7 Failing the audition

In a train that was returning from Incheon to Seoul, Jun sat in silence, feeling disappointed and lost in thoughts while words of a female constantly ringing in his ears. "You have great potential to be a singer. So, take my advice and try for the programs that let you debut through the competition. Become a trainee and waiting for debut will be a waste of time for you…"

Meanwhile, the excited Jaemin started listening to the music, to not bother Jun.

One hour ago;

While tens of contestants waiting outside, wondering what's taking so long, the judges are busy arguing after Taehae expressed her opinion.

"Taehae-ssi, what are you doing? Do you want to slip away such a candidate? You heard him sing, right? His voice is stable and the pitch is perfect.

I'm even thinking of using the golden star badge to send to the finals directly, and you want to eliminate him, right away?"

Folding the hands to her chest, Taehae replied, "But, Signature has already debuted a group, this year. Our Echo has also decided on the group for the next year.

If he joins either of our companies, he won't be able to debut until 3 years at least. And by that time, his age will reach 23. By 28, he'll have to enlist for the military. So, there are only 5 years of idol life. Why risk over such a thing…

As for Genesis, we don't even need to think about it. It's impossible as your boss won't accept a former trainee of ZC. Now, do you get my point?"

Upon hearing her explanation, as Song-Su went silent, Sangmin refuted, "Sung-Jun-ssi has a chance with our 'Signature Entertainment,' though. You know that we have a lot of solo artists. If he can prove himself to our CEO-nim, his debut won't be an issue…"

Just then, Song-Su, who was in favor of Jun from the start, suddenly changed his sides, "I agree with Taehae-ssi. Since the purpose of this program is to find trainees, it's better if we fail him now and, recommend to Galaxy Entertainment, later.

I heard they are going to promote a new group, jointly with Scale Entertainment…"

After discussing for another two minutes, planning Jun's future without even asking his opinion, the three of them turned towards him.

"Sung-Jun-ssi."

Taehae called out to give the final result.

"Yes?" Jun holds the mic near to him, waiting anxiously about the result while worrying they will fail because of his age.

Taehae then spoke, maintaining her aloof expression, "You are talented but I'm sorry, we decided that you aren't suited for this program.

It's not that you are bad. In fact, you have great potential to be a singer.

So, take my advice and try for the programs that let you debut through the competition. Become a trainee and waiting for debut at a company will be a waste of time for you…"

Present;

Getting down from the train, the two of them parted ways, and Jun then took a bus. With depression clearly written all over his face, Jun slowly walked towards his home.

"Mom, I'm home…" spoke Jun in a low tone as if he was exhausted while taking off his shoes.

"Hmm?" Just then, he saw extra pairs of sandals that belong to women and an additional pair of shoe that belongs to a man. "Guests?"

Taking another look at the sandals, Jun mumbled, "based on the style and the numbers, looks like tofu's group mates are here.

I thought it was going to be next week. What a trouble…"

Taking off his shoes, he took a heavy breath to control his expression and walked towards the living room, where he saw a man in his thirties sitting on the sofa along with his mother.

Meanwhile, a cameraman is pointing the digital cine camera at the dining table, where the six pretty girls, giggling as they were having dinner together.

"Ah! Oppa… You are back." Dahyun suddenly stood up and greeted him, waving her hands with a wide smile on her face before his mother, making him attract the attention of everyone.

As the camera towards him, Jun greeted everyone with a light bow while showing exhaustion before he went to his room, silently.

The girls, who also stood from their seats to bow in return the greetings, didn't think much about his behavior and returned back to their shooting while his mother and Dahyun wondered whether his audition went bad…

"Sigh…" As soon as he entered his room, Jun collapsed on the bed and stared at the ceiling, forgetting to put aside the contact lenses, "all my practice has gone to waste. I really invested the talent point in the wrong attribute. Should have invested in luck… Why did I bother registering at Incheon… Dammit…"

As the words of Taehae once again rung in his ears, Jun clenched his fist and punched the mattress below him, tears started welling up in his eyes, and slowly he drifted into sleep.

***

Genesis Entertainment HQ, Seoul;

In a room located on the 13th floor, a late evening meeting is taking place with the A&R division (Artists and repertoire) and former CEO turned main producer, Yang Hyun Suk (YG).

One of the employees started playing the slides on the screen, displaying the idols.

"G-Dragon will release his solo album, next month before enlisting in the military.

Saturn will drop another album at the end of the year.

Everything is going well with our new upcoming international girl group. If there's no problem arises, Timeless will debut by mid-December.

Imagine will finish their Europe tour and return by the end of this month.

As for Clockwork, Bo-Kyung-nim informed us that they will be in hiatus for a year until things settle down."

"What about male trainees? Who are ready to debut by next year's summer?" asked YG as he played with the pen.

The employee then opened videos of different trainees from all the branches, one by one.

*Ring*Ring*

Looking at the number, YG told her to pause it and picked up the call.

"Yeoboseyo (Hello)" "Song-Su-ssi" "no, I'm in a meeting" "An eliminated contestant? Is he good?" "Oh! Is that so? Then, send me the footage. I'll see about it."