AKA

Chapter Two

Though Jer was extremely nervous, he did very well in his audition for A-List Records' up and coming seven-member, singing-rapping-and-dancing boyband. The three holding the auditions were all impressed with Jer. They all told Jer that he was very talented and that they loved his original, solely written, and self-produced audition piece. The well-dressed graying man sitting in the middle—A-List Records founder and president, Yong-jin Hyong—told Jer that he loved Jer's singing voice. The man with glasses and a short beard on the left—former Trio manager, Mi-won Kyung—told Jer that he loved his lyrics and rapping. The black man with a black and red snapback and a matching black and red tracksuit on the right—famous choreographer Reggie Ray Reynolds (Triple R)—told Jer that he liked his creative and original choreography. Jer was amazed by all the praises.

President Hyong said A-List is looking for young, talented men who could learn and train to be a boy band idol quickly because he wants to debut a new and extremely skilled boy band as soon as possible. Jer nervously asked why. Manager Kyung answered Jer's question and explained that with the fall of Trio, A-List is down a hit male group. He went on to explain that with a new, big, boy band, A-List Records can recover what they lost with Trio. Triple R sighed out "RIP Hyun-woo" and Jer and the other two men all nodded solemly.

Before leaving his audition, President Hyong told Jer that he should be receiving a phone call within a couple of days that will notify him whether or not he made it to the call-backs. However, merely a day later—to his surprise and excitement—Jer got a call from President Hyong's secretary, who told him that he made it to the call-backs. Jer and Jess screamed when listening to the secretary's words, but their parents—who had never been a fan of Jer's pursuit in music—weren't nearly as excited as their children. Jer's parents were hesitant about letting him continue in the audition process, but they let him go to the call-backs anyway.

Four days later—at the call-backs—Jer ran to a familiar face upon entering the audition waiting room.

"Brandon!" Jer exclaimed with a wide smile. "You made it!"

Blue-and-black haired Brandon turned to Jer and smiled back. "I know, right? I was so happy when I got my call-back call on Monday."

Jer sat in the empty chair next to Brandon slowly. "You got your call on Monday? I got mine on Saturday. They must have gotten to calling you late."

Brandon laughed and shook his floppy hair. "Wow. You're really new to this whole audition thing, aren't you, Jer? Calling me back on Monday doesn't mean they got back to me late. It means they got back to me on time. They got back to you early."

Jer looked even more confused than he did before. "Why'd they do that? I mean, you may not know, but if you do—"

"It's because they were really, really impressed with you and your audition. They want you in the band badly, Jer."

Jer opened his mouth to say something, but then immediately closed it. He didn't know what to say in response to Brandon.

"I heard the day of original auditions way back on Friday that you're definitely a top finalist. You, of course, Lee Min-joon, and that Jimmy Kim guy over there. Apparently, Jimmy has an amazing voice and hits pretty impressive high notes."

Jer turned to Brandon. "So, there's just one spot left then, right? And it's probably a rapper spot?"

"Probably," Brandon smiled. He then looked down on the floor and moved his bright blue hi-tops around.

"And that rapper spot could just be down to you or me because we both auditioned for a rapper spot, right?" Jer asked.

"Probably," Brandon was still smiling. He smiled even brighter when saying, "But I'm not worried about it, though. If I get the spot, then it's meant to be. But if I don't and you get the spot, then you're meant to be in the band, and I'm meant to be somewhere else doing something else."