Yeo Ri, along with the two other chosen candidates, moved back to the conference room, earning the envious gazes of the other people.
Do Kang Rok was standing with a phone pressed next to his ear. He glanced up at the newly arrived group, then glanced at his wristwatch.
"Secretary Han, I'll leave the rest to you. I have a meeting with Mr. Ji later and I'm running late."
"Yes, of course, sir," Secretary Han nodded politely as she bade him off. "Please take care."
The other male interviewer followed closely behind the heir, acting as his assistant now that the work had been delegated to Secretary Han.
With the heir gone, the air in the conference room seemed to be less tensed.
"Come and sit while we discuss," she invited.
The three shortlisted candidates obediently sat across her, watching as she pulled out three identical files.
"This is the contract. Have a look through it and once you sign it, consider yourself officially part of the project. Details of the shoot will be released within the week and we will contact you through a phone call or email. Any questions?"
Yeo Ri exchanged glances with the other two.
"None, ma'am," they replied almost in unison.
"Alright, then." She sat silently at her seat, waiting for them to finish scrutinising the contract and signing it
Yeo Ri picked up her file and skimmed through it. Since Mrs. Choi had recommended the audition to her, she assumed that the company was trustworthy enough. As expected, there was nothing out of the ordinary, and the thought of getting paid somewhat ignited her excitement. She couldn't wait to tell her brothers.
Yeo Ri grabbed the pen that was included inside the file and quickly signed the relevant spaces.
The other two, a boy and a girl around her age or older, also copied her actions and signed the papers gleefully. Finally, the secretary took a copy of the contracts from each of their files for record-keeping.
"Thank you very much for this opportunity," Yeo Ri bade the secretary goodbye with an almost 90-degrees bow.
"Alright. I'll be seeing you all soon," Secretary Han replied, a small smile cracking her cold exterior. She then left, ushering the three to go home.
As they walked out of the conference room, the three became acquainted with one another.
"Hey, I'm Ryeon Jae Ha, 20-years-old. What about you guys?"
"Ah! I thought you looked familiar. You were in Teen's Fashion, right?" The only male among the three exclaimed. "I'm Kim Min Joon, 16-years-old. Nice to meet you."
"Yeah! How'd you know? I only appeared in one issues, though."
"Haha, it was by coincidence. My older sister has every issue of that magazine. What about you?" Kim Min Joon turned to look at Yeo Ri with curiosity. He had long noticed her since she appeared in the waiting room.
"Ah, hello. I am Lee Yeo Ri. I'm also sixteen." Yeo Ri bowed to the two who seemed much more experienced in the industry compared to her.
"Oh! We're the same age. Let's speak casually, okay?" He smiled at the girl amiably.
"Let's get along, you two," Ryeon Jae Ha said. She pulled out her phone from her pockets and asked to exchange their contact information. In any case, networking was a big part of their line of work, after all. It didn't hurt to befriend these two little ones; they might end up famous, after all.
The three exited the audition area side-by-side.
Noticing that the auditions were over, Gun and Byun Joo Hyuk had already been waiting outside for the girl.
Seeing Gun standing nearby, Yeo Ri's eyes brightened. She immediately ran over to him, calling out, "Oppa!"
Finally seeing his sister coming out, Gun's expression mirrored hers. "Yeo Ri-ah!" He opened his arms wide to catch her as she ran into his arm.
"How did you do?" He asked, staring at her. Yeo Ri's were slightly tinted red, he noticed.
Hearing his question, Yeo Ri made a complex face.
Gun creased his eyebrows. There seemed to be something strange with her reaction. 'Could it be...' Gun thought that she probably failed. Of course, he had confidence in his sister, but this was her first time auditioning, so it was not uncommon for her to have failed.
"..."
"It's okay, Yeo Ri-ah. Just think of it as g—"
"—I passed."
"—ood expe...rience?" Gun, after finally registering her words, did a double take. "Come again?"
Yeo Ri's face glowed, "I passed the audition."
A smile slowly grew on his face. Gun pinched her cheek, "Wow! That's great, Yeo Ri-ah! You did well; I'm proud of you."
"Hehe," Yeo Ri giggled shyly at his praise, smiling like a blooming flower.
"Hey, see you later, Yeo Ri-ah!" Ryeon Jae Ha called out just as she noticed Yeo Ri and the good-looking guy was about to walk away.
Yeo Ri turned her head towards the voice, then politely bowed to her two new acquaintance. "Yes, please take care of me!"
Both Ryeon Jae Ha and Kim Min Joon waved enthusiastically at the girl, and Yeo Ri reciprocated with similar energy.
When the Lee duo got home, instead of resting, Yeo Ri immediately headed to the study desk and pulled out her stationaries, impatient to start a new letter to Hyuk.
A smile played on her face as she allowed her pen to glide on the crisp pink-tinged paper.
'Dear Hyuk-oppa,
How are you? Still in solitary confinement? I hope not. I heard it's awfully lonely in there. Hang in there, Oppa! It's only five years left (lesser, if only you'd behave).
Oppa, did you know? I went to an audition today, and I passed! It was for a commercial for some drink. It's called VitaQua. I think it's such a tacky name but it was pretty tasty when I sampled it during the audition. Don't tell anyone I said that, okay?! I don't want to lose this job, after all.
Oh, and don't misunderstand, Oppa! Just because I'll be in a commercial, does not mean I'm a celebrity, okay? Don't think too much. I know you will though, hmph.
Anyways, I'm really happy! At least now you can probably see me on TV, hehe.
Watch out for me, okay, Oppa?
With love,
Yeo Ri.'