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Grabbing a strawberry from my bag, I pop it into my mouth before lifting the entire bag over my head and running out into the rain.
Six
It’s still raining three days later when Joah sends a van to pick me up for a radio show appearance forThe Woori and Woogi Showat EBC. Secretary Park is already seated when I climb inside, peering down at her tablet while speaking low into her Bluetooth. I nod at the driver through the rearview mirror, clipping on my seat belt as he slowly maneuvers the van down the narrow street from my house, located at the top of the hill.
After a few turns, the car passes the small corner convenience store where my mother used to take me to get ice cream after school, before the success of her company claimed more of her attention. A worker presses the door open with her back, emerging with a basket of?7000 umbrellas. I move my face closer to the window. Overhead, gray clouds gather above the city.
The van travels south over the bridge into Gangnam, and we hit standstill traffic near the broadcasting center. I lean back in the seat, scrolling through SNS, as rain patters against the window.
Jenny posted a carousel to her feed an hour ago. The pictures are from last week, taken at a museum in New York City where she must have performed with some of her classmates. A few of the photos are of the art exhibits, but the last is a candid of Jenny. The person who took it captured her mid-laugh. She looks ebullient, happy. A thick, uncomfortable feeling lodges in my chest, and I turn my phone face down on my lap.
Secretary Park glances up from her tablet. “Is something the matter?”
I shake my head, peering back out the window at the blurry street signs.
I haven’t talked to Jenny in over a week. I know she’s busy. She has classes and Jaewoo and her New York friends, along with that audition. Gi Taek and Angela, our friends from high school, would say to justtellJenny I miss her, but I don’t want to burden her when she’s already stressed. It’s better if I just deal with my feelings on my own.
The driver manages to escape traffic, pulling into the garage at EBC fifteen minutes early. The broadcasting center is a tall, multipurpose building with studios on the upper levels and a soundstage on the bottom floor where their weekly music shows are recorded.
“Welcome!” Woori, our host, greets us as Secretary Park and I enter the spacious waiting area off the fifth-floor elevator. She’s a head shorter than me with round cheeks and rosy pink hair.
The two other guests for the show have already arrived, seated on a plush leather sofa. They quickly stand as I introduce myself. “My name is Min Sori,” I say, after a short bow, “a model and trainee with Joah.”
A tall, slender girl with fashionably thin bangs returns my bow. “My name is Tsukumori Rina,” she says. “I’m a trainee with Neptune, though I debuted in Japan...” She trails off with a rueful smile, implyingit’s complicated.
I smile back, wondering if she knows Angela and Gi Taek. They’re also trainees at Neptune. Before I can ask her, the second girl introduces herself.
“And I’m Lee Byeol, an actress with KS Entertainment. I already debuted. You might know my drama,Springtime Blossom.”
“Is that an adaptation from the web novel?” I ask. I haven’t heard of her drama, but I’ve read the web novel. Though admittedly it’s not one of my favorites. I’m not a big fan of the “love at first sight” trope. I prefer a second-chance romance.
Iamcurious to know more about web-novel-to-screen adaptations, however, as Sun will be starring in one fairly soon, an adaptation of a popular romantic fantasy web novel.
“It is,” Byeol says, wrinkling her nose. “Please tell your friends to watch it.”
We move into the recording studio where the brother half ofThe Woori and Woogi Showspeaks with the producer. He’s the same height as his twin, wearing hexagonal wire-framed glasses, his hair dyed a light blue-grey. After introductions are repeated, he goes over the run of show. The setup is standard for celebrity-run radio shows—Woori and Woogi themselves are indie musicians. In between playing music, we’ll have short segments in which they will ask our opinions on questions that listeners will call in with, and then, at the end of the hour, we’ll play a short game.
Each of the guests takes one of the three seats across from the hosts. I let the other two decide where to sit before pulling out the last seat beside Rina. The hosts and the producer show us how to use the headsets and microphones and explain how once we’re on air, everything we say will be broadcasted live on the radio.
I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. This is my first time as a guest on a live radio show, but I’ve listened to hundreds of shows just like this one, and I know what to expect.
The producer starts counting down aloud. “Five... four... three...” Then with just his fingers.Two... one...
“Welcome toThe Woori and Woogi Show!” the siblings say together.
“The theme of today’s episode is Rising Stars,” Woori says, “and here in the studio we have three incredible new talents: rookie actress, Lee Byeol, idol trainee, Rina, and model, Min Sori!”
“Let’s welcome our guests!” Woogi claps.
Each of us introduces ourselves before moving on to the first caller, an older woman who asks how she can get her daughter to concentrate on her schoolwork and stop chasing idols.
Lee Byeol says that her daughter should watch dramas instead, likeSpringtime Blossom. From behind the window of the control room, Lee Byeol’s manager gives her two thumbs up.
Then it’s Rina’s turn, and she timidly suggests that the woman take the girl to see her favorite idols at fansigning events. “As an incentive for d-doing her schoolwork.”
“You want me to bribe my daughter?” the woman responds, which causes Rina to flush like a peach.
“What about you, Sori-ssi?” Woogi asks. “What advice would you give this caller’s daughter?”
