yura has always had a problem taking 'no' for an answer - giving it, not so much. on the eve of officially receiving a rejection notice from her latest audition, there's a bit of a switch that flicks, and yura finds herself (more) than a little offended that she wasn't even given feedback from the audition - despite having relatively no clue how entertainment companies in this country operate outside of what she's been assigned to research for potential stories.
and in classic yura fashion, she changes her mind about auditioning with yejun and hangyeol and joins them, dutifully filling out the form with skilled flourishes and pretty signatures that she's practiced since she could write, and eyeing everyone as potential competition, categorizing them by level of threat as phase two of the auditions for next generation befall them, and they're waiting to be grouped for showcasing.
it's a lot like the auditions she used to attend, the crowding, the slightly anxious atmosphere filled with varying degrees of professionalism and skill, and the mish-mash of perfumes, aftershaves, and colognes alike, leading to an amalgam of disorientation- and unironically, putting yura's headspace right back into the days she considered these things fun.
so when it's her turn to showcase 60 seconds of talent and she notices a distinct lack of female rappers, she's able to pivot somewhat quickly, dropping a few bars from the latest popular kpop boy group (because girls can do it too, and better), with a cocky, confident smile and a hair flip to boot. she may be a little rusty, but where there's rust, there's a shine underneath, and yura is more than wiling to dust off her skills just to prove a point to a company that couldn't have cared less to call her back.
the questions come easily, and they're really not all too unlike what she's experienced before, though in recent years she's been the one asking them instead.
What can you bring to the table that we won’t see in any other contestant?
"good, home-grown, genuine talent." she responds cheekily, with a side glance at hangyeol and yejun, who are probably realizing all over again what a competitive monster yura can be. "i'm not soft, and i come to win, and to achieve what i set my mind to. always."
What was the first thing you thought about when you woke up this morning?
"what shoes to wear," yura answers with ease, as it's the truth. "and whether it would match my jacket." as if to prove her point, yura steps back a few steps, showing off the combination that she settled on, the gentle pops of color in her sneakers a near perfect match to the color of the light jacket she elected to continue wearing throughout this whole process.
Which company would you want to receive an offer from and why?
without missing a beat, she blurts, almost challenging, "delta studio. why? because they didn't cast me once, and i want them to know it was a mistake." yura grins, tilting her head in a way that almost seems devilishly playful, as if she knows it's a rather tongue-in-cheek comment to make, and she does.
and for her special talent, never being one to be outdone and constantly overprepared, yura quickly retrieves her old twirling batons from her backpack, gesturing for her fellow auditioners to scoot back just a bit, because 'i'm about to heat things up," which, in hindsight, is probably more frightening than endearing, as yura chose to light the ends of her batons as she twirled them, effortlessly throwing them with just the right amount of force so that they flew gracefully in the low-ceiling studio room, rather than catching the whole place on fire. it's only a quick few seconds, some artful kicks and twists that she hasnt done in quite a while, but it's just the kind of plucky personality pick that yura knows will make sure she's not easily forgotten or ignored.
