White, fluffy clouds floated outside in the blue sky. It was a perfectly bright and sunny day, perfect for a good game of basketball, if he wasn’t actually a thousand feet up in the air. Guanlin steals a look at the time on the screen in front of his seat again. Another 40 minutes till the plane lands. He’s already been on this plane for nearly 2 hours.

This is insane. What is he doing? Even though he looked calm and composed on the outside, he was shaking and nervous within. He could feel the perspiration on his hands again, which he wiped against his denim jeans.

Everything started when his dad gave him his first MP3 player. Or no, maybe it started when he first begun learning the piano. Even though he considers himself to be completely average, he knew he had a love for music right from the start. He didn’t hate his piano lessons like his elder sister did. When he gets on YouTube, he’ll be looking up Machine Gun Kelly songs, his first-ever inspiration for rap. Of course, it’ll be nice if he’s in America since their rap scene is so vibrant there, but it’s not too bad being born in Asia either. You get hotpot after all.

Kpop and Jpop was huge in Taiwan, where he’s from. He never understood the crazy fangirls, but he didn’t hate seeing the faces of these many Korean male idols either, all lined up on posters at Korean BBQ joints, which he regularly passes by on his way home from school. They also played their music videos at these places, where the idols would be spotted giving the camera a killer gaze, all while trying to nail a dance move and be in sync with the other 10 guys. It’s quite impressive when you think about it.

Not gonna lie, but showbiz seemed tough, and his biggest problem right now should really be whether he could pass Form 3. But then he came across an advertisement by a Korean entertainment company one day, pasted lopsidedly on the wall at the same KBBQ joint he always walks pass, and just something in his mind told him that he could maybe give it a try. At that point, he had no idea what he wanted to do in the future. Sure, other 14-year-old boys don’t really think about this, but Guanlin happened to. He wanted to know if maybe music, if rapping, could be his thing. He just wanted to give it a shot.

The auditions were held at the National Taiwan University. Usually, he frequented about a total of 3 places in his daily life; his home, school and a local cuisine food joint near his school. To make it all the way to this location, alone at that, he almost wanted to give himself a pat on the back. He also constantly wondered if he got the address wrong, but when he saw the words ‘CUBE STAR WORLD AUDITIONS 2’, printed big and bold at the outside of classroom number 102, he knew he was at the right place.

He signed up quickly, and spotted mostly kids older than him at the same audition. Everyone seemed to have a friend or parent with him or her, and they all looked confident. He was just on his own, in a regular T-shirt and long pants, holding onto his MP3 player.

When they asked him to present whatever he wanted, Guanlin rapped. It wasn’t an original, just one of his favourite rap verses by MGK. He did it all in English, which seemed to impress at least one of the judges. They then asked him what else he was good at, so he said English, basketball and piano. When they asked him if he knew Korean or if he could dance, he had to answer no.

For 2 weeks, Guanlin never heard from them. He checked his phone eagerly for the first 3 days, but after a while, he decided to stop getting his hopes up and figured that failed auditions are pretty much a part of life. He went back to his after-school tuition classes and watched Big Bang performances on YouTube when he got bored. He thought, maybe next time.

So when the text came that he was accepted into Cube’s trainee programme starting summer, he almost felt he could explode. Him? Amongst all those other guys and girls with their flashy dance moves? Was this message even real? But then he checked his phone again and they wrote Lai Guan Lin, all in capital letters. It really was him.

On the same night, he broke the news to his family over dinner. He was scared, but more than that, he was elated over the fact that he got chosen. For the first time in his life, he got picked. Of course, his parents were livid, especially his dad. He was just 14, he hasn’t even finished school and now he wants to go to Korea on his own?

They tried to talk him out of it, saying the industry is a mess, and if it fails, he’ll be left with nothing. He could get kicked out of the programme if he was bad, and plus, he knew no Korean. He didn’t have any family, nor friends there. If he got into any trouble, who was going to be there for him? The only person that seemed to support him was his sister. Even though she was hesitant as well, at the same time, she knew Cube was a proper company and it was a rare opportunity. She helped him convince their folks to let him give it a try. Reluctantly, his parents finally gave in, and young Guanlin cannot be more thankful.

Only his mum sent him off that morning. Since his dad had to attend a meeting up in Tainan, and his sister had school, they had to say goodbye the night before. He remembered seeing how his mum cried as she watched him walk past the gates. It made him want to cry too, but he refused to show it in front of her. There was no turning back, no chickening out. This was just the beginning, and once he gets popular and famous, he’ll repay them.

For now, it’s time to man up and follow his dreams.

 

“Lai Guanlin? I’m Kim, from the Cube Artist Development Department Team. Welcome to Seoul.”

The man was kinda big-sized, but he looked friendly enough, with his pastel pink button up shirt and white Bermuda pants. Can’t blame him, since it’s June and right in the middle of summer. Mr. Kim also spoke perfect mandarin, which is the most comforting thing of all.

In the car as they drove along, Guanlin glanced outside to the streets of Seoul. He’d never been to Seoul before this. Everything doesn’t feel too different from Taipei back home, he feels. They had huge signages too, and proper roads and shops, and the young people seemed fashionable too. The only big difference was the language. He still knew zero Korean, and that was the scariest thing of them all.

Just when he thought that, Kim, who was on the wheel, spoke to him in mandarin. “So! Guanlin. First time to Korea?”

He nodded.

“Know any Korean?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, that’s fine. You can start soon. I’ve got a few books I bought the other day. They should be right there on the ground next to you…”

Guanlin spotted a white plastic bag peeking out from the bottom of the car, so he picked it up and pulled out a few Mandarin to Korean guidebooks. Seems like Mr. Kim really looked out for his trainees.

“Our company headquarters is at Seongsu, and the dormitories aren’t too far away, so you should be able to handle it. You take buses and trains in Taipei too, don’t you?” Guanlin nodded. “Then you’ll be just fine. Although for your first day tomorrow, I’ll be picking you up, so don’t worry about it.”

They didn’t go to Cube’s headquarters. They went straight to have early dinner first instead. Mr. Kim brought him to eat tteokbokki, which were Korean stir-fried rice cakes. They were a bit spicy, but Guanlin’s fine with hot stuff. Afterwards, Mr. Kim took him to the dormitories.

“It’s got all the basic needs, trust me,” Mr. Kim said, as he shifted out of the way so Guanlin could move his luggage in. “There are other foreign trainees like yourself, or trainees whose houses are a bit farther, living in other rooms in this building. The toilet is right over there, you’ve got your own mini kitchen here, and inside, you get your bed, desk and cupboard. Make yourself at home.”

It really wasn’t a huge apartment. In fact, it was really quaint and empty, but Guanlin figures once he unpacks and buys a bit more things, the space will look fine after some time.

“Uh, where’s the bathroom?” Guanlin asked, when he noticed the toilet didn’t have a shower area.

“It’s a communal bathroom. Get out, turn left and it’s at the middle of the floor.”

“Oh, and also-,” Kim said, as he reached into his pocket, “Here’s some money, in case you need breakfast or anything from the convenience store.” He stuffed a few thousand won into Guanlin’s hand.

“You’ll get your monthly allowance from the company,” the man continued to explain, “And you don’t have to worry a thing about the rent here. If you need to phone home, you get permission and do it at the company as well, but otherwise, no mobile phones just yet. I believe you read the contract when we sent it to you the first time, but yeah, just to remind you. We’re a bit stricter on our foreign trainees, I’m afraid.”

Guanlin didn’t really react. He was still letting it sink in, that he was here and that this- this small room with its cool white walls- was going to be his home from now on.

“Hey, so if there’s anything you need, security is downstairs. They have my number, so you can call me anytime.”

Guanlin watched him exit with a smile, reminding him before he left to be downstairs and ready at 7:30 the next morning. Then, he shut the door. Guanlin was left alone.

He sits himself down on the bed, and looks around the uninteresting room. This was the beginning of his new journey. It could be tough, but it’s just the start and you never know.

From the corner of his eye, Guanlin spots the white plastic bag, hanging off the doorknob of the toilet door. He gets up and reaches in to pull out one of the books.

Mandarin to Korean Made Easy! Korean for Beginners!, it reads.

 

The next morning, Guanlin was downstairs 15 minutes before 7:30am. The sun was up, and he could hear more bustling around his neighbourhood. To be honest, although he had the address, everything was in Korean and he had no idea which part of Seoul is he at exactly. He didn’t even know what sort of neighbourhood he’s at. The only thing he knew was that there was a mart directly opposite, where he’d bought his bread from for breakfast last night.

After another 5 minutes, he spotted Mr. Kim’s car rolling into the compound.

“You’re early,” Mr. Kim smiles at him, his shades sitting on his huge nose. “That’s very good.”

On the way, Mr. Kim also asked him if he slept well and if he ate his breakfast, to which Guanlin said yes to both. He did have a bit of trouble falling asleep at first, but it didn’t last too long, and he figured it was because he was tired from the plane ride. He hasn’t even finished unpacking his suitcase, but he can get to that over the next couple of days.

“So, you like any of our artists? That’s why you joined Cube?” Mr. Kim asked.

Guanlin shook his head. “Not really…” Truth be told, he listened a lot more to western artistes. Only in the last couple of months did he even begin listening to Kpop, where he discovered artists like Big Bang and Super Junior. He quite enjoyed Big Bang’s TOP’s rapping. But he didn’t really know any names from Cube at all, embarrassingly.

“That’s quite rare,” Mr. Kim laughed, “Most people turn up at our auditions and they can name one or two artistes they really like from our agency. We have a few good ones, you know.” Guanlin makes a mental note to look up every artist at Cube later, which he felt he should’ve done much earlier.

“We’re here,” Mr. Kim says as he pulls up in front of a building. It wasn’t as big as Guanlin had imagined. The building had grey walls, lots of windows, and even a café right below on the first floor.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get settled in real fast,” Mr. Kim reassured him, as he scanned his fingerprint to get into the headquarters. Guanlin followed him in. “Today will just be the simple stuff. We’ll get your accesses up, assign you your locker, and sort out your classes, all that administration work. The real thing begins only tomorrow.”

As Mr. Kim turns back to talk to the girl over the main counter, Guanlin looks around and up at all the posters of what he presumes to be the company’s artists. There were also shelves filled with albums, magazines and brochures, for visitors.

“Okay, follow me,” Mr. Kim his head to grab Guanlin’s attention. He leads him to a room down the hall, into a resting area. There were even more shelves, wooden chairs and lockers. Mr. Kim shows him to his, the first one at the bottom right.

“This room is for trainees. And here’s your very own locker.”

“Oh, then what about the others?”

“The other artistes, you mean? They have their own rooms. Just like how you and your trainee friends have this one as yours. When you debut, we’ll make a space for you and your group. If you become a solo artist, you’ll still get your own spot.”

Guanlin opened up his locker. Obviously, it wasn’t new, since he could see old markings and bits of peeled off stickers on it. But he made it here and he was happy enough. He’s even got his own proper space now in the company.

Mr. Kim seemed like he was going to tell Guanlin more things, but then the counter girl appeared and he got called away for a bit. Guanlin used the time to put some of his new Korean textbooks in the locker and look around the room. He could imagine himself taking a breather here after an intensive practice session, maybe chat with the other trainees even. Well, once he gets the hang of Korean, that is.

After 10 minutes, Mr. Kim still isn’t back. Guanlin peeked out to the empty hallway and he saw no one, but when he listened more closely, there was music coming from one of the rooms down the hall. Surely, it wouldn’t hurt to just look around.

He quietly approached the room. There were the words “Dance Training Room A”, right outside the door, and thankfully written in English. He peered in.

He didn’t know what group it was, but they were all guys and all seemed to be practicing individually for the meantime. It was quite an eye opener. Two were going through their steps in front of the mirror, and the others were all individually doing their own thing. He spotted two really tall guys on the ground nearest to him behind the door, and he realised they were going through their lines while correcting their choreography.

Guanlin didn’t know who he was, but one of the guys, the tallest one of the bunch, started rapping as he went through his steps. The other member was listening and watching, but no one could be as intensely focused on him as Guanlin was at that moment. So this was what being a rapper in a Kpop group was like. Whoever this guy was, he was sharp and there was just an aura that surrounded him that Guanlin couldn’t help but be amazed by.

“Guanlin!” he heard his name, and swerved around to see Mr. Kim standing a few meters away from him. “Don’t disturb the others when they’re practicing. Come on now, we’ve got your other stuff to settle.”

Guanlin stole another quick look at the tall guy, before going after Mr. Kim, who was already walking away. As the guy’s rap surrounded his mind, a kid ran past him, a stack of paper in his hands. He nearly ran into Guanlin, but Guanlin evaded him just in time to carry on his way.

Behind him, he heard a lady’s voice yelling at the kid, but since he didn’t know any Korean, not a word registered.

“Yoo Seonho! Have you got the printouts? Hurry now, we haven’t got all day.”

“Yes! I’m coming!”