Prologue

It was 7:30am. Jackson was sleeping soundly until.. KNOCK!!! KNOCK!!! 

His manager was banging the door furiously trying to wake him up.

"Jackson- ah! Wake up!! Get ready now!!" 

Oh.My.God. I had two hours of sleep. You serious? 

"Hyung... what now?" Jackson replied. "Just let me sleep for 10 more minutes please.. I'm begging you"

Jackson grabbed his comforter over his head hoping that his manager would leave. Or at least let him sleep for an extra 10 minutes. 

"No, Jackson. You have to get up now! Jin Young-hyung wants to see you now at his office. Right NOW!" 

Crap. What did I do this time? Jackson was certain that he didn't do anything wrong but a million things were going through his head of all the possible things that he did wrong, or at least something bad enough to constitute him a scolding from the CEO. 

Jackson quickly got up from his bed and brushed his teeth. Without taking a shower, he ran to the van while his manager following him from behind. 

"You could've spent an extra 30 seconds to change into fresh clothes. You need to look good for the fans, Jackson. And probably cameras ar--"

"Hyung!" Jackson cut him. "Looking good for paparazzi is not our main concern now. Do you know why he needed to see me?"

"I don't. Jackson, you need to take care of your image. You're a kpop idol!"

Well yeah, for now. I might not be after this. 

************************************************

Heo Youngji was in the middle of her usual morning run. She stopped in front of a magazine stand to catch her breath but then something caught her eye;

'Fans Still Opposed to the New Member' 

It was about her. With shaky hands and tired legs, she reached out for the magazine and started flipping through the pages. She was trying to find the article that was written about her.

'With a muscular man-like body, does new KARA member Youngji has what it takes to replace two previous members?' 

'Fell on stage. Heo Youngji will bring KARA to a new direction just like her performance last night- fell down to the floor!'

'Bad decision by DSP: Heo Youngji'

At this point, Youngji's hand was trembling reading the articles about her. She knew that her addition to KARA would not be accepted by all. Most of 'Kamilias' was still hoping that her addition to KARA was only a dream and the previous members would return soon. She knew it will take some time for the kpop world to recognize her but trying to stay positive while dealing with all these negativity really demotivated her. She even changed her phone to 2G to help her avoid reading negative articles online but that obviously didn't help.

Usually, Youngji is a cheerful girl and she laughs all the time. Now, she was finding it hard to even smile on stage. She couldn't help it, the audience were booing at her. What kept her going was Gyuri's words that were still lingered in her mind;

"Even when the whole world is against you, KARA is still with you. We will always be. Stay strong my dear"

Unnie.. I know it has only been a month. But when are these going to stop?

************************************************

Jackson listened to his ipod to help him stay calm. He was shaking his right leg furiously.

"Dude, can you stop?" said his manager. The mood in the van was tensed and Jackson's furious leg shaking only added to his annoyance. 

"Sorry but I can't control it! If you would just tell me what--"

"Jackson, I've told you. Boss only called me and said that he wanted to see you. He didn't say anything more. Now would you please just chill? Stop shaking your leg and turn the volume down a little. We can't have a hearing impaired singer!" 

"Just so you know, Beethoven was deaf!" 

"Yeah, and you ain't Beethoven. He was a musician, not a singer. So, please!"

Jackson sat still, turned the volume down and looked out his window. He couldn't think straight. He was nervous, anxious, curious and even regretting his decision to quit the national fencing team. 

The van stopped at a red light. Jackson looked out the window and observed the passerby. This was the stretch the he used to walk during his trainee days. Sometimes, he would dance. 

"Hyung! Can you see that corner over there?" said Jackson, trying to change the atmosphere. "The one where the magazine stand is?" he pointed.

"Yeah. Why?

"That was my bboy spot maann! Alot of people gathered to watch me dance. Sometimes people even-"

Is that girl...crying? No more like shocked! Yes, she looks shocked. And definitely teary. I wonder what happened to her. Well, at least she's in a way more better position than I am in now.

************************************************

"Pretty girl, are you gonna buy the magazine or not?" asked the magazine stand owner to Youngji. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I usually don't bring money when I go jogging. I'll put this back. So Sorry"

With weak legs, Youngji countinued her morning jog. At least when I run, I won't cry. It's impossible to cry and run at the same time. 

-15 minutes later-

Youngji arrived at her dorm and went to take a shower. Other members are staying at their own apartment. Staying in this dorm alone made her even more depressed.

RIING!!

Youngji's phone rang. It was her manager. 

"Yes, unnie?"

"Youngji- ah. Can you come down now? You need to go to the office. I have an exciting news for you!!" her manager shriek.

YES!! Something positive! She sounds excited! I wonder what it could be?

"Okay unnie. Let me go change and I'll see you in a bit"

Youngji changed and ran straight down. The second she got into the van, she immadiately asked her manager, "What is it?? Tell me Tell me!!"

"I can't! You just have to wait" replied her manager with a wink.

Ughh! The suspense is killing me! Well, at least it's a good news. The office is nearby anyway. I dont' have to wait that long but OH MY GOD! This is killing me! 

************************************************

"Jackson-ah, do you know why I called you here?" Please don't fire me.

"Uhh, no hyung. Did I do anything wrong? If so, I can explain!"

"Hahaha! No Jackson. You did good! Actually, the reason I called you here because you just got an offer to be in the new season of a reality show on SBS."

"REALLY??! Wow! Hyung!! I can't believe it!! Seriously??! For reals??" Jackson was jumping, obviously excited by this news. Well technically, he was more excited at the fact that he was not in trouble. 

"Hahaha! Calm down Jackson-ah. The PD was definitely impressed with your variety skills and they were hoping that with your addition to their program, you might help with their ratings this season."

Jackson stopped jumping. New season?

"The show's called 'Roommate'. They suffered pretty badly rating wise last season. Almost half of the cast left and now, they're looking for new members. So, I suggested you. I gave them highlights of some of the variety shows that you were in and, they liked you! So, what do you think?"

It took Jackson 30 seconds to think of a reply. Finally he said;

"Umm, hyung! I don't know if I can actually bring the ratings up hyung. My Korean is still not fluent and I don't wanna come off as rude to the cast and also the viewers because I still haven't adjusted to the culture here."

"Don't worry, people love the 'wild n y' Jackson you are. Got7 needs more exposure and you could be the one to break them through. Think this as an opportunity, a promotion for your group. You could go a long way with this, Jackson"

He's right. More new groups are debuting, seniors making comebacks... We definitely need to do something to maintain our name. This could be what we need.

"Okay, hyung! Let's do this!" 

" Excellent! Okay, now go to the gym and take your shower. You would definitely get a scolding if you come out haggard again" said Park Jin Young. He added, "And after, go and do your make up. Your interview starts in an hour. They're setting up at the noodle store across the street"

"Hyung! You have already agreed to this show?" 

************************************************

- At DSP CEO office-

"Youngji-ah, please take a seat"

Youngji was really excited and anxious to know what the urgent meeting was about.

"You see, alot of people are not taking your addition to KARA too well and I understand how painful it must've been for you these past three weeks. You're a good girl with a bright personality and I think you would be good on this show. Have you heard of 'Roommate'?" asked the CEO

"Yes, sir. The SBS show, right? The one with actor Lee Dong Wook?"

"Precisely! So, they're thinking of doing a season 2. I personally think that you would be a good fit for this. So, do you want to do this?"

Roommate did not do well on their first season though. Sigh. I don't want the second season to be bad too if I were to join the show. I can already imagine how bad the articles about me would be.

'Heo Youngji fails again!' 'Bad luck Youngji'

Sigh. However, this is a good exposure for me. This is my chance to show people the real me.

"Yes, I'd love to do the show! Thank you so much for this opportunity, sir! I can't thank you enough!"

"Don't worry about it Youngji. It's my job as your CEO. I know you're gonna do well on this show. I saw the list of the new cast, great and well experienced celebrities would be on the show. I have a feeling this show's rating would increase!"

Wow... boss has confidence in me. This is truly an honor! Okay! Let's do this! Even though I'm still scared and confused on how this whole variety/reality show works but I know I can do this. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?