“I can’t do this anymore.” With that, he shoved the last of his clothes into the torn red backpack. He heaved the backpack onto his shoulders and straightened his back to look at his roommate. “Look, you’re talented. This tiny company isn’t going to give you what you need.”

His roommate looked at him with a look that told him he wasn’t going to leave. With a sigh, the male made his way towards the front door, patting his roommate on the shoulder, “Good luck, Kim Namjoon.” With that, the male left the shared apartment of 6 months without sparing a backward glance.

Namjoon watched as the last member of his group left, leaving him alone in the old rundown apartment. It was a sight he was familiar with. Somehow, members came and went within months, only he stayed and they always seem to say the same things before leaving; Big Hit was a small company, that he was never going to debut. That they would never make it.

Namjoon knew they were wrong. With hard work and passion, he’ll make it. He’ll do it not for the fame, not for the money, but for himself.

He sighed and plopped down onto the dusty old sofa, the squeaks it emanates begs for a replacement but he can’t afford such a thing at the moment. He grabbed his phone and called the same person he called every time someone gave up.

“Bang PD-nim, it happened again.”

* * *

As the song came to an end, the male twirled one last time on his soft feet. His chest heaved upwards and downwards as pants made their way through his parted lips. He let the next song play as he slowly made his way towards the corner of his room, where a much needed bottle of water was placed.

Before the opening of the bottle could touch his lips, the door to the practice room opened and Jimin turned to face it, his hands lowering the bottle. Jimin’s eyes widened as a familiar face walked into the room. Immediately, he placed the plastic bottle down and bowed in greetings towards the male, “Nice to see you, Bang PD-nim.”

Bang Sihyuk nodded curtly and grabbed a chair at the corner of the room, taking a seat on it. “Take a seat, Jimin-ah.” Jimin nodded and immediately made his way towards his boss. If the 5 hours of continuous dancing didn’t make him sweat, this definitely would.

The air around Mr. Bang was serious and Jimin couldn’t help but feel inferior to him. Jimin could also tell that he wanted to tell him something but had trouble putting the words together, judging from the way he avoided eye contact.

After auditioning for Big Hit in Busan during their nationwide audition, Jimin was surprised to be accepted. He left his family and moved to Seoul to pursue his dreams with the company. But when Jimin arrived in Seoul and he saw the other trainees, he couldn’t help but feel lost and useless. The other trainees were talented in several areas while Jimin could only dance. He never took singing seriously before this and he always thought that his voice was a little too shaky to be a singer. But to be an idol, he had to be versatile.

He tried his best to sing, to hit the high notes without his voice cracking, to touch people’s hearts with his voice. But he never believed in what his voice could do. He wanted to impress but he never believed that he could.

So when one day Bang Sihyuk pulled him aside and explained to him how singing isn’t just following a tune or hitting high notes but about trusting in his voice to tell a story behind the lyrics, Jimin’s respect for the man doubled. Bang Sihyuk was a famous producer in the country but Jimin never thought anything of the male until that moment.

After the incident, he practiced singing every day. He would sing with the intent to please his own ears before he could please others and soon enough, he received the praise he wanted from the vocal instructors.

Finally, his boss looked up to meet his eyes and Jimin held his breath, fearing his next words. Would this be the last time he uses this practice room? Is this his time to go back to Busan where he would face all those insults once again? Is this the end of his dreams?

“Jimin, I’ve been watching you practice these days and I think you’ve improved a lot over the past few years,” Bang Sihyuk began. “What do you think?”

Jimin thought for a few moments, not wanting to say the wrong things in front of the man he respects, “Sir, I agree with you but I still have a lot to work on as a singer and dancer.”

Bang Sihyuk looked taken aback by his words and Jimin wondered why. Did he say something wrong? Little did he know that Mr. Bang was taken aback by his humble attitude. Most trainees speak highly of themselves in front of him, wanting to grab his attention but Jimin knows his place and he knows how this industry works. A smile graced his features as he surveyed his trainee, proud as a father would feel.

“I think you’re ready, Park Jimin.” Jimin scrunched up his face in confusion and Mr. Bang chuckled in amusement. “Ready to be put in a group, I mean.”

Jimin stood up from his chair in surprise and looked at his boss with wide eyes. “D-Does that mean-“ His sentence was cut off as Mr. Bang nodded. It was time to prepare for a debut.

A smile crept up onto his features and Jimin’s eyes disappeared into charming little slits. He wanted to jump, he wanted to scream; it was finally his time to shine. All this time here in Big Hit, he watched as his friends are put into groups and prepare for debut while all he did was practice on polishing his skills. All he heard by his trainers were ‘Train harder’, ‘You’re not ready’, ‘It’ll be a while before you can go up on stage’ and a lot more things that only made the male work harder.

“Alright, we’ll have a talk about this later this week with your other members but for now...”

Jimin glanced at his boss, his smile impossibly wide as his face muscles scream in detest.

“Pack up, Park Jimin.”