Yoseob

(Year 2004)

I was reading my penpal's latest letter. She was so funny, though she always seems to put herself down... Over the years, we sent each other letters to help with learning each other's langauge. Her dad was a school buddy of my dad, so they got together and decided it was a good idea. At first, I wasn't so sure, but with each letter, I learned better English and made a good friend at the same time. We met once, when we were eight. Her dad had taken her to Korea one summer to meet me and our dads did some catching up as well. Candy. The name suited her, I think. She was a bit smaller than most kids our age but she always had a huge smile on her face. Nothing could get her down, and you just felt good seeing her. As I was wondering what she might look like now, a picture fell out of the folded papers. I smiled, then began writing my response.

I was just about to mail my letter, when my father called me over.

"Yes, Dad?" He turned to me with a tired face, eyes filled with sorrow.

"Yoseob, there has been a terrible accident... My friend... and her sweet little girl... Their house caught fire... They're dead." I stood there in shock. No way. I just got her letter. Only just now. She can't be dead... I shook my head. She had written this a few days ago at the least.

"When?" I made myself ask.

"This morning. Or last night, for them, considering the time zones..." I had to steady myself, then let the information sink in. I looked at the picture in my hand.

"Is that her?" he asked, leaning over to see. I nodded as he fought back tears.

"So young..." was all he could say. We stood like that for a while, his hand on my back. As I kept looking at her picture, I kept thinking... We were only fourteen. And really, she wasn't even that yet. Her birthday was next month... February 19th. It wasn't fair. It wasn't!

I set the letter I had written beside my bed. In it, I had told her that I was going to be a trainee for JYP, that I was taking another step closer to my dreams, and how I hoped she would overcome her stage fright so that she could do the same. She wanted to be a singer or comedian. She never could choose between them. I always replied that she could be both. I guess now she can't...

I looked at the picture one last time before I wen to sleep. She looked the same as she did when we met, though she was wearing  glasses and her hair was a bit messy and uneven: she had been growing it back out after she had gotten lice and had to get it cut. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold, despite the large jacket she was wearing. But she looked so happy... Her picture was the last thing I saw before sleep finally took me.

Author's Note: Well, this is my first fiction on here. Please be nice. :) I realize this is pretty short for the first chapter, but I wanted to set everything up and this was the only way I knew how... Also, I'm just using reaaally rough guesswork with when he became a trainee. Because I know he was at JYP first, but I don't know when or for how long, then he moved to a sister comany and stayed there for five years before finally joining Cube. And I don't know when he joined Cube or how long he waited before debut.... SO! I am just using the 5 year time period. I know it's more than likely not accurate, but this is a fiction, right? Please give me feedback on how I did... Anything I may need to change in the future or anything... I guess I would need to get Candy's character profile up, too......