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It’s been over two weeks since I started my life as a trainee.

When I went up to the third floor to sign the attendance sheet, Team Leader Jeong Sohyun was there.

“Team Leader! I’m here for work!”

“Yes, Dohee. Quickly mark your attendance down. Since Wooa is already here already, go to the choreography room and take the dance lessons together.”

“Yes!”

After signing the attendance sheet, I went down to the choreography room on the 1rst floor, the basement, where I saw Wooa dancing alone looking in front of the mirror.

“Unni, I’m here.”

“Dohee~ I missed you!”

Wooa ran up to me and hugged me as soon as she saw me.

Her actions are exactly no different from that of a pet dog.

It’s worth noting that Wooa had spent six months as a trainee alone before I joined.

Normally, a large entertainment company like ours would have at least 5 and up to 15 trainees.
But in our company, it consists of just Wooa and me because it will be another four years before our company debuts the next boy group or girl group.
That’s why they said that they’re introducing or sending the existing trainees to other companies and are in the process of recruiting new, younger trainees.
Since they said they’ll start holding public auditions for trainees starting next year, the number of trainees will gradually increase.

“You saw me yesterday too, so let go now.”

I said as I pushed my Unni away.

“Still, I still missed you, hehe.”

“By the way, did you finish your foreign language homework?”

“…”

“Sigh… Are you going to get scolded by Teacher-nim again?”

“Sob…”

My Unni, who is weak at studying, always got scolded for not being able to complete her homework.

“Take out your homework, and I’ll help you.”

“Yea!”

While I was helping her with homework as quickly as possible, the choreography teacher came in.

“Hey, what are you doing now if you’re not dancing?”

I quickly stood up and greeted her.

“Hello, Teacher-nim!”

“Yes. Wooa, get up too.”

“Hehe… I’m sorry.”

After finishing stretching under teacher-nim’s guidance, we started taking lessons in earnest.

“Alright, first of all, do you remember all of the dance moves you learned yesterday?”

“”Yes.””

“Okay, let me see you dance then.”

The teacher played the music.
I danced with a noticeably improved performance compared to the first day.
But just as I started to get a bit smug, the teacher kept shouting.

“Dohee, your shoulders keep moving together. Keep them isolated!”

“Dohee, you’re off beat.”

“Do it naturally, naturally!”

“Push your chest out! Close it! One, two, one, two.”

After a dance lesson filled with harsh criticism, it was finally dinner time.

“”Thank you for your hard work!””

“Yes, Dohee, you’re starting to gain the hang of it now. You’ll improve quickly at this rate, so keep working hard.”

“Yes!”

“Wooa, make sure you work hard not to fall behind.”

“Yes, Teacher-nim~”

“Oh, and Dohee.”

As I was heading up to have dinner with Wooa Unni, teacher-nim suddenly called me.

“Yes?”

“Team Leader wants to see you, so go up to the third floor.”

“Okay.”

When I went up to the third floor, Team Leader was checking my log.

“Team Leader, I’m here!”

“Yes, yes, Dohee. Are you learning well?”

“Yes! I’m working hard!”

“Right, you said you can’t come tomorrow because of the piano competition?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But tomorrow is the piano competition. So don’t you need to practice? If possible, you should aim for the grand prize.”

“Well, I still need to take choreography and vocal lessons too…”

“Alright that’s enough. For today, stop the lessons and just write up your practice log and then go home. Aim for the grand prize tomorrow.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

“If you don’t win the grand prize, you’ll be scolded.”

“Yes, Team Leader!”

…A day passed and the day of the piano competition, the final one with my piano teacher, arrived.
Today marks the end of our six years of lessons.
Even if the teacher hadn’t gotten married, this was a predetermined end because I was going to become an idol trainee.

On the last day, as usual, Teacher-nim cheered me on as I went on stage.

“Dohee, just do as you usually do.”

“Yes.”

I answered more briefly than usual and went up on stage.

When I got up on stage and looked out at the audience, there were more people sitting than before.
Most of them were probably journalists who came to interview me as I gained fame.

The piece I will be performing in the competition today is Chopin’s Étude Op. 10 No. 3, “Tristesse L’adieu”.
I chose it myself to mark the end with Teacher-nim.

I sat in front of the piano as usual.
And, as usual, I completed the short performance of one minute perfectly.
As I came off the stage to a small round of applause, Teacher-nim hugged me, just like she had done for the past six years.
Only after the hug did I fully realize it.
This is really the end.

“Dohee, you did great today too.”

“Yes.”

I stayed being embraced by Teacher-nim in silence for a minute without saying a word.

“Teacher-nim.”

“Yes, Dohee.”

“Last time Teacher-nim’s husband mentioned something.”

“What was it?”

“That after I become an idol, I should sing you a congratulatory song.”

“Yes, he did mention something like that.”

“Wouldn’t it be possible for me to perform a piano piece as a congratulatory song for you at your wedding next month?”

Though it might be an unreasonable request, I still wanted to personally congratulate the relationship that I’m parting with for the first time in this life.

“Really? Teacher-nim would love that.”

Fortunately, Teacher-nim smiled with a genuinely happy expression.
She embraced me again and patted me.

“Ayu, my Dohee, you have a beautiful heart too. Teacher-nim has had so much fun these past six years thanks to you.”

“Yes, Teacher-nim. Me too…”

And on this day, as usual, I won the top prize and continued her record.
Everything was the same as usual, except that it was the last time.

.
.
.

On The Wedding Day.
My Mom was having a fashion show for me for the first time in a long time.

“Dohee, try this on.”

“I’ll just wear what I’m wearing now. Okay?”

“No. You need to wear something to be as pretty as possible since you’ll be performing at your Teacher-nim’s wedding.”

“But don’t I look pretty no matter what I wear?”

“Oh come on, don’t speak nonsense and just try this on.”

“No, why is it pink?”

“Anyways, when you become an idol, you’ll end up wearing even more outfits like this. Now, hurry.”

“Ah.”

Did I really say I wanted to be an idol for no reason?
Lately, whenever I do something, my Mom keeps saying, “When you become an idol…”
It’s all because I fell for Director-nim’s sincere words. Sigh.

In the end, I went to Teacher-nim’s wedding wearing a pink tweed dress forced upon me.
As I entered the bride’s waiting room, Teacher-nim dressed in a white wedding dress, greeted me warmly.

“Dohee~ You’re here? And Doa is here too?”

“Oh my, Teacher-nim, you look so beautiful~”

“Thank you, Ma’am. Haha.”

Today, I didn’t run up and hug Teacher-nim like I usually do.
I didn’t want to wrinkle her wedding dress on her special day.
I simply walked over slowly and offered my congratulations.

“Teacher-nim, congratulations on your wedding. You look stunning.”

“Thank you, Dohee. You look very stunning today as well.”

“Since I’m performing at your wedding, I need to dress even more beautifully than usual.”

“Haha, that’s right. Dohee, since you’re dressed up so prettily today, take a picture with Teacher-nim, just the two of us.”

“Gladly.”

“Photographer! Could you please take a photo for us?”

Teacher-nim asked the photographer, who was waiting in the bride’s room, to take a photo.

“Yes, understood.”

I stood next to Teacher-nim for the photo.
Then Teacher-nim patted her knees and said,

“Dohee, let’s take the photo with you sitting on Teacher-nim’s lap like we used to.”

“But if I sit on your lap, Teacher-nim’s wedding dress might get wrinkled.”

“It’s okay. If it gets wrinkled, I can just iron it. Photos last a lifetime, right? So hurry up and come on over here.”

As Teacher-nim patted her knees again, I carefully sat down on her lap.
Even while sitting on her lap, I couldn’t rest my head on her chest as usual because I was worried about wrinkling the wedding dress.
The teacher gently pressed my head to rest it on her chest.

But your dress will get wrinkled…

Once we were ready, the photographer shouted,

“Alright, we’ll take the photo now. One, two, three!”

The flash went off and the photo was taken.
When I checked the photo later, it captured me and Teacher-nim smiling brightly.

After taking the photo, Teacher-nim was busy greeting the guests, so we quickly left the bridal waiting room and sat in the guest seats for the bride’s friends.
While eating a course meal and chatting casually with Mom and Doa, the lights went out and the wedding ceremony began.

The groom entered, and then the bride entered.
During the ceremony, I kept my eyes on Teacher-nim.
And before I knew it, the congratulatory speech was over.
The MC announced,

“Next, we have a congratulatory song to celebrate today’s blessed marriage.”

It was my turn to perform.

“From what I’ve heard about the performer beforehand, they are an extraordinary person.”
“A genius pianist who has won the top prize in Korea’s most prestigious competition twelve times in a row, and a future idol trainee who will be representing Korea! And most importantly, the bride’s most beloved student, Miss Lee Dohee. Please give a big round of applause.”

As I received applause, I went to the piano in front, took the microphone from the staff, and spoke.

“Hello. I’m Lee Dohee, the student of today’s most beautiful bride, Joo Yeonji.”
“The piece I’ll be performing today is a work by Schumann, a renowned composer of Romantic music, arranged for piano by Liszt.”
“This piece is titled ‘Dedication,’ and as the title suggests, it’s a song that Schumann dedicated to his beloved wife, promising to devote his entire life to her the day before their wedding.”
“Just as this beautiful music is a testament to love, I hope that my dear Teacher-nim and her husband will share a lifetime of love and happiness.”

Why is this more nerve-wracking than a piano competition?
I sat at the piano and began playing.

Today’s performance felt more emotional than ever.

After I finished my performance and said a simple “thank you,” I received applause and returned to my seat.
When I returned to my seat, Mom, with a playful expression, spoke to me.

“My daughter is really cool~”

“Oh, I know.”

I felt distraught and wanted to organize my thoughts alone, but Mom kept talking to me.

“Why don’t you cry this time? Your expression looked like you were about to cry.”

“I don’t know. I cried in my heart.”

“Hahaha, you cried in your heart. Is my daughter going through puberty?”

“Ah, stop talking like that. You’re annoying me.”

“Look, you’re getting angry with your Mom. It must be puberty!”

“Ah, I told you to stop!”