Erika's POV

After a whole day of persuading my father to let me take this challenge, he finally gave in, while on the other hand, my mother was happy just to know that there might be a possibility for me to become girly and took the chance to send me away. How? I'm not sure either. Maybe it was because I had already gone to that side of the world 3 years prior, when I went to China for one month; however this was not going to be a short trip.

Seunggi oppa (he told me to call him so, though it was a bit awkward at the beginning) told my parents that he would make sure that I always stay in contact with them. I was just glad that my sister supported my decision all along. My parents got all the information needed to understand what would be happening, at least to the best I could translate into Spanish which was first translated from Korean to English by Mr. Kim.

That night of the small meeting between Seunggi oppa and my parents I started packing small things for my trip that summer. I would not be going with Seunggi oppa right that moment since there are still some things to settle back in Korea for my stay. I also had to complete my second year of college and simply receive my Associates Degree and pause my studies for about a year or two.

Seunggi oppa left my house after he gave me the task of naming some Korean agencies that I would like to get recruited into, and of course, my first choice was none other than YG Entertainment. I knew it was very hard to get into YG, especially since it is one of the best in Korea, but I still wrote it down. I didn’t really give much thought into whether I would actually get in or not, I just thought, let me see if I will simply be acknowledged.  Along with YGE I also wrote down King Kong Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and C-Jes Entertainment.

All I had to do know was go to school, finish this year of studies and get ready for my trip to Korea. For the next three months I worked out daily, watched my weight and managed my diet. As everyday passed, I grew more and more impatient. Amy had to see the way I had little freak out sessions and would sometimes record it so that I can watch myself after I calmed down. Sigh, I slumped my shoulders; I'm going to miss Amy the most.

3 Months Later - May, 2017

I was at the airport with my bags at hand. I was dressed in a blue shirt and bleached out cut skinny jeans. I wore my favorite red converse high tops and a black snapback. For jewelry I just wore really small earrings and a watch on my left wrist, along with several random black bands on my right wrist. I carried my light black sweater around my waist since it was hot outside, but it would most likely get cold in the plane. And I could never forget my cute stuffed dog who I named Pyo after Block-B's P.O.

I waited with my small family for Seunggi oppa to come to us with our boarding passes. I was a bit giddy since I had just drunk my large Caramel Macchiato plus more than half of my older sister’s large Vanilla Late. I was ready with my bags, just waiting for Seunggi oppa to call me to go, but I know I would have to face my family and say my goodbyes before leaving. I always hated saying goodbye, but today would be the exception. I always get teary eyed when I have to leave my loved ones behind; I already cried my share of tears when I said goodbye to Amy, Chris and Alex, but right now I was too excited. I just wanted to hop into that plane and fly to Korea as soon as possible. I knew that once I got to Korea I would be faced with rigorous work, but I would not mind since it has been my biggest dream to travel to Korea for years!

I finally see Seunggi oppa walking toward my family being followed by Mr. Kim, of course. I smiled brightly when I saw his smile. I caught myself from moving around too much.

“Are you ready?” Seunggi oppa asked me as he was right next to us.

I simply nodded, not ready to make a fool of myself if my words failed me.

“Ok! Let’s go go~!” Seunggi oppa said cutely. It was so weird seeing him act like that, it never crossed my mind that he would have that type of side to him.

I finally hugged my mom goodbye and received a teary smile from her as we parted from our embrace. Next was my sister since my father was having a hard time with his emotions.

“Good luck, sis!” My sister patted my back while we hugged.

“Thank you!” I gave her a huge smile which told her that I was happy and that I knew what I was getting myself into.

“Appa,” I cleared my throat, walking towards him. He had his head hung low, not meeting anybody’s eyes. I went up to him and hugged him quietly.  I could feel him slightly shacking and I knew he was crying. I thought I would not shed any tears today, but my father was always my greatest love. I loved my father because we were more like best friends. He knew everything about me, and I was honestly more open to him than my mother and sister combined. To see him cry made me shed tears as well. I patted his back and backed away from our embrace. I looked up at his face and saw that he was smiling a bit and I smiled back a reassuring smile.

“Take care, dad,” I said.

“Wait, shouldn’t I be the one telling you those words?” My father asked with his eyebrows raised, since he can't raise only one at a time. “You are the one going off to the other side of the world after all.”

I simply laughed and gave him another small hug and headed towards my hand bags—Seunggi oppa had already checked in my luggage. I was taking two big luggage bags, but one was checked in with his name since he only brought a small bag with enough things for his two day stay to pick me up.

Mr. Kim was leaving already by the time I ended my goodbyes, since he lives here in Texas and was only a temporary translator. I waved to my family as I walked through the doors leading to security check. I took my boarding pass and passport from Seunggi oppa and stepped up to the security officer who looked at me strangely before giving me back my passport and boarding pass, she probably thought it was weird for a Hispanic to travel to Korea. I walked past the officer and put all my belongings on the plastic bins that would go through an x-ray camera. I passed through the metal detector on the first try and went to grab my belongings once again. I put on my shoes back on as I waited for Seunggi oppa to pass through the metal detectors as well. He joined me after getting his bag and put on his shoes next to me.

We then walked through the airport to our terminal. We still had about thirty more minutes for our plane to start boarding people so we just sat in silence.

“How was school?” Seunggi oppa asked shyly with a small accent.

“It was ok,” I started. “Joah yo. (I liked it)”

“W-what… study?” Seunggi oppa tried his best to speak in English.

“Umm… International Relations,” I started but I saw oppa had a blank stare. “Business.”

“Oh,” Seunggi oppa’s mouth made a cute “O” shape.

“Will all Business Passengers, seats rows 1-10 begin lining up to board on Korean Air 701, traveling from DFW to Incheon, Korea,” the lady announcer came over the intercom.

I looked over at Seunggi oppa who stood up when he heard “Korean Air”. I stood up as well and started to grab my small bag with necessities, Kwangsoo, and my small blanket.  I walked by Seunggi oppa’s side as we waited for the lady to call for those seated in seats 21-30.

Finally, we were able to board the plane. Seunggi oppa had seat 17A and I had seat 17B. I like to check outside the window during the flight so we switched seats when we got to our row. I tucked my bag under the seat in front of me and grabbed my giraffe so that I could buckle us both in.

“Mwo hae yo? (What are you doing?)”Seunggi oppa asked as he saw me being childish. I just smiled and relaxed in my seat.

I my phone and sent my dad a quick message saying we were already on board.

To: ERIKA

OK, take care, sweetie. You know daddy loves you. Always think of me when you feel upset, happy, excited, mad, basically every moment of your life. No boys are allowed in your heart apart from me got that? *Cries* I miss you already! Come back home!!

For real, though, take care. Love you

From: DAD

I just smiled like an idiot while I read my dad’s reply. Just then the hostess came up on the announcement and started giving the speech for everything that would be needed on this ride. I just shut my eye, prayed a small prayer and relaxed.

Seunggi oppa and I step out the plane after 14 hours of sitting. I can barely feel my . I carry Pyo on my left arm as I try to fix my bag’s strap over my head to my other shoulder. My hair is sticking really weirdly from under my snapback. All the time I put into my outfit two mornings ago before our flight, and now it’s all wrinkled. Two mornings ago? Yes, I lost one day of my life while we flew to Korea due to the time zones, I'll get it back when I go back, though.

OH MY GOSH!! I'm really in South Korea now!! I start fangirling inside while I try to take in the air. *Cough cough* that was a bad idea. The air in Korea is really humid and hot since its summer, yet it was much more pleasurable than the air in Texas. It’s like an oven in Texas during the summer; very suffocating.

I mile brightly as I walk behind Seunggi oppa. We went to get my luggage and headed out the arrivals’ doors. I spotted someone with a white board with the letters E. VIRGEN scribbled on it.

I mentally face palmed myself. I hated when people used my last name. I was not upset right now, since it was not the man’s fault, but I was embarrassed. I had always had peers laugh and joke about my last name, and it really made me upset.

Seunggi oppa and I started to walk towards the man holding the white board and greeted him. There several people who recognized Seunggi oppa even though he was wearing a surgical mask over his mouth and nose. There were several reporters as well, they most likely heard about the news. The crowd began to get more congested. I could barely walk with the help of Seunggi oppa’s manager and the man who was holding the white board.

Our luggage and we were safely inside a sleek, black sedan, which was most likely Seunggi oppa’s car, and his manager drove out the airport. I patted Kwangsoo’s head as we made our war out of the Incheon Airport. I stared out the window and saw many high rise buildings; some looked old and run down, other looked rather new. I guessed that they were mainly apartment complexes, though, since they looked rather similar to each other.

I did not notice that we were already at Hook Entertainment in Cheondam-dong, where Seunggi oppa’s office is located. We got off the car and I followed after him as we made our way to his office.

“Could I get a staff member to translate to English, please?” Seunggi oppa spoke into his phone as he sat down at his desk. “Sit down, please.” He spoke to me with a wide smile that showed his dimple. I gladly took the seat, I would probably fall on my face if I saw that smile again; I'm still not used to seeing him in person.

Shortly after a young man walked in and bowed to Seunggi oppa and me before introducing himself. Seunggi oppa began to speak to the young man and then waited for him to translate back to me.

“Mr. Lee says that he got news about the agencies that will be willing to give you a try so that you can work under their label. He says that he sent the video of you reciting your script to YG, King Kong Ent., and JYP, and C-Jes. He says that he received an audition date for you from C-Jes, JYP, and YG.” The young man translated everything to his best abilities as I nodded in understanding. Seunggi oppa said something else and the young man started to translate again. “Mr. Lee wants you to know that the audition dates for YG and JYP are at the same time so you will have to choose between one of them, also, it is by the day after tomorrow. And as for C-Jes, their audition is in one week.”

As he finished saying this, my heart did a flip when I heard I would be auditioning for YG. I almost screamed out in excitement but held it in. I nodded and said I would go to YG’s audition instead of JYP.

“Mr. Lee says that you will be staying in a hotel room near here and he will pick you up the day of your audition for your audition for YG. You have the whole day tomorrow to rest and to practice for your audition.”

I nodded and got up along with Seunggi oppa and followed him to his car. His manager drove me to the hotel I would be staying in for the next few days.

I was checked in to my hotel room and followed Seunggi oppa up the elevator to my room. I walked in and soon after Seunggi oppa left after making sure I didn’t need anything else. I plopped on my bed and I drifted off into a deep slumber ever though it was still 4pm in Seoul.

My mind kept repeating something as I fell asleep: Am I really ready for this?

___________________________

This is what i meant with the inccident in the plane.

Poor Yoohwan! LOL! His face! (for those who don't know Yoohwan, he is JYJ's Park Yoochun's little brother.)

Did anyone notice? I named this chapter after iKON's new song!! Take a listen to it if you have not yet!!

WOW! This was a long chapter.... You Like??