Chapter 18
Johana's side
"One, two, three… No! You're doing it wrong!" David shook his head. "Come on, you're not focusing."
I was focusing. "Can I take a break?" I hear myself whine. "We've been practicing for over two hours!"
"There's only one week before the competition. Don't you want to do well?"
I sighed loudly. Of course I wanted to do well. I looked at the small, pitiful amount of dancing room we had in the living room. I wipe the sweat off of my face and stood up.
David and I had been practicing for the past few days. I try not to think of the auditions as much as possible, since I never won anything in my life before. I don't think that I'm going to somehow spontaneously win this one out of chance. Or by talent, either. "I don't think this is going to work out," I say to him when I filled the application online.
"Well, we'll just try," he gives me one of his adorable, flirty smiles. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and leans closer to me. Like he wanted to kiss me.
I instinctively back away. Stephen. How could I forget about him? He really did love me. But if it was really meant to be, why did fate separate us? "I'm sorry, David. Can't we just be friends?" Half a year ago, that was his exact excuse to break up with me.
He frowned. "What's wrong with being a little more?"
"You know why. I'm going. My mother's probably asking where I am, and Da Biao will be picking me up soon. See you for practice tomorrow."
"You better remember. Tomorrow is the last day before the auditions. Do you have the address and everything?"
"Yup." I ran out and nearly crashed into my cousin.
"Are you done with your rehearsal?" Da Biao looked at his watch. "You know, you still have an hour…"
"It's ok. We're done, anyways." I couldn't possibly tell him that I was trying to avoid David. "What did you tell my mom?"
"I said that we were going to sightsee."
"And not take photos? I wonder if she's starting to wonder how we go to so many places without her and never bother to take pictures…"
"Don't worry. I took some of Beijing before, so it doesn't matter."
We walked out of the David's apartment building and back to our hotel.
On the day of the audition, Da Biao drove me to the Talent Headquarters. He had made up a random excuse to my mother, who would've given a fit if she found out I had been practicing at a boy's house without her consent. The center looked like a museum of abstract art rather than a place to seek stars.
"JoJo! Over here!" Dave waved his arms.
I race over to him. "Hey."
"I've got the audition stuff, and we're going to dance in half an hour."
It was a long hour. We glided back and forth the entire time, trying not to look too pretentious and give away our talent to the other competitors. "Johana Ying and David Pak, please make your way to Room 101."
We rushed over to the room marked with a huge "101" sign. Inside, there were three judges: two males, one female. They looked like they came from a funeral.
"From your application, I see that Johana can't speak Korean. Is that so?"
"Yes, madam," I answer reluctantly. Not being able to speak Korean when audition for a Korean music company is kind of a huge disadvantage.
She grimaced. "Well, let's see your dance."
Half of the dance, we nailed it. It was easy, for we just danced with the music. I could feel my palms sweating when the music reached a halt. David and I danced in silence. We moved to the inaudible music perfectly.
"Thank you," the judges simultaneously say. I tried to look into their faces for some sort of shock or amazement, but they only coldly glared at me back.
We wait outside for what seemed like hours. When the papers were finally posted, we rushed toward the finalists. I blindly searched for our names. And there it was. Johanna Ying and David Pak.
Dave reached over and kissed me. I was so happy by the results, I didn't even care.
"I can't believe it! I can't believe it!" I shout over and over again. Tears of happiness rolled down my cheeks.
He laughed. "We still have one more round in Korea – "
"With a little practice, we can win!" I hug him. He smelled like the ginger cologne he always wore.
Stephen, you lied. I will become a star. And we will be together again.