#trcent

You’re pulled aside by a TRC staff member early in your day, right after you finish breakfast. The reason behind this is unclear, but you’re led down Seocho’s hallways to an unfamiliar office, where a man sits. “Hello, Bora-ssi,” he greets you, despite you never seeing him before. “I’m a representative of Samsung Entertainment. I’m involved in the relations between all five companies under Samsung,” he explains, and he pauses for a moment, either to let you process it or to decide how to word what comes next. “There’s a deal we’d like to offer you. Lately, Sphere Entertainment has been on the search for new female trainees, and they’d like you to join them. Tiger JK agreed that this would be beneficial to you after a long talk with Sphere’s CEO. Should you choose to accept this offer, your contract will be transferred to Sphere Entertainment, effective immediately. You can start training as a Sphere trainee as early as tomorrow, but if you need some time to decide, by all means.”

when she’s pulled aside by a staff member, immediately her suspicions go through the roof.  a puzzled expression mars her visage, but she says nothing about the situation  -  just crosses her arms and follows the trc staffer as she’s expected to do.  follow orders, always obey  -  it’s an unfortunate mess that she’s gotten herself into here at trc.  perhaps it’s part of the reason why she feels so caged in, wanting more but always stifled to the point of suffocating.

as she walks, she thinks.  maybe they’re planning on ripping up her contract? that’d be nice, but then she would have wasted all this time for nothing.  they hadn’t found out about her and hyun, have they? the further they walk, the longer the halls seem and the more her suspicions grow.  each of her ideas for this meeting only grow more wild than the next, but in the end, it always comes down to this: either trc wants to get rid of her, or someone has found out something about her and hyun.

sua has gotten a long way on her instinct alone, but the news that they break to her is .. definitely not what she’s expecting.  the suspicion only further makes her tense  -  what, exactly, had she done to catch the eye of sphere entertainment? she’s done nothing remarkable in trc, even she knows that much.  the idea that perhaps, they want to move her because of her relationship with hyun persists but she knows better than to ask that flat out to a representative of samsung.  

all she’s sure of, is that if they’re actually looking for new female trainees (  and not just saying that to keep her mouth shut about hyun  )  then something must have happened to their golden girls.  luna and eve? was that their names? sua can’t help the frown that pulls down her lips, the furrowed brow and the suspicion that still lingers in the back of her mind.  

“ beneficial ...”  it’s the first and only word that sua speaks, her brow raising quizzically at the samsung rep before her.  if her own ceo thinks this is a good idea for her, something really must be happening behind the scenes.  it’s just frustrating that she’s just not sure what that is.  sitting back in her chair, she tries to think of pros and cons.  the fact that she doesn’t know what the reason for all this is a major con.  leaving heejin? that would be a major con.  (  what would the younger girl say when she finds out that she’s leaving?  )

but maybe sphere has more opportunity for her than trc does.  maybe she’ll feel less stifled, maybe she’ll be able to spread her wings.  they’ve always been known as a company well versed in expressing creativity.  (  she wonders what hyun will think, when she tells him.  )  the potential for opportunity is just too pretty to pass up.  “ if you say so.  let’s give it a try.”

if this only ends with less air to breathe, then she’ll be the one to rip up her contract first.

meet TRC’s DUAL CHARMS

You receive a call from an unknown number early in the morning. When you pick up, it’s a woman’s voice on the other line. “Hello, this is Tiger JK’s secretary,” she greets. “We’ve noticed you’ve been missing at training. Be sure to come in today. There’s something important that needs to be discussed.” She then gives you instructions to report to a certain room number immediately upon your arrival, then hangs up, clearly expecting you to follow through.

The room discussed is an office space, and when you arrive, a man is waiting for you, hands folded on his desk, looking quite unimpressed. “Really?” he asks you, as if he can’t believe you’re both even in this situation. “You’re too new of a trainee to be skipping training like this, especially for no reason. If it was a medical or family emergency, maybe, but you didn’t get in contact with anyone. You just suddenly decided that you were so important you didn’t have to show up. Tell that to the rest of the boys trying to debut. Do you think you’re better than them? Do you think this bodes well for your future?” He lets the words hang in the air, and then sighs.

“Of course, we have to address your little fan club, too. We aren’t too worried about them, though you’re the one that should know better and should’ve been more careful. You’re a private trainee, after all, and you are one for a reason. This incident only proves that you shouldn’t be recognized publicly as a trainee under TRC Entertainment, so we won’t do that. Your fans can scream that you’re a TRC trainee from the rooftops for all we care; we won’t acknowledge it until we think you can represent this company’s name well, and you certainly can’t yet.”

“That’s not all, though. A stern talking to isn’t enough punishment for what you’ve done, so we won’t allow you to use SNS until you complete two SNS workshops with us, since you posting on SNS was what got you in this mess to begin with. Maybe that will make you think twice next time. Dismissed.”

If you make the call, the person on the other side of the line will let you know Tiger JK would like to hold a meeting with you sometime in the following week. They assure you this is not an audition and, in fact, that the CEO would like to speak with you personally. Once you get there, a staff member will lead you directly to his office.

“Hello and thank you for coming.” He’s not alone in the room. Apart from you, a man sits on one of the chairs in front of the CEO’s desk and gives you a nod as a greeting. “It hasn’t been that long now, has it? While the MGAs could be considered a long time ago, we had the chance of meeting again on my most recent challenge. We were all impressed by the improvement of your skills. This is why we’re gathered here today, I’m afraid.” Tiger JK motions towards the man who moves the stack of paper in front of him towards you. “I’d like to offer you a contract under TRC Entertainment, if you’d like. We believe you’d be a good fit, now. You only need to sign.”

honestly, jei wonders what she did to ever deserve getting stopped more than once in her life by someone from trc.  now that the competition is over and she’s free, all jei wants to do is go home and never have to deal with something like this ever again.  after all, she’s already sworn off drinking so there’s little chance of it happening once more but apparently, tiger jk himself just isn’t letting that happen.

at the very least, this time the woman who approaches her is polite.  jei’s not quite sure what to do with the information presented to her  -  or the lack thereof, really.  all that jei got from the conversation is that somehow, she did better in her performance than the one on the mgas  (  probably valid  )  and that trc wants her to call them when she can.  oddly, they seem quite eager about it if the woman’s words are anything to go by.  

it’s even more odd that this is what happens when jei’s just trying to be a petty bitch.

when she gives them a call, she’s told that tiger jk himself wants to meet with her.  she supposes this is an honour, but if she’s honest, she doesn’t really care much.  there’s just a dull tone to her voice when she hmms as she listens, and thinks.  the situation is, again, odd  -  if she recalls correctly, the ceo of a company very rarely meets with potential talent so she doubts this is what it’s about, but much less asks to meet with someone personally.  and even though she agrees, jei makes absolutely sure to arm herself to the teeth with her own number of lawyers.  (  it’s not like her brother would let her go to a company alone without one, anyway.  )

by the time their scheduled meeting comes around, jei has a lawyer trailing behind her like a puppy dog  -  probably because her brother scared him shitless if anything should happen to her while she’s out.  he knows all too well the kind of feeling she has towards these kinds of places, jei’s not surprised that he’d be wary of sending her to one alone.

when she’s led to the office of the ceo, jei still feels nothing.  there’s no excitement and moreover, no fear.  instead, her eyes are slightly narrowed into a thoughtful expression, scanning the room once she’s allowed to enter until her gaze falls on tiger jk himself.  she motions for her lawyer to sit beside her, eyes darting towards what’s surely tiger jk’s own lawyer, and then settles herself on the seat across from the ceo.

she listens to him speak, though she makes no signs of interest or disinterest.  her expression is carefully neutral, though her lips pull down slightly at the mention of the mgas.  his language is odd  (  again, everything about this situation is odd  )  because on the one hand, he compliments her and yet on the other, he tells her that the meeting is something that’s being held almost in a detrimental way.  maybe it’s just that he misspoke.  especially because in the very same breath, he offers her a contract to his company.

jei almost wants to laugh, but she doesn’t.  it takes her a minute to react after staring at the ceo, waiting for him to laugh and say this was a joke because the way he worded his feelings about the meeting itself was definitely misleading.  but there’s no move to take it back, and instead a contract is passed along to her so that she can sign.  “ let me have a little while to look over it with my lawyer.” jei finally says, not really sure how to feel but the truth is  - 

she still feels nothing.

“ read it.” she speaks to her lawyer, who takes the copy of the contract and begins to flip through the pages.  his eyes scan across the lines of text and jei catches a few phrases of the contract itself as he flips through.  by the time that he’s finished, he leans over and whispers his approval of the terms, says they’re fair.  jei lets out a sigh.

there’s nothing left to lose.  it’s just two years of her life.  (  not like she hasn’t already lost everything else.  )  two years.  two years.  two years.

might as well torture herself some more.  jei finds that she’s a sucker for punishment, apparently.  even at her age, she still learns things about herself all the time.  but at least trc will be able to help her pass the days.  at least she won’t be bored.  at least, maybe, the training will help make her stop thinking.

jei’s trying to think of the positives.

by the time she signs on the dotted line, she hasn’t come up with many.  but at the very least, maybe things could change.

TRIPLE CROWN ENTERTAINMENT, or TRC for short, was founded by the former composer and rap artist, TIGER JK. originally created on nothing, Tiger JK's ambition to have his trainees carry on his legacy became an avant garde sensation in the States, Japan and Korea. Currently, TRC Entertainment remains the hardest company to enter.

The training period for TRC Ent. is brutal and only a few trainees ever get to see the limelight of the stage. Only the most talented artists can survive TRC's rigorous training and see the shining end to their efforts.