Room 2129 (A 2yeon Fanfic)

Chapter 8: Nayeon

Wow, they really love lines here in Seoul, huh? Buses, trains, restaurants-you have to fall in line almost everywhere! Even here at the audition, at least fifty of us are trying our luck at WIZ* studios. (*Not a real studio, as of my knowledge.)

The process is quite simple-you just register online, fill up the form, and appear on the date of the actual audition. Pretty standard stuff. Upon getting there, they give you a colored paper with your name and number. This signifies what you're auditioning for: pink for singing, red for rapping, blue for dancing, yellow for acting, and green for modeling. Guess what I chose?

From the looks of it, more than half of us are auditioning to be singers. I get it-a lot of them want to be part of the next boy or girl group sensation, but not me. I want to be a solo act, like IU. There's just something about her that screams "total package"-acting, visuals, and of course, her singing.

A lot of the hopefuls are dressed either in loud-colored clothes or a strange ensemble. I, on the other hand, am wearing a plain polo, loose jeans, and my very old (and dirty) white Adidas Superstars.

"Unnie, you should've worn something more memorable," a small voice says. I turn to my right and see the first familar face since I got here.

"Ah! Yem Yem-ie," I exclaim as I hug one of my childhood friends Yeri, who's not so small now. Wow, she's almost as tall as me!

She hurriedly leans closer to my ear and whispers, "Unnie! Don't call me that! At least not here..."

I must admit, seeing her wearing an all-black combination of a velvet poncho, loose blouse, leggings, and boots is not befitting of her nickname when we were kids. Maybe being in Seoul really changes a person.

"Okay, Yeri... are you auditioning here as well?"

She waves her hands and shakes her head with much vigor. "Oh, no! I'm here to talk with someone from the agency, to get some of their artists to perform for our event."

"You organize events now?"

Yeri pouts and bobs her head. "Yeah, I guess you could say that..." She suddenly directs my attention to the line. "Unnie, you're almost up."

She's right-only two people before me, and it seems like they're auditioning as a pair. "Yem-Yeri...let's catch up later," I say as I take a deep breath and clench my fists.

"For sure, let's meet up here again, unnie. Fighting!"

***

"So, how did it go, unnie?" Yeri asks as she swirls the straw on her chocolate milkshake.

Hmm, let's see: they didn't even let me reach the high part of the song-which I'm sure I would have killed-and the judges hardly looked at me. "I think it went okay," I reply drily.

She scrutinizes my face. "That bad, huh? See, I told you that you should have worn something unforgettable!"

"Yem Yem-ie," I pause, gauging her reaction and to see if there are people nearby. "What does that have to do with me singing? You saw the others, right? They look so weird!"

Yeri chuckles and shakes her head. "Unnie..." she holds my hand, the grease of french fries transferring to my fingers. "In that industry, how you look is as important as your talent. Do you think every idol sings good? No! It's because they remembered the one in a cowboy hat or a tutu."

Seeing the crushed potatoes in her mouth as she speaks somewhat distract me from the truth. Yeri may look all chic and fashionable, but she has yet to shake off her bad eating habit when we were kids.

"Well, what should I wear? I didn't bring anything crazy with me."

She rolls her eyes at me. "Your family owns a textile shop, I'm sure they can send you something useful." Man, why didn't I think of this?

"Anyway, how are they? Tell your mom I miss her jjapaguri." Wow, even while eating, Yeri thinks about other dishes.

"They're okay. At first, they didn't want me leaving, naturally."

"Yeah, how did you pull that off? I remember them being very strict with you."

"It's a long story filled with arguments, tears, and pleading. But they eventually gave up. Besides, they kinda loosened a few years back anyway."

***

Come to think of it, this is the first time I'm out at Seoul in the evening. As opposed to our hometown, you can still see everything at night as they're lit by neonlights.

"Well, this is me."

Yeri walks me to entrance of the building, her eyes scanning the exterior just as I did when I first got here. "You're staying here...?"

Mr. Lee's within hearing distance, so I whisper to Yeri, "I understand how you feel, but trust me-the place I'm staying in? You'd think it was in a different building. My roommate's kind of a design nut."

"Well, I hope you're getting along with her...or him," she says with a slight smirk.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "She seems to be...okay." Just remove the fact that Jeongyeon's a snarky little psycho.

"You know, you can move in my condo."

"And what, shell out 1,000,000 won every month?! No thanks," I reply as Yeri laughs.

"Well, here's my number," she says while typing on my phone. "Let's meet again soon, unnie."

Before leaving, Yeri gives me a tight hug which I immediately reciprocate. The tightness of my embrace reflects how much I miss her as her breathing stifles a bit.

"Sorry, Yem Yem-ie."

She straightens her poncho while catching her breath. "Remember, you have to stand out here in Seoul. This isn't some provincial singing contest-you're gunning for the big leagues now.