Chapter 16

            Captain Hwang sighed wearily as he sat down behind the front desk of Chrome Entertainment Headquarters.  Ah Ba stood across from him, amusedly looking over the simple decorations on the desk that made it look more professional.  He picked up a flyer that read “Chrome Entertainment Open Audition: September 29” and grinned.

            “Why are you so down, Captain?” he asked.  “Didn’t anyone stick out to you today?”

            “Everyone was so…bland,” Hwang admitted wearily.  “I mean, they were very talented and attractive, but they weren’t Hurricane Pop material.  All of them are expecting a normal idol life.  They’re not going to get that here.”

            “Well, what kind of people did you expect to walk in?” Ah Ba laughed.  “Who’s going to walk in here and want to be anything other than a star?”

            “I…don’t know.”  Hwang leaned back in his chair and scratched his head.  “I mean, Minyoung was not a government experiment or an underground fighter, but she’s humble and teachable.  That’s all I’m looking for, I supposed.”

            “Any luck with Minseon?”

            The Captain shook his head dejectedly.  “Not yet.  I’m sure she’ll change her mind eventually, but my friend Serang has agreed to take her place and help train the girls until she does.”

            The front door suddenly flew open, and an excited, wide-eyed girl with a blissful grin rushed in.  She eagerly pushed her long, gorgeous hair away from her face and rearranged the stack of papers in her hands.  At the sight of Captain Hwang and Ah Ba, she immediately bowed and gave a nervous laugh.

            “Hello,” she said breathlessly.  “My name is Baek Boram.”

            “Welcome, Baek-ssi,” Hwang replied, distracted by her large, hypnotizing eyes.  “I’m Hwang Hyunchang, and this is Ah Ba.  How can we help you today?”

            “Hi, Hwang-ssi.  Ah Ba-ssi,” she beamed.  She shyly bowed again and pointed at the flyer in Ah Ba’s hand.  “I was wondering if I’m too late for the audition today.”

            A frown appeared on Ah Ba’s long face.  “We actually just closed the studio-”

            “No, you’re just in time,” Hwang interrupted quickly, gesturing down the hall towards the practice room.  “Won’t you come in?”

            Curiously observing this new visitor, Hwang and Ah Ba led her into the dance studio.  She seemed confident and sociable, until she looked down at her papers.  Every time she did, her eyes would start to lose their hope.

            A short table with two chairs was set up at one end of the studio.  Hwang and Ah Ba took their seats behind it and watched as the girl shyly put her papers in front of them.

            “This is my résumé,” she told quietly, giving one last, bleak look at the papers.

            “Résumé?” Hwang questioned in confusion.  “I don’t…I don’t think we need a résumé.  None of the other girls brought them in.”

            Her prominent cheeks flushed red.  “Really?  No résumé?  I’m really sorry.  I’ve never actually auditioned before.”

            “No, that’s fine.”  He picked up her résumé and scanned through it.  “So…Baek Boram.  You said you never auditioned before.  Why do you suddenly wish to audition for Chrome Entertainment?”

            “Well…it’s sort of a long story,” she sighed.  “I was studying to become a sort of dermatologist, but when my father fell ill, I dropped out of school to take care of him.  When he recovered, he made me promise to pursue the profession I’m most passionate about.”

            “And singing is your deepest passion?”

            She looked down timidly.  “Dancing is more of my passion.  I love to sing as well, but I don’t think I’m exceptionally good at it.  Oh, that wasn’t a good thing to say.”

            “I appreciate honesty,” Hwang smiled.  “Why don’t you go ahead and perform what you’ve prepared.  We’ll keep our minds open.”

            “Yes, sir.”  With sincerely grateful eyes, she bowed swiftly and took a deep breath.  “My CD is with my résumé.  Track three.”

            Hwang found the CD in the stack of papers and quickly placed it in the CD player on the table.  He skipped two tracks, leaned back in his chair, and carefully watched Boram.

            As the Secret song began, Boram moved gracefully and skillfully.  Her face displayed complete concentration.  Every motion was polished and appealing.  She shined with something extraordinary, and Hwang wanted to know what exactly it was.

            “That was wonderful,” he noted confidently once the song had ended.

            “Thank you,” she grinned bashfully.

            “You’re different from those who’ve come in today,” he informed.  “Do you think you could sing something for us?”

            Before she could answer him, an awful shriek came from outside the dance studio.  Both Hwang and Ah Ba leapt up from their chairs, prepared for any sort of problem.  Weakly holding onto her left wrist, Hyekyeong entered the room.  A grimace replaced her usual impish grin, and her breaths were noticeably quick and shallow.

            “Hyekyeong-ah,” Ah Ba called anxiously, rushing over to her.  “What happened?”

            Minjin crept up to the doorway just behind Hyekyeong, her eyes filled with terror.  “I didn’t mean to.  I-I…It happened so fast.”

            “It’s okay, Minjin-ah,” Hyekyeong assured with a feeble smile, looking back at her frightened friend.  “It was my fault.”

            “What did you do, Minjin?” Ah Ba questioned urgently.  Hyekyeong winced as he took her bruised wrist in his hand.

            “It was an accident,” Hyekyeong explained casually.  “I sort of surprised unnie, and she just overreacted and sort of twisted my wrist.”

            “Oppa, I’m sorry,” Minjin wept, walking over to the Captain.  She took hold of his arm and stared helplessly at Hyekyeong.  “It just…happened.  I couldn’t control myself.”

            “It’s okay, Minjin-ah.”

            “Yeah, unnie,” Hyekyeong smirked.  “Don’t be sad.”

            “Excuse me.” 

            Everyone turned to Boram, who observed the entire scene rather calmly.

            “Oh, Baek-ssi, I’m sorry about this,” Hwang frowned.

            “Oh, no, this is fine,” Boram insisted quickly.  “But, Hyekyeong-ssi, did you say your wrist was twisted?”

            “Yes.”

            Boram moved closer to Hyekyeong and gently took her wrist from Ah Ba.  “I had some medical training.  Would you mind if I took a look at this?”

            “Sure, unnie.”

            Ah Ba led Boram and Hyekyeong out of the studio to find a first-aid kit.  Her face still wet with tears, Minjin stayed behind with the Captain.  She finally covered her face with her hands and broke down into sobs. 

            “Minjin-ah, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Hwang pleaded softly.  “You experienced something very difficult.  These things are bound to happen.”

            She looked up at him with a broken spirit.  “Bound to happen?  Is it really impossible for me to control myself?  Who’s to say I won’t accidently hurt the nine girls you chose for me to protect?”

            “That won’t happen, Minjin-ah,” he insisted, wiping a tear from her face.  “I’m not going to give up on you.  You’re the right person for this job.”

            “I can’t believe I hurt little Hyekyeong-ah,” she whispered shakily.  “It’s as if I hurt my own sister.”

            “Soon, whether you react this way again or not, Hyekyeong will be trained to defend herself against you,” he smirked.

            Quick footsteps came from outside the studio.  Boram entered promptly, giving a courteous smile to the Captain.  “Hwang-ssi, I was able to wrap up Hyekyeong-ah’s wrist.”

            He marveled at the affectionate way she addressed Hyekyeong.  “Is that so?”

            “Yes.  And she’d like to talk to you now.”

            “Alright.”  He patted Minjin on the shoulder tenderly.  “It will be fine, Minjin-ah.  Don’t worry.”

            As soon as the Captain left the room, Minjin only cried harder.  Boram observed her compassionately and wandered towards her.

            “Minjin-ssi,” she said gently.  “Are you okay?”

            “I didn’t mean to hurt Hyekyeong-ah,” Minjin claimed tearfully.  “I would never hurt her.  I just…I can’t control it sometimes.”

            Though Minjin’s words were strange and somewhat alarming, Boram moved closer and wrapped her arm around her.  “I’m sure she knows that, Minjin-ah.”

            “Right now she’s probably asking Captain Hwang to remove me from the group.  Maybe she’ll press charges.  Why shouldn’t she?”

            “Oh, Minjin-ah.”  Boram tried to think of what horrible thing could make a girl react so violently to a surprise.  Her heart filled with sympathy, and she carefully wiped the tears from Minjin’s eyes.  “Everything will be fine.  Aren’t the two of you friends?”

            Minjin nodded reluctantly.  “We’re quite good friends now.  I think that’s what happens when you join a group together.  Are you auditioning to join?”

            “I was auditioning, yes,” she laughed quietly.  “I’d say my audition isn’t very important right now.  Your representatives probably won’t remember me.  But that’s okay.  The two of you need to be taken care of.”

            With wide, earnest eyes, Minjin looked up at Boram.  “I think you’d be a very good addition to this group.”

            Boram smiled cheerfully at her new friend.  She tried to think of a reply worthy of Minjin’s kind words, but Hwang returned before she could invent one.  A tall brunette with fearful eyes followed behind him. 

            “Minjin-ah,” Minyoung called frantically, rushing over to Minjin.  “Are you okay?  What happened to Hyekyeong?”

            The Captain took his wallet from his pocket and retrieved a few thousand won.  “Minyoung-ah, would you please take Minjin down that street to that ice cream parlor we all like?”

            “Of course,” Minyoung replied somberly, taking the won from Hwang.  “Come on, Minjin-ah.  Tell me what happened.”

            Hwang stared anxiously after Minyoung and Minjin as they left the studio.  Boram studied his worried face curiously.

            “It seems you have some very unique girls in this group,” she noted thoughtfully.

            He turned to her jadedly.  “Did they scare you?”

            “Scare me?”  She shook her head and smiled.  “They’re human.  Don’t we all come with baggage that affects the way we act?”

            “I try my best to take care of them,” he sighed.  “Perhaps I’m not as qualified as I thought I was.”

            “It seems to me that you’re doing the best you can,” she insisted sincerely.  Quietly she walked over to the table and picked up her résumé.  “I suppose I’ll go now, Mr. Hwang.  Thank you for the opportunity.”

            “You’re leaving?” he questioned suddenly.  “Aren’t you going to sing for me?”

            She looked at him in surprise.  “Oh, of course I will.  I was just afraid you’d forgotten about my audition because of everything that was happening.”

            “Not at all,” he grinned.  He finally saw the quality that made her so outstanding.  He realized exactly why he needed her for his mission..  “Baek-ssi…Please sing for me.”

Author's Note: This ends the origin stories! They were sort of short and Gummi's especially wasn't very action-packed. But let me know what you think of them!