by YR Choi
“Don’t you worry about that,” said Hyerim Onnie. “This is on me; you can pay me back when you’re famous by coming to visit my store. Then everyone will know that the kpop mega star, Krystal Kim, shops at my store!”
“That’s so kind onnie, but there’s no way I can...”
“Rebecca has told me a lot about you, Krystal, and how good a friend you’ve been to her; this is my treat and my pleasure - don’t worry about it! Now it’s time for make up 101,” said Hyerim onnie, grabbing Krystal by the hand.
“I don’t know what to say, onnie - thank you so much!” said Krystal.
And with that, Hyerim onnie went through her make-up kit, showing Krystal how to apply foundation, eye-liner, eye-shadow and lipstick. Once the tutorial was finished, she took the girls out for some spicy dak-kalbi, bought Krystal her own set of cosmetics and put them in a taxi home.
“Your onnie is amazing,” said Krystal.
“Yeah, she’s the best - an absolute sweetheart,” said Rebecca.
“I can’t thank you both enough for today; I’m just so grateful.” said Krystal, leaning her head on Rebecca’s shoulder as she welled up with tears.
“Don’t be silly you doughnut!” said Rebecca. “What are friends for? Now, you just concentrate on your interview on Thursday.”
4
The meeting
Krystal wasn’t used to wearing heels and so took special care as she walked out of exit 3 of Gangnam station. The night sky was lit up by neon lights advertising a variety of businesses – karaoke rooms, pharmacies, motels and saunas. The lights were really quite beautiful Krystal thought to herself, even if some of the things that happened in the establishments were less so.
Keen to check her make-up, Krystal navigated her way through a crowd of drunk businessmen and darted into the bathroom of a nearby Starbucks. Applying the make-up tips Hyerim onnie had given her, she now felt and looked predatory. She tilted her head up to examine her U-shape jaw and started to consider what she’d do if Manager Oh offered her a contract.
Could she have all that surgery? Manager Oh was responsible for a host of successful groups and Krystal was fairly sure she’d be successful if she signed with him; it was a real dilemma. There’s only one way to find out she said to herself as she splashed some cold water on her face and made her way out of the bathroom.
Krystal arrived at Club H to find big groups of noisy clubbers congregated outside. She suddenly felt very young. She’d only been to a club once before and that was with friends and then there was safety in numbers. She took a deep breath and made her way over to the entrance of the club where a bouncer stopped her and asked for her ID.
“I don’t have anything on me I’m afraid but I’m here to see Manager Oh, perhaps he’s said something to you?” said Krystal, trying to stay calm.
“You must be Krystal? Manager Oh told us to expect you. Please go in, he’s in the VIP room at the back,” said the bouncer.
Krystal let out a sigh of relief – that could’ve been embarrassing, she thought. She walked into the club and went down a long set of stairs into a glassed reception area which looked out over a packed dance floor. The bass from the music shook the floor and Krystal was reminded of how careful she’d have to be, walking in her new heels.
Following some rather muffled directions from a lady at the cloak room, Krystal made her way through a rat’s maze of corridors until she reached the Bear’s room, room 44. She performed two sharp knocks before a giant of a man opened the door.
“Yes?” he said.
“Hi, I’m here to see Manager Oh,” said Krystal.
“Come in,” he said, slowly opening the door.
Manager Oh saw Krystal immediately.
“Krystal! Welcome! Come right in, we’re just about to do some shots. These are some of my colleagues,” said Manager Oh, pointing to three eagle-eyed men, all in their early 40s.
“Someone, give Krystal a glass,” said Manager Oh.
The giant passed Krystal a shot glass and Manager Oh picked up a half empty bottle of soju.
“Aren’t you going to hold your glass properly? You know you should always hold your glass with two hands when an elder is pouring you a drink.”
“Oh sorry, I didn’t know,” said Krystal, cupping the shot glass in her small hands.
A ghoulish smile shot across Manager Oh’s face as he poured the soju into her glass.
“We’re very happy tonight, Krystal; me, Mr Kim, Mr Kim 2 and Mr Kim 3 are celebrating the fact that our latest boy band, P Purple, recently won the Knet Gold Disc Award for record sales. Everyone – to P Purple!” yelled Manager Oh.
“One shot!” yelled the men before downing their drinks.
Krystal had only sipped soju once in the past as an experiment with her friends; this was an awful amount for her to be drinking. It wasn’t a pleasant experience in any way; the soju tasted like paint stripper and she couldn’t understand why anyone would voluntarily drink the stuff.
The other men broke into raucous conversation as they poured each other some more soju. Manager Oh turned to Krystal, put his arm around her and leaned in.
“Did you find the club okay?” he said, as the stench of alcohol and garlic invaded her personal space.
“Yes, thank you,” squeaked Krystal.
“Excellent. Before you tell me what you’ve been thinking, I want to give you my sales pitch.” Manager Oh cleared his throat. “I know you’re very young but you’ve probably heard that I used to be part of a very successful pop group in the 80s and 90s, Bear & the Band.”
Krystal nodded and forced another smile; she was getting pretty good at forcing smiles.
“Well, no one ever gave me a guide to being successful in this industry; I learnt everything I know from first-hand experience - choreography, styling, vocals, studio work, promotion, you name it. I know how to make money,” said Manager Oh, boastfully.
“That’s very impressive,” said Krystal.
“This is an extremely competitive industry, Krystal, and I’m always looking for ways to stay one step ahead. I have a vision of a band that will help me to do this - I want to break with the traditional formula I told you about the other day and make a band that has four amazingly talented and extremely attractive vocalists. The band will make kpop history – I’m confident of that.”
Krystal nodded and smiled as if she thought it was a great idea.
“I’m offering you a slice of history, Krystal. As I said the other day, your voice should be fine. It’ll need testing in the studio but I’d put my mortgage, if I hadn’t paid it off already, on it sounding just great. Looks-wise, and may I say, you do look very nice tonight, you’ll need to make the adjustments I suggested in order to fit in with the rest of the group. All the group members need to look like cover models.”
Krystal broke her fake smile.
“If you were to follow my plan, I could make you a very famous girl - before you tell me what you think let’s have another drink.” said Manger Oh, picking up an unopened bottle of soju and unscrewing the cap.
Krystal was starting to feel very tipsy.
“I don’t think I can have any more,” she said.
“Come on Krystal, one more; you’ll have to get used to drinking if you’re going to get anywhere in this industry. Now - hold your glass with two hands.”
Krystal reluctantly cupped her glass and Manager Oh poured her a full glass of paint stripper.
“Now, pour me one,” he said, holding out his glass.
Krystal’s hands shook as she poured his drink.
“Kombae!” shouted Manager Oh, downing his shot.
Krystal followed suit, wincing as she swallowed.
“So - what do you think of my proposition?” said Manager Oh, with a possessed look in his eyes.
Krystal stared down at her dress and took a deep breath before plucking up the courage to speak.
“I would love to work with you, sir; you’re an industry legend and I know you have gr
eat connections. I… I… don’t mind losing a bit of weight and wearing contacts but I don’t like the idea of having surgery - is that really necessary?”
Manager Oh leaned in closer; so close that Krystal could feel his breath on her cheeks.
“Let me tell you something; one of the most important lessons I can teach you is that if you want to get anywhere in this industry, you have to be prepared to do things you don’t necessarily want to do,” he said, gliding his hand onto Krystal’s thigh and giving it a sharp squeeze.
Krystal froze – what on earth was happening? She struggled to get his hand off her thigh for a couple of seconds before screaming.
“Get off me!”
Mr Kim, Mr Kim 2 and Mr Kim 3 all turned to look at them.
“You stupid girl - do you know what you’ve just done?” yelled Manager Oh, fuming with rage. “You’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life. I’ll see to it that you never, ever, get a contract with anyone in Korea. Mark my words, you’re now blacklisted! Get the hell out of here!”
Before Manager Oh could say anymore, Krystal leapt up, ran through the rat’s maze and out into the open. She kicked off her heels and bolted down the street, leaving a trail of bystanders looking at her is if she was a mad woman.
After about two minutes of sprinting, Krystal ran out of breath and sat down on some steps outside the entrance to a bank. Her head was spinning; all she wanted to do was lie down but she knew she had to get to a bed. She couldn’t go home as she’d told her dad that she was staying at Rebecca’s house. It suddenly dawned on her; she’d have to call Rebecca.
Krystal fished about in her bag and eventually managed to make the call.
“Hello? Becs? I really need your help – I think I’m drunk.”
“What? What’s going on Krystal?” said Rebecca, anxiously.
“The meeting went horribly, I’ll explain later but you have to come and find me now,” said Krystal, slurring as she spoke.
“Where are you, darling?” said Rebecca.
“I don’t know; I can’t be too far from the club. Can I meet you back at the station? Exit 12?”
“Of course, I’ll come as soon as possible. There’s a Buy the Way at exit 12; go in there and get yourself something to eat and drink. Stay there and I’ll come and get you as soon as I can. Okay?”
“Yes, thank you.”
And with that Krystal forced herself up off the step and stumbled all the way back to the subway station. She went straight into Buy the Way, bought herself a bottle of water and sat at the bar in the front window of the store. She took one sip of her water, rested her head on her arms and fell asleep.
When Krystal next woke up she found herself lying next to Rebecca in Rebecca’s bedroom. Krystal laid still, trying to remember what had happened. She had a stinking headache and was still wearing her black dress. She looked at her phone; it was 3:10 am. After about 5 minutes, curiosity got the better of her and she poked Rebecca until she woke up.
“Oh, you’re awake are you? How are you feeling darling?” said Rebecca, her voice a little hoarse.
“I feel horrible but thank you so much for bringing me home. How did you get me here?”
“That’s alright,” said Rebecca, with a warm smile. “I managed to sneak you in when my parents went to bed. One issue – they think I’m staying at yours! We’re going to have to tell them we both came back here in the end as I forgot something - or something like that. You’re also going to have to borrow some of my clothes to go into school tomorrow. Anyways what happened? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I am now thank you. Look, I feel awful I’ve dragged you into all this. I’m perfectly fine. Let’s go to sleep now and I’ll tell you what happened tomorrow.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” said Rebecca, sitting up to look at Krystal.
“Yes, yes, thank you. Lie back down again, let’s go to sleep.”
“Okay, well wake me up if you want to talk about anything. I’m really sorry tonight didn’t go so well - don’t fret though, tomorrow’s another day.”
“Thank you, Becs.” said Krystal, with tears in her eyes. Good night.”
“Night, darling.”
5
The aftermath
The following day was extremely exhausting and Krystal rushed home the moment the school bell rang. It was a particularly humid day and the trek up the mountain left her boiling hot and sticky with sweat. In an effort to cool down, she lay on the living room floor and positioned an electric fan so that it blew directly on her.
Krystal lay staring at the ceiling for 5 minutes before eventually fixing her gaze on a picture of her mum. The picture was taken outside of Seoul Opera House in around 1995 and originally showed a number of other people, but Krystal had cropped and enlarged it so that it only showed her lovely mum, smiling and holding a bouquet of pink orchids.
Her mum was a minor celebrity at the time and was touted as one of the most promising young opera singers Korea had ever produced. Her dad joked that Krystal only inherited two things from him; his brown eyes and a love of caffeine. Everything else, including her good looks and great voice, came from her mum.
She started thinking about how her mum used to sing in the kitchen when she was cooking; this made the empty apartment seem deafeningly quiet. How she wished she could walk into the kitchen and find her mum preparing dinner.
Krystal had flashbacks to the night her mum died; this saddened her but also filled her with rage. It just seemed like such a waste. Her mum was the nicest person ever; some idiot drunk driver had taken her away and left a massive hole in her and her dad’s life.
Her pain was twofold; she lived without a mother but she also saw her dad without the love of his life. Krystal knew he was still struggling to get over what had happened, even though it was now almost 10 years since that horrible night. She would occasionally catch him in the early hours of the morning sat in the study with a bottle of whiskey, listening to the Beatles and other music that reminded him of his wife. It broke her heart but she was powerless to help.
Knowing all of this made Krystal even more grateful for that the fact that her dad made such a big effort to be positive. He worked hard, cooked for her, cleaned for her and generally did everything in his power to give her all the opportunities he could.
To Krystal, becoming a singer would give her so many of the things she wanted in life; it was a job she would love, it would provide her with the financial means to make life easier for her dad and it would help her to feel close to her mum.
Realising that she was in a bit of a rut, Krystal sat up and rubbed her eyes. The sun was setting and she decided it was time to turn on some lights and make dinner.
She pottered over to the kitchen and assembled the ingredients to make a nice kimchi jjigae: kimchi, onions, spring onions, garlic, chilli powder, tofu, gojujang and belly pork. She set the rice to cook and chopped the belly pork into one-inch pieces. Krystal then poured some sesame seed oil in a frying pan and started to fry the meat.
Just as the pork began to seal, the sound of her Kakao Talk message alert went off. It was a text from Rebecca.
Darling how’ve you been feeling? I’ve been looking around online today to try and figure how we’re going to turn you into a kpop star! Have you ever heard of Kpop Camp? It’s an audition thing set up by the singer KYM (Kim Young Moon) and his record label KYM Entertainment. I’ve emailed you a link – go check it out! Once you’ve checked it out give me a call. Becs Xx
Krystal continued to stir the meat with one hand and typed out a reply with the other.
Thanks Becs! Just cooking at the moment so I’ll have a look in a minute and get back to you later. K Xx
Krystal finished adding the ingredients to the kimchi jjigae, covered the pan and set it to simmer. She jogged over to the study, turned on the computer and clicked on the link Rebecca had sent her, www.kpopcamp.com. The link took her to the KYM Entertainment homepage which displayed a big notice.
Th
is weekend Kpop Camp returns with auditions at Yonsei University Auditorium!
Auditions will take place at 3pm on Saturday 4 August 2012. Please register using this website if you would like to audition. This is the only audition in Seoul before we move to Busan in September.
Krystal suddenly perked up; it looked like an amazing opportunity so she registered straight away. She loved Kim Young Moon; he was now in his 40s and was an artist her mum used to like. He produced a number of famous bands and would be a great person to work with.
Krystal got up from the computer desk and went over to check on the kimchi jjigae; it needed another 15 minutes so she decided to call Rebecca.
“Bonjour!” said Rebecca.
“Bonjour! Thank you so much for that link – it looks absolutely brilliant!”
“So are you going to go to the auditions?”
“You betcha! I’ve just registered.”
“That’s awesome news. Kim Young Moon is an amazing artist – I’ve just been on his Wikipedia page. Did you know he’s a classically trained pianist and choreographs all his own videos?” said Rebecca, her voice an octave higher than normal.
“I didn’t know that, no - impressive! I love his voice though. It’s not exactly the strongest voice in the world but when you combine it with his signature guitar riffs and melodies, it just works somehow!”
“Exactly! From the research I’ve been doing today, I’ve learnt that KYM Entertainment is part of the “big 4” record labels in Korea.”
“Oh yeah? What are the other ones?” said Krystal.
“Well the biggest is your friend, Manager Oh’s, OMG Entertainment. Then there’s KYM Entertainment, followed by LV Music and lastly, Triangle Entertainment. According to my research, the four labels together have 90% of all kpop acts on their books. Interesting stuff huh?” said Rebecca, putting on a geeky voice.
“Wow yeah, I would never have thought that.”
“Yeah and did you know KYM Entertainment are responsible for the boy bands the Andre Project, X:EAT, Juva-nile and Eagle 18?”
