Teasers
✩Smoke and Mirrors✩The Next Update Will Be the First Chapter!!!!!
It was a big common room, and it was absolutely stuffed with bodies. Most of them were students waiting for their shot to take that first step into the idol world. It was audition day, and the usually quiet room was booming with sound as trainee hopefuls got their last-minute practices in, or chatted to the people next to them. The anxiety was on high blast and could be felt in the air. Whatever these hopefuls did to prepare themselves would be cut short every couple of minutes when the double doors in the front of the room opened and a woman stepped out, calling the next group.
The hopefuls were split into 20 groups of 10, they would get called into the room by group and then one by one, show what they’ve got. Some would get stopped before they even started to sing, or started to dance simply because they didn’t fit the image. They say that you don’t have to be attractive, but it’s a lie, looks do matter. If someone walks into the audition overweight, or even wearing an over-the-top outfit, you run the risk of getting cut before you even introduce yourself. Those who were liked would get sent to a separate room to get headshots and to audition a second time. If you pass that second audition then congratulations: you have officially begun the hardest years of your life.
Current trainees weaved their way through the bodies, making their way to dance studios, recording studios, or the gym. Even the trainees eyes the double doors as they passed by, nobody was comfortable in the room. But in the far corner there was a boy seated with his hood up and headphones in. Although the noise in the room was almost shaking the floor, to him it was nearly silent. This was the only plan he had for himself, and he wouldn’t let it go. He needed to become an idol.
“Haeri?”
He looked up, pulling one bud from his ear. A younger male was running towards him with a large grin on his face. Haeri felt himself grimacing; first of all, he had no idea who this boy was. Second of all, he was trying to focus, not chit-chat. The boy stopped in front of him.
“I knew I would see you here. No worries, hyung, you will definitely be a trainee.”
Haeri gently nodded his head, now trying to think of how he knew this kid.
“Yeah…” Haeri trailed off
“Ah. I don’t know if I’m going to do well. I’m really nervous.” The boy kept talking. Haeri pulled the other bud out of his ear, sensing his alone time disappear. The boy didn’t even give his name, and Haeri didn’t want to be rude for asking, so he just nodded to anything he said.
As the boy talked Haeri eyed his clothes and cringed even more on the inside. The boy wore brown shorts a green shirt and a red hoodie. Haeri couldn’t help but be reminded of a traffic light. The more the boy talked the more Haeri looked for a way out without being terribly rude.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to make some excuse as to why he had to leave a sharp voice made its way through the crowd.
“Group 3! Group 3!”
Both boys looked up. The woman who had called for group 3 was now holding open the door as a few people quickly gathered their things and rushed in the door. Saved by the audition. Haeri stood, he was in group 3. He bowed slightly to the excited boy before turning and making his way to the room.
“Hyung! Haeri hyung! Hwaiting!”
Haeri sighed and walked through the door, moving to stand in line with the others. The woman who had called for the group closed the door and moved through the room, taking a seat between two men. The three shuffled papers before the man on the left lifted his head.
“Seong Haeri. What have you prepared?
Jump. Cross your arms. Step to the left. Step forward. Bend. Wave. Spin. She fell. Falling was not part of this routine. Standing she sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. When she started practicing her hair was in a neat ponytail, her tank top was pulled down to the waistband of her shorts. Now her ponytail was falling out, leaving chunks of brown hair hanging down around her face and shoulders. Her tank top had been pulled up to under her chest, exposing her midsection, and sweat covered her body.
Making a face she turned and walked to the back of the dance studio, picking up a water bottle and sitting against the wall.
“Come on Skylar-Anne. Why are you falling? You are a good dancer and you know it, so pull yourself together.” She mumbled.
Closing her eyes she leaned her head back against the wall. She had been at this dance routine for hours, and frankly she was getting tired. She had to go to the dance class the next day and she was hoping to be put in the advanced group. She wanted that 1 on 1 training.
With much effort, Skylar had been accepted as a trainee and thus thrown into the classes and late nights of trainee life. The way all of them were trained were through group sessions, the trainees called them ‘classes’ even though it was more of an audition than a class. There was a class for each discipline (Singing, Dancing, Rapping, and Presence). The Presence class, which was the hardest, was all about personality. In this class there would be mock interviews, mock talk programs, and even script memorizing. The goal was to develop screen personalities that would be marketable, but when it came down to it personality isn’t something you learn. You either have it, or you don’t.
Classes were held twice a week, once at the beginning of the week and once at the end of the week. During the first class the trainees would get the material they needed to learn, and during the second class the trainees would be divided. Based on your performance during the class you would be put into one of 3 groups: The below average group, the average group, and the advanced group. The below average group and the advanced group would each get individual classes. The advanced group would work ahead, and the below average group would try to catch up. The average class was conducted as a group.
Falling into the below average class was one step above a death threat. It meant that you were not performing to the standards of your company, and you were at risk of being dismissed. Your class also affected your debut. Those who were average in 2 to 3 disciplines would debut in a group, those who were advanced in more than one discipline would be reviewed for solo debut.
Skylar wanted nothing more than to fall into the advanced class for her dancing. She was average in the other 3, but she knew she could at the very least reach advanced in dancing. She opened her eyes and stood.
“Alright let’s do this again.”
She moved to the front of the studio, in front of the mirror and ran the choreography a second time. This time she was interrupted by a female voice from the door.
“Your body position is wrong.”
Skylar spun around and faced the other trainee, immediately angry. She had been working on her dance for hours. She was hot, tired, and cranky and definitely not in the mood for someone else criticizing her.
“Alright, thanks. You can leave now.” Skylar snapped before turning around to face the mirror again.
The girl laughed a little and entered the room more.
“You don’t want help? I’ve been waiting to get in here for hours, so I’d like for you to wrap up soon. Dance class is tomorrow.”
Skylar glared at the girl’s reflection in the mirror. She was really testing her patience.
“You aren’t going to answer. Fine. I will just dance even with you standing right here.” The girl smiled.
She moved up to stand next to Skylar-Anne and Skylar-Anne spun once more taking a few loud steps toward her, and poked her in the shoulder.
“Listen. You are being incredibly rude. There are dozens of other dance studios is this building that you can dance in. There is no reason that you need to waltz into this one like you are advanced in everything and interrupt my practice. So if you don’t mind. You can leave and find another room.”
Skylar’s voice got louder and louder as she spoke. She was quickly becoming more and more angry.
The girl just stood there for a moment when she was done before tilting her head to the side.
“Are you done?”
Skylar yelled in anger. That was it. She was tired, and sick of trying to get her peace back. It was time to just go to bed. She turned gathered her things and left the room. She will definitely be in the advanced class next week.
While the attention was nice, sometimes it got out of hand. You would never be able to sit peacefully and eat, your phone would always be ringing, and worst of all many wouldn’t be able to see past your looks. But it’s not like its all bad. There is always company and it’s difficult to be lonely, but boy can it get annoying.
He was on the field at his school. He had some down time so he was playing soccer. The plan was to have some alone time to relieve some stress. His audition was soon and he was concerned about it. It’s not that he thought he would do badly, but it was a lot of pressure. But alone wasn’t something he could achieve very often. Female students lined the sides of the field he was on, chanting his name.
“HyunSoo! HyunSoo!”
He wasn’t doing anything spectacular, he would dribble the ball across the field and shoot it into the goal. Then he would retrieve the ball and make his way to the other goal, shooting the ball again. The female students only lined the field because he was popular. He didn’t ask for the attention, but he got it.
Sweat built up on his forehead as he ran, he bunched up the sleeves of his gym uniform to allow more air to hit his arms and the girls squealed. He shot the ball into the goal and turned to the students, flashing a smile.
“Oppa!”
A girl ran across the field before stopping a few feet away from him. She smiled and held out a necklace. It looked handmade and simple, just a string with a medium sized pendant on the end. He smiled at her and she blushed.
“I heard you are auditioning tomorrow…and well..” she tucked some hair behind her ear, her left hand still holding out the necklace “this is a good luck charm. It says luck in Chinese”
He took the pendant from her and inspected it. She spoke again, stuttering.
“It’s not the you need luck. I mean. I’m sure you will do well but.. I just wanted to give this to you…ah… what to do?”
He chuckled and bowed his head to her quickly before smiling again.
“Thank you. I’m sure I will do well now that I have this.”
She blushed bright red and quickly covered her face with her hands. He lifted up the necklace and placed it around his neck. The girl looked back at all of the other students, still gathered around the side of the field. She turned back to him.
“I..have to go study. Good luck HyunSoo oppa! Hwaiting!”
She turned and ran back to her friends that immediately gathered around her, whispering. HyunSoo shook his head and turned to retrieve the ball. He accepted every item given to him by his female peers, and honestly he received a lot. The students quickly scattered from the field at the sound of the bell, class was resuming soon.
HyunSoo made a face, it looked like he wouldn’t have time to shower or he would be late. Picking up his backpack he hurried to change and return to class.
HyunSoo was a rapper, well… he was aiming to be a rapper. At home he would practice whenever he got the chance: in the shower, after family meals, while getting dressed. It was his thing. He wanted to become a trainee and then an idol to get the respect of his father. His father didn’t approve of his dream very much, causing an argument when he announced he was going to his audition, but HyunSoo wasn’t too worried. He would make it, and his family wouldn’t only be proud of one son, but both of their sons.
HyunSoo settled into his desk, only a minute late, and almost immediately laid his head down. It wasn’t that he had no interest in school, it was just that his goals were elsewhere.
Her eyes were closed and her head swayed as she sung through the song. She needed to train hard to be the best. If she wasn’t the best and didn’t have her talent acknowledged by her peers she was in trouble. One of her best friends, now kind of her mentor, is already an established idol. If she isn’t recognized for her talent she will face rumors that he got her where she is. She sung the last note and opened her eyes, looking through the glass to her friend, Super Junior’s Eunhyuk.
He nodded, smiled, and waved to her to leave the recording room. She pulled the headphones off of her head and stepped through the door.
“That was really good DaEun.” He shuffled papers in front of him. DaEun smiled and took the seat across from him.
“You think I will make it oppa? Do you think I will pass the audition?”
Eunhyuk lifted his eyes from the papers momentarily then turned to face her with a smile.
“The trainee auditions, yes. But that is only half the battle being a trainee is almost like a constant audition.”
DaEun sighed and leaned back in the chair, a small frown on her face.
“So it isn’t enough.”
Eunhyuk laughed and patted her on the head. He pulled a paper from the top and handed it to her. The lyrics to a different song.
“You have a very personable personality, people like you, but when you are performing, you need to make your audience feel engaged. You want them to feel like your friend. Here is a different song. Sing this one, but open your eyes. Smile, make eye contact.”
DaEun stood from her seat, a firm grimace on her face. She placed her hand on her hips.
“I have been singing for hours! You really want me to sing another one? It is one in the morning! My audition is tomorrow. I’m going to lose my voice!”
Eunhyuk laughed and stood himself. He gently pushed her towards the door of the recording room.
“This is the last one Danny. I promise. And then tomorrow. After you are accepted as a trainee I will take you out for patbingsu.”
DaEun grumbled as she took herself and the paper back into the room and put the headphones over her ears.
“Fine. Last one. Don’t forget about the patbingsu. I’m holding you to it.”
She smiled and looked over the lyrics quickly before Eunhyuk pressed play on the music.
“Are you ready?” She heard his voice through the headphones and nodded.
The music started and DaEun began to sway. As she sung she made eye contact with Eunhyuk through the glass. She danced a little bit in front of the microphone, and during the small music breaks she smiled and winked. The song came to a close with a long high note.
Eunhyuk stood from his chair clapping his hands.
“Perfect! You could debut now! Yaaaaa…. My little DaEunnie.”
DaEun laughed and pulled the headphones from her head and left the room, Eunhyuk still clapping. She pushed him slightly as she walked to pick up her things. As she moved to the door she looked over her shoulder.
“Don’t forget oppa. Pat. Bing. Su.”
She winked and walked through the door.
It was the perfect prank. He didn’t even know she was here in Korea! It’s all his fault too. If he had answered his phone then it would’ve been a much warmer meeting, but he didn’t. One of s answered the phone, and that’s when she got the idea. She got the address and the times when he wouldn’t be home and decided when and what she could do. She smiled at the bed in front of her, and couldn’t help but snicker a bit. She rolled up her sleeves and laid down on her back, checking that nobody was nearby before pulling her upper body under the bed.
She placed a screwdriver in as she counted the planks on the underside of his bed. Her brother was in for a surprise, she would make sure of it. She decided on taking out the three middle planks in hopes he would get stuck. She pulled the screwdriver from and got to work.
Originally the siblings had been from Austria, but her brother got scouted years earlier and moved to South Korea. Now she was here looking to follow the same path as her brother, but since he didn’t answer his phone; he didn’t know yet. This is what he gets.
She snickered as she pulled the last board loose. Pushing on the wall above her head she slid herself from under the bed, quickly gathering the removed boards and stashing them in the closet. Just as she closed the door to the closet, the bedroom door opened. Her brother stood in the doorway, a surprised look on his face.
“Kymin. What are you doing here?”
She spun quickly and a large grin covered her face. She just barely got away with it.
“I was looking at your room, you know… I would imagine that you’d have more stuffed animal than this Heechul oppa.”
Heechul made a face and stepped into his room.
“Ya! I meant here. Like as in: in Korea.”
Kymin’s smile didn’t fade a bit as she approached him and wrapped her arms around his midsection in a hug. Although she was going to prank him good, she still missed her older brother dearly.
“Ah. Oppa, I’m auditioning tomorrow. To be a trainee.” She let go and stepped back, quickly dropping her smile and placing her hands on her hips. “You would’ve known that if you answered your phone! I called yesterday.”
He gently pushed her shoulder as he took a few steps toward his bed.
“Don’t get an attitude with me little sister. I’m a busy man, it’s hard work being as popular as I am.” He poised himself to sit, conveniently directly where she had removed the boards. “I have so many fans, and I have to keep up my appearance, I’m so attractive that I have to make myself less attractive so that the girls won’t mel- Argh!”
Kymin doubled over in laugher. As he was talking, or rather, boasting he sat on the bed, instantly falling in. His long legs dangled over the edge while she could hardly see his upper half. She couldn’t control herself, she sat down on the floor, her body still shaking with loud laughter. Heechul swore repeatedly as he tried to pull himself out of the hole he was in, which didn’t seem to be proving easy.
“Kim Kymin, once I get out of here you are in big trouble.”
Kymin stood, still giggling.
“Don’t speak Korean.”
She spoke broken Korean, waving her arms in the air. Heechul quickly switched to German, still yelling, still cursing.
“Don’t tell me you don’t speak Korean Kymin! You just were! Ya! I know you understand me! Help me out!”
Kymin turned her back, speaking over her shoulder in impressive Korean for a person who just claimed they couldn't speak it.
“I don’t speak German either oppa. I’ll be in the kitchen once you get yourself out of there.”
With that she walked out the door with her brother cursing loudly in both Korean and German behind her.
“Han Tae Sun. Why are you not home yet? Where are you?”
TaeSun pulled his cellphone away from his ear a bit as his mother yelled. He slowly put it back against his ear before speaking.
“I’m studying late mom! I have to so I can get good grades.”
He heard his mother sigh through the phone. She didn’t fully believe him, but he wasn’t a bad boy so she let it go.
“Alright Sun. Study hard and do well. I will see you later okay?”
“Okay mom. Bye.”
He hung up the phone and laid his head back against the seat. Honestly, he was on the train to his favorite location. He has been making this lie for years. He would tell his parents he was studying late, but he would really take the train to watch street performers. The way they loved their art inspired him, but this time things were a little different. He wasn’t going to watch others, he was going to perform himself.
TaeSun the CD in his backpack. He was incredibly anxious, and had to wipe the sweat from his palms frequently. He had never tried to perform in front of others before, and the idea was very scary. But it was what he wanted, he wanted to show others his art so that maybe they would be inspired in the way he was. He had spent all day dodging teachers at school to create this mix that he would perform to tonight; he was fully prepared.
The train stopped, signaling him to get off. TaeSun stood, once more wiping the sweat from his palms. He pulled his backpack, containing everything he would need for tonight, onto his back and slowly exited the train. He paused on the platform for a minute. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing, his anxiety levels were getting higher and higher the closer he got to “show time”, and it took some effort to not turn around and just wait for the train to go back home.
After a moment he convinced himself to walk, but he maintained a slow pace. It felt like each person stopped to look at him, knowing exactly where he was going and what he was doing. He felt judged, by people he didn’t even know! He quickened his pace, making it out onto the streets where there were already performers, dancing under the light of streetlamps, or singing with a friend playing the guitar behind them.
Much too quickly Taesun found a place to set up. He sighed again, not sure if he was really ready, but pulled his bag from his shoulders. He set up his area quickly and then stood there, in silence. He watched the people walking by and for the first time wondered if they would even stop to watch him. Strangely enough this gave him confidence, even if he wasn’t good, nobody cared. It would be just like dancing at home. With this new confidence he pressed play on the CD player and the music started.
TaeSun began to move, finding the beat. He closed his eyes as he moved and slowly began performing more complicated steps. He opened his eyes, his body full of the joy he experienced when dancing and gave it all he had. A few people stopped to watch, but not many. The music changed slowly to something simple, just a beat, he was going to rap.
TaeSun continued to move to the beat, but soon started to rap. He didn’t have a microphone, so he had to speak up, and that he did. More people began to stop, whispering to their friends, or clapping along to the beat. He saw smiled on their faces and that gave him even more confidence.
The experience of performing, and people watching was becoming physically tangible to him. The knot that was in his stomach that was earlier telling his brain to run, was now telling him to work harder. The more people that stopped to watch, the harder TaeSun worked. The feeling was a lot like an out of body experience. Despite the sweat that was building up on his skin, TaeSun felt like he had been doused in cold water. He didn’t need to think of the next word, or the next step, he just did it.
The song changed a third time. It was a popular song, and wasn’t at all original. TaeSun easily spoke the rap lyrics, and he could see people mouthing the words along with him. When the chorus came, he sang it easily, hearing a few other voices from the small crowd he had watching him. The second verse came and went, and it was time for the chorus. TaeSun quickly decided to do something.
“Sing it with me.”
He spoke quickly, and started to clap his hands along with the beat. As the chorus started, and he began to sing, others in the crowd sang too. His smile was huge as he sang the chorus along with some of the people watching him. The song came to a close and people clapped and some even cheered. TaeSun bowed at the now thinning crowd.
“Thank you!”
He stood, sweat dripping from his hair, but a huge smile on his face. He did it. Not only did he do it, but people liked it! He felt like he could cry from happiness, but chose to sit instead. He sat down, or rather crumbled into a cross-legged pile, in the middle of his set up. The crowd had now entirely dispersed and people just walked past, minding their own business. The city lights, and dirty city street had never been more beautiful. His performance cleared his vision, and made him feel new.
“Wow….” He muttered, smile still on his face, as he watched people walk past him.
One of the many people he did odd jobs for owned a dance studio, and agreed to let him use it to practice. He was grateful, he couldn’t allow his parents to try and stop him from this. This was the rest of his life he was training for. He dropped his bags at the door and the light. The studio was empty, giving him complete silence to work hard in.
As he took off his heavy jacket and adjusted his beanie, he gave himself a small pep talk. His parents weren’t too enthusiastic about him auditioning for any company that would take him. They had specifically said to him, “DongYul. Why don’t you just take over your father’s company? You will make good money.”
As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he knew his parents just didn’t understand that his heart wasn’t in the company, his heart was in music. He wasn’t sure why, or how it came to be that way; it just was. So that was how he got where he was now. He worked odd jobs all day, just to make the money to travel to these companies. He figured if his family wouldn’t support him, he would just need to support himself.
As far as Dongyul was concerned, he didn’t need anybody’s support. He was perfectly capable of supporting himself.
He approached the mirror and pulled of his shirt, leaving the white muscle shirt underneath on. Reaching into his pocket for a small remote that controlled the music, Dongyul got into a beginning pose. He hit play.
Sometimes it was like magic. He would hear the music, and his body would move by itself. The one thing he still hadn’t quite gotten used to was dancing and singing at the same time. The first verse approached quickly and Dongyul made his wide movements smaller, to allow his lungs to take in more air. He sang. It wasn’t perfect, but he just needed more practice.
Practice makes perfect, no?
He spent hours in that studio, dancing, singing, dancing and singing. He wouldn’t give up until he got it. Nothing could stop him. That was the thing about Dongyul, while he wasn’t quite so friendly, he was very hard working. Once he set his mind to something it was as good as accomplished, and currently his mind was set on becoming a trainee. He would do anything in his power to get there. He didn’t care who supported him or who didn’t support him.
Panting, Dongyul stopped. He looked up at the clock, now reading 3:30AM. His parents would be worried; if they didn’t already call the police. Dongyul stared at his reflection in the mirror a minute before quickly turning and grabbing his things. It was time to go home.
Besides, there was more work to do in the morning.
He opened the door slowly and peeked inside. The light from the hallway illuminated the room and he could see the 3 year old curled up underneath the covers. He smiled lightly at the sight and stepped back to close the door before a voice stopped him.
“appa.”
He opened the door more and stepped inside, the child now sitting up and looking at his father with wide eyes. He was sure the kid was just asleep, but by the look on the three-year-old’s face; he was wide awake.
“What’s wrong Joon? You can’t sleep?”
Joon shook his head and shuffled himself out of his small bed. When his feet hit the floor he scurried to the older male. It was then that he noticed a disk in Joon’s firm grip.
“What is this?” He reached down and took the disk, flipping it over. He chuckled slightly. The disk was an American movie. Joon must have gotten up, before he went to check on him, and got it.
“You wanna watch it?”
A wide smile spread over the child’s face as he nodded happily. The older male picked the child up and shuffled to the living room. He put the child on the couch and set up the TV to play the movie.
Ahn Chan was an only father. While many would recognize the difficulties, Chan loved it. He did have his struggles, but nothing made him happier than his son. Chan settled onto the small couch and Joon pulled himself onto his lap.
Joon didn’t make it 20 minutes into the movie. When Chan looked down Joon was fast asleep. A small smile found it’s way to his face. He directed his eyes to the digital clock near the TV. It was almost 2:30 in the morning.
“Ya. You better be sleeping Ahn Joon. You shouldn’t be up this late.” Chan mumbled, stretching his neck to see if Joon was actually sleeping or not. Thankfully, he was met with closed eyes and a wide open mouth; Joon was out cold. Content, Chan adjusted himself so that both he and Joon were laying down on the couch and closed his eyes. The pair slept through the night like that.
The morning started early, though. Chan was awoken by a sudden pressure on his chest. Blinking his eyes open he saw Joon, in his pajamas, sitting on his chest with a bright smile. Joon patted his father’s chest, still trying to wake him up. Once he saw that Chan was wide awake he waved his arms, exited.
“Appa! Pororo!” The child pointed at the TV
Chan turned his head, Pororo was – in fact - playing on the TV. He directed his sight back to Joon for a moment before sticking his hands under Joons arms and lifting him up wuickly. Joon squealed excitedly as Chan stood from the couch, tossing Joon up into the air slightly.
Joon giggled and screamed, his face contorted into an expression of pure joy. The child’s happiness was definitely enviable. It was completely pure and untainted by adult emotions like worry or embarrassment. Chan couldn’t help but laugh with him.
“Alright. Let me just get you some breakfast.”
He sat Joon onto the couch and walked into the kitchen, pouring a quick bowl of cereal for himself and his son. He made his way back into the living room where Joon lifted his arms for the cereal. Chan shook his head.
“Nope. Not on the couch.”
Joon slid himself onto the floor before looking back up to his father with a bright smile. Chan handed the boy his cereal and settled onto the floor next to him with his own bowl.
“And use your words, Joon, you aren’t a baby.”
Joon looked up from his cereal, the spoon tightly in his fist.
“O.K. , appa.”
Father and son sat like this most mornings, watching the cartoons that Joon wanted to watch. Chan enjoyed watching the as well…or rather, watching Joon watch them. Joon turned watching cartoons into a whole-body experience. He would dance around to any song that played – including commercials – and answered any questions the characters would ask. Watching Joon brought Chan so much happiness that it was nearly impossible for him to worry about his upcoming audition that day.
“That’s going to be you right?” Joon asked pointing at the TV where a commercial promoted an upcoming drama.
Chan nodded.
“Yup. But you have to give me good luck so that I pass my auditions.”
Joon stood, the bowl that was on his lap falling to the floor, and wrapped his arms around Chan’s neck.
“Good luck appa!”
Chan laughed and kissed Joon quickly on the forehead.
“Thanks Joonie. Now appa is definitely going to become an actor.”
With just the love of his son, Chan was sure he could get though anything.
So she got her shot. She was in the system working towards her goal of becoming a musician. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy for his sister, he just didn’t understand why it needed to uproot the family. She, quite clearly, was following in their father’s footsteps. Their father had always had a passion in music. Currently, more than being an active recording musician, he was like a producer. He would make music, but he made it for others so that he was able to be home often and take care of his family. But his sister wanted the entire family to move to Korea with her. So that was how he got into the position he was in.
“I want all of us to go. I don’t want to do this without my family.” His sister stated from the chair she was perched in. He rolled his eyes, and her attention fell to him immediately, a glare setting into her eyes.
“Louis. Why are you rolling your eyes at me?” She asked, her voice rough.
“We are still in high school Ellyce! I don’t speak Korean well, and you want me to just quit school and move to a country where I hardly speak the language?” Louis threw up his arms.
He really didn’t understand. Why couldn’t she go alone? If he had gotten the kind of chance she did he wouldn’t expect her to switch schools. He would go by himself and if and when his family decided to join him, they would. But she wanted it her way.
“Now calm down Louis. Your sister is just excited.” Louis’ mother wrapped her arm around Louis’ shoulder.
Louis father sat silently. Nobody was sure exactly what his intentions were. Louis sighed and looked down. One thing he knew for sure is that he wasn’t going. He wasn’t going to just leave school like that. While he had his dream of entering into acting, he needed an education for a fallback.
“Ellyce. You know there are dorms for you to stay in right?” Louis’ father finally spoke up, his eyes directed at his young daughter. She nodded.
“I know, I just want my family to be there with me for support. I would rather live at home than in the dorms.”
Louis’ father nodded slowly and looked over to his wife, curious of what she thought. Louis stood.
“This is ridiculous. There is no way you are actually considering this. We are talking about moving the entire family to Korea just so she can get what she wants. She can do this alone. Like you said, there are dorms. Why do I need to leave school for this? Everyone would need to quit their jobs, and start all over again with hardly any notice. I’m sure Claire dosen’t want to eather.” Louis mentioned his oldest sibling. His father looked up at him.
“Louis. Claire is a grown woman. She can make her own decisions.”
Louis rolled his eyes.
“Fine. Make whatever decision you want. Just know that I’m not going anywhere until I’m done with school.”
Louis turned and stomped out of the room. It really was nonsense. This is the third time that Ellyce has tried to persuade their parents to just pack up and move to a foreign country. She had passed an audition earlier in the year and she got an offer from a Korean entertainment company. Again, it wasn’t that he wasn’t happy for her, he just didn’t think it was necessary for the entire family to move with her.
A knock came to Louis’ bedroom door where he was watching a movie.
“Come in.” he called, eyes not leaving the screen for a second.
Louis’ mother stepped through the doorway. She looked down at her son, well aware that he was still angry.
“Louis.”
Louis picked his head up from the TV and looked at his mother. He raised an eyebrow when she sighed and took a seat on his bed.
“We are going to go to Korea with Ellyce. It’s for the better.”
Louis felt the anger bubbling up in his stomach. Instead of standing and yelling he just stayed silent. His mother continued to speak.
“If you don’t want to go now, you can stay with grandma. I already spoke to her and she said it was okay.”
Louis remained silent, fixing his eyes on his TV to keep himself from yelling. His mother stood from the bed.
“When you are done with high school you can come and join us if you would like.” She turned and made her way towards the door.
“Fine.”
“Trainee in a Steamy Relationship with Infinite’s L”
dropped. She didn’t even know him! She had also only just become a trainee. How are they even assuming she was involved with him. She scanned the article, trying to figure it out. Her eyes landed on a picture of what looked like Infinite’s L hugging a girl. She felt her anger bubbling up into her stomach. It was the back of the girl’s head! There was no way that anybody could confidently say it was her.
The small caption below the picture read, ‘Trainee, Jasper Jung, and L engaging in public skinship’. Jasper threw own the tabloid she was reading. This was absolutely ridiculous! She threw some money down on the small café table and stood, scooping up her bag.
She wasn’t sure if this was something she had to speak to her company about, or if it would fade on her own. She her heel and stormed out of the coffee shop, making her way back to the company building. This was honestly one of her biggest fears, being involved in a scandal. Not to mention, this article in particular could be very damaging to her reputation.
She didn’t even debut yet. In fact, she had only been a trainee for a little under a month, and already she is involved in quite the scandal. It was going to be hard to disprove that it isn’t her in the picture. You could only see the back of the girl’s head, you couldn’t even see a part of her face. She would absolutely have to go speak to her company about this. Great.
She opened the doors leading into the main seating area of her company. As she made her way to someone, anyone of importance, she heard whispers. Moving her attention from her feet she noticed that there were two girls who were looking directly at her and whispering. Jasper stopped moving and turned in their direction. She saw the tabloid, opened up to the article about her. She felt her anger boil up even more.
“Ya! What are you whispering about? Huh?”
She walked in the direction of the two girls. One looked frightened, the other developed a smug-looking smile.
“Do you think this is going to make you famous? You only look pathetic.”
Stopping directly in front of the girl, Jasper clenched her fists. There was no way. People were honestly believing this?
“It’s not even me!”
The girl snorted, making Jasper even angrier.
“Seriously? You can’t even see her face in the picture. How would you even assume that’s me.”
The girl crossed her arms under her chest and leaned forward, bringing her face closer to Jasper’s.
“Because you have money. You probably paid him to help you.” She whispered.
Jasper could feel the girls – stinky – breath touching her face, and it made her even angrier. Losing control of herself, Jasper raised her arm and slapped the girl on her cheek. It didn’t help in lowering her temper, but the girl jumped back instantly. The look of shock on her face was priceless, but Jasper was sure that slapping her hadn’t done anything.
“Jasper Jung”
Jasper’s eyes widened as she slowly turned around. The CEO stood directly behind her, a copy of the tabloid in his hand as well. Jasper quickly bowed, her emotions changing rapidly from anger to worry.
The beautiful beach of Jeju stared up at her from the computer screen. She should have been practicing, but dreams of vacation just took hold of her body. She was fully prepared to go practice some lines in one of the dance studios, but she was just distracted. She told herself she would leave in a minute, but then she found herself sprawled across her bed in trainers, shorts, a tank top and her hair up in a ponytail.
Needless to say, one minute turned into twenty, which turned into an hour. She flipped through webpages wishing that she could just book a flight and leave to the beautiful island for a week. It didn’t star there though, when she had first opened the computer she had been researching U.S. islands, then European countries, and finally landed on Jeju.
She was definitely a dreamer, and it could become distracting for her. One of the reasons she was so excited at the chance to become an actress was so she could travel. Movies and dramas were shot in so many beautiful places, and one of her dreams were to go and see the places she’s never been. The inhibiting part of her grand dreams, what the she was easily distracted by them.
“Ya! Yeji! You said you would be down to read with me an hour ago!”
Her roommate burst into the room and Yeji jumped from her spot on the bed as if there were a fire. Stealing a quick glance and her computer screen she quickly tried to shut it with her foot, causing it to fall off the bed.
“It hasn’t been that long” Yeji tried to retort.
Her roommate sighed and leaned against the wall.
“Yeji. Listen. You are never going to debut if you don’t train. You won’t be able to see all of those beautiful places.”
Yeji made a face. She knew her roommate was right, but it was hard. Training was an all-day thing, and once you were done you were so tired that you couldn’t do anything but go to bed. While the dream of debuting was strong, sometimes it seemed like the dream of traveling was stronger.
“Sorry…” Yeji bowed slightly. Her roommate had been a trainee for two years longer than Yeji. She was already preparing for her debut in a new drama.
Her roommate grabbed her arm.
“Listen, forget it. Let’s read our lines over some lunch, okay?”
Yeji smoothed out her shorts and made another face.
“By lunch you mean salad?”
Her roommate laughed.
“Of Course. You are on a celebrity diet my little Yeji. Besides, we are getting weighed tomorrow, how much do you have to lose?”
Yeji laughed.
“Nothing. Trainer said I just need to maintain my weight.”
It was her roommate’s turn to make a face.
“Well….. I guess we all cant be perfect like you. Let’s eat. I don’t wanna talk about this.”
She tugged Yeji’s arm and pulled her out of the room.
“Maybe I should feed you beef so I can be skinnier than you."
Yeji laughed, but let herself be pulled from the dorm. Honestly, beef didn't sound too bad.
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