A week after visiting the company building.
Today, at last, the manager contacted us to say that the trainee contract had been adjusted, so Mom and I came to the company building to sign it.
The manager guided us to the reception room, saying he would go get the documents, and then left.
A little while later, he returned with a middle-aged man who looked like someone important.
The man greeted us.
“Hello, Dohee’s mother. I’m Kim Wi-dong, the CEO of Top East Entertainment.”
“Oh! Hello.”
Whoa, the CEO.
“Hello, CEO!”
I immediately stood up and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
“You must be Dohee, huh? It’s nice to meet you. Just like Manager Lee said, you’re really pretty.”
“Thank you!”
“All right, all right. Sit comfortably for now.”
The CEO sat down and began speaking.
“Whew, I’d heard that Dohee was pretty, but seeing her in person took even this old man by surprise.”
“Heehee, thank you!”
I guess the CEO liked me.
“You’re a beauty, perhaps because you take after your mother.”
“Ha-ha, Dohee does look a lot like me.”
Sounds good.
“All right, now that we’ve introduced ourselves, shall we talk about the contract?”
“Actually, as the CEO, I don’t get involved in trainee contracts at all. The employees always handle them well on their own.”
“But both Manager Lee and Team Leader Kim suggested offering some absolutely absurd conditions.”
“So, since the terms are so extraordinary, I came personally to see and judge for myself.”
Then the CEO looked at me.
“Miss Dohee…”
“…”
“Miss Dohee.”
What about me…?
The CEO stared at me intently for another thirty seconds, then took the contract out of the document envelope and said,
“There’s no way I can choose not to sign her.”
Phew… He really had me scared there.
Was this some kind of negotiation technique used by CEOs?
I calmed my pounding heart and looked over the contract with Mom.
Sure enough, just as the manager had promised, there wasn’t a single clause that disadvantaged me.
Mom looked at me and said,
“Dohee, do you think you can handle this?”
“Of course. You know me. If I say I’ll do something, I do it. Don’t you trust Cool Girl Lee Dohee?”
“Ha-ha, of course Mom trusts you. Then shall I stamp the contract?”
“Okay!”
Mom stamped the contract.
And as of today, I was the company’s serf.
The CEO beamed as he extended his hand to me.
“Dohee, I’m counting on you from today onward. If anything makes you uncomfortable, tell me anytime.”
“Yes, CEO! I’ll work hard!”
.
.
.
Two days after the contract was signed
Today, after finishing my first day back at school, I went to the agency for the first time.
When I arrived in front of the company building, I called Team Leader Kim Jin-woo of the New Artist Development Team, who had cast me.
“Team Leader, I’m here~”
—Oh, Miss Dohee, you’re starting work today? I’ll open the door for you in a moment~—
A little while later, the company door opened.
The person who came out wasn’t Team Leader Kim Jin-woo, but a frightening-looking woman.
I had a feeling that this scary-looking person would be taking care of me from now on.
“Come on in.”
“Yes.”
“You’re one of our company’s trainees, so I’ll speak casually, okay?”
“Yes.”
“You said your name was Dohee, right?”
“Yes.”
“Did you come straight here after school?”
“Yes.”
Because she looked so intimidating, I kept answering everything with “yes.”
“All right. Did your mother bring you here?”
“No, my house is close, so I took the bus here by myself. Mom said she’d pick me up only when I go home.”
“You came alone? What a good girl. Let’s head upstairs first. Your teacher will explain trainee life to you.”
“Yes.”
I followed the scary-looking woman up to the third floor.
We arrived at a department labeled the New Artist Development Team.
“All right. First, I’m Jeong So-hyeon, the team leader in charge of the A&R Team. You can call me Team Leader Jeong So-hyeon.”
“Yes. May I ask one question?”
Because Team Leader Jeong So-hyeon looked so intimidating, even asking a single question felt difficult.
“What is it?”
“What’s the A&R Team?”
“Ah, A&R stands for Artist and Repertoire, the team in charge of everything from discovering artists to producing them. All the trainers who’ll be training you from now on belong to this department.”
“Oh, I see.”
“No more questions, right?”
“Yes!”
“All right, then I’ll explain the rules.”
Team Leader Jeong So-hyeon handed me a key card and said,
“From now on, you can use this card key to open every door in the company. Don’t lose it.”
“Okay.”
Then she took a binder from the bookshelf and gave it to me.
“This is the attendance and daily logbook. It’ll always be kept here. When you arrive, sign in here, and before you leave, come back and write down what you learned during the day. Got it?”
“Okay.”
After finishing the basic explanations, Team Leader Jeong So-hyeon took me to the choreography practice room on the basement level.
When we entered the practice room, a female dance teacher who looked like a choreographer was teaching another girl.
“Teacher Moon!”
“Oh, yes, Team Leader. Is this the girl who’s starting today?”
“Yep. Dohee, say hello. This is Teacher Mun Ye-rim, who’ll be giving you dance training from now on.”
“Hello, Teacher. I’m Lee Dohee.”
“Oh my, you’re so cute! But just because you’re cute, don’t expect me to go easy on you. You have to work hard, okay?”
“Yes! I’ll work hard!”
“That’s right, that’s right. U-ah, come over here and say hello. She’s the younger girl who’ll be learning with you from now on.”
The girl who had been dancing came over and greeted me cheerfully.
She was lively and had the cute looks befitting an idol trainee.
“Hi! I’m Ji U-ah! Nice to meet you! How old are you?”
“Hello, senior! I’m eleven.”
“I’m thirteen, so don’t call me Senior—just call me U-ah unni!”
“Yes, U-ah unni. I’m looking forward to learning with you.”
After I finished greeting U-ah unni, Team Leader Jeong So-hyeon said,
“U-ah, go upstairs now and attend your vocal lesson.”
“Yes, Team Leader!”
U-ah unni left, and the dance trainer began my lesson.
“Dohee, you said you’d never been interested in dancing before, right? Is this really your first time?”
“Yes, it really is.”
“Then let’s start with the basics.”
“Yes.”
“This is called isolation, one of the fundamental movements in dance. You move each part of your body separately. Try moving only your neck, like me.”
“Yes!”
“You’re good. Now your shoulders~”
“My chest~”
“My hips~”
Oh… Why am I good at this?
Maybe I really did have a talent for dancing?
“You said this was your first time, but you’re pretty good! This time, we’ll use what you just learned to do a simple dance. Bend and straighten your knees repeatedly while doing the movements from before. Watch me and follow along.”
“Yes!”
I danced enthusiastically along with the teacher.
Was this groove?
Dance prodigy Lee Dohee was making her debut.
.
.
.
“Hmm… Dohee, shall we try that again?”
Huh…?
I must have gotten too carried away and danced too dramatically.
I’d better do it properly this time.
“Yes!”
Dance prodigy Lee Dohee, second sortie.
.
.
.
“Hmm… I think Dohee might be hopeless at dancing.”
Oh.
Dance prodigy Lee Dohee had met a miserable end.
Dance delinquent Lee Dohee made her appearance…
“It’s okay, Dohee. You said you’d never danced before, so that can happen.”
“Yes…”
“It’s really okay. You’re still much better than when you started. It’s your first day, so you’ll improve quickly from here on out.”
“Oh! Yes!”
Team Leader Jeong So-hyeon, who had been quietly observing the lesson from the sofa in the back, stood up and spoke.
“Dohee, let’s go get your vocal lesson now.”
“Yes~”
Right. Maybe my talent was in vocals.
When I followed Team Leader Jeong So-hyeon into the vocal room on the second floor, the trainee senior who had introduced herself as Ji U-ah earlier was learning a song from a male teacher.
“Teacher Kwon, this is Dohee, the girl I mentioned yesterday.”
“Ah. U-ah, go practice in the room next door for now. We’ll finish the rest after Dohee’s lesson.”
“Okay~”
U-ah unni got kicked out again right away.
I felt kind of sorry, since it seemed to be because of me.
“Hello, Dohee. My name is Kwon Hyeok. Let’s do our best.”
“Yes! Hello, Teacher. I’ll work hard!”
“Good. I heard you won the grand prize at eleven piano competitions?”
“Yes!”
“Wow… That’s impressive. Then it’s all right for me to have high expectations, isn’t it?”
“Of course!”
After practicing the piano consistently, I had gained not only a precise sense of rhythm, but perfect pitch as well.
With that kind of background, how could I possibly be bad at singing?
“Good. I like your confidence. Shall we try singing a popular song that you know?”
“Um… I actually don’t know many popular songs because I only played the piano.”
“Huh? You’ve never sung a popular song before?”
“It’s not that I’ve never sung one… I just don’t remember any songs.”
“Hmm… Then I’ll sing a girl group song. Try singing along one line at a time.”
“Yes!”
“Riding freedom, flowing out of control~”
The vocal teacher sang while playing the piano.
He was clearly a vocal trainer, with flawless singing skills.
But my electronic-like brain had already input the exact pitch and rhythm.
Singing along wasn’t difficult.
“All right, Dohee. Let’s hear you sing.”
“Yes! Riding freedom, flowing out of control~”
“Hmm…”
Oh no.
“Good. Let’s try the next line.”
Phew.
“Yes!”
“No matter what you say to me, I’ll choose something else~”
Great. This time, I had copied it perfectly.
“No matter what you say to me, I’ll choose something else~”
“Hmm…”
Oh no.
“You can definitely tell that Dohee has a musical background.”
Oh!
“But even though your pitch and rhythm are both perfectly accurate, you’re singing with a strange tone.”
Oh.
“Yes…”
“You still did very well. It’s only your first day, after all. You’ll be able to fix your tone quickly.”
“Yes!”
Right. It would be ridiculous to be good at everything from the first day.
I’d been terrible at both studying and piano when I first started.
I had all the time in the world, anyway.
I could just get better from here on out.
Being too perfect would be boring.