"Sometimes I hate every single stupid word you say Sometimes I wanna slap you in your whole face There's no one quite like you, you push all my buttons down I know life would suck without you" True Love by P!nk
She could still remember they day she boarded the plane to South Korea.
Her sister drove her to the airport, standing in front of the boarding door before Jaeyun (or Verónica in Argentina) had to get in.
"So, mom and dad decided not to come" Jaeyun said to her sister, Nari (or Natalia in Argentina too).
"It's not that" Nari tried to comfort her, grabbing her shoulders and squeezing them a bit "they were really busy with work"
"It's always that" Jaeyun answered while looking down at her shoes, she was wearing her (really worn out) jaguar sneakers, probably the only thing she liked that came from her mom. "They'll never tell me to my face they don't like why I'm moving to South Korea, or the fact that I'm moving" what her parents didn't realize (probably because they didn't care) was that Jaeyun already knew they didn't like it, they weren't good at hiding it.
"Well, it doesn't matter" Nari tried, again, to cheer her up, "because when you debut, I'm gonna be the first one to buy your group's albums, lightstick and I'll collect all of your photocards" she said, making Jaeyun smile "I'll be your n° 1 fan"
"You're acting like if I actually have a chance to debut" Jaeyun said while looking down at her shoes again.
"Hey! Stop it!" Nari smacked her in the arm "I was trying to be nice"
"And I appreciate that" Jaeyun answered, finally looking up at her sister "eonni" she added with a smirk on her face.
"Oh my god" her sister laughed "don't call me that, it makes me feel old" she faked a disgusted face.
"Oh? It makes you feel old?" Jaeyun kept teasing "how old are you in South Korea? Well, you were born in-" she wasn't able to keep talking because her sister smacked her arm, again.
"Stop that" she said, even though that sounded firm, she had a small smile on her face. Jaeyun was definitely going to miss her sister.
They both stayed quiet for a little, she still had some time before she had to board the plane, but she didn't feel ready to say goodbye yet.
"I'll miss you" her sister said, "but I'm not crying in front of you" she added.
Jaeyun looked at her again before hugging her "it's okay" she said, quickly switching to Korean. Their parents had raised them with some Korean while growing up, but enough to be fluent. When she got accepted to become a trainee under Bighit, they told her she will be attending to some Korean classes because she was foreign (apparently, they added that after receiving a lot of foreign trainees over the last couple of years).
"I talked to our halmeoni and she said it was okay for her and halabeoji if you wanted to stay with them" Nari explained.
"I was literally in the call with you Nari" Jaeyun replied. She turned her head around to look at the boarding door "I'll probably have to get inside in a bit" she said and looked at her sister again "I'll miss you too eonni" she hated the fact that she could feel the tears starting to form at the edge of her waterline, but she still smiled at her sister.
"It's okay" this time Nari spoke in Spanish "you're gonna do great" she added.
Jaeyun quickly swiped the tears from her eyes and looked down at her bag. Inside she had a book she wanted to read during the flight, a water bottle, a blanket, a small pillow and something to cover her eyes while she slept (if she even managed to).
"You have everything you need right?" Nari asked her while looking down at her bag too.
"Yep" Jaeyun answered, making the "p" sound stronger.
"And you'll text me as soon as you land" she added "I already told halmeoni and halabeoji to go pick you up"
"Yes, I'll text you" Jaeyun said as she hugged her sister "and I'll send so many pictures that you're gonna have to get a new phone to keep them all" she added as a joke, trying to ignore the new tears forming on her eyes.
Nari laughed as a response, probably so she wouldn't cry in front of her sister. She separated from the hug after some time and grabbed her suitcase. "I should go now" Jaeyun said.
"Yeah, you should" her sister answered.
Jaeyun quickly got into the line to board the plane and just before getting into the hallway that got her inside the plane, she waved towards her sister one last time.
Now, four years later, she was holding hands with Yua, her best friend. They were both standing in front of the judges of the Korean survival show I-Land while they announced who won.
Jaeyun had realized Yua was shaking because of how nervous she was, she already knew that their fans on twitter were gonna say how cute it was for her to hold the hand of her best friend, but she only wanted to focus on that moment.
"It's okay" she whispered in Yua's ear, in English. They had both met on the Korean lessons they took during trainee days, Yua was Japanese, so she was taking them as well as Jaeyun "I know you'll win" she added.
"You'll win too" Yua answered.
Jaeyun wanted to answer that she wasn't sure she might win too, her performance during the show hadn't been the best, even if she had never been a grounder, she was still not confident on it. But before she could even open her mouth to whisper into Yua's ear again, the announcer spoke over her.
"Mori Yua!" Jaeyun turned her head just in time to see the little edited flag with Yua's picture on it fall down on the screens behind them. She couldn't stop smiling.
Yua was now kneeling on the floor, covering her face, probably to avoid crying out of happiness. Jaeyun caressed her shoulder and helped her get up from the floor.
"You'll win too, we'll be teammates, I promise" Yua told her while they were hugging, but she quickly had to walk away towards the stands where the winning contestants stood, Baek Raon was already standing there, showing Yua a bright smile.
Jaeyun stood there, next to the rest of the contestants who hadn't being chosen (yet, maybe) while the rest of the members of the group kept being chosen (Yun Mari and Byun Nara), the hope of her debuting soon leaving her body piece by piece while the names that were announced weren't her own.
Now, there was only one more spot, the producer's choice, and there were only 5 more contestants, Jaeyun included. She was standing next to Han Samjin and Eun Jiyu, she hadn't interacted too much with them throughout the show, but a part of her wanted them to win too, she wanted all contestants to win.
"And now, we'll be announcing the producer's choice" the announcer said, Jaeyun felt like punching the guy, why was he taking so long? she didn't remember him taking so long when she watched I-Land's season 1. "This contestant impressed both the judges and he audience with her talent in dancing and rapping, but also amazed everyone by showing she's also an amazing vocalist" Jaeyun was shaking, was she an amazing vocalist? She couldn't even think in that moment, almost preparing herself to not hear her name, again. "Kwon Jaeyun!"
She froze at first, only regaining movement when one of the girls next to her grabbed her shoulder and moved it a little, the shock finally getting to her, she was finally able to debut, she was going to debut.
She tried to contain the tears that threaten to run down her face as she walked towards the step she had to stand into, her step. It was glowing with a different light than everybody, the others were gold, hers was blue.
As soon as she stood there, everybody cheered, not just the eliminated contestants, but also the judges and the rest of the member of the group, the group she was now part in. She smiled and turned to look at Yua, who was already looking at her, so she ran up to her and hugged her tightly.
"I knew it" Yua said to her ear.
Jaeyun chuckled and then backed away from the hug to hug the rest of the girls, starting with Raon (who was soon going to be the leader of the group). When she turned to look at the rest of the people in the big room, that's when she saw him.
Jay Park, the second oldest member of Enhypen, her now senior (or sunbaenim), but also, her rival.
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Ngl I feel like this chapter gives a totally different vibe to what the story is actually like, not in a bad way tho (I think)
Hope you guys liked it, please tell me what you think! (if this gets posted after I-Land 2 comes out, I started writing this before it came out)