Chapter 3
Going to the reception, Jun showed his entry pa.s.s as he was instructed. The girl took it and entered the ID number on the computer. After confirming it with his name and photo, she gave him an application and said, "Welcome to Echo. Fill out the necessary information in the application form, right now. After that, you'll be proceeding with the contract."
Jun nodded and looked at the form and filled his name, parents, and siblings if he has any. Since it is optional, Jun left it blank and started filling out others like, whether he is a dancer, rapper, or a vocalist and his education details, etc...
After submitting it, an intern took him to the Executive who oversees the contract. After he greeted Jun, he handed over the contract. Jun saw it and carefully read the contract and then, asked him, "so, you'll provide accommodation, food, skincare, traveling fee, coaching, promotions, etc... for 5 years, whether I debut or not. And regarding the investments, If I complete the contract and don't debut, it's waived.
If I don't complete a contract but debut through another agency, then also it's waived for the trainee and the other agency bears the brunt.
If I don't complete a contract and don't even debut, then, I have to return a certain percentage of the investment, which depends on the time I spent here.
If I am willing to complete the training but the agency drops me because they don't see potential, then also it is waived.
Forgetting about unimportant details, in general, that's all it is, right?" As the executive director nodded with a smile, Jun then asked, "that's alright with me. But what if I choose not to stay in the accommodation, the agency provided? I'm from Seoul, so, it's just 35 Km away." The Executive director replied, "Then, we will provide you traveling allowance so that you can travel from your home to here. The investment in your housing will be recorded as 0. But, I truly recommend choosing the dorm so that you can also familiarize yourself with other
After signing the contract, the executive director smiled, "Congratulations, you are now a trainee at Echo Entertainment. I hope you work hard and debut soon."
Then, the intern took him to one of the training rooms and left him alone, on the outside of the door. As he entered, Jun saw around 8 trainees, who are pretty much around 16-22 years old, having a monthly evaluation.
He didn't disturb them and silently stood beside the cameraman, who is shooting their performance while Pok Tae-Hee and three unfamiliar judges were evaluating them and giving comments as they weren't satisfied even though Jun found it is good.
After all of their evaluations are over, Jun walked forward towards them. As the trainees and the three judges were wondering who this new guy is, Tae-Hee smiled, "Woo-Jin, Seong-Hoon, Chon s.h.i.+n, this is the vocalist I told you about."
Kim Woo-Jin looked at Jun curiously, "Oh, this is one of the ten new trainees you selected, yesterday?" Then, he asked Jun, "But why are you here? Aren't you supposed to go to the 8 Training room?" Jun replied, "I'm not sure. I was just brought here by some intern."
Tae-Hee then said, "Ah, I remembered, now. You are one of the two, who are above 18 years. So, I guess you were sorted into this group because of it." Chon s.h.i.+n, one of the dancing coaches, sighed, "not again. Anyway, it doesn't matter since Lee Min-Ki, and Kyo Soo-Yeon is going to debut soon. So, the numbers will stay the same as before with another two joinings."
Tae-Hee then took out a paper from the drawer of the desk before them and gave it to Jun, "this is your normal schedule. In your free hours, you can either go home, college, stay here, and practice, etc.."
Jun, who already knew how the training schedule will be like, from his memories of old Jun, took a look and nodded as it was pretty much the same as ZC.
06:00 to 07:00 - Gym
07:00 to 08:00 - Breakfast
08:00 to 11:00 - Free time
11:00 to 13:00 - Learning/Creating Dance Ch.o.r.eography (Mandatory)
13:00 to 14:00 - Lunch Break
14:00 to 17:00 - Vocal Cla.s.s (Mandatory)
17:00 to 18:00 - Gym (Workout)
18:00 to 19:00 - Dinner
19:00 to 21:00 - Korean/English Cla.s.s (Mandatory)
21:00 to 23:00 - Practicing earlier learned ch.o.r.eography
23:00 to 06:00 - Bed Time
Even though only 7 hours of training per day is mandatory, trainees, who don't go to school or college, practice more than 14 hours per day, including Sunday, even though it's a universal holiday for the trainees of all the companies. So, the life of a trainee is indeed filled with hards.h.i.+ps and they will be increased much after their debut. Still, thousands and thousands of people aspire to become Idols.
After introducing himself with his new acquaintances, Jun returned to his home taking the train
Meanwhile, at ZC Entertainment in Seoul, Han Yung-Ja woke up late this free day as they have continuous concerts at Kw.a.n.gju, Haenam, Changhung, and Sancheon for the past two weeks.
Looking at mobile, which has hundreds of messages in girl idol group chats and a lot of private messages from, her friends. She ignored everything as she saw a private message from her brother. As she read it, Yung-Ja sprung up from her bed with a squeal, disturbing her roommate and other the two who are watching television in the living room hurried to her room to see what's going on. 17-year-old Yung-Ja excitedly said, "my brother got selected in Echo auditions and is now a trainee there." 17-year-old Wu Yun-Seo asked curiously, "But didn't you tell that he was in a vegetative state for the past four years?"
Her roommate, 19-year-old Sa NYoung, who is the leader of the four-member group, Sparkle replied while she still continued her sleep, "her brother came out of vegetative state a couple of months ago."
Then, the group's maknae, 15-year-old Lee Yun-Ji asked in doubt, "but isn't your brother, already 20 years old? Wouldn't it be better if he returns to this company? I know it will be hard to return to the company after getting kicked out unfairly but still, in Echo, he would have to spend time as a trainee again. Not to mention, there's military enlistment as well."
Yung-Ja smiled, "Nah, since he was able to become a trainee there in his first try, I'm sure he will debut earlier. As for the military, my brother was exempted from enlistment since he was declared as not fit for the military service as he was in a vegetative state. I'm not sure if the government takes it back when they learn he was recovered." NYoung replied sleepily, "there are thousands of candidates enlisting in the military each year. Why would they care about one person? Although, if he becomes popular the media might show negative about it."