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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The red flashing light of the camera was always on us, ready to capture every criticism and resulting emotion from us. A matter that only added to the pressure and nervousness of each of the trainees.
There was silence in the room as we stood in a line in front of Yang Hyun-suk and the other producers after our collective performance. My heart was beating wildly in my chest, while at the same time I was trying to get my breathing back under control. My members next to me were no different. They too were trying to hide their exhaustion behind a mask.
"All right..." I heard Yang Hyun-suk murmur, raising his head.
"The song you have chosen as a dance performance is inspired by a strong hip-hop concept with powerful choreography. A concept that its writers reflected and clarified all too clearly in their music video...you on the other hand..." he began and I stretched my back as his dark eyes swept over us.
"Your choreography was too weak, too hesitant. Your restlessness and excitement at the beginning made you look tense and stiff instead of confident and tough," he said. His head tilted in my direction and I held my breath.
"Josie...your mistakes at the beginning threw you off your game and made you fall behind the rest of your members! Fortunately for you...you were able to calm down quickly and thus focus on what was important. Nevertheless, this mistake should not happen to you again in the future!" he said and I nodded silently. His head slid further.
"Hannah...I have already indicated to you several times that your facial expressions are visible...especially during the dance and group performances. You can see the effort on your face...even more than the others. I would have thought after two years of intense training, you'd be aware of that!" he said and Hannah bowed her head slightly as Yang Hyun-suk glanced at his notes.
"Su-a...Jinny...in your case, I felt you were not listening to the music enough. You were simply concentrating on your choreography, but not on the rhythm you were supposed to be dancing to. You just showed us the steps, nothing more!" the CEO explained, receiving clear nods from around him.
Yang Hyun-suk's dark eyes swept over our small group.
"We are well aware of your newest member and the accompanying nervousness and excitement for this day, but it is not the reason for my disappointment today regarding your dance performance. You have to adapt to the circumstances. Every trainee has to be able to do that! Three of you have been training under our entertainment for several months and yet you are making mistakes that should have been realised long ago!" he said clearly and I could feel the mood in the room dropping more and more.
In our case, it now resembled a tundra in which not even mosses, grasses and herbs had the chance to flourish.
"Your group performance, on the other hand, was...sufficient. I liked it better than your dance at the beginning. No member stood out more or was the centre of attention for too long during the performance," he continued, tapping his pencil back and forth on his paper.
"You worked better together, listened to each other more and didn't let yourselves get out of sync."
I relaxed a little under his criticism and our wrinkles gradually began to smooth out, although his previous words about our dance were still clearly present in our memories.
"I was concerned at the beginning of your performance that you had not divided the lyrics carefully enough...however, I was pleasantly surprised at the result. It is not easy to perform a song that is originally performed by seven members instead of four. It can quickly seem cluttered and chaotic if the members switch among themselves too quickly."
"For now...well done," he said and we nodded our appreciation.
"Let's move on to your solo songs." Yang Hyun-suk continued and I bit my lip as my hands clenched into fists behind my back.
"First the rappers of the group...Jinny...Su-a...".
"You both chose songs by American rappers and performed them well in my opinion, however, you got faster and faster towards the end and were thus out of sync with your original rhythm. Nevertheless, a satisfactory performance.".
Jinny and Su-a both nodded and I could see the tension falling from their shoulders.
"Hannah...your performance on the other hand was just average, almost monotonous. You chose a decent song, but it seemed like your concentration was slipping more and more during your performance. I want to see more passion!" he replied and Hannah nodded.
I gulped as more than Yang Hyun-suk's eyes turned to me.
"As for you...Josie...it was clear from your voice that you were restless and nervous at the beginning. It was consuming." he said.
"However...it got better afterwards, even better than I expected. Similar to your dance performance, try to control your excitement more in your solo performance. "He added and a hint of a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, which disappeared again the next moment.
The tension in my shoulders eased and I almost collapsed on the spot with relief, though I remained stiff as a board next to my other members.
Yang Hyun-suk's dark eyes slid over each of us.
"I expect a better and stronger performance...next month!" he finally said.
"You may sit down!" he dismissed us and his eyes lowered to his notes again. With a deep bow, we quickly removed ourselves from the spotlight and took our seats while the next group was called. The bench shook as the girls around me took out their drinks and towels. My back, on the other hand, fell against the wall behind me and I closed my eyes in relaxation. Su-a joined me a little later, leaning her exhausted body against mine as she kept drinking water from her bottle. My head leaned against hers and I felt the occasional wet strands of her hair against my skin.
"We made it through." I heard her say softly and opened my eyes.
"For now," I replied just as quietly and watched as the next group began to line up in front of the CEO and producers.
