◎    ◉    ◎

The sound of incessant camera clicking resounded in the large yet cozy lobby of the South Korea Elite Entertainment Society's, or S.K.E.E.S. as it's typically called to be easier on the mouth, rehearsal studio. But for once, no one in attendance was actually being photographed. Instead, the sound streamed out of the speakers of the large flat screen that hung from the main wall, where the nationally-airing press conference welcoming SKEES's first purely-America artist was stealing everyone's attention.

Annabelle was her name, as seen on many recent headlines, and she stood out like a sore thumb on the SKEES official press conference stage. Everyone to her right and left were dressed just as formally and stylishly as she was but they were all Korean while wasn't even Asian. Simple as that. Her skin may have been a nice shade of white and her hair dark and thick but she wasn't even visually close to being Korean. Her large, round eyes and thin, tiny nose were just a few of the notable features that gave her away.

All the basic details of her membership in The Society, the title we on the inside gave it, were revealed. Such had happened with each and every one of us: birth date, category, main focus and notable specialties being a few of them.

ANNABELLE

BIRTH DATE: MAY 30, 1997

CATEGORY: MUSIC PERFORMANCE

MAIN SUB-CATEGORY: VOCALS

SPECIALTIES: PRODUCING AND SONGWRITING, DANCE, VARIETY

More specifics were reeled out as the press conference went on and the floor was opened up to questions. More hands shot up for her than I remembered for myself, though what was I next to the first non-Asian to be invited into world's first and only elite society for gifted entertainers?

"Will she be constantly accompanied by a translator?" A gauntly female reporter asked first, looking to the translator standing a foot or two behind Annabelle. The snarky look on her face made it seem as if she thought she already knew the answer to that question.

Yes, she thought she did.

Anna sent a quick glance to Director Hwang-Seong Jung next to her, the founder of SKEES, who gave her a curt and almost unnoticeable nod. Once you became one of Director Jung's pupils here, you were forced to learn his gestures very well. Veterans of The Society would tell you that they're worth memorizing before you even set foot on our property. Anna straightened up as she opened for the first time.

"I was lucky enough to have been given time to study your language during the time that we were all preparing for my arrival. As this was about to become my whole world, I naturally dropped everything I had been doing and spent all my time focusing on my Korean studies. Of course, I still have much to learn and a lot more studying to do before I can properly call myself a Korean citizen but I am working very hard to get there. As a new face of South Korean entertainment, I take learning the language and culture very seriously and hope to make your country very proud."

Her words were crisp and precise; technically unscripted but definitely pre-brainstormed and talked through in extensive media training. American dripped off the edges of her pronunciation but it was still extremely applaudable. She spoke smoothly and confidently despite her statement indicating she was still very much in process of learning the language. Perhaps she had made a mistake and meant to say she was in the process of mastering it instead.

She placed a period at the end of her statement with a small bow and even through the TV, I could tell she had already won over quite a number of people at that press conference. Hell, glancing around the studio, I could tell she had won over half the entertainers here, and we've all be trained to spew bull like that. Maybe it was the sincerity in with which she spoke that had even myself believing that she hadn't actually spoken bull at all.

Our attentions were drawn from the broadcast to the broadcasted herself as she stepped through the studio's front door for the first time. It was like seeing night and day in one person. She had shed her bold, indestructible media personality for a softer, more relatable one, her eyes no longer narrowed and zoned in but filled with hope of acceptance. She wore black from head to toe, looking like an Adidas sponsor in her track pants and trefoil-labeled t-shirt. For all we knew, she could've been, considering the commotion she'd already stirred up around herself just by being here.

In response to having the attention of every person in the room, she did a complete ninety-degree bow and greeted us with utmost formality. A few of us gave verbal "hello's", some offered a measly bow of their heads, and others did nothing at all. Some people would've been upset by the quieter welcome. Others would've been angry. I would've expected the latter from her but in the end, she was neither. With one last nod of her own head, she headed into the space until she came across an unoccupied spot on a couch and quietly took it.

For someone who was the talk of South Korea, she was unexpectedly low-key.

My lingering gaze went unnoticed as I studied her. Her hair and makeup were untouched from the press conference, meaning she had come straight here afterwards. There's usually about a half-hour delay between when those sorts of things are filmed and when they actually air. Doing all the math in my head, I came to the conclusion that she had been up and going since about 5 this morning. It was 10:30 AM now, a long day of practicing ahead of us. But most of us had only woken two or three hours ago to visually prep for any important people or camera crews that make a surprise appearance to our studios- something that happened all the time. But this girl had been awake for over five hours already and wouldn't see sleep for much time. And it was only her first day. With a tired sigh, I looked back at my laptop, my Pro Tools session calling my name.

Welcome to SKEES, Annabelle.

"Thank you," I heard her voice softly and for a second, I did something I rarely did- I blushed. Had I welcomed her out loud?

My head immediately snapped in her direction, not being nearly as discreet as I had been just seconds prior. My embarrassment eased away at the sight of Hoseok, who had comfortably taken a seat next to Anna on the couch. As one of the most outgoing people in The Society, it didn't surprise me. Multiple pairs of eyes observed their interactions, knowing that if anyone was going to get a good reaction out of the newbie, it'd be Hoseok. Despite my disagreement that this was at all a good way to judge her character, I found myself listening in as well.

"I'm J-Hope, '94 liner. My main focus is technically dance but I've been molded into a rapper for music purposes," he introduced in typical SKEES fashion. It was the quickest way for us to bond as artists, in all honesty.

"Annabelle," she introduced in return. "'97 liner, vocal focus."

J-Hope chuckled. "I know. We all know, really."

He pointed over to our massive flatscreen, something the girl had somehow managed to miss, where the tail-end of her press conference was still airing. Her face visibly reddened but besides that, she seemed to keep her cool.

"Ah, yeah. That," she commented with a little laugh of her own. "I didn't think you guys would actually be watching that in here."

"Why not? A lot of Korea is watching, you're a big deal now," J-Hope pointed out honestly. I wondered if anyone else had been speaking to her, she would've cracked under the pressure of his words. But she already seemed comfortable enough with him. That was his much envied and most useful charm.

Anna nodded, her eyebrows raising in disbelief. She then gave a small shake of her head. "How could I forget? It's... absolutely insane."

"Nothing like this in America, huh?"

"Not at all. We're not nearly as organized over there. People over there don't even need record labels to make it anymore," she commented, her voice softening as she spoke of the distant country she had left behind. "Lately, all it seems you need in America is talent, a loyal following, and YouTube."

"Yeah, well, all of that is monitored and controlled over here. In the end, it's basically guaranteed that in order to become anything worth talking about in Korean entertainment, you've gotta be a part of SKEES, like us," J-Hope explained casually, as if there wasn't anything worrisome about the extreme amounts of control he had just described. But in Korea, it was the norm. SKEES had been around for about two decades already, its practices and traditions never changing.

"SKEES," Annabelle repeated in awe, her head starting to shake once more. "It's so different. Maybe even a little overwhelming."

"Oh, I'm sure it's overwhelming," the older man agreed before laughing. "I don't know a single person in SKEES who didn't share the same sentiments when they first joined, including myself. I mean, man, I thought our foreign Asian members had it bad until you walked in with your big round eyes."

"What's wrong with my eyes?" She masked her slight insecurity with playfulness. J-Hope shrugged.

"Nothing, except that everyone's going to want them, if they don't already."

At that, Annabelle took her chance to glance around the room, finally noticing all the eyes on her and her new friend before they could look away. Her cheeks tinged red as she tracked her eyes down to her lap.

"I'm guessing that means I'll have plenty of enemies. That's typically what envy does to people," she sighed, growing anxious at the thought.

"You will, I'm sure," J-Hope nodded. "But if you're like this with everyone, you'll have lots of friends, too. I'd say you've got one in the making already."

Anna's gaze was one of pleasant surprise when she glanced up at J-Hope. She couldn't suppress the big, goofy grin that threatened to spill over her expression. "Yeah?"

He returned a genuine smile of his own. "Yeah."

It took me a second to realize that I myself wasn't technically involved in any aspect of their conversation- just eavesdropping on it. I knew I wasn't the only one practically shaking myself out of the trance I had somehow fallen into. Thankfully, my spot behind the main desk kept me from getting caught as an observer. My typical resting spot in the rehearsal studio was one you wouldn't think of glancing over at, thankfully.

"Hey, Hoseok-hyung, you coming in for practice?" Jeon Jungkook, one of The Society's best and most treasured talents to date, called out to him as he crossed the room towards the practice room's door.

"Just welcoming the newbie," he teased, earning a playfully insulted look from said newbie. He didn't have to look at her to know her reaction so he smirked without a glance back at her. "I'll be there in a second if you wanna go in without me."

Typically, Jungkook would've done just that but Hoseok had opened up an opportunity to introduce himself to Anna that he wasn't going to pass up. It seemed as if he were disregarding his hyung as his eyes shifted to the girl. He bent forward to give her a cool yet polite bow. She was about to get up and do the same but he held his hands out to stop her.

"You don't have to get up," he chuckled awkwardly. "I'm Jungkook. I'm a '97-liner, too."

"How did you-" she began but stopped as Hoseok gave her a look and nodded his head towards the TV, reminding her of the fact they'd already gone over. Everyone truly knew her basic profile information now. She mentally cringed at her own forgetfulness. "Oh, right. The broadcast."

Jungkook laughed again, much more naturally this time. "It's okay. First days here are crazy," he commented, the sentiment sounding more and more like a fact than just a comforting notion. "But I'm assuming you know that being born in the same year automatically makes us friends."

I scoffed silently at that latest exchange. A better question for Anna would be whether or not she was catching onto Jungkook's absolutely cringe-worthy style of flirting. From what I could see, it unfortunately seemed like she thought he was just being polite- which he was partially. But I was close enough to them to see a clear difference between Hoseok's welcome and Jungkook's.

"I do," Anna nodded, playing along. "My best friend back home is actually Korean and she told me that the whole same age thing was an essential concept I needed to know. Though I do recall her telling me that this definition of 'friend' is quite different from the one I've come to know in America."

"Yeah, but we'll get to that later," he waved the fact off and I rolled my eyes at his boyish laugh. "Anyway, I wouldn't say it's essential but it's a good thing to know."

"Well, I'm happy that's something I do know because to be honest, I feel like there's so much I don't," she admitted, taking her own turn to chuckle slightly.

"That's what you've got us for," Hoseok finally chimed in, giving her a soft nudge. It seemed they truly were already on the way to becoming fast friends. It personally gave me a good baseline judgment of her character. Anyone Hobi actually took a fancy of liking, especially this quickly, was typically a person worth your time.

"Yeah, we'll help you out," Jungkook agreed and I immediately questioned his hidden agenda. "We're not called the SKEES Family for no reason."

"Well, that's not entirely true. There are plenty of artists here whose heads are shoved much too far up their own asses to care about anyone but themselves," Hobi said with a grin as Anna covered with her hand and broke out into a fit of giggles. "What, too vulgar?"

"Not at all," she laughed. "You're actually really starting to speak my language now. That sounded like something I would say."

"Oh, you'd love our Yoongi-hyung, then. If that's your language, then you two could talk for days. He's actually right over-"

Just as the older of the two boys began to turn my way, a face popped its way out of the door to the biggest of the three practice rooms.

"Last call for anyone who wants to join in for practice," Shownu, the owner of said face and a very talented dancer here, informed everyone before slipping back inside.

"Ah, I guess I'll just have to introduce you to him another time," Hoseok concluded, rising to his feet to stand along his dongsaeng. He looked down at Anna with expectant eyes. "You coming? Or did you come here just to show yourself off?"

Oh, Hoseok, I thought to myself. One day, that mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble.

But that day wouldn't be today and that someone wouldn't be Anna as she stood up herself, her height lacking compared to theirs but her resolve certainly not. I witnessed a few pairs of female eyes glare at her back as she headed into the practice room in the company of two very successful guys at SKEES, looking like one of them herself.

The door closed behind them and I dropped my eyes back down to my computer, wondering whether Shownu had helped me dodge what would've potentially been a very awkward bullet or totally blocked the easiest chance of meeting Anna myself.