It had been two years since Mikaelis and I had moved to Seoul to study. I was studying to get a graduate degree in Media Communications and she was studying Korean and Chinese Language.  The one thing that everybody knew about us was that we both loved the entertainment field. I had always loved singing and dancing. Whereas Mikaelis had loved the modeling and acting side of the business I sat in my room going over the song I wanted to use to show off my voice, and the song I wanted to use to really show off my dancing.   I had been perfecting these for 3 years now and was beyond ready to show the world just what I had to offer. 

 Mik, as I liked to call my best friend, was auditioning for SM entertainment for modeling and acting. I on the other hand was auditioning for TS entertainment; I admired Secret for their hard work and had been following B.A. P.  Since their debut in 2012 I absolutely adored all of them but Jongup and Himchan just held select places in my heart.  But before I go any further let me tell you a bit more about myself and Mik.

I’ll start with Mik. We met in high school and clicked fast. Within the day I knew we’d be best friends forever. Her hair was pink when we met, but now she lets it grow naturally, except for the blue tips at the ends of her hair. She says it will “make her stand out,” and I suppose she’s right, since she’s always been pretty popular. She’s a bright-eyed, short, red-head with a quirky personality. She laughs all too easily and is random as anything. But I've seen the other side of her too- emotional, passionate, and intense. When she’s mad, she talks very fast and her logic increases to match it. It’s actually pretty funny, but I never let her catch me giggling at her outbursts, or else she’d really get mad! But on an everyday basis, Mik could usually be seen staring off into space, day dreaming about what could be.

Today, she was trying on every single pair of her shoes (and some of mine, even though my feet were a whole size smaller than hers) and cat walking through our apartment practicing for the audition. She had been doing this for two days already, and picked the same shoes each day. So it puzzled me as to why she continued. But that was just her.

“What do you think of these??” she yelled from the other room. Without even seeing them, I knew they were the red pumps, mostly because she tried all her shoes on in order, and she had asked me enough that I would know by now.

               “If you wear the red ones,” I called, “You’ll have to change your whole outfit.” Her silent response meant she was busy taking them off to try another pair. I turned back to my lyric sheet. Not that I needed it. I knew these lyrics more than I knew my own name. I have prepared for so long that there was no way I needed it. Regardless I looked it over, taking the words to heart.

               “You don’t need to keep reading those lyrics,” Mik called from the other room, our twin-like telepathy kicking in again. She knew me as well as I knew her. She walked out in a pair of blue studded wedges and looked in the full length mirror covering our one wall before moving into the kitchen to make ramen.

               “For a model, you really do eat a lot of crap,” I smiled.

               “But it’s so yummy!” she pouted. We laughed easily then went back to our individual tasks.

I got up and went to the mirror, taking in my reflection. When Mikaelis and I first met, I was bigger than the reflection testified to tonight. But through working hard in dancing and exercising, I had shed the weight, and I was pleased with the way I looked now.

               The day Mikaelis and I met, she talked nonstop to me about almost every topic imaginable. I am quiet and shy when you first meet me, and get talkative when I’m comfortable with someone. She talked and talked until I eventually started talking back. I’ll never know why she picked me to talk to, but she did and I’m grateful for that. Mik was my family now. We went through high school together and transferred and got an apartment together. We were closer than sisters. I would protect her with everything I had. Call it a flaw, or a plus, but I’m a person who cares deeply and loves strongly. I fall in love easily; therefore my heart is broken just as easily. Mikaelis tries to protect me from it, but I find my own walls are much easier, especially when it came to guys.

“Come eat with me!” Mikaelis said, putting two bowls down on the coffee table. She settled down into her favorite spot on the couch and the television, going straight to the playlist we made for our favorite passion: k-pop. We had added our favorite music videos from all our favorite artists and we would often break into song or dancing when a song we both loved came on. Mik was a terrible dancer so we usually ended up laughing pretty hard.

The TV came to life and History by Exo-M came on and I prepared myself for the inevitable—Mik shrieked in excitement.

“It’s Exo!!” she yelled, as if I didn’t know. I laughed and just shook my head. She was a complete exotic and they were one of the main reasons that she was set on SM. Though she had always loved SM, Exo really pushed her over the edge and made her more determined than ever.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, “Look it’s Lay-gege!” She threw her head back. “I KENNOT.” She rasped, then we burst into laughter. We put our bowls down and got up to dance. I knew this dance rather well, and it was really fun to do. We danced until Mik started doing the running dance from 2PM’s “I’ll Be Back” and we fell all over each other in laughter. How anyone could do that move during “History” was a mystery beyond me.

“Ahh” she sighed. “Well we should get some sleep,” she said.

“But you didn’t even eat,” I protested. She burst into laughter again, and sat back down.

               We watched music videos and ate our food together in relative silence, only making small comments. Finally, the MV for the song I was singing and dancing to came on. When it was over, Mik put her bowl down.

               “Be careful tomorrow, Cheli,” Mik said, suddenly serious. I smiled to her but she didn’t react.

               “I will!” I promised. Mik stared at me for a few more seconds, trying to read my mind before walking back to the kitchen to clean her bowl.

               “I’m being serious, Chel. I don’t want you to… you know. It’s unsafe. I don’t know why you chose this profession.”

               “Because I love it! I can’t stay away from it, same as you!” I retorted. We had been over this plenty of times. Mikaelis was always teetering between full support of chasing my dreams and full rejection because of the risks. No matter what she said though, it would not stop me from my destiny- wherever it took me.

               “I know, I know,” she said, turning around. “I just worry, you know?” she shot me a wary smile. I tried to smile back reassuringly. After a moment, Mik’s eyes lit up, the way they did when she thought of something suddenly.

               “I call first shower!” she exclaimed suddenly and took off down the hall towards the bathroom.

               “Oh no you don’t!” I yelled back, laughing, chasing her down the hall.

               Tomorrow may be many things, but no matter what happened, I would put everything I had on the line. I would show my very best and give my all. Nothing could stop me, not even the very thing that should stop me. I was determined and I was ready to face my destiny.