Chapter 2 

Darkness surrounded Monique as she awoke, looking around curiously as lights suddenly , one by one, to reveal that she was in the center of a large stage surrounded with empty seats. She could hear the settle sound of a door opening, and then closing with a heavy slam, signifying that she wasn't alone in the acoustic room anymore. Her eyes fluttered up one of the walkways where light had pooled into the pitch black room when the door had opened, an outline of a figure decending through the doorway in a slow, laid back stride. The figure then walked down the aisle, past a few rows of chairs, before finally deciding to take a seat at an outer chair that was only a few rows away from the last row.

Monique squinted her eyes, unsure of the person's presence. Her eyes looked up at the blinding light that hovered over her head, covering her eyes from the brightness before looking back into the chaired area where the audience would've been sitting, looking for the figure. Her eyes landed on the dark outline of the shadow. It sat with one leg crossed over the other, their hands folded in it's lap, awaiting for something to occur, expecting a performance. 

"Hello?" Her voice echoed throughout the empty room, only to be responded with dead silence, "Who are you?" 

Music started to play, an unfamiliar tune to Monique, but she looked down at her outfit to see that she was wearing black leather pants and a white buttoned up shirt that was half way buttoned with a low cut, deep red tank underneath it. A pair of fed and black Nikes were on her feet, making her blink- she could never afford such luxuries. She lifted her hand to file her fingers through her hair in confussion, only to find that a red, black and white snapback covered her long hair that had been styled.

Her eyes flickered up to see the figure tilt it's head questionably at her, making her feel somewhat self concious for some reason, but as the music continued to grow louder, her body began to move on it's own with what seemed to have been previously planned choreography. She danced in a hip hop style with confidence, but also in confusion. The movements continued until opened and she began to rap and sing- and this shocked her once more. Her Korean pronunciation was on point, something she still struggled with was her American accent that would spill behind her words.

Soon, the performance came to an end and Monique was left breathing heavily, sweat dripping down her temple and down her neck. She swallowed as she looked at the lone figure in the room, a pause occuring as she attempted to settle her breathing, and the figure clapped, then stood up from his position in the chair, and began to approach the stage in a steady stride. Monique awaited the figure to be where she could see the features. The person then stepped out of the shadows, looking up at her.

What looked back at her was a man she had never seen before, but he wore a contented smile. His almond shaped eyes scanned her over and bowed silently to her- the sight of the man made her curious- he was very handsome. She swallowed and returned the bow, "Who are you...?"

The man was silent, and as his lips moved, no sound was audible, making her confused to what she did hear,

"Monique."

"Monique, wake up," Her eyes snapped open to see Amber looking down at her in her blue pajamas, "It's time to get ready for you audition to Big Hit Entertainment!" She spoke excitedly, making Monique realize that what she had experienced was a dream. Her hazel eyes glanced around the room curiously, making Amber chuckle, "Wake up, Monique! Get ready and get dolled up, it takes you forever to get ready." Amber grumbled playfully before turning and heading to her own room once again.

About an hour passed before Monique was finished getting ready. She wore dark gray MC Hammer sweats, a white and black graphic tee, a borrowed pair of Jordans from Amber as a 'good luck' gesture, a variety of jelly wristbands decorated her slim wrist with words of encouragement, a black snapback completed the look. A dufflebag hung over her shoulder as she was about to leave, she touched up her makeup and looked towards Amber, who was still in her pajamas with a smile on her face and giving her two thumbs up, "Good luck, Monique!" 

Monique playfully rolled her eyes, "Yahhh what happened to calling me 'Unnie?' " 

Amber stuck her tounge out, "Just because you act older doesn't mean you are older, Monique-ah." Monique chuckled at the response and nodded, waving a hand slightly to Amber, keys tucked into her loose fingers, the sound of the charms clicking together as a sign of goodbye for Monique, and she turned to head to the building that matched the address that was printed in small blocked letters on the white buissness card that was tucked away in her pants.

The building that towered over her with the large words 'Big Hit Entertainment' made her feel a sense of nervousness for the first time about the whole ordeal. The glass windows opened the entire first floor of bustling young bodies in a lobby area visible to the outside world. Monique sighed, breathing in deeply before stepping into the building, not feeling a bit apart of the civilians that were accompanying the inside. Everyone who eyed her couldn't keep their eyes off, continuing to stare at the non-Asianed face that had just entered their world. The farther into the building she traveled, she could only feel herself become more and more discomfort. She sighed.

What am I doing, I don't belong here...

"Miss Monique, you came," Monique looked up from the Jordans that were on the dark wooden flooring of the building to the voice, only to lock eyes with a bright eyed Hyun. She returned the smile that he greeted her with, only with a slightly more questionable one, not radiating any sense of confidence that she had before this morning, "Please, follow me. The CEO is busy, but his top hiring agent is on the next floor doing auditions. It's a little busy today, as you can see, he motioned towards the other suited up workers who had been previously staring at her, only to see that they had gone back to their daily routines.

Monique nodded slightly in understanding. Hyung smiled, "If this all works out, I'll become your manager, so I hope you won't fail me and work hard on your audition. I understand it wasn't much time to prepare, but I have high hopes in you." Monique nodded and watched Hyun with a raised brow with a slight smile tug at the corner of her lips, making Hyun look at her questionably, "What is it?" 

She shook her head slightly, "It's nothing, you just seem more confident than yesterday when you approached me, it's interesting to see you in your element and excited." Hyun chuckled lowly and nodded with a slight blush, "When will I be seeing him?" 

Hyun glanced at his watch, "It'll be happening in about 15 minutes, so please stretch. You'll have half an hour to prove your worth for the company. There are three portions to this audition, feel comfortable to sing in English or rap in English if you're more comfortable with that. Language is not an issue here, we can easily hire a tutor to help with teaching you Korean." Monique nodded, beginning to stretch, not caring who watched her, "Try not to get stage fright," He joked, making Monique laugh softly,

"Me? Stage fright? Please." 

Soon, the minutes for waiting were up, and Hyun guided Monique up to the second floor and to the proper room. The dark door that opened to the room had a white name card beside it with Park Jin printed in dark letters to display whom to expect on the other side. Her eyes glanced up at Hyun whoe gave her two thumbs up, "Good luck, do your best and most of all, have fun!" Monique chuckled and nodded in response,

"I'll try." 

Hyun opened the door to let Monique inside the slick concrete room with white and blue walls with a small black table at the opposite end of the room which sat three people she had never seen before, but she smiled none the less and bowed, greeting the trio happily, "Hello, I'm Monique, and I'm here to audition for your company. I was scouted by Kim Hyun, and I'm happy to be here." 

The judges perked up slightly with the use of English and Korean in her introduction, nodding in approval, "Good morning, Miss Monique, we'll be the judges for your audition. Miss Shin," The man from the far right gestured to the only woman sitting amongst them, a subtle smile present on her lips, "She will be judging your singing. Mr. Yin," He motioned towards the other man on the other end of the table, "Will be judging your rapping, if you choose to do so, as well as your dancing. And I, Mr. Jin, will be representing the company's interest to see if you'll be a proper match for our company." 

Monique nodded, bowing to each person who was individually being introduced, "I'll try not to waste your time any further, Mr. Jin." 

Jin nodded and leaned against the table with his elbows propped up, "You may begin."

The audition seemed to had lasted longer than the designated 30 minutes she was promised, and she didn't know if she had been a thrill to watch, none the less entertaining. By the end of the session, she was breathless from the dance portion and had been attempting to catch her breath, sweat was beading at her temple upon each transition between the segments of the audition. She swallowed down her pounding heart, attempting to slow down it's rapid beating from the nerves and exercise. 

Jin stood up with a smile on his face, clapping, "You're a very talented woman, I can't lie. Your dancing skills are impecable, none the less for a woman." Monique nodded for the compliment, her heart skipping at the same time, "You'd be a wonderful addition to the Big Hit family, but there's nothing for sure, yet. We still have to place you in training to see how you'd do and see if you'd be better as a solo artist or in a girl group."

Yin cleared his throat, "I think she'd be best as a solo artist, she has all the abilities, she could possibly become the next BoA of the coming generation. It would be nice for Big Hit to have another female soloist. It's mainly made up of male leads, it'll be nice to have a Kpop artist finally come from the company." Jin nodded at Yin,

"That's true, besides the Bangtan Boys, there's not much coming from our company in comparison to artists from our rivals," Jin hummed out with pierced lips, looking at Monique who stood quietly, "You've made a great impact on us, you'll be beginning your training this week, so make sure to rest up when you can." 

"Child, don't strain yourself and just embrace the doors you've just opened for yourself," Monique looked at Shin who was smiling at her contently, "You're a rare kind of talent, and we'll be sure it will be harvested and be taken care of. You're going to go far in this company." The older woman looked over the girl again and sighed, "Of course you'll become popular with your...taste in fashion. It's similiar to Amber's."

The thought made Monique laugh inside as she recalled Amber commenting her style would become famous, shaking her head to ignore her mindless thoughts and focus on the feedback being given to her.

"We'll discuss your contract and how and when your training will be taking place. Nothing's set in stone, so don't slip up," Jin spoke firmly, handing a sealed yellow envelope to Monique, nodding to her and shaking her hand, "For now, welcome."

Monique shook his hand happily and bowed deeply to the trio before picking up her duffel bag and heading out of the room. She breathed in deeply to fill her lungs with cool air. She rubbed her temples before smiling ear to ear, not being able to believe that she was even considered to become a solo artist. She gently slapped herself to be sure she wasn't dreaming and laughed whole heartily as she felt the light sting on her cheek. Monique squeezed the envelope close to her chest as she danced in place, "Monique? How'd it go?" 

Her hazel eyes turned to land on Hyun, smiling brightly as she wiggled the sealed contract in front of him, a smile automatically being placed on his face as he clapped in excitement, "This is great! Congratulations! Ok, what did they say?" He continued to speak, trying to contain his excitement and happiness, rubbing his hands together before placing them on his sides, looking at Monique.

"I'll be starting training, and they'll go over the contract in detail with me," Hyun smiled more at the response and hugged Monique tightly, lifting her up in the air and spinning her, making her laugh, "I can't wait to get started! Oh! And I have to still tell Amber! She's waiting for my response on how it went!" Hyun nodded,

"I'll get us a drink and I'll take you home, I'm sure you and Amber will want to celebrate the good news." 

Monique nodded as she pulled out her phone, Hyun leaving to the downstairs cafe to leave Monique with her phone call. She pulled out her phone and started to dial Amber's number, going to find a peaceful place for her call. She rounded a corner and ran into something that knocked her off her feet. She fell back onto the floor, sitting up to dust herself off, groaning lowly at the mishap, looking up to glare at the person who had literally ran into her. A man looked at her in turn, eyes wide, shaking his hands, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I should've been paying more attention! Are you okay?" 

He lent her a hand, helping her up, making Monique look up and get a better look at the man's face, her eyes widening slightly as she recalled her dream from earlier in the morning. Who stood in front of her was the handsome, quiet man from that very dream. The man tilted his head slightly to the side, worried he hadn't gotten an answer, "Miss? Are you ok? You're not hurt, are you?" 

Monique suddenly cleared , shaking her head and smiling back slightly, "O-Oh, of course, don't worry, I'm fine. B-But... May I ask who you are? What's your name?" 

The man smiled brightly in return, offering a hand for a shake, "I'm Jung Ho Seok, but everyone calls me J-Hope."