CHAPTER 6:

The relief I felt after I woke up and no calls from my parents in Seoul was out of the world. Mom and Dad would’ve called me if there was news about me being spotted in Gwangsa’s Market yesterday where Minhyuk is also but there is none. That should mean good, right?

The thought lifted my mood.

“What will you bring on the school trip, Aera?” After our first class, my seatmate, Sua, asked.

“Huh?”

“Hey! Did you forget that our school trip will be next week?” 

My lips parted. Oh yeah, there will be a school trip next week. I completely forgot about it. No wonder Sua and Yeri keep talking about what they’ll pack for a trip. I heard it’s going to be held at a resort in a nearby city.

“I’m not going.”

I don’t want to take the risk of going somewhere. As much as possible, I want to stay hidden for awhile. I’m starting to like having a peaceful life. I am getting comfortable at the idea that people around me don't see me as LightSky’s Aera. There’s no drama involved and it’s calming.

“What?!” She looks so shocked. She even hit me on my arm slightly. “Hey, we’re going to perform on the school trip, what do you mean you’re not going?”

“Perform?...What perform?” I was so lost while looking at her.

“You see, Yeri and I talked about this earlier while waiting for you. We’ve been wanting to perform on school trips ever since because they have big prizes but unfortunately, it’s just us two. But since you’re here now, and we saw you dancing and singing heavenly yesterday, we have already registered our names as performers!” She clapped her hands after telling me about it.

My eyes bulged in disbelief. Oh my gosh, these two!

“I’m not even going. Why did you register me? You should’ve asked me first. Now you’ll have to dance with Yeri only.” 

“No way! You’ll have to come with us! Why are you not going anyway? Is it because you’ve spent so much on your clothes? We can lend you some money, just go with us! We want to play with you!” 

I’ve gone speechless at everything she just said. I feel like anything that I’ll use as an excuse has a way for her to make me come. 

“And the prize for the competition are brand new smartphones. My phone is already broken, Yeri's phone is so outdated, and you, I don’t see you carrying a phone. You can also have a phone if we perform. Isn't that great?"

The thing is, I have a phone but I leave it at home because, to be honest, in this remote province where internet signals are so hard to find, smartphones are worthless! And who would call my phone, huh? The only people who know my new number are my mom and dad.

“Where are we going for the school trip again?”

With Sua’s expression that looks so ready for a war, I knew I don’t have an excuse for this. 

“Oh, we’re just going to Gangneon. It’s a famous location for hot springs here in the province. It’s just a one hour trip away and not that much special since we always go there.” She explained while pouting a bit. “But at least the whole resort will be rented out.”

I nodded. So the risk of being recognized is low because the place will be private.

In the end, the two really dragged me to the teachers’ lounge to tell our homeroom teacher that I’ll now go on the school trip. But when I got outside the teacher’s lounge, there were no Sua nor Yeri waiting for me. Instead, our tall and shining class president was there.

I just smiled at him–thinking that he must be called by our teacher because he’s here–but when he walked closer to me, I realized he wasn’t here for something else. He smiled brightly. As if we didn’t argue last night.

“Sua and Yeri were called by Mr. Ahn and they want me to tell you that you can go to the cafeteria first and find a vacant table.”

I nodded and thanked him for telling me that.

“Why were they called?” I whispered to myself in a concerned tone while I start walking.

“It was about their exam scores, I guess. Mr. Ahn looked so stressed when he told me to call the two.” He shrugged and then looked at me again with the same wide smile.

My eyebrow slightly raised when I realized he's following me. I stared at his smile for a moment. It’s hard to tell if he’s faking his smile because it looked so genuine.

“Stop smiling.” I said in a serious tone when I got irritated all of a sudden.

He looked appalled at my statement that his smile immediately faded.

“But you’re uncomfortable with me when I don’t smile.”

I stopped walking in the middle of the corridor. He stopped as well and just stared at me, weighing my sudden change of mood.

“I’m not anymore. It’s fine. Don’t pretend to smile at me if it’s not true.” 

But as soon as I said that, instead of going back to his always serious disposition, he smiled again. 

“I told you not to smile if it’s not true!” Is he teasing me or what?

“But when I smile to you, it's genuine.” 

I felt my heart leaping a beat because of his unexpected statement. Instead of showing that on my face, I chose to sneer.

“You’ll make our schoolmates fall for you harder because of that smile.”

“Hmm?” He continued following me walking although we already passed by the library where he devotes his time when it’s break time.

“Sua told me it’s a normal thing for girls to like you and when you smile, they adore you more.”

“Really? Then do you adore me too?”

I froze for a second before scoffing. His words are getting bolder and bolder, huh?

“Aera!” My eyes turned to the girls who just called me. 

Sua and Yeri were walking towards the door of the cafeteria already. Minsung and I were just standing some steps away from the door of the cafeteria. I smiled at them and raised my hand to tell them to wait for me.

“Kang Minsung-ah,” I sharpen my eyes a bit and slightly tilted my head. He smiled wider at me as if challenging me with something. “Just so you know, I’m a normal person.” I pat his shoulder.

I smoothly walked pass him but ended up running towards the girls because of embarrassment at what I just told Minsung. 

“What did you write as your career path for college?” While waiting for the food to be cooked by grandma. I sat on the floor of the living room along with Minho and Minsung. I was actually playing with the kid when Minsung suddenly talked.

“A business major.” I answered. “What about you? What did you write?”

We are talking about the paper we answered in class for the counselling on what we want to do after high school.

“I want to be a lawyer. I’m hoping to pass Seoul National University.”

“That’s going to be easy for you. I heard you’re a consecutive honorable student. You’ll pass it for sure.” I smiled to encourage him to be more confident.

“What if I fail though? What do you think should be my second option?” He suddenly asked, which made me appalled. How will I know that? I don’t even know my second choice after failing my first choice.

“Well, it depends on what you want to do. What I only know is that you’ll be successful in whatever you’ll do.”

He is an amazing and intellegent person. I know he’ll be successful in whatever he does.

“How can you be so sure about that?”

I shrugged. 

“I mean, you excel in academics, in arts, and even in sports. You’re hard working in anything so for sure you’ll do good in anything. Oh, Even if you try the showbiz industry, I'm sure you’ll be also successful.”

He chuckled when he saw my excitement while talking about show business.

“I’m telling you the truth! You’ll be famous as an actor or a kpop idol. But if you cannot act, sing, nor dance, then you can be a model. Remember this, whatever you do, you’ll be successful, Kang Minsung.”

He must be thinking I’m just joking. He kept giggling. A smile slowly grew on my lips.

“I’m not interested in being a celebrity. That’s a hard life.”

My smile turned bitter when what he said hit me right in the spot.

“Yeah, it’s hard.” I  laughed.

The next morning happened and I just found myself being in between Sua and Yeri’s argument regarding what we’ll perform for the school trip. The two have different songs in mind because while Yeri wants a song filled with innocence, Sua wants a y concept.

“Let’s just stay in a girl crush concept then.” I ended their conversation when I decided for the performance.

There are so many girl crush songs nowadays, aside from the fact that we can perform a song that is relevant, it’ll be easier to find a song that has easy steps if we choose songs such as that.

“Girl crush? What song?”

“We’ll look for a song later in the house, alright? Don’t argue about it anymore.”

I said so just they'll stop bickering. Since the school trip is approaching and they suddenly signed us up to a performance, I cannot let us look embarrassing–especially that I was a perfectionist as an artist before. I invited them at our house so we can practice privately.

After class, Sua, Yeri, and I were just about to go out of the school's gate when we saw a forming crowd of students at the side. As we are nosy people, we silently walked with our bikes towards the little crowd.

The students were busy admiring Kang Minsung. There’s a middle aged man in front of him and he was handing Minsung a small rectangular card. My brows furrowed when I finally remembered where I’ve seen the familiar old man. My heart starts pounding as I realize what’s happening.

I glanced back at Minsung.

“Yoojung keeps talking about how she was scouted by a big kpop agency in Seoul earlier this morning. Is he the same man who gave Yoojung a business card? Will Minsung be an idol too?”

“I’ll start collecting autographs from him and Yoojung.”

I heard the girls saying. Yeri and Sua start conversing with the other students too.

I just kept waiting for what our class president will do. He tried to walk away from him without even getting the business card. Such a snob. The old man tried to stop him from walking away. I chuckled. I find the whole scenario funny.

“Is he rejecting it?” I heard Yeri asking. Kang Minsung is not standing very close to our direction which is why we cannot hear their conversation. Kang Minsung looked annoyed.

Knowing that man's passion for scouting students, I believe that Minsung will not just be annoyed. As much as I don't want to step in, when I saw the man still trying to block Minsung from walking away, I knew I had to.

“Our class president doesn’t have any interest in it.” I walk closer to them and in a small voice, I said.

They turned their heads towards me. Mr. Park’s eyes glimmered at the sight of me. He immediately forgotten the gem he's trying to scout and walked towards me.

“Seo Aera, we finally meet again!” He said and let out a hearty laugh. “I have been waiting for you since 7am. Oh, and in case you've forgotten me already, I’m Park Cheong from Han Entertainment. I was the one who discovered you first.”

I remember him, of course. This feels so familiar actually. How can I even forget him scouting me back when I was in middle school? He was the first one to offer me being an idol trainee but I decided to audition for their rival company instead.

Now, here he is again, in front of me. With the same white polo shirt and jeans.

“How did you know I’m here, Sir?” I asked although I have an idea already.

“Ahn Minhyuk, of course.” 

My eyes automatically directed to Minsung. I cleared my throat when I saw his eyebrow twitched. I caught the flock of the students watching me now too. 

“I think we should talk somewhere else, Mr. Park.”

“Great idea! C’mon, you can hop in the car.” 

I nodded to him before looking at Minhyuk beside me. I gave a small smile before pointing at the bike that I lean on the side of the gate of our school.

“Can I ask you a favor? Can you bring my bike home?” I asked him.

He looked confused but he nodded anyway.

“You know the guy? You should encourage him to be a kpop idol. You convinced Gaeul and Minhyuk back then, right? Look how big they are now.”

He’s talking about Ahn Minhyuk and the other member of LightSky, which is my friend and classmate. Maybe I really have a knack for finding stars.

“He wants to be a lawyer, not a celebrity.” I answered directly after getting in the car.

We went to the nearby cafe of school. He ordered drinks while I waited for him at the table. My heart was fluttering and my stomach was feeling funny as I thought of what would happen. I don’t know what to think nor feel.

“You know why I’m here, right?” When he started talking, I felt myself getting stiffer by the second due to nervousness.

I avoided glances and didn’t answer his question. “Ahn Minhyuk gave us the tip on where you are right now. I can’t believe you gave up being an idol after being kicked out. You’re wasting the talent you have. And to say that you’re one of the most popular members in the group?”

I bowed my head while he told me things. He sipped on the coffee he got for himself before clearing his throat. He put a small rectangular card on the table and slid it to my front.

“I’m here again as a representative of Han Entertainment, I want to cast you as our artist. We will debut you as a soloist and we will help you to be one of the most famous female artists in Korea.”

His words made me fly to the sky. It felt so good to think that what he’s saying might be true but as I indulge myself to that thought, it felt so...empty.

Don’t get me wrong, Han Entertainment is a very big entertainment label in Korea. It is known to produce legendary idols. But with me? Will I really be succesful? Do I really want to be a soloist? Can I make it after all my issues?

To be honest, while I was in his car and I was thinking of things, I was undecided. For the first time, I became hesitant about my dream. Hell, I’m really lost. This is so bad.

This is so sad. I don't even know about my dream anymore.

“How can I get back? I’m ruined. I left the group without leaving any words to the fans. Although I don’t hear news about what people are saying about me now, I’m not dumb to not realize people are thinking I’m guilty after leaving everything silently.” 

“Let the people calm down. We’ll plan your comeback after a year. They’ll forget about it eventually. They will go crazy for you again as if nothing happened.” He said coolly.

It made me astonished that for a second, I didn’t get to react.

“Your company doesn’t plan to clear my name?” I asked because I might be mistaken.

“You’ll come back next year, by then people will not care anymore if the scandal you’ve got involved in is real or not. We will post a handwritten letter apologizing for the pain of the fans and the incidence.”

“But I will still be labeled as a bully. I never bullied anyone.” I said firmly, starting to get frustrated.

I am ruined right now and I will continue to be damaged in the public's eyes if I am not going to be cleared for that allegation. I don’t think I can go and show around television while people will always counter me with that issue.

I brushed my hair up while feeling heated.

“Seo Aera, your case is hard to be defended. The victim herself spoke and no one is there to defend you. Why didn’t your other schoolmates spoke? Your classmates? Your friends back in middle school? Your former company gave you up because it was a hard battle. Besides, if you really want to clear your name, why didn’t you do it yourself in the first place?”

Because I cannot do anything! Because most of my friends are now celebrities as well and they cannot just speak recklessly! Phones of everyone in the group were confiscated right after the controversy spread. I cannot contact any classmates from middle school to help me! And when I tried reaching out to the management, they were not listening!  When I went home to my parents to ask for help, they forced me to leave! And when I finally got my phone back, my parents changed my number! I cannot even contact anyone through social media because hell! I was dragged to a remote province.

My heart was sinking as I was reminded how difficult the circumstances were. My jaw clenched hard.

And now, here I am in the Gwangsa. Just when I’m starting to move on and give up my dream, the man here in front of me is making me waiver.

“Why do you care so much about what others say? The people will hate you if they want to hate you.“

Because that’s how I lived all my life! I want to please everyone around me. That’s one of the reasons why I yearn to be an idol. I have seen them being loved and cared for. I feel like I was a neglected child–and I know it’s not my parents problem that I felt that way–but I thought by becoming an idol, I will feel special! I will feel loved.

I am an attention seeker after all.

And how can he say it that easily? It’s my name that is stained! I will be called thicked face for coming back to that world right after I exited from my group.

“I’m not gonna force you to decide right now. We’re giving you time to consider our offer. Call us anytime...Or you can just go directly to the company. You know where we are located, right?” He said and then smiled.

What’s there to think about? By our talk, I have already made up my mind. There’s no really a way for me to come back to the industry. I was ruined to pieces. I will forever be seen as a bully by the netizens. I left the group without saying anything and it made me look so guilty. 

I am hopeless there.

While thinking all of these, I suddenly felt a presence on my side. Someone suddenly sat beside me and wrapped her arm to my shoulder . The man in front of me choked on his drinks after seeing the girl.

“What do you mean she’ll consider your offer, Sir? She won’t call you nor go to your company. Stop bothering my friend please.” She said with a straight face while looking at the business card she picked up from the table.

The man and I were shock at her sudden appearance. For a moment, no one dared to break the loud silence in the table.

The leader of LightSky, Xu Yizhou, is here! How did she find me?! Why is she here?!