Reporter:  As of 2012, the K-pop industry has shut its doors to aspiring artists because of  the growing number of graduates from different Art Schools in Korea. With such situation all Art School across Korea had closed and is no longer an institution. However, Myongdong Art School, has not yet locked its portals.

          Kang Ho Dong, the principal of Myongdong Art School, gave his reaction on this issue:

Ho Dong: Myongdong Art School will continue to give quality education to aspiring artists… Even though the K-pop Industry had closed its doors, this institution will prevail. This institution has been experiencing triumph since it was founded. Although some may say that this is a foolish choice, the end will determine the means… kamsahamnida.

          After a few months, Lee Soo Man, the CEO of Seoul Industry established a new art school. It was named Seoul Art School. This institution was designed for the elite. Hence, only those who belong to the upper class could afford to study there.

          After three years, Seoul Art School is now ready to hold its first graduation ceremony. The graduation ceremony was made open to the public. This made the media go wild.

          “Mr. Lee, how does it feel to succeed after 4 years?”

          “Ah… that is… ahemm! (clears his throat). I am really happy to witness the first graduating class of Seoul Art School. I believe that these children possess the abilities to succeed. Soon, they will be performing on National and International Stage, and that, I anticipate. Let’s work hard together… that’s all I can say…kamsahamnida.”

          At the same time, that interview was being broadcasted in the television nationwide. Donghae was watching just a while ago.

          “Omma, do you think I’ll be able to perform on stage too?” asked Donghae as he held his chin.

          “Do you really have to be an artist?”

          “A singer, performer, artist…that’s what I’ll become”

          “Do you like it that much?”

          “Of course! Omma, just wait, I’m gonna surprise you. On the day of my debut I will acknowledge you on stage”, he happily said as he made a pose that most rockers do.

          Donghae’s mother couldn’t say anything. As much as possible, she didn’t want him to enter the K-Pop Industry but it was his first and last dream.

          “Then, I’m leaving!”, Donghae exclaimed

          “Take care, himnae!”

          It was just about time to go to school but Donghae went to buy apple first.

          “Ahjumma! Will you please give me apples, I’ll buy 3 for 1000 won.”

          “Andwae! Don’t you know that these apples are freshly picked? Buying 1 apple for 1000 won won’t still be enough.”

          “Ahjumma, don’t you know that an apple consists of 84% water?I only have to pay 16%.”

          “Yah!”, shouted an ahjussi beside the apple ahjumma.“If you want to buy these apples, hand in 30,000 won. This brat… are  you a son of an elite family? You know Seoul Art School? A student came here earlier paying 20,000 won to buy all these apples. What? Are you envious? That he could afford many times as much as you could afford?”

          “Aiissssttt!...”, Donghae exclaimed as he whacked an apple on the table. He then slowly turned around and left.

          Just when he had walked several steps, the ahjussi shouted:

          “Yah! Pay for the apple you hit!”

          After realizing what he had done, Donghae started running. The ahjussi kept on chasing him. Donghae was then running very fast when… BUMP!!! She collided with a young lady. The young lady dropped the things she was carrying. When Donghae was about to apologize, he saw stuffs like Keroro, and other stuffed toys on the ground.

          “Gwaenchanayo?”, Donghae uttered as he gathered all the stuffs. “Mianhaeyo…I was in a hurry”.

          “Gwaenchanayo…”, replied the young lady as she flashed a smile.

          When Donghae realized that the ahjussi was catching up, he began to feel uneasy. He looked around and saw the Girls’ CR.

          “M…Miss, could you please accompany me to the girls’ CR?”, Donghae timidly asked.

          “Bo?”, the young lady was mystified.

Meanwhile, the students of Myongdong Art School were preparing for their class.

“Yah, Ryeowook-shi… Didn’t you see Donghae coming in?”, Eunhyuk asked.

“Aniyo…waeyo? Does he plan to skip class again?”

Eunhyuk just raised his shoulders.

“We’ll be having our first class today, right? SONG INTERPRETATION, ACTING…Donghae doesn’t like those things”, Eunhyuk said.

“Didn’t he put his stuffs yet in the dorm?”, Yuri asked.

“He said he’ll just bring it when he arrives here”,Eunhyuk explained.

“Aiissttt…It seems he hasn’t learned from what he did last year. He cleaned the school grounds because of coming late during the first day of classes”, Kangin added.

THEN… at the Girls’ CR…

“Did he give up searching already?”, Donghae asked.

“I think he’s gone.”

Donghae got out of the cubicle.

“Aiiissstt…that ahjussi…so stubborn. Making me buy those apples for 30,000 won! So what if somebody bought them for 20,000 won!? What did he say? Seoul Art School? Tssss…Are they Gods? They just have much in their pockets but what talents do they have? aiisst, can they even dance?”, Donghae said as he showed an exaggerated facial expression.

The young lady in front of her just smiled. After some minutes, the young lady was fetched by a car.

Meanwhile, at the Seoul Art School, Lee Sung Min, a II-B student was singing a song while playing the guitar inside the classroom. All girls and boys gathered around him. When he saw Kyuhyun passing outside their room, he stopped singing and approached him.

“Cho Kyuhyun-shi…W…We’re having a performance at the Seoul streets next week would you like to have a part?”,Sungmin asked.

“Shiroyo.”, Kyuhyun replied without a second thought. He left without even saying the reason why he can’t do it.

Sungmin then faced his classmates and asked who would want to take part to the concert. Taemin, the nerdy guy friend of Seohyun spoke.

“I want to perform… an…and also… I want Seohyun to have some part.”

“Bo? Seohyun-ah?”, Sungmin curiously asked.

“De…”, Taemin responded.

As they agree upon the concert, Seohyun has just arrived. With so much stuffs, she hurriedly went straight to her chair.

“Jiosonghabnida… I’m late…”When she looked in front and around her, her classmates were looking at her. Everybody thinks that she’s a kind of peculiar because of her stuffs. Instead of being embarrassed, Seohyun felt great to receive all the attention. She flashed her sweetest smile.

          At Myongdong Art School, Donghae was just about to enter the classroom while the others were already seated, listening to Kim Heechul, the teacher.

          “Yah! Why are you coming just now? Do you know what time is it?”,

          “7:31, waeyo?”, Donghae calmly responded.

          “Aiisstt! This brat”, hilariously exclaimed Teacher Kim as he threw a piece of chalk at Donghae. “You’re the one who’s late but why are you acting cool? Is being late that cool?”

          As what had happened last year, Donghae was then again ordered to clean the school grounds as punishment. He sluggishly grabbed the cleaning materials and went outside.

          “Aiiissttt, so annoying…what’s so wrong with being cool?”, whispered Donghae to himself.

          When he was about to clean, he saw Yoona, also cleaning. He went closer to her.

          “Yaaahhh…”, he prankly said as he continuously tapped Yoona’s shoulder. “It seems that you also troubled Teacher Kim…What is it this time? You again broke the curfew rule? Tsk, tsk, tsk, you are like a kitten…stray kitten at night. Meoow!” Donghae jokingly uttered as he showed a cat expression.

          Instead of explaining herself to Donghae, Yoona continued to do her work.

          “Ohh! Could it be that you’re dating a gangster?”, Donghae exaggerated.

          “Shut up…you don’t know anything”, Yoona poignantly said.

          “Come on…I’m just kidding. Are you fine now? Just smile. It’s hard to keep on working if someone is feeling down…OK?”, Donghae kindly said as he pinched Yoona’s cheeks.

          “Aisstt…this guy, are you acting cool just now?”, Yoona said.

          “Yah, Im Yoona…don’t you know comfort? It’s called comfort…it’s just that I extremely look cool when I’m sincere”, Donghae hilariously responded.

          Because of what Donghae said, Yoona felt like she wanted to laugh. She turned around, covered her face, and laughed silently.

          “Yah… Are you laughing just now?” Donghae asked.

          “Would you repeat what you said just now? It’s just that it sounded so funny”, Yoona said, trying to stop her laughter.

          “Bo? This girl…are you making fun of  me? Aisstt…”, Donghae exclaimed while acting as if hitting Yoona.

          Yoona chuckled until the end. Donghae, being defeated, just flaunted a smile.

          At the other side, in Seoul Art School, the teachers were conversing.

          “Bo? Concert?”, Teacher Tiffany and Teacher Hankyung asked.

          “De…”, Teacher Park Leeteuk responded.

          “For what?”, Teacher Tiffany continued to ask.

          “I heard they want to expose themselves to a live performance which is open to the public”, Teacher Park explained.

          “Wouldn’t it be more proper if they first got our permission?”, Teacher Tiffany added.

          “That’s right. But when are they planning to hold the concert?”, Teacher Hankyung asked.

          “I guess it will be this coming week”, Teacher Park declared.

          “So what are we planning to do?”, Teacher Tiffany inquired.

          “What if we include this as their performance rating this First Quarter?”, Teacher Hankyung brightly suggested.

          “That’s a pretty good idea. Let’s do it like that then. The one who will perform best will be the rank 1 for performance for the first quarter”, Teacher Park concluded.

          Meanwhile, Seohyun and Taemin were talking about the concert.

          “Taemin-ah, why did you suggest me?”, Seohyun curiously asked.

          “Because it’s your time to show what skills you have”, Taemin firmly responded.

          “But…” Seohyun uttered, full of hesitation.

          “Seohyun-ah, we’re in Second year, and you haven’t performed any singing or dancing. Are you satisfied with being rank 1 in academics only? You should at least prove them that you can also perform on stage”, Taemin strongly replied.

          “Araseo…I will play the piano”, Seohyun declared.

          “Aniyo…you will perform. Why are you always in the piano?”, Taemin spoke.

          “Be…because it’s where they always assign me”, explained Seohyun.

          “You will perform…OK?”, Taemin ensured Seohyun. “Also…Cho Kyuhyun…there is a possibility that he will come and perform”

          “Kurae? And then…”, Seohyun replied as if trying to change the topic.

          “Yah, Seo Juhyun…didn’t you tell me that you like Kyuhyun? Why are you acting like that?”, Taemin said while flashing a smile.

          “That’s enough…we know Kyuhyun has a fiancé”, Seohyun uttered in low spirits.

          “Ah…that’s right…but you can still show him how good you are. At least you can do that, can’t you?”, Taemin defended.

          “That’s true… Ok, it’s decided then”, Seohyun exclaimed.

          At the other part of Seoul Art School, Cho Kyuhyun, Choi Siwon, and Kim Kibum were drinking tea while talking about Kyuhyun’s refusal in the performance.

          “Yah, Kyuhyun-ah, why did you refuse to be a part of the performance?”, Kibum asked.

          “Wae? Are there special reasons why I should participate?”, Kyuhyun answered assertively.

          “Hey…could it be that you feel dominated by Sungmin’s charisma?”, Siwon said to tease Kyuhyun.

          “Tssss…since when? Does he even have charisma?”, said Kyuhyun.

          “Eeyyy…you know that Sungmin is rank 1 in performance right? Could it be that you are intimidated by him?”, Kibum added.

          “Yah, hyung…are you bashing me now?”, Kyuhyun asked half furious.

          “Aisstt…look at you. You sound funny. Why don’t you just accept the performance? It could also be an opportunity to beat him”, Kibum uttered.

          “Aniyo…The performance will either be his or mine”, Kyuhyun said with a slight grin in his face.

          “What are you planning now?”, inquired Siwon.

          “Just see…it’s my way of preparing Lee Sungmin’s defeat”, Kyuhyun declared as he prolonged the grin in his face.

          Meanwhile, there was something in Myongdong Art School that’s making the students busy.

          “Everybody! Look at this!”, Enhyuk shouted.

Everyone gathered around him and starred at the poster Eunhyuk was holding.

          “What’s that?”, Kangin asked.

          “Are you blind? It’s a poster, POSTER!”, answered eunhyuk.

          “Aiisstt, this guy”, uttered Kangin.

          “I saw this poster in the Seoul Streets… It’s about a concert”, Eunhyuk explained.

          “Concert?”, everybody was curious.

          “Kurae…and they are performers from Seoul Art School!”, Eunhyuk added.

          “Oh! The school for the elite?!”, Yuri exclaimed.

          “That’s right”, Eunhyuk responded.

          “Don’t you think it’s a good idea to watch this? We could learn from them”, Eunhyuk added.

          “I will go!”, Yuri yelled.

          “Me too!”, said Ryeowook.

          “Me too!”, said Sunny.

          And everybody were raising their hands when…

          “Shiroyo”, Donghae said calmly as he slid on the railing on the stairs.

          “Eh?”, everybody responded.

          “Yah Donghae-yah…Boya?”, Eunhyuk exclaimed.

          “Opseo…It will be way too boring. Also, I will have things to do”, Donghae replied.

          “Aiisstt…this guy is being stubborn again”, Eunhyuk whispered to himself as he mouthed Donghae the expression “Aiisstt”.

“OK…so everybody will come!”

THEN…at Seoul Art School, Kyuhyun approached Sungmin.

“Lee Sungmin-shi…”, yelled Kyuhyun.

“Oh, Kyuhyun-shi…waeyo? Have you thought about participating in the concert?

“Kurae…”

“That’s great then. The concert will have two parts. I will be in the first part together with section B and you will perform in the second part together with section A”,Sungmin explained.

“Andwae”,Kyuhyun disagreed.

“Wh…what do you mean?”

“Do you think I would just accept this kind of thing? Whether to accept this performance, I have one condition. There will only be one of us to shine on the stage. The concert will either be yours or mine”

“What do you want to happen?”

“Let’s have a performance battle. Then through electronic voting, we will decide who will be the star in the concert. How is it?”

“And if I refuse?”

“I heard the concert will have something to do with our performance ranking in the first quarter. If I were you, I will have to defend my title”

Sungmin’s face began to somber. He thought deeply about what Kyuhyun said.

“OK then…I accept the challenge”

“Good…The battle will be this weekend at the School Theater. Please give your best”

There were only three days before the performance battle. Sungmin and Kyuhyun both practiced so hard. When weekend came, the students were gathered in the School Theater.

“Yah…Shall we go to the school theater?”, Sooyoung (a 3^rd  year Section A student) asked Jessica (a 2^nd year Section A student).

“Wae? Is there a gathering?”, Jessica inquired.

“Sungmin and Kyuhyun is having a performance battle”

“Kurae? Kyuhyun-ah?”

THIS IS THE MOMENT. It’s time for the performance. Everybody was excited to witness the battle. Kyuhyun was the first one to perform.

Kyuhyun sang a sad song first and then the music just became rock and lively. It was an amazing mix. His expressions were complementary to the lyrics and genre of the song. His dance moves were marvelous. He glanced at the audience once in a while which melted a great population of the audience. His voice and dance moves were powerful. Everybody thought that he was cool and amazing.

“I didn’t know that Kyuhyun was this good”, Teacher Park said.

“Same here”, Teacher Tiffany agreed.

Then, it was Sungmin’s turn. Everybody were anticipating his performance. When he stepped on the stage, strangely, he felt a pain in his right foot. It was as if there was something pricking his foot. However, he went up the stage and performed. As, he executed every dance steps, the pain in his foot just became worse. In his performance, his foot became his flaw.

“Boya? What is he doing? He practiced so hard”, Shindong (Sungmin’s bestfriend) whispered to himself.

“Boya? Is there something in his foot? Why is he dragging his foot?”, Teacher Park asked.

Every student in the audience was disappointed of his performance. They never thought that it would be that bad.

At last, the performance was put to an end. They will just have to wait with results. Meanwhile, Shindong, rushed towards the backstage to check Sungmin out.

“Yah…what happened?”,Shindong asked.

“There is something inside my foot…”

When they checked it, they found thumbtacks inside his shoes. They were both astounded. This made Shindong angry. He stood up and ran.

“Yah, Shindong-ah, where are you going?”,yelled Sungmin.

Shindong went to find Kyuhyun, he suspected that he did it on purpose. When he found Kyuhyun in the dressing room…

“Oh, Shindong…Did Sungmin ordered you to come and surrender in his behalf?”,Kyuhyun jokingly said.

But before he could utter another word, Shindong punched Kyuhyun on the jaw.

“WAE???”,shouted Kyuhyun as he wiped the oozing blood from his burst lips.

“Why do you have to do it? Don’t you have self-confidence,HUH?!”

“What is it exactly? BO? BO? BO?”, now, Kyuhyun was even more furious.

“Huh…you dared to ask me what you have done? After you have put thumbtacks in Sungmin’s shoes, after ruining his performance…what do you want?!”

“Tsss…are you accusing me now? I… am better than him. Even though I don’t put thumbtacks in his shoe, he will not succeed!”

“Aiisstt!!!!”, Shindong have become more angry”

“What are you happy now? Now that you have succeeded in your plan?!”

“I didn’t do it”

“Huh…are you saying that you are innocent?”

“Because it’s the truth!!! Why are you suspecting me?”

“Because you want to win…BADLY! If you’re saying that you’re innocent, then, who did it? Who?!!!! Why were there thumbtacks inside Sungmin’s shoes?!! WHO???

“Stop it. It’s me. The one who put thumbtacks in Sungmin’s shoes…is me”

There was a shadow in front of the dressing room. It took seconds before that person entered the room. Shindong and Kyuhyun were shocked. It was Kim Kibum.