You dropped your cell phone in shock. You stared blankly at the green phone, trying to comprehend the past 30 seconds. Had you just been invited to a meeting with YG’s CEO? You remembered when you first auditioned to an entertainment company.   

After considering several companies and rejecting some, you had chosen YG has your first choice. Anxiety was breaking your concentration that day, but you had set your mind to the goal and regained control. Everything had been thoroughly prepared. You had bought new clothes for the occasion; a silver oversized t-shirt, which left one of your shoulders bare, with an orange sports top underneath. On the bottom were baggy black shiny sweatpants with orange legwarmers on your ankles. It was all paid with the money you had saved from a part-time summer job at a small coffee shop in Bucheon. The silver JS Wing sneakers you wore where old and worn out, but that was a must and basic knowledge for dancers. Shoes with a worn sole allowed your feet to slide and that made your dance moves more fluid.

 You took a cab in front of your apartment and it took an hour to drive you to your destination.  As the car came to a halt, you paid the fee to the nice old cab driver. You could still clearly remember him, whose kind smile made wrinkles of wisdom appear in his tired face. The sweet mint scent that filled the car was also engraved in this memory. Remembering it made you feel the same as you had felt as you left the cab, entering into a new path of your destiny.

As your sneakers touched the sidewalk, you felt a jolt of electricity run through you, as if fate itself was telling you that you were on the right track. You had to do it. In order to move forward to reach for your dream, to grab it and never let go. You looked at the time in your cell phone and sprinted to the inside of the huge modern building.  The time for your audition was close, and you still needed to fill out all of the paperwork needed for the confirmation and inscription. As you made your way into the waiting room, signed forms in your hand, the line of hope-filled teens appeared in front of you. You had just ended high school, and worked during the summer has proof to your parents that you were capable of working if you weren’t able to achieve your dream. Unfortunately, even after that, your parents were still against it, and you had to sorrowfully leave your parents house. You moved in to a friend’s apartment in downtown Seoul, who offered you her extra-bedroom in change for domestic chores.

As you sat in a cold blue plastic chair, you saw young girls and boys coming out of the audition room in tears, in rage, and a few, the minority, with bright smiles that made their face glow. In the midst of your anxiety, you ended up tearing the lyrics to the song you were singing in small thousands of pieces. As you realized your actions, you started to panic, as you were not able to obtain a second copy, and neither did you have a back up plan. You couldn’t leave your place; you would be risking your chance of success. The only thing to do would be to repeat the words of the song in a quiet mantra, engraving it into your mind. A few minutes later, a young man placed a sheet on your lap. As you picked it up, you could recognize the words to the song you were stressing about. You looked up to the young man, who’s tall but lean built mesmerized you, wearing a large hoodie, a stylish black cap and black sunglasses. You murmured a perplexed ‘Thank you’ to the stranger, and with a nod of his head, he walked away without saying a word or looking back. You thanked whatever God answered your prayers and helped you, and once again, you felt that you were on your designated path.

Suddenly, a small woman called your number, and with a look in your face that resembled a deer in front of a trucks headlight’s, you slowly marched towards the room. You entered through the black wooden double doors and what your eyes saw made you collapse inside in a nervous breakdown.

At the bottom of the short staircase was a big room with a group of theatre seats, and further down, a big rectangular table where five people were sitting while chatting quietly. The audition room was dark, with black walls and only a spot light lit on stage and subtle ambient lights above the judges. You walked down the black carpeted aisle between the chairs, trying to give of a confident attitude. You bowed to the judges when you got to the centre of the stage and looked at the darkened faces with a light confusion, since you could not see the expressions on their faces. A strong voice rose from the table. ‘_______-ssi, 18 years old, from Seoul. Has a high school diploma. Talents: Singing and dancing. Previous experience: a year of singing lessons and several courses on various dance styles. Okay, show us what you’ve got.’

And so you did. You took a step forward closer to the microphone and relaxed as the song started coming out of the tall professional looking speakers. After a deep breath, you sang with all the emotions you could conjure. ‘Without Words’ was the song you chose to sing, as it was popular due to the drama ‘You’re Beautiful’, and it also left a bittersweet feeling in your heart when you sang it. As you held the last note, you slowly backed away from the microphone as the track changed and the mix to your dance scheme began playing.

You danced your routine with a passion unknown even to you. The situation had triggered your true desire and willpower, so even though all your muscles were already sore, and every inch of your body was covered in sweat, for the first time, you were truly one with the music; a mere puppet to the notes in the melody. As it ended with a bang, you felt all of that strength collapse and you lost feeling of al your limbs, but in an attempt to maintain your posture, you held on to the little spark of passion that helped you do it.

Breathing heavily, you stared in desperation at the judges, waiting for an answer. Whispered opinions being discussed could be heard, as the judges resembled the oracle deities, deciding your fate. The centre man cleared his throat, and the deep voice was heard again. ‘________-ssi, why do you want to pass this audition?’ The answer slipped out of your mind. You knew this was going to be asked, you rehearsed your line a thousand times, but in the crucial moment, it was all in vain. However, the brain isn’t always the only one that can answer, so your heart took the lead and simple words came out. ‘I was born for this. This is like air to me’. You begged that unknown being that it would be the right answer.

‘It’s a valid reason. A quite strong one actually. _____________-ssi, let me explain your situation. In this table of judges, we have a manager, a vocal teacher, a dance instructor, an investor and me, Yang Hyun Suk, the CEO of this company. Each of us has the right o one vote, but in rare exceptions, I can go against the voting results. Today, in this room, you have received all four votes of the judges I personally invited.’ A rush of blood filled with adrenalin shot through your veins, carrying excitement to your every cell. But before you could even start to mouth a ‘Thank you’, the president continued. ‘However, you are missing one vote, Mine. It is not due to lack of talent nor motivation. I have seen only a few people like you, and today, they all debuted under y wing. But I have a feeling that something in you is missing. I feel that you still have a path to walk through before you reach your full potential. But that path cannot be walked here, with us. So I’m making this the rare exception of opposing all votes and rejecting your application.’

These words marked the first time you felt your world collapse around you. Desperation took hold of you, and at that moment, you felt so lost that you couldn’t even muster up an answer, anything to say. With a blank expression, that mirrored your crushed dreams, you went down the small stairs on the side of the stage and slowly made your way to the front of the judges’ table. You bowed in a sign of appreciation and proceeded to leave the room. ‘However… I cannot let such talent go to waste and risk discouraging you from using your talent. I am going to contact a colleague of mine and book an off-schedule audition. My secretary will later on inform you of the details.’

With a heart-felt ‘thank you’, you left the room, not with a b smile, nor a tear washed face, but with a sense of hope and accomplishment.

And that was the story of your first audition. After that, you were sent to Cube and you were obviously accepted, putting you in the situation you were in right now. Was this the kind of experience you had to gain? Disappointment, invisibility, disdain? Matters like that would be discussed in the meeting; you would make sure of that.

Without realizing it, you fell asleep. You woke up startled by the thought of being late. Luckily, it was 7:30 AM and you had plenty of time to get ready. To wash off the nightmare you hade, you took a hot relaxing shower, with the words from your dream still echoing in your mind. ‘Maybe if you worked harder … If you weren’t as stupid, ungrateful and lazy…  Don’t burden us with your problems…’ You got out of the shower and wrapped yourself in a pink fluffy towel and after brushing your teeth, you went back to the bedroom to get dressed. 45 minutes later you were ready to go, having finished your breakfast. You walked out of you apartment and went down the street towards the metro station. As you passed by a small boutique’s window, you quickly analyzed your reflection. The tight opal blue dress looked perfect, with the skirt ending just above your knee. Combined with a black blazer and a pair of black high heel boots, you looked young, modern and professional. After mentally checking all the small details, you went along to the meeting. After riding the subway, you caught a cab, and at 9:25 A.M, you arrived at the front of the YG building. You made your way in and asked the receptionist about your appointment. ‘President Yang Hyun Suk-ssi left the message for you to go up to room 45 and wait for him there. It’s on the 4^th floor, to the right of the elevator.’ You thanked the girl and made your way to the elevator. As the doors were closing, a handsome man pressed the button and entered the small modern cabin. He made the gesture to click in the floor button, but after noticing you had already pressed the 4^th floor one, his hand dropped to the side of his waist and he stood next to you facing the door. He was wearing an expensive looking suit and sunglasses, even if he was inside. ‘Must be some kind of trend.’ You though, while laughing mentally. The elevator’s bell rang, and he lifted his arm up as a signal to let you out first. When he noticed your confused way, he said ‘Ladies first’. You smiled embarrassedly and quickly got out, bowing slightly as a thank you gesture. The man's voice was familiar to you, but you brushed it off has your imagination. You made your way to the room after noticing that he went the opposite way. You knocked on the door, and a strong voice granted you permission to enter. As you walked into the room, you saw the company’s president staring at you with a warm smile.

‘Hello _________-ssi. Long time no see. Sit down, we have a lot to discuss.’ He said, and for a moment, you changed your mind about the guilt you were going to put on this man, and instead, you started to wonder if he hadn’t actually done the right thing all along.