Read my note at the end. - LK

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Jihyo finally made it to her hotel just after visiting Neverland Records for her application. She'll wait to be called for an audition.

"Good luck out there, Ms. Lee!" Mara said, cheering her on. Jihyo just gave her a smile. All throughout the trip to the entertainment agency, she feels awkward that Mara was always with her.

"By the way, before you leave your keys, hear me out. Okay?"

Jihyo stayed in her place, not uttering a word to her. She's all ears. It is unusual for a tourist to stay and tell a stranger what she'll say.

"I'm not actually a tour guide," she admitted.

"I'll see you 'round!" Mara waved.

She was left on the street, dazed and confused. Jihyo continued with having her luggage carried by the hotel staff. She immediately checked in. And then she proceeded to go inside her room.

~

The first thing Jihyo ever thought about as soon as she got up the white hotel bed was looking for an apartment. She'll be living here for God knows when. She just realized her true purpose for moving into the Philippines. It's not just about chasing her dream...

It's about her brother.

Her mother always mentioned that she had a son before her, and she would mention that unsung brother every time she does something that upsets the parent. Jihyo had never met or saw him before, but it's clear that her mother would prefer him over her. She had had enough of hearing all of that, which is why she's here.

Jihyo knew that her brother was also a singer here. After her search for a condominium unit, she went to Google the Jagged Edge member, Kyle. She then landed on a Facebook page of the said boy group.

According to the fan page, the group had four members. One member was the son of an R&B singer, another was the heir of a music store, and the two others were twins. She saw the face of Kyle among them. He had the same doe eyes like hers and plump lips. Her nose was different from his because hers was flat. He had a handsome jawline, and she touched her pointed double chin. Jihyo felt jealous for a while. How was it that her brother was more beautiful than she ever did!?

She's about to close the laptop, but she could've continued with it if she didn't see that red dot on her "messages" tab.

RW Pascual: Let's go to the bar later tonight? Drinks' on me! :D

RW Pascual on Facebook had Yusuke Urameshi as his profile picture. Nothing else is on his profile, but just his cryptic status updates while tagging random people. How did he find out about her account on the platform? Is he a stalker?? 

Jihyo felt her phone vibrate, bringing her back to reality after getting kicked out of the train of thought for staying too long. She didn't get to reply because why would she when the guy that messaged her was a complete stranger?? She checked it, expecting that it was from Neverland Records. But...

Unknown number: Hi, Ms. Lee! Please save this number. I'm sorry if I'm contacting you at this hour, and I got your contact details w/o your permission. Let me know if you need some assistance. <3 I'm Mara, BTW. ^_^

Jihyo wanted to ask when Mara ever did ask for her phone number and where? Filipinos are crazy!

"This is ridiculous!" she exclaimed to herself after hearing the doorbell of her unit ringing. Jihyo went to answer the door to an assistant who was advertising the food down at the third level of this building. She doesn't fully trust the people here, but the thought was thrown out of the street when she felt her stomach grumble as soon as she saw the egg sandwich.

"Is it free?"

Why did she ask that!? What was she thinking?  

"Of course not, Ms. Lee! You can only get an egg sandwich and many more on the 2nd floor of our hotel... except for water, though."

Jihyo was expecting that answer. "I'm sorry for asking that. I just woke up. Please take me there."

When the lift opened up, she saw an extravagant, cafe-style establishment in front of her eyes. Jihyo expected the place to be shabby, empty, and woody like her mother always says about those food shacks in her stories of her life in the Philippines... one of the things she hated about her ex-husband. She paid for one egg sandwich and a bottle of sweetly cultured milk. She went back to her room, right after thanking her assistant. Her phone started ringing.

While she ate, she started to ask herself mentally whether or not she'll answer the call. It might be a scam... the caller would tell her that she had won something, though she's never joined any contest, and it suddenly asks for her number among all her personal details. The best she could do is ignore it.

Jihyo thought of something. She came here to drive her enemies to death if she couldn't do death to herself. If she's here to make friends like her evil mother would always say, Jihyo would ask her face, why? After all, the parent always tells her that she doesn't deserve to be anyone's friend. Oh, there goes that awful default ringtone!

"Please, if you are going to tell me if I've ever won something, I'll never give--"

"Calm down! It's me, Mara."

Then Jihyo froze. This might be the second time she'll ever be rude. No one in her childhood life ever taught her kindness.

"I.. I want to apologize..."

"No need! What's done is already done. Would you care for me to come over to the front of your hotel?"

"For what now?"

"For Neverland's audition! You signed up for that, remember?"

How the hell does she know about that?

"Oh! I forgot all about it!" Jihyo excused, scratching her head. Mara is really creeping her out! "I'll see you downstairs." She dropped the call. 

She showed up to Mara wearing a simple t-shirt and blue denims.

"Ms. Lee, you're so pretty!"

What does she mean by "pretty?" Is Mara being sarcastic? It's hard to tell. All she wore was just a casual outfit and no makeup. She's not used to compliments because her mother did nothing but to throw hurtful words at her.

Jihyo just doesn't want to dig deep into those.

"Ms. Lee, why the long face?" Mara asked. "Smile! That frown doesn't look good on you," she stated in Tagalog, which she didn't understand. "I mean, if you want to pass the audition, you have to keep a positive attitude inside and out." Mara gave her a contagious grin. It made her lips curb from ear to ear.

"Shall we go?"

~

Jihyo's legs were shaking as she stared at the three examiners. Their stern looks are close to melting her, any moment, and she's planning to back out. She'll just waste what she worked hard for almost 15 years of learning.

"You came all the way here from South Korea, correct?" a woman's voice asked. Jihyo just nodded.

"Do you have an instrumental ready? Can you sing us a song?"

Mara handed over the flash drive with a familiar song. She breathed in and out.

"I will cover a Deborah Cox classic," she stated. And the three judges looked at her intently.

"Nobody's Supposed to Be Here," it's a song about a woman who was heartbroken and vowed never to love again. Not until a new person came to her life, and gave love a second chance. Jihyo did all the best to match the heartful message of the song with her over the top singing voice.

But the guys at the front wanted her to stop. They gave her the sourest, dissatisfied face. Jihyo worries. She could already tell what that meant. Her eyes are starting to well up with tears.

She left after she's heard the most heart-shattering statement... they reject her application to be a girl group member. They called the earlier auditioner, praised them, and discredited her in front of them. Mara gently pushes her away and out to the exit. Jihyo's hand curled into a fist.

"Don't be upset. There's always a second chance..."

"No."

How could they call her performance a disrespect to the original artist!? Are her efforts not enough? How high are they gonna expect about her? To the universe!? If that's the case, then they should gang up with her mother in slandering her!

Jihyo shook her head to get rid of these thoughts and just gave Mara a sad smile.

"I'll just go home to Korea. I'm not fit to be here," she sobbed. She kicked an empty cup on the street and left Mara. But she held Jihyo's hand.

"I'm not letting you give up like that!" Mara yelled.

"What do you mean?" Jihyo just stared at her new friend.

Mara fished her phone out her pink purse. She placed it on her ear after dialing a number.

"Coko! Kumusta ka diyan?"

She didn't understand all the things they were talking about at the phone. Her eyebrows furrowed, her mouth slightly opened at the different language. Oh, how she wanted to learn Tagalog, but life went too short for her. Mara turned around to face Jihyo with a smile plastered on her beautiful face.

"We've finally found a way for you to get in. You're going to be a soulful star tomorrow."

"Hi," a male voice said. It made Jihyo turn around to see a tall, muscular man. He had a slight tan and a chiseled jaw. His jet black hair was up high. She felt uneasy as his copper eyes stared at her. She doesn't know what to say but...

"Um, hi?" Didn't I see you earlier?  She wanted to add. Why is he following me!? Creep.

"You must be one of those auditionees? I'm Richard, of Jagged Edge." He lent out his hand.

"Jihyo. Lee Jihyo."

"Beautiful name," Richard commented. "You're not from here, are you?"

"I'm sorry, mister but this beautiful lady with the beautiful name has got to go," Mara cuts in and she pushes Jihyo out of the scenario.

"See you at the party, Tammy!" Richard shouted.

Mara suddenly tightened the grip on Jihyo's shoulders causing her to wince in pain. They looked at each other.

"Who?" was all Jihyo said. Mara stuttered. cold, moist air swept on the three of them outside.

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Hi! Missed me? 

The reason why this chapter was posted on that time (if you've seen my announcement on X) is because I used the "scheduling" feature on the desktop browser. It's convenient, but I don't write much these days, I just love the fact that through this new Wattpad feature, I get to make last minute changes without worrying about when to write the next chapter of my ongoing stories.

About SoulSta, short for Soulful Stars (I'm too lazy to write the whole thing haha), I'll write this at my own pace without pressure from now on. I didn't get to submit my 8k words total for Round 2 and beyond. If you've never seen my name and this story at the OpenNovellaContest Round Two Qualifiers, you already know what happened.

Just checking up on you. Until next time!