Today is your last day in Seoul, so you and your best friend, Asha, make your way into Hongdae for the last time. You like the lively atmosphere and the cool shops, it's nothing like your hometown back in the UK. You're now twenty years old and taking a gap year from university and travelling. You've saved South Korea for last, as you and Asha have been fans of kpop since you were fourteen.

"Asha, we have to come back here whenever we next go on holiday. You can bring whatever boyfriend you have at the time, it'll be fun!" You grin. "Whoa, daebak!" You breathe, looking at a street vendor.

"We should." Agrees Asha, before saying "Oh my God, it's just like in the dramas!"

The two of you rush off towards the street vendor, before ordering (in Korean) some ddeokbokki and two drinks. Handing over the money, the two of you get stuck in while sitting on the stools. The pair of you discuss for a good ten minutes how delicious it looks, smells and tastes before saying goodbye to the vendor and you start walking again. Asha stops completely to read a sign that has caught her eye and you walk back over to her.

"Ash, what are you looking at?" You ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Look, there's a competition. It's for... singing or dancing. This is a perfect way to spend our last day!" Asha almost cries. "Come on, I'm not arguing with you eonni. We're doing this. Plus, it has celebrity judges! If you're lucky, it could be one of the bae list!"

"Asha, I can't-"

"Yes, you can. You're a brilliant singer! Now come on, the event is in a building in another district of Seoul." Asha pulls you along, not taking no for an answer. "Oh my God, what about if I go to the dancing competition and he's there. I might cry. Ugh, I can't handle it."

You roll your eyes at her, leaving to fangirl over one of her biases. It's probably Kai from EXO. It's usually Kai from EXO. The two of you get into a cab and Asha tells the driver where to go. The two of you exchange a look and your seatbelts on; you two of had discovered the cab drivers in Seoul were... insane, they drove like maniacs.

After a slightly painful fifteen minute drive, the two of you paid and left the cab. You let Asha direct you up into one of the buildings and sign the two of you in. After you filled out one of the competition forms, you were led into a waiting room with the other contestants.

The two of you sit down and you curiously ask her "Asha, what are you going to dance to?"

"I've chosen 'Growl' because it's my favourite." She grins and you chuckle lightly. "Anyway,what about you? What are you singing?"

You frown slightly, saying "I don't know. I'm not sure what I can sing well."

"You could always do a ballad or something? There's that sad song by Ailee you like. You know, the one with the sad title? What was it? 'How Could You Do This To Me?' I think it was." She suggests.

"But isn't that too sad?" You bite your lip.

"No, you just need to make it pretty. Plus, you know that song off by heart, there's no way it could go wrong." She smiles, squeezing your arm gently.

"Uh, okay then. I'll put that down as the song I want." You nod, adding it to the sheet you had been passed a few moments earlier.

Asha takes it and writes down her song to dance to before passing it on to the girl sat next to her. The two of you spend the next half an hour scrolling through Instagram, staring at edits of biases and crying internally, before Asha is called away for her entry.

"Asha, fighting!" You giggle as she gets up. She rolls her eyes at you and walks away to submit her entry.

 

You cross your fingers for good luck and plug your headphones in, until it's time for you to be called for your turn. You're nervous; head slightly dizzy, breathing speeding up, hands shaking and sweating slightly. You take a few deep breaths and within seconds you have reached the room where you'll perform. You know that this competition isn’t that important, seeing as when you get home you’ll be studying Pre-Med, but you still want to do well as you are a highly competitive person. You’re told to head inside and stand in the box outlined on the floor, as you are handed a microphone and a nametag that says your Western name in scruffy handwriting (presumably by one of the organisers, none of which appear to be able to speak English). You head inside, following the instructions. Remembering the Korean customs you bow respectfully to th judges before looking at them properly.

Two are vocal trainers, as displayed proudly on their hoodies and the third judge is someone that didn’t need the nameplate they’d placed in front of him. Byun Baekhyun, main vocalist of EXO. Also known as your favourite band. Even though he is around fifth on your bias list, it was still unbelievable to see him sat not even three full metres in front of you.

He lifts his head and looks at you, before asking in accented, broken English, “What is your name?”

You grin and reply in pretty much flawless Korean, “My name is (Y/N), but my Korean name is Yoon Se Ra. It’s lovely to meet you.”

The corners of his mouth turn up slightly and you wish you could talk to him for longer, but one of the other judges cut in and ask “So, Yoon Se Ra-ssi, what song will you be singing for us?”

“I’ll be singing ‘How Could You Do This To Me’ by Ailee.” You quickly answer.

The vocal trainer nods and he music begins to play. You quickly ensure the microphone is on as it would otherwise be highly embarrassing, then you begin to sing.

“Da mot deureun geollo halge cham gimakhyeo useumman na

Neo jeongmallo ireol geoni igeobakke andoeni

Eojjeom ireoni

 

Andwae andwae ireon ge eodisseo

Saranghage haenoko ijewa ireon beobi eodisseo

Mot hae mot hae nan jeoldae mot hae

Annyeong geu malmaneun kkeonaejima

 

Nan geureokeneun motagesseo nan neo eobsin andoegesseo

Da almyeonseo wae ireoni

Myeotbeonina malhaesseo ibyeoreun mot deureun geollo halge

 

Andwae andwae ireon ge eodisseo

Saranghage haenoko ijewa ireon beobi eodisseo

Mot hae mot hae nan jeoldae mot hae

Annyeong geu malmaneun kkeonaejima

 

Cheoeum neol bwasseul ttae cheoncheonhi dagawa

Naege tteollineun geu ipsullo saranghandago

Nareul heundeureonoko neol saranghage haenoko

Ijewa nega wae tteona tteonajima

 

Neon sarangi swiungabwa cham ibyeoldo swiungabwa

Nan geureoke andoeneunde junbido motaenneunde

Ijen eotteoke

 

Andwae andwae ireon ge eodisseo

Saranghage haenoko ijewa ireon beobi eodisseo

Mot hae mot hae nan jeoldae mot hae

Annyeong geu malmaneun kkeonaejima

 

Jebal jebal nal tteonagajima

Ireoken neol mot bonae jugeodo ireokeneun mot bonae

Malhae malhae da anirago

 

Jebal annyeongira malhajima

Baby please.”

 

By the end of the song your lungs hurt from having to take huge breaths. There are a few moments of silence before you look up and at the judging panel. They look back at you with shocked faces and you worry that you’ve just made a huge fool out of yourself.

“Yoon Se Ra-ssi, have you ever trained to be a vocalist?” asked the judge that hadn’t spoken yet.

“Uh, no. Why?” You answer nervously. Their jaws drop even further and even Baekhyun looks incredulous. You feel proud that you’ve managed to impress them like this.

“Yoon Se Ra-ssi, please wait outside until entries have closed and the winners posted.”

“Okay. Thank you for allowing me to compete.” You smile, bowing politely. As you step out of the room, you take one last look back at Baekhyun, who’s eyes are following you out of the room. Just as he is about to go out of view, he sends you a flirty wink and you almost fall over your own feet. You manage to carry on walking, your face flushing pink.

You are lead into another room and you can tell that inside here, everyone has already performed, because all of them immediately scan you to see if you are worthy competition. Holding back a laugh, you take a seat, where minutes later you are joined by Asha.

“Eonni, how did it go?” You ask excitedly. “It went okay, I guess. Seeing as I almost screamed because Kai was there, and I didn’t, I am very proud of myself.” She mutters, and you manage to stifle your laughter (sort of). It turned into some kind of coughing fit, so Asha laughs right back at you.

The two of you carry on chatting until the door opens and the judging panels from the singing and danicing competitions all enter the room. Baekhyun and Kai, who you notice is damn fine, are both holding white envelopes.

Kai speaks up first. “Hello contestants. We have seen some real talent today, and we, as representatives of SM Entertainment, are proud to be part of this competition. Baekhyun-hyung, would you like to announce your results first or second?” You notice he sounds rehearsed and bored and you and Asha both fight off grins. Kai hears some noise coming from your direction, and when he notices Asha he grins slightly, giving her a miniscule eye roll. You elbow her, as she flushes pink, but she grins back at him.

“No, you should go first.” smiles Baekhyun, who also had witnessed the exchange between Kai and Asha.

“Okay. Well, I’d first like to say that we had a lot of strong candidates for first place, but unfortunately there can only be one winner. In third place, we have Kim Soo Kyung. In second place, we have Han Jae Sa. And in first place, we have Asha Young. Congratulations to everyone.” Kai announces, and you notice the way he extends Asha’s name as if he liked saying it.

You giggle as Asha stands there, eyes wide in shock.

“Thank you, Kai-ah. Now, in the singing division, we had a very tough decision to make. As Kai said, we had a lot of strong contenders and it was very difficult to make a decision. So, without further ado, we have Choi Jung Mi for third place. Next we have someone who was a hair’s breadth away from first place. That someone is Yoon Se Ra. In first, we have Shim Young Mi. Congratulations, contestants.” Baekhyun smiles at everyone, even if it does seem a little forced.

The event organisers began to thank everyone, but you remain frozen, just as Asha had been. ‘I was placed second?’ You squeal internally. ‘Wait, Baekhyun said I was close to being first. Oh my God, Byun Baekhyun thinks I’m a good singer. Oh my God!’

You are thoroughly distracted until a silky vice says “Yoon Se Ra-ssi, can I talk to you for a moment about your performance?”

You snap back to reality and see Baekhyun stood in front of you. “Uh, okay?” It comes out a more of a question, but Baekhyun just chuckles and walks out of the room.

You follow right behind him and let him guide you into another room. He shuts the door behind the two of you, before turning back to you and saying,

“Your performance earlier was beautiful, you know.”

“What? You thought it was… beautiful?” You repeat back, eyes wide.

“Yes, that’s why you’re placed second, pabo.” He laughs. “The vocal trainers said they preferred the other contestant’s clothes, so that’s why she won.”

“Well, today wasnt exactly planned, otherwise I probably would’ve dressed better.” You smile shyly.

“No, I like it. You look cute.” He says seriously. “Look, Se Ra, I know this is the first time we’ve met, but I think I kind of... like you. Your voice is beautiful, you’re beautiful. And you’re so cute, so I was wondering, can I have your number?” He blurts out an extremely fast pace.

“Baekhyun-ssi, this is my last day in Seoul, I can’t…” You say sadly and you see his face fall. “B-But, I can give you my LINE. I have nothing against an online relationship.” You say hopefully.

 

To your delight, he agrees and the two of you trade LINE names. ‘byunbeagle92’ started messaging ‘____’ that evening, before Baekhyun dropped you off at the airport with an extremely y goodbye kiss.

THE END