Seoul. You could say for the dance industry, that’s where everyone should be heading. Sana destined to become a dancer and hopped on the next train, leaving her parents unnoticed at home in Japan. She always wanted to be a part of the show, ‘The JYPNation Show’. She couldn’t understand why her parents refused to let her leave but now she understands. After her train had arrived, once she stepped foot in the Seoul train station, the Koreans were looking at her in… Disgust. Sana thought she had something on her face, so from the distance, she discreetly looked at a shiny object that could show her reflection. There was nothing on her face, but that’s when Sana had realized. It wasn’t her face, it was her nationality. It made sense, even in Japan the foreigners were looked at in disgust, but it wasn’t that bad… Sana is one of the people who looked down at Koreans, now she was the victim. She hung her head low as she went to go find the place she had found in a newspaper ad. The sun was shining, but it seemed as if the world was in dark, because all of the harsh looks she had already received. She walked down the streets with her luggage and everyone was staring at her, even the shop workers. 

“Hey doll face, go back to where you came from!”, a teenage boy yelled out, earning some whoops from his friends. Sana ignored him, ‘I won’t let them hurt me’. Sana smiled at the boys and she winked, flustering the boy who yelled at her. His eyes widened and his friends also seemed to be flustered from Sana’s good looks. She finally found the place she rented and walked towards the front desk. The landlord first smiled, but immediately stopped when he started recognizing Sana’s features. 

“You rented this place?”, the landlord asked annoyingly, looking up and down at Sana. Sana shook her head, now she was slightly ticked off at how he was looking at her. He shook his head and waved Sana off. “When you sent the money, I thought you were Korean. I can’t allow you to stay here”, Sana’s mouth dropped at the blunt assumption. The landlord continued to glare at her.

“Where am I going to live!?”, Sana raised her voice. The landlord was shocked when Sana started to speak in Korean. He handed her a slip of paper with an address on it. 

“Here. I’m sure you’ll find some other people that you can relate to”. Sana walked to the address, knowing that none of the taxis would accept her. She murmured the address to herself as she walked, probably looking like a lost fool. 

“Excuse me?”, an unfamiliar voice interrupted her murmuring. Sana turned around to see a girl with a short bob cut, wearing a thick white headband. She looked down to admire her green and white striped dress that had a white belt and a bow around her collar to finish it off. “My eyes are up are here”, the girl pointed at her face and Sana blushed. She bowed at ninety degrees. 

“I’m sorry… I’m just trying to find this address”, Sana handed the paper to the girl. The girl read the paper and smiled as she slightly shook her head. 

“You too?”, she asked and Sana was confused on what she was referring to. “Come, I’ll show you”, she offered her hand and Sana grabbed it. They ran down the streets with Sana’s luggage to a music store, there were other people on the streets doing their own things, who greeted the girl. 

“Hello Momo!”, an old man who was watering his flowers yelled at the girl now known as Momo. Momo waved and Sana slightly smiled at the elderly. ‘Momo? That name sounds familiar?’. They both stopped when they arrived at an old music store. Momo opened the door and Sana immediately could hear the saxophone music that was playing all over the store, she saw that there were tables filled with vinyls and records of famous artists. There was a dance floor, filled with people who were grooving to the background music. What stood out to Sana the most was that there was an entire table filled with Japanese records. 

“Hey— “, Sana picked up the record and was about to ask Momo, until a loud voice interrupted the two. 

“Momo-chan!”, the girl yelled and Sana’s ears perked at the Japanese honourifics. Momo hugged the girl, who looked the same age as herself, and Sana was left thinking. 

“Are you Japanese!?”, Sana asked still holding the record. Now, it was Momo’s turn to be shocked. 

“Are you Japanese as well!? I knew you were a foreigner, but I thought you would be from somewhere else”, Momo says as she started to ramble about Sana’s features. The girl who greeted them covered Momo’s mouth.

“She’s not always like this”, the girl loudly snapped her fingers, scaring Sana. “It’s cool that you’re Japanese. You can hang with me and Momo”, the girl shrieked and Momo nodded with still being covered by the girl. Sana looked weirdly at the two. Mina noticed this and quickly took her hand off, wiping her hand on her poofy skirt. “My apologies, my name is Myoui Mina”, she took her hand out and Sana shook her hand, even though some of Momo’s spit was still on it. 

“My name is Minatozkia Sana. It is nice to meet you”. Sana looked around the store and saw a family portrait that Mina was in, she squinted her eyes when she saw a familiar person. Sana gasped and Mina wasn’t paying attention as she said. 

“My mom owns the store and she is also— “ 

“Your mom is the host of ‘The JYPNation Show’ that plays on ‘International Day’! That’s my favourite day”, Sana chirped, not letting Mina finish her sentence. ‘No wonder Momo’s name was so familiar’, she was now realizing that Mina and Momo were also dancers that features on the show on that specific day. “I wish every day was ‘International Day!’”. The two girls chuckled at her. 

“I’m glad you like it…”, Mina paused and scratched her head. “It’s not as much as we should be getting. Those Koreans don’t think people will watch us dance”, Mina frowned and Sana also frowned. 

“Have you ever considered auditioning to be on ‘The JYPNation Show’?”, Sana asked innocently and they both laughed at her. Sana looked in confusion as Mina laughed, showing her gummy teeth, and Momo was clutching her stomach. The people who were dancing seemed to have heard her and started to giggle at Sana as if she had said the funniest thing. The music from the background died down and everyone’s attention was on Sana. After Momo wiped a single tear off her cheek, she finally answered Sana’s question. 

“That show doesn’t accept any foreigners!”, Momo slapped Sana’s shoulder. 

“But— I thought— “, Sana stuttered, her dream of being on the show slowly shattering into a million pieces. 

“You thought you could come to Seoul and be on the show?”, Momo scoffed and wrapped her arm around Sana. “I’ve been down that road. When you walk in that studio, all that will happen is you get laughed in the face and insulted of the pride you have for your home.” 

A guy came from behind the crowd that had stopped dancing and approached Sana. “It’s that old man’s loss”, he said and everyone else agreed with him. Sana kept quiet. The guy felt encouraged and kept going. “All JYP cares about is the bread(money). Am I right?”, he yelled earning some loud cheers. “So much for a JYP Nation show”, he sarcastically says. “That man can throw me out on the streets as long as he don’t stop me from listening to my sweet tunes”, the guy exaggerated and started to dance. The crowd got louder as they stomped and clapped to the beat. He smoothly moved across the floor with his fancy footwork and came closer to Sana. “What’s your name, sweetcheeks?”, he winked and Sana’s cheeks tinted. Everyone all looked at Sana with anticipation. 

“My name is Sana…”, she looked down, still flustered from the boy. She heard him laugh. 

“That’s not how we introduce ourselves in this store!”, he yelled cheerfully. Sana could hear Momo and Mina giggling at their odd friend. “Dance for us!”, he pulled Sana in the middle of the crowd, she continued to look at the ground and heard them cheering for her. She looks at Momo and Mina who nodded for her to go on, but she slowly shook her head. The guy notice