Dreams
"May I speak to Rin Kagamine?"
"Rin Kagamine? Oh my... She's no longer staying here."
"I see..."
"May I know who's on the line?"
"Ah... I'm..."
Chapter 24: Passed
"What?!" Meiko yelled and shook her friend's shoulders. "You've been spending the whole of last week under the building where Len lives?"
"Something like this..."
"Geez! Everyone was worried about you, Rin. Gakupo said that you were always staring into space in the taxi stand and after that, he didn't know where you had gone to." Meiko sighed and let go of her. "So, you really want to return home?"
Rin nodded with a short reply, "Yeah."
Meiko frowned and said, "Are you serious? No way. I thought you said you've three months to prove yourself and you're literally giving up now!"
"It can't be helped, Meiko. I've failed the audition," Rin explained and pulled her luggage towards her. "Besides, I've stayed here long enough."
"One month is not that long," Meiko mumbled softly to herself as she looked away. "Giving up is also not like you anyway."
"What?"
Meiko shot her friend a hard stare and snorted. "Nothing."
"I'm sure you've said something."
"No, I didn't."
"Hmm..." Rin narrowed her eyes at Meiko and rubbed her chin. "I thought you said something about giving up."
"It's nothing!" Meiko yelled and placed her arm on Rin's shoulder. "And you, my dear friend, what are you doing under the block where Len lives?"
"Nothing in particular. I just wanted to know whether he had any news from ALICE Studio."
Still unconvinced, Meiko crossed her arms and asked, "Then, why didn't you get over with it as soon as possible? You didn't have to wait for him everyday."
"I... I didn't dare to meet him," she squeaked and lowered her head to hide her blush.
"You're weird."
"I know." Rin's voice was even softer than before.
Tugging her friend's arm, Meiko smirked mischievously and whispered into her ear, "You do have a thing for him. Don't deny it."
"Eh?" Rin flinched and moved a step away from her. "You... I... Argh! Of... Of course not! How many times I've already told you that I don't even like him?"
Meiko wriggled her eyebrows and snickered. "Who knows? You're a bad liar."
"He's a friend! A friend!"
"Yeah, yeah. Your boyfriend," Meiko sang cheekily and tousled Rin's neatly combed hair before skipping out of her room. "I'm going to grab some snacks, Rin. Tell me when you've packed your stuffs."
Rin pouted with her face still painted bright red and mumbled to herself, "He's not my boyfriend for goodness sake!"
-:-:-:-
"You've worked hard, Kagamine."
"Kagamine, the supervisor is looking for you."
Len felt a light push on his back, followed by a pat on his head as if he was still a little boy. He slowly turned around and saw two of his colleagues standing behind him with envelopes in their hands. The sight of the envelopes could only mean one thing...
"Alright! Thanks!" Len nodded with a smile and headed to his supervisor's office.
Just when he was about to knock on the door, the door swung opened, revealing a man in his late forties standing near the doorstep with a surprised look. Almost immediately, Len greeted him with a bow.
"Ah, Len Kagamine, great timing," his supervisor said as he walked back into his office. "Here is your salary, together with the nightshift portion."
He flashed an envelope to Len and expected him to be very satisfied with it. However, Len seemed upset and that slightly annoyed him.
"Young man, do you have a problem with your pay?" he lowered his voice as his eyes narrowed at him. "Kagamine..."
Len's face suddenly brightened up and he interjected, "Of course not, Sir! It's just that... I'm wondering."
"Wondering about what?"
"The reason why I wanted to work extra hours," he answered with a grin.
"Yes, that! You were the one who begged me to extend your working hours." The supervisor flicked his fingers and laughed softly. "You said something like... you need the money for some gifts or something. What are you going to buy, son?"
The older man rested his arm on Len's shoulder while Len bit his lower lip and looked at him through the corner of his eyes. Then, he flashed a weak smile.
"I've changed my mind. I might be using it for my mother's medical fee."
"Why? No gift? I thought you were going to buy me a gift!" the supervisor joked, earning a light nudge on his chest. "Okay, okay, I'm kidding. I thought my dear Len was going to buy a gift for his girlfriend."
"I've no girlfriend."
"No girlfriend? What a pity for a handsome young man like you!"
"I know." Len grinned cheekily and looked at his watch. "Sir, I need to go home now. Thanks a lot!"
His supervisor removed his hand off his shoulder and asked in a soft voice, "Kagamime, do you still remember the promise?"
Len arched his eyebrows and stared blankly at him. "What promise?"
"The orange pudding."
"Oh... yeah."
-:-:-:-
"I have had enough of your ridiculous nonsense! Do what you want, Rin. I'm sure that you will come home one day, crying out to me that how wrong you are to be dreaming of those useless things. I'm sure of that. Listen well, Rin. You will soon understand that what we've done for you were actually for your sake."
"Daddy..."
"Shut up! You will never ever call me Daddy until you admit that you're wrong!"
"Rin, that luggage..."
"I'm sorry. As promise, I will leave here unless I couldn't live up to the bet. Just three months... I'm going to do my best."
"You couldn't be that serious, Rin! Three months? What can you actually do within that short period of time? Models don't get famous within a blink of an eye! Think realistically, Rin Kagamine! Just listen to us! We are providing everything for you! With us, you can be famous in many other areas. You don't have to be..."
"Being a model isn't about being famous. You don't understand anything, Mummy!"
"If you want to leave here, just leave! I don't want to see your face anymore! Get out! And chase the air!"
"Thank you, Daddy."
Rin hurled her luggage out of the boot of the cab and slammed the boot shut. She was finally home after six weeks of being away from home trying to fulfill her dream. She bet that her parents would be laughing at how stupid she was to chase the air, like what her father had scolded her, and ignore their so-called advices. From here, she then believed the quote -parents are always right- which she had always disagreed since young.
As she dragged her luggage along the pavement, she noticed someone standing outside her residence while talking on her handphone. Curious, Rin paced up a little and clumsily pulled her bulky luggage towards the person. Judging by the person's formal wear, it must be her parents' client or colleague. Checking her watch on the other free hand, she guessed that her parents were already home for dinner but still, it was slightly earlier than she thought they would be home.
"I see. Thank you, Ma'am." The woman put down the handphone and pressed the doorbell. "Geez... No one is in, huh..."
The woman looked a little familiar to Rin; she had silvery-white long hair tied in a ponytail, was tall and petite. Had she seen her before?
"Excuse me," Rin spoke up from behind, startling the woman. "Are you looking for someone here?"
The woman's crimson red eyes immediately narrowed at Rin and she replied, "Yes, of course. By any chance, do you know of a person named Rin Kagamine who lives somewhere here?"
"Huh?"
"It's okay if you don't know. I think she lives here." The woman pressed the doorbell again and sighed. "No one is at home, I guess."
"Ah..." Rin pointed at herself with slight hesitation and anxiety. "If... if you're loo... looking for Rin Kagamine, sh... she's... right here."
"Hmm?" The woman turned to look at Rin again and squinted. "Where?"
"H... H... Here," Rin stammered. "I'm... Rin Kagamine."
"Oh... I see..." The woman laughed weakly and suddenly stopped, widening her eyes in surprise. "Eh! You're Rin Kagamine? Oh, great!"
The woman stuck her hand out and held it in front of the confused Rin with a smile.
"I'm Haku Yowane from ALICE Studio," she said. "I'm here to say that you've passed the modeling audition. Congratulations, Miss Kagamine."
It was as if the world had stopped for awhile as millions of thoughts began to flow and overlap one another inside the little head of Rin. Her mind slowly processed the information word by word and her eyes fixated cluelessly at the woman in front of her while the woman grabbed her free hand and shook it a few times.
"Congrats! Congrats! I'll be your manager from today onwards. Shall we go in to have a talk first?"
Right then, the woman's monotone voice sounded extremely familiar, like the silvery-white haired judge who auditioned her, and almost immediately, Rin knew what was going on.
"Eh?!" Rin gasped and pointed at herself again. "I've passed?"
-:-:-:-
When Len stepped into his house, he was greeted by an excited look of his mother and her loud squeal, "Len! I've a good news for Rin. You've to tell her!"
Taken aback, he knitted her eyebrows together and asked in a low voice, "What is it?"
"It's Rin! The studio has called to say that she has passed the audition!"
Len froze on the spot as his grip tightened around the white envelope. After that, he burst into laughter, startling his mother.
"I knew she could make it," he muttered softly and looked at the envelope with a smile. "At least, my effort is not wasted at all."
Opps! Sorry for another late update! My exams ended today so now I can have a short break before another hectic week starts again. Sigh... Anyway, I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 23. Hope to hear more from you again! :D
Here are the reviewers:
- YellowFluffiesForever22
- justanothernaah
- Maya Ria
- B.L
- Mitsu
- Guest
Lastly, I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story.
Preview of the next chapter:
Chapter 25: Gift
"Rin, don't you dare to sign this paper. You're not suited to be a model at all."
"But I want to be one and it has always been my dream!" Rin retorted and took out a pen.
"Rin! Don't you dare to sign it!"
"I dare!"
"Rin..."
"I dare! I dare! I dare!"
"If you sign it..."
"I don't care!" Rin clicked her pen in frustration and was prepared to sign the contract.
"... don't ever think of coming back home."
She stopped and looked up, staring face to face at her father.
The next chapter will be the last chapter...
Nah, just kidding! Chapter 25 will be the last chapter of the first part of this story. I will be on hiatus after that but I will be back again next year to update the second part of this story which is from Chapter 26 onwards! The preview of the the second part (overall) will be shown in the next chapter. Do look forward to it! :)
Before you leave this page, don't forget to leave a review! Thank you! ;)