Unrequited | SB19 Stell [SB19 Series #3]

3

Stell's POV

It was audition day at ShowBT. Mhai, Gelou, Josh, and I arrived early, our hearts hopeful for the day ahead.

The line was long. I was not expecting that a lot of people would try to audition for ShowBT. Performing arts is an underappreciated profession in the Philippines. But then, what's stopping anyone from chasing their dreams, right?

Mhai was lugging her guitar over her right shoulder. She looked like she wanted to haul her guitar and drop it right there and then. Her guitar must have weighed a ton, or she must just be drained from school.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Great, never better," Mhai replied.

The four of us registered our names as auditionees, and we were handed numbers that we're supposed to attach somewhere on our bodies. Josh placed the number on his forehead. It's his body anyway.

"You look silly," I chided him.

"You look serious," Josh shot back.

"I'm just nervous," I told him. Beads of sweat were beginning to form on my temples. My heart was racing wanmelyon miles per minute.

"You'll do great," Josh assured me. "As if you've never done this before."

"I've danced a million times before, but I've never sung," I replied.

Mhai grunted beside me. She looked disconcerted.

"I hope you're okay," I told her. She looked ready to faint. She must be really nervous.

"I'm so nervous, Lester," she acknowledged. See? She's nervous. I am so right.

"Come on, guys," Gelou said, gesturing for us to sit out in the hallway as we waited for our numbers to be called.

My head was spinning. I'm trying so hard to concentrate on my audition piece. La la la la la la, my mind hummed.

Wait. That's not my song.

Ugh! It's that song that the girl across from me was singing. Now her audition piece was stuck to my head!

Okay, focus. Focus. You got this. You are confident and talented. You can do this! Fighting!

There were so many conversations racing through my head and so many emotions crossing my brain that it's hard to keep track of it.

I tried to stay focused, using sheer willpower to play my audition song in my mind over and over again. I have to do a perfect job at this. This audition might change the course of my life. Being a trainee was just a dream for me. I had dreamt of being a Kpop idol trainee ever since I started covering Kpop groups. Becoming a trainee would be a dream come true.

I peeked at my friends. Josh and Gelou had put on earphones and were bobbing their heads to the music being played. I was sure that they would dance. Josh and Gelou were such talented dancers. Of course, since they are members of Se-eon.

Both of them looked exceptionally calm.

Mhai, on the other hand, looked....not calm. She was biting her nails, fiddling with her guitar straps, constantly clearing her throat. She was the epitome of nervousness and anxiety rolled into one person.

"What happened to the breathing exercises that you used to do?" I asked Mhai.

She shrugged. "Lester, not now."

"I'm trying to calm you down. You look so wired up," I explained.

"I am wired up," she replied.

"Well, let's get you wired down."