Confirmed Spot

The phone call before bedtime from Mrs. Kwan was not new to Raniko. She listened to her boss' instructions with an open-mind and made a mental note not to forget any single detail.

"... I want you to go to the auditions for the reality TV show of Tangent Cloud right now. I have made arrangements for you already and the producer, Mr. Liam, will accomodate you. Just bring an ID. Do you have any questions?"

Raniko was half listening to her boss upon learning the task at hand - go to the audition venue of TC's reality TV show. But what shall I do there? She wondered.

"Hello? Raniko? Are you still there?"

"Yes ma'am," was Raniko's automatic reply.

"Okay. Good luck." And the line ended abruptly.

Raniko raided her closet and started to get ready. For what? The vagueness of the errand was not new to her either. What she usually do was to be logical, analytical and prepared for anything. She smiled in spite of herself. This must be the most unusual and yet exciting request she had gotten because she was actually a fan of the popular idols Tangent Cloud. She inhaled deeply, trying to control the excitement that was building up inside her.

---

Just like what her boss had promised, Mr. Liam was waiting for her. He briefly glanced at her ID and turned his attention to her. He stared at her, sizing her up, and did not say any word. Karin felt uneasy but did not show it. She waited until Mr. Liam was done examining her.

"Alright. Follow me." Mr. Liam said and started to lead the way. His walk was brisk and Karin had to keep up. "You wait here for your turn," he said, stopping at an empty chair before going inside the door labeled 'Authorized Personnel Only'.

Raniko sat down, analyzing Mr. Liam's last words - wait here for your turn. She looked at her left and saw a long line of girls waiting for their turns. Most were quiet and looked tired and sleepy. She checked her watch - half past ten o'clock. She was pretty sure now of the task at hand - she will be auditioning for a part in the said show, the thought of which made her heart beat fast.

---

Mr. Liam was given a very clear instruction: Give a spot in the show to Ms. Raniko Torio.

When Mrs. Kwan called him that night, he knew something big was about to happen. He had informed her that there were 11 slots for the show, 3 of which were already given via raffle and 6 of which were already given furing the day to female interviewees. Which means that only 2 more slots were left.

He didn't know the reason for Mrs. Kwan's request nor did he want to know. His only concern was his TV show. He had invested a lot of money in this program and of course, he wanted it to be a success. He wanted all of the citizens of the nation, regardless of gender and age to be hooked on his show. And that was why he chose Tangent Orange to star his show because they have a certain level of charisma and humor, which made them popular all throughout the land. He could only hope that the chosen girls will also deliver something worthwhile to the audience.

I hope Mrs. Kwan was right about her request. He thought as he eyed Karin whose turn just came up. He did not despise the girl for Mrs. Kwan backing her up. He actually thought that she was a nice girl but he was afraid that her niceness could mean she was a boring person. Oh well, it will be up to the people to decide whether she'll stay in the house or not. At least, I put her in the show for Mrs. Kwan. That's what is important.

"What's your name?"

"Torio, Raniko."

"Age?"

"23..."

"Can you name all the members of TC?"

"Yes."

Mr. Liam saw Karin's smile and continued to probe on, "Are you a fan?"

"Yes."

"So Mrs. Kwan knows that you're a fan..."

"No. I don't think so. I'm really not sure why she sent me for an audition..."

Mr. Liam was surprised by the revelation. He can easily tell whether people are lying or not and by the looks of it, Raniko was telling the truth. And he bet she did not know that she will get the last spot in the show... Oh well, at least you are a fan. Living with the idols wouldn't be such a bad idea, isn't it?

How It All Began

It was a normal workday for Torio Raniko, a 23 year old girl who was quite unsure of what she should do with her life. She got up early, thanks to her cell phone alarm, didn't bother to have breakfast, took a 15 minute bath, and went off to Yamada Network where she worked as an assistant to the formidable news anchor Mrs. Chen Kwan. 

Raniko has been in YN for three months, a temporary assistant actually, for she applied for the position of feature news writer but there were no vacancies at that time. She was offered the assistant job and was reassured that she will eventually get the position she desires after some time. She was still waiting for that time to come. Meanwhile, she have no complaints with being an assistant to Mrs. Kwan because the pay was good and all she has to do was to follow the rules set by the anchor and do a lot of errands for her while learning about news editing and research.

Now, Mrs. Kwan was a very powerful woman in the media industry. She was very influential and liked to be on top of things. She has a lot of enemies, and thus she trusted no one. She can destroy or built a person in the industry. She has an only son from her first marriage, Yeojun, who she loved him dearly. The problem was her son Yeojun don't have a girlfriend and don't want to date women she had arranged for him to meet. And also, she noticed that Yeojun has always been nice to her assistant Raniko, whenever the two come across each other. Sure, she liked her assistant Raniko because she never failed to meet her standards and many times she even surprised her. But, she didn't want to entertain the idea of her son and his assistant being together. That would be awful to her image! It wouldn't be a real problem if the two won't see each other everyday, but according to her son, he will be working as a director and co-producer of one of the shows in the same network, and he specifically asked if she can let Raniko work for him as one of the writers of the said show. Mrs. Kwan just smiled and gently shook her head. "Why hire her? She doesn't have any experience on that area?" to which Yeojun replied, "I have talked to her several times and she has great ideas for a show." Mrs. Kwan was surprised but acted unaffected. In her mind, she was concocting a plan that would surely make Raniko as far away as she can from Yeojun. 

Night came but Mrs. Kwan didn't have anything yet in her mind. She knew she cannot fire her because Yeojun would be immediately seeking for her and they'll work together. What she needed was: Put her some place, unreachable to Yeojun; or find a boyfriend for her; or make her bad side surface so that Yeojun won't be interested in her anymore. She puffed smoke and sighed. She really needed to think fast or else Yeojun would - ... Her attention was caught by the news on the TV. A large crowd of girls of different ages and walks of life have gathered in front of Yamada Network in the midst of the night. They were waiting for hours to get an audition for the upcoming reality TV show which also includes the talented, handsome, and popular idols called Tangent Cloud or T.C. for short.. Immediately, Mrs. Kwan got the phone and called the producer of the said reality show. The producer was more than happy to accommodate her request but he said that her "protegee" should still come to the building for an audition. Mrs. Kwan hang up the phone and called Raniko's cell.