One step at a time

Chapter Seven - Preparation

Chen left after he had introduced himself. I watched him walk into the Cinema building and wondered what he was going to watch. I hoped it wasn't our film, and then I realised what we were going to watch Love Life 2.0. I didn't particularly want to watch it myself, so why would he. Shortly after he left, So Hyun arrived. I was about to tell her about my meeting with Chen, however then I realised she didn't know about my previous meeting with Chanyeol, so it was probably best that I didn't tell her, otherwise I would have a lot to explain
"Hi So Hyun, so what did you think of the SM announcement?" I asked her as soon as she got within hearing distance. She led me over to a bench that had just become free.
"I don't really know how I feel about it, Hyo Rin seems like she really wants to do it, but she wants us to do it as well." She tells me.

I agree with her. I've never really been a confident person, so asking me to perform in front of the most well known talent agency in Korea was a big leap. We sat in silence for a few moments, while I contemplated how I was going to tell Hyo Rin I couldn't do it, when Chan Hee walked up to us.
"Guys, I'm so excited for this opportunity!" She half squealed at us. However, when she saw our faces she knew something was wrong. She sat down next to So Hyun, however our gloomy auras couldn't tone down her excited one. Finally Hyo Rin arrived.
"HEY GUYS! OMIGOSH ISN'T THIS AMAZING! I'M TRYING TO DECIDE WHICH SONG TO SING! IWASTHINKINGOFDOINGSOMETHINGBYEXOTOATTRACTTHEIRATTENTIONIFTHEY'RETHEREANDCANHEARME!" She screamed in front of us. Everyone who was waiting outside of the cinema was now looking at this crazy girl and her gloomy friends.
"Speak. Slower. Hyo. Rin" I said through gritted teeth. I didn't think I would be able to tell her that I didn't want to audition. It had always been her dream for us to be in an idol group together.

"Hyo Rin, the thing is..." I began however was cut off by Hyo Rin glancing through the window of the movie theatre.
"OMO is that Chen!?!" She screamed
"Hyo Rin I don't think that's the most appropriate question to ask, Seo Young has something important-- OMG IT IS" Chan Hee jumped up and stared through the window with her. So Hyun shook her head at me while I laughed at them. If only they knew what had happened moments before they arrived.
"Hyo Rin, Chan Hee, sit down. Is he really going to notice you if you act like that, I think he's more likely to walk to other way." So Hyun, the only responsible one here scolded them.
Both of them drooped their shoulders and put their bottom lips out and stared at us. "Aegyo does not work on us." I laughed.

The movie was due to start soon, so we decided to go inside. Chen had gone into the movie screens by the time we got in, and luckily we didn't know what the number was. So Hyun and Chan Hee bought our tickets while Hyo Rin and I bought food for everyone: two large popcorns and soft drinks for everyone. We couldn't carry it all at once so we stood by the counter until So Hyun and Chan Hee walked over to us and took two drinks each. We made our way over to the movie screens, had our ticket checked and we were in. Screen number 6.

The movie was what you would expect from cliché teenage romance movies, girl and boy meet at school; girl doesn't like boy at first; boy teases girl and they get closer; they fall in love. Except this was set in the future, and was about robots.

After the film finished, we made our way outside, relieved to see daylight again after nearly two hours being stuck in the dark. There was no sign of Chen, so he had probably already left. Now that we had more time on our hands, I decided to address the issue at hand: SM
"Hyo Rin, about the auditions, I don't think I will be able to do them." I tell her
"Of course you will silly, you're the most talented out of all of us." I find that extremely hard to believe. So Hyun is an amazing singer and she can actually dance, all I can do is sing and I can't even dance that well.
"Hyo Rin that's really not true, I can't even dance." I try to tell her.
She won't listen. "Kim Seo Young, you need to try for these auditions, you have an amazing talent, I don't want it wasted" she smiled sweetly at me, however the words gave off a different meaning.

I let out a groan, I was never going to win against her.

"I'll do it, if you all do it as well" I pointed at each of them.
Hyo Rin and Chan Hee squealed while So Hyun just shrugged. This idol dream of Hyo Rin was closer than we thought.

Hyo Rin immediately wanted to go and collect our audition forms. She ran all the way to the SM building, while Chan Hee, So Hyun and I took a leisurely walk. She had arrived five minutes before us, so she was already in the queue for the forms. The queue went down quite quickly, and in fifteen minutes we had our forms.
"What are you guys going to do?" I asked.
"Sing" So Hyun said.
"Dance and Sing" Chan Hee and Hyo Rin both responded.
"Woah you guys have a lot to do?" I was only planning on singing.
"Guys you have to dance as well if you want to be part of this idol group" Chan Hee told us. Dance. I hadn't thought about it before, however now it made sense.
"But I can't dance." I mumbled.
"You can, you're actually a really good dancer, and you used to take dance lessons remember?" Hyo Rin reminded me, not that I needed reminding, I had tried to forget those years of my life, however it proved unsuccessful as they kept resurfacing. The dancing world for a child is a tough and scary place, if you don't have it, you're out. I  quit when I was 14 because I was tired of always having to practice and not having any time to do what I wanted, as my mother also made me study in the remaining time I had.

The forms we had to fill in read :

Name:
Age:
Gender:
Area: Actor / Dancer / Singer / Songwriter / Composer
Auditions are to be held on the 9 th August. If auditioning for a singer for an idol group we will also need to see you dancing.

The form seemed simple enough. We filled it out and left the building. Today was the 25th July. We had exactly two weeks to prepare.