Heartstrings || Joshua Hong

Chapter 16

Rina POV 

Last night had felt like an absolute dream...

Except I knew that it wasn't because I woke up with an itchy throat and cough the next morning. I had no regrets though. 

I switched on my phone, blushing at the text that greeted me. 

From: my gentleman ♡

Good morning bb <3 
Hope u slept well !

Hehe mornin' Josh~ 
I did, hbu?

Of coursee bc u appeared in my dream 😍 

Aww but cringe 🤮😂

Haha true ok i'll stop 
Are u free today?
I'll be performing at LA Korean Festival tonight! You should come :)

Ahh at jangteo?  
I'd love to but I think I caught a cold :(( 

WHAT?!
Omg nooo i'm so sorry T_T was it from last night??
Do u need me to come over rn?

Nono it's totally fine, it's not ur fault lol
And I don't wanna get u sick before u perform
Good luck tonighttt, you're gonna be amazing
We have all summer to see each other too :)

That's true...
Aww thanks but I feel bad though
Ok then...feel better :( 
Love you <3

Love you toooo
And have fun for me ^^

Sighing, I turned off my phone and decided to get some rest. Little did I know that that was the last time I would hear from Joshua for who knew how long. 

--

Joshua POV 

As much as I hated leaving Rina on her own, I knew I couldn't miss my performance tonight. 

When I arrived, the grounds of the festival were already completely packed. Food vendors, exhibition booths, and merchants selling goods lined the busy streets. Live traditional and modern Korean performances had already begun. People from all over LA and SoCal swarmed the area to celebrate their love for Korean culture. 

After a few rounds of KBBQ, kimbap, and patbingsoo with some friends from church, I decided to split to go set up for my performance. On stage, I quickly introduced myself and began to sing. My voice came out clear and strong, but all I could think about was Rina who couldn't be there. The audience cheered loudly for me after I was done and I quickly bowed, eager to get off stage so I could call and check up on her. 

"Excuse me," a middle-aged man said, stopping me in my tracks when I had left the stage area. I looked up in confusion since I didn't recognize him from anywhere. 

"Um, may I help you?", I asked, about to tell him that he had probably gotten the wrong person. 

"Yes, hello, I'm Mr. Park from Pledis Entertainment," he introduced himself, handing me a business card. "We're always looking for new talent and I was really amazed by your performance just now. We would love to have you audition for us as a vocalist. Do you speak Korean, by any chance?"

"Ah, yes I do. I'm Korean-American", I replied in Korean. My mind still hadn't caught up to what was going on. 

"Great! Just send a short clip of you introducing yourself and singing to the address on the card and we will be in contact with you shortly," Mr. Park explained. 

"Oh...okay, I can do that."

"Ah, one more thing. You must not tell anyone about this besides your family, alright? This conversation has to be as confidential as possible." 

"I see, alright, that'll be no problem. Kamsahamnida, Mr. Park!" I bowed respectfully. We parted ways soon after. My initial confusion was suddenly replaced by sheer excitement at this new, sudden opportunity. I couldn't wait to tell-

Oh. That's right.

My heart broke as I remembered the last words Mr. Park had said. 

Rina...I'm so sorry. 

-- 

A/N Really short chapter but I wanted to update bc it's about to get interesting :) 

Did any of you see this coming lol 

Also yeah, I based Joshua's whole scouting scene on this interview (timestamp 2:38-4:31)