It was just 2 days before my trip to Dubai. I didn't really have much to buy because I either already had it at home or it would be provided for me. Regardless, I decided to go shopping after training. Oddly, I was let off early from training today. The trainers were suddenly called out for a meeting and I was told that I could go. I found it strange but I sure wasn't complaining. Before they could change their minds, I grabbed my gear and left. The initial plan was to get in my car and drive straight home. But as I was dumping my stuff in the car, a bakery across the street had caught my attention. And just like I was on a little tour of the area around my office.

So far that resulted in a bottle of sunscreen and a pair of sandals. My next stop was a convenience store across the street. It was just about time for my daily dose of banana milk. I walked up to the pedestrian crossing and waited for the lights to change. There weren't any cars at that point so I could see straight across to the other side. It was a pretty long crossing so this little girl who was holding on to her mother's dress looked tiny and absolutely adorable. Her other hand was holding onto a little pink ball. It bugged me quite a bit when I noticed that her mother was not even paying attention to her. She had her earphones on and was texting away. Then it happened. The little girl accidentally let go of the ball. My heart stopped when I saw her running onto the street. I looked to see if her mother noticed but she didn't. As the people on the other side started to notice the girl kept walking further and the worst happened. A car started coming at the crossing at a really high speed. Just then the girl squats down to pick her ball up. She just stayed there for some weird reason. There was no way the driver was going to see her on time. So without thinking much of it, I dropped my stuff and ran as fast as I could. I could hear honking so I knew the car wasn't going to slow down in time. I kept running and picked the girl up in one swift motion and 2 steps later I felt the car zoom past me.  As I reached the other side the little girl started crying. This finally caught the ignorant mother's attention.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY DAUGHTER?!"

I was about to defend myself when the other pedestrians came to the rescue.

"This woman here saved your daughter's life while you were using your phone! She ran across the road to save her"

Many other scoldings followed. The little girl started to slow her crying and so I let her down. As her mother was being reprimanded I decided I needed to talk to the little girl about her actions.

"Hey little one. Do you know how dangerous that was just now? Why did you run on the road?"

"I wanted my ball unnie"

"But what if something happens to you. I know you love your ball. But you can get very badly hurt. It will be really painful. Would you want that?"

"No."

"Exactly. Now I need you to promise me this. When crossing the road, you must always have a grownup with you. Even if you drop your favourite toy. Okay?"

"Okay"

"You promise?"

"Yes I promise"

"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier"

I turned around to see the little girl's mother apologising to me. I just told her that that wasn't the issue and told her to pay more attention to her daughter. With that I walked away from the crowd, got my banana milk and hurried back to pick up the stuff I had dropped earlier. After such an eventful day I decided I should head back. I needed to finish packing and still had another long training ahead of me the next day.

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I was on the way in to training the following day when my manager rushes out the front doors to explode saying "what did you do?! The bosses won't tell me anything. But the news wants to interview you!"

"I.."

"Nevermind. The bosses want to see you now! Hurry up to the meeting room and I can hear your explanation there."

I walked into the room to expressionless faces. I honestly had no idea what I did wrong.

"We heard about what you did yesterday."

"I swear i didn't do anything wrong"

"Who said you did?"

"Huh?"

"We're talking about the rescue?"

"Oh the cute little kid? Nah that was nothing. How did you even find out?"

"You were caught on traffic cameras. The news wants to interview you for this. And we want you to do it"

"Erm okay sure. I guess I have no issues with that"

"And we are going to record your debut single in 2 weeks.  Make sure that you have your song ready by then to compare with our proposed song. We are rushing this because you currently have a strong pre-debut presence in the media.. At this rate I think you'll be famous even before your debut. So we want to capitalise on this. All good?"

"Yes. All good sir"

"Okay good. Now you can go back to your training. The news crew will be in at 7pm. It'll just be a short one but your stylist will be in to decide your outfits so make sure you are ready for him at 6pm. Alright?"

"Yes sir"

"Okay now go"

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"Ellie-shi, what made you decide to save the girl?"

"There was no other option"

"And you were okay risking your life for an absolute stranger?"

"... well I know what it feels like to lose someone in an accident. I wasn't going to let it happen again, not on my watch"

"What if you couldn’t save her?"

"What if I could? That's the way I think. Focus on the can.. not the can't" 

"Would you do it again?"

"Without a doubt"

"And there you have it everyone. Artist in training and our new neighbourhood hero, Ellie-shi. Thank you for interviewing with us and thank you once again for saving that little girl.