𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 | 𝐤𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐦𝐢𝐧✰

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

It started when I was sixteen. I was shopping in L.A with my mom and a business looking guy comes up to us. He handed my mom his business card, a JYP business card, and said he would like me to come out for an audition.

He said our flights and hotel would be taken care of by the company. And for me, well, I wanted anything but to go back home. I hated the place I lived. I hated the people there. I sadly didn't live in L.A. I was only on vacation there.

I lived in a small town about two and a half hours away, there, everyone knew everyone. Everyone talked about the same things, no one ever changed, no one ever wanted more. The kids there we're getting to the point where they were just unbearable.

They all have the same "In rich and I surf" attitude which really annoyed me for some reason. I wish people there had more... I don't know... flavor?

When we moved there from Clovis I was having a hard time adjusting. Ten years of my life I lived in Clovis and I loved every second of it. My family was there, my favorite cousin who is basically my platonic soulmate was there to. Why would I ever wanna leave?

The moment I got there, I promised myself that I was not getting stuck there. I was going to get out somehow and never come back. I dreamed of moving to a city.

I wanted to cut all ties from that place. And this opportunity was perfect. I've had a love of singing and dancing since I was a kid. My parents have tons of videos of me singing random songs I made up in the living room and putting on shows for our guests when they came over.

The problem is, I wasn't fully Asian. I had some Filipino in me because of my mom but she herself was only half. Im mostly hispanic.

However, it didn't hurt to try right? So a few days after my mom and I decided to contact the guy and he booked us flights. At first I couldn't believe it was real. I was going to audition to be a kpop trainee and I'm not even full Asian. So I didn't wanna get my hopes up. But deep down I had a lot riding on me making this audition.
I don't know how much longer I could've stayed in that town.

The audition went well. I sang "Best Thing I Never Had" by Beyoncé. In the first round and in the second I sang "Feel it Twice" by Camila Cabello.

I got good feedback from the company and JYP himself. Everything that happened after that is pretty foggy. It all went by so fast. JYP called my mom and I in for a meeting. He explained how I passed the audition and if I want to I will stay in Korea for awhile while I train and finish school.

They have housing for me and other trainees that I stay in for free. Obviously I wanted to do it. My moms only problem is that I would be far but she knew that it was probably best for me to do this. She knows I hated home and how depressed I was there. A few signed contracts later and my mom was on her way home back to California and I was looking for a day job in Korea.

I trained for a short amount of time. However I was a fast learner and became part of the top ten in my class. The last song I performed as a trainee was "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj. I was deemed an all rounder for my talent in all three aspects.

There was a lot of talk about when I was gonna debut. JYP had no works in for a new girl group at the moment but there was one project that people began to hear about around the company. A new boy group called "Stray Kids" only one member was established in the group. And it was Bang Chan, the leader.

Me and Chan were cool. However we didn't wanna get close because you never knew who could leave. That's just how it is being a trainee. Everything is up in the air.

During dance practice I was pulled aside by JYP and he asked me to perform "Bang Bang" with two other girls. It was so random but I didn't refuse. I went to the singing room and divided parts with them. I got Nicki's rap and quite a bit of ari's lines including her high note.

I didn't pick them but the other girls didn't want them so I took what was left. We rehearsed it a few times and got some movements down so we weren't just standing there. And we performed it in front of the whole studio.

After the performance I was told that I stood out. He said I belonged in a group like blackpink and JYP's girl groups didn't fit me.

That's when Chan stepped in. He said he wants me on his team. He wanted me to be the only female member of Stray Kids. At first JYP was opposed to the idea. But then he realized it could be a good business move. We would definitely get a lot of attention for it. And I fit in well with the other members.

Stray Kids was supposed to make its reality show debut in a few weeks so I only had that much time to get to know the songs and choreography. I got it pretty quick and the team became like family. We all got really close they treated me like a sister and I treated them like brothers. It was nice because we were all truly friends.

We debuted after the reality show. I began to loose touch with my family while I was a trainee but now that I made it I have no time. I felt bad at first but my parents understand.

Stray Kids has released a total of twelve albums/EP's so far and our next one is a mini album titled "ODDINARY" that is coming out in a few weeks. We took off after debut and me being a girl definitely brought a lot of attention to us. But that's not the only thing. The music that 3RACHA puts out is amazing and STAYs have been so supportive of us.

We live five and four now, one house is 3RACHA+Hyunjin and the other is Minho, Seungmin, Felix, me, and Jeongin. You would think living with them would be a hassle but it's actually just fun. I'm honestly really lucky considering I got to debut with them.

JYP knew me being a girl and not being fully Asian would be a big problem with people on the internet, thankfully I looked Filipino enough to run with that.

Since that day I was Alyssa Jeon. The first and only Filipino female member of Stray Kids.