Idol Life: ON Stage

Ch. 4 - Aiko

FirstSTAR Entertainment. I stand outside of the building, staring up at the glistening windows. I can already feel myself debuting.

Except for one thing. I'm not even an official trainee yet.

Gathering my thoughts, I sigh and entered the building. Going to the receptionist, I showed them a sheet that showed that I was accepted through a Japanese audition.

"Sorry? Excuse me, are you Aiko Sakamoto?" The woman asked.

I nodded, unfamiliar to the language they were speaking in. But I heard my name, so I hope they were asking for my name.

"Um..." she nudged the girl next to her. She started to speak quickly in Korean.

The second girl nodded and started to rapidly push numbers. She picked up the phone and tapped the desk as she waiting for someone to pick up.

As I waited about ten minutes in the lobby, one girl came down and smiled at me.

"Are you Aiko?" She asked in Japanese.

"Yes," I stammered.

The girl smiled and motioned towards the elevators. "I'm Haruka. I've been training at FirstSTAR for almost an year now."

I gasped and nodded. "That's a long time."

Haruka stared at me with her big, double eyelid eyes. "Oh, it's not that long when you get to meet others."

I nodded and wrapped my coat around my body.

She crossed her arms and smiled. "Why did you decide to become a trainee?"

I grinned, "I love music. Also, I want to become a idol just like Universe."

"Oh, are your role models Universe?"

I nodded as the two of us got into the elevator. "I went to their most recent fansign, and I guess I realized that choosing to become a trainee was a good decision after all."

Haruka sighed, "Don't be too sure about that, Aiko. There's a lot of terrible things that go on in FirstSTAR everyday."

"Like?"

"You'll see."

___

"Class, we have a new trainee joining us today." The vocal teacher pointed to an empty spot in the line of people. "Aiko, you may go stand over there."

"Actually Aiko, come back by my side." I scurried back towards the teacher. The vocal teacher walked from the front to the back of the line, reading everyone's facial expressions. "Has everyone been practicing?" The teacher randomly swiveled her eyes to the nearest person and tapped their shoulder. "Hyewon, have you been practicing?"

"Yes, teacher."

"How many hours?"

"Sixteen hours a day, teacher."

The teacher nodded, satisfied at the answer. "Very good." She turned to her right and nodded towards Haruka. "What about you, Haruka? Your not too busy touring around new trainees, are you?"

"I've been practicing fourteen hours a day."

"Hm. You still go to school?"

"No, ma'am."

The teacher strided over to Haruka. "Then what you doing during the two hours that Hyewon is practicing more than you?"

"Learning Korean, ma'am."

"Nonsense. You are already very fluent in Korean. You should be practicing until you can't remember anything anymore."

Haruka bowed her head with her hands at her side. "Yes, ma'am."