"Please do a short self-introduction and then proceed with your prepared song." The lead judge stated as soon as the two final auditionees settled in their spots across the room. "We'll start from the right."

"Hello!" The first auditionee took a step forward and bowed, "My name is Byun Baekhyun. 18-years old. My dream has always been to become an artist, so thank you for this opportunity."

When Baekhyun had finally given up auditioning for idol agencies and decided to apply for Seoul Institute of the Arts, it was nothing other than divine intervention that got him street-cast by SM Entertainment -- at his college entrance exam of all places. Now he stood next to his final competitor, one of the last two of the all the auditionees from 3 rounds of auditions. However, he was anything but calm. His competitor was a ing good singer, hell, Baekhyun even asked him for help on a few occasions. They promised each other that even if the other was chosen, they'd still support one another, but now that Baekhyun was standing in front of the judges... he really wanted to be the one that passed. It was now or never.

Taking a deep breath, Baekhyun went through the checklist he kept in his mind: maintain eye contact, breathe, be confident, and don't let your voice crack. He looked the judges straight in their eyes, opened his mouth, and sang.

 

===

 

Jongdae's mouth was as dry as desert dust, but he couldn't stop swallowing... or at least trying to. Baekhyun just finished his final audition and it was flawless, of course.  Jongdae had absolutely no qualms about his own singing ability, but Baekhyun was a true rival: good rhythm, good looks, great voice... they were even the same age for 's sake! But Jongdae had to pass. Singing was his life.

His best friend, Haechan, recommended that he should audition for SM after hearing Jongdae sing at the top of his lungs in the middle of lunch hour day after day (after day), but Jongdae never thought he'd actually do it... nevertheless make it to the final round.

The lead judge glanced up at Jongdae and nodded, "Whenever you're ready, you may begin."

 

===

 

"Thank you for auditioning." The lead judge stood up in her spot. "If you pass, you will receive an email or phone call within the next week. You both did well."

Jongdae and Baekhyun bowed and gave their thanks before exiting the room. The second the door clicked shut, Baekhyun sighed, "I'm so jealous of you! You're gonna be a trainee for sure."

Jongdae scoffed, "Coming from you?" he jokingly pushed Baekhyun to the side. "No doubt, you're the one who's passing. Did you see their faces?" He re-enacted with a face of longing: furrowed brows, focused eyes, and a mouth that slowly parted as if it wanted to swallow the pure talent emitted out of Baekhyun's mouth and into the air.

Baekhyung shook his head. "The moment I saw you, I was jealous because I knew you were going to be a trainee." Baekhyun fought back. "I have a sixth sense. Trust me." The two of them wanted nothing more than to pass, but being cocky in front of a potential trainee was a highway straight to embarrassment. "Anyway, call me when you're accepted. We can celebrate together!"

Jongdae countered, "It's not a 'when,' it's an 'if,' but ok. Call me too." The two parted at the entrance of SM, promising for at least one more meeting, but doubting that one will ever come.

 

=== 1 week later ===

 

The only thing missing from Jongdae's life was his will to live. It was his break period during the last week before his last winter break of high school. His school's heaters , his own winter coat , so the December air was free to grab his balls with its wrinkly, ice-cold hands. "I think I have hypothermia" Jongdae groaned as he let his head fall onto his desk.

"Jongdae" whispered Haechan as he crept up to the desk beside him. "Jongdae, have you heard anything yet?" Jongdae immediately knew what he was talking about. Haechan was his friend who pushed him to audition for SM in the first place. "Jongdae, are you even listening?"

Jongdae tilted his head just enough, so his voice wouldn't be muffled by the wooden desk. "No, not yet."

Haechan waited a second. "Which question did that answer?" Haechan stepped back to his desk and pulled out his seat before slouching down. "It's still ing amazing that you made it to the final round."

Jongdae laughed, "Yeah, well, that's one step away from doing something amazing." He lifted his head from the desk to squint at the clock at the front of the room. He didn't have his glasses. He couldn't see a thing. Jongdae sighed as he dug through the deep pockets of his coat, searching for his phone. When he found it and checked the time, his eyes were pulled to a new email notification. "Wait..."

Haechan looked over, filled with curiosity, "What?"

"No ing way" Jongdae laughed, grinning ear-to-ear.

"What?" Haechan asked with more conviction.

Jongdae flipped his phone to show Haechan the screen, "Look." Sitting peacefully on Jongdae's lock screen was a recently received email from SM Entertainment. The title line: Congratulations.

There was a few seconds of silence as Haechan processed what he was seeing. "What are you doing just sitting there?!" he shouted. "Hurry and read it." Haechan pushed the phone back in front of Jongdae's face. "Out loud. I want to hear it, too."

Jongdae grinned before pressing on the notification and unlocking his phone.

"Dear Mr. Kim Jongdae,

Congratulations on passing auditions for SM Entertainment. Once you register with our system, you will officially be an SM Entertainment Trainee. Ahead of you is a long and tiring journey, but with your talent, hardwork, and our leadership, we hope to unlock your full potential and showcase it to the world. 

Please come into our main office between Saturday, December 18th and Saturday, January 8th to register yourself in the system, receive your training levels, and a tour of the facilities. Feel free to contact us using the means listed below.

We look forward to working with you.

Best Regards,

Kim Youngmin
CEO"

Haechan slapped Jongdae on the back. "I ing told you." Haechan seemed more excited about the news than Jongdae did himself. "Now I am best friends with an SM Trainee... we can get all the girls now, right?"

Jongdae just about kicked Haechan out of his seat, "Now I have to care about my reputation, idiot."

Haechan shrugged. "More for me...?"

Amidst his happiness, Jongdae's mind wandered to Baekhyun. He was too good, they couldn't just not accept him. Jongdae opened up his contacts to try and give him a call, but at that moment their homeroom teacher walked in. Baekhyun will have to wait.

 

===

 

Baekhyun was sprinting across his school's field, shouting at the top of his lungs. He finally passed SM casting after so many years of failure. He could finally those haters who on his dream of being an idol because he had no company. Now he was with the biggest company. Ha! Baekhyun was amidst his victory dance when he felt a vibration in his coat pocket. The name "Kim Jongdae" lit up the screen.

Before Jongdae could even speak, Baekhyun muttered, "Considering that you're calling now, I'm guessing you made it too?" Jongdae's voice echoed a response in confusion, they both only expected one to pass. "I guess we're a power couple." Baekhyun said, grinning, "They couldn't separate us."

"Congrats to both of us!" Jongdae cheered as he finally understood what was going on, "Do you think we'll debut together?"

Baekhyun laughed, "It'll be 6 years before anything like that happens, but until then we'll be-"

"Power couple." Jongdae finished. "Vocal power couple."

"Or I can just go solo." Baekhyun joked. "Let's go register together. I don't want to go alone."

Jongdae hummed in agreement. "I just need to tell my parents first," he sighed. "I hope they won't kill me." He never told his parents about the audition thinking that he wouldn't pass. Unfortunately, that decision has come to bite him in the .

"GG." Baekhyun moaned. "You better come with me. Next Saturday. If you're not there, I'll kill you myself."

They both smiled as they hung up the phone. Their last competitor was now their only lifeline entering into a ruthless industry.

 

===

 

Jongdae opened the front door, "I'm home!" he yelled across his apartment. He heard echoes of his family quip short greetings in response, but none of them were too interested in his life to bother for more. In his living room sat his mom and dad; his mom was immersed in her favorite drama while his father was sitting and listening to the background noise. "Mom, dad. I have some news." Jongdae stated as he sat on the couch next to his mom. His dad perked his head up whereas his mom was so engrossed in her drama that she didn't even acknowledge him coming in. "I passed auditions... so now I'm an idol trainee."

His mom's previous indifference was broken with a loud noise of confusion. "No, you can't!" She yelled. "Do something more reliable."

Jongdae's dad agreed, "I thought you applied to a school for business. Economics. Finance." He scoffed as he listed the majors. "It's too late for you. The most you can be is a trainer."

"Why didn't you ask our permission before auditioning?" His mom continued. "Did you not need our signature on the form? Was there a form? How'd you even get there?"

"Mom, Dad, please!" Jongdae whined. "I already passed all three auditions." He knew whining would probably get him nowhere, but he at least wanted to have the experience of training with SM. He could put it on a resume.

"I said don't do something unreliable and you become a trainee, what do you expect?" His dad huffed.

"But it's for SM!" Jongdae said as a last resort. "Lee Sooman's old company."

His parents were quiet for a minute. "Girl's Generation's company?" His mother asked. "One of the big three... they're popular."

Jongdae's father laughed, "Honey, you can brag to all of your friends that your son is a trainee to SM." His mother hit him back saying it was more than that, but Jongdae knew the power of bragging rights among mothers.

"Since SM is a big company, ok." His father decided. "But I still want you to apply for college." There were too many stories of teenagers devoting their life to be an idol and being rejected from the company in their late 20s with nothing but a high school degree at most.

Jongdae grinned before bowing deeply, "Thank you! I'll work hard. You won't regret this!" Jongdae retreated to his room practicing his high notes. His life was about to get a whole lot busier.

 

---

A/N: I condensed the first 2 chapters into 1 because lol if i didn't the first was going to be hella wow short. i tried to make it less dialogue driven but also lol i havent written in forever and dialogue is the only thing in my mind (and i always was horribly driven by dialogue). i also lost all my sense of humor as i started studying harder so bear with me as i try to live again. sorry for an authors note as well, i just like talking and hope for people to talk balk. hello. goodbye. <3

ps. I plan on editing this through once more (maybe if im not too lazy), so if this message disappears, that has happened, if it hasn't... cheers.

pps. this will (probably) be OT12 cause predebut but i may focus on a few characters per chapter so we will see how it goes cause im not done planning heh