Erina's Curse (ENGLISH VERSION)

Chapter 1

“Water break!”

Finally! I felt like my insides are going to burst any second now and I’m going to puke my intestines out of fatigue. We’ve been practicing for weeks, 12 hours a day, to perfect the moves for our second mini album’s choreography. It hasn’t been long since our debut but fans are already demanding for more. Well, I wouldn’t dare complain because for the first time in my life, I felt like I have worth, that I have something in me that can lighten up someone’s world.  

And I’m really happy with what I do, I enjoy performing. Whenever I’m in the stage and I see the look of happiness in the audience faces, it felt surreal how strangers appreciate what I do. Our fans are very supportive and they really make every performance worth the energy and effort. It’s also overwhelming to know that we inspire them to continue to battle life’s arduous journey. 

What’s really stressful are the never-ending practices. I know that practice makes perfect but sometimes I wanted to ask for rest and sleep because I do believe that aside from mastery, a performance is best when the performer is well-rested. 

I’ve been in the H&H Entertainment Company for over 3 years now but I’m still not used to being overworked. Injuries are old news to us members now. I recently had an ankle injury during our dance video choreography for YouTube. It’s not fully healed yet and I still feel uncomfortable performing. But what can I do? They pay me to perform and not to sit on hospital beds. Others might think that being a performer is just a walk in the park but they are completely and irrevocably wrong.

“Ina! What are you? A turtle? Raqi’s devouring all the food already! What flavor do you want?”

That was Kesha, our unnie and main vocal, talking about the macaroons they’ve ordered for the staff. Post celebration for the high ranking charts of our previously released music.

I actually admire these girls so much especially Raqi because she eats soooo much food despite knowing that we have a weight to maintain. Raqi is very petite. She’d always urge us to eat outside or order food because she’s insatiable as hell. Well, Raqi is our lead dancer so she probably lose more fat than she gains because of continuous workout and practice.

She also knows damn well how to use her charms in order to lure us into her cravings. Her blue eyes hypnotizes you to do her bidding. She has this angel face that glows whenever she smiles. She’s also very particular with her hair. She changes them every now and then like she’s just changing her undergarments, but for now, she has full bangs on and her previously long brunette hair was cut above her shoulders and was dyed black. 

“What do you call a three humped camel?”

Here’s Sassy again with her corny jokes. Sometimes, I forget that she’s an Idol because of how loud she laughs. Whenever she laughs, her brown eyes turn a couple shades darker. Sassy is the most baby faced out of us five because unlike Raqi who’s a half Canadian, Sassy is both born and raised here.

As the visual of the group, she’s also very girly. Her long curly blond hair is always decorated with flowers and clips wherever we go. She’s also the smallest at only 5’5 so she wears really high heels even on practice for her to be used to it. She hates wearing one because her feet suffers so much. Every after practice and every time the managers are not around, she throws her heels everywhere. She said that she feels better throwing branded and expensive shoes so we just let her.

Sassy continued laughing while the staff are still thinking about her question earlier. We can only laugh like that when the bosses are not around because they have strict rules that when you fail to follow, you’d face consequences. One of those rules is to always be modest.

Meek. Perfect. Whenever I hear her laughter, I forget that I’m an idol and I feel normal.

“A pregnant camel?” I answered her lame question because I’ve read that somewhere already. What does she think? She’s the only one who knows that i********: exist?

“Know-it-all much?”

She clicked her tongue and act like she’s going to hit me. The staff and the members laugh because Sassy looks like a pouting duck who’s about to cry and ask for her mommy.

“Wait, I feel like I didn’t get the joke? Or maybe I got it wrong? I’m not slow here guys the joke’s just not funny.”

Introducing MS. LEINA. SUNG. She’s like a very old computer that takes at least 10 minutes to load. She’s so slow that by the time she got the joke, it’s not funny anymore. She blabbers hundreds of words per minute when she raps but when it comes to funny stuff, she’s a grandma.

But don’t fret, in stage, she’s a blue-eyed monster rapper. At 5’8 and strong aura, she’s a totally different person when she perform. When her long brunette hair is braided, the rapper Leina is already on the house. Her position contradicts her looks so much. She’s half-Scottish and she sports that bubbly and warm persona when we’re alone. To make her look badass, she wears boyish outfits and heavy dark makeup. 

“Ask the stars and the moon you b***h. Here, have some macaroons maybe you’re just low in sugar or maybe you’re just plain stupid.”

Kesha got no chill, she’s always been prank and firm. That is why she is the big sister of this group, not just because of her age but because when she talks, everyone listens. When she looks at you with her hazel eyes and raised her blond brow on you, you better be at your best behavior because she’s that scary and bossy. She’s always been serious and strict especially with our training and food intake that’s why she and Raqi never got along when it comes to food. She has been training the longest out of us five because she’s been with H&H for almost 6 years. Leina, Raqi and Sassy joined her after a year and I was the last recruit to be included in GreyArea.

I was just 15 when Sir Leo discovered me. I was performing in a singing contest held in a mall back then. The prize was appealing and I was desperate because I needed money for school. Obviously, my parents failed to provide me financial support because they were busy feeding their new family. But its okay, I guess. I learned to stand up on my own and not to ask for my family’s help. I learned it the hard way.

I lost the contest because I wasn’t informed that the criteria for judging involved costume and audience voting. I do not own any fancy clothes so I resorted to wearing my uniform and I do not have any friends’ too so I flunked the voting part.

I did not win but I caught Sir Leo’s attention. He gave me his calling card and told me that I have potential and with a little grooming, I would be perfect for the entertainment industry. I remembered that I was actually offended with how he emphasized that I need grooming but now, I realized what he meant. When I was in the middle of puberty, I looked like a mess. My hair’s all dry and bristly, I have full bangs on and I mostly wear clothes that were too long for anyone’s liking.  

Oversized t-shirt.

Ankle-length skirt.

Thigh-high socks. 

Yeah, I know. What a weirdo I was.

“Ina! I’ve been trying to get your attention! Earth to Erina, hello?” Raqi spoke nonstop while waving her hands in front of me.

“Practice?” I asked.

“Isn’t obvious?” he dragged me towards the studio to dance all day again.

I smiled while looking in the mirror in front of us. We’re in the dance studio and the four corners of the room are covered with mirrors. Raqi and Leina are pushing each other while Kesha is acting as a referee. This is actually one of the few things I love about practice, the fact that we still have time to joke around even though we’re all tired.

“Stop! Are you sure you all are not 7 year olds? You’re worse than children for Pete’s sake! Behave or I’ll throw you out!” Kesha’s mad now.

“Yes Miss Minchin,” Raqi teased Kesha more but behaved herself when Kesha looked like she’s going to punch someone in a second already.

We were practicing for an hour already when Sir Hades, one of the big bosses entered the room. I’ve been afraid of him since day 1, he’s serious and always straight to business. 

“You’ll perform on Friday and Saturday. Rest for now. Don’t you dare screw this up. Eat less, you all look like pigs”.

Another day, another performance, but this time it will be for a small screen award show. I’ll probably meet some of my actor friends there and that was enough to hyped me up and ignore our Boss’s rude remarks

“Yes sir,” we sternly answered. Sir Hades is a bald middle-aged man. His big stomach is sticking up with his tightly fitted shirt. 

“Erina, one of the managers pointed out that you were not active on your social media accounts. Are you that lazy? Work! Post pictures so your follower count goes up”, he’s always like this and even when I can taste anger in my lips, I chose to just nod.

I’m not lazy, I just don’t like the Erina that they want me to be. Sweet, naive, cute. I want to be me. I want to be a person, not a doll.

To be treated as someone who has feelings and opinions was all I’ve ever wanted, little did I know that the person who will make me feel that way is sitting with the audience, watching me with hawk eyes as I perform.