December 1, 2010

“Do you think I’m easy?!”

“Of course not, why would you even think that?!”

“Because! Because…you used me. You used every bit of me until I could no longer breathe. Until I---“

“Seo Seohyun!”

A tall, slim girl turned her tiny head around and locked eyes with her acting coach, Yang Seowoo. “Unnie!” She called.

Her acting coach motioned Seohyun to come over. Seohyun bowed to the sunbae actors and actresses she was practicing with and rushed over to Seowoo unnie.

Seohyun slid her ponytail down so that her long chocolate brown hair fell past her shoulders in waves. “What’s up unnie? Don’t we have lessons later on?”

“I’ve got a job for you!”

Seohyun sighed. “Is it refilling your papers and documents again? Because if it is ask the other newbie’s.”

Her acting coach shook her head with a grin on her face. “I got you an audition!”

“What?!” yelped Seohyun as she began to giddily jump up and down in place.

“Yes! It’s an audition for a music video or something like that. I sent in your profile and an acting video, and they called me to say you got an audition."

Seohyun squealed in delight and grabbed Seowoo into a tight hug.

“Are you up for it?”

Seohyun hugged her tighter. “I don’t care! As long as I get an audition. Thank you so much unnie!”

“Consider it as an early Christmas present. Alright, let’s go to my office and I’ll tell you the rest of the details.”

The cold wintery season of December hit Seohyun hard as she exited the university building. She hugged herself warm against the wind. Although she was wearing her favorite pink pea coat, pink scarf, and white gloves and hat, the weather was still cold for the first day of December.

The auditions for the music video were at three p.m. After getting the rest on the information from Seowoo, Seohyun made her do her hair and makeup. She dressed out of her sweats and into cute street clothes. The auditions were at a secret location that only Seowoo and others who had gotten invited knew. So, they had to take her car.

As Seohyun got closer to Seowoo’s car, a man came out the passenger side. “Oh, oppa!”

It was Cho Jungil, one of the older sunbaes in her acting class from her first year in Dongguk University. He had graduated last year and was an influential sunbae to her. Him and Seowoo were the same age, 27, and knew each other since their first year in college. Seowoo had gone on to be the best acting coach and Jungil stayed longer to do action training and eventually opened up his own action school further down Seoul.

“What are you doing here?” asked Seohyun.

“I was recruited by Seowoo.” He said. “You’ve grown so much since last year.” He ruffled her hair with his hand.

Seohyun shrieked and began to fix her hair. “Oppa, don’t do that. I have an audition today!”

“I know,” said Jungil smiling. “That’s why I’m your manager for the day.”

“What?”

The window of the drivers seat began to roll down. “Are you two done? We’re wasting gas!” said Seowoo glaring at them.

The two got into the car and sped off.

“Unnie,” said Seohyun as she buckled her seatbelt. “What does Jungil oppa mean by manager of the day?”

“You can’t go to the auditions alone! You of all people should know that I have classes to teach in the afternoon. So, I can’t go with you. I told Jungil about it and he offered to go with you.”

“Oh, okay. Will you finally tell me where the auditions are?”

Seohyun caught Seowoo’s eye smile in the rearview mirror.

“Busan.”

“Kim Hyorin and Yang Junho!"

Seohyun watched as the third pair of auditionee’s entered what she liked to call the “Boom Room”. You can go in there and impress the judges with a boom or totally fail with a bad boom.

Thinking about it made Seohyun nervous. This was her second time experiencing an audition like this. The first time was a commercial for ramen noodles and she didn’t make it. She began to fidget with her hands as she looked around the room. The place where they were the auditions were being held was a small building that the company had bought in Busan.

There were about thirteen boys and girls waiting to be auditioned. Her eyes wandered around the room and landed on a boy that seemed to be her age. He was alone, off in a corner with an older woman who seemed to be his manager. He was sitting with his back to the wall. He wore gray skinny jeans, a red plaid shirt inside a darker gray cardigan, and white sneakers. His hair was a layered straight light brown. He had on large dark blue headphones and his eyes were closed.

Seohyun continued to stare at him. He was an out cast. Actually he chose to be one. Everyone else was conversing with each other, he was alone. Even Seohyun was able to mingle with other newbies like her.

“Seo Seohyun and Jung Yonghwa!”

She turned to Jungil who gave her a thumbs up. “You’ll do great! Hurry and get in there.”

Seohyun began to walk towards the “Boom Room”. The girls she had mingled with before, smiled at her as if to say good luck. Seohyun took a deep breath and entered the room.

Seated at a long table were four judges, three males and one female. Judge number one and two were middle aged men. They both wore crisp black suits a necktie. Seohyun knew that one was the director and the other one the editor. A younger man in his late twenties sat in the middle. He had on jeans, a navy blue cardigan over a white t-shirt, gray beanie, and black rimmed glasses. From the gossip outside, he is the photographer for the promotions and stills for the music video. Lastly, was the woman, the script writer. She was formally dressed in a blood red blouse tucked under a black pencil skirt. She had the most serious expression out of the four.

Suddenly the door opened an in walked Seohyun’s partner. She turned to see who it was and was shocked to see the same guy she was just thinking about in the waiting room.

“Your names?” said one of the judges.

Seohyun quickly snapped back to reality. “I’m Seo Seohyun.”

“And I’m Jung Yonghwa.”

She heard him come and stand beside her.

“Age?”

“I’m 19.” said Seohyun.

“21.”

“Okay,” said the woman judge. “I will explain to you how this audition process works. The reason you are paired up together is to see what kind of chemistry you two may have. We might like one of you or both. This audition will take part into three rounds. The first round is improvisation. Round two, photo shoot and Round 3 acting scene. You may or may not be with the same partner and can be eliminated in any round. Are you two ready?”

Seohyun nodded.

“Good,” said one of the middle aged judges. “The first round is improvisation. Your task is too act off each other using that park bench behind you. You have one minute to discuss a possible scenario. Begin.”

She felt Yonghwa grab her arm and pull her aside. She looked up into his eyes.

“Just follow me.” He said.

“Follow you?”

“Just act off me like that judge said.”

“I don’t know,” said Seohyun. “Shouldn’t we think of a scenario?”

He shook his head. “Just sit on the bench. You’ll know what to do.”

“Times up! Please proceed.”

Seohyun took a seat on the bench.

“We’ll call cut, so please begin.”

Yonghwa sat on the bench, smiled at Seohyun and lay his head down on her lap so that his legs dangled off the bench.

A little bit taken aback, Seohyun readjusted herself and began fixing his bangs.

“You surprised me,” She said.

His eyes were closed as he smiled. “I’m full of surprises.”

Seohyun laughed. “Oh, are you?”

He opened his eyes and stared at her. “Why? Do you think I’m joking?”

Before Seohyun could say yes, Yonghwa lifted his head up. Their faces were barely an inch apart. They stared into each others eyes. Seohyun felt her heart beat rapidly against her chest.

He smirked at her. “Do you think I’m joking now?”

“No,” whispered Seohyun.

“Cut! Thank you, next!”

Yonghwa smiled at her and pinched her cheeks before getting up and leaving the room. Seohyun followed after him as she rubbed her cheek. She was dazed as she opened the door.

“How was it?” asked Jungil. “Are you okay?”

Seohyun nodded.

“Did that guy make you trouble?”

She shook her head. “No, why?”

Jungil shrugged. “I just don’t get good vibes from him.” Jungil led her towards a table of snacks and drinks. “Eat a little bit of something. I’ll be back. I have some calls to make to the action school.”

Seohyun watched as Jungil walked outside, before grabbing two drinks. She looked around and spotted Yonghwa sitting alone again. His manager was not beside him. Seohyun decided to approach him.

‘Hey,” She held out the drink.

She noticed his eyes were closed and his music on full blast. Seohyun nudged him on the arm. He finally opened his eyes on the second budge. She offered the drink to him. He took off his headphones, took the drink, and took a long sip.

“I’m Seo Seohyun.”

“I know.” He said as he set down his drink.

“Should I call you oppa?”

“What for?” He asked.

“Well…you’re older than me. I should show respect towards you.”

She heard him chuckle. “It’s alright. You can speak informally to me.”

“I can’t.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean you can’t?”

Seohyun nodded.

He nodded at her as if understanding her oddness and went back to drinking his drink.

“So, how do you think we did?” Seohyun asked.

Yonghwa shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Is this your first time?”

“Acting? Yeah, but I’ve done other things.”

“Like what?”

“You’re a nosy one aren’t you?”

“Not nosy. Just…curious.”

“I did some modeling,” He replied. “Like for clothes.”

“Then you’ll ace the next round.”

Yonghwa gave her a cocky smile. “Most likely.”

They turned silent. Seohyun looked down at his hands and noticed his fingers. There were indications of calluses. “Your fingers…”

“Oh, my calluses?” Yonghwa looked down at his hands, as he stretched them out into a fist. “I play guitar often.”

“You do?!”

He nodded. “Why are you so surprised?”

“I’ve always wanted to learn to play.”

Yonghwa looked up at her in the eyes. “Maybe I’ll teach you someday.”

“I’d like that.”

“Seohyun!”

Seohyun looked up to find Jungil. He had a stern look as he motioned her over.

“I’ll see you later.” She said turning to go to Jungil.

“Why were you with him?” asked Jungil.

“Why?” She laughed. “Are you jealous?”

Jungil simply laughed and ruffled her hair. Seohyun swatted his hand away playfully as she fixed her hair.

Suddenly, the room turned silent as an assistant came out of the judging room.

“The names that I call on this list are eligible to proceed onto the next round.”

Seohyun felt Jungil wrap his arm around her shoulder, comforting her nerves.

“Song Maerin and Park Jungsoo, Lee Yoomi and Yoo Bae, Kang Hana and Kim Jongkook, and the final couple Seo Seohyun and Jung Yonghwa.”

Seohyun’s eyes practically popped out of her eye sockets as she heard her name called. She looked around the room and locked eyes with Yonghwa. She smiled brightly at him as he simply nodded at her.

Next round, here we go.

“Okay! Put your arm around her…great! Stay like that!”

Seohyun stared into the camera as the flash went off.

As soon as the assistant had announced the names, the second round had begun. The “Boom Room” had been quickly set up into a photo shoot session. The first couple to go was Seohyun and Yonghwa. A photographer had appeared really out of no where as the four judges eyed the two with watchful eyes.

“Okay! Girl…Seohyun sshii? I want you to close your eyes. Guy…Yonghwa sshii? I want you to lean into her face as close as possible without kissing her.”

Seohyun closed her eyes. She felt Yonghwa’s breath against her skin.

“Okay! Thank you!”

Seohyun and Yonghwa exited the room together.

“What kind of audition process is this?” mumbled Seohyun under her breath.

She returned back to Jungil who held out a brown paper bag for her to take. She peeped inside.

“Sweet potato?! Thank you oppa! I’ve been craving this since the beginning of the photo shoot.” Seohyun began to unwrap the tinfoil of goodness. “Oppa you should go home. You’re bored right?”

“No, not really. Besides if I do Seowoo will kill me.”

For the next hour and a half, Seohyun sat around eating her sweet potatoes and waiting for the next round to begin.

After the last couple came out of the audition room, the assistant announced who had made it and once again, Seohyun was paired up with Yonghwa.

It was now down to Seohyun and Yonghwa and another couple. This round was the acting round. They were all given scripts and were asked to practice it for the next twenty minutes. Seohyun and Yonghwa  went out of the room and sat on the stairs that led to outside the building. They began looking over the script.

“It’s a fighting scene,” said Seohyun as she flipped through the script.

“You slap me,” said Yonghwa flatly.

“Great!” Seohyun rolled her eyes. “I hate these kinds of scenes the most.”

“Come on, let’s act this out.”

Together they began to act out the short scene. As they became more immersed in the scene, Seohyun had begun enjoying Yonghwa’s presence. Although they only met each other today, their chemistry was pretty good.

Twenty minutes had unexpectedly passed. The four remaining actors and actresses returned to the waiting room. The two couples had flipped a coin and it was decided the rival couple would go first.  Seohyun and Yonghwa sat together this time as the waited. His manager and Jungil were getting acquainted.

“Do you know your lines?”

Seohyun nodded with confidence. “I’m ready.”

She saw Yonghwa take out his headphones.

“Does it calm you down?”

“Music? Yeah, it does. Do you want to listen too?”

She nodded. “Sure.”

Yonghwa stuck the right ear bud into Seohyun’s ear. A soft acoustic guitar began to play. It surprisingly wasn’t rock or rap, it was simply instrumental music. Seohyun closed her eyes as it soothed her.

Thoughts began to flow through Seohyun’s head. Her memories as a child who dreamed of becoming an actress in any way possible. Her parents, who had surprisingly supported her and sent her off to Dongguk University. The hard times she had last year, being a newbie and all in the major. Her only real friend and acting coach Seowoo unnie and her forever there for her Jungil oppa. Her loneliness that had peaked its highest this year and the fact she had no one to celebrate Christmas with. The fact that this is her first audition and that if she failed at the last round, it would be over for. All these thoughts, raced through her head. Her newbie status of one year all came down to this audition. If she didn’t succeed, Seohyun knew it would be hard for her to find another job.

“Kids, it’s your turn to go.”

Seohyun opened her eyes and found Yonghwa’s manager standing in front of them. She pointed at the open doorway of the audition room. Yonghwa took his earphones and stuffed it into his jean pocket.

They entered the room together and were greeted by the four judges.

“Welcome to the last round,” smiled the woman judge. “I take it your both very nervous?”

Seohyun and Yonghwa nodded.

“Good. For this round you received scripts on a small dramatic fighting scene. It’s to see what level your acting skills are. So please, proceed.”

Seohyun and Yonghwa got into their places. It was Seohyun’s line that started the scene.

“So, why did you change your mind? If you like me as much as you say you do…why did you change your mind? What is it, is it because I’m not pretty enough or smart enough for you? Or are you just a liar?” Seohyun could feel the tears fill her eyes. Good. This was how to start a scene.

Yonghwa turned around. He walked up to her. “Are you calling me the liar?” Yonghwa manically laughed. “You’re kidding me right? It was you who told me that you didn’t like him and that you would never like him. Not only did you go out with him you kissed him! You .”

Seohyun raised her hand and slapped Yonghwa across the face hard. “Don’t you ever call me that. I am far from that disgusting word. You don’t even know what was going on or what he said to me. I did this all for you. I can’t believe you just couldn’t trust me!”

“What did he do to you?! What did he say?!”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. You don’t trust me and you never will.”

“Cut!” said the woman judge breaking Seohyun’s concentration. “Thank you. You may leave now.”

Yonghwa took Seohyun by the arm and led her out of the room. They were both breathing heavily. For Seohyun that act…felt so real.

“Are you okay?” Yonghwa whispered.

Seohyun nodded. She looked up to his face and realized his right cheek had turned red. “I should be asking you if you’re okay.”

Yonghwa nodded. “I’m fine. I just have never been slapped like that so it was a little thrilling.”

Seohyun laughed. “I know what you mean. The adrenaline is pumping through my veins so fast. I feel a little light headed.”

“Come on, let’s sit and wait for the announcement.”

Fifteen minutes later, all four auditionee’s were asked back into the room. Seohyun eyed each and every judge and saw no expression on their faces. Seohyun could feel a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her forehead.

“The auditionee’s,” announced the assistant. “That have made it on the production of the new idol music video is…”

Seohyun felt Yonghwa wrap his arm around her shoulder. She looked at him and gave him a soft smile.

“Seo Seohyun and Jung Yonghwa!”

As soon as Seohyun heard her name be announced, colorful confetti began to fall from the ceiling. She couldn’t believe it. She smiled as brightly as she could as she bowed to the judges and the other auditionee’s in gratitude. She turned towards Yonghwa who was smiling down at her.

“We did it!”

Yonghwa reached towards Seohyun and took out a piece of confetti from her hair. “Yes, we did.”