HIBISCUS | Bang Chan of Stray Kids

Track 29

"A grown-up person, a grown-up love. Things that seem easy for a mature man. Everything is difficult in front of you."

__________

Track 29

     The assertively vibrating pager persistently knocked against the wooden table, successfully jerking Hwayoung's attention away from her video editing. Fumbling ungracefully with the pager, Hwayoung scooted out from her single table to head towards the pick-up bar of the local cafe near her new apartment. She exchanged the pager for her drink and tray, not forgetting to thank the barista before leaving back to her spot.

      Once settled from the interruption, Hwayoung resumed her editing. Since her hiatus from the industry, Hwayoung indulged herself in crafting her channel to the fullest, allowing her to post whatever creative freedom within her to be shared and loved by others. Needless to say, Hwayoung's new control of her life and liberty offered her a great deal of self-betterment and reflection of the traumatic recent events.

     December 20th passed faster than anyone could have anticipated. If she were honest with herself, Hwayoung could not recall most of the events that day. The only memories left were the flashes of the immeasurable amount of reporters and trying to remember how to breathe when asked to stand on trial and speak of her experience before the judge and jury. Unsurprisingly, her emotional rollercoaster of a story touched the sympathetic hearts of the justice system, tipping the scale against Seo Youngchul's favor. It was a long way to go before anyone would see him in jail for his actions, but this trial was a start to his neverending downfall.

     "Excuse me," A soft, but mature sounding voice beside Hwayoung's seat directed her attention towards the unknown woman.

     "May I help you?"

     "My name is Lim Heekyung from Move Entertainment," The woman hastily fished out her business card from her wallet as if to prove her legitimacy, sliding it across the table, "You are very pretty, and I believe if you gave us a chance, we could help you create a career. We do everything from modeling to singing to acting-"

     "Ah, I'm sorry," Hwayoung politely cut her off, "But, I'm not interested in joining any entertainment companies at the moment."

     Heekyung stopped Hwayoung's motion of sliding the card back to her, "That's a shame. But if you ever are reconsidering, stop by and we'd be happy to have you join us."

     Both thanked each other for their time before parting. Hwayoung sighed, tossing the business card into the tray so that she could trash it later along with her empty cup. This would be the fifth offer she received this week, and that was not even counting the offers she received through email. To think such a scandalous debut followed by a tenfold worth of scandalous trials would have blacklisted her off the entertainment market, yet the exact opposite effect occurred with the procession of the trial. Hwayoung wished she could just focus on her channel, instead of having to dodge reporters and scouters like bullets.

     Speaking of focus, Hwayoung cracked her knuckles before placing them back onto the keys of her laptop. Finally, she could finish editing her latest video which was scheduled to be posted tomorrow morning without any more distractions. At least, that's what she thought was going to happen until another business card slid across the table again.

     Without caring to look at the card, Hwayoung closed her eyes, groaning and pinching the bridge of her nose, "Listen, I appreciate the offer. I really do, but I'm just not interested. Now, I would appreciate if I could just get back to-"