Paper Dolls

Chapter 5

"I'm so tired. I could sleep on this bench right now and probably wake up after a week."

Binna looks down at the metal bars that we sit on and notes the gum stuck at its sides. "That would be highly unsanitary." 

The bus finally arrives and we pile in with the other passengers. Firefly is only a few blocks away so we stand by the doors, ready to exit when the bell chimes at our destination. 

The Firefly Entertainment headquarters really portray our humble beginnings. The building is small, rectangular and nothing but slabs of grey concrete pasted together symmetrically. The only thing that stands out is the large neon signboard that alerts the public that this place is an entertainment company. 

Our CEO Mr Yang has always repeated how Firefly came into existence under his tutelage and hard work. He set up this small company in 1991 and his first group Nexus barely covered the rental for the first two years. 

His second group Green Girls became relatively more successful and thus Firefly was able to afford some maintenance and the large signboard perched by the top floor. The next few groups were also semi famous and just enough to breakeven and cover the maintenance and cost to run the company. 

In other words Firefly had been struggling from the beginning until Viva was launched in 2013. No one expected their third boy group to be so successful but Viva beat all odds and brought in the most revenue Firefly entertainment had ever seen.

Mr Yang always tells us that Viva's second album paid for the building right next to Firefly's headquarters. This behemoth of a building houses all our training lessons, studios, cafeteria and media training sessions. The lower ground has even been renovated into a mini concert arena which is sometimes used for evaluations and very exclusive Viva concerts. 

It's obvious the public only hungers for this particular boy group in our company but Mr Yang has mentioned many times that he would like to change this by introducing a girl group soon. 

My nerves tingle as we cross the double glazed sliding doors and walk into the lobby of our training centre. Our boots squeak against the spotless dark marble floors and we scan our passes before heading straight to the lifts. 

I press the button to the fifth floor where our vocal lessons are usually held. Binna and I like to warm up at least an hour before our teachers arrive but the second floor cafeteria calls to me as my stomach grumbles. 

Some coffee right now would be great too.

"Don't even think about it." It is as if Binna can read my mind. "We have our prepared breakfast at 8am, remember?" 

"Ugh, how could I forget." I lean my forehead against the smooth marble wall as I remember the tasteless egg and vegetables awaiting us for breakfast. Ever since management announced that a new girl group would be launched, our group of trainees were introduced to a diet plan designed to help us lose weight and an even stricter training schedule.

On the bright side, it's easy not having to worry about what to eat all the time. The only problem is the food is always so boring and tasteless. Not a grain of salt or speck of oil. God forbid anything deep-fried. 

This could be considered torture to someone who grew up mainly on fried chicken and rice cakes.

I almost smile thinking about the fried tofu I ate yesterday with Jiho. The memory of his eyes crinkling together when he smiled makes my cheeks warm but our teacher's urgent voice quickly knocks the memory out of my head.

"Girls, head to the auditorium now. Mr Yang and some of the execs want to meet you and they will be making some announcements. Tell the other trainees to gather there as well. I want you all in a line on stage before an exec sets foot through the doors."