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Dad now works in the Bay Area, so he only visits us every other weekend at most, since he has to fly down from San Jose. I do miss him from time to time, but our weekly calls are usually enough.

“Yup,” I say. “You should have heard her voice when I told her I auditioned for the dance portion, too. It was like I told her I murdered someone.”

Dad chuckles. “That’s just your mom being your mom, Skye. I, for one, am so proud that you got in. For both vocals and dance.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

His words make my heart hurt a bit less, even though it doesn’t really help with the fact that he’s almost never home whileMomis the one who I have to deal with every single day.

“Your mom grew up in a way different culture than you and me,” Dad continues. “You’ve got to understand that, you know?”

“I know.”

Dad always says stuff like this to me, like it’s his second job to remind me that unlike the two of us, Mom was born and raised in Korea, where her parents brought her up with extremely high expectations during a huge recession. When he used to live with us, he was better at calling Mom out when she fat-shamed me. But since he moved away, he’s been more about “keeping the peace.” I think he just wants to enjoy what little time he has with us, minus the drama.

“I’m almost at school,” I say. It’s somewhat true. I’m still a few minutes away, but from where I’m standing, I can see the orange-red Spanish-style roofs of the high school. Besides, it’s not like my dad can tell if I’m lying or not. From the way I’m holding my phone, he can only see my face.

“All right, well, I’ll talk to you later,” Dad says. “I have to go to work, anyway.”

“See you.”

When I walk into school, it’s like nothing’s changed. And I guess in a way, nothing has. Not yet anyway. Even though I got intoYou’re My Shining Starthis past weekend, no one elsewill know about it until the show premieres in two months. And even if it airs, it’s not like the majority of the school will care. Although BTS is pretty popular now, most people in our school probably don’t even know what K-popis.

I go to the cafeteria, which is bustling with people.

It doesn’t take long for me to spot my usual group of friends, since one of them—Clarissa Han—has bright auburn hair. Our school’s dress code is strict about the colors we can dye our hair—natural colors only!—but it isn’t really specific about the shade. And Clarissa took full advantage of that by dying her naturally black hair the brightest red she could manage.

Clarissa and my other best friend, Rebecca, are playing Rebecca’s Nintendo Switch. Technically, game consoles aren’t allowed in school, but we’re usually allowed to play before classes start as long as we don’t take them out in the classrooms. I’ve never really been into games, but I always like watching my friends play, since it gives me something to do before the school day starts. Today, they’re playing Pokémon.

The three of us have been best friends ever since we were in the same homeroom class in fifth grade. All three of us haven’t been in the same class since, but we’ve stuck together as much as we could, hanging out whenever we can. None of us really have any reason to get to school early, but since we all have different schedules, hanging out at the cafeteria before school is our daily tradition.

Rebecca pauses the game when I sit down next to her and says, “So. Did you really audition? How did it go?”

“Yeah,” I say. “It went okay. I got in.”

“Youwhat?” Clarissa squeals, hitting me in the arm. “Oh my gosh, congratulations! You go, girl.”

My friends’ faces light up with surprise and pride. Mostly surprise. I realize that my own friends didn’t think I could actually make it into the competition. It stings, just a bit.

“I heardHenry Choshowed up to the audition!” Clarissa continues. “How was he? Was he really good?”

“Yeah, I saw him.”

“Youwhat?” Rebecca exclaims.

“Did you get a picture of him?” Clarissa jumps in. “Or an autograph?”

I wave a hand at my friends. “Guys, guys, chill. No, I was too busyauditioningfor my own place in the competition to do anything like that.”

Rebecca and Clarissa exchange looks. Clarissa’s eyes are still kind of wide, like an excited puppy’s, but Rebecca calms down and clears her throat.

“Right,” she says. “So, when are they airing the episode?”

“Mid-October,” I say. “That’s when the show premieres. Although honestly, I don’t know how much of the footage they’ll actually use from my audition. I guess I’ll just have to see.”

“Well, you made it in, didn’t you? I’m sure we’ll see at least one glimpse of you. They’d be complete fools to leave you out.” Rebecca gives me a small, playful nudge, and I grin.

“Wait,” says Clarissa. “They’ll probably show Henry a lot,right? Is he big in Korea like he is here? Do you—ow!” She winces as Rebecca elbows her in the ribs.