Krystal paid the taxi driver, stepped out onto the street and took a big gulp of warm evening air. She arched her neck up and scanned the skyline before eventually fixing her gaze on a 30 storey skyscraper. This was the building that housed OMG Entertainment, the company that could make her dreams come true.
Krystal gulped again and this time her stomach let out a deep growl, as if it was preparing itself for a nasty fight. She placed the palm of her right hand on her stomach, adjusted her dress and walked towards the revolving doors at the base of the building.
Once inside, she immediately noticed the bald head of a burly security guard. He marched towards her with a scowl on his face.
“Can I help you madam?”
“I’m looking for OMG Entertainment, please,” she squeaked, her throat now completely dry.
“You’ll need the 3rd floor,” said the guard, pointing towards a set of gold-rimmed elevator doors.
Krystal thanked the guard and walked over to a waiting elevator. She jumped in and punched the “3” button. The doors closed behind her with a loud clunk.
She had hoped for more time to compose herself but alas, there was none - this was it - this was the moment of truth. The lift shot upwards and within no time the doors opened to reveal a stone faced old lady sat at a grand reception desk. On the wall behind her, written in big golden letters, were the words, Oh Music Group (OMG) Entertainment.
Krystal gingerly stepped out of the elevator into the reception room.
“How can I help you?” barked the receptionist.
“I’m looking for Manager Oh - I have an audition with him today at three.”
“Take a seat over there and I’ll let him know you’ve arrived,” said the receptionist, pointing to a cracked leather sofa in the corner of the room.
Krystal shuffled over and sat down.
The room was musty, dimly lit and filled with a handful of withering plants. The walls of the room were lined with a number of tatty display cabinets, full to the brim with various industry awards. Krystal couldn’t help but think that the whole place could have been decorated with a bit more taste. Still, this wasn’t the time to think about interior design; she had worked so hard to get this audition - now was the time to focus on singing.
Manager Oh’s raspy voice interrupted her mid-thought. “Hello Krystal – thank you for coming to see me.”
Krystal leapt up out of her seat and performed a quick bow.
Having watched Manager Oh on TV as part of the legendary 90s kpop group, Bear and the Band, Krystal expected him to be well over 6 foot tall. She was therefore, very surprised to find that he couldn’t have been taller than 5 foot 5.
“This way - let’s start off with a brief chat,” said Manager Oh.
Manager Oh led Krystal down a corridor that glistened with light reflecting off the platinum and gold records that plastered its walls. After what seemed like a very long walk, they stopped abruptly and turned into a small meeting room. Manager Oh sat down behind an old oak table and fixed his beady eyes on Krystal.
Krystal stood still, waiting for instructions. After an uncomfortable delay, Manager Oh finally asked her to take a seat opposite him. The hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention.
“Explain to me why you want to be a singer.”
Hundreds of thoughts went through her head but she made a conscious effort to provide a concise answer - an answer that would paint the picture Manager Oh wanted to see.
“I want to be in this industry because I believe I have a talent and I want to use it to make other people happy.”
Whilst this was only part of the reason, it would do as an explanation for Manager Oh.
“Good answer,” said Manager Oh. “If I’m being honest with you, a lot of girls say things like that to me but their real motivations often become clearer with time.”
Krystal nodded.
“To many people Krystal, the kpop industry seems like a happy world full of cute boy bands and girl groups singing bubble gum pop, hanging out and having fun. But, as with many things in life, what goes on behind the scenes isn’t quite as picturesque. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Krystal was a little taken aback. She racked her brain to come up with a smart answer.
“I understand that people in this industry make a lot of sacrifices and that what we see in their music videos isn’t the same as their day-to-day lives. But, this is all I want and I’m ready to work very, very hard for it,” said Krystal, her cheeks now rosy red.
“Well that’s a good start,” said Manager Oh. “Before we go any further, we must examine one of the most important component parts of being a pop star - your voice. Have you prepared anything to sing for me?”
“Yes, I’ve prepared Nol Saranghae by 3G (Great Girls Group).”
“Is this something you’ve rehearsed a lot?” asked Manager Oh.
“Yes sir, this is something I’ve rehearsed especially for you and this audition.”
“Well, completely forget it then. I want to test your ability to sing anything I give you. I’m sure you must know Arirang – the traditional Korean folk song?”
This was a strange song choice but luckily for Krystal, her mum used to sing Arirang with her when she was a little girl.
“Of course, Arirang is like the unofficial Korean national anthem,” said Krystal confidently.
“Good, let’s start with that shall we? I want to hear it a cappella,” said Manager Oh, sliding down in his chair.
“Shall I start now?” asked Krystal.
“Yes, I haven’t got all day.”
Krystal shut her eyes, cleared her throat and began to sing.
Arirang, Arirang, Arariyo...
Arirang gogaero neommeoganda.
She was quivering but the words came out crisp and perfectly in-tune.
Nareul beorigo gasineun nimeun
Simrido motgaseo balbbyeongnanda.
Her voice sounded so much like her mother’s that Krystal couldn’t help but think of her as she sung. She had flashbacks of them together, sitting on the living room floor, laughing and joking.
Manager Oh remained silent after Krystal finished singing and he stared at her for a good couple of minutes before eventually speaking.
“Well - I must say vocally, that was impressive; as far as I’m concerned, you have enough raw talent for me to work with.”
Krystal let out a deep sigh of relief.
“Your voice and image needs to be moulded, but this is exactly why I pay my team thousands of dollars - they help me help people like you,” he said, laughing to himself.
Krystal gritted her teeth and forced a smile.
“I see you as part of a girl group I’m forming at the moment. Here at OMG Entertainment I have a certain formula I use when picking my girl groups; if we do decide to go into business together you will learn a lot more about this but for now I’ll sum it up in simple terms.”
Manager Oh paused as if he was about to share something profound.
“As a starting point, every group must have at least one strong vocalist; this person provides the vocal quality we need to get people to like our songs. It’s not necessary for the remaining group members to be great singers but it’s paramount that they are attractive – and the more attractive the better. As a bare minimum, at least two members of the group should be exceedingly attractive. Every group must also have a cute member that appears to be pure and innocent; these are rare traits and the public lap them up. So, a strong vocalist, two exceedingly attractive girls and one cute girl – this is my recipe for success. Where do you think you’d fit into a group like that?”
Krystal was caught off guard. She hadn’t really thought about this before – how attractive was she? Was she cute? Was this a test? In many ways she had a traditional Korean appearance with quite a flat face, a square jawline and a button nose. She was relatively tall, around 5 foot 8, and boasted a nice healthy figure. She was told she had nice brown eyes but was she exceedingly attractive? She just didn’t know.
Sensing that Manager Oh was running out of patience, Krystal opted for the modest answer.
“I see myself as the strong vocalist.”
Manager Oh strummed his fingers on the table, a smug smile spreading across his smug face.
“Very good, Krystal, it’s refreshing to meet a girl with a healthy perspective on things. You are indeed an excellent vocalist. As I’ve mentioned, vocals are important and I see you as the star vocalist. With all due respect, whilst you’re an attractive girl, there are a number of things about your physical appearance that could be changed to, how can I put this, “upgrade” your pop potential.”
“Oh,” said Krystal, almost in disbelief.
“Have you ever heard of V-lines?” asked Manager Oh.
“No, sir.”
“A V-line, Krystal, refers to an imaginary V-shape on a person’s face that starts at their cheeks and comes to a point at their chin. Here, I can form one with my hands like this,” he said, placing the bases of his palms together.
Manager Oh leaned over the table and cupped Krystal’s jaw in his hands. The fire in her cheeks doubled in intensity.
“You see Krystal, when I place my hands on your face I struggle to make a V-shape – I could perhaps make a very wide U. In business terms, this is somewhat of a problem. We can fix this problem, though. I know some of the best surgeons in Apgujeong that could sort that out in no time. You’d be right and ready in under two weeks’ time, with the jawline of a cosmetics model.”
Krystal started to feel sick in the pit of her stomach.
“In addition, one thing that would be good is if we could make you look slightly more Western. You see your eyelids are completely flat – there are no folds in the skin above your eyes. As you probably know, double eyelids are really popular these days. In Korea we call them, noon couples. We can give you noon couples very easily. Now, let’s talk about your nose.”
What about her nose? It was her mother’s button nose – not too big, not too small – just right as far as she was concerned.
“The bridge of your nose isn’t very pronounced and in general is a bit, how can I say? Stumpy.” We would need to fix that. Again, I know an excellent person in Apgujeong, Dr Daniel Kang, who could sort that out in no time. Your glasses would have to go too – unless of course we were going for a certain look, like geek chic. But really, I would require you to get corrective surgery or wear contacts. Lastly, how much do you weigh?”
Krystal felt like she was going to explode. Who was this guy? All these questions didn’t seem right.
“I… I don’t know. I think I’m about 57kg,” she said, struggling for breath.
“That’s what I thought,” said Manager Oh.
She wondered how on earth he could tell simply by looking at her.
“I think you need to lose between 7 to 10kg, Krystal. We need to get you down a few dress sizes. As they say, the camera adds 10 pounds!”
Krystal tried to smile but simply couldn’t; she was completely devastated.
“I can see from the expression on your face that this is a lot to take in. Trust me, in this industry you have to do a lot of things you don’t necessarily want to in order to keep up with the competition. Let me suggest the following,” he said, doing a quick twirl in his chair.
“I think that I could find a place for you in my new girl group. I would however, want to spend some time in the studio with you first to double check that your voice sounds as nice when it’s recorded. And of course, any contract would be conditional on you making the physical adjustments I’ve just talked about.”
Krystal managed to nod her head to show that she was as least listening. Manager Oh continued.
“I want you to go away now and have a think about things. I’ll get in contact with you in the next couple of days to arrange a second meeting and we can see where we stand. How does that sound?”
“That sounds great, thank you,” said Krystal, doing her best to stay composed.
“Good - we’re finished for today,” said Manager Oh, jumping out of his seat.