His name prophecies himself to bathe under the eternal sunrise of youth. And his infinite boyhood is what the industry chases after. So a young boy from Spain surrenders his childhood for a teenage dream.
"I'm just trying to live the teenage dream...
First impressions weighed heavily in the Korean music industry. His lessons in publicity back at the company engraved the thought in his head. It was a big deal that most companies created images for trainees and idols to appear in for profit.
The image the company was carefully piecing together for him had to be kept in the closet for now. "That image is for when you debut in BigHit." And so they had two months to choose the persona he would wear and the song that would accentuate this. "What if I just show up as I was?" It pulled his lips to a frown when some of the publicists laughed at his suggestion. He knew that showing your true self to the public might break you away from your own soul because you gave it to your fans. But he wasn't that clueless anymore, so he pressed on as if they didn't interrupt him. "Give them the foreign boy eager to perform in Kpop — maybe a bit too energetic and willing to do anything to please the fans in appearance. It won't whiplash me because that's who I was before, maybe I know more because of training for two years. But I'm still young and that does come with this perception of naivety."
The proposed image from the young Sol surprised some of the staff. The boy they met in 2019 changed over time, he'd grown to know the industry a bit. The growth can be attributed to the trainee schedule and classes they'd doused him on. But it was the first time they settled in on how much he matured while staying in South Korea. And he was clearly becoming the capable Kpop idol leader they were planning him to be in the year 2025 or 2026. "I think that's a good idea. It won't be any good for Sol to have an image too different from how he is because it's a survival show. Some real uncomfortable aspects of you being sixteen will appear on camera so let's not differ too much away."
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Sol doesn't know how other companies operate. He heard a few stories from fellow trainees in BigHit who were once part of other big companies. The solid three rising companies intimidated him. They had manufactured and produced top groups across generations and so they pressured all their trainees to be better versions. The chance of debut was always limited.
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Today, once he enters the tunnel on cue, he'll be more familiar with the various trainee experiences of each one. And he knows he'll hear of terrors that would shake his core, ones that would make him fear being let go of BigHit. But he has to accept this because he can't escape the show unscathed even if he was a promising trainee for debut.
"BigHit entertainment?"
"BTS sunbaenim's company?"
"I never heard of them participating in an outside survival show."
The whisper-shouts of the trainees echoed in the tunnel. And it didn't ease his nerves at the recognition of his company. There were so many legendary acts from his company, they'd expect nothing else but the same towards their trainees. As he neared the exit, he took a few deep breaths before plastering a smile on his face as he entered the sights of everyone else.
