Time goes by as quickly as the streets in Seoul get busier and busier. Soon it was around 3PM in the afternoon when AeLin’s dorm was visited by a SM Entertainment official. “AeLin ssi.” The doorbell rang. AeLin was sleeping her bottom off and got up all messy as she heard the doorbell ring. “Ah! Wait a minute, I’m coming.” She said as she went out of her room and opened the door. “Annyeong hasaeyo.” She said as she opened the door. “Annyeong hasayo AeLin ssi. I’m here to pick you up. You’re meeting with SM-nim in about 20 minutes.” The lady said.

            “Ah, wait I’ll just change my clothes, please come in and sit down.” She said as she let her in to the dorm. She sat down the couch that was in the living room. “I’ll be fast okay?” she said and got into her room. The lady smiled and was rather amused. She looked around. Her dorm was almost empty. There were just a couple of pictures and furniture. Soon AeLin came out. She wore her usual cargo shorts and a shirt then a scarf then a pair of shoes provided by JYPE. She also wore a cap “Let’s go.” She said.

            The two of them went to the van and drove off. “My name is SaeKo by the way.” She said. They were seated together. “Nice to meet you unnie.” She said and did a bow. “Hm.” She smiled. “I’m really nervous right now.” AeLin said as she looked at the streets of Seoul outside. “Don’t worry. You’re really talented. You’ll do fine.” SaeKo said. “I guess so.” She replied. Soon they arrived at SME. They went up to the rehearsal room where she was observed before.

            They went in and the room was still empty although there were chairs arranged. “You could rehearse for a while before they come you know.” SaeKo said. “Hm…yeah I guess so.” She said and took a deep breath. Her appa wasn’t there because he was out of town. She took off the scarf she had and wanted to do her vocal presentation first. She did 4Men’s Baby Baby since that’s what JongHyun taught her. SaeKo was watching her and she got really amazed.

            “How was it?” AeLin said as she finished halfway through the song. “Ah, uhmm…it was great.” SaeKo said who was clearly dazed at what she just heard. Then the door opened. “We’re here.” MinHo said as they entered. “Oh good we’re not late.” Onew said. “Ah, it’s great that you came!!” AeLin said who was clearly about to die of nervousness. “Relax AeLin. Everything will go smoothly.” Key said. “But I need to practice my dancing first.” She said.

            Then as soon as she said that the door opened. It was SM and his board members. “It’s time.” He said and sat on the chair. “Oh no.” she said to herself. She looked at SHINee. “Fighting!” they all whispered. She was startled and nervous. She didn’t have time to go over the dance part. “Okay then, let’s start.” One board member said. She went to the centre and greeted them. “Annyeong hasaeyo. Sha AeLin imnida.” She started.

            “What I’m going to sing is a song that JongHyun oppa and Onew oppa taught me. Please listen well.” She said as the music started. She had a dummy microphone in her hand. She was really nervous as the intro of Baby Baby started. “Good luck.” MinHo thought. The moment she started singing was the moment of truth for her vocal test. She sang the song very well. JongHyun and Onew did spot some flaws but it wasn’t noticeable unless you really know what you’re hearing. She did well for the vocal test, and there came the performance test.

           “SHINee’s Replay, a tough one.” SM said. “Oh the irony.” She thought and looked at TaeMin who was silently watching. “Don’t mess this up.” She read his lips. She got pissed off again but she shoved it off and just holds of the dummy microphone again. She’s going to sing live with this one too. MinHo and Key were the ones who taught her the lyrics of the song. As soon as the song started she also started dancing. She tried to hide the nervousness she was feeling.

            The lines she sang we’re Key’s and Onew’s lines. She couldn’t handle the song alone of course. For a rookie, she did very well and handled both the song and the routine very well. As the performance ended she was panting a bit and looked at their reactions. The SHINee members were clearly satisfied and proud. “You’ll start proper training tomorrow. You have proven your talent and capabilities, and all we have to do now is to enhance it. The evaluation has ended. Good work everyone.” SM said.

            They all stood up and said goodbye to them. As they got out of the room AeLin just fell and lay on the floor. She gave off a loud sigh. “Ah! It’s over!!” she said and stretched. The SHINee members went to her. “Good job AeLin!” Key and Onew sat down on the floor and gave her a pat. “You did well!” JongHyun joined them. TaeMin and MinHo were just standing there when SaeKo approached them.

            “I heard you helped her.” She said. “Ah, noona.” TaeMin said and greeted her. SaeKo was not only a staff but also an awaiting manager. She and some other colleagues are just waiting for a talent for them to manage or a transfer to be a manager of an existing talent. She met the SHINee members long before they’re debut. She was supposed to be their manager but the fact that they were male got in the way. “It’s been a long time.” MinHo said.

            “You’ve grown a lot.” She said then they watched them. “Why are you here noona?” MinHo said. “Well…” she started. “What’s their plan with this girl?” he added. “She’s very talented. I don’t know what they’re going to do with her but I have a feeling, something will happen soon.” She said. Then the door opened. “Hyung.” TaeMin said. It was their manager, Kim YiBum. “YiBum.” SaeKo was rather surprised to see him. “Ah, SaeKo…” he said as well.

            “Ah! Hyung! You’re here!!” JongHyun said and stood up. “Are you done already?” he said and approached them. AeLin sat up and fixed her face. “Annyeong hasaeyo.” She greeted him. “I can see you gave it your all.” YiBum said and smiled. “De.” she said and chuckled. “Are we going to another scheduled event?” Onew said. “I’m afraid so.” He replied. They got up and gathered. “AeLin ssi, we’ll be going now.” YiBum said. “Wait, what about me?” AeLin said. “I’ll take care of you.” SaeKo said.

            “Well then. We’ll see you.” Onew said and said goodbye to her. The other members said their goodbyes as well. As they left she had nothing to do. She gave out a sigh and looked more tired. “Unnie, do you knew where my appa is?” she said as she sat down the couch. SaeKo looked at her. “Your appa is in Japan right now.” She answered. “Japan?” she said. “De.” Saeko answered. She showed a rather sad face. “Don’t worry AeLin. I’m here for you. SHINee is too.” SaeKo said. “Being away from your parents at this age, it is hard.” She added.

            “SHINee also said that they understood how I felt.” She said. “They do AeLin. They were here ever since they were at the age of 11 and some of them even younger.” SaeKo said. “Trainees can live with their parents still but the ones who are debuted would start to live in a dorm.” She continued. “Ah, TaeMin ssi, he debuted around your age now. He also got separated from his family that young.” SaeKo said to the hopes of cheering her up.

            “What do you think will happen to me here?” AeLin said. “For now AeLin, I’m not sure as well.” She answered. There was silence for a moment. “Come on; let’s grab some snacks before I take you back.” SaeKo said and lent out her hand. AeLin stood up and they went out of the room. “What an interesting girl.” She thought as they walked through the hallways.

            The next couple of weeks she has been on and off with school. She’s been getting busy lately with a lot of things. She has done a couple of photo shoots which SaeKo said to be normal for trainees to train them with their confidence in both the video and picture camera. She was also made to record a couple of songs. There’s a total of 5 songs, one of which was selected and 4 which she picked. Saeko also told her how this was just normal for trainees.

            Her training just got more and more frequent and she started to do a routine for one of her songs. SHINee also went often to her dorm but not at times only a couple of members goes to visit because of schedule constraints. “I’m really tired.” She said and sighed as she sat down her seat. “You’ve been missing from school a lot lately.” HanEul said. “Yeah, why is that?” HanKyul added. “I wish I knew the answer that question too.” She answered.