“Bro, that was sick!” Jaehwan tells me as we sit on the pavement with the camera on his hand capturing the both of us.

    “Yeah, thanks. That was a new trick that I saw on Youtube. I thought I’d give it a try. I changed a few moves though.” I reply, wiping beads of sweat on my forehead. I get the camera from his hand and focus it on my face. “Hi, so, me and my friend, Jaehwan, are going to eat on the tteokbokki shop nearby. It’s our favorite hangout place. Ya’ll should check that out. The foods they serve are to die for. Be back in a bit.”

     We filmed everything including ourselves eating the best tteokbokki we’ve ever had.

xxx

      “What’s your plan?” Lisa asks me.

      “For what?” I ask as we make our way inside the classroom and to my seat. Lisa is one of my co-dancers in a dance group called MMO crew.

      “For college.” She answers with hesitation on her face.

      I pause. I don’t really have anything on my mind now because I think there’s no options at all. I’m broke and my grades are fluctuating.

      “I don’t know, Lis. I really want to go to college since I quit being a trainee.”

     I was a trainee when I was fourteen up to now. I'm eighteen. It’s just this small company. They provided a room for us to practice but it got harder when we moved to a different house. Travelling to the agency costs a fortune-- Back and forth. And the company gave us small portions of food which is not enough for a big guy like me. But it was fun because I met my friends. Four years passed and nothing happened. It was like a prison for the past two years. I struggled with the financial and nothing was really happening. The company told us to not expect a debut. I guess I got a little bit impatient so yeah, I quit.

     She cranes her neck and faces me. “Do what you really want to do. College? Screw that. If you really want to be a dancer or an idol or a singer or whatever your dream is, then work for it. You have the qualifications. You have the talent and…”

      “And?” I smirk.

      “Okay, fine. You also have the visual. You don’t look bad.” She smiles as she blushes. "You just need to find a better agency."

     I laugh because she looks really beautiful when she smiles. Even more beautiful when she blushes.

      “Thank you, Lis. I know you’ll give me the advice I need.” I wink and she smiles again in return.

     Class is a surreal blur and all I could think of is editing the vlog and posting it as soon as  I can. I haven’t uploaded for about two weeks and that because I promised my viewers that I will post atleast once a week. This is the only source of income I have right now. I have my videos monetized. I earn extra income whenever we win on dance contests.  But, it isn’t enough.  I need to go to college and maybe earn some money after I get a decent job after I graduate. I don’t want to experience hardships anymore. I’m just tired that not even sleep can fix it.