Kpop Club (4 page)

“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 great 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.”

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.

This 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.”