grab something, she decided against it. Yun noticed a black Hyundai Sonata with tinted windows slowly eased next to her. The passenger window slowly rolled down and Yun felt her heart race increase from the sight of Jiyong. 'What is wrong with me? He is a crush but nothing that should be like this.' she scolded herself feeling upset with her inner feelings for throwing her off.

"Are you just going to stare at me?" He asked flashing her a smile. Yun scoffed and got into the car. "I wasn't staring." she grumbled, hoping she didn't have a blush at the moment.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He watched her fiddle with