On my way to stardom

3. Leaving home

I called Mr Bang the next morning and he agreed to meet me at a Starbucks near my workplace.

Before our meeting, I went to a public library to research the Kpop industry on a computer. From what I saw, the most successful/famous idols all belong to groups, so I guess I'll be having teammates. Hopefully they're not bitches.

Oh my gosh, I can't help but notice how skinny these girls are. All of them have thigh gaps and some even have abs. They all wear cropped tops and shorts, some even have to dance with heels on! How do they manage to remember the lyrics while dancing to such difficult choreography?

I arrive at the Starbucks ten minutes before our meeting, and Mr Bang is right on time.

'Hello, Mr Bang,' I greet him and shake his hand.

'Hello, Shannon, so you've made your decision?' He asks, with a gentle smile on his face.

'Yes, I've decided to take up your offer,' I say firmly, trying my best not to think about yesterday or else I will start crying again.

'Good. May I ask what made you make this decision?' He says.

'It's...um... some family issues,' I say.

'Huh?'

'I need money for my family,' I say.

His smile fades immediately, 'Shannon, I've explained to you before, there's no guarantee that you're gonna be as famous as BTS or any other groups.'

'Yes, but this is my last shot at saving my mum!' I'm already trying not to shout but the whole shop still turns to me for a brief second.

'I'm sorry, Mr Bang, a lot has happened in the past 24 hours,' I say.

'It's alright, is there anything I can help?' He asks.

As thankful as I am to this man, I don't want anybody to be involved with my own business. I can take care of this alone.

'It's alright, thank you very much,' I say. 'When do I...uh...'

He finishes my sentence for me, 'I was hoping that you can fly to Seoul on the same day I fly back, so Friday.'

'In two days?' I ask.

'Yes, I've actually been looking for suitable candidates for my company's latest debut for a long time already, so as soon as I found somebody, who is you in this case, I would like to kick start the project as soon as possible,' he says.

'That's fair enough,' I mumble, thinking about how I'm gonna explain to Sav and how to protect her from dad.

Mr Bang passes me an iPad, which shows a pdf document. 'That's the contract, you can have a look right now.'

I scroll through the contract, and there are just different rules that I've expected already like, don't take pictures with fans on the street, I can't have my own social media accounts, and I have to follow specific diets strictly.

'The contract is for seven years?!' I point out.

'Yes, just like every typical contract in the industry,' he says, his smile returning again.

'Oh...that's a bit...'

'Long? When you're actually working, seven years will fly by!' He says with so much passion, I guess he really likes his job.

'Ok,' I take a deep breath. Do not back out, Shannon.

'When will I officially debut?' I ask.

'The faster you get ready, the earlier. I've already written a bunch of songs for you, all you have to do is to follow our instructions,' he explains.