Kpop Club (13 page)

“The ajumma
here makes the most amazing bindae ddok – it’s the best you’ll ever
try,” he said.

“Wow, that’s a
bold statement,” said Krystal.

“Trust
me.”

Andrew ordered
and it wasn’t long before the Korean pancake arrived.

“This is
ridiculously good!” said Krystal.

“Best you’ve
ever had?”

“Annoyingly,
it is!” said Krystal, sticking her tongue out at Andrew.

“Told you,”
said Andrew with a cheeky smile, as he tucked into his food.

They spent the
rest of the afternoon chatting about everything and nothing: from
Kpop Club’s launch; to their favourite TV shows; to how weird
Sebastien’s “call me oppas” line was. Time flew by and Krystal
didn’t want the day to end; she could feel herself properly falling
for him.

The following Monday was the start of three
months of blood, sweat and tears, as the girls prepared for their
debut. Every waking hour was spent in the studio repeating the same
dance moves, over and over and over again until the girls were
completely in-sync. It was hard work and long hours, and meant that
they bickered at times. But, it was never long before the girls
made up, and in turn, the bonds between them grew stronger.

Whilst the
girls put in the hours in the studio, the marketing team at KYM
Entertainment worked hard to spread the word about the group. Kpop
Club now had their own dedicated website at www.kpopclub.com, their
own Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kpopclubbook, and all the
girls had their own Twitter accounts.

Amazingly,
Kpop Club was becoming a well-known band despite not having
released any material. This was partly down to their newly formed
fan group that called themselves the, Klubbers.

Krystal’s
personal life moved forward steadily as well. Since their first
date, Krystal and Andrew’s connection was undeniable and everyone
could see it. Unfortunately, the Andre Project went on tour in the
first week of her training and so they had to keep in touch through
Kakao Talk, Skype and email. They talked every day however, and
were officially dating.

Krystal spent
some time with her dad and Rebecca between rehearsals and this
really helped her to stay focused and happy. During those times
when, exhausted from a long day, it all seemed too much, they were
the ones that kept her grounded and positive with their words of
encouragement. She was lucky, it was much more than most of the
girls had with their families being so far away.

She still
thought about her mum every day but that was normal. She knew she
just had to keep going and hopefully make her mum proud. On the
whole, life was pretty good.

The days were
long but time flew by and soon enough KYM’s pep talks changed from
starting with “in a couple of months…” to “in a couple of weeks…”
and then eventually “in a couple of days…”

Having accomplished a great deal in a short
space of time, the day of their big debut on the SKS Music Platform
show finally arrived. The girls jumped in the Starship and made
their way over to the SKS New Wing Hall in Yeouido-dong where
security promptly ushered them backstage. To Krystal’s delight, her
dad, Rebecca and Hyerim onnie were waiting with KYM in one of the
dressing rooms.

“I thought
you’d want them here,” said KYM, winking to Krystal.

“Thank you
very much, oppa,” said Krystal, with a smile.

Krystal said a
quick hello to everyone before Rendezvous and the styling team
began to work their magic. Halfway through her make-up session,
Krystal suddenly started to feel very sick. Her heart was beating
extremely quickly so she got up out of her chair and walked over to
KYM.

“Oppa, can I
talk to you in private really quickly?”

“Yes, of
course,” said KYM, leading her out into the corridor away from the
others.

“Is everything
okay?”

“I’m
frightened to death and I feel really sick – I can’t stop shaking,”
said Krystal, looking down at the floor.

She had lost
all colour in her cheeks.

“I know how
nerve wracking this is for all of you, Krystal. You have to trust
me though, it’s going to be just fine, okay?”

Krystal
nodded, but remained staring at the floor.

“I was exactly
the same as you when I did my first performance – I wanted to run a
1000 miles and bury my head in the sand. But you know what my
manager said?”

“No, oppa,”
said Krystal.

“He told me to
remember that the only thing in life worth worrying about is living
without love – there’s really no point in worrying about anything
else. And it’s true! What’s the worst that can happen tonight? You
could have a bad debut show but you’d still have another chance to
put things right and your dad and Rebecca and all of us would still
be here for you. Am I not right?”

“Yes, oppa -
you are, thank you.”

“Good – that’s
my girl! Now, let’s do some breathing exercises – this will help
you feel a bit more normal. Trust me, once you get on that stage
everything will fall into place. Now, take a deep breath in slowly,
just through your nose – now exhale slowly through your mouth.”

KYM guided
Krystal through the breathing exercises until she looked more
composed.

“How are you
feeling, Krystal?” said KYM.

“Better, thank
you – I’d just like to go to the bathroom to splash some water on
my face if that’s okay?”

“Of course it
is – take your time and come and join us when you’re ready.”

Krystal
thanked KYM and made her way to the ladies toilets where she stood
staring at herself in the bathroom mirror. She splashed some water
on her face and continued with her breathing exercises before
eventually closing her eyes in an attempt to focus. She pictured
her mum singing and after a while, she started to feel better.
Krystal took one final deep breath and ran back to the changing
room where the styling team helped her get ready.

From that
point on, everything started to move very quickly. The hall was now
full of people and Krystal could hear the hosts introducing the
start of the show. The crowd was screaming in anticipation.

KYM gathered
the girls together and gave them some final words of advice.

“Girls, this
is it. You have worked so hard, I’m so proud of you. All you have
to do now is do what we’ve been doing day in and day out in
practice. Remember to focus on bold dance moves, executed cleanly.
Do your breathing exercises and don’t strain your vocals
unnecessarily. Most of all, enjoy it! Everyone let’s put our hands
in together, on the count of three, Kpop Club Fighting.”

“1, 2, 3, Kpop
Club Fighting!!!” screamed the girls, throwing their hands up in
the air.

Krystal felt
the adrenalin pumping through her veins.

“Okay, let’s
do this!” said KYM, leading the girls out to the waiting area at
the side of the stage.

The girls
stood with their arms around each other, waiting for another group
to finish their performance. Then, almost to their disbelief, one
of the hosts made the big announcement.

“And now with
their debut song, Plastic Eyes, everyone please welcome, Kpop
Club!”

The concert
hall erupted in screaming and clapping.

Krystal took a
deep breath in and led the girls out onto the stage where they took
up their starting positions. The Plastic Eyes backing music started
playing and like magic, Kpop Club sprung into life. The girls
glided from side to side, twisting their hips in unison and
switching positions effortlessly. After about 10 seconds of
dancing, Krystal rotated her way to the front of the group and
began singing her solo.

I’m real, the
real deal

I want you to
show me how you feel, feel, feel

Are you for
real, real, real?

Been around
the world

Seen trouble
all around

Seen
superficial lies

The crowd
screamed so loudly that Krystal could hardly hear herself sing. She
caught a glimpse of a girl in the crowd holding a banner.

We love you
Krystal!

The girls
rotated again and Krystal slid to the back of the group and stood
still in a pose whilst April, Maya and Priya performed a small
routine. The girls rotated again, their bodies perfectly in-sync.
The chorus came in and they began singing together.

In plastic
eyes, your plastic eyes

KYM howled
with joy as he watched from the side of the stage.

Hannah made
her way to the front of the group and began her solo.

I’m the real
deal, the real real deal

I’ll show the
world how I feel

No superficial
lies

Just as the
chorus came back in, Krystal noticed a group of Klubbers in the
crowd, dressed in white t-shirts with pictures of globes on
them.

No plastic
eyes, no plastic eyes

The crowd went
ballistic and started singing along and waving their glow sticks in
time with the beat. The girls worked their way through the song and
received a standing ovation. They bowed to the audience and skipped
off stage, waving and blowing kisses as they went.

Krystal ran
straight over to her dad, wrapped her arms around him and gave him
a big squeeze.

“Darling that
was brilliant, I’m sure your mum was watching and is very proud of
you.”

“Thank you,
Dad,” said Krystal, giving him another big bear hug.

“I got you
some flowers, darling,” said her dad, handing her a bouquet of pink
orchids.

“Thank you!
These are like the ones in Mum’s picture!”

“Who do you
think gave them to her, darling? They were her favourite.”

“I love them,
Dad! I…”

Before Krystal
could finish Rebecca smothered her with a hug.

“Well done,
darling!” said Rebecca.

“Thank you,
Becs!”

The other
girls jumped up and down with joy as well. KYM came over and shook
Krystal’s dad’s hand. Krystal couldn’t quite believe what was
happening – it was the biggest rush of her life. For a minute, time
slowed down and all she could hear was the sound of the crowd. It
wasn’t until KYM made an announcement that Krystal was brought back
down to earth.

“Girls, that
was epic! Everything went like clockwork, you nailed the moves, the
vocals were on point – well done!”

The girls
beamed with joy.

“Thank you,
oppa!” said the girls in unison.

“I want to
take you all out for BBQ kalbi to celebrate so please go and get
changed – we’ll clear up all the stuff and then we can head
straight there.”

“Yes, boss!”
said everyone before heading off to get ready.

KYM walked
over to Krystal and handed her a small jewellery box.

“Krystal,
someone asked me to give you this,” he said.

“Thank you,”
said Krystal, as KYM walked away to help the styling team pack-up
their equipment.

Krystal
stepped out into the corridor and immediately opened the jewellery
box. Inside, was a gold necklace with a little koi fish pendant and
a note underneath.

Krystal.
Congratulations! I know you will have done great. I can’t wait to
see you soon! Andrew Xx

Krystal
starting bawling tears of happiness; she felt a mixture of joy and
relief. All the disappointments she had had with auditions, all the
new things she had to learn, giving up living with her dad - it had
all been worth it. She was doing what she loved, she knew her mum
would be proud of her and she’d found Andrew.

Just then,
Rebecca and Hyerim onnie walked into the corridor.

“Krystal,
what’s the matter, darling?” said Hyerim onnie.

“Oh, I’m fine
thank you, onnie. I was only crying because I’m so happy. I’m so
glad you made it today as well – I wanted to say a big thank you to
you again!”

“You’re most
welcome!”

“Now! Let’s
get in the van so we can celebrate! KYM says he’s starving and I
could definitely eat some kalbi right now!” said Rebecca.

“Deal!” said
Krystal.

The trio
rounded up the others and jumped in the Starship. When they got to
the restaurant KYM ordered 4 different cuts of beef along with a
number of different jjigaes and a selection of delicious side
dishes. The group ate and drank until they were uncomfortably full
and very merry. Just before it was time to go, KYM stood up to
address the table.

“Everyone, I
just wanted to let you know that you did an excellent job today and
I’m so proud of you all. The initial reviews are outstanding and I
can’t wait to see how the single does! The Haon singles chart will
be announced next week and I’d say we’ve got a good chance of doing
very well. Anyways, let’s forget about all that for now and toast
what you’ve achieved to date. Everyone, kombae!”

“Kombae!”
yelled everyone, as their glasses clinked.

KYM sat down, took a sip of mineral water
and motioned to Ben.

“Yes, you
sir,” said Ben, pointing out into the audience.

“Moon Tae-Sung
from the Korea Standard. Congratulations on Plastic Eyes reaching
number one on the Haon chart. How are the girls responding to all
the positive press?”

KYM cleared
his throat.

“Thank you.
We’re very proud and honoured to have made it to number one. I had
a good feeling about this song and luckily, I was right. The girls
have responded very well – they’re delighted but the important
thing now is that they keep their feet on the ground and continue
to work hard.”

Ben gave
another journalist permission to speak.

“Kim Jihae
from the Morning Calm Post. Congratulations as well – when will
Kpop Club’s first album be released?”