twice one-shots

to seoul

"we promise you that we'll love you forever."

at least, that's what my parents would always say to me. my name is chou tzuyu, and i haven't always lived the best life of a teenager. trust me. our house was never colorful and it always looked dreary. my mom works as a cook, and sometimes i would have to work alongside her as a waitress. meanwhile, my dad has been staying at home ever since he was laid off 7 years ago. me and my mom didn't earn much, so i almost never got the stuff i wanted. because of financial problems, i would always have to overhear arguments from my parents. it's been going on for a long time.

"you can't always support us with that stupid cooking job at hardy's".

"i'm doing the best i can! even our very own daughter has been contributing to our financial progress."

"well, it's not enough. we need to get out of this crap town soon."

"well, tzuyu and i were trying hard, yet you were here at home, probably doing nothing!"

"then try harder!"

in extremely severe cases, mom and dad condoned to violence. my dad would beat up my mom, with her doing the best she could to defend herself. unfortunately, it would often fail. since i was 8, i would always watch on the stairway, to a place where they wouldn't see me. by the time the arguments were over, i would race up crying in my bedroom. however, by the next morning, they were as fit as a fiddle. and the cycle repeats itself over and over again.

it was summer vacation, which meant more time with my family. unfortunately, it wasn't the best summer ever. less people have been eating at hardy's, which meant low salaries. because we were renting a home, there's a high chance that we would be kicked out by our landlord, and we would have to move. we live in a small town called orange, and it's near los angeles. hopefully, i'll be able to get a career as a dancer so that way i'll support my parents. but my life is extremely terrible right now.

time skip to august

it's now my second year in high school. since my goal was to be a dancer, i wanted to participate in the school's dance troupe. but due to my financial problems, i never got the chance to compete in competitions with the rest of the troupe. i always ended up staying in home, alone, without my friends. my parents never bothered to go up to my room and ask me how i was doing.

after a few minutes, i got back home from a restaurant. however, i came at the worst time. i overheard my parents making fun of me just like that.

"man, our daughter has been really crappy nowadays."

"wow. this is the first time i've ever agreed with you. she is a terrible person."

"like who does she think she is? the most popular person in the world? because she's clearly not."

"she's been working hard at hardy's for absolutely nothing."

"can she even take a hint? i wish she was never born!"

"true. we lost everything because of her!"

and just like that, i came back to my room to pack my things. i couldn't take it anymore. i heard that one of my cousins who also lives in orange was going to seoul to study abroad. so, i generated the best idea... going with her to south korea. i decided to pack my things and head for the airport. before that, i called the airline for a last minute confirmation. after that, i took a bus to lax to head to seoul.

at the airport

i had no problem being at the airport. since i was 15, i was probably old enough to fly on my own. however, i went with my cousin, crystal. she was the girl studying abroad, and when we were waiting for boarding to start, she was asking me why i decided to get away from home.

"why are you leaving california?"

"my parents were flat out making fun of me. i overheard them."

"oh. well, hopefully you'll sort things out with them once you get back."

"i'm not coming back for a long time. maybe, hopefully, i'll be able to save money working a part-time job to possibly participate in an audition to be a kpop idol."

"a kpop idol? that could be a dream come true and-"

suddenly, the intercom came on. "boarding will start now. families with children studying abroad may board the plane."

i didn't have a lot of stuff, but it was enough for me to survive life in south korea. eventually, we got through the entire process of settling in the plane, and we were off. goodbye, orange. i'll see you never. at least i'll be near taiwan, my birthplace.

16 hours later

it was nighttime in seoul, but the view was fascinating. i felt like it was super loud, even during night.

it was even more amazing than orange or southern california overall. within a few minutes, we got off a taxi and we went up to an apartment. it wasn't the most fanciest apartment around, but at least it was decent. me and crystal automatically went to sleep.

3 weeks later

my parents never realized that i disappeared out of nowhere. there's probably missing posters of me by now. but at this point, i didn't really care anymore. if they didn't like me, i didn't like them.

crystal and i were planning to head out and about around the city just because we wanted to. eventually, as soon as we got out of the apartment, i saw an audition poster. i decided to grab the opportunity. it was this weekend, so it was perfectly fine for my schedule.

the audition

it was a live audition. it actually went well. they were asking me some questions about my life. that was the time i spilled the truth to the judges.

"why did you decide to audition?"

"i ran away from my old home in america. my parents weren't exactly the best. they made fun of me. so, in order to escape the trauma, i decided to go with my cousin to south korea. hopefully, i get the chance to be a trainee so i could support them, even if they despised me."

2 weeks after the audition

i was up making breakfast with my phone on the table. suddenly, an email came in. i was hoping it was regarding my audition. so, i decided to run over to the table and open the email. and it said it. i got into the company. i couldn't be even more ecstatic! crystal's family heard me screaming, and they decided to take me to a celebratory outing. i have the chance to make it big in the kpop industry. and i owe it all to my parents. even though it was for a bad reason, they had me take a risk. thank you mom and dad, i owe you one.