2 Rejected

Nayon was sleepy, but she quickly washed her face. She only slept for 2 hours last night. Heyho already woke up and prepared. While Somsom was still sleeping on her bed, Heyho had tried to wake the sleeping beauty up, but the princess didn't wake up.

Heyho was the early worm in the dorm. She would wake up early, run around the complex, and cook the breakfast for other girls in the dorm. Out of the four, she was the fittest.

Nayon went to the bathroom and felt refreshed by the warm water from the faucet. It was 08.20 when she finished her morning skin treatment. That was important for an idol trainee. A person couldn't avoid aging, she could only delay it.

"AHHH!!!"

Nayon heard the familiar scream. It was Somsom. The late bird always screamed every morning. Nayon would feel lonely if she didn't hear the scream of Somsom.

"Why Unnies didn't wake me up?" She seemed to be angry at her phone too.

"I have tried to wake you up 3 times." Heyho complained.

Somsom didn't refute, she quickly took her dress and went into the bathroom. Heyho only sighed while Nayon smiled. She was their maknae, the youngest sister in the group.

Nayon ate her breakfast while Heyho was putting a simple makeup on her face.

Somsom went outside the bathroom still under the wrap of a towel and shouted. "Unnies, please put my breakfast in the lunch box!" She quickly went into the room.

Nayon smiled and took an empty lunch box and packed some French Toasts and margarine and a boiled egg for Somsom.

Somsom took 5 minutes before she exited the room. She rarely wore makeup, but she had a natural beauty. The manager said that out of the four, she was the one with the highest chance to become an idol. She was a natural idol.

"Let's go, Unnies!" Somsom had worn a simple sporty dress. It was normal to wear something comfy for a training class. Nayon also wore something simple a plain gray T-shirt, jeans, and sports shoes. Sometimes she practiced dancing using heels when she had to perform.

Heyho on the other hand dress beautifully, she was a fashion fanatic. Most her allowances were spent on fashion items. Her father was a foreigner working overseas, so he could give Heyho enough money every month.

The three went into the company building. It wasn't that far from their dorm. The building wasn't high and luxurious like other top entertainment companies.

The company only rented the second floor for its office. While it used the basement for the practice rooms. However, the company managed to hire some professional teachers to teach dance, singing, musical instrument, and public relationship for the trainee and its contracted idols.

Some better companies gave acting, master ceremony, foreign language, and many more. A few companies even taught sex education.

They arrived at 08.55 on the building. They didn't forget to greet their seniors when they met. In big companies, it was hard for trainees to meet their sunbae.

"Good Morning, Oppa!" The three called a handsome man.

"Morning!" The man greeted back.

"Good Morning, Unnie!"

"Morning, Girl!"

The senior idols went into their own practice rooms. Idol was a heavy industry where everyone was forced to be better than before.

Other than the trainees, the company had a few debuted groups. Most were second-rate boybands and girlbands. They were popular but only in a limited community. Most performed at university music festival.

However, the company fell into a bad economic condition because of a failure to recoup the cost after its last boyband's debut failed. X-Boy, the last group didn't manage to sell enough their albums while the company had paid huge advertising fees to TV stations.

Nayon knew this would reduce the chance for her and her friend to debut soon.

[I will just focus to practice better. If I am good, I will debut sooner or later.] She thought.

Nayon, Heyho, and Somsom entered their practice room. It was the room for singing.

Kimha was waiting inside. Other than her, a beautiful woman in professional dress was sitting behind a piano. She was the vocal teacher. Her name was Soyu, a former moderate successful idol. The teacher had asked the girls to call her Unnie. She didn't want to look too old.

"Morning, Soyu Unnie."

"Morning, Nayon, Heyho, Somsom." She answered back. "Let start the practice."

The girl started to practice singing. First, each would sing when Soyu Unnie played the song on the keyboard. She would stop when she saw someone missed the beat.

"Stop..."

"Heyho! Repeat the last line." She stopped when Heyho was singing. She would correct her.

This was one of the benefits of staying with a small company. Since there were only a few trainees, the teacher could check their progress more personally. In a bigger company, it was common a teacher taught 10 to 20 trainees at the same time.

Nayon and Somsom managed to finish the practice flawlessly. While Heyho and Kimha had some correction. Nayon had been a trainee for 5 years. It was a long time for a trainee.

After this practice, they took a short break where Nayon used to take a nap. They had to take a musical instrument training class.

After the musical training, they would get a rap training. The would end the day with dance training. The girls usually stayed overtime to practice. They could borrow empty rooms for their practice.

This was the unglamorous life of an idol trainee. After her training practice, Nayon would return to the dorm to change her clothes and took a bath before going to the minimarket for her part-time job. This was her past 5 years.

8 months since the Kon's concert.

"Ah... I almost didn't pass the dancing test." Heyho complained.

"I had my weight increased this month." Kimha saw her report.

"I grew too fast." Somsom also had a problem. For a female idol, being too tall was a disadvantage.

The girls all managed to pass their monthly evaluation.

"Nayon Unnie, why did the manager want to meet you in his office?"

"I don't know." Nayon said.

"Perhaps, it is our debut." Somsom felt happy. "I heard from Kok Hyung that the company had planned to debut a new group."

"Impossible, the company had just debuted the boys in X-Boy." Kimha rejected the idea.

"I also had heard about that. This is why these past few months we had our training increased." Heyho said.

"Really?" Nayon felt a bit happier.

"Get the debut for us, Unnie! Ask the manager!" Somsom cheered.

As a leader, it wasn't strange that Nayon would be told it the first time.

Nayon felt hopeful while the girls cheered her when she went to the second floor from the basement. She was full of hope when she opened the managed door.

The manager room was also simple. There were a big mahogany desk and a huge pile documents on top of it. On the wall, the manager framed several idols' pictures who had worked or currently worked in the company.

The X-Boy was one of them, they were all Nayon generations. They had their debut two years ago, but they failed to make it big.

"Evening, Nayon. Please sit!" The manager invited Nayon to sit on the chair before the table.

Nayon sat in the leather chair. It was warm. There must be someone who had just sat on it.

"You must have heard the rumor about the company plan." The manager said. He tried to find a document.

"I haven't Manager-Nim." Nayon said. She had some possibilities in her mind, but she didn't sure.

"Here is your monthly evaluation report." The manager showed a document to Nayon. He took another document. "This is your trainee contract. You are free to join other entertainment companies. I hope your success with other companies. You are a good person and a good dancer."

"What does this mean, Manager-Nim?" Nayon couldn't believe what she heard.

"This might be unfair for you. Since you have been in this company for a long time, you deserve better. You must know that our company's financial ability hasn't been good since the X-Boy failed debut." The Manager decided to be frank. He had recruited Nayon since she was young. 5 years was a long time for a trainee. She deserved a proper explanation.

Nayon nodded. She tried her best not to cry.

"I had tried my best to find some funds to debut a new group. You must have heard about MS company. The giant chaebol had made a new subsidiary. I managed to make a partnership. They want to launch a girlgroup. However, as a new company, they didn't have many trainees. Our company and this new subsidiary would create a joint girlgroup using both our trainees."

Nayon didn't understand. It was good news. [Why was my contract terminated?]

"The other party had young trainees. They were averaged 17 years old. The concept was your dream classmates. I have told them you were the most capable and experienced trainee in our company. However, they want younger members so the group could be promoted for a long time." The director gave time for Nayon to take the bad news.

"I am sorry, Nayon. You deserved better for your dedication. With Somsom, Heyho, and Kimha debut, the company wouldn't be able to debut another girlgroup for you in a few years. It is best if we part way here. I will give you some recommendations for other entertainment companies. You are a good person. I know that. You will have success someday."

Nayon didn't remember what the manager-nim said after that. She only remembered she cried after she closed the door.

---------

"Everyone was invited to the Prince's Ball."

"Everyone except Cinderella."