Jung Eunbi lay on her stomach on the bed, her half-closed eyes trying to focus on the textbook in front of her. It was late evening and all she wanted to do was cuddle up and fall asleep – but studying for school as much and as often as possible was important to stay at the top of her class.

Or rather, that was what her parents wanted her to be. The best in her class. Which she wasn’t. Eunbi rubbed her burning eyes. She had read the same sentence over five times and had yet to understand a single thing. She couldn’t concentrate, her thoughts drifted away during the same part over and over again. It was not that she didn’t enjoy school… she just knew that there were more interesting things she could be doing. Like acting. Or singing. Or even dancing, even though she was quite bad at it. Still, it was more fun than this. Especially since she had no real plans for the future to work towards. No set goal.

At least not anymore.

Sighing, she glanced at the clock, hoping for some kind of sign that this torture would soon be over – for today, of course. It was a never ending cycle. She knew she was disappointing her parents with her mediocrity in school, but ever since the day they had forced her to give up on her dream she just couldn’t find any motivation. It just didn’t matter.

Ever since she had been a little girl her dream had been to become a singer or an actress – maybe both. She even had the opportunity to play a few roles on television – and got accepted as a trainee for Big Hit Entertainment. She had dedicated two years of her life for the chance to become a member of a girl group and had not been ready to give up. After all, some idols had trained for way longer than that before they had been given the chance to debut. Two years had been nothing on that scale.

Her training had been immensely difficult and straining, but she was sure that one day her efforts would be rewarded – until Big Hit had told her that there was no future for her in their company anymore due to a change of their concept. But even that was not a real concern. They had wanted to send her to another record label since she was still bound by contract for a few more years, but her parents had seized the opportunity and put their foot down.

They had allowed her to try to achieve her childhood dream, they had always been supportive. They had always driven her to castings and auditions for various TV roles throughout childhood. But seeing the tremendous stress she had been dealing with as a trainee, they eventually had felt forced to step in and try to direct their daughter onto a different path.

Eunbi pouted and glared at the book in annoyance. She knew her parents only wanted to do what was best for her and she knew that even years of training wouldn’t mean she would someday debut in a group. Or that said group would survive long after their debut. Maybe this was indeed the better path. Maybe her parents were right in backing out of the contract, even though it did not come without a fee. She had never enjoyed the weekly weigh-ins and strict diet plan anyway. She had hated it. It had made her feel as if she had done something wrong by simply eating her food. And she loved food. Everyone should be allowed to enjoy food without getting scolded for it.

But still – she had succeeded where many other girls had failed. All the pain, all the stress, everything she had been through in those two years and the time before… it was all for nothing now. She had put herself through hell so that she could get a boring job behind a desk. Or as a salesperson. Or who knows what she would be end up doing, she had no idea.

“No! We will not discuss this anymore!”

Startled by the shout of her father, Eunbi glanced towards the ajar door. Her parents never really argued or raised their voices – at least not when she was around.

“What if this is a sign? We can’t not discuss this. They have been calling us nonstop and he wants us to at least have a meeting with him! Do you understand what this means? Out of all the girls he could have recommended, he chose –”

“I thought we had both agreed that this was the right decision for her future? This – this circus is not a place where I want my little girl to be!”

Curious, Eunbi stood up from the bed and walked over to the door. Were they talking about her? And who was calling them?

“She is not happy!” her mother suddenly cried out. “Can you not see that? I barely recognize her anymore! Where is that bright smile? Where are her sparkling eyes when she told us about how well a practice went? When was the last time you even heard her singing? It’s been years! Now she is just locked up in her room!”

Okay, they were definitely talking about her. Maybe she had been a tad too depressed about this whole thing… but it hurt.

“And what about when she came home crying her eyes out because one of those people called her fat?!” her father yelled back. Eunbi winced. “I will not have my daughter subjected to this abuse again!”

“You don’t know if it will happen again, this label could be different –”

“But we don’t know that!”

A label? A record label had called? Eunbi poked her head out of her room. She was sure this procedure was almost unheard of. Someone actually wanted her to join a company after she had quit training?

“We could set up the meeting with the CEO like Sihyuk-nim offered. If we don’t agree with him, we can leave. We don’t have to sign anything.”

“All the negativity that will come her way – and for what?” Her father scoffed. “No, this is not worth it. And three years ago you agreed with me on that.”

“She could become an idol,” her mother stressed. “It’s everything she ever wanted to be!”

Eunbi had heard enough and with a few quick steps she reached the living room. “Appa?”

Sighing deeply, her father turned around and met her eyes. “Eunbi-ya, have we ever given you the impression that eavesdropping is acceptable?”

“I’m sorry, Appa, it wasn’t my intention. I just heard loud voices and I...” she trailed off, unsure how to proceed. The only thing in her mind was that her former CEO-nim had recommended her to a different company – after years of her being inactive as a trainee. He had remembered her and told someone else about her and now tried to set up a meeting. It made her feel dizzy. “And I...”

Her father closed his eyes as he shook his head. “You overheard everything, am I right?”

“I’m sorry...”

“Eunbi-ya, we made this decision years ago and it still counts to this day.”

She tried not to let the words have an effect on her, but she could still feel the familiar ache in her chest. “But, Appa, please –”

Her father met her eyes again and raised an eyebrow. “You cannot even deal with normal school work, Eunbi-ya. Your performance in school is at best mediocre. What makes you think that you can achieve this when you have no drive to be better in the first place?”

“Because this is all I ever wanted to be!” Eunbi called out, unable to hold back anymore. “Ever since I was a little girl, all I wanted to do was sing!”

“Mind your tone, Eunbi-ya,” her mother warned and she hurried to lower her voice.

“I’m sorry for yelling, but this is my dream and I was working towards it with everything I had –”

“And with no results!” her father interrupted her. “Eunbi-ya, this is madness. You were wearing yourself out. You spent more time in those practice rooms and training facilities than studying! And for what? The only thing you were offered was a transfer to another training program!”

“I will do better in school, I promise, but please, please, Appa,” Eunbi blinked away the tears that formed in her eyes, this was not the time to cry. “Please give me another chance. Sihyuk-nim chose to recommend me after all these years. He went to me. And the other CEO-nim is willing to give me a try, do you know how rare that is? If this doesn’t work out, I will never say a word about it ever again, I promise you. I will study hard and make you proud and become whatever you want me to be. But please, Appa.”

Her father clenched his jaw and looked towards her mother. “Only a meeting?”

“No strings attached,” her mother promised and nodded.

Eunbi clasped her hands together and held her breath. Did that mean..?

“Alright. Hand me the phone, please.”

And Eunha finally entered the story! Who's excited to see her meeting the other girls for the first time? Thank you so much for subscribing and commenting on the story, by the way. I really appreciate it and it motivates me to see you enjoying the story :)