:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ﾟ
CHAPTER TWO
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"You did what?" yells the whole family, except for one member, in unison. There is shock splattered across their faces, glancing in between in each other to make sure that they heard her right.

Sandara chuckles awkwardly, looking down in embarrassment. Slow and unsure, she repeats, "I called an agency and told them that I would become a trainee under their company."

"And with whose allowance did you do that, young lady?" her mother asks in a raised tone, her eyebrows furrowed angrily. She mutters under her breath, "You got that careless attitude from your father."

"What?" squeaks her father, swiftly turning toward his wife in a questionary behavior. "You were always the one who broke the rules and yelled around 'Be gay! Do crime!' Not me!"

Mishil shakes her head distinctively, brushing her husband off. "Whatever it is," she begins in a stern voice. "You are not allowed to be a trainee to become an Idol. Discussion ended."

The sadness drains through Sandara rather than skating over her skin. It wanders through every cell to reach the ground. Her eyes are suddenly glazed with a thin layer of tear, blinking them away immediately.

Regardless of her attempt to hide her disappointment, Lian sees right through it and his heart sinks at the sight of her saddened state. "Why not, though?" he asks, catching his whole family off-guard.

"Why not?" repeats their mother, loud and clear. "Are you out of your mind, too, Lian?" Shaking her head, she begins counting with her fingers while keeping a strict stare on both Lian and Sandara. "First of all, Sandara is way too young. Second of all, she is one of the top 1% of the nation in the preparatory university entrance exams for language, math, and social studies. You kids should stop acting so stupid—"

Like soothing rain, Bolin lays his hand on top of his wife's and stops her irritated rambling. "Sandara," he says, voice detached and stern - unusual for the actual gracious father. "Their industry is not to joke with. They will squeeze your energy and health out like a sponge, again and again. You shouldn't be a puppet in someone else's show."

"You have a rare and high chance to develop into one of the leaders of this country." Bolin stays calm and collected, his eyelids heavy. "Stop wasting your time with such nonsense that'll damage your whole life."

With tears in her eyes, Sandara declares, "But maybe I don't want that! Have you ever wondered about my own interests? Going through a boring and uncomplicated life is not the way to achieve dreams!"

"Oh, so you want to crawl on the floor like I once had to? You want to be completely on your own, lonely, without a plan in life, while everyone keeps on throwing stones in your way like they did to me?" His calmness seems to extinguish with the words passing on. "Is that what you want?"

Her father's words hit her like darts; deep and destructive. Then, Sandara just sits there - loneliness beside her, even if the small room is filled up with people.

Without dropping another word, Sandara's parents stand up and exit the living room - signifying that the discussion is, indeed, finished.

Reluctantly, Lian copies his parents' actions, but not before planting a light kiss on his sister's head, whispering, "I'll talk to them."

All Sandara does is weakly smile at him as she looks up to meet his tender gaze. "Thanks..." mumbles the small girl, knowing that it won't work out, though.

The wind softly howls against the windows whilst a poisonous silence creeps up on the duo. Sandara asks fiercely, "Don't you have anything to say? Or are you just going to sit there without caring about nobody but yourself?"

Lijun clenches his jaw at her choice of words. His hunched figure is stiffened as he raises his head, shooting daggers her way with only his eyes. He doesn't say anything - only staring at her with unreadable, dark sights.

His eyes are black, not soulless nor lifeless. Instead, they are like two pristine stones of onyx, that light up with a purple flare when touched by candle light.

She looks into his eyes, but it is not like there is something to behold. An endless depth of ink, anger, and somewhat, sorrow.

He exits the room as well, leaving Sandara completely lonely with her thoughts.

Listen and learn from silence.
It has a quality and a dimension all in its own.

━━✦

Ever since Sandara and her family talked about the issue, things had started to change.

The normal warmth and joy has evaporated week by week, day by day. Sandara started to become utterly silent and quiet - unusual for the girl who is, actually, the bubbly one in the personality-mixed family.

Her parents noticed it. They noticed it, but didn't exactly know what to do. It saddens them every single time when they try to get a reaction out of their daughter, any emotion other than apathy, but to no avail.

For a fact, Sandara herself began to quieten as her eldest brother stopped talking to her - showing her the silent treatment with his cold shoulder. It's childish, really, in her opinion.

The only thing that causes Sandara to see a sliver of hope is Lian's daily reassurances; telling her that everything will be fine, and that she is not alone, with a tight and warm embrace.

They were once again sitting at the table, eating their dinner. Just like the now usual days, it's silent and awkward - nobody uttering a word in fear of tensing someone up.

"I'm not having this anymore." Mishil breaks the unbearable silence sharply, slamming her chopsticks on the table, resulting in a few members of the family to flinch. "We have to talk about this."

Lian mumbles under his breath in relief, "Thank God..."

"Sandara." The said girl raises her head ever so slightly, delivering the message that she is listening, even if it is only half-heartedly. "Your mother and I have talked about the whole Idol-thing and have a clear view and opinion now."

"If you want to rub under my nose that I can't do it, then please don't. I get it..." says Sandara, playing with her food out of the sudden feeling of awkwardness.

But Bolin strongly shakes his head, causing his daughter's forehead to crease in a confused frown. "We are ready to cooperate under a lot of conditions."

Yet Sandara is still in a strong daze - thinking that all of this is not reality and that she is simply dreaming.

It takes a sharp kick by Lian's leg under the table to enter the real world once again, making her feel all jittery all of a sudden.

"You are allowed to become a trainee, if—"

"Yes!"

With a roll of his eye, Lian states, "Let the woman speak, for god's sake."

"I don't care which conditions, just— Yes!" exclaims Sandara, jumping up from her seat on the chair to engulf her parents into a tight hug.

Her euphoria is contagious, really. The wide smile on her face lightens Bolin's and Mishil's souls, making their day brighter. So, they return her embrace almost immediately, smiles on their now happy faces.

Suddenly, a loud screeching of a chair causes the trio to pull away. Lijun stands up swiftly and exits the kitchen, slamming the door a bit too harshly in the process.

"What a Drama-Queen," Lian mutters aside, rolling his eyes.

Mishil pushes Sandara further encouragingly, smiling while saying in a soft voice, "Talk to him."

"No, no, no. I'm not ready to die yet—"

Even though she strongly disagrees, Lian pushes her out of the kitchen. "Just talk to him, dumb-ass."

And she does so - gulping while softly knocking on his door. She opens the door, even if he didn't invite her in, peeking her head through the small gap, still being quite fearful; knowing how scary her eldest brother is when mad. "L-Li?"

Lijun sits on his bed, hands on his head to block outsider's sight on him, while his body is clearly hunched, not gazing up.

With feather-light steps, Sandara steps forward and takes a seat next to him on the bed, making sure that there is a wide gap in between them, though.

She opens, then closes her mouth right after; completely lost for words and unsure of what to say. "You know—" but she stops as soon as she catches a small glimpse of his face.

His raven eyes are pools of salty liquid, rimmed red at the edges. His cheeks are shining with dampness, doing nothing to hide the dark bags under his eyes.

Lijun is crying.

Once again, Sandara is at a loss for words. She is usually the person to be competent when dealing with other people's feelings, but when it comes to her brother, she is a lost man at sea.

To her luck, Lijun does not say anything either, simply wrapping his arms around her tightly, as if in an attempt to protect her from the cruel word, which she sees from her oblivious glasses - him not wanting to let go any time soon.

"Don't ever go away..." whispers Lijun into her hair, still holding onto her for dear life. "Please."

Startled, Sandara embraces him back, eyes brimmed widely. "I-I won't."

"I'm serious, San." Slowly, Lijun pulls away, harshly wiping his cheeks to make his tears disappear. "That world you want to be a part of is no good. They're vile and cruel."

A deep frown is on her face by now. "Why do you have so many prejudices about Idols and the K-Pop-Industry in general? How do you even know so much—"

"I just do," he finishes sharply and in a darker voice, making her shut up almost immediately.

Then, he chuckles lightly, causing Sandara to sigh in relief - knowing that he isn't entirely mad. "Shit, I'm crying in front of my younger sister. What has life become, honestly."

"It's not like it's the first time, cry-baby," mutters Lian from the doorframe, sipping on his capri-sun calmly.

Lian dodges the pillow that is harshly thrown his way with grace, sitting down next to Sandara after - causing the small girl to be sandwiched in between her tall brothers.

"Are you still mad at me...?" Sandara questions her eldest sibling, slowly looking up at him with puppy-dog eyes, nibbling on her bottom lip nervously.

The eldest sighs deeply. Lian is well aware that Lijun will hold a speech about his stubborn thoughts and vision of the Industry, so he interferes and says, "Whatever he wants to say, San, it's not important. You are you, and you live your own life. Stop worrying about what other people think of you."

Offended, Lijun sits there, ready to square up against his younger brother. "What the hell, Lian? Sometimes, you're seriously a bad influence... It's important to listen to elders or parents, especially if you're still a minor!"

"I didn't do that," states Lian with a nonchalant shrug. "And look at me now - perfect as a human could ever get."

"Perfect at being a complete dumb-ass, yeah," Lijun concludes, furrowing his eyebrows.

Just before the two brothers could continue to bicker about their different views of the world, Sandara sighs and comments, "You two just can't get along when it comes to your opinions now, can you?"

"No," both of them stubbornly state in unison.

Sandara scoffs, feeling quite annoyed by them. Before the room could turn completely silent, Lian says, "Whatever Lijun may think of you for becoming a trainee, don't listen to him!"

He leans further to his sister and whispers close to her ear, making sure that Lijun could still hear him, though. "He's quite brain-dead sometimes. Remember when he fell down as he was still a kid? I think the effects are still there—"

"Shut the hell up, boy," warns Lijun, harshly slapping his brother's head, earning a giggle from both Lian and his sister.

━━✦

"Pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Na!" Si-Hyuk exclaims excitedly, standing up from his seat and greeting them properly. "And you, too, Sandara!"

The couple return his polite greeting, nervous smiles on their faces. "We're glad to finally meet you as well, Mr. Bang."

Sandara simply smiles purely, glancing around the office with innocent eyes. She's feeling utterly excited, which causes her heart to strongly beat against her chest.

As the CEO and her parents discuss all of the important topics and go through the full paperwork, Sandara's head travels elsewhere; thinking of all the memories she's about to collect, the joy and excitement she'll be feeling while performing, making friends for life...

That is what is on her mind the most - making friends. She's sure that she will be in a group with many people rather than becoming a Soloist right at the start.

Honestly, she doesn't mind that, considering that she'd be way too unprofessional and uneducated to be a Soloist right at the start.

A warm feeling of joy wells up in her chest as she thinks of the people she is about to meet in the upcoming years, no signs of negativity or paranoid thoughts on her mind.

"And, with your signature, Sandara, things will be settled and you will become a trainee under my company, BigHit!" the CEO beams, a warm smile on his face.

With a slightly shaking hand, Sandara takes hold on a pen and fervently signs the contract.

Congratulations, you've just signed the contract for the entrance of Hell!

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A/N: shit's about to go
down lol good luck san