It was weird. I think he was staring at me.
I remember his name is…
Ahyeon. He came from a Korean descent. It was eminent from his soft features and sharp eyes. It was kind of cute, if I do say so myself. He could have a more laid-back, cool character. Oh, people would probably love this human.
"Starting with Auditionee Stephie! Producer Aristo, start the interview please!" The MC gracefully makes his exit, and the cameras cut. I prepare to say my lines as a girl with sage green hair is escorted off her chair and collar taken off.
The moment the cameras started to roll again, I waited for the cue and started to interview the girl.
"So, may you give us a quick introduction?"
The girl slowly shook her head and opened her mouth.
"I-I'm Stephie, a s-student of Clematin Academy. I-I really like singing…" I notice her bright green eyes flutter over to look at another participant. The participant, a redhead boy with freckles, gave her a small smile and a nod. Stephie takes a deep breath and continued.
"I am 20 years old, and grew up here in the Academy. I-I…aim to win Empyrean CONSTELLATION!! for my friend." She motions to the redhead she looked at earlier. I signal the cameras to point at him. He seemed flustered at the sudden attention given.
I asked her to sing a sample, and she complies. She doesn't stutter once, and her strong, but harmonious voice makes my fellow panelists, including myself, impressed.
I could make her a loyalist to her…friend. Perhaps, I can make it a plot point for her character. Stephie and her redhead partner would be a hit with the romance and friendship seekers.
It continued this way with a couple more auditionees. They all delivered astounding performances that proves why they were chosen by the Academy.
Finally, it was Ahyeon's turn, the participant that made strange eye contact with me.
As he walked up the stage, I took the chance to take one more peek at his file.
[ Koo, Ahyeon ]
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Height: 5'9
Human // Korean
Code Number: T - 551 449 1865
Additional Notes:
Capable of 6 Octaves
Widest Vocal Range of all Male Students
Remarkable Visuals
The last part was added by Yeoniph. I closed the file to look at Koo Ahyeon. Like how I noted earlier, his soft features and eyes stood out the most. The more I observed him, the more ideas I could use to market him appear in my thoughts.
His eyelashes are long, and he has a slender figure. He's rather handsome, definitely the type of our female adolescent viewers. This kid would sell well with the brand sponsors too.
I started to interview him.
"Let's start with a short introduction." I smiled, and Ahyeon made a complicated expression. Nonetheless, he complied.
"I'm Ahyeon, age 21. Like everyone else, I am also a student of Clematin Academy, of the vocal music class." His introduction is straight-forward. The way he spoke is also rather appealing, the words flow out smoothly and his pronunciation makes it sound rich.
"What motivates you to join the audition show?" A panelist two seats away from me asked.
"A better life outside this school." Another blunt and simple answer.
The panelist chuckles at his answer, "What a generic answer! Every human wants a better life out of the Academy, huh?". Ahyeon doesn't respond to the panelist's sarcastic remark.
"Well, can you sing us a sample?" Yeoniph, who is sitting beside me, covers for the awkward atmosphere.
Ahyeon nods and takes the mic off its stand. A soft guitar instrumental starts playing.
Maybe it's the way you say my name,
Maybe it's the way you play your game…
But it's so good, I've never known anybody like you.
But it's so good, I've never dreamed of nobody like you.
He is very passionate about singing, I'll give him that. A song that was originally sung by a female fits right with his vocals. It sounds like the original song, and it gives a soft feeling of nostalgia.
And I've heard of a love that comes once in a lifetime,
And I'm pretty sure that you are that love of mine…
He's looking straight ahead again at me. The gaze made me uncomfortable so I decided to take some notes on my tablet, only to end up doodling something weird.
'Cause I'm in a field of dandelions…
Wishing on every one that you'd be mine, mine.
And I see forever in your eyes…
I feel okay when I see you smile, smile.
He sings a bit louder, pulling quite a difficult trick with his voice. The trick caught me off-guard, making me look straight back at him in disbelief.
Hah. He really is looking at me. I think he knew that I knew because once our eyes met again, his lips curved into a small smile.
It was a smile of success. Like a 'I made you look!' kind of smile.
…This human is what they call a psychopath, right?
Wishing on dandelions all of the time…
Praying to God that one day you'll be mine.
Wishing on dandelions all of the time, all of the time…
I quickly looked away, disgruntled by his weird behavior. As he continued, his stare stayed on me.
He finishes up the song with such flourish it made the panelists clap and cheer, including Yeoniph. I also clapped to not stand out.
"That is a very great performance, Ahyeon!" A panelist compliments. "You definitely secured yourself a spot!"
As the panelists showered Ahyeon with praises, he bowed politely and gave a charming smile.
He'll definitely be the bias of our audiences if he also shows a good personality with the reality portion.
The rest of the 40 auditionees seem to have their spirits crushed by Ahyeon's audition.
Nonetheless, they still gave good performances.
The recording ended without a problem (other than some auditionees getting stage fright) and we finally wrapped up for the day. We gave our thanks to the Academy and finalized the arrangement for the transport of the auditionees. They'll be taken to the show's Aeria tonight and stay at the dorms provided.
As the auditionees were being escorted out, I observed Ahyeon again. He's being a good human, properly behaving amongst his noisy fellow auditionees.
"You and that auditionee keep looking at each other, is there something going on? Do you know that human?" Yeoniph distracts me, and I shake my head.
"How could I? It's the first time I'm meeting that human." I scoff at her. Yeoniph shrugs and taps away on her tablet, probably organizing more documents.
The ride home was quiet, unlike earlier. They were probably tired with the long filming hours. Some people were already asleep.
I should treat them to dinner once the preparation is complete.
I finish up the notes for how I should portray each auditionee. It's a diverse cast, that's for sure.
Once I reached home, I took a quick bath and ate dinner. I shapeshifted back to my original form.
I picked out a file and played it. It's my favorite makjang drama, and the show I get my inspiration from. It's very hilarious no matter how much I rewatch it.
"What things do you like, Aristo?" A teacher's aide asked me on my first day as a transferee in highschool. I was a quiet person, never speaking unless being spoken to.
"I'm not sure." was my answer. They chuckled and asked, "Do you like TV shows then?"
"Not really."
"Well, I can see why judging with the crap they make nowadays. I think the TV shows we make are pretty shitty and bland…uck!"
They sent me a file through the wristwatch system. I opened it.
"This is…"
"Yup! It's my favorite human-made show. It's really old and unhinged but really fun to watch. And pretty inspiring as well!" They chirped. I simply nodded and muttered that I'll watch it.
I forgot about it until that aide had made news in school, after dying in a terrorism attack by humans. I felt sad and a little ironic about their fate.
I decided to watch it. And that day, I made a vow to myself.
I'll become a producer. Not just any producer, I'll make the biggest, most creative show that is guranteed to make the entire universe fall onto it's knees.
A resolve I made because of some insignificant person brought me to being the executive producer of the most successful TV show in the long history of the universe's entertainment industry at age 29.
[Aristo Canteliaver, it is 10:30 PM. Please sleep now for a refreshing start tomorrow morning.]
"Crap…" I sigh.
I turn off the TV, grunting about how I would really give the person who created the system a good smack on the head. I took off my glasses, making sure it's on the bedside table this time.
L̸̟̠̳̑̈́̉o̸̲͇͙̼̠̣̼͋̾̿c̷̻̣̯̼͍̯͚̼̖̾̃́̊̊͒͆à̴̻̥͎͋̆̏̋͠͝ț̵̨̛̜̪̹̩͐i̶̡̅̍͌̈́̇͛͘n̵͕̝͙͆̈́g̷̨̧̝̬̳͙͔̫̠͒̔̄̂͒͂̈́͌̽ͅ.̶̨̥͇͔̦̝̈́̽.̴̬̥̈̓̉͊̽̃̅ͅ.̶̱͈̟̺̙͙̻̬̤̉̃̈́F̵̧̝̥̠͎̥̯͒̀͂̋͗̒̊̕͝o̷̖̤̫̮̜̠̺̪̿͘͜ͅṷ̴̧̟̟̳͉̣̻̌̀̔̊́́̄͝n̶̛̛̹̞̺̝͚̉̒̿̃̆͌̅̊d̶̹̟̳͖̠͉̣̻̙͘ ̵̜̾̐͐̅́͘͜t̷͇̥̹͙̤̎a̷̠̪̤͎͜͝r̴̥̞̱͌͛̚g̴͔͔̲̲̃e̵͎̙̘̲͙̰̬͛̀ṭ̶̢̞̝̔̽̏̏̾!̴̗̤̖̺͋̾̓̌̍̚͘ ̷̧̨̩̪͇̜̹̳̏̃̿͘͜͝͠C̷̡͔̬̪̤̹̯̏̏̆́̔̒̆̀̕ơ̷̫̠̜̐͌̚̚m̶̨̞͕̼̜̭̝̯͚͗͐͋͋̍͛͘m̶̩̃̈́͋̊͊̊͠e̴̹͙̰͗̈ń̷̫̳̭̖̉͘͘ͅc̸̮̰̈́̓̑i̸̡͖̟̬̟͇̰͎͛̽ṇ̶̻̖͎͑̀̑͛̇̅̽͗̽͊g̸̫̻̊̂͠ ̴̠̭̤͈̥̣̺̜͚̹̀̽͂d̴̢̖̟̬͈̩̝̽̐̓̽̓̚͜͝į̴͔̗̤̖̳̮͚̈͜a̶̞̥͗͂̔͘g̶͎̦͙̺̥̦͗́͛̃͋n̵̺̔̎̑̽́̈́̋̀͂ô̵͍̝̣̬̻̙̞̹͕̚s̶̪̈̃̄̎̽͒͆i̷̛̺̅̉̆́̇͋̐̋͝s̷̢̰̦̮̰͇̥͋͘̚.̵̧̫̟̩͈̗̦͓̠̐́͂͋͜.̶̨̛̱̯̫͎̟̊̌̄̌.̴̡̯̼͙̽͝͝ͅ