Chapter 1- Ara
When you have went to starting an k-pop idol career being absolutely nothing but a trainee then going from that to being a superstar - That's big news.
I gazed into the screaming crowd, the lights blinding me and the sound of my voice faint through my earpiece. The non-stop roaring and squealing made it impossible for me to hear my own voice.
One time during a performance, when I threw my body into the outstretched arms of my backup dancer 'Hyun-woo', the tiny microphone had shifted under my long wavy brown hair, and my voice cracked during the most dramatic moment of my hit single "moon."
The voice crack in my song around Asia.
Endless video loops of that moment were played on the Internet - some added screechy sound effects.
My favorite one out of all of them was an animated pane of glass shattering at the time of my voice cracking. It was so masterfully done, It was so funny that every time I watched it, I couldn't help but giggle.
My manager 'Park Lee Jae' didn't find it funny though.
He saw it as a lapse, an imperfection on an otherwise perfect kpop star.
That lapse was what I was thinking about as I stood on a stage in Incheon. The final stop on my Asian tour.
There was something about the vibration in the air, though -
the currents of excitement filling in the spaces between me and the crowd.
It was why I did this.
Whatever I had been feeling days or seconds before I stepped onstage, like worrying about messing up again, all of that disappeared when the crowd's energy slipped under my skin and into my bloodstream.
I would blink and wonder where I had been for the last three minutes and twenty-four seconds.
I finished the song and looked out in the crowd, the screams of the fans piercing through me as I returned to my body with a whoosh.
Backstage, I was immediately surrounded by people: my makeup artist, stylist, and head of security.
Soon, the back-up dancers stumbled backstage, a group of men and women in nondescript, sexy black outfits.
"Kamsahaminda!" I said as I bowed.
My back-up dancers suffered with me during every single practice and stop and never got any of the glory.
They bowed and thanked me in return, sweaty and exhausted.
"You killed it, Ara." One of the dancers, Jun-Su, said with a wink.
I flushed. Jun-Su was cute.
He was also off-limits, as were most boys in my life.
I laughed nervously as they all shuffled off, going to their hotel together.
