"Tell me," One of the judges squinted his eyes at Taeyong whose anxiety was rising. "Have you not read news and guidelines?"
"W-What?" Taeyong tried to be polite. The judge flicked his tongue in annoyance. There are still many people who will audition and they wasted five minutes looking for him who happened to be crazy panting when he got down, saying that he was from the rooftop.
"Punctuality is the first thing to consider when auditioning!" The judge yelled at him, slamming both of his fists against the table which startled the others. Taeyong bowed from his mistake. The judges exchanged glances and urged Taeyong to start. "Start now. Make sure that what you're going to present is worthwhile."
"You've only got one chance kid." The other female judge reminded him. "There are thousands as fit as you for the role." Then her eyes scanned his files. "You didn't even finish College. You passed a few compositions and I would like to say that they are pretty basic but they don't lack emotion. Show to us that your music is something ear catching."
"Y-Ye." Taeyong inhaled deeply. "My name is Lee Taeyong." Taeyong introduced himself, clutching his fingers together as a sign of uneasiness. His breathing was getting shallow because of his anxiety but sooner, he found strength in thinking about Jaehyun's words.
Make your dreams come true.
"As you can see, I've passed two songs which that are direct from—"
"Why would we consider you to pass? Why did you audition?"
Taeyong's throat run dry but that didn't stop him. "W-Well, maybe all of us have one thing in common, a dream. I couldn't coat that word with other flowery ones but I assure you that my perseverance and passion for this job is something you won't see from others."
"Arrogant ey?" The male judge gave him a mocking smile. The female judge brushed him off, "So why did you leave school? To pursue this dream perhaps?"
"N-No," Taeyong defended. Maybe this tough questions have light at the end. "My mom was murdered and my best friend and I had to support ourselves."
"You do know that in this industry, it doesn't matter if you are rich or poor." That got Taeyong's attention. "We won't pity you just because you cannot afford to eat. We want a potential, talent and passion. Prove it to us that you're not just a push over."
Taeyong blinked twice. He was lying to himself. Sure he wanted the job and to pass but he still couldn't deny that what he wanted was to still be an astronaut. He's really dreaming of something he can't attain so he'll just try and face the present rather than praying for a dream that can't be true.
Taeyong walked towards the piano. As he sat down, fingers on the keyboard, he closed his eyes for inspiration and to ease himself and started to play a piece that is pretty popular these days. The male judge asked him to stop, "You're a composer, a lyricist, a producer or what!? Show us your originality!"
Taeyong was frightened by his authority. He nervously stared at the keyboard and tried to find confidence.
Yong, how'd you remember all of the piano's sound? The strings?
He could hear Jaehyun talking to him. Just play.
He lets his thoughts collapse and his fingers started pressing onto different keys, melodious music was emitted by the piano. The judges tried to hide their emotions and tried to find what they're looking for. Taeyong played with his heart, remembering his past, friend, mother and crooked dreams and pouring everything into a single piano piece.
