Josephine Swan never imagined that her stay in South Korea would lead her into K-Pop's glittering and challenging world. Each day, she encounters new hurdles and adventures that fate has in store for her and her four team members. Between gruelling...
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Eyes wide and mouth agape, I stared at Jihe, a broad grin creeping onto his lips. Still, her words flooded my mind leaving me with a big mess of emotions consisting of confusion, irritation, disbelief and a multitude of other similar emotions.
"Did you hear yourself sing, Josie? I mean...it was incredible. Like Christina Aguilera herself was standing in the room." said Ahri softly. I looked stunned by my roommate to the music video playing on the screen. Once again, the song "Human" played while the brown-haired tattooed woman silently sang the colourful subtitles. I shook my head.
"This is crazy! I...I...have never sung before, at least not extracurricular. My experience with music was limited to horse training and gymnastics." I explained before Jihe interrupted me. Her phone was in her hand, her fingers scrolling down the pages.
"I looked it up. Many pages describe that natural singers often sing intuitively. They follow their feelings without consciously using singing techniques. Through unconscious engagement with music, in your case that of dressage or gymnastics, you automatically engage with feelings, beat, tones and rhythm." she read aloud. I exchanged a glance with Ahri, but still, I couldn't believe her words. It rather made the situations more complicated and confusing for me. My hand went to my forehead.
"A natural at singing?" I pecked cautiously and Jihe nodded. I just shook my head.
"Don't you think...we're exaggerating about this? I mean...this could all have been a great stroke of luck too! I was excited...and...you were excited...maybe..." I tried to explain what had happened, but instead of answering, Ahri threw me her microphone. Startled, I caught it.
"Why don't you sing another song? That way we could be safe," she said, fumbling for the remote control for the screen. Goosebumps ran down my spine as she scrolled down the many songs, searching for a suitable one. Nervously, my trembling fingers wandered over the microphone. I didn't know why I was so unnaturally nervous about this. This singing wasn't even serious, it was just fun among friends. Any other person in the world would probably be a natural at singing at the thought, already standing on a stage in my mind, surrounded by hundreds or thousands of screaming fans. But attention was the last thing I wanted in life.
Unfortunately for me, I had it in certain situations.
Ahri and Jihe paused and looked at me from the side as I played with the device in my hand, lost in thought.
"Maybe the karaoke wasn't a good idea?" whispered Jihe to Ahri, bringing me out of my thoughts. My eyes widened in shock and I looked at her.
"Yes...yes...it's all right! I'll sing one more song and then...we'll sing one together, okay?" I said quickly and a smile appeared on the girls' lips. I breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the remote. Inwardly, I called to myself to calm down.
The girls had gone out of their way to organise this evening and had welcomed me kindly into their midst. Even the fact that I might be good at singing would not change anything about my future or our friendship. It was simply a relaxed evening of karaoke surrounded by soundproof walls. No one would be able to hear me, even if the girls' statements were not true. Slowly, I felt my nerves relax. My shoulders sank and my body became calmer. The microphone in my hand stopped shaking.
"No one is watching you, Josie. Just sing!" I whispered to myself and finally tapped out Adele "Someone Like You".
♛
After my second interlude which was, fortunately, less stressful for me, the three of us sang a few more songs together before we decided, with a glance at the clock, to make our way home. Our cheeks were still slightly flushed from the songs, a big grin on our faces. Even my tension dropped completely after the third song and the room was filled with loud laughter.
"I'll take the drinks," I said to my two flatmates and shouldered my handbag. I draped the grey coat over my arm. Balancing the full tray of empty drinks with my hands, I looked around the room one last time. Suddenly my grey eyes caught the windows at the other end of the room.
They were open.
"Wait...was that window open the whole time?" I asked, startled, and the girls' eyes automatically went to the still-open window. They shrugged their shoulders as slight panic made itself feel inside me. The mere fact that I had heard someone else singing made my cheeks boil. I handed Ahri the tray with our empty drinks and quickly closed the window before leaving the room with one last look over the white furnishings.
"The drinks bar should be further back. We'll drop off the key in the meantime," said Ahri and I nodded. Carefully I balanced the tray through the narrow corridor until I finally stepped into an open area. Here too, scattered tables and comfortable-looking seats had been set up in the corners. In the centre, a large bar dominated with many selections of drinks and high-end equipment for the fanciest of mixes. The bartender smiled at me in a friendly manner and was already leaving his workstation to hurry over to me and take the drinks.
"Gamsahamnida." I thanked him in Korean, almost bumping into a dark-haired Korean man as I turned around.
"Miahnhamnida." I apologised immediately and bowed. The man smiled and his dark eyes captured me as I turned away with a cautious smile and left the bar. I quickly put on my grey coat and caught a glimpse of the young Korean man who was still standing in the same spot looking at me. I frowned and mentally went through the Korean apologies from formal to informal for fear of offending him. However, his reaction to my apology was positive. Ahri and Jihe were already at the counter waiting for me. With a friendly smile, we said goodbye to the receptionist and walked out into the chilly February night.
Gently, I nudged Jihe from the side.
"What does Miahnhamnida mean?" I picked up quietly, meeting Jihe's surprised expression.
"It means "I'm sorry" politely and formally regarding strangers, elders or higher-ups. I thought you had already completed those lessons?".
"Strange..." I just mumbled, mentally toying with the young Korean's reaction, when Jihe's irritated look caught my eye again.
"I just thought...I said...something wrong to someone earlier...but apparently..." I explained quietly and gave the colourful karaoke house one last look before we finally went home.
