When She Became A Pledis Trainee

CHAPTER 11: THE SECOND STAGE

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This is a work of Fiction. Names, characters, places and incidences are either products of the author's imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.

Please refrain from reproduction, transmission, or storing in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the author. Thank you, and enjoy!!

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I was clutching the small blue roll of letter in my hands. The height of the rolled paper is the same as a few millimeters longer than the width of my thumb print. It's that small, and weighs insignificant in my hand. I've heard that a lot of fans give expensive gifts to their idol, but I can't give them any expensive thing at all. I replaced the rubber band with a pink twine long ago. I put the letter back into the tiny perfume bottle in which I kept it, to protect the paper from water. The end of the twine remains tucked between the lid so that the letter can be easily retrieved out of the really small bottle. I sighed and looked out the window. The bus is hurrying along the highway. I watched as the wide green grasslands gave birth to buildings which grew taller and taller as the minutes pass, almost scratching the blue of the sky but never really reaching it.

'Habit' was on loop all this time. It helped me get rid of the nervousness and clammy hands. I didn't want to listen to the piece I practiced because I might black out later if I did. I decided to take Hoshi's advice on Seventeen Project about not practicing the whole performance, intentionally, so that I could simply enjoy and not look too tensed.

It wasn't raining, but it is cold. Clouds cover the sky with only a few stray sunrays passing through. One youtube video kept playing over and over in my mind. This one guy gave tips on what to expect in face-to-face auditions. He said, one must dress really nicely but still comfortably, just like what the reply email had said. I did just that. I'm wearing black rubber shoes with white soles, black tights, a black pleated skirt which ends a few inches above my knee, a white shirt and my white jacket. I decided to pull my hair back in a ponytail so that it won't be much of a distraction. The guy in the video said that knowing a bit about Korean makeup will truly help, but I don't really know much about make up so I just applied some mild lip tint. (I'm really not into makeup. Someone cooped up in the laboratory can't really care much about their faces if it's hidden in surgical face mask all the time). He also advised arriving just on time, not too early and not too late. He said being early makes you easy to forget since there will be lots of other people after you, so unless you really stand out, you'll get forgotten. Being one of the last people will also be a disadvantage because the panel is already too tired to pay much attention and would want to just end the day.

My thoughts were ended by recognizing the street the bus is currently on. The building is just a few walking distance away. I stood from my seat and got off the bus.

*

The lobby of the hotel was filled with young people. Yes, young people. It was the first thing I noticed and it really made me anxious. They look like they're in their teens, which are usually the age range entertainment agencies look for, so that they still have time to train before debuting at their twenties. I worried that I might really not make the cut because I'm already 21. I start getting nervous but I tried to comfort myself: 'You know, you're not going to make it anyway, but since you're here, just do it. And stop worrying, stop panicking. Panic is such a useless feeling; it will only make things worse. Just do it like it doesn't matter. Just enjoy it. Okay? Okay." A Filipino lady approached me, holding a clipboard and a number.

"Please write your name and contact details for the registration. Here's your number." She handed me the rectangle sticker paper with the number 47 on it. "Please attach it on your clothes on a visible area once you are summoned into the waiting room." I thank her and watch her move on to the guy beside me.