December 21, 2015 (Monday)

Not having been in Korea for a few years, Mari was unsure of how to get to places. Thankfully, the Internet was very useful for people like her who had no sense of directions.

Today would be the biggest day of her life. It was the day of her final audition. The results of this final audition would totally change her life route. If she passed, she could stay in Korea and become a trainee. If she didn’t pass, she would have to return to the states and prepare for a new semester of college. Becoming a trainee wouldn't assure that a debut would happen, but it was better than nothing. Mari would get a chance at becoming an idol. Although she was nervous and had doubts about herself, she had used the money she had saved over the years to fly herself over to Korea and it was important for her to become more confident. She had to make the audition worthwhile.

As she stood in front of the Big Hit Entertainment building, she tried to calm herself down but that was nearly impossible. She had to admit. She was nervous. Extremely nervous. It didn’t help to remember that the last conversation with her mom had consisted of only yelling. She had a feeling that she and her mother would not be contacting each other for a while. Her mother was angry and disappointed in her. This saddened and frustrated Mari, but she was willing to go through these hard times if it meant that she would achieve her goal later on.

Mari finally began making her way towards the entrance. Surprisingly, the agency wasn’t as highly secured as she had thought it would be. Weren’t they worried about crazy fans barging in? Or maybe there was just an invisible rule that all fans followed: don’t walk into an entertainment company's building without permission.

She walked to the front desk where two young and pretty looking women sat. “Hello,” they greeted her with smiles. They looked genuine and she felt her fast heartbeat starting to calm down. She was glad that the staff so far were nice.

Mari bowed back. “Hello.”

“How can I help you?” the one on the left asked.

“Um, I have an audition today,” Mari said as she tapped her fingers against the desk. It was a habit of hers whenever she was nervous.

“Can I have your name please?”

“Mary Lee,” she replied before quickly adding, “Lee Mari.”

“Ah, Mari?” the woman asked pronouncing Mary just like Koreans usually did.

Mari nodded. Although her American friends called her Mary, her mom always called her Mari and she liked her name much better that way. Mary was a bit too plain and slightly old-fashioned in her opinion. However, in Korean it sounded different.

“You’re just in time. Please go to room 307A. The elevators are this way,” she instructed.

Mari made her way quickly into the elevator and pressed the right button with her shaky hand. A soft ding was heard each time a floor was passed as the elevator went from floor one to three. The elevator opened and Mari stepped out with heavy feet. She breathed in and out while trying to make her breathing pattern consistent to soothe her jumpy heart.

She got to room 307A where the door was open. As she entered, she quickly realized by looking around that it was a dance studio that looked very similar to the one BTS commonly used for their dance practices. A table was placed on one side of the room where the mirrors were located.

The man who was setting up the video camera looked up from his materials before speaking to her. “Please take a seat over there until the judges arrive.” He gestured to the chairs set up against the wall where four other people were sitting. They were obviously there to audition too.

She quietly observed them as she approached the empty seat that remained for her. Two of the auditionees were boys and the other two were girls who all seemed close to her age or maybe a little younger. They all looked anxious and serious at the same time. The room was dead silent and Mari thought to herself that it wouldn't be a good idea to start a conversation with any of them.

Minutes later, the judges came in. Suddenly the four auditionees stood up. Mari quickly caught on and did the same. They all bowed in unison greeting the judges and trying to make good first impressions. Greetings were a huge part of mannerisms in Korean culture. This was why foreigners who weren’t familiar with it were often misunderstood to be rude. Mari hoped she wouldn’t make any mistakes that would cause misunderstandings and if she did, she hoped they would pass it off as nothing considering she was in fact Korean-American.

As the last judge came in, he shut the door. The judges sat down and began looking through their files. “It says here that the ones auditioning today with vocal performances are Lee Mari, Kim Hyejung, and Park Jiho. We’ll go with each of you first and then have Hong Soryeong and Kim Soojin for their dance auditions.”

Oh my God. Why is my name listed first? Mari’s heart started beating rapidly against her chest again and she was frustrated at her own body for reacting that way. Couldn’t she not be nervous for once?

“Don’t forget. Before we start, we should introduce ourselves,” one of the other judges stated.

The first judge nodded. “Yes. I’ll go first. You can call me Grey. I’m a dance trainer here.”

“I’m Ahyoung and I’m a vocal trainer,” the woman with the short hair said. Her voice was husky and just by the tone of it Mari knew that she would have a unique style of singing.

“I’m Soomin. I am a part of the styling team.” This judge looked like a celebrity. No wonder she was from the styling team. She clearly had good fashion sense. Plus, her hair and makeup were unbelievably on point.

Mari knew the purpose for having someone from the styling team judging the auditions. Talent was importa