Chapter 2: Auditions Part 2

Solji knows the whole audition part of the show will take one whole day to shoot. Just thinking about, she can’t help but to feel tired already. She’s very thankful that the girls that were sat beside her are so nice and friendly. The girls from Yedang Entertainment were so fun to be with, also the girls from RBW Entertainment, which were sat on her other side. They’re all so talented, she’s sure that this will be a tough competition for her. Yet, she doesn’t seem saddened by the idea.

She’s here to gain experience. She was a ballad singer. She wanted to be trained more as a girl group member. Besides, if people will know her more, the better. She doesn’t need to win; she just needs people to notice her.

Maybe people will start buying the albums she already released. Maybe, maybe. It’s not a wishful thinking… right?

The show officially started when Jang Keunsuk explained the mechanics of the show. After greeting the national producers, the audition started.

To know who will perform on the stage, the picture and the name of their agency were flashed in the big screen above the stage. The girls who were from the agency that the screen showed introduced themselves. Then, the mentors asked them some questions. Next, they performed. Right after performing, the mentors commented on their performances. The mentors were scary, if Solji will be honest with herself. They are professional artists themselves. Of course they’ll give criticisms that are honest. Some made the girls cry, but everyone in the room knows that those comments will actually help them in improving themselves.

Some performance made a large impact on Solji. The girls beside her that are from RBW harmonized so well her ears were blessed. They are also good at dancing so she was not surprised when they all got A. There was also this Chinese girl who sang, rapped, and danced in just one performance. Her dance stood out since she was popping. Solji silently wished she can dance like that.

“How did you learn about this competition?” Solji asked to Solar, the girl sitting beside her. When she asked that question, all her teammates, as well the Yedang Ent girls and Hyojin were waiting for Solar’s answer.

“Actually, Moonbyul here found out about it on SNS then she told us about it. We basically begged to our CEO to be able to join in this competition. Fortunately, he agreed. He said it will be good for us since we may gain popularity through this,” Solar replied.

“Really? Shinsadong Tiger oppa convinced us to join in this competition! Well, it looks like our company is really unique then,” Jeonghwa said and her teammates laughed. Solji can’t help but laugh with them; she was one of the girls who begged their CEOs to join Produce 101. She wondered how unique their agency really is.

When the screen shown nothing, everyone was confused. Some of them even thought there was technical difficulty happening. But Jang Keunsuk explained that there was nothing there because the trainee was one of the independent trainees. Well, that made sense for Solji.

“Wait, you’re an independent trainee, right Hyojin unnie?” Heeyeon asked. Hyojin arrived before her so she didn’t know that. As if it was coincidence, Jang Keunsuk called Hyojin’s stage name. Hyojin bowed and smiled at everyone, then she started to walk towards the stage.

“Go Hyojin unnie!” Jeonghwa and Hyelin shouted. As my sign of support, I clapped so hard my hands hurt. She looks forward to her performance. Solji is pretty sure she will slay that stage.

“Good evening everyone, I’m Ahn Elly,” Hyojin started after the microphone was handed to her.

“It says here in your profile that you’re an underground rapper,” Cheetah stated and Hyojin nodded.

“I’m a member of Jiggy Fellaz,” Hyojin said and it looked like she impressed Cheetah.

“Jiggy Fellaz… I’m expecting a lot from you then,” Cheetah confessed. Cheetah proceeded on explaining what Jiggy Fellaz is to everyone including the other mentors. It was supposed to be a popular underground rapper group. All of the other members of that group are males so for Hyojin to be the only female member of that group is a big deal.

“So what song are you going to perform?” Cheetah asked. The fact that Cheetah was the one who always asked Hyojin meant that she was interested with Hyojin. Solji can’t blame her, girl group members are usually vocalists or dancers. True rappers are rare, usually were just assigned to the member with least experience in singing. For Cheetah to find a good rapper really means a lot to her.

“It’s a self-composed song called The Call,” Hyojin said. When she said that, Solji can feel the confidence in her voice. Solji smiled, she felt so proud with Hyojin even she just known her for a few hours.

After the mentors signaled that she can go ahead, she started performing. Solji knows nothing about rapping, but she knows a lot about composing songs and voices in general. There’s only one thing she can say: she loves the song she performed. She bets her right leg the girl can produce a song too.

When she finished performing, everyone clapped. Cheetah was even giving her a standing ovation. She was just that great. Cheetah complimented her lyrics and her flow, saying that she was looking forward in Hyojin’s future performances. Solji can say she also felt the same.

“Can you dance?” Kahi asked.

“I prepared a dance number for you all,” Hyojin replied. Unlike her confidence when she was introducing her own song, Solji can tell that there was a tinge of insecurity when she stated that line.

“It must be hard for you as an underground rapper; all we do is just writing lyrics and rapping. We don’t dance!” Cheetah stated, seeming like she was defending Hyojin.

“A girl group member should be able to dance the basics at least. I may be an underground rapper but I wanted to be a girl group member. I might as well try my best,” Hyojin said, and this time, she said that with confidence, as if she was convincing herself more than the others. Solji’s smile got even wider. She’s a ballad singer who was not supposed to dance so she can relate to that.

After handing the microphone back to the staff, she waited for the music to play. She danced beautifully, showing all her body’s curves. Solji can tell she’s not an expert in dancing but she really practiced hard to be able to dance this good. In the end, the mentors gave her a grade of B. Cheetah fought for her to be in A but the other mentors didn’t want her to be an A as she will struggle if she will be with other level A trainees. They also added that she needs to improve her singing skills since unfortunately, not all songs have rap parts in them.

Hyojin thanked the mentors and the girls for watching her performance then went backstage to get the sticker that will indicate her level. When she was finished, she came back to her seat.

“Congratulations unnie! That was a great performance!” Hyelin said.

“Yeah, that was mind blowing! You’re a great songwriter, Hyojin-ah,” I added. For all the compliments she received from the girls around her, she thanked them and smiled warmly at them. She deserves all the compliments she was getting, Solji thought. She was really great.

A couple of hours had passed and finally, the girls from Yedang Entertainment will perform next. Solji was also waiting for them, she’s sure she’ll go well.

“Good luck guys!” Solji cheered. When they entered the stage, she can’t stop herself from squealing. The girls are relatively younger than Solji, and seeing them wearing those cute outfits made her feel like a proud mom.

“They’re really cute,” Hyojin said and Solji nodded enthusiastically. She’s so excited to see them perform.

“Hello mentors and girls! We are from Yedang Entertainment,” Heeyeon started, and then they introduced themselves and their positions: Heeyeon and Hyelin as vocalists, and Jeonghwa as dancer.

“Your profile says here that both Hani and Jeonghwa were former JYP trainees,” Bae Yoonjung stated and the mentioned girls nodded. Some of the other trainees gasped, including Solji. JYP Entertainment is a big agency, and a lot of famous kpop groups came from that agency. For the both of them to be able to enter that agency is something to be proud of.

“I was told that they don’t see much potential in me so they let me go. I tried again and luckily for me, I was accepted in Yedang,” Heeyeon told everyone. She saw the one trainee from JYP smiling at Heeyeon. She must have been amazed by her.

“Wanna prove JYP wrong?” Kahi joked, and the girls laughed. After that, they performed. They sang to a remixed song of Breathe by Miss A. They were performing so well, and Solji is happy to see that their performance allowed each of them to shine. They distributed the lines fairly, and even if Jeonghwa got lesser parts, they gave her a dance break. They all look like they were enjoying themselves, making the atmosphere lighter.

“Hani-ssi? I was captivated by your performance,” Bae Yoonjung said. “You have the ability to make people focus only on you. You can sing and dance. It was like every move you made where planned, which is a good thing since you know for sure that those moves are the best ones and you just have to practice them to get used to it. That technique always works for the perfectionists,” she added.

“Hyelin, you have a great singing voice. You just need to practice more. You have the potential on being a great main vocalist someday,” Lee Seokhoon commented.

“Jeonghwa, I want to see you dance more. Did you prepare something for us?” Jang Keunsuk asked. Jeonghwa obliged happily, showing her dance performance, which is surprisingly, hiphop. She was so good at it Solji felt like she just adopted three daughters right there and then.

“Jeonghwa, you’re really a great dancer. You can still improve, as well as your singing, but I’m already impressed with your skillset right now. You’re still 16, right?” Lee Seokhoon said and Jeonghwa nodded.

At the end, Heeyeon got A, Hyelin got D, and Jeonghwa got C. She felt happy for Heeyeon and sad for the other girls. Solji was sure she deserves better grade but she understands why they got that. They are still young, they can still improve.

Besides, she felt like Jeonghwa and Hyelin were not confident enough. Hyojin were so sure of her skills that when she rapped, she just oozes coolness. Heeyeon knew her strengths and used them to her advantage. But Hyelin and Jeonghwa? There’s something lacking.

Jeonghwa is a bright girl, but Solji can feel her insecurity that she hid behind her warm smiles and friendly persona. Hyelin is a shy girl, and Solji can tell that she wasn’t trained enough to become a vocalist. She found out all of these after seeing them perform on stage. She’s good at judging people, it may sound bad to others but it was a skill she got for being a vocal trainer for a few years. She needs to know her trainees’ strengths and weaknesses after all.

“Congratulations girls! You did really great,” Solji said when they went back to their seats. Jeonghwa was still smiling warmly when Solji checked her facial expression, but it was the opposite for Hyelin. She was smiling, yes, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. She wanted to hug her so bad but she didn’t know if it will be welcomed.

When she can’t take it anymore, she hugged Hyelin. The younger girl was shocked by the sudden contact, but she soon welcomed it.

“You’ll improve, don’t worry. We can help each other,” Solji whispered to Hyelin, and that statement seemed like it helped Hyelin by the way she relaxed at her hold.

“Thank you unnie,” Hyelin said and Solji let go of her. Solji will do anything for these dongsaengs even if she just met them a few hours ago.

When the screen showed Friday Entertainment, it was the time for Solji to stand up.

“Go unnie!” Heeyeon basically shouted, her excitement overflowing. Solji smiled at the girls that became her friends this day and left her seat to go to the stage.

“Hello everyone, I’m Solji from Friday Entertainment,” Solji started.

“I heard about you, why are you familiar?” Lee Seokhoon asked.

“I’m a former member of 2NB,” Solji replied, and she saw a few girls widen their eyes. She was surprised some of the girls recognized the name of the duo Solji was a part of.

“What do you do now?” This time, Jang Keunsuk was the one who asked that.

“I’m a vocal trainer for our agency,” Solji said and this time, a lot of girls reacted to what she said, all positively.

“You must be a very good vocalist then. I’m looking forward to your performance,” Lee Seokhoon said and Solji thanked the vocal trainer.

“How old are you?” Bae Yoonjung asked.

“22,” Solji answered.

“You are quite older for a girl group member…” Bae Yoonjung replied. Despite her harsh words, her tone was lighter. Solji didn’t take offense on it because it’s true. A lot of people said the same thing to her. Every time she expressed her desire in being a girl group member, the trainers always mention her age.

“You? A girl group member? Are you out of your mind?”

“You have the talent, not gonna lie… but you’re too old now.”

“With that age, you should at least have a very good visual so that an agency will consider you.”

Solji shook her head as if the gesture can erase the unnecessary memory. She can’t cry right now, she has to show them she can achieve her dreams. It’s not too late for me.

“What are you going to sing for us?” Lee Seokhoon asked, changing the topic.

“As We Live by SG Wannabe sunbaenim,” Solji answered and prepared on singing the song.

The song was quite emotional so when she was singing, she delivered all the emotion she can give, making the audience cry. She was internally screaming when she saw Cheetah wiped her tears away. When she finished singing, she also wiped her own tears and forcing herself to relax. Solji was so sure they’ll make her dance and having this heavy atmosphere was not really ideal.

She saw some mentors and other girls giving her a standing ovation. She was so happy; she even stopped herself from crying the second time due to how overwhelmed she is.

As expected, Solji was asked to dance. She can’t deny that she wasn’t really a good dancer, but she can dance. She gave more time in preparing her dance performance than her vocal performance. All of her hardwork were all worth it when the mentors gave her A.

“You’re a great vocalist already, and knowing that you can learn dancing too, we are confident that you’ll be able to maintain that grade,” Kahi said and Solji thanked the mentors.

She couldn’t believe it. People finally recognized her talent. She was so happy.