Lost in Translation

Chapter 4: Telling Team A

The evaluation went very well if I do say so myself. I performed Weekend by Taeyeon as it was the song I had practised the most while learning Korean. The trainers had a lot of feedback for me, they even wrote out some stuff on a piece of paper for me to give soyu my trainer, so she could give me some final instructions before I left for Korea. After the Trainers left Mr Akimoto and I walked over to the Team A members who were sitting on the side, looking quite shocked at what had just happened before.

"Hey girls, long time no see" I greet them, smiling wryly. They sit there looking at me for a few minutes. Most likely still processing what had happened just minutes before.

"Honoka? Why do you look so different? What happened?" someone asks. I look over to the benches and notice that it was Shizuku. The first member of Team A I became friends with and the first to speak out against my rumours.

"Hey guys, how are you? I'm sorry I haven't seen you guys in so long, but as you can see I have been very busy" I tell them.

"I have been away training and working out to prepare myself as I have been accepted and will be competing in the reboot of Produce 101 that Mnet has announced" I reveal everything to them. I tell them about my training program, my diet and my workout routine. I tell them everything except for the investigation and how I am partially travelling over there so that I can be away from the Minami family who has no reach in Korea while the investigation is conducted.

The girl's reactions were ones of shock, surprise, relief and expectation. Most of them congratulated me, they knew I had always wanted to try something like that. Some of them worried for me, and others didn't know how to process this information.

We spent the next couple of hours catching up and answering questions. I then practised with them until I had to go, as I would have to complete an altered final few weeks of training before I left for Korea. During that time I would have to learn my performance for the initial ranking mission at the beginning and touch up on my Korean before I leave. I also decided to spend a couple of days with my family before I left because I had been so busy lately that I hadn't spent much time with them.

Timeskip

The time I spent with my parents was valuable. We spent time hanging out around Tokyo. We shopped, talked and spent time together before I had to leave for the next while. My mother was sad that I would be leaving the country and not seeing them for a while, but she understood and supported me wholeheartedly. My father, on the other hand, was elated. He was already happy that I had become an Idol in Japan, let alone a very popular member. He would brag all the time to his friends about it. However, the fact that I was chasing my dreams so much so that I was going to head over to Korea made him feel even more pride and happiness for me. He had always been my number one fan, and since I had made the decision to take part in the survival show, he had supported me fully and without any doubt.

It reassured me to have the support of my family as I took part in the show. It means that they believed in me and trusted me enough to attempt this, even if my future wouldn't be guaranteed.

I then returned for my final two weeks of training before my trip over the water. It consisted of some last-minute Korean lessons to make sure I could at least converse somewhat efficiently, touch-ups to my dance, mainly expressions and sharpening my movements. A review of rapping basics showed a slight improvement in my dictation, although I still couldn't freestyle whatsoever. My stage presence had improved greatly as well, and my vocals were still considered near perfect by my trainer, who told me that I would definitely earn an A grade just for my vocals, however, we expected a B grade based on my dance and a D or C for my rap, and I had decided that I would make it up during the re-evaluation mission.

Finally, I also practised my evaluation performance hard... and I mean hard. Every day for a week and a half, 7 hours a day, I would walk to the dance training room and practice, the dance, and the song. I had decided to go for a song that would show off my lower vocal register and technique over my range, while also selecting a song that had a rap that was basic enough for me to perform but also good enough to show that I could somewhat rap. As there wasn't a full choreography, my trainer worked with me to come up with one, which would be easy enough to perform while singing and rapping and to stay within my skill range, while also showing my ability. There were a couple of choices, but ultimately we went with the one that I liked the most, and was buy one of my favourite Korean artists. I decided to perform a Korean song as it was important to show that I could perform Korean songs as a native Japanese speaker and a song that had a concept that would show my versatility as well. At the moment my appearance gave off more of a cute atmosphere, however thanks to my mother and trainer I had come up with a way to show that I could look elegant or sexy as well and I really looked forward to playing those cards in the later missions if I lasted that long. Then finally, after a lot of practising, complaining of pain, and tears shed over my eventual separation from my parents and friends at AKB48, it was time for my flight.

(To all those effected by the recent new regarding Astro and Moonbin, my heart goes out to you all. Moonbin was a talented and big part of Astro and I'm sure many of you, me included, were shocked and saddened by the news. My support goes out to Moonsua and their family!)