“Hey, sweetie! Good to see you finally! Took you long enough.” My dad’s smiling face greeted me from the computer screen. “Is everything going alright? Where are you now exactly?” Here we go, interrogation began.

“Hey, daddy!” I was happy to see him, of course I was, but at the same time my heart couldn’t help but to start racing. If I wasn’t as stubborn as I was, I would’ve so stopped this ages ago and actually went on the holiday my father thought I was on. “I’m alright, how is everything back at home?” Changing subjects of my whereabouts as quickly and sneakily as possible was one of the things I was good at.

“The restaurant is doing alright, I’m just missing my little lucky fairy.” Dad really did have the cheesiest things to say at times. I was just happy that this had not been passed on to me.

“I miss you too, daddy.” I smiled at him and my heart was probably participating at the Olympic marathon by now as I was about to tell him the whole truth.

“Yura-yah! Mom’s calling, it’s dinner time.” Yoojin oppa burst into my room again and that made me jump nearly 5 feet in the air. Immediately I could see dad’s face darken. “Ah, good evening.” He bowed slightly as he saw my father, but he barely even replied to that. His eyes were glued to me – not a good sign. I tried forcing out a smile, but it was a bit difficult at the moment.

“Yura, explain – now. Mom? Yoojin’s mother? Dinner? Where are you exactly?” His voice was very horrifyingly monotone and cold. Great, here we go. Yoojin managed to quickly escape the room before the battle went down.

“Well... You see…” I took a deep breath and began my story. I told him everything – how we arrived here, what I came here for, what I had found out, who I met – literally everything there was to say. His face just stayed completely the same all through it, he barely even blinked. Definitely NOT good. Once I finished talking there was a moment of silence, a very long moment that seemed more like hours. Finally, he took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes before looking at me again.

“Tell me one good reason why I shouldn’t drag you back right this moment and ground you for the rest of your life.” He said, calmly and quietly, not averting his gaze from me. I, on the other hand, could barely look him in the eye. I felt myself breaking out in cold sweat. I was scared, very scared but I had to act as calm as possible and I had to think rationally. One wrong word and he could send federal agents out to get me.

“Look, I’m really sorry I lied, I’m really sorry I snuck away, but I had to do this. I know why you wanted to protect me from this side of the family, I can’t say I have any strong feeling for Mira-sshi. She’s biologically my mother, I know, but that doesn’t mean I will go running to her. But I have to see Howon oppa, I have to talk to him. I will never be able to move on and forget that part of my life until I do. I just want to be able to stop thinking about it. And I have my chance now. They said I will be able to debut, they have everything already prepared for me.” I went on to convince him as best as I could.

“And you believe them? Do you have any IDEA how many children your age have this dream, hear these promises? Do you know how many of them actually survive in this industry? I admit, yes, you are great at singing and good at dancing but what if they just abandon you if you don’t succeed? You’re really going to waste your future, your education for one little chance like this?”

I had to admit, he sounded strangely calm. I was expecting him to yell, be angry as hell, to threaten me in many ways – do something so much more than just reasonable questioning.

“Daddy, I don’t intend to give up. Give me a year, that’s all I ask. If in a year’s time I cannot debut or even if I do debut but do badly from the start, I’ll return to England and continue my education. Taking a gap year before sixth form is not that unusual – college is still going to be for free for me. And I will never mention being a celebrity again.” I wasn’t too sure was I trying to convince him now or myself. “Even more, if I get to talk to Howon oppa and he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me, if he tells me to get lost from his life, I will return immediately. Also until the new academic year in college starts, learn the trade in the restaurant from you.”  I was sure this should convince him. I mean, he loved the idea of me taking over the restaurant, heck that was what he had planned for me. And everyone had to admit – this was a pretty good deal.

“But? There must be a ‘but’ in there.” He said, giving a big sigh.

“But if I debut and do well, you have to let me stay here in Korea. I will enrol into school here, finish my education and unlike most artists get into a business course in university and learn it here, while I’m still working.” These were my only conditions and I actually meant it. I was realist indeed and definitely I was not up for wasting my life away with something that might or might not happen. If a year was not enough, obviously I was not good enough to make it big immediately. And if I did not hit the industry with a big bang, I would have to go back either way.

After I had finished talking came the silence again. It lasted for at least 5 minutes and I barely even dared to breathe. It was now or never. A moment of truth, if you preferred old school, cheesy sayings. My mouth went dry and my hands were trembling. I just wished he get it over with. My bags were already packed – it was one place or the other now. Finally he sighed once more and opened his mouth.

“Alright. It’s a deal. If things work out with Howon, you have until the end of August, next year for this whole thing. If by then nothing has changed and I don’t even care if they tell you it would just be a day more. Last day of August you’ll be either here or doing well over there. If you actually do well and are successful, I’ll return to Korea and set up a restaurant there. I’ll move to live with you. Just remember, until then I will not be helping you out with pretty much anything, unless it’s the company needing my approval for something. Don’t ask your mother anything else anymore. I don’t want you interacting with her unless it is life or death situation, you understand me?”

“Yes, sir.” I replied instantly. In my mind there were fireworks going on and I was doing the limbo. I couldn’t believe this, I actually got him to allow me to do this. It was insane.

“Good. Keep me updated, I need to know everything. And I will know if you’re lying, I still have contacts over there, you know.” He said one last thing and then that’s it. He hung up the call without even saying ‘goodbye’ or wishing me good luck. I was staring in the dark screen blankly. Obviously he was pissed off, heck I would be. I would probably have handled this situation way differently. Actually, knowing him he had done this too weirdly. This was not like him at all. He was acting strange and this really made me suspicious. It gave me this uneasy feeling – was it really over like this? This easily? There was something more to this, there had to be. No way could this be over.

However, I still could not hide my happiness. This might just be the best thing that ever happened to me. At least, it was something new and different, I had a shot of living life how I intended to.

I got up from my seat and made my way towards Yoojin oppa’s room. I had to tell him the good news. I slightly knocked on his door and burst in as soon as he let me. “OPPA!!!” I screamed and pretty much jumped into a hug. “He agreed! Can you imagine? He agreed to it!!” I was yelling out happily. He didn’t seem too surprised though.

“Congratulations. I’m happy for you.” He said giving me a weak smile, picked me up off from his lap that I had jumped into to hug him and threw me on his bed. “I guess you need to finish packing. When are you leaving?” He didn’t seem genuinely happy about it, but I guess it had something to do with the fact I was leaving the house. We had spent a whole year together, seeing each other nearly every day and talking just about anything and now both of us had no idea how often and if we’ll see each other. I was already warned in the company not to take too many pictures with different guys and not to be seen around with them. Guess it could play out badly in the future if I actually debut.

“Tomorrow morning. Early in the morning.” I replied, not really looking him in the eye. I suddenly felt weirdly ashamed – he had helped me so much and I was just about to abandon him without anything just like that. It seemed very selfish.

“I see. Well then you should hurry up with the packing.” That was all he said before leading me to the door and locking me out. I guess I will have to find a way to settle things with him as soon as possible. But he was right, it was time to finish packing and go to sleep as quick as possible. I skipped dinner, locked myself into the room and finished packing everything in the next couple of hours. Thankfully I did not have that much stuff on me, which actually meant I would have to go shopping as soon as possible as well. If I was going to live here for more than the one month I had planned, basic necessities and a few clothes would not last for me. I had a rule – not to wear the same piece of clothing more than twice a week and definitely not two days in a row.

As soon as I had finished packing I jumped in the bed and tried my best to sleep. I felt more nervous than I ever had – first time living on my own in the dormitory, first time taking control of my own life. I just hoped that it would end on a good note.