The Second Chance of A Suicidal Idol

New Begininngs (3)

Joon-woo lied on the stiff mattress, hair wet and phone over head. Reggie wasn't replying. Joon-woo had messaged him just twice, scared to triple text Reggie as if it would drive him away, but truthfully, he was concerned.

Producer Kang-soo stared down at Reggie with a frown, Reggie who needed Joon-woo to repeat what was said, as he had spoken too fast for Reggie to understand. Reggie who seemed to struggle with honorifics and was ridden with a fear of judgment.

Joon-woo suspected the reason with a frown, would they scold him for having imperfect Korean? He had seen cases like that as Ha-rin frequently. The headlines were biased towards the idols who spoke and understood perfect Korean, they were praised and less likely to be picked apart. But the foreign idols, Ha-rin never wanted to be. Even when word got out that she was 'selling herself' and the tabloids set her name alight, she didn't want to be a foreign idol.

Foreign idols got bashed for everything they couldn't control, especially if they were people of color. Their 'exotic' features and too-fair or not skin, the way they had accents different from the Korean and American that was plastered all over the televisions. Ha-rin always felt lucky in that sense, as she imagined if she were in the same shoes, her career would've never taken off the same.

But Reggie wasn't mixed or any other race. Reggie was Korean with a Korean-American dad. Reggie was Korean with a full Korean mother and it was just his speaking that was flawed. Joon-woo ran his fingers through his hair anxiously, would Reggie be okay?

"Worrying won't get you anywhere..." Kite said, looking down at Joon-woo with a stern tone.

"Well I don't know what else to do, it's not like he's replying." Joon-woo replied.

Kite shrugged, "Then call him if you're so worried."

Joon-woo quickly shook his head, "I can't, Kite. I already double-texted him, it's extra to text him again, let alone call him." He reasoned, shrinking into himself.

Kite stared Joon-woo down with a raised brow, "Okay Joon-woo." It replied sarcastically, "Humans weird me out... I'm gonna sleep." It finished, perching upon the dresser and placing it's head into itself.

Joon-woo scoffed, "I think sleeping through the night is a pretty human thing..." He said, watching his phone screen sputter off. He frowned at the sight, this phone really really sucked.

–+–

The next time after practice ended, Ha-rin tried ato hide. She snuck out first, bandmates eyeing her suspiciously as she shoved passed them through the door with soft "sorrys"'s.

"Ha-rin~" Her teacher playfully cooed, catching her trying to slip out of the room.

Her bandmates sent her confused glances as she tried to hide between them, pushing to the front of the group with a nervous smile.  "Hi Teacher..." Ha-rin replied, looking at the ground anxiously.

Her bandmates began to speed ahead of her, casting jealous glances her way. Ha-rin shrunk under the stares.

During that day's practice, her Teacher had been extra harsh on Ha-rin. Even though Ha-rin, as a trainee, was always at the top of monthly evaluations and was the trainee, many people were looking forward to her debut. He had given her pointers on where to thrust her hips harder, when her bandmates were the ones straggling behind. Ha-rin couldn't help but feel ostracized.

"Why're you trying to run away, Ha-rin-ssi?" He asked, eyeing her with sad eyes.

Ha-rin gulped, "I–I wasn't, Teacher." She insisted.