"Sorn, please report to the conference room." The intercom connected to all rooms in the building rung loudly and I gave the girl beside me a look.
"What did you do wrong now, Unnie?" I teased lightly with a smug grin. She fixed her baseball cap securely to her head with a light huff, "Hey, I never do anything wrong! If anything, it's probably about the stunt you pulled the other day."
I scoffed and got back up to get back into my training, "I already told you about a hundred times now, they will pull me aside, not you. Scurry along, now."
"Whatever, be back soon... I hope." Sorn grumbled as she left the room leaving me all to my own thoughts. I sighed; besides the fake confidence that I've had to display to Sorn to cease her constant worries, an upcoming exam was coming up and I was nervous as always.
No matter how many times I train and exam, I will never feel prepared enough for the judgmental eyes that burn holes through me as I sing and dance my heart out. I chuckled, it's really been six years since I have become a trainee. Six long years of nonstop work and no payoff.
"Excuse me?" After mindlessly dancing for a few minutes, the door to the training room I was in opened to reveal a guy with bubblegum pink hair. I frowned at his random intrusion.
"Hi... is there something I can help you with?" I stated a little more defensively than I intended.
The male frowned back, "Do you not know who I am?"
"I guess you look familiar..."
He chuckled and walked into the room, albeit without my permission. But alas, I technically do not own this room.
"I'm Lee Taeyong from NCT and SuperM, I see that you haven't done your homework about SM's artists... which is quite odd."
I nodded while fetching my bottle of water to act busy, a little nervous by this particular idol's presence.
"I was just kidding, of course I know you. Nice to meet you, Sunbae. The trainees use you as a reference for dancing a lot."
"So you're a trainee, hm?"
I chuckled, "Of course I am. You would know who I was if I wasn't."
"Are you new, then? I've never seen you around..." Taeyong questioned lightly, seeming genuinely curious as to who I was.
"If you consider six years here as 'new,' then yes I am new."
I giggled at the way Taeyong's jaw simply dropped, "How have we never met then?"
"I can't say I know the answer... but can I ask you why you decided to grace me with your presence? I've never encountered an idol on floor four before." I laughed awkwardly. He leaned against a wall and rubbed his chin in thought.
"I am set to be an evaluator for your upcoming evaluation, so I just decided to drop by and see what you're made of."
I leaned against the opposite wall from him, sneakily examining his form, "Hahh, I've never had a visit from an evaluator before now... Do you guys usually visit examinees or is this something new?"
"Ehh, I was watching some of the promising trainees clips and you piqued my interest. May I watch your routine?"
My eyebrows shot up in shock, but I felt grateful for any feedback that I could potentially receive, "Of course! Will you give me critiques once I finish?" He chuckled by my quick change in demeanor.
"Of course."
He walked to the front of the room, sliding down in front of the mirror. I set up my music and quickly ran to the middle of the room. I decided for this month that I wanted to do something a little more fun instead of the cutesy concept that company executives kept shoving down my throat. I don't know what SM's deal was when it came to giving me a flowery image, but after six years of sickening repetition, I decided it was time to finally do something I wanted to do.
Youngblood started playing over the speaker, it was a short, but powerful routine that I whipped up with the trainee dance instructor and trainer.
I came into my resting pose with my back facing Taeyong. Taeyong smiled and got up without a word. It concerned me that one of SM's best dancers didn't say anything at first. I unknowingly bit my lower lip, waiting for his response.
What if he thought I was awful? Will he tell the company to cut me?
"Wow."
"Wow?" I choked.
"I reviewed some of your previous tapes, and you absolutely killed this concept. You're ready to debut, heck your talent should have debuted long ago." I blushed at his compliments, feeling giddiness creep through my whole body.
"R-Really?
"I agree with you. Your fluidity and line separations were incomparable."
I couldn't even been to describe how good it felt to receive such high praise from the male in front of me, "Thank you so much, Sunbae!"
He gave me a sweet smile at my wide smile, "I'm going to have a talk with Sooman. I see a lot of potential in you. I wish you the best of luck at your evaluation." I bowed to him deeply and he nodded. I was extremely grateful for the confidence boost. He left, leaving me alone.
"Yujin!"
Sorn came sprinting back into the room right after Taeyong left, looking like a million thoughts were racing through her mind.
"Woah, slow down there! What's going on?"
"First, why did I just see Taeyong walk out of this room?!" She screeched, hearts clearly floating around her like they did in animations. I chuckled at the boy-crazy girl.
"I don't really know why he really came, but he ended up watching my routine and said that cool concept suits me better!" I chirped, feeling like I was leaping over the moon.
"Oh my god that's great! Well, I was summoned because... drum roll, please." I patted my hands on my pants, building up for her big announcement.
"I'm debuting!" I gasped, tears immediately surfacing.
"Wait, really?!"
"You doubt me?" She feigned hurt.
"No, no! I just wanted to make sure!" I threw my arms around her neck, bringing her into a tight hug. She squeezed my mid-section tightly, but all I could feel was the buzzing joy of excitement.
"Congrats, Unnie. You deserve this more than anyone else!"
"Nonsense, I'm waiting for them to debut your ass."
I laughed happily, but a pang of sadness resonated in my heart. Sorn has trained for fewer years, but she was debuting before I was. Don't get me wrong, I'm over the moon for this sweet, hard-working girl, and she really deserved this more than anyone, but my heart was growing more tired of all these years of hard work, sweat, and definitely many tears.
When was my time coming?
"Don't make this about me, Sorn. Lets celebrate this awesome news tonight, okay? I know I still have to train, but lets sneak out a little early so that I can treat you to meat bbq?" I winked and Sorn rolled her eyes with a large smile.
"But I have to diet now!"
"They won't have to know about tonight, okay? Just this one night."
"What did I do to deserve a friend like you?"
~~~
I looked down at my phone before stuffing it into my pocket. I bit my bottom lip as I saw the line for the trainees going through the dance evaluation gradually shortening.
"D-Don't be nervous!"
I whipped my head to see a young girl pumping her fist into the air. She had thick-rimmed glasses and a cute set of neon-pink laced braces. Everything about her screamed of bright innocence and I couldn't help but coo motherly at the young girl that still had undeterred resolution glowing in her heart. Nostalgia hit me as I remembered that I once had that I too was once like this when I first arrived in Seoul.
"I'll try my best not to be! But evals never fail to make me nervous. Say, what's your name?"
I questioned and the newer trainee flashed me a large smile, "Kang Mina! I joined a couple months ago!"
I felt a tap on my shoulder from a manager, gesturing for me to get up to finally take my exam. I shot Mina a bright smile and a thumbs up, "Best of luck to you, Mina! I know you're gonna kill it!"
After a fist bump from Mina, I was led onto the stage that I have stood on what seemed to be a million times now. It never fails to make me want to vomit every time.
Good thing I have barely consumed anything for the past couple of days...
"Hello, Yujin. What song?"
I stared at the evaluators and among them I saw that bright bubblegum pink hair shine brightly. I slightly smiled to myself as I saw Taeyong giving me an innocent wink, probably wishing me luck.
"Youngblood."
~~~
"You did really well out there."
I was back in the same training room by myself when Taeyong waltzed into the room without even knocking this time around. I wanted to scold him, but for some reason I didn't find myself minding his presence.
"Thank you, Sunbae. It helped me a lot that you watched me dance the other day."
"But I didn't give you any feedback."
"No, but you gave me a lot of confidence in my abilities."
He gave me an impressed smile as he sat by a wall. I quirked my eyebrow, "Uh, what are you doing here, though?"
"You're quite the lonely trainee, aren't you..." He said this more as a statement rather than a questioned. I blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed for some unknown reason.
"Uhh, I guess you could say that." I muttered.
He laughed and crossed his arms, "Not that I'm saying it's bad. But where's that other trainee? I saw her run into your practice room the other day."
I frowned, "Oh, Sorn? She's working on her debut with Seungyeon, Seunghee, Elkie, and Eunbin, so we won't really be training together anymore."
Silence quickly settled over the two of us in a blanket of awkwardness.
I coughed into my fist and looked the other direction, "Anyways, why did you visit me?"
"Right! I've been wanting to do a duet with someone."
My eyes squinted, and what does that have to do with me?
"So?"
He rolled his eyes and got up from his squatting position, "You're 1999, like Mark right?"
"Uhhh, yes?"
"I want to do a dance duet with you for the NCT dance channel. After I watched you the other day, I realized that your style is what I was looking for." He stated simply, but my jaw might as well have hit the floor.
"B-But there are so many superior seniors that you could duet with instead! What about Seulgi Sunbae?"
He cocked an eyebrow as he walked over to me, "I've danced with her multiple times already at award shows at stuff. I can't always dance with the same person you know."
I pondered... this could really help me gain attention from the SM execs if our duet was successful.
"What kind of duet were you thinking?"
He smirked and I felt my body scorch from his intense gaze. As much as I wanted to do this collab, a weird sensation bubbled up in my stomach telling me that I should avoid him at all costs.
"Ever heard of the song 'We Don't Talk Anymore' by Charlie Puth?"
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Hunnyuwu