Chapter 4

Rita's eyes snap open.

The room she is sleeping in has it's curtains closed, so its really dark. It takes her moments to realize where she is. Memories flow inside her head. last night. The test.

She had earned the first spot in evaluation. Nobody was expecting other wise. She had stood up and expressed her gratitude, and the MC complimented her stage as 'unique'. That's all.

Rita sits up on bed, still groggy from the sleep. a little lamp flickered across (?) the room, so it wasn't completely pitch-black. She stands on her feet and switches the lights on. The room scintillates. But Rita has forget one teeny detail.

She isn't alone. she is sharing the room with a person, another trainee to be specific. Her name is Fangsu, a self taught trainee who is not a trainee under any label or company, and thus trained herself.

Fortunately, the girl is a heavy sleeper. When Rita switches on the light, she just mumbles something in her sleep and starts snoring again. Rita flickers the light off. Then she trudges at the bathroom. After changing in a t-shirt and jeans, she walks out from the room, not before closing the door.

Rita walks and observes the place. They were led in here last night, and she vividly remembers being astonished by the hugeness. There were several rooms for dance, vocal and rap practices. They even gave some studios for producing songs. It has gym, swimming pool, basket ball court, piano room, and even a movie theatre. This place can be Bill Gates's another home.

Rita hangs out aimlessly, as she doesn't know what to do. It's currently 7am, and she has seen the schedule in notice board which says the trainees to gather at the big conference hall in 9 am after breakfast. Rita can go to the dining hall and dig in, but she doesn't want to eat alone. And so walking is what she does.

Roaming around, she reaches at the piano room. It's closed, obviously, but isn't locked. Then she decided to enter to kill some time. Opening the door, Rita hears some faint melodic sounds of pressing the piano keys. rhythmically. The sound is so sweet, elegant, and gives the feeling as if you are sitting under a tree in a breezy spring day and enjoying ripe apple.

Rita peeks her head through the door and her eyes land at the source of the sound. The culprit is sitting in front of the piano, playing with his eyes closed. He is a fine young man, tall and lean, his curly brown hair bouncing as he shakes his head with the tune. He also has remarkably beautiful fingers which are dancing on the keys and making heart-wrenching tunes.

The boy doesn't notice her. Rita stares, amused and drinks in the scenario. after a while, the boy stops playing and looks up. His eyes widen.

Rita fully pushes the door and enters in the room. she closes it and steps forward. Looking at the boy, she greets. "Hello."

The boy blinks, as if he can't believe Rita is talking to him. "Um... hi?" he sounds nervous and that gives Rita confidence.

She walks straight ahead and plops herself down on the bench in front of the piano, just beside the boy. He looks very surprised and shy. Rita feels pleased.

"My name is Choi Suzy," she introduces. "And you are?"

"Jayjay." the boy answers in a meek voice. The name brings some memories to Rita.

"Oh? You are Japanese right?" Jayjay nods. Clearly he is too scared to say anything in the conversation. Rita laughs. "Why are you so stiff? I'm not going to bite your head off."

"uh... well, it's just, you know," he stammers. Rita raises an eyebrow. "No, I don't know. Please do let me acknowledge, o wise pianist." Jayjay looks at her with eyes as wide as saucers, "Wise pianist?"

"Yeah. I saw you playing the piano. You're so good!" Rita praises and a smile tugs in the corner of Jayjay's lips.

One of Rita's tactics in talking with people is praising them. It makes them comfortable. Surely enough, Jayjay relaxes. "Ah, thanks," he scratches the back of his neck, a light blush adorning the cheeks. Cute.

"It's just... you're Choi Suzy. The star of the show. You're the most famous contestant out there."

Rita hides her sigh. Why can't she talk with cute boys without acknowledging her fame?

"Forget about it," Rita says, a bit of annoyance in her voice. "Forget who i am, please. This is tiring. Talk to me like you do to a normal human."

"Yeah, right," Jayjay says. "So, um, why did you want to come in this show? I mean, you are fam-er, a good singer and all."

"Well, I wanted to test my ability. This show is good, and I want to network as much as possible." Rita inwardly frown, but doesn't let show. "Starting with you." she points a finger at him playfully.

Rita finds it adorable how Jayjay splutters and blushes. "Um, yeah," he chokes. "Thanks."

She decides it has been enough teasing and lands on the real talk now. "So," she leans in, "Where did you learn this amazing piano playing?"

After that, they chat for almost an hour. Jayjay is an introvert. He is pretty shy (?), but also has very decent and sweet manners. Rita cracks some jokes to make him comfortable. She doesn't push him and lets the convo flow smoothly instead. They become friends and Rita feels pretty good about it.

In the midst of their bonding (Rita likes the sound of it) A bell rings throughout the building. Rita almost jumps thinking it's the fire alarm.

"It's the bell of the cafeteria," Jayjay says. "Let's get food."

"How do you know so many things?" Rita asks curiously.

"I was at the previous survival show." Jayjay answers as he picks up the fallen notation and places it neatly over the piano reeds.

Rita badly wants to ask what had happened at the last survival show, but choses to keep her mouth shut. Surely he got eliminated from that show. So it might not be a good topic to bring up.

Rita secretly admires Jayjay's determination of coming again and giving himself a second chance. Many just fall like dry leaves and vanishes after getting removed from these survival shows.

They got out of the room and follow a digital map inputted in their phone yesterday. They arrive in the cafeteria.

The sweet aroma of the healthy yet delicious foods hangs heavy in the air. Most of the contestants are already here, chatting amongst themselves, eating and laughing. Clatters of plates-glasses, lots of shouting, bellowing ha-ha noises ring in Rita's head. She sits down on a seat with her food filled plate. Bon appetite.

Rita sips on the apple juice after a tasty meal, and the bell chimes, indicating it's 9 am and they must get going in the conference room.

They all gather and walk at the destination. Rita feels good that nobody tries to approach her. Even though she gets eye-corner stares, and whispers, none comes at the intention of befriending a famous singer. She honestly hates when someone does that.

They reach the room and it opened itself, signaling them to enter.

The room is huge. There are two floors, both having innumerable chairs designed in rows. And they solely focuses at the stage in front of them.

Rita is almost dragged by the staffs at the first row with other idol soloists. She catches a glimpse of Fangsu far away.

After settling themselves, floodlights light up. A man enters in the stage.

Some of their breath hitch, some freeze, and some scream. Rita stares.

Who is he?