“Chaengie, get up!”

“Chaengie…? Oh!”

A smile appears on the face of Mrs. Son. “You are already up…”

“Yep. How can I sleep on the most important day of my life??”

“Looks like you really are taking it seriously.”

“Yes mom. I am. This is what I always wanted to be.”

“Well, I won’t say you becoming a rapper is what we have in mind...”

“Mom, I told you, right? That’s what this competition is all about. If I succeed, it’s obvious that it is where I belong.”

“Yes, and if you don’t, you will come right back and concentrate on study and get into a good college.”

“Yes, fair and square.”
“Sigh… actually I don’t want to discourage you. It’s just that the entertainment world is not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s hard to survive there. You don’t need to be a part of it to know that.”

“I believe if you love something from the bottom of your heart, you will succeed in achieving it.”

“Same line. You are his daughter after all.” Mom smiles once more. “Okay. You have convinced me. Now come down and eat the breakfast. You need to look healthy to make a good first day impression.”

“Thanks mom.”

I am Son Chaeyeong. 17 years old. Being a rapper is my dream. That’s all.

…If you want to know about my family, my father is an engineer. My mother is a housewife.

We are not among the rich bunch, but we live happily with what we have, it’s pretty adequate if you ask me.

Anyway, about being a rapper… You should all know about JYP, right?

Park Ji Young. CEO of one of the best entertainment house of Korea, holds a spot in the world as well.

He himself is a great singer and dancer, but more importantly he has an eye for talent. I have lost count of how many idols have emerged to greatness under his guidance. I also want to fulfil my dream like them. And he himself has set the stage this year.

Sixteen, a reality show. The winners will form a new girl group whose name or how many members will it have – are all classified at the moment.  But word is, JYP has plans to make it THE definitive girl group of the coming era, which will shadow even the biggest girl groups that already are or will come up alongside.

Well, those are crazy thoughts… it gives me the shivers just to think about it. Being part of such a group… wow.

First there is the entry audition, which will happen today. Supposedly they will select 256 people today.

If I get in, then there is the 2^nd round… which will cut the queue down to 64.

Then there is another round which will finally select the 16 best… who will participate in Sixteen.

Before Sixteen, the vocal and the dancing instructors will be choosing us. But after that we will have to perform live in front of JYP and other famous celebrities of KPop…

(Deep Breath)

I have memorized the whole thing. I utter it in my sleep.

The competition is fierce… as expected. But I am no pushover. I am confident of my ability. Now if it’s enough for the big stage, that is left to be seen. But I am sure the rapping God is with me in the path of my dream. Yosh! Now let’s get going!

Sixteen! JYP! Here I come!

After half an hour of bus journey, I reach the venue. Yonsei Auditorium.

The initial audition will be held here. I enter enthusiastically and after walking through the security, I enter the main hall. (There are more than 1 auditorium halls here). And man! The numbers are more than what I expected. I mean a helluva lot more! There are people everywhere! So many cameras and so many speakers… so many equipment I didn’t even see before.

The preparations… i-it’s huge. It feels like a different world.

On a huge screen, the message flashes –“JYP welcomes you. Be a part of us and reach the stars!”

“The stars” sums it up. This whole thing is on a different level.

I know I talked a lot about confidence and all… but to be honest… I am feeling a little scared right now. Where do we need to perform again? I hope it’s not in front of all these crowd.

With a lot of useless thoughts, I go towards the registration desk.

“Hello. I want to…”
“Ah, hello. Your name please?”

“Ah… Chaeyeong. Son Chaeyeong.”

“Son… Chaeyeong. Got it.” The girl behind the desk says with a smile. Then she hands me a big card with a number written on it.

“Your registration number is 29.”

“Oh…Thanks…”

“You registered very early it seems. The last number we got until now is 856, and that too within the first two hours since we started. Eager much?” she winks.

E-eight Hundred?? “Y-yes.”

“Hehe. That’s good. Anyhow, your audition will also be early. So be ready. Good luck.”

“Thank you.”]

! I am THIS early?? I-I won’t even have time to pre-prepare…

Wait… didn’t I practice for like 8 months for this? Yes, I did.

Then why do I feel my knees shaking?? … first time in front of such a huge crowd… t-this is what they call fear of stage.

“Hello, Miss.”
“Y-yes.”
“You are a participant, right? Number 29… you are on the first batch. Please be seated. Your name will be called soon.”

“Can I ask h-how soon?”

“Uh… I can’t say. Depends on the participants who comes before you.”

“Oh o-okay. Thank you.”

I take a seat in the 2^nd front row with a thousand worries in my head. Soon, they start calling out the participants.

“Hello Everyone, welcome and thanks for participating in the audition. Sorry to not give you girls chance to properly set in, but as we had expected, the number of appearance is pretty big, so we will have to get down to business asap. We will divide you in batches of 20… so registration number 1 to 20 will be the first batch. They will go to Auditorium A1… 21 to 40 will go to A2, and so on and so forth… up to A10 that is. The person standing in front of each hall will call out your number, so please keep your ears sharp. And…… that’s it. Good luck.”

At least I don’t have to perform in front of this crowd.

The calling starts. The participants go one by one, some nervously, some confidently. I don’t even blink in utter anxiousness. I will be called soon enough.

But… but the scary thing is… they are not at all spending much time inside! What the hell??

At first I was thinking it was only the first, then the same happened to second, then the third! And they don’t look happy at all when coming out. D-does that mean they are rejecting all of them?? And so quickly?? Is the standard too high? Did I overestimate my ability?!

I am becoming too tensed worrying about all this. I-I think I am forgetting my lines…

I have to ask somebody, or I will go mad.

“Oh! E-excuse me.” I call out a girl who just comes out from the auditorium. “Can you please tell me what is going on inside? I mean… how are they- “

That’s when I noticed that she is crying.

“I-…”

She turns her face away, wiping her tears and walks away.

… My fear is true! They really are rejecting all of them!

Within 5 minutes, another one comes out.

“Hello… can you please tell me how is the situation ins- “

“Shut up!” She angrily says and dashes towards the main gate.

“S-sorry…” I mumble even though she was long gone. Yes… rejected again.

This goes on. I am keeping count… actually anyone hardly went beyond 5.

Suddenly I hear sound of clapping coming from A2. I guess the scene there is a bit better? Who knows… lucky bunch maybe. I need to concentrate here.

But, wait! This 20^th one… she looks calm! I can ask her!

“Hello!”
“Um…?”

“Can you…” Ah, I should change my approach at least. “How was your performance?”

“…” she looks down. “…not good.”
“O-oh.”

“No, it’s alright. My skill is not yet of this level… I-I should have trained harder.”

“I-I am sure you tried your best.”
“…Thank you.”
“How… is the situation inside?”

“…Tough. Three person will judge your performance.”

“T-three??”

“Yes. I think one for vocal, one for dance and one for… who knows what… maybe presentation...”

“O-oh. Okay… Damn you.”

“Excuse me?!”
“I-I mean thank you… Sorry!”

“Ok…”

Oh man, this is… I already knew that there can be more than one judge. But hearing it right now, I-it’s different. What was I going to sing again?

Just then, I hear a commotion near A2. Some people are congratulating one girl and she is smiling shyly. She looks good but what’s this about? Is she the first one to be selected or what? If so, good for her. This is the first time I am seeing positivity here after coming out from the judging panel.

“Number 29!”

“Yes!”

“Please come.”

I gather my papers and go inside.

As the girl told, there are three judges. One lady and two gentlemen. Most probably trainer and choreographer.

“Hello Ms.… Chaeyeong. Welcome to the Audition. So what are you performing for us today?” One of them told with a smile.
“Hello and Good Morning. Thank you for giving me a chance to perform here. I will perform a rap… Namely, This Love by G-Dragon, with your permission.”

“Ahh. Nice. Okay. Please do. Good luck.”

I nod in response. There is no music running in the background. It is really a test for the rappers. Anyhow, without wasting time, I clear my throat… and… here goes.

This love yeah yeah yeah

This love for my thugging g’s and uh

I’m straight fallin’ that’s right

Yeah yeah yeah

This is a song for y’all…

I open my eyes after finishing. I look at the judges.

Two of them are writing something on the paper, and one of them is smiling at me. Then one of the other two stops writing and looks at me.

“Okay, thank you for the performance. You may take your seat back in the auditorium, we will announce the result after all the performance of 1^st 10 batches are finished.”

“Thank you.” I smile back and go back outside, in the auditorium.

Well, I, too didn’t take much time. Now I will have to wait. But that went better than expected. I don’t know how good it was, but still from my view, it was good… I think.

Wait.

It just comes to me… that DID go better than expected. How did I…

I was really afraid 5 minutes ago. I was forgetting lines… was stuttering…

Then they called, and I gave the performance like a pro. What the heck…?

Anyhow, I am fortunate I didn’t mess up… but still, that is kind of fishy. Do I have bipolar personality or something…?

Anyhow, time passes. I lost count how much. I am too busy watching the others’ reaction when they come out of the auditoriums. Finally the time comes.

“Everyone please take your seats…” they announce.

“Thank you all for giving us such a huge response. We know all can’t be selected, but still… the enthusiasm matters. We will now release the result, so this was just to let you know that we appreciate your effort. And for those who successfully passed the round, the next round will be held in 2 days. The venue and time will be sent by E Mail. Thank you again. See you there.”

With that they put up the result on a huge board.

And the whole world… I mean the whole auditorium flocks around it.

For information, I am not too tall. Mostly shorter than 4 out of 5 people I meet. Boys and girls included. Hence I keep jumping all around the board hoping to get a glance at the result, but fail miserably.

“Excuse me…”
“Can you give some space… please…?”
“Excuse… can you please give me a bit of…”

But alas, futile attempts. I think I will have to wait until the rush is over.

“What’s your name?”
“Huh…?” One girl, a bit taller than me asks. Hey, this is… I saw her before… where…?”

“Your name. I see that you are trying to see the result for 5 minutes… I can look for it if you like.”

“Uh… Son Chaeyeong.”

“Okay…” she goes inside the flock. How on earth she found a way within it so easily?!

1 minute… 2 minute… 3 minute… 4 minute.

She is still not coming out of that crowd. Probably unable to find my name. I guess I am rejected. The competition was tough and all. Next time maybe-

“Congrats.”

“Eh!” she appears suddenly. “You scared me!”
“Oh, sorry.” She smiles. “You have been selected, congrats.”

“I… what…? Selected?? You are joking, right??” I say in disbelief.

“No, why would I? You can check yourself later. Actually your name was at the very first… I was searching for it elsewhere like an idiot. Your number is 29… of course it would be at first.”

“A-ah. I-it’s great! I don’t know how to feel about it! This is awesome!!” My face brightens up immediately.

“It is. Now you should take some rest and prepare for next round.”

“Y-yeah. Thanks.”

Suddenly my phone rang. It’s my mom. Probably going to ask about the result. Nice timing.

“I will just take this call and…” she is gone already.  I pick the call up.

“Hello Mom. Passed the 1^st round!!” I say excitedly.

“Ah! Awesome news! I was going to ask the same. When is the second round?”

“In 2 days.”

“Oh… ok, did you eat anything?”

“KitKat.”

“That’s not food. Come home quickly, I will prepare something good. You need to get ready for the next round now.”

“Yes mom.”

Now I remember.
It’s that girl whom everyone was congratulating… at the very beginning.

Must be really skilled. But she is very helpful as well. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask her name though… but, I saw her number… 37.

Suddenly I realize the crowd has dispersed a bit.

Some are happy, some are sad, some are not happy with the decision… etc. But this is my chance to finally be able to look at the result board.

Ah, yes. Glorious. My name indeed is the very first. 29. Son Chaeyeong. Wooowww.

Now… 37… Ahah! As I thought. She passed as well!

So this is her name.

Anyhow, I need to get back now. Prepare for my next round. It is going to be harder. There have to be lot of other rappers like me as well who will come to 2^nd round. I have to show something unique to move ahead.  Even Ms. 37 will be there, competing against me. Okay… Fighting!