He entered the audition room and bowed towards the table of judges. He took a deep breath and introduced himself in his thick Daegu accent, “My name is Min Yoongi and I am 18 years old.” His voice sounded stable to his ears, to his surprise. He was shaking on the inside but showing weakness during an audition is going to kill his chances; at least that was what they told him.

“What are you here for?” the male judge asked, eyes settling on the small figure in front of him that lacked the confidence and looks an idol should possess. But after spending 20 years in the industry, he knew that the best surprises come from people like him.

“Rap,” he answered, short and curt. He didn’t miss the way the eyes of the judge widened just a bit. The female judge nodded and sat back, silently hoping for the audition to go well for his sake. She had seen too many tears and too many dreams falling apart that day.

Yoongi nodded and loosened his shoulders before starting,

“Over there, the autumn leaves look like they’re at stake

Seems like they’re looking at us

If our hands only touch,

It’s going to crumble

I just looked with the winds of autumn

Expressions and words that have gotten colder all of a sudden

I can see our relationship withering

Like the autumn sky, it’s empty between us

An ambiguous difference that is different from before

A night that’s much more quiet this day

A single autumn leaf that’s attached to the branch

It’s breaking, I can see the ending

The dead leaves that are withering

The silence inside my aloof heart

Please don’t fall

Please don’t fall, my withering leaf.”

He dropped his hands and lifted his head, facing the silence that enveloped the three individuals as the two judges eye him with expressionless eyes.

Why aren’t they saying anything?

“Alright-“

Why did they look at him like that?

“Yoonpyo, was it?”

“My name is Min Yoongi.”

They can’t even remember his name.

“That was okay for a kid.”

He was just that - a kid. A talentless, immature little-

“Did you write your own lyrics?” the judge questioned. Yoongi nodded, croaking out a barely audible, “Yes.”

Silence once again.

“Alright, thank you, Min Yoongi. We’ll give you a call.”

No, they won’t.

He bowed and left the suffocating room. His fists were clenched at his sides and he wanted to cry but it seemed like his life had all the tears from his eyes already.

It was a mistake. They were right. They laughed at him for wanting to be an idol. He was supposed to be a rapper like them but he knew that he wanted more than just that. They said he was a joke. Idols are jokes. Their lives are all about fame and money. Their recognition is based off looks, not talent. He didn’t have the looks.

And he had to admit that he barely had any talent.

* * *

He had suffered from so much rejection in the past. Why was he even surprised? He wasn’t all that good compared to the other dancers he saw that day in the waiting room. They seemed to stretch for miles and popped their bodies like bones weren’t in their vocabulary. Hoseok, on the other hand, lacked the professionalism the other dancers showcased. He was, after all, part of an underground dance crew.

Underground crews were never seen in good light. They were labelled as attention seeking talentless individuals who weren’t good enough to be accepted into the industry they could only dream of. Jung Hoseok was one of them. He had tried so many times for agencies all over the nation but not once did they contact him back.

So as his phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, he couldn’t help but pause as he read the name displayed across his screen; Unknown Number. It couldn’t be, he told himself. It must be some salesman wanting to promote some crappy deal that would only result in a scam. Just before he slid his finger across the reject button, his mother’s voice sounded from behind him, “Answer it.”

He looked back at her with surprised eyes. He didn’t even hear her coming in. After a second of meeting her eyes, he answered the call and brought the phone to his ears.

“Hello?”

“Jung Hoseok?”

“Yes?”

“This is Big Hit Entertainment. You attended an audition a few weeks ago, yes?”

Hoseok swallowed and nodded then remembered that the caller couldn’t even see the gesture.

“Yes.”

“Well, good news for you, Mr. Jung. We’d like to call you back for a second evaluation this Saturday at the same venue.”

He was at a lost for words. A call-back. His first call-back after countless failures in the past. The caller then informed him of the specifications of the call-back and Hoseok scrambled for a paper and pen. He jotted the information down in messy handwriting thanks to his shakey hand.

“Looking forward to see you soon, Mr. Jung.”

“Y-Yes! I won’t disappoint, Sir!”

With that, the call ended and all Hoseok could do was stare at his phone in astonishment. He turned his head to his mother who was bustling about in the kitchen, putting away groceries. She heard it all, he could tell. From the way she was biting her lips to not let her grin slip, it was beyond obvious.

He stood up and bounded across the apartment towards his mother, the one who had been the one to nudge him along on his journey in this killing industry. He hugged her tightly, cutting off her air supply and a croaky laugh broke free from her lips as she hugged him back.

“I knew you could do it, Hoseok-ah.”

He couldn’t respond. Tears forced their way through his eyelids as he sobbed into his mother’s hair. He wanted to thank her for everything. For putting up with the snide comments from neighbours. For picking him back up whenever he hit rock bottom. For making him who he was today. But when he opened his mouth, all he could manage was a loud cry of gratitude.

“Show them what you can do. Prove the other agencies that they were wrong.”

He nodded and pulled away to shoot her a grateful smile. Although he still couldn’t manage any coherent words, his mother could see the gratitude in his eyes. She knew he had it in him from the start, when he could barely pull of a dance move without looking like he was suffocating. He had passion. There weren’t many like him anymore and she was proud to call him her son.

His mother pushed away playfully and resumed to keeping the vegetables in the fridge, “You better go before I start crying too.”

Hoseok let out a little laugh and wiped his tears away. He made his way into the storeroom he had transformed into a practice room after months of persuading his mother. With newfound determination, he turned the music on and began stretching his limbs.

That night, he didn’t come out of the room. He stayed in there until sleep consumed him. Choreography was tough but he loved it. He loved the challenge it provided and he loved the outcome of it; the feeling of utter satisfaction. He was going to kill the call-back and prove those agencies wrong, like his mother had put it.

He was going to make it.

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A/N:

Hope you guys are enjoying the fic so far! And congratulations to BTS for their second Daesang! I’m so proud of those boys and did you see Min freaking Yoongi? That boy made me cry and I don't cry for nothing ;~;

Anyway, do leave some feedback since this is my first fic and I would love to grow from some constructive criticism as a writer.

(And subscribe please hoho)

And remember:

“Let’s fly with our beautiful wings in 2017 as well.”

- Rap Monster, 2^nd December 2016.