01

    Step One

    :: New Opportunity Part II::

    The villa’s security seemed genuine. It had been two days since Jacan had come to stay temporarily, and there wasn’t a single report about the famous actress bringing a man into her home.

    This relieved Jacan, and he started exploring the nightlife areas, popular with music-loving youths. Especially the wide plaza in the heart of district K, a hub for young people to showcase their musical talents through singing, dancing, playing instruments, etc.

    Currently, his ocean-blue eyes were watching a young man moving naturally to the music. Every movement seemed effortless.

    Even though his face was hidden by a hat and a face mask, a crowd had gathered to watch. Some critiqued his dance moves, others recorded videos to post on social media, and a few bold ones challenged him to show off more skills.

    Woohoo!!

    And he did not disappoint. A new song was played upon request, and despite it being unfamiliar, the challenger showed no fear, continuing to freestyle smoothly. The crowd cheered and applauded when the impromptu battle ended.

    There was no winner... no loser.

    Only the satisfaction of letting go and moving to the music with someone who shared the same passion.

    "..." Jacan watched the lively scene, his heart pounding like a war drum. In that moment, he suddenly made a decision about something.

    Tug, tug

    "Yes?" The young man was quietly dealing with his thoughts but was shaken out of his trance when someone tugged at his sleeve. “Is there something wrong?” Or was he standing in the way?

    "You have a great look. Are you interested in becoming an idol or actor? I’m a scout from XXX. Here’s my card," said a middle-aged man wearing a wide-brimmed hat, extending a pink business card.

    “Uh, I’m already 23," the young man replied, knowing scouts usually looked for boys under 18 because they needed several years of training before being stage-ready.

    "Are you kidding me? Are you lying?" The older man frowned in disbelief. The young man looked youthful, as if he had just reached adulthood.

    "I'm serious. I’m sorry to waste your time," he said, handing over his passport to prove it.

    "23, really. You look so young. I thought you were 18 or 19," the scout said, disappointed.

    "Believe it or not, I’ve already debuted," the young man laughed at the scout's reaction.

    "You must be joking. With a face like yours, you’d be a huge hit on stage," the scout said. "You’re both handsome and beautiful. Even without talent, you’d have fans supporting you just for your looks."

    "Let’s leave it at that. Consider it a joke," said the former duo artist, not wanting to continue the conversation. If he mentioned he was part of HJ, people would just think he was lying.

    "What’s up with you?" The middle-aged scout scratched his head, confused.

    "Why don’t you try asking that guy?" He pointed to the young man currently dancing. "His dancing skills are quite good. With a year or two of training, he should be stage-ready."

    "Oh, I already scouted him. But he said he’s going to compete in SKM Ent.'s show first. If he doesn’t make it, he’ll sign with us and train again."

    "SKM Ent.'s show?" That was a top-tier entertainment company.

    "Ah, you must be a tourist if you don’t know. They’re currently accepting applications from both signed and unsigned trainees to compete in a show to form a new boy band under SKM’s management for five years," the older man explained, seeing no other promising prospects today and generously sharing information.

    "Age limit is 25. If you’re interested, you should apply. With your looks, you’d definitely make it to the later rounds, and if you’re good enough, you might debut right away. But hurry, I think the application deadline is soon," There should only be a few days left?

    "Aren’t survival show contracts usually only two years?" Jacan asked, knowing these shows typically had shorter contracts to keep producing new content and allowing idols to return to their original companies with their newfound fame before the buzz died down.

    "Two years is too short for fans. From what I’ve heard, these shows aren’t as popular anymore, and when the groups disband, fans don’t always follow them because there isn’t enough of a bond. It’s a waste to lose those fans."

    "But with such a long contract, wouldn’t the original companies refuse to send their trainees? Five years is a long time. Instead of getting a full share, they’d have to split with SKM," Jacan pointed out. No company would willingly agree to that.

    "Exactly. My company isn’t sending anyone either. There’s talk that only independent trainees would be interested. Once the contract ends, they might even renew with SKM, having nowhere else to go. It’s possible SKM’s own trainees will dominate the show, using it as a front to promote them."

    "Is that even possible?" Jacan doubted a big company would take such a risk; it would be a topic of gossip for a long time.

    "I don’t know either," the middle-aged man said, raising his hands. He had no idea what the true purpose of the show was.

    "It’s getting late. I’ll head back now," he said, feeling disheartened that he didn’t find any promising talent today. How much would his year-end bonus be?

    "Travel safely, and thank you very much for the information," Jacan said, bowing to the scout who, despite no future collaboration, kindly suggested a way back to the stage.

    "Hope to see you on stage. If you join, I’ll vote for you."

    "Ha ha, you promised."

    ...

    Back at Han Shinsu’s villa, Jacan went straight to his room and opened his laptop to look up information about the survival show auditions.

    SKM Ent. Official

    SKM Ent. is thrilled to announce the audition call for all trainees to join Star Fight, a competition to form a new idol group for those who love music. Whether you’re a trainee with an agency or just an ordinary person, click the link below to apply!

    Audition Round 1 : xx month xxxx year xxxx

    Application Details : www.xxxxxxxx…

    [Attached Poster]

    Comment: Wow, a survival show from a top-tier company. This is exciting.

    Comment: Will there be a lot of handsome contestants?

    Comment: I’m over the age limit... Sadddddd, I trained so hard, but it’s useless without a chance to perform.

    Comment: The comment above is dramatic, but I get it. Only youthful charm sells.

    Comment: Another survival show? I’m so tired of them.

    Comment: Do they really accept ordinary people?

    Comment: Replying to the comment above... If you pass the audition.

    This is it! His way back to the stage!!

    It was lucky he went to the street performance area today; the competition was about to close its applications. If he had returned to Country K three days later, he would have missed the chance to participate.

    The mixed-race young man quickly clicked on the application details link. He read the terms and conditions and the show’s policies several times to fully understand them. Then he downloaded the application form and started filling in his personal information right away.

    As for the performance clip to be submitted with the application, he might need to borrow space from his beautiful sister...

    SKM Ent. (Building in the city center)

    "Today is the last day for accepting applications from the general public, right?" Im Heewoo, the lead producer of the show, walked into the large meeting room being used as a temporary office for the Star Fight project. When the actual filming started, they would move to the renovated apartment.

    "Yes, we are currently reviewing all the applications. There are over two thousand applicants," one of the staff members replied. Thankfully, they were just the support team and not the main judges; otherwise, they would have had to stay up all night reviewing the massive number of clips.

    They couldn't just skim through them either. Every applicant had high hopes of being selected and had likely put a lot of effort into their introduction clips. The judges had to take their evaluations seriously.

    "Good luck, Mr. Im," the team cheered, raising their coffee cups in a symbolic show of support.

    "You guys..." The middle-aged man pretended to collapse in exhaustion before standing up straight again. "Are all the judges here?"

    "Mr. Lee said he would be late because there was an accident during the filming of his show, so they had to reshoot several scenes. The others are already waiting in the next meeting room.”

    "Alright, got it," Im Heewoo nodded in understanding. Since today was just about evaluating video clips, it wasn't as critical if they were a bit behind schedule. However, if this happened again during actual filming, it could delay the entire production.

    The lead producer, holding his insulated coffee cup and tablet, walked into the meeting room where the rest of the judges, legendary artists invited to participate in the show, were gathered.

    "We haven’t started yet, right? Lee Danbi will be a bit late because of reshoots."

    "Should we replace him with Lee Seongeun for now? That way, we don’t waste time," Kim Sujin, the golden-voiced singer and internationally acclaimed solo artist, suggested with a playful laugh.

    "No way. Even if he’s in the building, it doesn’t mean he’s available to judge at the drop of a hat. His schedule is booked years in advance," Jung Wangseong said, resting his chin on his hand and looking bored. He transformed from a meticulous dance instructor to a lazy sloth without the presence of music.

    "Isn’t he responsible for judging the rap category? We should have invited George instead," suggested Kim Bomi, a member of the country’s number-one girl group. Besides playing along with her industry peers, she secretly hoped to meet her idol.

    "Enough, if he hears that, he’ll start bawling for sure," Im Heewoo intervened. On TV, Lee Danbi might come across as a fierce, confident rapper, but in reality, he had the heart of a mouse and could cry at the drop of a hat around familiar faces.

    They chatted and joked for ten minutes until the target of their gossip burst into the meeting room, panting heavily. His eyelids, lined with eyeliner to appear fierce, were wet with tears. Fortunately, the makeup artist had used waterproof products, or else they might be looking at a punk rock transformation...

    "Sorry I’m late, Hic. The show I was filming had an unforeseen incident, Hic.”

    "His tear dam has truly broken," Kim Bomi laughed.

    "Nuna!, Sob”

    "Ha ha ha ha."

    "Ahem," Im Heewoo cleared his throat, trying to rein in the chaos. "Now that everyone’s here, let’s start the evaluation."

    "Let's play the first clip," a staff member said, pressing the remote to lower the projector screen, revealing a folder containing all the applicants' introduction videos.

    "Alright, let’s begin."