사랑시 (Twinkling Watermelon ff)

3. Viva Music Shop

Yeon Yi-joo

“Where are you going all dressed up, pretty one?”,

I bumped into Eunho Oppa as I walked out of my house.

“Ah, about that”, I was hesitating to tell him the truth.

I was going to MJ entertainments. I had contacted the scouting manager earlier today, and she asked me to come and audition as I was finally free from my old agency, I had emailed them stating' I will come and get my song back once I get enough money to pay the trainee's fees, until then, keep my song as a wager'.

That had to be the boldest decision of my life.

“I think I know. You are going on a d-”

“Not again, Oppa. I'm not going on any date. I'm single since birth”.

“Exactly! What are the boys doing? My pretty one is such a great catch”, He pointed out.

I laughed at his words.

I just love him.

“By the way, you saw Eungyeol? I didn't see him since this morning”.

“I don't know. He's acting weird”.

I didn't see him today at school. He neither picked my calls nor replied to my messages. I mentally made a note to call him, to check him out once I returned.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Welcome to MJ Entertainments, Yeon Yi-joo", President Oh Majoo smiled at me.

I was on cloud nine. I never thought that I would make it this easily. The scouting manager asked me to perform a song I'm most confident with and later asked me to play her my self written song. After waiting for an hour, the president himself came to meet me.

“Our company is planning to debut a soloist. And after listening to you perform, I knew it had to be you. What are your thoughts, Yi-joo?”

“I'll do my best”, I bowed down, wiping out the tears off my eyes.

I made it.

“Your first stage will be Yoon Dongjin's World tour alongside a new indie band, SPINE9. Scouting manager Lee will give you a form. Just fill it and get your parents' signature, and you'll be a part of our family”.

Signature?

Not again.

I gave so many auditions until now, I even passed many, but every time they asked me to get a consent form signed by my guardian, I gave up.

When I passed my audition in my last agency, they didn't ask me to do any such thing. That time I was more than happy just to get into the company, but later I realized that it was a dumb move.

And right now, the only thing I had in my mind was to debut. It was one signature away. I just had to persuade my mother and I'll debut.

But it was not that easy as it sounds.

“Do you have any problem?” President Oh questioned, noticing my silence.

I ended up telling him about my mother. It was the first time I ever told anyone except Eungyeol about it. I felt a weird feeling of safety in this agency.

After listening about my situation, he advised to bring mom to him, and he'll help me persuade her, but I had no plans to bring the situation that far.

If I told mother how serious and sincere I was towards music, she would definitely allow me.

That's what I thought.

I kept playing the president's words on repeat inside my mind, with a smile on my face as I got into the bus heading back to home.

Your first stage will be Yoon Dongjin's World tour alongside a new indie band, SPINE9.

SPINE9 seemed awfully familiar. I turned on my phone and searched online. A grasp left my mouth when I realized it was the same group Eungyeol got into.

I phoned him, excitedly. He was still not picking up. I ended up, giving up after calling him half a dozen times.

When I reached at the lobby of our apartments, I saw chungha aunt was walking back and forth, looking stressed.

I touched her shoulder to get her attention, “Everything alright, aunt?”

She explained how Eungyeol has been doing poor in his studies and acting weird. She told me that she confronted him today and since then, he has not returned home. She was worried about him.

But at this point I was also worried about him. He always picked up my calls no matter what.

Something was definitely wrong.

“Don't worry, aunt. I promise, I'll find him”, I assured her and ran towards his old neighborhood.

Viva music shop.

I remembered him telling about it being so meaningful to him. It was the very place where he learned playing guitar. Nobody, except me, knew that, and somehow I was sure he had to be near that shop.

As the cab made its way towards the area, I searched for the shop online. But there was no shop like that shown, confusing me. Maybe it was closed after that grandfather died.

I kept searching for Eungyeol throughout the neighborhood, but he was nowhere to be found. As time passed, I was getting anxious. Was he alright? Did something happen to hi-

I shook my head, trying not to think about bad things. He was alright. He had to be alright.

I blinked off my eyes to get a clear view of the surroundings, which I couldn't because of my tears.

Be alright, be alright, please be alright, Ha Eungyeol.

My phone started to ring.

It was Eunho oppa, video calling.

“You found him?"

“Not yet”

“Come back, pretty one. He's not a child”

“I'm not leaving until I find him, Oppa”

“Eomma also asked you to come back”

“I'll only come back when I find him”

I hung up the call.

Where the fuck are you, Ha Eungyeol?

My eyes fell on a park. It was the last location I had left to search. I walked inside the park and looked around. There was no one around. I paused when my eyes fell on a man's silhouette.

"Ha Eungyeol?” My voice cracked as I called him name out loud.

Found him.

“Yeon Yi-joo? What are you-”

I raced towards him, jumping onto him, hugging him tightly, “I thought something happened to you”

He let out a small laugh which made his body vibrate as he hugged me back, resting his chin over my head.

“Brave of you to think something will happen to me when Yi-joo is searching for me crying like a baby”