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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"Is that right, Unnie?" Sun-Hi brought me out of my thoughts into reality and I looked up. Her dark brown eyes looked at me uncertainly as she held her notebook out to me. Su Bin, who was sitting opposite her at the other end of the table, looked up briefly before quickly turning back to her colouring book. With a small smile, I took the English booklet from her hand and my grey eyes darted over the words. Satisfied, I nodded and the girl let out a relieved sigh. She quickly put the notebook aside and took her colouring materials out of her bag.
Silently I watched the girls while at the same time I had to stifle a yawn. The events of the previous day were still present and kept sleep away, so my eyes slowly started to burn with tiredness after the exhausting school lessons. Unfortunately, the lessons only helped to a limited extent to temporarily detach my thoughts from Yang Hyun-suk's offer. It was still hanging over me like a big dark threatening cloud.
After a while, I looked over my shoulder at the girls.
"What are you painting, Sun-Hiya?" I asked in wonder. It was a plain white sheet of paper, with ten figures. They seemed to be male, with different sizes, isolated ones had different hair colours. Su Bin also looked up curiously from her princess picture and stretched her neck.
"This is EXO," muttered Sun-Hi to herself, painting a red jacket over one of the males' shirts.
"Do you like EXO?" I asked quietly, vaguely remembering the group. They had been formed by SM Entertainment and debuted in 2012 with twelve Korean-Chinese members. Sun-Hi looked up from her picture and looked at me.
"My big sister likes them a lot. EXO and BigBang," she replied and I tensed at the name of BigBang. Automatically, images of the screen test flashed through my mind, along with the faces of Ji-yong, Seungri and Yang Hyun-Suk. The dark cloud seemed to hover over me again and I forced my thoughts to turn to another topic.
"She got concert tickets from our mother. The concert is in a few weeks, just before they go on a world tour," said Sun-Hi and I nodded, lost in thought.
"Wouldn't that be exciting, Unnie? A world tour?" chipped in Su Bin and her eyes lit up with excitement. I smirked slightly. In the eyes of children or teenagers, these trips to other countries seemed like an adventure. Even for me, going to South Korea was an adventure in itself. Recent events only further supported this. It was up to me to decide if I should take this adventure. And at the moment, that's where the challenge lay.
However, world tours had more to do with work than enjoying seeing many of the other countries. Most artists left the same day of the concert to perform the next one in another country the next day. It was hard work through and through.
"If you were to be a K-pop idol...Unnie...where would you like to travel to?" asked Sun-Hi innocently, surprising me with the question. My hands began to tremble slightly as I inwardly tried to sort out my thoughts. Since last night, they had been making themselves up with various scenarios, but none of them included the possibility of making it as a K-pop idol. Rather, they already failed to make it into entertainment, simply because of where I came from and my family background. In my eyes, it never occurred to me to ask myself that question.
"Unnie...?" asked Sun-Hi and I looked up before sighing thoughtfully.
"If I had the opportunity...and the chance...probably anywhere. I'd want to see the whole world." I answered honestly. Su Bin grinned.
"Me too..." she said a moment later.
"If I were a K-pop idol...I would only do good. When people are sad...I can sing to them so they will be happy again. Like a real princess." said Sun-Hi, without looking up from her picture.
"If I were a K-pop idol...I would want to meet the many people who have come from all over the world. My sister said that sometimes there are hundreds of people at the concerts." said Su Bin as I could only look at her thoughtfully.
"That must be exciting...to be on stage and sing for all those people. My sister is looking forward to the concert. She's going together with her best friend. She says many of the songs are enjoyable and others make her think," Sun-Hi said, leaving me surprised again. She was smart for her young age to be able to remember such information. Even in her innocence and childhood, she produced things that surprised me anew every time.
"Are you happy when you sing too, Unnie?" asked Su Bin with wide eyes and I faltered. The recording studio appeared before my eyes with the microphone standing in front of me. I remembered the feeling of freedom that coursed through my body as I sang. How I tried to hit each note through my emotions alone and they came out of my mouth as if by themselves. My body moved to the beat of the music and enjoyed being mesmerised by the beautiful music and rhythm.
"Yes..." the words came out of my mouth quickly and unprepared and my eyes widened the moment the word left my lips. My cheeks turned red and I quickly turned my gaze to the white sheet of paper with the EXO members on it. My hand moved to my hot cheek and let it cool. From the videos on the internet, I could understand the thrill of performing in front of hundreds or thousands of people. To hear the excited screams of the crowds singing along to the songs or moving to the beat of the music. Seeing the joy in their eyes as they held big colourful signs in the air. Having competed in horse riding and gymnastics, I could only partially imagine the emotions running through the veins of the performers. A feeling of pride and joy, relief at having made it. The feeling that the joy and enthusiasm of the audience could fill you with new energy and inspire you to do something new.
