Idol Life: ON Stage

Ch. 8 - Aiko

Jump on the third beat. Vocals up to the C chord. I repeated the information in my head as I repeated the steps over and over again.

"Your working so hard. Are you ready for today's evaluation?" Hyewon asked, walking into the practice room. She and I had gotten fairly close over a week. So far, I was only up to rank thirty-eight, which was bugging me.

"Yes, I've been practicing a lot. I plan to go up eight ranks."

Hyewon chuckled as she put down her water bottle. "Good luck, then. As soon as you reach the half line, there are so many others who are talented. It's really hard to get into the debut group."

I raised my eyebrows. "Are you feeling threatened, unnie?"

Hyewon laughed. "Nope. I feel pretty confident about debuting this time."

I sat down for a moment, allowing myself to breathe. "What ranking were you last year?"

Hyewon thought for a moment. "I think I was rank sixteen. I was pretty far from the debut spot. Haruka was higher than me."

"Yeah, she told me. It must be upsetting for those who almost make the group."

Hyewon lightly laughed. "I suppose. Haruka almost debuted, you know."

"I heard that the debut group last year was five people. But she was rank six?"

Hyewon stopped stretching and stared at me. "The debut group last year was six people."

I stared back at her. "What?! But she told me that she was rank six and didn't get to debut..."

Hyewon nodded, "Haruka was selected to be on the team. But she was kicked off for an unknown reason. She refuses to talk about it, as do the debuted members. So the company decided to change to five people, and Haruka wasn't able to debut."

I slowly breathed out. "So, who has the shortest and longest training period in the current debut team?"

Hyewon thought as she took out supplies from her bag. "I'm not sure about longest at this point, but Rua has only been here for a year." She glanced at me. "That's how long it usually takes."

"My goal is to make it onto the debut team this year."

Hyewon bit her lip. "I know, I know. It's just that I can't imagine our team without someone right now. If someone comes in, someone has to leave."

"But the trainer said that nine is indefinite."

"It's pretty much definite."

"But-"

Hyewon looked at me sharply. "By just saying that, your basically kicking a member off the team. We're a team right now. Please stop trying to earn a spot on the debut team." She inspected me up and down. "Your skills are no where near the team anyways."

My ears turned bright red as I got angry. "Well, aren't we all here to debut? Just because your on the team doesn't mean you will get to debut." I picked up my bag and water bottle as I walked towards the door. "And when I earn my spot, I'll be making sure that I take your spot."

"Aiko-" Hyewon started before I slammed the door shut in her face. I heard the door opening behind me. "Aiko, that's not what I meant and you know it."

I turned around with my arms crossed. "Do I? Do I really, unnie, or are you just assuming?"

Hyewon sighed and held her head. "How old are you, five? Stop acting like a baby. Your getting annoyed over one little argument. As an idol, you have to learn to take criticism."

"Am I the immature one here, Hyewon unnie? Every trainee here is here to debut one way or the other. Your not the only one who is desperate. You-"

"Shut up!" Hyewon shouted. She realized that we were being too loud and pulled me back into the practice room. "Didn't Haruka tell you that there are problems at FirstStar? Well, these are the problems. Everyone wants to debut, and when the topic of debuting comes up, everyone plays dirty."

I stared at Hyewon. "I thought you were decent, but I guess not."

Hyewon scoffed. "I am decent, Aiko. You just pushed me too far. Debuting is a sensitive topic, Aiko. You have to get used to that." She shoved me out of the room again, but pulled me in close for a second. "And there's a lot of secrets that Haruka is holding from you too. Be careful who you trust."

And the door slammed shut.

"Wow..."

___

At the dorm, while seeing Haruka, I couldn't unsee what Hyewon had told me. "She was kicked out of the group and couldn't debut." For what reasons?

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Haruka lightly laughed as she chopped vegetables. "Is something wrong?"

I shook my head. "I was just thinking of something Hyewon unnie told me today."

Even though I wasn't staring in her direction, I could feel that Haruka flinched. She placed a bowl of veggies on the table and sat down.

"You shouldn't get to close to Hyewon. She's a bit..." Haruka bit her lip. "Interesting. She almost debuted two years ago. But she got into a fight with one of the members and refused to debut. She has a uncontainable temper. People think she has anger management-"

I pulled away. "Hey. You shouldn't talk about her like that. Besides, your friends with her."

Haruka looked surprised, and then swept her hair back. "We're friends. But that doesn't mean that I have to like every trait about her."

I leaned back, taking in her words. "Your not complaining about her. Your accusing her of having issues."

Haruka let out a breathe. "Aiko, I'm not accusing anyone. The entertainment told us to be careful of her. They ran a test." She folded her hands on the desk. "Like you saw on the first day, I'm close with her and all the members on the team. It's just that...sometimes she can be a bit difficult." She got up, nearing the pot to stop the water from boiling. "She's a great friend, I'll say that. But debuting has always been her dream, so she's really competitive and will cheat if she has to."

Friendships...even in idol lives...they're so hard to be squashed in the middle of.