My boyfriend is Lee Min-ho

Chapter Twenty Six - Acting for a living

So for me, basically life was home and theatre. Rehearsals and practices began at nine in the morning. I had to go for singing training classes, rehearsals as well as articulation phonics classes. A typical day would end by six and we would all go for dinner together before heading home. I spent my weekeds either exploring or to the library or sometimes, Shane would ask me out. An stage artiste, be it drama or play or musical, was nothing as glamorous as a TV or movie star. We worked as much but our fame recognition was minimal.

At the end of our summer before we break for a short week, our manager - Felix, gathered us for an announcement. There had been talks and rumours about our programme for the upcoming year but nothing was official.

"Guys....!" he beckoned for everyone to gather. "I have an announcement to make," he said after everyone had settled down. People either stood around and sat on the floor. "Our troupe will be going on our world tour starting this September. We had been invited all over the world to perform." He handed out a stack of papers. "Take one each. This is the schedule."

Shane handed me a sheet and I took a close look. Starting September, we would be holding months' worth of performance in difference places starting from London itself. There was different parts of the UK as well. December was a month of break and we resumed in January in Europe - France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, all the way to Norway and Sweden. Then we moved to US in April; Australia and New Zealand would be in June while Asia would be our final destination. I looked down at the list of countries in Asia - Shanghai China, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore... I couldn't help feeling excited. A free trip back to home. But my smile very quickly disappeared when I saw the next destination.

Korea.

"We are going to Singapore," Shane said excitedly to me. "Your country!"

"Uh..." I nodded but I wasn't paying much attention to him. The word 'Korea' had struck a sensitive chord in me. Talking about Korea was one thing, especially when I was miles away. But the thought of stepping back into Korea...

"Are you okay?" Shane asked suddenly. He saw that I wasn't looking very attentive.

"Huh?" I woke up from my thoughts and remembered where I was.

"You looked... lost..."

"Oh... did I?" I smiled.

"Aren't you excited that we are going to your country?" he grinned.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "A free trip back home."

"You'll have to show me around!"

"Sure!" I promised.

Everybody was still talking about it excitedly when we packed up for the day. They were talking about the various things they would like to do - go up the Eiffel Tower, climb the Sydney Harbour bridge, do bungee in New Zealand, etc.

But my heart remained heavy. Heavy by the word - 'Korea'.