Royal Idol

2007/1

- January 3, 2007 -

//

The opening doors caught the attention of all the trainee girls. A twelve-year-old girl entered through the doors.

Most of them didn't like her.

Her exceptional appearance, which screamed that she was European: light brown hair, big brown eyes, and an accent that could be heard immediately as she started speaking.

Most likely deep down inside, they envied her.

They envied that she was one of the few to receive support from the company's CEO, even though she was always the last one. They didn't want her to debut. Everyone thought that she didn't have the right to debut, because they thought that they worked harder than her, and besides, she was not from Korea.

The girl timidly entered the room.

The room wasn't one of the best, but it didn't stand out from the others either. A table with a computer, a CD player, a few benches with trainee items and a couple of windows. Two huge mirrors and worn-out floors which testified to how many people danced in this room, sweating for their dream of becoming an idol. What seemed such a simple and innocent dream, shattered many people's lives.

The girl was one of those people.

The first time she saw H.O.T's performance of the song "Candy" on her TV screen, she knew she wanted to be like them. She wanted her parents to see her through the TV screen, for them to be proud of her. She wanted fans who loved and supported her. For such simple reasons, the girl begged her father to let her participate in the auditions when they both flew to Seoul, Korea, to visit their grandparents.

The girl's parents were no longer the ones who lived a prosperous life. A family of six lived in a two-room apartment in Cremona, one of the cities in Italy. A small kitchen, one bathroom, a living room, two bedrooms.

After experiencing bankruptcy due to the company failure that her father worked at, they had to move to apartments twice as small. The family had to tighten their belts to survive the whole month on the mother's salary. She worked at a local fashion company. She wasn't famous. And although her father used to work for a large Italian company, he is now just sitting at home, taking care of the kids and looking for work. At least, he is trying. Probably.

"Good evening" the girl greeted timidly and bowed to the choreographer, standing near the CD player.

The man didn't show the girl any extra attention, but he knew she was talented. However, the young trainee was tragic in choreography. She found it difficult to remember all the steps and sequences, but despite this, she had an indescribably perfect sense of rhythm and an incredibly good charisma, for her age. She was only twelve, but her body moved flawlessly to any song she heard.

The girl slowly approached an empty chair next to the corner. She carefully took off her backpack and placed it on the ground, leaning it against the wall. She unwrapped a huge scarf from around her neck, which was given to her by her only and best friend, Lee Chaerin. Taking off her hat, her hair started to spread in all directions, electrified. The twelve-year-old unbuttoned her white jacket and folded it up to take up as little space as possible on the bench.

Other trainees had often complained that she was taking up too much space.

Sitting down, she unbuttoned her purple backpack, which the girl had used for all four trainee years. There were only two things inside the backpack. A water bottle and sneakers, which she always put on before entering the dance hall. Taking the shoelace, she slowly untied her cream-coloured winter shoes with fur.