AKA

Chapter Four

Jer really didn't have an idea of how the contract signing/meeting would go, but he figured it would include President Hyong and Manager Kyung explaining a few things to his parents followed by a review of the contracts, the signing of the contracts, and then Jer and his family leaving. Quick. Easy. A short, approximately ten-minute long session.

Jer was completely wrong.

The meeting ran about thirty-five minutes and covered SO MUCH information that Jer's head hurt afterwards. The contract reviewing and signing part lasted fifteen minutes while the information part took the other twenty. Some of the information President Hyong and Manager Kyung went over wasn't very interesting to Jer and prompted Jess to sneak away on her phone. However, there were some information bits that excited Jer.

The first thing that interested Jer was that he would be the youngest member in the band. President Hyong informed him and his family that the band will be made up of young men between the ages of 16-20, as A-List Records advertised in their audition announcement. Jer would be the only sixteen-year-old. When Jer asked how old the other members are, President Hyong told him that Lee Min-joon is seventeen, Samuel Kim (aka New Shot) is also seventeen, Jimmy Kim is eighteen, Brandon Oh is nineteen, Taiyang Taylor is twenty, and Yohee Go (aka YoYo) is also twenty.

The biggest thing that caught Jer's attention was the band official's placements. President Hyong told him that of everyone in the group, Jer's skills are the most exceptional. President Hyong said that Jer's voice is strong and stable, his dancing is skilled and fluid, and his rapping skills are very good, though could use some improvement with the help of A-List's coaches. Manager Kyung said that the A-List executives want the center and main face of the band to be someone who is new and extremely talented. He explained that new and talented faces get a lot of buzz, because new things are always exciting to people and gain popularity quickly. Therefore, because Jer is the most talented of three new band trainees (him, Brandon, and Jimmy Kim), he would get the lead vocal and lead dancer position. Manager Kyung added that he would also be a sub-rapper, if ever the group needed one. Jess screamed excitedly and hugged Jer when Manager Kyung announced the exciting news. Mr. and Mrs. Park were shocked, but excited as well. Jer thought he needed to wake up from the craziest dream ever.

The next bit of information that Jer thought was interesting came from a question his mom brought up when President Hyong asked if there were any further questions before they went over the contracts. Mrs. Park asked how Jer will continue his schooling while being in the band. Jer groaned. Jess snickered and whispered to Jer that of course their mom would ask that. Manager Kyung said that because it was May and school would be out in a month, Jer will be able to continue and complete his tenth-grade year at his high school. However, his eleventh and twelfth grade years would have to be completed through online work and with the help of tutors due to the band's future, busy schedule.

The last thing that interested Jer was the question he asked after his mom's school question. Jer asked President Hyong if he and the other six band members will live in the A-House. Mr. and Mrs. Park asked what the A-House was and Jer explained to them that the A-House is a mansion-turned dormitory in the wealthy, suburban area of New Seoul that some of the A-List Records artists live in. YoYo lives there and Trio used to, Jer added. Manager Kyung corrected Jer, saying that while the third and former member of Trio no longer lives there, Samuel Kim still does. President Hyong said that the new band's living situation was something that would be addressed in the contract part of the meeting. However, he said that, yes, Jer and the other band members would be living in the A-House. Mr. and Mrs. Park—especially Mrs. Park—seemed worried about Jer moving out of the house already, but they figured that Jer would be alright because he'd be living with the same people he would be working with every day.