»Chapter 03 - The List

It was Monday when Woohyun left Seoul and headed to Tokyo. Jiyeon calculated that he wouldn't be able to contact her at all since he was there for work. Probably at night, when the clocks would strike one am, but by then, she wouldn't be able to open her eyes and would rather be asleep, since the band performed until 11:30 and Jiyeon needed to sleep at midnight to keep her health.

Autumn in the capital of South Korea was one of the worst seasons to Jiyeon. Straight after she closed the house door behind her back the wind attacked and tortured her during her tedious walk to the nearest subway station where she could hide away for a short amount of time. The fight between nature and her was exhausting, especially when her long dark hair blocked her sight and needed to be put behind her ears. To her dismay, the rain participated in the game and pattered endlessly. Although it wasn't necessary to come early to the university she was studying at, she did it to look for the chosen people of a certain list. The list could bring her closer to her dream as a musician; a three month internship at a music entertainment industry.  Woohyun supported her through a message the day before and wished her luck. The internship meant a lot to Jiyeon. It could be the door giving her a small push to achieve what she wanted. She fought hard for it and all she needed was a miracle to help her.

In the end, Jiyeon successfully made it to the university. She was aware that she looked terrible so she immediately ran through the still deserted corridors and entered the restroom. There were huge mirrors which reflected Jiyeon’s frame. Across from them, there were 12 stalls and two of them were already occupied. Lucky for her because she was awfully right with how she appeared.

The water didn’t damage her mascara since it was waterproof; however, her eyeliner was obviously the victim of the weather. All she could hope was that she hadn’t worn that appearance when she was at a crowded area before.

Jiyeon groaned quietly and pulled out her makeup bag to-go. She swiftly removed her makeup and drew some dark lines to surrounded her expressive eyes. She blamed it all on the weather forecast who promised that no raindrops would fall.

One of the many things she truly disliked was, in fact, autumn. Since she was a little child, she didn’t enjoy the three months of that magical season. She hated it due to the trees without their fruits, blossoms and leaves. Indeed a silly reason, but it stayed inside her heart for years. The only thing that was good was the colorful carpet.

Jiyeon stared blankly at her mirror image, doing nothing and lost in her thoughts, when one of the stall doors creaked open.

“Jiyeon? What happened to your hair?” the person asked and woke Jiyeon from her trance.

She blinked twice until she her heels to meet a pair of light brown eyes, looking at her pitifully.  Jiyeon couldn’t stand that look at all. “Jihyun,” Jiyeon crossed her arms and weighted herself on her right side as she viewed the girl in front of her. She winced at the sight of Jihyun's smile. Her lips were covered by a strawberry color and her white skin emphasized the dark makeup on her. Although Jiyeon admitted she looked awesome, she would never say it out loud.

Jihyun pulled out a handy brush and stretched out her palm. “You can have this, honey.”

In other words: You look horrible, Jiyeon translated inside her head and simply faked a smile to prohibit her from grimacing. After years and years of exercise, she admitted, she was a pro at it.

“No thanks,” Jiyeon refused the offer and gave another smile to pretend her thankfulness.

“Are you sure?” Jihyun asked and batted her long eyelashes.

“Yes.”

“Okay then,” she responded in a sing-song tone.  “Just tell me when you need it.”

Jiyeon knew better. They were friends in a weird way; mostly because they had the same taste for a similar way of acting.  Jiyeon didn’t need a long time to discover her real nature. Admittedly, Jihyun was a great actress, feigning her kindness but actually lying as often as she breathed. She was selfish and arrogant, the opposite of how she tried to present herself on the outside. Strangely, Jiyeon liked her show. They were rivals and their similarities only made it more interesting to her. None of them wanted to face defeat. Besides it was not Jiyeon’s right to tell her to change. She herself was not any better than her.

"Anyway," Jihyun put on her lip-gloss and smiled at her reflection. "I got a place at YG Entertainment."

"YG Entertainment?" Jiyeon widened her eyes. That was one of the entertainment industries she wanted to enter. She looked at Jihyun in awe, but immediately hid her envy behind her emotionless face.

"Yes." Jihyun went on, "What about you?"

Jiyeon shrugged her shoulders, hoping that she got a place. She looked into the mirror adhered onto the locker. Her complexion was waxen and arrogance radiated from head to toe.  The weather-inspired grief around her eyes was more than enough to tell that she wasn't as great as those two-faced rivals out there; that they could beat her easily, without any effort.  But, they failed to notice and that was what made her realize how ugly this place was. Or to be more precise, the society.

She cringed in horror at the thought. Noticing her disheveled hair though the mirror, she sank her hand into her canvass bag, rummaging for her brush. To her dismay, it was nowhere to be found as she recalled the day at the ball when she left it for the haggard man. However, what mortified her most was the fact that she’d have to ask from Jihyun. She never would if there wasn’t a meeting with the head presidents of the school. 

A small curse escaped Jiyeon’s lips. She was sure Jihyun would haunt her in every second they’d share that she needed her brush. She looked at her hair again and groaned. Her pride would be hurt and the only thing that made her feel better was that the bird’s nest that was her hair would look flawless again. Jiyeon put on her expressionless mask and cleared . "Hey, Jihyun. Can I borrow your comb for a few moments?"

Jihyun taunted in utmost pleasure, "So you do need mine."

The comment sent Jiyeon into a full-blown rage, but the experience taught her to keep her patience in that kind of situation. Jiyeon silently combed her hair and quickly gave the brush back to Jihyun. Without looking back, she left the restroom, feeling the pair of satisfied and mocking eyes following her steps.

This is the first and last time you win our game, honey.  

Her sincere smile grew and eventually pressed her rosy cheeks up, revealing neat, white teeth. Nothing could contain her smile after the phone call. Her heart pounded furiously, desperately hoping to meet him. Pictures of him ran across her mind again, making the smile impossible to vanish. Filled with ecstasy, she spun around with her filmy beige dress swaying like fairy dust.

"You're technically dancing, right?"

Upon hearing the voice, she stopped and pivoted to see whose voice it belonged to with embarrassment flushing her cheeks. It didn't last long when her gaze came to rest upon the familiar guy standing before her. As usual, his bedraggled hair hanging in his face did not contrast much with the frayed clothing he was wearing that clung loosely to his body.  It didn't mask his appealing face though. No amount of raggedy clothes could hide his defined facial features and chiseled jaw. 

Suzy let out a relieved giggle as she walked forward. "This is what I call the 'Happy Dance'. This dance is exclusively dedicated to the people who are happy." She spun around him, throwing her arms in the air. She wasn't afraid to embarrass herself in front of him because she knew he wasn't as judgmental as the world. One mistake made and they'd turn their backs. Unlike Myungsoo, he'd share his shoulder with her when she needed him the most. (Or to be more exact, when she needed Woohyun the most.)

Myungsoo couldn't help but laugh around with her. All this time, it had only been her who managed to trigger his laughter. He had to admit, he had no sense of humor but whenever he was with her, he'd just naturally laugh. And that was the greatest reason he fell for her. So deeply to the point where there was no turning back. He was sinking deeper and deeper each day. "Miss Happy, so what made you smile this much then?" asked Myungsoo. Oh, how he wished he was the reason.

"It's Woohyun," Suzy said. His face fell but once again, he reminded himself to appear joyful in front of her, despite his jealousy over Woohyun. He wanted her to be happy. Period. "He's coming back from Japan soon and he told me that I'll be the first person he sees when he arrives at the airport. We're also having lunch together too. Is there any lovely restaurant you'd recommend?"

"No idea," he said through a somewhat cheerful smile, trying to keep his voice even before he walked into the recording studio without her. Not because he was mad at her but because he couldn't bear looking at her smiling so genuinely because of Woohyun. He was always of a different level from Woohyun; always losing miserably and he always ended up hurting himself for keeping his heart with Suzy, which she appeared to not know.

She followed behind. "Hey, wait up."

Ignoring Myungsoo who just came in, the producer clapped in delight when he saw Suzy. "Look who's here. Isn't she the brightest star of our agency?" The staff behind him stuck their tongues out, acting as if they were about to puke at the producer's nauseating tone. Judging from his old-fashioned pink suit and tie full of roses and hearts, it seemed pretty reasonable for them to do so.

Suzy bowed politely while tugging her dangling hair behind her ears. "Good evening," she greeted.

The producer laid his hand on Suzy's shoulder and guided her to where the microphone and headsets were.  (Which earned a glare out of exasperation from Myungsoo) He then strode to the mixing desk to get ready for the recordings. "You ready?" he asked, inching himself towards the talkback mic.

Thrumming with anxiety, she placed the headphone over her head and reached her hands up to make an 'OK' sign. As the music played, she sang with her melodious voice. Each tone was purely filled with delicate musicality. However, it wouldn't have turned out as perfectly if she hadn't had Woohyun on her mind. She recalled her memories where she spent great times with him: their first date, unexpected engagement news from their parents and of course, the moment he took the initiative to embrace her - and joy was written on her face. 

When the song ended, the producer applauded most enthusiastically. "I've never heard such a beautiful voice. As if, as if you really do love someone. Or you were probably thinking about Woohyun while you were singing, weren't you?" he quipped.

Suzy gave a shy nod and tilted her head with her finger intertwining. Myungsoo, on the other hand, seethed with outrage. The producer's words seemed to echo around the room, although they didn't really. Plucking his jacket from the office chair, he stomped out of the recording studio. 

Clutching her bag strap firmly, she took every heavy step into the hall. She wasn't breathing evenly, and even her heart was beating irregularly. It felt as if she was sick. The only difference was that the feeling was a million times worse than being ill. At least she didn't have to worry about having puffy eyes and a bloated face that morning. "You'll be fine, Jiyeon. It's not even a big deal if you don't get picked," she lied to calm her racing heart. She knew that she'd be suffering from a severe break-down if she wasn't chosen and it'd be a Herculean task to heal her wound. She let out a soft sigh. How she wished Woohyun would be by her side right now, cracking silly jokes to reassure her or at least hold her hand and read the list together.

A woman who was 25 or thereabouts walked into Jiyeon unconsciously, "Why is this always happening to me? I've failed again."

Jiyeon wasn't in a great mood and getting knocked over by her without a single apology only added oil to the fire in her. "Serves you right," she muttered tauntingly. The woman seemed ready to hurl nasty cuss words at her but after looking at her firm yet intense glare she walked off, swallowing her insignificant pride.

Lucky for her, she could easily squeeze through the sea of people before the notice board due to her petite stature that was envied by many. Jiyeon's mouth formed a small 'o'. Her eyes wandered up and down the list of the lucky participants.

"No," she cried in frustration, clenching her hand. "This is impossible!"

With one last incredulous glance at the list, Jiyeon ground her teeth and turned away, already hating what was ahead of her. 

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