Chapter 138 - On the Fence

Ye Rim was next to Mrs. Song and the most experienced musician in the house, Mr. Park, when the candidate took the small stage. Pearl was still restricted for renovations, but the Orchidists Association lent its meeting room so they could do the auditions.

Duk Mi was sitting farther away from them, cell phone in hand. After the singer introduced herself and said what she was going to sing, both Ye Rim's and Mrs. Song's cell phones vibrated. Ye Rim was sure they had received the same message from Duk Mi,

DK: 'Why do they always want to sing the same song?'

DK: 'She doesn't even know how to position herself on the stage.'

'Aishh! All three singers who came to the audition were not good enough for the Legend of the Trot! ' Ye Rim thought, aghast. Mrs. Song shook her head at the phone with a sigh. The singer noticed the mood of her evaluators, and it made her insecure,

"Shall I start?"

With the consent of Mrs. Song, the singer began to sing along with the playback. She didn't have a trained voice, but she was lovely as a good noraebang singer. But of course, the salary was not attractive, nor was Pearl a well-known place to attract top singers.

Their cell phone kept vibrating, with more derogatory comments. Ye Rim sighed, but it was finally over, and she thanked the candidate for coming. They would respond in two weeks.

When the candidate said goodbye and left, Ye Rim turned to Duk Mi, exclaiming,

"Sunbaenim! Nobody is good enough for you! We already had three candidates today!"

"And is it my fault they aren't good?" Duk Mi defended his point of view.

"Nothing will be enough for Royalty," mocked Mrs. Song. And turning to an employee, she asked for the next candidate to enter.

"There's no next candidate, Mrs. Song," replied the young man, apologizing.

"How can it be? Seven women had confirmed it!" she questioned, but the boy shook his head.

"Did something happen?"

"I think Hong Gi's men are out there on the street, preventing candidates from arriving," said Ms. Song's husband, peering out the window.

"Aish! I can't believe it!" the ajuhmma grunted, getting up. They all went to the windows on the second floor where they were on, and confirmed that some suspicious-looking men were actually hanging around the building.

"I'm going to reschedule the auditions," Mrs. Song said.

"I don't know if it'll be necessary, since it's been a waste of time," replied Duk Mi. The singer was preparing to make a dramatic exit when he turned from the door, adding, "I don't even know if I will have time for this nonsense again."

"I thought the first candidate was good enough," Ye Rim commented. She was sure that her Sunbae was making things difficult because of his ego. And by Mrs. Song's expressions, she thought the same thing. Pearl's owner asked,

"When will your surgery be, Duk Mi? Are you sure you will be recovered for Pearl's opening week? Because it would be tiring for you to go back to singing right after your surgery."

Duk Mi stopped in the middle of his exit movement, fl.u.s.tered.

"Is Sunbaenim going to have any surgery?" It startled Ye Rim. Then a suspicion hit her. "Does Sunbaenim still think about having plastic surgery?"

"Ah, I'm evaluating it. Seeking a second opinion. See you!" he quickly left after answering evasively. Even ignoring  Ms. Cha's arrival, the vice president of the Orchidist Club and his biggest fan.

"See you later," the two women automatically answered, and looked at each other. Ms. Song revealed,

"I know that after the fiasco with Dr. Kim, he went to see another doctor, this Dr. Gong. He's getting ready for all these plastic surgeries!" Probably Mrs. Song would talk more, but with Mrs. Cha's arrival she stopped herself. 

After the greetings, Ms. Cha wanted to know more about what she overheard. She was shocked and worried about her idol!

"Aigoo! Why is he so insecure? He's such a handsome mature man! He doesn't have to look like Lee Joon Gi!"

"Even because it would be impossible," said Mr. Park, who was collecting sound equipment near them. The women ignored him with a snort, and turning away.

"A style's declining popularity always hurts an artist. He's feeling a little undervalued, Ms. Cha," said Ye Rim. "I don't think telling him to just not have a delicate plastic surgery is going to work. Sunbaenim is a stage man, so he knows that an impeccable appearance is important. However, in his case it's quite risky!" she avoided saying that he was an eccentric narcissist and had a difficult temper. And after Ms. Song's revelations, about him not even being the real Duk Mi, he thought Sunbaenim was taking his persona too far. She just wanted someone to put a little bit of reason in his head, before it was too late.

"A fan meeting!" exclaimed Mrs. Cha. 

"Uhn?!" Ye Rim and Mrs. Song were startled by the suggestion.

"Yes! Let's organize a fan meeting!" excited by her own idea, Ms. Cha, an exceptional and engaged event organizer, explained, "We are going to have a fan meeting so that our beloved Singer Duk Mi realizes how much he's appreciated. My niece is good with social media and will help us organize it! Let me do this for our beloved Astro do Trot, yes?!"

Mrs. Song laughed  out of tension, apparently. Ye Rim could almost read her thoughts. Duk Mi could be exposed!

Ms. Cha was waiting for an answer, and Ye Rim said, "We couldn't stop the Fan Club President in Seoul from holding an event. Furthermore, if it helps Sunbaenim regain his self-esteem about his appearance, it will be great! I will help as I can! Count on me!"

Mrs. Song raised her hand to her head in desperation.

°°°

Eun Ha ran for Pearl, which was only two blocks from where he was, with four Hong Gi men in pursuit, "Aigoo, what the hell!"

Around a corner, she stopped to breathe for a few seconds, leaning against the wall, and thinking she should do some aerobic exercise again. 'Why do fairy rays look like humans in the worst things?!' she wondered. Remembering her great advantage, however, she grabbed her magic wand and peered around the corner, preparing one of the spells banned by the elemental council.

'Well, that's it, 'out of sight, out of mind,'' she thought, since what the Elemental Council didn't know, it wouldn't be punished. 

But nothing happened. No fall or incident prevented them from continuing to run towards Eun Ha, pointing at her with papers stuck to their hands.

'Uh-Oh!' She waved her wand, wondering why it had failed. She was doing it the same way as always and ...

Nothing.

Not a tingle in the arm or belly.

The magic was not leaving her body, and they were getting close and…

'Run Eun Ha!' she spun on her heel and felt the hand of one of them pass very close to her head as she bent down and ran with all the strength of her legs and the breath of her lungs.

"Aigoo!" Her wand no longer worked, no matter how much she shook and forced her mind as she ran. She started to throw the pamphlets back, hoping to delay them. If she was caught, she would be beaten or worse.

Reaching for the cell phone, she tossed her backpack at them, entering a random corner.

On speed dial, she called the Hunter!

"HELP!"

Unfortunately for the fairy, the street ended in a wall with a 2m high fence mesh atop of it. 

Eun Ha turned and already saw them around the corner. She was trapped.

She climbed the fence, as the men reached the wall. The worst: on the other side of the fence, two huge dogs came running, and barked at the invader. If she threw herself to the other side, she would probably have a terrible fate. This was definitely a situation of being between a rock and a hard place.

One of the thugs started to climb, when another suggested, "Don't bother, Ji Soo. Let's see how much she can handle being there."

"JUNG! Where are you?!" she heard the Hunter's voice on the phone's speakerphone, in her sweatshirt pocket.

"Professor ..." She whimpered, as tears streamed down her face. Eun Ha tried to pick up the phone while balancing on her hands and feet in the holes of the fence mesh, but the phone fell, along with her wand.

"NO!"

The bandits laughed, and one of them bent down to pick up the objects. He looked at the 'pretty pen' and, realizing it must be an important object, threw it across the fence. Eun Ha watched in horror as the dogs surrounded her precious magic wand, sniffing out the intriguing object.

"Get down, student! Come and get your cell phone!" they teased. The voice on the phone said,

"You! Whoever it is, leave my student alone! What do you want to leave her alone?"

The men laughed, and looked at Eun Ha again, who was suffering from the effects of clinging to the screen. Her hands burned with pain and her knees buckled. Her feet were contorted inside her sneakers. She didn't know how much she could take, so she screamed with all her breath without caring about the shame,

"HELP ME, PROFESSOR SHIN!"

"Should we send your teacher over with some money so we can let you go, Student?" someone asked, snickering. The other henchmen approved his idea.

Eun Ha nodded vigorously.