(Yoo-mi’s POV)

Yoo-jin led us inside the wooden looking building. The outside was plain and ordinary. I guess it would look like that considering it was only a training building. But still, for some reason, I expected more. The moment we stepped inside, I realized the inside was just as boring as the outside. The wallpaper was this gray, moldy smelling thing. It dampened my mood just looking at it. The floors were pure white and even though it shimmered, it was blinding and irritating to stare at. The building was full of intricate hallways and mini rooms. It looked more like a prison than a training building. We stopped at the last room at the end of the first hallway. Christine (though she’d always be Chiharu to me) and I could hear thundering footsteps and loud, pounding music resonating from the room. Yoo-jin yanked the door open and we were greeted with 5 sweaty girls performing intricate choreography. They moved beautifully across the studio. They were in sync, graceful, and full of energy. I despaired. These girls definitely knew how to dance. The one thing Christine and I lacked a lot of, was dancing. We were clumsy and uncoordinated when it came to dance steps. But during the audition, Yoo-jin had told us that our vocals outshone our inability to dance professionally. But still, I couldn’t help feeling a bit insecure at seeing our “competition”. I turned to Christine to see if she was as nervous as I was. But she was strangely calm. She watched the girls with a sort of envy but I noticed she was just analyzing their dance moves. I smiled. She was always like that. She’d overanalyze things, but it was useful sometimes. Christine wouldn’t let anything dampen her dream of being here. She had already risked so much just for being here. She glanced at me and saw me looking. She gave me her chinky smile face and gave me thumbs up. She was right. As long as we stuck together, we’d prevail.

Yoo-jin cleared and clapped her hands to get the 5 girls’ attention.

“GIRLS! I’D LIKE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!” Yoo-jin yelled. Immediately all the girls stopped all their prancing and focused on Yoo-jin.

“First off, I would like to say, excellent work on your progress. You girls are doing well and JYP is proud of your effort.” I watched as all the girls smiled brightly at the praise.

“Now, I have some news for you. You girls have new trainee family members.” Yoo-jin smiled brightly. “I would like to introduce JYP’s newest trainees and my newest findings.” Yoo-jin gestured towards us with a look of pride and joy. It was odd seeing her so proud of us already, considering we only knew her for a short time. The girls finally focused their gaze at Christine and me. Slowly, their bright smiles vanished and turned into looks of annoyance and disdain. It was obvious they weren’t happy with us being here. “This is Yoo-mi.” I bowed. “And this is Christine.” I watched as Christine smiled and waved at the girls. I smiled; Christine was so funny.

“They’re from the States and they will begin training with you girls starting tomorrow. So I want all of you girls to be nice and treat them as you would each other. Now, finish your practice and head back to the apartment, you have a long day ahead of you.” Yoo-jin turned to leave, but Christine and I stopped her.

“Thank you for all that you’ve done for us,” we bowed. Yoo-jin smiled.

“Don’t thank me just yet. You still have to make it through training and it won’t be easy. But make me believe that you girls belong here.” We nodded.

“Good. Now, I must go, but make me proud.” And with that, Yoo-jin left us to interact with the 5 girls who obviously weren’t very happy with our presence. We turned towards them and stared. It was like a staring contest. They merely stared at us with hard looks and we stared back. I wasn’t fazed in the least. We were here for a reason and if they didn’t like it, then too bad for them. Suddenly, a medium sized girl with blondish, brown hair approached us. She was somewhat pretty with great big, brown eyes and she had nice features but the smile pasted on her face was one of annoyance and evil, if you can call it that.

“Hi,” she squeaked. “So you girls are new, huh?” Christine and I glanced at each other. Was she stupid? Yoo-jin just said we were new.

“Hmm, I see you girls don’t talk much. But that’s good. The less we hear out of your mouths the better.”

Christine stepped forward. “And, what is that supposed to mean?” Christine struggled a bit with her Korean. She was having the hardest time learning the new language.

The girl laughed, “That’s why. You can’t even speak proper Korean and you girls expect to make it here?” Christine and I just glared. This girl was starting to piss me off.

“But obviously JYP and Yoo-jin find something special with you girls, so I guess your inability to speak properly doesn’t bother them. Now, Yoo-jin told us to give you a warm welcome right?”

“Right,” I said. “She did. But I guess a warm welcome to you means being a .”

The girl merely smiled. “I can be a if I want to. I’m Hannah by the way. Since you’re new, you should know, I’m the leader around here. I’m expected to become a leader of the group JYP plans to assemble.”

“Whoop-de-doo,” Christine mumbled. “And we’re supposed to do something about that?”

“No. But you can be good girls and not get in my way.” Hannah glared. She turned and left the room and with a wave of her hand, the rest of the girls followed suit. Each of the girls glared at us as they passed by. Christine and I waved and merely smiled. After they left, Christine turned to me.

“Training is going to be loads of fun huh?”

(Christine’s POV)

Training was brutal; it always was. Wait, let me rephrase that. Training is HELL. Utter and complete HELL. It was worse than college. At least with college, Yoo-mi and I actually did decently. With training, it was a completely different story. Yoo-mi and I struggled immensely with learning how to dance and sing at the same time. We’d either mess up the lyrics because we were so focused on the choreography or we’d mess up the dance moves because we had to center our pitch on the song. It was official; we weren’t going to make it. I was sure of it. I’m not the kind to give up or stop when it gets hard but still, the idea of us actually making it seemed so farfetched at this point. We were basically failing the most basic technique: sing & dance simultaneously. The more I thought about it, the more depressed I became. I could imagine the looks of delight on the faces of the 5 es.

“CHRISTINE! WATCH YOUR STEPS! YOU’RE OFF COUNT!” The choreographer shrilled. I heard her royal iness, Hannah snicker. I sighed heavily. I turned to the choreographer and bowed.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Good. From the top again, girls! 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8!”  I watched as the others began the complicated steps we’d been practicing for weeks. I stepped away and Yoo-mi gave me a look of concern.

“Can I take a break?” I asked the choreographer. “I really need one.”

She looked at me skeptically. “Alright, but make it fast.” I nodded. I exited the studio and leaned against the wall. I slid down; I was exhausted. I couldn’t take all this failure. I wasn’t used to it. I sighed again. What was I supposed to do? Both Yoo-mi and I had put a lot on the line to come here. I was happy to be here but these past few months weren’t making me happy at all. I heard the door to the studio open and Yoo-mi appeared.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked.

“No, not really,” she frowned. “It’s just…” I sighed.

“Yeah, I know. This isn’t what I thought becoming a Korean artist was like.” I turned to her. “But we can’t give up. We’re here for a reason remember? No matter how hard this training stuff is, we just have to it up just a bit more and we’ll make it for sure. Even though we sort of at this.”

I laughed. “You’re right. We’ll get through this.” I closed my eyes and imagined Yoo-mi and I on stage with the audience screaming our names. I smiled; that was what I wanted. I leapt up.

“Alright! LET’S DO THIS!” Yoo-mi laughed and together we went back inside the studio.

As we entered the room, we noticed the girls were all assembled into a line. I was confused. The hell was going on? A lady was standing in front of the girls. She turned. It was Yoo-jin. She smiled warmly at us.

“Hello girls. Long time no see. How nice of you to join us. If you would please.” She gestured for us to fall into line. Yoo-mi and I scurried over.

“Good. Now since everyone is here, I’ll begin. Today is a big day for you girls. Today is the day we decide if your training was good enough. Today is the day we decide your future careers.” My heart clenched. Today?! This was it. I knew it; Yoo-mi and I were going home.

“You girls have done amazing jobs during your training and your appearances on our trainee shows have raised your popularity. Especially Yoo-mi and Christine.” My eyes widened. We actually did something right? “The fans seem to respond to you two the most. Good job.” Yoo-mi and I beamed.

“However, the ability to relate to the fans is not the only factor in becoming an idol. You must have the talent and the ability as well. The ability to wow the crowd and make them fall in love with you.” My smile disappeared just as fast as it had come. Yoo-mi and I did have the talent but we didn’t have the ability to dance and sing simultaneously. And that was a problem.

“It has come to my understanding that some of you haven’t mastered the ability to dance and sing simultaneously.” All the girls turned to Yoo-mi and me. I looked over and saw Hannah smirking. Oh, how I wanted to go up to her and smash her face in.

“Yoo-mi and Christine,” Yoo-jin called. I cringed. This was it. This was the part where Yoo-jin would tell us we didn’t make it. That we were to be cut loose. At least we tried.

“It has come to my attention that you girls are struggling with the concept I just discussed.” Yoo-mi and I turned to each other and back to Yoo-jin; we nodded. “In the past, we let trainees go if they failed to learn how to dance and sing at the same time. Such lack of technique is certainly not accepted at JYP.” I sighed. I saw Hannah’s smirk widen. She mouthed, “You’re going home, foreigners.” I shot her daggers. If we were going home today, there was one thing I was positive I would accomplish before leaving: KILL HANNAH. I’d make sure she dies a slow and painful death.

“However,” Yoo-jin began. I perked up and Hannah’s smirk vanished at that glimpse of hope Yoo-jin was hanging over our heads. “Your vocal talents and charisma are something JYP cannot afford to lose.” Yoo-mi and I grinned widely as Hannah began to glare. “So it’s been decided. Two groups shall be formed from the seven of you. We have decided to transform you into the female counterparts of our newest boy bands, 2PM and 2AM.” I silently cheered. YES! We could stay! I wanted to dance around and shout it to the whole training building: WE WERE GOING TO MAKE IT!

“So congratulations girls! You are ALL going to make it.” All the girls were smiling but I could tell they were disappointed that Yoo-mi and I were still here.

“All we have to do now is establish what group you’ll be in. We will be having solo auditions to establish whether you will be in the pop group or the ballad group. We shall use these solo auditions to establish who will be leaders in these two groups as well. After we establish your group as well as who is the leader, we will be writing up contracts for each of you. Tomorrow, we shall start these auditions, so don’t disappoint and again, congrats.” Yoo-jin smiled and just like that she was gone. I swiveled towards Yoo-mi. We stood there, grinning like idiots and soon our smiles grew wider. Then of course, we started cheering, screaming, and jumping up and down. It was official! We were going to make it! We were going to be idols! We were going to be what we trained so long and hard for! All that frustration, sweat, and tears was worth it. This was it. The audition tomorrow would solidify our dreams and I knew Yoo-mi and I couldn’t be happier. But our little celebration ritual came to an end as Hannah and her league of minions approached us. She glowered at us.

“Don’t think just because you foreigners made it past training, doesn’t mean you two will make it in the industry. Because as far as I’m concerned, you two .” She sneered.

“Back at you, Hannah.” Yoo-mi shot back. “But obviously we have some raw talent that can’t be wasted. You’re just here for your stupid dance moves, nothing more, and nothing less.”

“Whatever,” Hannah scoffed. “Tomorrow, I hope JYP realizes how useless you two are and sends you back to where you came from. You two don’t belong here.” I clenched my fists. Man, was she going to get it if she kept spitting out her stupid remarks. “But we’ll see,” she said in her condescending attitude. “We’ll see if you girls are worth the trouble that JYP has put in.” Yoo-mi and I shot daggers at her stupid, ugly face. Hannah twirled, obviously rubbing it in our faces that we couldn’t twirl gracefully like her, and began leaving the practice studio. “Let’s go girls!” Hannah shrieked. We watched as all her little lemmings followed. I scoffed. What a bunch of retards. As soon as they were gone, Yoo-mi and I returned to our earlier happy state.

“We made it,” Yoo-mi smiled.

(Yoo-mi’s POV)

Today was the fateful solo auditions that Yoo-jin informed us about yesterday. Even though Christine and I already made it past training, we still weren’t sure if our future careers were secure yet. JYP could change his mind like Hannah said. What if he did change his mind…? That would be heartbreaking. But I refused to believe that such a thing would happen. I shook off the insecurity. Hannah was just trying to mess with us. I had to prove myself in that audition that I belonged here.

Christine and I were driven to the JYP building. We exited the car and noticed Hannah and her little followers were not far behind. She glared and scoffed at us. She strode past us with her train of demons and entered the building. How I hated her…Today, I would prove that I was better than her and her stupid dance moves. So what if she could twirl around and move to a beat? That only counted for so much in this industry. I knew that my voice and my ability to connect to the audience would be much more valuable when it came down to it. Today, I would show JYP what I was capable of and I knew Christine would show him the same. We were something unstoppable. We strolled into the waiting room for the recording studio. Yoo-jin entered a few minutes later in her prim and proper gray suit and warm smile.

“Welcome girls!” she rang. “I’m glad all of you are here. Now before we have the auditions commence, I would like to go over how these auditions will go.” She paused and made sure everyone was paying attention. “First, I would like to remind you that these will be solo auditions. Only you, and you alone, will show what your abilities are. Second, you will be singing two selections we have chosen for you. One song will be a ballad and the other will be a pop song. It’ll help us determine which group you would be most likely to succeed in. Third, we will assess your dancing skills. We’d like to see how well you do with moving to a song.” Christine and I tensed. Of course there would be a dancing portion, but still. I had to remember that we were still going to be in a group. Yoo-jin had promised us that. But again, promises were just promises. They never really meant anything in the end. “And last but not least,” Yoo-jin announced, “There will be a special part of the audition. It will be a mini interview. It will show us how well you handle pressure from the press.” Gah, this was a serious audition. But it was a test for us. It was to see if we could handle all aspects of becoming an idol. If we passed, we’d become what we set out to do, but if we failed...well then see you later!

“So let’s get these auditions underway.” Yoo-jin smiled. “Who would like to go first?” All the girls looked around to see who the brave girl would be. I had expected Hannah to rise to the occasion but this time, she didn’t. She appeared overwhelmed and nervous. So the devil incarnate herself was afraid.

“No one?” Yoo-jin called. I glanced at Christine; she was contemplating. I could tell she was about to volunteer to go first but something was holding her back. Was it the fear of the dancing or was it just the idea that she had to speak Korean in an interview? Christine was still struggling with speaking Korean. I tried helping her but then again, I wasn’t efficient myself.

I studied all the girls. All of them were afraid to start the auditions. I just wanted them over with, so I decided. I’d volunteer.

I raised my hand. “I’ll go,” Yoo-jin smiled.

“Great,” Yoo-jin gestured to the door adjacent to the odd looking statue of a chicken I didn’t notice before. “This way.” I nodded. I began to stand up when I felt someone grab my arm; it was Christine. I quirked my eyebrow and she smiled at me. She spoke in Japanese so the girls wouldn’t understand what she was saying.

“Gambatte. And kick !” I grinned and gave her a thumbs up. I walked out of the door and followed Yoo-jin to wherever these auditions were being held. The walk over was quiet and nerve wrecking. I didn’t like the silence but I was afraid that if I spoke, I’d lose my confidence and courage to be the first one to audition.

Yoo-jin led me to a room on the upper levels and gestured inside. I cautiously entered the room and found it was a recording studio. It made sense considering we had to sing songs as part of the audition. As I walked to the microphone, I realized that Yoo-jin had vanished and I turned around frantically searching for her. I nearly had a heart attack when I heard a voice resonate within the room. It was Yoo-jin’s voice.

“It’s okay, Yoo-mi. I’m here behind the glass.” I squinted into the glass window in front of the microphone and faintly saw a hand waving at me. I let out a huge sigh. Okay, I needed to stay focused and do as Christine said: Kick .

“Alright, Yoo-mi. On the stand in front of you are two sheets of music with two songs on them. If you would please, we’d like for you to sing them for us.” I nodded. “If you would like a moment to prepare, that is fine as well. Take your time.” I nodded and focused on the music. I picked up the sheet music and noticed the key wasn’t too difficult. I skimmed the rest of it. It didn’t seem too bad. There was only that one high note that definitely called for a falsetto of some sort but I was confident. I could reach it if I wanted to. I threw the huge black headphones on and I spoke into the mike.

“I’m ready.” I said and soon I heard the music begin to play. The ballad song was first. I counted in my head and waited for the intro to end before I started singing.

“Yeah I said we shouldn’t meet

And I told you not to call

But are you really going to do what I said?

That’s not what I really wanted

It might really end like this

And I might really forget you

My feelings get more unsteady

And I become sadder

What is affection? It makes me miss you

I can’t live without you”

Then suddenly the music transformed into an upbeat beat and I nearly freaked out but I remembered I had to keep singing.

“Gimme a call baby baby

Call me right now

Gimme a call baby baby

I wait for you every day

That you love me, love me

At least send me a text

Don’t make me cry

No”

The beat of the song was incredible. I found myself bobbing my head along with the music but it was short lived. The music returned to its slow beat and the next verse was coming up.

“I wonder what you are doing

And how busy you are

Are you not picking up the phone on purpose

Knowing full well that it’s me calling

Have you already forgotten me?

Has your heart closed up?

Leaving me alone, have you really really …

I keep on crying

What is affection? It’s scarier than love

It’s hard to erase”

And just like before the music transitioned to its pumping music. The high note was coming up after this.

“Gimme a call baby baby

Call me right now

Gimme a call baby baby

I wait for you every day

That you love me, love me

At least send me a text

Don’t make me cry

No

 

Call me tell me hold me

That it’s not true

Call me tell me hold me

You can’t leave

 

Gimme a call baby baby

Find me once again

Gimme a call baby baby

I still have things to say

I love you, I love you so much

I shout in your direction

I will wait for you

No

 

Call me tell me hold me that it’s not true”

Here it was. The high part that would make me stand out in the audition. I knew it would.

“Call me tell me hold me you can't go

 

Gimme me a call baby baby

Gimme a call baby baby

Find me once again

Gimmie a call baby baby

I still have things to say

I love you, I love you so much

I shout in your direction

I will wait for you

 

Call me tell me hold me that it’s not true

Call me tell me hold me

Come back to me”

(Christine’s POV)

I let out a huge sigh. The dancing portion of the audition was over with. I made it through the harsh choreography without falling on my face. Which was obviously a good sign indicating I wasn’t too bad?

“Christine, good job.” Yoo-jin congratulated. “But it’s not the best we’ve seen.” I nodded. That I knew. “But we can always work on that. However, your vocal audition was superb.” I smiled. Now that part of the audition I knew I did amazing. Judging by the way JYP and Yoo-jin began to applaud after singing the two songs, I could say I did more than okay. But it came to a shock that they found my voice to be more versatile. I always assumed they liked the high register stuff, like Yoo-mi’s voice. Her voice was silky smooth and she could reach those unnaturally high notes I could only dream of reaching. However, they found that my more low registered voice was great and perfect for either group. Yoo-jin had told me it would be hard trying to decide which group I would fit into. But I knew the pop group required excellent dance moves and that I lacked.

“Now Christine,” Yoo-jin stated. “Let’s proceed to the interview portion of the audition.” I paled. This was the one part of the audition I was absolutely terrified of. To make the story short, my Korean . I understood perfectly but speaking? Now that’s where I failed miserably. I could speak it, sure. But just barely. Hannah and her little minions would continuously mock me for my pronunciations and my accent. They’d scoff and try to imitate my failures. If it wasn’t for Yoo-mi, I would’ve smashed their faces in ages ago. But their teasing definitely hurt. I felt like such a retard because I couldn’t grasp the new language. It made me frustrated knowing I couldn’t say a word or phrase correctly. The funny looks I got from the street vendors when I buy food didn’t help either. But still, I was determined. So what if I couldn’t speak proper Korean yet? I was still studying and trying my best wasn’t I? It had to count for something…

Yoo-jin entered the studio from the little box that her and JYP were observing from and sat down in front of me.

“Are you ready?” she asked. I gulped. No. I wasn’t the least bit ready. My hands were trembling and I could feel a twist in stomach; I felt like throwing up. But I had to it up. I just had to try my best and hopefully that was enough. So far it had been.

“Yes,” I croaked. I cringed. Crap, my voice was cracking. I didn’t think I was that nervous. I cleared my throat. “Yes, I’m ready.”

“Alright,” Yoo-jin smiled. “Let’s get started then. First question: What’s your name?”

I blinked. That was the first question? Seriously?

“My name is Christine.”

“Nice to meet you Christine. How do you like Korea?”

“It’s very nice. I like it very much but it’s different from the States.”

“That’s good. How long have you been here for?”

“Um, six months? I believe?” I struggled a bit. I still hadn’t mastered numbers in Korean yet.

“You don’t sound so sure. Can you tell time?” Yoo-jin laughed.

I blanked. Was Yoo-jin calling me stupid? I nearly shot out a response but I remembered this was a stimulation. It was a test to see if we could handle the pressure and the insults.

I laughed awkwardly. “Yes, I can. But with training, time doesn’t seem to exist really.” Yoo-jin smiled. I had obviously did something well.

“Good job, Christine. You handled that very well. Most girls would be angry at the insinuation I just made. You passed.” Yoo-jin said.

Whoa! That was it? That was really the interview? Just one snide comment? I was speechless.

Yoo-jin gave me a confused look. “You look shocked. Were you expecting something else?”

I turned towards her. “To tell the truth, I was expecting this huge interview. I was a bit nervous because my Korean still needs a little work.”

She gave me a reassuring smile. “Like I said in the waiting room. The last portion is merely a mini interview. A test to see if you’ll blow up at the smallest comments or handle it maturely. You and Yoo-mi handled the last part quite well compared to the other girls. Both of you know how to be respectful and mature even when a person is insulting you.”

I beamed. It felt good to be praised by Yoo-jin.

“And don’t worry,” she said. “Your Korean is fine. It just needs a bit refining. Just keep practicing and studying and I’m sure you’ll catch on.”

“Thank you, Yoo-jin.” I bowed in respect.

“You’re welcome. And congratulations. That was a great audition. There a few things you still need to work on but overall, amazing.”

“Thank you, again.” Yoo-jin nodded and gestured towards the door.

“Since you were the last person to audition, just wait back with the other girls. JYP and I have to discuss a few things. Tell the other girls we’ll be out shortly.” She said. I nodded and headed out the door.

Once I was outside the studio, I stopped walking and did a little dance. I silently cheered. I had made it through the hard audition. I wasn’t too shabby either. I strolled into the studio waiting room with a big, fat grin on my face. I was that happy. Yoo-mi smiled when she saw me.

“It went well I’m guessing?” she teased.

“You have no idea.” I laughed. We began smiling like idiots from the success of our auditions. Not even Hannah could ruin my happy moment right now. The success of the audition just meant Yoo-mi and I were closer to our dream more than ever. And to think this all started a few months ago at the Korean Music Festival? It was mind blowing. So as we waited for JYP and Yoo-jin, I thought of everything that happened. After our instant audition with Yoo-jin, everything was still a bit unreal. Yoo-jin had praised our abilities and talents. She was ecstatic that we not only had the look but the voice and talent as well. Yoo-jin insisted that we train in Korea to become true Korean idols. In my mind at the time, I was a bit unsure. Sure, I loved the idea but could it be possible? I had another dream I was currently pursuing. That’s why I was busting my in college trying to make it to med school. But the way Yoo-jin explained the situation to me and Yoo-mi, the more I thought it could be possible that we could actually make it. She told us that training would be hard but it would prepare us for what idols had to encounter. Of course there were some catches to the amazing deal she presented to us. We had to learn Korean, get our green cards to live in Korea, and train for a minimum of six months. And that was only for the training aspect. We wouldn’t discuss the process for after training until we passed. The only problem was having to drop our lives in America to come to Korea. That was the hard part. How the hell was I supposed to tell my parents that instead of becoming a surgeon I’d pursue a career in music? I knew they wouldn’t take the news lightly. And of course, I was right. The moment I told my parents about my decision to go through with the plan to go to Korea, they were livid. They disapproved of the idea immediately.

“Korea?!” my father shouted. “How the hell is going to Korea going to help you? You think singing and dancing will help you? Ai, Chiharu. How many times have we told you that becoming a surgeon will secure a great future for you? You’re going to waste all our hard work and money to send you to that school of yours for some chance at becoming big in Korea?!”

I sighed. Of course, they wouldn’t understand. “It’s what I want.”

“What you want?” my mother said. “You don’t know what you want. You’re barely 18.”

I stared at my parents. “I want this. Whether you like it or not, mom, I’m going. This is my dream.”

“No,” my mom said. “Your dream is to become a doctor. I forbid you from going!”

“You are not going to Korea.” My dad stated in that firm voice of his. “You can’t even speak Korean. How do you expect to survive there?”

“I can do it. You may think I can’t, but I will. I’m going. In three months, I’m going to Korea, dad. And nothing you say to me will change that. This is something I want. I want to see if I can make it. Why can’t you guys understand that?!” I pleaded with them.

“Whatever,” my dad said. “Do whatever you want. But when you fail, don’t expect us to help you out. Go to Korea. Who cares?”

I blinked and watched as both my parents shook their heads and walked away. I heard them speak in Tagalog, trying to hide their conversation.

“What a shame. I’m so disappointed in her. How can she just give up everything for something that isn’t even a guarantee?” my mom whispered.

(Yoo-mi’s POV)

We sat there for what it seemed like ages, waiting for Yoo-jin and JYP. But I guess it was reasonable. They were making life changing decisions for seven girls and Christine and I were two of those seven. I looked at the clock. We’d been waiting for two hours already. I sighed; I didn’t like waiting that much and I knew Christine didn’t like to either. I turned to look at my best friend. She had a stern look on her face. But she wasn’t angry, she just looked determined. I knew that her parents didn’t support her decision to come here and at first, my parents were a bit skeptical as well. They thought I was kidding when I told them about Yoo-jin’s offer and my decision to pursue it. Like Christi’s parents, they encouraged my dream to become a doctor. But in college, I was having doubts of whether medicine was my true passion or if it was just something I thought I wanted.

“Yumiko, are you sure about this?” My dad asked me.

“I’m sure.” I answered. My mom just gave me one of her looks. The look that seemed to say “you’re making a mistake…” It hurt to know I was hurting my family with this decision but it was a chance I had to take. This need and feeling I had, was something new. I had to see if I could truly make in Korea as an idol. But it wasn’t the mere curiosity of what I could be that egged me on. It was the idea of something new and discovering something I could be passionate about that truly sealed the deal for me.

“What if you don’t make it, Yumi?” my mom asked. “What happens then?”

“I don’t know, okaasan. But I’m going to try.” I looked at them and noticed they were a bit uneasy.

“Okaa-chan, otou-chan…you know me. I’ve always been interested in being a doctor, but I never knew for sure. I was never sure about anything and I’ve never had a passion. Even now, I don’t know if I’m following a dream or a foolish whim. But I want to take a risk because I have nothing to lose.”

My parents merely stared at me for what it seemed like eternity. It was a standstill and incredibly tense wondering if they’d send me off with a blessing or with harsh words.

“Yumiko,” my dad said cautiously. “If this is what you want, then your mother and I will support you.” I began to smile and tears were forming. “If this is what you want, then who are we to stop you?”

“Arigato otou-chan.” I embraced my dad and allowed the tears to spill from my eyes. My mom soon joined the embrace and I was glad knowing that my family was behind me. If only Christi’s parents were the same. They basically excommunicated her. She hadn’t talked to them since we left for Korea. I was about to comfort her when the door opened. Nearly all of us froze and turned to the famous JYP. He entered the room and smiled at all us.

He greeted us. “Hello girls. I don’t know if you know, but I’m JYP.” We all nodded and murmured our hellos. Soon Yoo-jin entered the room and she was all smiles. She sat down next to JYP and took out her notebook.

JYP began speaking again. “I apologize for making you wait but we had to make a few important decisions.” We nodded. “First off, I’d like to congratulate you all on your hard work. You all have done very well. The auditions certainly proved that.” We all smiled. “Now, I assume you girls must be very anxious when it comes to your future careers. Today, we are going to establish which group you shall be in and we’ll announce the leaders today as well.” He turned to Yoo-jin. “Yoo-jin, if you would please tell them our decisions.”

“I’d be glad to,” Yoo-jin grinned. “Alright ladies, now for the news you’ve been waiting for.”

This was it; the news of which group we would be in and who would be the leader. I saw Hannah smirking from out of the corner of my eye. I rolled my eyes. She was so sure that she was going to make leader. At least that’s what she told me and Christine every day.

“I’m going to be leader,” she’d say. “And when I do, I’ll make your lives a living hell.”

“Whatever,” I answered.

“Aren’t you the devil?” Christine asked. “So being near you is a living hell already.” I laughed. Christine definitely stuck it to Hannah. Hannah merely glared and left us alone during that practice.

“I’ll announce the members of the pop group first and the ballad group second.” Yoo-jin stated. “The pop group will consist of four girls and the ballad group will consist of three. Now here we go.” We all waited in anticipation. Couldn’t Yoo-jin just tell us? I’d prefer it if they didn’t delay this process any further.

“The members of the pop group are as follows: Bou-chan, Suh-jin, Mi-hyun, and Kum-ji. Kum-ji shall be leader of the pop group.” My face fell. No…that meant…

“Which means the ballad group will consist of Yoo-mi, Christine and Hannah. We’ve decided Yoo-mi shall be leader.” Goddamnit. We were stuck with Hannah?! Christine and I merely stood there as if we had smelled something horribly disgusting…like poop. But Hannah, now she was pissed.

“What?!” she shrilled in that annoying voice of hers. “I won’t sing with them!”

Yoo-jin was a bit taken aback as well as JYP. “What do you mean?”

“NO! I won’t sing with foreigners! And how is Yoo-mi leader?! She’s Japanese! How can you allow such an atrocity?!”

“Excuse me?” JYP spoke up. “What do you mean by that? Yoo-mi’s nationality has nothing to do with her talent and abilities. We named her leader because she was the oldest and she seemed the most mature. And by your shameful display of behavior, my decision was obviously the right one.”

Hannah glared and huffed. How could she just yell at JYP like that? I mean, he held the life of her career in his hands. But obviously, she was y to almost everyone.

“Then, I don’t want this. I’d rather join the pop group than perform with Yoo-mi and Christine. I won’t have it.” She whined.

JYP and Yoo-jin began discussing in front of us, but they were speaking Korean pretty rapidly so I could only understand a bit of it. Christine just looked utterly confused and irritated as well. She didn’t like the idea of working with Hannah.

Yoo-jin let out a huge sigh and turned to us. “Alright Hannah, if that’s how you feel, we have no choice but to have you be with the pop group. We’ve trained you for so long, it would be a waste to let you go now. You’ll be leader then. ” Ah, so that’s the only leverage Hannah had. I guess training for many years gets you some perks.

Hannah looked pleased with herself and joined her minions. They all jumped around and giggled. I was personally glad that Hannah wasn’t in our group but still, knowing she was still there was not a comforting thought.

“Alright, now that we’ve established groups, it’s time to discuss contracts. Also, we’d like to inform you that your managers will introduce themselves tomorrow. During the contract write ups, your managers will be overseeing them. Your managers will be like your parents. They will be harsh when needed and loving when you deserve it.” Yoo-jin said. “But first, we haven’t discussed names for your groups yet. The pop group was going to be called 4star representing the four of you; however, due to the little incident from earlier, the five of you shall be called 5star. Yoo-mi and Christine, since it is just the two of you now, you two shall go by your initials. You’ll be known as Y+C. Yoo-mi, you will still remain leader, so lead well.” I nodded. Even though I was dubbed leader, I knew Christine and I would be a team. We worked together and stayed together. Leader was merely a label, nothing more. But if the situation called for it, I’d step up to the position given to me.

“Good,” Yoo-jin nodded. “Now that we’ve established groups, the next order of business, as I said before, shall be contracts. Tomorrow, we shall draft them up. Congratulations to all of you and please be prepared for tomorrow.” We all nodded and bowed as Yoo-jin and JYP exited the room. Not even thirty seconds after they left, Hannah approached me and Christine.

“What do you want?” I asked Hannah.

She glared. “I just wanted you two to know, that though you two are still here, we’ll be more successful. The fans won’t like foreigners like you here. You’ll be booed off stage on your debut and then you’ll be forced to go home.” She laughed maniacally.

“We’ll see.” I said. “We’ll see if your dance moves will carry you through because it seems like they weren’t enough to make you leader. You just won the title by default.”

“You better watch yourself, Yoo-mi.” Hannah began to approach me before Christine stepped in.

“And what?” Christine threatened. “You better watch yourself, Hannah. Before I ruin that ugly face of yours.” Hannah took a giant step back and eyed Christine cautiously.

“Wh-wh-whatever.” Hannah stuttered. “Let’s go girls!” And with that, they were gone.

I turned to Christine. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” She smiled. “Well we ought to go too. We have a big day ahead of us.”

(Christine’s POV)

Whoever said music artists had the life was seriously delusional. Yoo-mi and I weren’t even official artists yet but from the terms of the contract we just spent hours debating on, it didn’t seem like fun. The terms were harsh and strict. If we defied or broke any of the agreements, our contract would be terminated, indicating the ends of our careers. I thought my parents were strict but these contracts were worse. 1. We couldn’t date. JYP felt any form of dating would distract us from what our jobs and would cause too much of a scandal if the relationship ended horribly. But that didn’t matter to me and Yoo-mi anyways. We weren’t here to date. We were here to become idols. 2. We had to work out regularly. Again, it wasn’t a huge problem considering we did track back in high school. But then again, that was in high school…3. We had to learn Korean. Fluently. I was still struggling with that. But now it was imperative that I learn Korean. And fast. 4. Everything we did had to go through our manager or be approved by JYP. For example, if we wanted to take a vacation, we needed to make sure it was okay. We couldn’t go just for the hell of it. 5. We had to watch our figures. We had to look our absolute best and if putting us on a strict diet would ensure that, then no good food for us. 6. Everything we did would be watched by the public eye. We couldn’t go around like we used to as trainees. Once we debuted, going out in the public unsupervised would be a big NO-NO. Does that sound like the golden life to you?

“Christine! Quit dawdling!” manager Ha-in scolded.

“Sorry manager.” I mumbled. Manager Ha-in was a middle aged lady who felt like a mother to me right away. She had short brown hair with a few grays straying about and she was very pretty. She had warm, brown eyes and when she talked to you, you were her only focus. She made you feel important. She had long legs and could have definitely passed off as a model. You wouldn’t think she was forty if you first looked at her. That’s how pretty she was.

“Now that your contracts have been written up,” manager said. “We have to work on your debut performance and song.” Yoo-mi and I merely nodded. We knew that. But it was shocking to know that we were going to be debuting in three months. It seemed a long time from now but to me, it seemed too soon.

“Since you girls are the ballad group, JYP has decided you girls will debut 8282.” Manager informed us. “It was one of the songs you girls sang during your audition. So from now on, you’ll be training and rehearsing that song. Your lives will be focused on making this song amazing. Your debut is a defining moment. If your performance is ground-breaking, amazing, beautiful, or astounding, you’ll be sure to make it. The debut can make or break you. Do well and you’ll succeed. Perform mediocrely; well…you two will be having a hard time becoming idols. Understand?”

“Yes, manager.” Yoo-mi and I answered. “We understand.”

“Good. Now next order of business is your diets. You two have great figures but we need to make sure it stays that way.” I scrunched my nose. I could tell I wasn’t going to like this diet plan. My way to stay fit and in shape was to eat whatever I wanted. As long as I was able to work it off, I never really worried about counting calories.

“Christine, we’ll start with you. Your diet seems to be the worst according to the other trainees.” I made a face. Well yeah. Just because the other girls didn’t eat as much as I did, it didn’t mean my diet was the worst. If anything, I just didn’t care.

Manager took a bit of time circling me like a vulture. “According to the others, you eat the most rice.” I nodded.

“How much rice do you eat a day?” Manager asked me.

“Um, I eat about 2 cups a meal. Most of my meals are usually with rice.”

“Hmm. Unfortunately, that ends today. You are restricted to only 1 cup of rice every two days.”

I blanked. WHAT?! NO RICE?! Was manager crazy?! I’m Filipino for goodness sake! I can’t NOT have rice. That would be like chopping my leg off and asking me to run a marathon right after.

“But-but-but…manager!” I pleaded.

“No buts. 1 cup of rice every two days is all you get. Too much rice isn’t good for your figure.” Manager affirmed.

I glared. This wasn’t turning out the way I wanted it too. When JYP said diet, I thought he meant only eat the healthy foods and avoid the junk stuff. Not restrict me from my daily sustenance.

Manager turned to Yoo-mi next. “Yoo-mi,” she studied Yoo-mi for a minute. “You seem fine. However, if I find something detrimental to your figure, that’s going away. Understand?” Yoo-mi nodded. What the hell?! I was the only one going to be forced on a diet?! I dropped my head and sighed. I turned to Yoo-mi and she looked at me apologetically. I pouted. I didn’t like this one bit.

(Yoo-mi’s POV)

I felt really bad for Christine. She couldn’t have her favorite food anymore. Well she could, but it had to be in limits. She could only have a cup every other day. Every time we’d have dinner, manager would only hand her one small bowl of rice and Christine took her time trying to make her rice survive through the meal. Sometimes when manager isn’t looking, I’ll give her some of my rice since I don’t eat that much rice. But one day manager caught her grabbing my rice and that didn’t end too well. In addition to the strict diet, manager decided to give us workout days. Workout days were her form of punishment for us if we didn’t follow the rules. For instance, the first time Christine took too much rice, manager made her run for an hour in the freezing cold and that was just her warm-up. She made Christi go to the gym and work out even more. Her cool down consisted of an hour on the treadmill. After that workout day, Christine came home basically dead. She nearly fainted the moment she entered the apartment. And that wasn’t the end of the punishment. Manager didn’t let Christi have her cup of rice that day. After that, Christine made sure to obey manager’s rules except, of course, when she took my rice (even though I was the one who was sneaking it to her). But Christi was holding up pretty well. All those workout days were making her look really good, even though she had bags under her eyes all the time.

It was hard to believe that we’d been living in our new apartment for a month already. When manager brought us to the apartment, we were picturing something no bigger than our dorm room in Seattle. But we were pleasantly surprised by what we saw. It wasn’t a pent house or anything but it was nice. It had three rooms: one for me, one for Christi, and one for manager. We had a kitchen and a living room. The apartment even had two bathrooms. Not too bad. It was definitely better than our dorm room. It was comfortable, but it still didn’t feel like home to me. But I knew it would take time to get adjusted. We only just moved in a month ago.

Christine was making breakfast when manager came in, all dressed and ready to go. Christine and I were confused as to why she was all fancied up. As far as we knew, we didn’t have a rehearsal or practice today.

“Girls, get ready please. We have somewhere we have to go.” Manager informed us. Christi and I looked at each other. Where were we going? We thought today was going to be a rest day.

I turned to manager. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere important. Please, get dressed.” Manager turned to Christine. “Christine! Stop cooking! Go get ready! And that better not be rice that you just stuffed into your mouth!”

“It wasn’t!” Christi mumbled with the evident grains of rice on her lips. Manager merely glared and refused to argue back.

“Just please get dressed. And hurry! We don’t have much time.” Christine and I bustled over to our rooms and got ready. Wherever it was we were going, it was obviously important by the way manager was fussing. After a few minutes shy of half an hour, we were ready. Manager led us out of the apartment and we entered our van. Manager started the car in a rushed fashion and nearly made us fly out the door when she backed out of the driveway. After a few minutes, manager seemed to calm down.

“Manager,” Christine asked. “Where are we going?”                                                         

“We’re going to the JYP building.”

I blinked. Why the JYP building? Did we do something wrong? Did it have something to do with our contract? Or was it some surprise meeting we were unaware of.

“Why are we going there?” I asked manager.

“You girls are meeting a few important people.”

“Who?” Christine and I both asked.

“You’ll see. Ah, we’re here.” We exited the van and walked up the steps to the JYP building. Manager began leading us towards the recording studios and the rehearsal rooms. Dammit, we were going to do a surprise rehearsal. And to think today would be a rest day.

But instead of heading to our usual rehearsal room, we entered a different one. Inside the room were four boys, singing a really nice ballad song. They had amazing voices. We just stood in awe as we listened to them belt out to the song. Now these guys could definitely sing. Once they finished their song, manager strolled over to them. She began talking to them and after a while, they turned their attention to us. I froze. Why were they looking over here for? Manager motioned for us to come over and greet them. Christine and I walked over cautiously. We still didn’t know what this whole thing was about.

“Boys, I’d like you to meet your female counterparts.” She gestured to me and Christi. She pointed to me first. “This is Yoo-mi.” All of the boys nodded; I nodded back. Then she turned to Christine. “And this is Christine.” They nodded again and Christine merely smiled.

“And girls, this is Jo Kwon.” Manager gestured to the shortest guy in the group. He was okay looking. “This is Changmin.” Manager gestured to the guy wearing glasses. He had a weird looking face. “This is Seulong.” She gestured to the guy with somewhat large ears. “And this is Jinwoon.” She turned to last remaining guy. All of them nodded towards us after they were introduced. “They are 2AM. They’ll be debuting soon. I brought you girls here to meet them so you can witness a ballad group in action. So interact with these boys and learn from them because what they’re doing is what you plan to do.” Manager exited the room and left us with our male counterparts. After manager left, the atmosphere was incredibly awkward. We merely stared at 2AM and they stared back.

I decided I’d break the ice. I was leader after all and now was the time to start acting like one. I stepped forward as the guy I believe was Jo Kwon stepped forward. We looked at each other skeptically and watched as both of us bowed. I guess he was leader as well. After bowing, we stared at each other again. Dammit, instead of making the situation less awkward, I just made it worse. It was like a never ending staring contest.

Finally, the guy, Seoulong walked up and asked Christi a question. Christi turned to me with wide eyes. She had no idea what he was saying and neither did I.

“What did he say?” Christi mumbled. “I have no idea what he just asked me!”

I shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I don’t know either.”

Christi pouted and turned to Seulong. She confidently looked him in the eyes and said with such conviction, it seemed like she was being serious. “I like…bananas.” I glanced at Christi. What the hell did she just say? I didn’t know whether I was to laugh or merely nod and pretend it was the honest-to-god-truth that Christi…liked bananas. The guys eyed Christi like she was crazy, but then Seulong laughed. Okay, the situation was getting better, but it was still a bit tense. How were we going to communicate with these guys? THEN BOOM! An idea struck me. Christi and I could sing with them. It’d be a way to show them we were worthy to be their female counterparts and we could communicate through song couldn’t we? I turned to 2AM and presented my idea.

“Would you guys mind singing a song with us?” They turned to look at me and thought about it. If they said no, I wouldn’t like them very much.

“Sure,” Jo Kwon said. “Singing a song seems like a good idea.” I beamed. Yes, my idea was working.

(Christine’s POV)

We were going to be debuting in a month. A MONTH. It was hard to believe it but we were going to finally perform in front of an audience in a month. It was mind blowing. Manager had us rehearsing and practicing like crazy now. We knew manager was shooting for perfection when we performed. She didn’t want us to miss a single note, step, or lyric. She wanted everything to go as rehearsed. But unfortunately, her goal of perfection was taking a toll on our mental and physical health. Manager had Yoo-mi and me working out more and she managed to fit rehearsals in right after work outs. It was brutal. Though I wanted to debut and finally start a career, this type of work schedule was not fun. Today was no different.

“CHRISTINE!” Manager yelled through the microphone. “WATCH YOUR PITCH! YOU’RE GOING FLAT AGAIN!” I cringed.

“Sorry manager,” I mumbled. “I won’t miss that note again.”

“Good. Now, from the top.” Yoo-mi and I groaned. “C’mon girls! You’re debuting in a month. I will not have you girls falling short.”

What we needed was a goddamn break. I was exhausted. If only something could come and rescue us from this torture. Suddenly, the door to the studio opened and in walked in 2AM. Yoo-mi and I beamed. YES, perfect timing. We hurried over to greet our sunbaes. It was funny to think we met them only a month ago and we were already as thick as thieves. After Yoo-mi suggested the mini collab with them, we immediately connected. We ended up spending hours in that studio just talking about ideas and fawning over each other’s voices. So it didn’t come as a surprise when our 2AM buddies began invading our rehearsals and we began ambushing theirs. We were just a bunch of silly kids having fun. Manager was delighted in the fact that Yoo-mi and I were so close to 2AM but she wasn’t very happy when they interrupted rehearsals with their silly antics. To me, they were like four older brothers I never had. They made me feel carefree and they definitely helped with the stress.

“Kwon! Changmin! Seulong! Jinwoon! What brings you here?” Yoo-mi asked with a smile.

“Eh, we decided we’d come and bother you guys today.” Seulong answered.

“Plus, we wanted to see what you guys are doing in a week from now.” Changmin said.

We smiled and gave them hugs. As I hugged Seulong, I whispered, “Oppa, you have no idea how much you guys just saved us right now. Manager was about to kill us with her craziness.” Seoulong chuckled and nodded.

“Anytime.” He said. I smiled. Out of all the guys, Seulong was the one I was closest to. I don’t know why, but we just automatically clicked. He reminded me of my brother at home, just minus the annoying side of him.

As we began to chat and mess around with 2AM, manager came strolling over with a stern look on her face. She was not pleased.

“BOYS!” she yelled. “Do you understand you just interrupted important rehearsal time for Yoo-mi and Christine?! They are debuting in a month! They cannot afford to waste any time! So if you would please, exit the studio!”

All of us stared at manager. She usually never yelled at 2AM for coming in during our rehearsals. If anything she’d just call them silly and allow them to stay. Today was different. I was worried; perhaps manager was quite serious about the crazy rehearsal time.

“Ah, Manager Ha-in,” Kwon urged. “We’re just here to visit our friends. They need a little fun! Look at them,” Kwon gestured towards us. I took the opportunity to give manager a tearful look while Yoo-mi gave her, her cute face. “They need a break!”

Manager glared at Kwon. “They need more rehearsal that’s what they need! And aren’t you four supposed to be rehearsing as well?! I believe you have a debut coming up in a week!”

Whoa, 2AM was debuting in a week? What were they doing here?!

“That’s why we came here, Manager Ha-in.” Changmin smiled. “We were going to ask Yoo-mi and Christine if they were coming to our debut.”

“We can’t debut without them there.” Seoulong chimed in. Going to a debut? An actual outing in public with friends? This was unbelievable! Yoo-mi and I hadn’t been out since the establishment of our groups. There was no way we were going to miss this! Especially if it was 2AM’s debut. They were our brothers for goodness sake! Missing it would not sit well with them or with us. I’d be willing to sneak out of the apartment to go watch our sunbaes debut. But it still had to be okay with manager. Sure, I was willing to sneak out of the apartment, but manager’s punishments, especially for me, were harsh. I had too many workout days enough as it is. A harsh workout day was like the plague; I try to avoid it as much as possible. I turned to manager.

“Please manager,” I pleaded. “Can we go to their debut?” Yoo-mi made her puppy dog face in hopes it would sway manager over. Even our sunbaes joined in the begging. Seulong had his hands in a prayer, Kwon was on his knees, Changmin was making faces, and Jinwoon just nodded eagerly.

Manager glanced at us nervously. She was about to give in, I could tell. No matter how angry she would be, manager was a softie underneath that hard exterior of hers. Plus she was like our second mother and no mother could really ever deny her children.

“Alright. Fine.” Manager said. We all cheered and began to do our own little dances. “However,” manager interrupted. “You girls have to rehearse every day until then and rehearsals better be perfect.” My face fell. There was always a catch with manager. I pouted.

“Manager! Can’t we just go for the sake of going? I mean, we are their counterparts shouldn’t it be required that we go to their debut and they go to ours?”

Manager studied me for a bit. She knew I had a point.

“That is true. Come to think of it, you two are required to attend the debuts of all JYP family members, not only 2AM’s. But you must attend 5star’s and 2PM’s as well.” The hell?! 5star’s too?! Why in the world would I go support Hannah and her little demons? They’d probably anyways. Plus if I’m going to a concert, I would like to enjoy myself listening to decent music not the stupid crap 5star pooped out.

“So wait, we’re going to all these debuts?” Yoo-mi asked.

“Indeed, you two are. Speaking of which, 2AM and 2PM are debuting around the same time.” Manager answered. “You’ll be going to both. You two said you wanted to go and now you can.”

“Yeah, but we just wanted to go to 2AM’s not the 5es’ debut.” I mumbled.

“Christine!” Manager rounded on me. “What did you say?!”

“Nothing manager.” I smiled innocently.

Manager gave me her evil eye and continued. “Alright then, it’s settled. You two shall go to all the debuts of your fellow JYP members. But for now, rehearsal time! So boys, LEAVE.”

(Yoo-mi)

Being backstage for a concert is chaos. Everyone is frantically pushing each other and screaming for everything to get done. It’s annoying. People need to calm down. Christine and I were following manager around as she gave us the details of our etiquette during 2PM’s debut.

“Now girls, you are to respect 2PM if ever you see them. Bow in respect.” Manager chimed. Bowing? Geeze, who were these guys? The emperors or something? Instead of voicing out, I merely nodded. We were here and that’s all that mattered.

“Now, I’m going to leave you girls alone. I have to discuss a few things about your upcoming debut. So behave yourselves and enjoy.” Manager vanished within seconds leaving Christine and I in the crowded hallway. The debut wouldn’t start until another or so. So Christi and I decided to roam around.

“Ah, my feet hurt.” Christi complained. “Can we go sit down in the audience now?” I laughed. “We’ve hardly walked for twenty minutes and you’re already tired?”

Christi nodded. “Aigoo, you’re so weird. Manager puts you through all those harsh workouts and yet you’re tired from barely walking for twenty minutes?”

Christi shrugged. “Those workouts are horrible, okay? And I’m tired because of those workouts. You should be lucky manager doesn’t put you through such hell.”

I laughed. “True, but she still makes me do workouts too you know.”

Christi scoffed. “Not as much me though. So unfair…” I laughed.

As Christi and I were laughing and being our silly selves, I noticed from the corner of my eye stood 7 guys. They were staring at me and Christi. I guess they would be staring. Christi and I decided to speak in Japanese to avoid any nosy eavesdroppers. It was nice talking in a language I was comfortable in, especially Christi, since Korean wasn’t really her strongest suit. So it was somewhat understandable that those 7 guys would be staring, but still. Their stares were pretty unnerving. I nudged Christi as she was going on a rant about the workout hell she had to do.

“It’s not fair that you get to eat all the rice you want and- ouch! What?!” Christi turned to me.

“Those guys over there are staring at us.” I whispered.

“So? We’re two awesome looking girls. I’m not surprised they would be staring,” She laughed. “And why are you whispering? It’s not like they can understand what we’re saying.”

“I know. But it’s still pretty creepy that they’re staring.” Christi turned to look at them.

“Hmmm, they do look familiar though…Don’t they look like the guys who are supposed to be debuting tonight?” I swiveled around and studied them along with Christi. She had a point. They DID look like 2PM…

“I think it is them!” I exclaimed.

“Ah, so that’s 2PM. Eh, they don’t look as good as 5star said. But then again, 5star doesn’t really have taste.”

I laughed. “True, they are pretty tasteless. Their debut dance is pretty risqué don’t you think?”

“Eh, they’re anyways. If they want to broadcast it all to Korea, they can. I’m not stopping them.”

I laughed. As we continued goofing off, a voice over the intercom announced that the concert would start in 10 minutes. 2PM began strolling towards the stage. They were about to pass us when I remembered manager informing us that we had to show 2PM respect. So as they passed by, I bowed and nudged Christi for her to follow suit. After we bowed, the guys merely stared at us with odd looks, probably thinking “who are these girls and why are they bowing?” As soon as they passed by, we decided it was time to sit in the audience. We wasted enough time dawdling. We were walking to the stage exit when Christi grabbed me.

“Whoa! What is it?!” I asked. Christi pointed to two girls walking around aimlessly backstage.

“Those girls…should they be backstage?”

“I don’t know,” I answered. “They don’t look like they should be.”

“We should help them out.” Christi suggested.

I was a bit hesitant. Those girls could be crazy fans who snuck in backstage just to see 2PM’s debut.

“I don’t know…” I said. “They could be star crazed fans!”

“Oh c’mon Yumi!” Christi nudged. “It’s not horrible if we help them out and if they are star crazed fans, we can always lead them to the exit and away from doing any harm.”

“Alright, fine.” I answered. Christi was right. If they were really just lost, it’d be nice to help them out. As we approached the two girls, they peered at us warily. When we finally reached them, we just stared, trying to figure out how to dissect the situation. I spoke up first.

“Hello,” I said. They merely nodded. “Do you two need help?” I could tell they were nervous.

“Are you two okay?” I asked. They just stared. Christine nudged me.

“Maybe they don’t speak Korean?” she whispered. Christi tried speaking in English.

“Uh, hi. Do you guys speak English?” she asked. They nodded. We were relieved. “Um, do you guys need help with anything?” Christi asked. “You guys seem a bit lost.”

They nodded. “We’re trying to find our brother.” One girl said. “He’s supposed to be debuting today.”

“Oh,” I said. “Is your brother in 2PM?”

The other girl nodded. “Mhmm. We’re here to see him perform. But we can’t find him.”

“Well, they’re performing right now.” Christi answered. “But if you guys want, you can sit with us in the audience and watch him.”

They smiled.  “We’d greatly appreciate that.” I smiled.

“Alright, follow me.” I gestured for them to follow me and Christi out to the audience. These girls didn’t seem too bad. As we reached our seats, I turned to them with a smile. I forgot to introduce ourselves.

“I’m sorry. But we never really introduced ourselves,” I said. “I’m Yoo-mi.” I gestured towards Christi. “And this is Christine.” The two girls smiled back and introduced themselves.

“I’m Yanin,” one of the girls said.

“And I’m Sherleen.” The other replied. Christi and I bowed.

“Nice to meet you.”

“The same. And thank you for helping us.”

(Christine)

2PM’s debut concert was pretty nice. Well I didn’t really watch per se because during the whole performance, Yoo-mi and I talked to Yanin and Sherleen. It gave us a chance to speak English and it felt good to be confident in speaking again. But Yanin and Sherleen were really nice people. I liked them. After the performance, Yanin and Sherleen insisted that Yoo-mi and I meet their brother.

“Please Christine! You have to meet him.” Yanin pleaded.

“But why me?” I asked. “I’m really flattered but I’m not so sure.”

“We just have a feeling our brother will take a liking to you.” Sherleen answered.

I laughed. “That’s nice. But you guys, I’m not comfortable with meeting your brother so we can have a relationship. No way. Plus, Yoo-mi’s prettier than me! I’m pretty sure your brother would like her more.”

“Ah, well both of you can meet him. Please. Plus we want to say hi to him and congratulate him. You guys have to come with us.” Yanin insisted. I pouted. I wasn’t really all gung-ho to meet Yanin and Sherleen’s brother. But they were nice and I guess it didn’t hurt to meet the guy, though I doubted I’d like him. I turned to Yoo-mi and asked for her opinion. She merely shrugged. I sighed and turned to Yanin and Sherleen.

“Alright, we’ll come with you guys and meet your brother.” I said. They beamed and began to lead the way.

 We travelled back to the backstage and found that 2PM was on the stage, celebrating their debut. Yoo-mi and I watched as Yanin and Sherleen approached the guys cautiously. Then suddenly, one of the guys came over and embraced them both. He had dark black hair arranged in some messy mop top. He had a nice face, but it looked…too perfect. It was somewhat creepy. After Yanin and Sherleen hugged the guy with the eerily perfect face, they motioned for us to come over. Yoo-mi and I strolled over and smiled and bowed. Yanin introduced Yoo-mi first.

“Nichkhun, this is Yoo-mi.” Yoo-mi nodded. Then Yanin pushed me forward. “And this is Christine.” Yanin gave her brother a wink. The hell? I stumbled forward.

“Christine, this is our brother, Nichkhun.” Sherleen grinned. I gave them each looks. Didn’t I say I didn’t want to be hooked up with their brother? Plus his face, though adorable it was, was creepy.

I held out my hand. “Um, nice to meet you.” He gripped my hand and nodded. We stood there for minutes just awkwardly shaking hands. I pulled my hand back and awkwardly smiled. Soon the rest of 2PM came over to our little group, interested in what was going on. A guy, who looked strangely close to a rat, attacked Nichkhun and turned to us.
“Who are you two?” Yoo-mi and I just stood there as everyone else came over. For a bunch of idols, they weren’t very good looking. Although one of the guys could have been mistaken for Rain. The others were just…wow. Words couldn’t even describe how weird looking they were. One of the guys had a doorknob for hair. I was sorely tempted to jump up and turn it to see if it’d open something. Another guy had humongous teeth and ears. All I thought of when I saw him was…DUMBO or Gary Busey. Another guy was just…nice. He just had such an awkward face. The last guy looked like a Tibet Fox. But his cheeks…omgsun, how I wanted to go up and pinch them.

As we all just studied each other, the guy who looked like a rat stepped forward.

“Wait, aren’t you those two girls who bowed to us backstage?”

Yoo-mi answered. “Yeah, that was us.”

He laughed.  “Why’d you guys bow?”

“It was to show our respect.” Yoo-mi said.

“Show respect? What for?” the guy with the humongous everything asked.

“Well, we were told to respect our sunbaes should we see them.” I answered.

“Sunbaes?” the awkward one quirked. “Wait, aren’t you two girls the counterparts for 2AM?” We nodded.

“Why’d you guys come to our debut? Shouldn’t you be going to 2AM’s?” the Rain look alike asked.

“Our manager brought us here.” Yoo-mi answered.

“Hmmm,” awkward one said. “Well we’ve heard a lot about you two from 5star.”

“Oh? Really?” I smiled. What were those es saying about us now?

“Yeah,” Rain said. “They said you guys were scouted because of your looks. But from the looks of you two, you guys don’t seem that extraordinarily pretty.” I felt the irritation start to grow. Who was this guy to start insulting us? Maybe they were a bit biased because 5star was their female counterparts, but still. RUDE.

“Um, yeah. We did get scouted about a few months ago.” Yoo-mi answered. I could tell she was a bit pissed too.

“Yeah,” awkward one said. “To be models right? It seems odd that you guys would be a ballad group when you guys got scouted for your faces.”

Alright, what was this? Insult Yoo-mi and Christine day? What were these guys’ problems?

“Well, our voices aren’t too shabby.” Yoo-mi answered. “JYP believes we’ll do alright in this industry.”

“Huh.” Rain said. “Sorry, but it’s kind of hard to believe that you guys are a ballad group when the main reason you’re here is for your look.” Okay, didn’t we establish the fact that we were scouted for our faces? Why were these two guys ragging on us for? I don’t recall doing or saying anything to them.

“If you would like,” I said. “We’d be willing to show you what were capable of.”

“We’ll see.” Awkward one said. I couldn’t stand being here any longer. If we were just going to be insulted, I’d rather not be there. I nudged Yoo-mi discreetly and we both bowed and said our goodbyes.

As we left the stage, I couldn’t help but feel irritated and hurt. Why did so many people doubt our abilities? Was it so hard to believe that we could actually make it? I sighed. It didn’t matter what anyone thought anyways. As long as Yoo-mi and I believed in ourselves, we were fine. But still, it would be nice to have someone besides us believe in our careers.

Before we could leave, we needed to find manager. As we searched backstage for her, I heard hurried footsteps coming closer and closer behind us. I stopped Yoo-mi and we both turned and came face to face with the rat and Dumbo.

“Hey,” the rat breathed.

“Hi,” Yoo-mi answered. “Can we help you?”

“Um yeah,” Dumbo said. “We’d like to apologize for what Junho and Junsu said in there.”

“Um, it’s okay.” I answered. “It’s understandable.”

“It is?” the rat said in disbelief. “We didn’t think you guys would be so nice about what they said. But we’re sorry.”

Yoo-mi smiled. “It’s okay, really. We’d like to earn respect and admiration for our work rather than expect it. And we’re willing to prove to you guys that we’re worthy of being here.”

The two guys smiled. “Alright, we’ll hold you two to that.” We nodded. “But again, sorry, Junho and Junsu are just…touchy and they have crushes on 5star.” So that’s why they were so mean. Hannah and her little minions brainwashed them.

“We understand.” Yoo-mi said. “And thanks, you guys didn’t need to apologize.”