Star University

The last minute practices were almost done, I would be heading to JMEntertainment and making my debut on JM Countdown with my five best friends, I had given tickets to my sisters (yes that included Suji) and IU and I couldn’t forget my EXO and my UKiss friends.

They were all coming to watch my debut, and of course there would be celebrities, SuperJunior would be there and So Nyeo Shi Dae so I was naturally excited but very nervous.

The day came, almost nobody would be in school and if they were they would be watching this, along with half the nation due to Big Bang being the most popular group in Korea and Asia. Scary or what?

President Hwang called me in just before we set off and told me he wanted to announce the groups that have been signed and will be debuting within the next two years. I agreed and hurried into the car with Teddy, ShinYoung and BigBang. Our make-up artists and choreographers and stylists wouldn’t be far behind us in the next car.

I had been to the JM Countdown studios before, when I was born, but that was when appa was managing Epik High and ShinHwa, they disbanded not long after I left Korea. We pull up to the JM Building in the middle of Seoul and there are plenty of fans gathering around the doors. Our body guards who have met us there make way for us as a group and with TOP, GD and TaeYang I make my way in, they protect me from their hundreds of fans but Seungri and Daesung go on ahead of us. We get through the doors and head up to floor three, theatre one. Where I am introduced to B Entertainment manager, Byun BongHwa who will be with his bands, Block B, Beast and B1A4. SuperJunior and SoNyeoShiDae would also be performing for the title of this week’s number one.

BigBangs stylist calls me in to the dressing room where I was dressed into a beautiful short black dress and huge heels, - I am so glad IU and Suzy had helped me do the dance whilst practicing with the heels. I looked nice in a dress for the first time in forever, my black hair, pale skin and my black dress all seemed to be really cool and made me look a little bit older than 18. I was called to the make up room and HaNi and GaEul came to do my hair and makeup, the natural make up and long curly hair seemed to match the concept of what we were trying to do for our stage, especially my debut stage.

I can’t believe I was putting myself through this. After all, everything was my idea. I wanted to do so well for BigBang and especially my father and my mother who I hoped was watching me.

I went to the waiting room where I was greeted by an unfamiliar face, “Annyeong Haseyo, My name is DooJoon I am from the group beast, and we will be performing on the stage tonight.”

“Ah, Annyeong Haseyo, I’m JiEun, Hwang JiEun, I am a soloist and I am debuting with BigBang tonight.” I reply as I see other boys walking up beside DooJoon.

“DooJoon Hyung, who is this?” One cute boy with a really nice round face asked.

“Ahh, Yoseob, HyunSaeng, Gikwang, DongWoo, JunHyung, this is Hwang JiEun, she is a debutee for tonight. Miss Hwang JiEun, we are Beast.” DooJoon explains.

“I see, it’s nice to meet you, even though we are rivals in the business, I hope we can become friends.” I bow and they agree and wish me good luck before they take their leave.

I sit down and await BigBangs arrival. The show doesn’t start for another hour, and we will not be performing for another hour so I have a two hour wait. I pull out my phone and I see that there is over thirty text messages and a few missed calls.

I begin to sift through them.

First message off IU.

‘JiEun, good luck today, I’ll be right there in the audience. I’m so excited for your debut.
JiEun Fighting.’

The second is off Tao, ‘My pretty JiEun, I’m so glad to call you my friend good luck I’ll be watching you and I’ll vote until my fingers bleed, Fighting.’

Next was Eli ‘JiEun, I’ve never known someone to go on stage after I got to know them, you’re seriously amazing. Good luck from UKISS. Fighting!’

‘JiEun, you have to promise me that date, remember. Good luck for today, I’ll be with EunJi and MinJi break a leg noona, saranghaeyo, BaekHyun.’

‘To the girl of my dreams, Good Luck on your debut, don’t fall over, eat well and stay calm, you’ll be great. –Ghostboy’

Ghostboys message was the only one I wasn’t expecting, it was only after that message it really sunk in, he actually did like me and he wasn’t pretending. I mean sure he was protective over me and he had told me before, but I never thought he meant it.

I continued reading, messages off, EXO, SHINee, SuperJunior, my sisters, and even the actors who I took a few lessons off to help with my interview.

‘Fighting, JiEun! If you need help I’ll be in room 203 backstage, come and see me before you debut officially. Choi Siwon’

There were so many messages and I had barely gotten through them all when YoungBae appeared. He told me to follow him into my dressing room as he had something he needed to discuss with me so I agreed. When we got there, no make-up artists or anybody was there so we were able to talk freely.

“JiEun-ah,” he began “what should we do?”

“What do you mean, what should we do about what?” I replied.

“The interview, what if they ask us about the dating thing, Choi Minho doesn’t know anything about it and he really likes you what happens if something bad happens with him and you can’t release albums or anything because of scandals with him.”

“Oppa, I’m going to deny everything anyway, it will be easier that way, no one can find out anything that happened with him other than you, so we will be okay, I promise nothing bad will become of BigBang.”

Just then a knock on the door was heard, I tell them to come in, Siwon enters looking happy.

“JiEun, congratulations, I’m so excited, you’ll be on variety shows next wow, I’m so happy, this is a gift off all SuperJunior members we’ll be able to stand on stage together.” He notices YoungBae “Oh Annyeong YoungBae-nim are you okay?”

“Oh yeah, I was just giving JiEun interview tips, you know what JaeKyung is like when it comes to debuts.” YoungBae says.

“Mm, yeah be careful with what you say, HyungDon and Defconn hyung are close with MC JaeKyung so they will use anything you say on JM Countdown on their show ‘weekly idol’ if you appear on it.” Siwon explains, “Anyway, I’ve got to go,” he hands me the flowers and a bag and leaves.

I open the bag and inside is a tiny box I look inside the box and there is an expensive heart shaped necklace, so I decided to put it on for debut, just then the announcer’s voice is heard on the speakers. ‘Can todays performers all make their way to the back stage the show will begin shortly.’

“Are you ready JiEun?” YoungBae asks.

“Yeah, let’s get this over and done with. Fighting.” I say and smile. We make our way down the crowded hallways and we enter the backstage waiting area and we sit around with Big Bang and SuperJunior, Girl’s Generation are late to arrive, they say their quick greetings and head towards the stage getting ready to sing their new song, Mr.Mr. We are able to watch their performance as they are announced on stage, I have never seen this been done from this angle before, I can see all the lights and technical stuff being added and it’s really amazing, sonyeoshidae unnies looks amazing. I see Block B and Beast over the other side waiting to perform their new singles I wave to them, P.O, JaeHyo and Zico see and wave back, as they have already greeted me today, so do Yoseob and DooJoon, HyunSaeng however blows me a kiss and I blush, DooJoon nudges him in his ribs and he shrugs and waves back.

“Ya JiEun, you can’t be friends with the enemy today, not even if they are from the same company.” SeungHyun explains.

“Ahjussi, I can be friends with everyone I want to, I am friends with you aren’t I. Block B and Beast are really nice and wished me good luck.” I reply.

Just then, Girl’s Generation are exiting the stage and B1A4 are preparing, they are debuting today from B Entertainment, so they are my personal rivals.

Everyone seemed really friendly with each other, and I stood out like a sore thumb along with B1A4 who had stuck relatively close to Block B and Beast. A few minutes after B1A4 had disappeared onto the stage they began their debut stage and were awarded with a round of applause and cheers from members and trainees of the B company. It was our turn after SuperJunior, I wished them all good luck and stood waiting our turn. I stood nervously up the wall with my hands clasped together in front of my chest and my eyes close, I was trying to go over the lyrics in full along with the routine I had been practicing for what seemed like forever.

Just then YoungBae pulled my hands down and I opened my eyes “You’re going to be fine, just stick with us and we will get you through it.” He says.

“Dongseng, you’ll be okay don’t worry.” JiYong says and pulls me into a hug.

“Thank you oppa, thank you BigBang sunbae-nims, I’ll work hard.” I say to them, even though I was shaking with nervousness and I felt nauseated I didn’t let that show and I prepared to go up the steps as SuperJunior came down, Big Bang were in front of me. As I reached the top step I heard a voice behind me, “JiEun Fighting” I looked back to see SuperJunior members all following Siwon’s lead.

I smile and wave to them then make the ‘ok’ sign with my hand and walk on to a dark stage, it’s a good job nobody can see me right now, I can’t find my place. JiYong leads me to the back with Seungri.

“And now, the comeback we have all been waiting for, along with the debut of a new JM Entertainment artist and daughter of JM himself it’s Big Bang and JiEun with ‘We Belong Together’”

The lights go off and the smoke fills the stage floor and a single spotlight is on Jiyong, as he begins his first lines, ‘Baby Boo, I’m always thinking about you, whatever you do, I’m the one to trust, you know’ my turn. The spotlight goes from my brother to me and I break out into the lyrics and movements I am supposed to with Seungri, ‘nae nuneul bwayo o geudaemaneul mideobollaeyo maeil honjaseo ulgiman haneyo neomuna gomaungeoryo oh baby baby nal anajwoyo idaero yeongwonhi hamkkehaeyo jichin geudae naege gidaedo dwaeyo eonjena geudael saranghallaeyo baby’ Everything seems to go fine, there is a round of applause as I begin. Then the whole stage is in the light and the real choreography and stage acting comes to life. Step by step I carefully follow each members footwork, whilst still smiling to the audience, I can see my dads trainees and my friends, EXO, Ukiss, my sisters and my dad along with hundreds of other people who got the rare chance to come and watch their idols perform on a comeback stage. My dance with Seungri and G-Dragon is over, then it’s my turn to – as SeungHyun called it earlier- Power house vocal time. I put a lot of my effort into the next bit of singing I have to do and then it’s off for my dance with TOP and Daesung I enjoy dancing with TOP, he makes me laugh and we just improvise most of it, like we did in practice.

The song continues into my chorus part, which is the one thing I’m most nervous about, I have to sing and dance and act with Taeyang all at the same time. I begin, and Taeyang guides me around the stage holding my hand or my waist or shoulder and it’s laid back I am beginning to enjoy the performance rather than worrying about everything that could go wrong I grip tight of Taeyangs hand, even though I’m supposed to let go, but it wont be ruining anything of the choreography.

The last chorus and verse are up and we all head to centre stage and I feel like I’ve done well, - to the best of my abilities at least- and that is proved when we finish the song. Huge amounts of applause is heard throughout JM Broadcasting centre and a huge smile makes it’s way across my face and I am happy with my choice in coming back to Korea. I hug all the members of Big Bang, JiYong last and then we head down to where the other groups are waiting.

If it wasn’t obvious enough Siwon and SuperJunior were the first to appear infront of me.

“Congratulations,” EunHyuk says.

“That was a great debut stage,” Donghae finishes off for him.

Sungmin and YeSung, congratulate me too and Siwon, Heechul and LeeTeuk hug me and congratulate me.

“Were you nervous JiEun?” A voice appeared from behind me.

“Tao?” I look shocked. “Yeah, I was a little bit, but having my brother there was great I could totally relax,” just then EunJi and MinJi and SuJi come running into us and hugging me.

Although the performance is done, I still can not relax just yet, I have my interview with all the other stars, so after the last performance from Block B, we are all inviting back on the stage.

I am standing with Big Bang, So Nyeo Shi Dae on one side and Block B on the other. They get the leaders of each group to pick a ball up from the table in front of us and in each ball is a number. That is the order that we will be interviewed in. Beast SoNyeoShiDae and Super Junior are the first three so the rest go off to one side of the stage, Block B and B1A4 stick close together, you can tell B1A4 are nervous and they keep asking their elders for advice. I just stay calm, we will be interviewed last.

It feels weird that only two companies are here, when there are the top five entertainment companies in South Korea and only two are here. Where are the other three? The first three interviews were done and it was Block B’s turn. Then B1A4, who showed really nice charismatic personalities, I thought to myself, they are going to go far in this industry, but then it’s BigBangs turn.

They greet everyone “What’s up we’re BigBang,”

JiYong continues “We are so glad to have made our comeback this year and all five Big Bang members really want you to meet someone special to all of us, Hwang JiEun say Hello.”

I step forward “Annyeong Haseyo, I’m JiEun, I’m really glad to be here It’s nice to meet you.”

JaeKyung MC begins questioning us. “So Hwang JiEun, what do think of debuting?”

“Well, at first I was really nervous, but my friends Big Bang and Super Junior all came to help me prepare for this stage, so can I say thank you to HeeChul, LeeTeuk, Shindong, DongHae, EunHyuk, KyuHyun, RyeoWook, SungMin, YeSung and most importantly Siwon who all helped me so much.”

“Ah, that’s nice, so are you close with Super Junior members?”

“Yes, when I first moved to Korea from England I didn’t know they were from my dads company but as I was sorting out the new trainees rooms for the school competition a friend of mine told me they accidently walked in on the Super Junior sunbae nims and was really surprised. So I went to greet them as they have been my number two influence with Korea when I was back in England.”

“Ah that’s right, you have only been here for three months haven’t you, so how long have
you known Big Bang?”

“Well, as a lot of people have speculated, me and Leader GDragon are brother and sister and we had a really close bond with each other and although we were apart for eight years we still kept in touch and we’ve never been closer, he is seriously amazing and I am thankful I have a brother like him. As for the rest of BigBang, TOP and Taeyang were at school with my brother, so they would come around the house a lot and eventually they let me play with them, I was only two at the time so I don’t have much recollection. As for Seungri and Daesung they were my first friends in school, in Kindegarten so I’ve known them for a long time, At my fifth birthday party I asked Seungri and Daesung to come a long with a few other friends and TOP and Taeyang and that’s when they all were introduced to each other.”

“JiYong, is all this true, your little sister technically brought BigBang to life?”

“Ah, she didn’t technically bring the Big Bang to life, she did. I don’t think Big Bang would exist without our adorable Maknae Seungri or our super vocals Daesung so I am glad she made friends with them, because I gained friends too.” Jiyong said.

“So JiEun, what is your relationship like with the guys.”

“Oh, it’s very nice, we are all friends and get on easily we eat breakfast lunch and dinner together and we are able to practice in the studios together and we have a whole bunch of friends at school who we hang out with, in reality I wouldn’t class Big Bang as anything less than my brothers.”

“What about these rumours of you and Taeyang’s relationship?”

“Urm, well.” I pause I had been practicing this question a lot and I was unprepared but luckily taeyang stepped out to help me.

“Me and JiEun, have been really close for years and years and the day the rumours set about was the day JiEun got out of hospital due to exhaustion and a lack of sleep. So I decided to take her shopping and I wanted to get her something that symbolised our friendship so we bought matching necklace, earrings, bracelet and bags. Also JiEun was going to debut soon so we decided to try out different conceepts for the M/V and if you watch closely the shop we visit in the MV is the same one we were photographed in on the day of the rumours. JiEun and I are really close, but we aren’t in a relationship and this is one of the reasons why we decided to push forward our comeback is so we could help our cute new member to the JM family.”

“Ah, that clears a lot of things up doesn’t it, you aren’t tired now right?”

“No, I’m fine thanks to the wonderful doctors at Seoul Hospital who treated me twice due to how hard I was working.”

“So I hear you have a message of CEO Hwang JinMan that you want to announce.”

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that, my dad, CEO of JM Entertainment would like to announce more groups and soloists joining our family who will be debuting within the next year or two. So please look out for, 2NE1, APink, CNBlue, SHINee, Miss A, F(x), Trouble Maker, Akdong Musician, EXO, Ukiss, BAP, Got7, FTIsland, Girl’s Day, Wonder Girls, 4Minute IU and Lee Hi. My dad is also going to be holding auditions in October for anyone else who wants to be dancers, MC, Singer, band, managers, choreographers, actors, make-up artists and stylists, if there is anything you want to do there will be forms at the reception of the JM Entertainment building just go in and get one fill it in and make an appointment for any day during October and we may be able to help you find a really great job.”

“Thank you JiEun, anything BigBang wants to say?”

“Yeah, although we have a lot of fans, we want to say, please look after our JiEun, she is special to us and without her BigBang wouldn’t be here today so if in the future our maknae falls in love with her please let them be together without causing them harm.” TOP jokes.

“Aniyeo,” Daesung says “she’s my girlfriend, were in a love triangle.”

“Hajima, don’t listen to them they like to play me up.”

“Okay, thanks for this we are going to announce the winner after this short break.”JaeKyung says and then calls up the rest of the groups, during the break I go over to Beast and Block B and wish them good luck, I also introduce myself to B1A4 who seem really nervous again I tell them not to worry because they did really well and it’s something they should be proud of. SuperJunior and Girl’s generation talk to us while we wait.

After a few minutes we are back on air and the results are being counted, who has the most? Who has won JMCountdown award 2014/09.

“The winner of JM Countdown award September 2014, is…… Big Bang ft Hwang JiEun We belong together.” JaeKyung announces and everyone is so happy, the stage bursts into a whole celebration B Entertainment applaudes and SuperJunior join in on the party and Girl’s generation cheer. I hug YoungBae and SeungHyun and every member of SuperJunior.

I’m glad we won, but now we have to perform an encore song for everyone.

We begin we belong together again and it’s not until 11PM we get back home and all fall asleep in the big room downstairs.

Notes

I am really sorry for the long hiatus i have been on, pressure of work and school again, I shall be continuing the story regularly soon.

I'd love to debut with Big Bang wouldn't you?