“Please welcome Son SeungYeon!” Shin Dong Yeop announced and I watched her walk up the stage.

“Hi, Everyone. I’m Son SeungYeon. Today I have a special guest with me but it’s a surprise so you will just have to wait and see. Having said that, I hope you enjoy our performance. Thank you.”

SeungYeon turned to her right just before the music started and gave me a thumbs up.  I returned it and the music began. She started singing at a slow pace with just the piano as accompaniment. The song was about heartbreak and she expressed it well with every word. She finally sang the last word of the first verse and lets the sound resonate throughout the hall. Then the lights went off. That was my cue. SeungYeon walked to the back of the stage and climbed up the podium while I took centre stage. The lights flashed back on and the music started again, this time, stronger. I danced with power to match that strength. Then her voice became angrier, a perfect match to the lyrics. I let myself feel that anger, that rage and let it flow through my body to my fingertips, with every move I made. The stronger her voice got, the stronger my moves became. Then she belted a monstrously powerful note which I accompanied with a series of fast spins and flips. We had to time this right, and we did. She stopped as I dropped to my knees and let the note hang in the air. The audience held their breaths. Then except for a spotlight on SeungYeon, the rest of the lights go off but I stayed there on my knees as Seungyeon sings the final line, now slow again and instead of angry it was sad. Finally, the music stopped. 1,2,3,4,5. The audience finally started clapping and some were even on their feet, cheering their hearts out.

“Thank you, everyone. I hope you liked my performance with Ellie.” SeungYeon said as she walked over to stand next to me and held my hand. Together we raised it and took a bow before walking off stage.

“Wow Ellie, that was amazing! It was better than all the rehearsals we’ve had. I was already impressed but now wow! You made the performance that much more amazing”

“It’s thanks to you. I just expressed what you do with your voice through my body and you weren’t holding back this time. I guess you were saving it all for this final performance and it was the emotions in your voice that I channelled into my dance. So yes, it’s thanks to you and your amazing vocals”

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‘“But that’s not why I am calling. We have an alternative proposal for you.”

“And what is that?”

“First, we would like you to perform a duet with SeungYeon on Immortal Songs. She will sing while you will dance. Are you agreeable to that?”

“Yes. It would be my honour to perform alongside someone as talented as her”

“That’s wonderful! SeungYeon was the one who requested that you perform with her. It’s when we looked you up that we noticed how talented you are. We also realised that you’d been sending us some of your original songs and were once again impressed, which brings me to my second offer.”

“Second offer?”

“Yes. We would like to sign you as an artist of our company. We have intentions to prepare you for a solo debut. Given that you’re a natural born dancer I’m sure you will pick up other styles quickly as well. We will train you in those styles and provide you with vocal training as well. There’s so much raw talent that needs just a little fine-tuning.”

“What about the music?”

“We have an offer for you regarding that as well. In every album that you release, regardless of whether it is a mini album or full album, at least 2 of the songs will be your original pieces. We will be specifying this in the contract you sign with us. However, whether or not one of those songs is the title track will still be entirely up to the company. And in the case of your debut single, the company’s producers will produce a track that it sees fit and you will produce one as well. The company heads will make the final pick. How does that sound to you?”

“Wow…”

“I know that it’s a lot of information to take in and we want you to think this through. We will give you until the day of the immortal song performance to decide. In the meantime, whenever you rehearse with SeungYeon, you can interact with the others in the company, understand the culture here. We will also hand you the contract in both English and Korean and you can get a thorough understanding of the terms”

“Thank you. I appreciate the time to think it through. I look forward to working with SeungYeon and interacting with the rest of the team”

“All right then. Seungyeon will contact you soon and you can make arrangements to rehearse with her. All the best with your performance and we look forward to hearing some good news from you! Thanks and Goodbye”

“Thank you very much, bye.”

“Ellie! Who was that? What was it about? Hurry up and tell me!”

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“Speaking of which, Ellie, have you decided? You need to get back to my company by today”

“I have. I decided to..”

“Seungyeon-shi please head up onstage now to await the results”

“Ellie come on up with me. It took the 2 of us to make this performance possible”

“Are you sure?”

“3 consecutive wins and the final win! That was amazing! We did it! Ellie, thank you for joining me! It would not have turned out the way it did without you.”

“Seungyeon-ah stop with the compliments. Honestly, your vocals are mad. For a dancer to emote, the music needs to be on point and the vocals are a part of that. So you gave my dance life. If anything I should be complimenting you”

“But Ellie..”

“Okay fine. We both take equal credit? I won’t have it any other way. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“And yes I accepted”

“Accepted what?”

“Your company’s offer, I informed them this morning. I will be signing the contract later.”

“OMG! That’s great news! I’ll look forward to seeing you around in the company. Maybe we could even collaborate more often! This is so exciting. I’m glad we’ve become friends over the past week. At least you won’t feel alone. I know I did when I first started.”

“Yeah I’m glad we did. You’re such fun to work with and did I mention amazing yet? Haha! I really do hope we collaborate again. It’ll be so much fun”

“Seungyeon ah! The boss told you to pass the message to Ellie-shi that he would like to meet with her ASAP”

“Oh okay! You heard her, right? The boss wants to see you. Do you want me to send you back to the office?”

“It’s okay, I drove here.”

“You have a car?!”

“Yes, I do. But I drove here on my motorbike”

“…”

“You want to see it, don’t you? Your expression says you do haha”

“YES! I want to!”

“Do you just want to see it? Or go for a ride? I have a spare helmet”

“Manager Unnie! You can head back to the office first. Ellie will be driving me!”

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“Alright Ellie, I asked to speak to you as we have a couple of things to settle. Before that, let’s just go through some of the basic things in the contract and have it signed. Firstly there is a no dating till debut clause in the contract. Its sole purpose is to ensure your focus will be on work and efforts towards making a successful debut. After that, it’ll be all up to you.”

“Yes I am agreeable to that”

“Great. Secondly, in the first year after debut profits will be split as 70% to the company and 30% to you. Usually, it is an 80:20 ratio but because your accommodation is settled we have lesser cost to cover. Subsequent years will be 50% each.”

“Yes I am agreeable to that too”

“Thirdly, there are your commitments to your dad’s company. In the contract, we have expressed agreement to accommodate to those commitments”

“Yes, that was a vital contributing factor to my final decision”

“Alright finally let’s talk about music. I’ve been informed that this clause has already been discussed with you. So are you agreeable with that?”

“Yes Sir, I most definitely am. I am thankful for the opportunity to make my own music. I know that this is going to be a great opportunity for me to learn more and improve as a musician and producer.”

“I’m glad you feel that way. So let’s not delay it any further. You can keep the copies that were given to you. And sign these copies here as well.”

“Do you mind if I look through these copies as well?”

“Yes, you may. We will leave you to it and I will be back to go over the other things we need to settle.”

“Alright, so that settles it! Welcome to our company. We’re glad to have you”

“Thank you for having me”

“Let’s work hard to make good music alright?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way”

“So how about we settle the minor details right now?”

“Yes sure”

“Okay, you will be meeting your manager and stylist today. They will be coming in shortly and when they do I will introduce them to you. Usually, trainees aren’t assigned managers till debut, but considering that you already have made media appearances we decided to assign you one to manage possible incoming schedules. Your manager will also be coordinating your training hours so you will have to inform her of your other commitments so that she can make the necessary arrangements. As for your stylist, he will be working closely with you when it comes to both televised and non-televised appearances and events. We usually control the outfits you are allowed to wear even on your free time, but according to your stylist, you’re not a fashion terrorist so we will leave that be in your case.”

“Hi Boss. We’re here”

“Oh they’re here! Ellie-shi, please meet your manager, Kim Sooyoung. She’s been with the company for 2 years now and has proven to be an effective worker. She has recently been promoted to manager to work with you. Please be patient with her”

“Hi Sooyoung-shi, please be patient with me as well. My schedule may get a little complicated but I hope we can work it out together.”

“Just call me Unnie, Ellie-shi. I look forward to working with you too”

“Yes Unnie, and just call me Ellie”

“And I’m Junseop, you’re stylist. You can just call me oppa as well”

“Alright oppa.. I look forward to working with you too. And oh yeah, thanks for approving of my fashion sense hehehe”

“Okay I’ll leave you to get to know each other and discuss your training”

“Bye boss!” We chorused and bowed in unison.

“I’ll take my leave too. I’ll see you both soon.”

“Bye Junseop Oppa!”

“Okay Ellie, your first training session is scheduled for tomorrow. This week will be entirely focused on dance. You’re expected to be here at 9am tomorrow but I would like to meet with you at 8am. There are some things we need to discuss and I would prefer to do it tomorrow after you get some rest. You worked hard today. You deserve the rest.”

“Okay got it, 8am tomorrow”

“I’ll be there at your place to pick you up at 7am.”

“Oh there’s no need. I’ll drive straight to the office.”

“I’m your manager though, that’s part of what I am supposed to do.”

 “You’re my manager, not my chauffer. I have a car and I enjoy driving. So please don’t insist on picking me up in some company car. Is that okay Sooyoung Unnie?

“I guess that’s okay, although no one has ever done this before. Are you sure? What about your schedules in the future, the really early ones? Won’t you want to sleep during the ride there?”

“If it’s a long ride, we could take turns driving, if it’s a short ride I should be fine. Let’s say I do want to sleep, I could just pick you up and you could drive the rest of the way. Easy. Speaking of which, where do you live?”

“Near you actually, in the apartments near the park.”

“And how do you get to work?”

“By bus”

“So to pick me up you would have had to go to work by bus, get the car, pick me up and head back to the office?”

“Yes”

“That makes abosolutely NO sense. So this is what we’re going to do. Text me your address. Every time I have a schedule, I will pick you up. This way I still drive and you have more time to sleep. Win-win. Okay Unnie?”

“I get it now”

“Hmm? What do you mean Unnie?”

“You don’t have a problem with me picking you up. You just think it’s unfair that I have to get up earlier just to pick you up”

“… was it that obvious?”

“Not until you let it slip just now. You were concerned about me getting enough sleep. Now I’ve seen it for myself”

“Seen what?”

“The kindness in you, I’ve seen what people have been talking about. My main source was obviously SeungYeon”

“SeungYeon is just being nice.”

“Yeah she said you are really humble too and so well now I guess I have seen that too”

“…”

“Just accept the compliment, Ellie”

“Okay, fine I will. But only because I have nothing to say to that”

“Ahahaha just go home now Ellie. I will see you tomorrow.”

“Are you heading home too, Unnie?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll drop you off”

“You drove here?”

“Yes on my bike.”

“Why do I get the feeling I don’t have the option to refuse?”

“Because you don’t”

“I already have a sense of how working with you is going to be”

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