The road not taken

Chae-rin pouted as she rubbed the spot on her forehead, "You tricked me, I thought you had given up.Not fair".

She chuckled, "That is because you make it so easy, bunny", she sat forward and deliberately ruffled her cousin's hair when her phone beeped. She paused and leaned over to pick it up from the bedside table. She had received a message from her private Kakao talk group with her friends Seo Min and Gu Ru-ri. Her friends were both members of the girl group SERENITY, they were currently at Jeju island filming an episode of a variety show. Apart from wishing her good luck on her audition at daybreak, they haven't spoken till now.

The message surprised her, she unlocked her phone and tapped on the notification from the chart. it was from Gu Ru-ri

"I heard that the audition didn't go well,

let's meet at our spot tomorrow, at noon".

Chae-rin leaned closer and looked into her phone, "what's up with the prolonged silence" Her eyes widened as she read the story. She glanced at her cousin and slapped her arm gently as she whispered, "you didn't tell them your audition was unsuccessful?"

Nari sighed and sat on her heel, "no, I didn't want to make them worry. They are preparing for a comeback, their schedule is packed. If I told them, they would just go out of their way to make me feel good".

"Oh, and what is wrong with that? Do you enjoy wallowing in self-pity, don't you want to hang out with friends and take your mind off everything."

Nari gazed at her cousin and for a few seconds, "sometimes you can be so wise beyond your age. I don't enjoy 'wallowing in self-pity as you put it. it is just that I don't want to see them try to avoid talking about their success because they don't want to make me feel bad about my situation. I want them to be able to talk about their progress without considering my feelings".

"I didn't think of that but while that seems reasonable. I don't think it is a good idea to keep a piece of news like that from them. Not when you are under the same agency, You always advise me to tell my friend how I feel about their attitude towards me, yet you do not take your advice. is that right"

The sound of the front door opening put an end to their conversation, Chae-rin gazed at the door, "that should be mum and dad. They stopped by at a restaurant to get dinner", patting Nari's shoulder, she ran out the room. Hwang Nari watched her leaving smiling and brought her phone up. She replied "Okay", before jumping up from the bed and running out of the room to greet her Uncle and Aunt.

Her aunt didn't look like a woman in her mid-forties, she was a former model and took good care of her body. With her slim toned body and youthful face, she could be mistaken for their younger sister and she often was. She was quite fashionable and so was her husband Jung Kwon Sik who was the Chief Medical Director of a university hospital in Gangnam.

"Ah there you are Nari, I heard about the audition, he side glance as he heard a throat clear, "Let's have some Cake," her Uncle said raising the box of cake high.

Nari tilted her head a little, 'Cake? Don't tell me it was initially a congratulations cake".

Her uncle shrugged, "it was but who is counting, I think you should have some sugary treat after the stressful last few days. Right darling"

"Yes," her aunt replied with a straight face.

"Okay, who am I to say no to cake", Nari took the box of cake from her uncle and kept it on the dining table. She placed four plates and forks on the table. She cut the cake into slices and placed each slice on a plate. While she did that her uncle and aunt washed up and changed into sweats before coming down. Everyone took a plate of cake.

They are silent, her aunt broke the silence minutes later, "you don't have to keep staying at GK entertainment if your contract ends. You can try out another company or maybe go to college".

Nari and Chae-rin shared a look and then glance at her aunt. Chae-rin replied, "How come you are not adamant about her staying in a big company this time?"

"It has become clearer that maybe GK entertainment is not a good fit for her. Your company is not a big entertainment company but you are debuting in a year. Maybe she should audition for your company." She turned to her husband, "What do you think dear"

Mr Jung glanced from his wife to his niece, "maybe we should ask Nari what she wants first, although the girls debuting together is not so bad. That way they can watch out for each other, all the scandals involving Memphis Entertainment's former CEO are worrying. I won't want that to happen to any of you, if anyone tried that with you please let me know. Don't keep it to yourself".

"we will" Chae-rin and Nari replied.

"I doubt we will ever have to worry about that, dad, with mum always breathing down our manager's shoulders, do you think that will ever happen?" Everyone glanced at Mrs Hwang and laughed.

**********

After dinner, Nari joined Chae-rin to wash up the dishes. She rinsed the plates while Chae-rin wiped the plates with a dry rag and put them in the dish rack. They turned in for the night when they were done, Nari fell back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Memories From the audition and her trainee years rushed through her mind unfiltered. She grabbed the blanket on her as tightly as she could as the painful memories of the dreaded monthly audition.

"I have persisted for 10 years but all for what, was it worth the sacrifices", she put her hands into her sweatpants pocket and pulled out her phone. It was as if the universe was teasing her because as soon as she tapped on the Naver app, a picture of Ga-hui, a former trainee at GK entertainment who had auditioned to debut with SERENITY but like her didn't make the cut. She had trained with Ga-hui for five years before she left GK entertainment.

Nari could still remember the conversation they had the day, Ga-Hui left. It was in one of the smaller training rooms used by team A trainees. She had asked Ga Hui about her plans after leaving Gk entertainment, she could still remember the sheepish smile Ga-Hui gave her when she informed her that she had joined Beat entertainment. Back then she had seen Ga-hui's decisions as a foolish decision because she had blindly believed that leaving a big company for a smaller one that was only six years old was downgrading.

Now five years later, Ga-Hui had debuted as a member of Mayfair and the company she saw back then as a small company had grown to be one of the Top entertainment companies estimated to be valued at over 50 million dollars. Mayfair was a well-known girl group which in their 4 years of being active had won 2 Daesang awards. Ga-Hui has done well for herself, seeing a casting announcement about her making her acting debut brought up all the regrets Nari buried deep in her heart.

She stood out walked to her dressing table, she bent slightly and pulled open the first drawer. Her pets fell on the purple diary hidden under a small notepad and glass case. She raised the notepad and glass case high, as she pulled the diary out. Placing the diary on the table, She shut the drawer and picked up the diary. Three company business cards lay in between two pages in the middle of the diaries. She sat at the edge of her bed, dropped the diary on the bed and picked up one of the business cards. She typed in the number on the card and brought the phone to her ears.

*****

Eunsun private community, Penthouse 12

Kim Ae-ri sat on a couch by the floor to ceiling windows of her apartment, her head bent over her notepad as she read through the email she had received from Director Choi Siwoo of GK entertainment. He had invited her to a private Chinese restaurant for dinner, although he had termed it a reunion among two high school classmates. Kim Ae-ri understood that this was nothing of that sort, They were never close so this meeting was for business.

She has been invited to dinners like this since she had taken over as the CEO of Memphis entertainment. This was the way things worked, she quickly sent an email accepting the invitation It was necessary to maintain a good relationship with people in the same industry. Although she wasn't fond of Choi Siwoo's methods, she respected his contributions.

After the mail was sent, she tapped on the message sent by her assistant, Miss Shin. "His invitation came at a very good time", she muttered eyes locked on the profile sent by Miss Shin