Anna's trainee lessons had been going well, or at least she thought they had. She had never felt so physically exhausted, but also so alive at the same time. It was hard and demanding work, but she could feel herself improving with each day that passed, so it was worth it.
Time with her soulmates had been limited, but that had been expected. Anna made sure to seek them out anytime she had a spare minute, even if it was only to watch them work. BTS were constantly telling her how proud they were of her and reminding her that it wouldn't always be like this. After she debuted, things would settle down and they would have more time for each other again.
The only thing Anna was a little sad about was that she hadn't managed to befriend any of the other trainees. If anything, they seemed to actively avoid her. Other than coming to see her first performance assessment, her soulmates hadn't been near where the trainees were, and she was sure some of the girls were upset about it.
While it wasn't great, it didn't affect Anna too much. After all, she was only having lessons with them. At the end of the day, she was a solo act, so it wasn't like any of these girls were her future group mates, or that she would ever have to work with them. Or so she thought.
"Okay, everyone! Before we finish up today, I'm going to tell you about your next assignment. You will divide yourselves into groups of five. Each group will perform the same song. The rest is up to you. Got it? Now everyone, get into your groups. Five girls per group and hurry, I don't have all day."
The teacher didn't need to worry. Anna watched as girls immediately turned to each other as if they were best friends choosing partners for a group project at school. She looked around to see what group still needed one more person. Instead, she saw four other trainees standing by themselves, in the same position as she was. Realising that no one else was going to take the initiative, Anna walked to the nearest lonely girl and waved to the other three to join them.
"Looks like we're a group. Everyone okay with that?"
"Not like we have much of a choice."
"Right... That's the spirit! Umm, I'm Anna. I look forward to working with all of you."
"We know who you are."
A trainee who Anna believed was called Minji and seemed to have a permanent scowl on her face mocked her.
The girl sitting next to Anna, Yeona, leaned towards her and whispered excitedly.
"Are you really their soulmate?"
Next to Yeona, another trainee answered her.
"Of course, she is. Didn't you see the press release or the V Lives? It's not like she's not easily recognisable."
"How else would a foreigner become a trainee unless their soulmate had some pull with the company."
The last comment was whispered but was still just loud enough for Anna to hear. She felt like it was a challenge, a test. Minji wanted to see how she would react. Before she could respond, their teacher spoke up again.
"Now let me play you the song you will be performing."
All the trainees - including Anna - recognised the girl group on the screen and as soon as the music started, they all knew which song it was, WANNABE by ITZY. Some girls were happy because they knew and liked the song, but others realised how difficult the dance was.
"You have five minutes to discuss and then you can go. We'll start working on this next class."
Anna turned to her group members who all looked worried.
"I hope everyone here is confident in their dance skills."
They all laughed awkwardly.
"What is everyone good at?"
"I'm a dancer."
"I'm a vocalist, but I don't think I'm a bad dancer either.
"I'm a vocalist too."
Yeona, who Anna thought must be the youngest trainee here, looked the most worried, whereas Minji seemed to always have an air of indifference about her.
"I'm a dancer too, but I can sing and rap as well. How about you, Anna?"
"Mainly vocals, but my dancing isn't bad."
"Well, we have a bit of a problem."
"What's that?"
"No one in this group is a main rapper."
Anna replayed the song in her head.
"The song didn't really have any major rap sections. We should be fine."
"You think so? Perhaps you could do the main rapper's part then, Anna?"
Anna stared at Minji, the girl who was making comments earlier.
"Sure. No problem."
The tension was broken as all the other trainees began to leave the room.
"We can sort the rest out next time."
Anna was grabbing her stuff when Yeona approached her.
"Anna?"
She smiled when the young girl stumbled over what to call her.
"You can call me Unnie if you want?"
"Really?"
"Sure. Yeona, right? If you don't mind, how old are you?"
"15 years old."
"Wow, that's as old as Kookie when he started... Er, well, I'm definitely your Unnie then!"
"Unnie? I... umm..."
"It's okay. You can talk to me."
"You seem nice, Unnie, and I'm worried about this assignment. I only just made it through the last one because of my vocals, my dancing isn't the best."
"Don't worry. I'll help you. This is a team exercise after all."
"Oh! Thank you, Unnie! Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. I'll see you in class tomorrow and we can work out a schedule, okay?"
"Yes! Thank you! Bye, Unnie!"
As Anna left the dance studio she knew exactly where she needed to go. She had a bit of free time and with her new assignment, she was hoping to get a little help from some of her soulmates.
Her three rappers were the obvious first choice but deciding which one to go to was difficult. She ruled out Namjoon because the leader was so busy, and the Yoongi had been working a lot with her on her album, so that left Hoseok. She felt bad because she knew how busy the dancer was as well, but she decided to knock on his studio door first.
"Can you come back later please?!"
Anna was a little startled by his unusual response through the closed door.
"Oh, okay. Sorry!"
Anna had started to walk away when the door opened.
"Sorry, Angel. Didn't realise it was you!"
Hoseok grabbed her by the arm and pulled her inside before locking the door behind her. Now she was inside, Anna realised they were not alone.
"Oh, good you're all here! Wait, was I interrupting something?"
Namjoon was spread out on the sofa, his head resting back against the top of the cushions with his eyes closed. Yoongi was sitting next to him, his hair sticking up in all directions. Hoseok motioned for Anna to take his desk chair while he sat on the other side of Namjoon on the sofa.
"Umm, well..."
"We were just providing our leader with a little stress relief."
"Aww, and I missed it?!"
"Give me a few minutes and I'll be good to go again."
"Is that so?"
"Were the two of us not enough, Joonie?"
Anna giggled as Yoongi and Hoseok looked at their leader expectantly.
"Of course, you are... I just can't get enough of my soulmates?"
Hoseok kissed Namjoon on the cheek.
"Well done. Now, Anna, Angel, you needed something?"
"I need you to teach me how to rap."
"I thought you'd never ask."
Yoongi rolled his eyes at Hoseok's response.
"Is this for an assignment?"
"Yes, we have to perform a given song in a group, but no one in our group was a rapper so I... volunteered to do the main rapper's part? Any tips?"
"I think we can do more than give you a few tips. You have three superstar rapper soulmates at your disposal. Shall we start now? Or does Namjoon need another session?"
They all laughed at Hoseok's teasing, but when they stopped Namjoon spoke up.
"All jokes aside, after seeing Anna rap, I probably will be good to go again."
Anna couldn't stop giggling as she watched two of her soulmates try, and fail, to force their hulk of a leader out of the room.