|ChanHyuck's POV|
"Aera's fan story is next." I announce as I motion toward Seulgi.
Seulgi confidently makes her way onto the stage. She takes the microphone with a smile and stares out at the audience.
"Hello, my name is Lee Seulgi. I am thirteen years old and live in a small farming village. My mom is a single parent raising five kids. She didn't have time to take us to school, so we were homeschooled by our oldest brother. We don't have a lot of money and we don't have any other family except each other, but we always make life as fun as we can. I got my first phone when I was about eight. My mom had bought it for me so I could go into town to sell our harvest without her having to worry about me. I would watch random videos all the time, but one day I stumbled across one that changed my life." Seulgi turns toward Aera with a bright smile.
Aera hurries toward her and wraps her arms around her from behind.
"I found a video of Cherry dancing. After I watched the video a million times, I began coping her movements while I worked. I'd spin and sweep. I'd jump and pick apples. I was always trying to match her. I wanted to be as good as she was, but I didn't have a teacher or a safe place to practice. I broke my ankle once dancing outside. I stepped in a hole and fell. After spending two months in a cast, I begged my mom to let me join the dance academy in town. She told me that we couldn't afford it. I knew we couldn't, but it was the one thing I wanted more than anything. I was hoping that a miracle would happen and I'd be able to go. My brother approached me later that night and sat me down. He asked me if dancing was the thing I loved the most in life. I told him yes. It was. It really was the thing I loved the most. I felt so light and free when I was dancing—even if I wasn't good at it. The next day, my mom told me that she got me into the dance academy. It took about a year for me to find out how my mom was able to pay for my lessons. The truth was that she couldn't. She wasn't the one paying for them. My brother was. He got a job working on a neighboring farm overnight to pay for my lessons. When I asked him why he was doing that for me, he said it was because he saw himself in me. He told me that when he was younger, he had to give up the one thing he loved more than anything to take care of us. He told me he didn't want to see me fail like he did. Seeing Cherry dance made me feel like I had a purpose. I felt like I belonged in the world. If I hadn't had stumbled across her video, I would still be back home on the farm far away from society. I would never have met all the people I have or even learned everything I have. I owe my future to her." Seulgi lowers the microphone and hands it to me before being lead off to the side by Aera.
Aera runs her fingers through Seulgi's hair as she smiles down at her mini self. I head back to the center of the stage and glance back at SunMi. She swallows hard, her face full of anxiety and fear. She has no idea who's going to step onto the stage for her.