Setting: South Korea

The days of training continued as usual.  But, as the week passed by, I found it getting a tiny bit easier, but still, it was rigorous and intense.  No one else had passed out again, since that one girl had passed out.  But that one girl who fainted, her name was Soo-Mi.  I went up to her the day after she had fainted, and asked if she was okay.  As we talked, I found out she had anemia(a/n Btw, anemia is a conditon in which the blood doesn't have enough healthy red blood cells so it causes whoever has it have get tired when they are doing too much for a period of time.), just like the Jung sisters—Jessica and Krystal Jung—in SM Entertainment.  Wow, well Soo-mi is brave to sign herself up for some intense stuff when she has anemia. I had asked her if she knew the Jung sisters and she was very excited to hear their names.  She told me how they were the ones who actually inspired her to want to become a kpop idol and gave her the determination to want to overcome her disease.  Also, she had signed up to become a kpop idol to show that she could do it and prove to her family and friends that she could reach her goal with this obstacle.

The week finally passed by and it was Sunday, the one day we got to rest, if we would like.  Most of us took it, since it was our first week there and we were hella worn out and sore.  We just spent our time inside the dorms, just chilling there and getting our body prepared for the upcoming next week of training.  

I was just laying on my bed, looking through things on my computer, when I heard the signal for all of us to gather at the main room.  I quickly shut my computer, put it down, and rushed down.  Once everyone had gathered there, Mr. Park had looked around, just to check for attendance.  

Then he cleared his throat and said, “Okay, everyone, I know it’s your day off.  But, I have an announcement.  We will have more trainees come in later today and very late too because they are from the United States. Some of you with no roommates, well you should have at least one. If you enjoyed being alone, well, for you. But if you wanted company, well, now you have it.  Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Dismissed.”

We all dispersed and then went back to our rooms.  I was kinda glad that I was finally gonna get a roommate to talk to.  But at the same time, I was kinda scared because there were those people in the world and roommates like those… Ugh…

I then looked around my room to check to see if I was clean because I wanted to make a good impression.  It wasn’t bad.  I mean, it was pretty clean for being there for a first week.  But, I went tidy it up a bit anyway.  After that, I went to my bed where I got my computer again.  I just scrolled through my social media to check how’s the world.  Nothing was really popping up so I turned to my kdramas that I had started like a few weeks ago.  After a while of watching kdramas, I got bored.  So, I shut my computer down and kinda just stared at the wall, hoping an idea would come into my head.  Hmm… what can I do.  It’s only 5 PM and there’s still some time before I plan to go to bed.  Hmm… Oh, maybe I should try to see what Johnny is doing.

With that, I went to Johnny’s room which was 2 rooms away from me.  Johnny was someone who I had also met at the airport and actually made friends with.  

Flashback

After I had attempted to help Abi and made friends with her, we were going to board onto the plane.  As the crowd of trainees were making their way to the boarding gate, I noticed that there was someone who seemed to be having a hard time.  He was small, had light brown hair, but I found him pretty cute.  That boy, he was having trouble getting his luggage going and so I quickly ran to him.

“Hey, do you need help?”

The boy looked at me and nodded.  I looked to see what was blocking the wheel to roll and turns out, there was somehow a piece of cloth that was stuck in the wheel.  I took it out and then started to pull his luggage too.

“Thank you so much for helping me! I got my luggage now.” I handed him his luggage and then sped walked to catch up to the group, which wasn’t too far away.

“So, what’s your name?”

“Johnny. How about you?

“I’m Iven.  Let’s be friends and support each other.” I smiled as I said that, trying to look friendly.  He nodded happily and that’s how I came to know Johnny.

Back to the present

Once I got to Johnny’s room, I knocked on the door.  There was an immediate response and the door opened.  Johnny’s face immediately lit up and he hugged me.  I was surprised by this, but I found it nice because it felt like I had a little brother.  A little brother that I never had.  That sounded nice.  

“Iven.  It’s so nice to have you visiting me!”

I warmly smiled. “Of course! I’m your friend, remember?”

“Oh yeah, huh~.  Iven, I’m really glad that I met you because honestly, I was so scared around all the strangers.”

I nodded and then we talked for the rest of the night.  The hours went by fast and it was soon night..  I had decided earlier that day that I would go to sleep early so I would have enough energy for the next day.

“It’s getting late, little Johnny.  We should both wrap up and go to sleep for our next week of training.”

“Yeah, I agree.  Well, good night Iven!”

“Good night Johnny!”

I went back to my room and was gonna go get ready to sleep.  But, I peaked out of my room to find Abi just standing at the main hallway and looking down at something.  I decided that this would be the perfect time to scare her and get back at her, since she seemed to be lost in her thoughts.  I slowly and quietly snuck up to her and… BOO!

She screamed and then covered immediately.  But then, she turned around and she looked ready to punch me.  I was laughing at first, but after seeing this, I stopped and said, “I’m sorry Abi.  It’s me, Iven.”

She put her hands down and gave me a hard punch on the shoulder.  She said, “Yah, Iven, don’t scare me like that.  You know, we could have gotten in trouble.  My scream is loud and people could already be sleeping.  Well, it’s getting late, see you tomorrow morning.”

Abi left and went to her side where she turned the corner and then she was gone.  I went to my room thinking, “Well, at least I got her back.  Though, she got mad, ehhh… we’re even now.”

I laid down in my bed, staring at the wall for a bit until I got sleepy.  But as I was about to fall asleep, I suddenly heard a loud commotion coming from downstairs.  I listened carefully, thinking, “Did someone break into the dorms? Wait, I remember Manager Park saying something about more trainees and they were from the US.” I decided to wake and just chill there until someone would knock or just go into the room. Time passed and it was getting boring, so I peaked outside my door.  Seeing no one, I made my way outside into the hallway and looked downstairs to see what was happening. Wow, it was seriously, it was still a mess down there, since they were like a whole bunch of them.  I mean like the US is made up of 50 states and JYPE did pick like all of the big and popular states.

As I looked over the US trainees again, there was this one girl who caught my eye. She had soft, black hair that went past her shoulders. She was wearing a comfortable outfit of skinny jeans with a nice tan, knitted sweater. Her glasses were just perfect for her and fitted her cute, tan round face. I kept staring at her until, I noticed that she turned her head and saw me. I quickly looked away and then fast walked back to my room.  Wow, I just got caught staring. Awkward. Ahh what should I do? Okay, Iven, calm down, she probably didn't see you.  

I was lost in thought that I didn't notice that someone had walked into my room and then said, “Hey, um, dude, why are you pacing around so much?”

I jumped and was out of my thoughts and said, “Oh, nothing. Sorry. But, welcome to Korea and my name is Iven. You?”

I stuck my hand out and he took it, with a big grin on his face, saying, “Hey, the name’s Chris.  Nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to being your roommate.”

With that, we were friends immediately and I helped him get settled down.  I forgot about my embarrassing first impression and it seemed that he did too so that was good.  When we had finished, it was late. I had planned to sleep early, but whatever, at least, I had a new friend and a good roommate.