Joye Cai is one step closer to living her dreams.
The 16-year-old Singaporean student has accepted a K-pop trainee contract.
Speaking to Mothership, Cai said she was given the offer right after the final round of the Fifty Fifty global audition in Bangkok, Thailand on Mar. 2.
Offered a contract
Although she didn't make the cut to be part of Fifty Fifty, the girl group managed by South Korean agency Attrakt, she was offered a trainee contract by Evergreen Group Holdings.
Evergreen Group Holdings is a multinational enterprise helmed by Singaporean David Yong.
In a statement given to Mothership, the CEO of Evergreen Group Holdings said: "Joye has enormous potential with the talents she’s shown at such a young age. It’s not her talent that is lacking when she failed to make the cut for Fifty Fifty but it’s just that Singapore does not have the required top-class K-pop training system to let her succeed. Recognising her talent we want to bring her over to South Korea as soon as possible to start intensive training and debut within two years."
Not an easy decision
Taking on the contract, however, wasn't an easy decision to make.
Cai said: "My mum told me 'you either make it to Fifty Fifty or you come back to school.' [...] It took me a couple of days to tell myself that I wanted to do this. We actually had really deep family meetings about five times [to discuss this]."
She decided to take on the contract on Mar. 7, when she was attending the Taylor Swift concert with her mother.
"My mum was standing next to me and there were a lot of Swifties cheering and shouting in the crowds when she (Taylor Swift) walked in. I looked at my mum and went 'Mum, try to see me here in five years.'"
Going through this alone
The teenager is set to leave for Korea in June or July 2024.
While her mother has been her biggest supporter and has always been by her side, Cai said that she will be travelling to Korea alone.
She explained: "This is [going to be] a really valuable life lesson. My mum was saying how she'd be really sad if she sees me suffering. I don't want my family to worry about me and I want to go through this by myself."
Mothership understands that she will go through six working days and one off day per week, as part of her traineeship.
Studies a priority
However, just because she's going to be an idol, doesn't mean her studies will be halted.
Cai's mother wants Joye to further her studies and intends to enrol her into Hanlim Arts School, which considers many idols like Astro's Cha Eun Woo, SHINee's Lee Tae Min and Twice's Tzuyu as its alumni.
If she gets into the school, she intends to major in music as she has been gearing towards an International Baccalaureate (IB) specialising in music at her school in Singapore.
@mothership.nova all the best for tonight Joye 🥳🎉🤞 #tiktoksg #fiftyfiftyauditionsingapore #kpop #WhatToPlay #fiftyfifty #kpopidol #kpopauditions #피프티피프티 #어트랙트 #오디션 #걸그룹오디션 #k팝오디션 ♬ suara asli - Ik4n ashine ❓
Related story
Top image from Joye Cai's Instagram page and Mothership.