Page 16 of I'll Be the One

More footsteps come from down the hall, and a blond white girl walks into view, yelling at Henry.

The sound is too muffled by the thick glass walls for me to make out exactly what she’s saying, but I can tell she’s talking really fast. Mascara runs down her face, and her eyes are all puffy, like she’s been crying for the last several hours. Henry, on the other hand, stays silent, his jaw set in what looks like barely suppressed anger.

“Oh wow, that’s Melinda Jones!” says one of the other girls in the room. “She was in last month’s issue ofTeen Vogue! Whathappenedto her?”

It’s only then that I recognize the girl outside as the sun-kissed blond-haired model I frequently saw on Henry’s Instagram stories. I remember reading some rumors online about how she and Henry broke up a few months ago, and I guess those rumors were true. Henry and Melinda look like they can’t stand each other.

The camera crew rushes out of the room to capture footage of the fight.

“Oh God,” I hear Gary say from behind me. “What is up with all this drama? You’d think this wasKeeping Up with the Kardashians.”

Henry and Melinda freeze when they see the camera crew. And then, as if they weren’t fighting just a few seconds before, Henry reaches over and wraps his arm protectively around Melinda. She curls into him, and I’m wondering how she forgave him so fast when Henry turns her around so she’s facing away from the cameras. Melinda still looks pretty mad, but her anger is mixed with fear and unmistakable gratitude.

Henry makes conversation with the camera crew, casually running a hand through his hair while the other one still holds Melinda. I can’t see his face from where I’m seated, but I can tell from the way the camera crew is laughing that he’s working his charm again.

He’s protecting her, I realize as I stare at the strange scene unfolding in front of us. Even though I barely know Henry, I can’t help but feel a bit proud of him. A lesser guy would have just let Melinda be or even walked away from the whole thing.

Finally, Mr. Park walks out of the room and comes back with Melinda.

“This is Miss Melinda Jones. She’s our final contestant for the singing competition this year.”

Melinda quickly wipes the mascara from her face and greets us all in accented Korean. “Ahnyeonghaseyo. I’m Melinda. I taught myself Korean, so I’m not very good, but I can speak it well enough to sing it.”

Switching back to English, she goes on to explain how she first got interested in Korean culture through BTS and other boy bands. While she’s talking, I can’t help but glance back to look at Henry, who’s still in the hallway.

Henry’s alone now, since the camera crew followed Melinda into the conference room. He looks so drained, and there’s no trace of the smile he gave the camera as he stares down at his feet. Suddenly, he stiffens and looks up. It’s only when our eyes meet that I realize I was watching what was supposed to be a private moment.

Like a startled deer, Henry stares wide-eyed at me before briskly walking away.

“So muchdrama,” Lana whispers into my ear.

I nod in agreement, wondering what the heck just happened.

After Melinda finishes talking, we each go around and introduce ourselves. Everyone is mostly from LA and Orange County, although there are some people from other parts of the United States. Most of the Asian contestants are Korean American, like I guessed, although some are Chinese, Vietnamese, or Japanese. My brain admittedly tunes out after the fifteenth-or-so person, but I do catch some snippets. A girl with green hair sings trot, a more old-fashioned and rhythmic type of Korean music. One of the Latina girls lived in Korea for longer than I have and is really into Korean hip-hop bands like Epik High. And of course, there are a ton of people who are BTS Army and hope they can meet the members one day.

Once we’re all done, Gary claps his hands.

“Welcome! Welcome,” he says. “For this first round, all of you have been sorted into groups based on age and/or similarity in vocal style to even out the playing field for the members in each group. From there, we will pick the best of you, or, if none of the members are worthy of moving on, we will eliminate the entire group. There will be ten groups of four people. However, this isn’t an exercise in group dynamics. That will be tested later. In this round, everyone in the group will be individually practicing and performing. They will just be onstage at the same time and be compared against each other. Before anyone says it, let me be up-front and say that yes, thisisa ploy to eliminate people faster.”

He laughs, and there’s some nervous laughter around the room.

“We’re not just being cruel, however,” Mr. Park chimes in. “This method has been proven to be very effective and efficient in pinpointing the best and worst of you. The K-pop industry grows more saturated every day. If you don’t stick out in a group within this setting, you will never stick out in the actual industry.”

Gary then leads us in a brief session of vocal warm-ups, before telling us to open our envelopes.

From my envelope, I pull out a small slip of paper that says3.

Lana leans over and whispers, “Hey, what did you get?”

“Three. How about you?”

“Same! I guess our stylesarepretty similar.”

I grin. This whole group-elimination round sounds scary, but I’m glad I at least know someone in my group.

“Please proceed to the practice room that corresponds with your number,” instructs Mr. Park. “The rooms are large, so you are encouraged to spread out and use earphones to individually practice your songs. If you don’t have your own earphones, please ask the front desk for a pair. You may choose any song from either the Korean or American pop genre for this first round.”

This is it, I think.Let the competition begin.

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