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The next morning

“Dohee~, quickly wake up, wake up! You need to go to school.”

I barely managed to wake up to the sound of my Mom waking me up.
When I wasn’t a trainee, I would wake up feeling refreshed just by hearing my alarm, but now I’m so tired that I can’t even open my eyes when the alarm goes off
Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I went to the bathroom to wash my face. When I came out, Doa was already sitting at the table eating breakfast.

“Unni, hurry and eat some food.”

“Okay, I’ll just put on my clothes and come right out.”

Since Doa started elementary school, I’ve been going to school with her.

I quickly grabbed a white T-shirt and jeans from the closet and put them on.
It’s still chilly in the mornings, so I better wear a cardigan as well.

As I sat at the table, Mom placed rice and soup in front of me.

“Hurry up and eat.”

“Even If I eat slowly I won’t be late. There’s plenty of time.”

“You always say that and end up being 5 minutes late.”

“It’s not because I leave late that I’m late.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’m late because I want to be late.”

Mom looked at me as if I was talking nonsense again.
Ah~, I don’t want to go to school.

I quickly mixed the rice with the soup and ate it. Then, Doa and I left the house together.

“We’re leaving~”
“See you later~”

“Okay, both of you be careful and watch out for cars!”

“Mom, are you going to pick me up later tonight?”

“That depends on you~”

“Your daughter is scared of walking at night~ Please come!”

She’ll probably come to pick me up today.

The only good thing about going to school is the walk there.
I get to hold hands with adorable Doa every day on our way there.

The flowers on the way to school are pretty.

“Doa, stand in front of those flowers over there. I’ll take a picture of you.”

“Unni, we’re going to be late again.”

“Don’t worry, Unni is keeping track of time. Now, come on, stand over there.”

Doa finally stood in front of the flowers.
Doa acts like she doesn’t want to, but she still strikes a pose.
I took a bunch of pictures.

“Wow, who does my pretty little beauty take after to be this pretty?”

“Unni.”

“Correct!”

“Unni, we need to go now. We’re going to be late.”

“Okay~”

Anyway. Since our school is close our house it only takes five minutes to get there.

“Unni!”

“Huh?”

“That’s Unni!”

I looked where Doa was pointing, and there was a banner that wasn’t there yesterday, hanging at the school gate.

‘Congratulations to Lee Dohee 5th grade student in Class 4 for winning the grand prize in the Elementary Division of the Student Music Association Piano Competition!’

What’s this?
How does the school even find out that I won the competition?
I was trying to keep it a secret.

After I dropped Doa off at her class, I went into my class.
As soon as I walked in, all the kids looked at me.

Did you guys see the banner too?
This is why I didn’t want to be noticed at school.
I like attention, but not from elementary school kids.

Among the staring kids, Sujin approaches me and talks to me.

“Dohee, how could you hide this from me?”

She saw the banner too.

“What…?”

“You every day after school.”

After school?3

“Oh?”

“You practice the piano.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

For a moment, I thought the news about me being an idol trainee had spread. Phew.

“You could have told me.”

“Sorry, I’ll tell you next time.”

I barely managed to soothe Sujin who was whining, clinging on to me, and separated her from me.

Sigh… It’s hard to even sit down.
I’m twice as tired this morning.
I’ll lay my head on the desk until the teacher arrives.

However, the speaker on the ceiling started to broadcast.

Would Lee Dohee from 5th grade in class 4 please come to the broadcasting room. –

Ah.
What is it this time?

I had no choice but to go to the broadcasting room. There was a teacher in charge of the broadcasting club who I would occasionally pass by in the hallway with the club members.”

“Dohee, you’re here?”

“Yes, hello teacher.”

“So, Dohee, I heard you won the grand prize in the piano competition?”

“Ah… yes. I was lucky.”

“Teacher-nim thought that Dohe was amazing because she was not only pretty but also good at studying. And now, she finds out that Dohee is also incredibly good at playing the piano?”

“Haha… thank you.”

“Your parents must be very proud.”

Mom was so upset yesterday that she didn’t even come to pick me up from work.

“Haha… yes, they are.”

“Anyway, the principal will be here soon to broadcast the award ceremony, so just accept your award and you can go.”

“Yes.”

.

.

“Youngster Lee Dohee, for winning the grand prize in the Student Music Association Piano Competition, this award is presented to you.”

“Thank you.”

Whew, finally, it’s over.
Now I can go rest now.

“Youngster Dohee?”

“Yes?”

“Would you come to the principal’s office with me for a moment?”

“Oh, okay…”

Once again, I was dragged to the principal’s office against my will.

“Have a seat here.”

“Yes.”

“So, I see this isn’t the first time Dohee has won a piano competition.”

“Oh, yes…”

Seriously, how do they know this?

“It’s something to be proud of. So why didn’t you tell the school?”

Because if I told you, you’d make a fuss like this…

“Ah… I was embarrassed to tell anyone. Haha…”

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. If the journalist hadn’t told us, we wouldn’t have known.”

“Yes? A journalist?”

“That’s right. They’re coming for an interview soon.”

“Yes?”

How does the journalist know about my school?

Whenever I had a contest winner interview, I didn’t reveal my school to protect my personal information, and I requested the reporters to not upload my photos, to protect my portrait rights.
The same goes for SNS.
The last post my Mom made about me on SNS was when I was 8 years old.
And ever since I became a trainee, my account has been changed to private, and there were no posts that could be used to infer my personal information..

After a while, a woman who looked to be in her mid-to-late 30s walked in.
The principal stood up and greeted the woman warmly.

“Welcome, journalist.”

“Hello, Principal.”

“Dohee, this is the journalist. Say hello.”

This is ridiculous, really.

“Yes, hello.”

“Okay, hi Dohee. Then shall we start the interview?”

The journalist was asking the principal if they could start the interview with me.
What about asking me for permission as the party concerned?

“Oh, go right ahead.”

Shouldn’t they be asking me?
The person concerned doesn’t even want to do this.

Ha… Fine.
Let’s think positively.
When I become a celebrity, there will be more difficult people like this.
Let’s think of it as practice for when that time comes.
Yeah…, what’s good is good.

“First, let me ask the principal. What kind of student is Dohee usually?”

“Oh, student Dohee has been known as a prodigy in our school, never missing the top spot since she enrolled.”

That’s true.
I did all this unnecessary elementary school studying just to hear this..

“Really? So, she has no issues with her character?”

The tone of the question was like they were hoping I had character flaws.

“Of course. All her friends like her, and the teachers only have praise for her.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll ask Dohee a few questions now. Just answer comfortably.”

“Yes.”

“You’ve won the grand prize 14 times in a row. So why don’t you compete in international competitions?”

“I don’t think I’m skilled enough to compete internationally yet.”

“Then why do you turn down offers from famous piano professors to teach you? If your skills are lacking, you should learn.”

“I have personal reasons.”

“Can you tell me what those reasons are?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s personal matters.”

“So, can you tell me what your personal circumstances are?”

This rude *****.
From the very start, I had a feeling this person wasn’t normal when they found out about my hidden school and came to find me, but I didn’t expect them to be this brazenly pushy just because I’m young.

Now experiencing it first hand.
I understand now, it’s no wonder why they are called ‘trash journalists.’

I stood up and said,

“Journalist, it’s too embarrassing to reveal here. So can we step outside and talk privately?”

“Sure, that’s fine.”¹

Every word they say is rude.
The journalist and I went out into the hallway.

“Alright, now tell me, what is it?”

“I’m not going to do the interview.”

“What?”

“The Ajumma² is too rude, I can’t do it.”

“I’m not an Ajumma, and if you talk to me like that, you’ll be the one who suffers.”

They’re making an unreasonable threat to me.
I decided to save my words and took out my phone from my pocket to call Team Leader Jeong.

Oh, Dohee. What’s up? –

I explained the situation to Team Leader-nim.

Okay Dohee, good job for calling. Can you hand the phone to the journalist? –

“Yes, Team Leader-nim.”

I handed the phone to the journalist.

“Take this.”

The journalist talked with Team Leader-nim, and then the journalist’s face turned red.
The journalist practically threw my phone back at me and glared at me before storming off.
Sigh.

“Team Leader-nim, the journalist left.”

Well, it turns out they’re from a third-rate tabloid that’s not even worthy of being called a news outlet. –

“Ah, I see.”

No wonder I didn’t want to deal with them.

“Thank you, Team Leader-nim.”

No need to thank me. The company is here to protect you. Next time, call me before any interview, okay? –
“Yes, thank you.”

I didn’t think this would happen because you’re a trainee, so it’s my fault for not preparing you. Come and meet me at the company today. –
“Yes, thank you, Team Leader-nim.-

“Okay, study hard. –

“Yes.”

I went back to the principal’s office and told the principal.

“Principal, the journalist suddenly left, for some reason?”

“What? Why?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe something came up.”

“Huh… What an inconsiderate person. Dohee, you should go back to your class now.”

“Yes.”

Of course, even after going back to class, I didn’t get any rest. I was pestered by the homeroom teacher and the other elementary school students.

.

.

.

Three days later, on Sunday.

I was getting ready to go out and play with my Unni Wooa as promised.
Since I was going out, I decided to dress nicely.

“Mom, what’s the temperature today?”

“It’s hot outside, 22 degrees³.”

It’s quite warm today.

I put on denim shorts and tucked in a yellow blouse.
Would wearing white sneakers match this well?

I looked at myself in the full-length mirror.
Hey, this is the perfect spring outfit.

“Mom, how do I look?”

“Pretty, pretty.”

“You’re not being sincere enough, Mom.”

“You look absolutely beautiful, Dohee~. Now hurry up and go, or Wooa will be waiting.”

“Yeah~ I’ll be back~”

The place I was meeting my Unni was Daehak-ro, near the company.
We would probably just meet up, have a meal, go to a cafe, walk around the street, and end at a karaoke place.

The weather was so warm and cozy once I stepped outside. I like it.

With the cozy weather, I put on my earphones and listened to some upbeat music in this warm weather, which made my body feel like dancing.

1. 그래 그 정도야 뭐. – This phrase is often used in casual conversations to express agreement or acceptance of a suggestion. Pretty much very rude.
2. Ajumma means Aunt or typically refers to an older woman
3. this is in celcius – in farenheit it is around 70 degrees which is a relatively cool temperature, but it feels hotter because of the humidity in Korea