"It's pretty tough to get settled around here, but once you're in, you're in."

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Yaebin remembers having to drag her body out of bed the day after her audition at Pledis Entertainment. She doesn't even know why she was that beat up. All she did was sing 3/4 of a song and did the most minimal form of dancing possible, yet she felt like she had just ran a full marathon while carrying lead weights on her back.

School was awkward as well. She made it a point not to tell any of her new friends that she had tried out for Pledis because the thought of being bombarded with questions that she didn't feel like answering wasn't appealing in the slightest. Instead she spent the entirety of recess that day (and the days that followed) with her head ducked low for fear of accidentally catching Kim Minkyung's eyes. That girl still scared her after their last encounter.

An entire week flies by since the audition and Yaebin stops holding out hope that Pledis will call her back. Sure she didn't think it was a possibility, but Yaebin couldn't help but stare at her phone's screen whenever she's idle just in case a message or a call comes in but nothing of the sort ever happens. Not from Pledis, or even from her friends for that matter which puts Yaebin into a moment of existential crisis where she ponders if she was born to be alone in the world, or if she had accidentally given all her friends the wrong phone number (hint: it's the latter).

One week becomes two and at this point Yaebin had actually forgotten all about the audition. Two weeks without even a peep from the agency, it was best she push all hopes behind and move on with her life like normal. It was to be expected, really. It was like Minkyung had said; people have trained their whole lives to be an idol. Yaebin never stood a chance. Kang Yaebin the pipsqueak midget with the unruly shoulder-length hair that looked like it's never been treated to a good combing ever. Stupid socially awkward Yaebin who's first instinct when someone wishes her a "Happy Birthday" is to reply with a "Thanks, you too".

Why the heck would any agency want her? Hell she wonders why anybody would even want to be seen with her.

Which is why when Yaebin's phone buzzes on the surface of one of Last Kiss Creamery's many tables while displaying an unknown number, she doesn't think much of it before answering the call. Must be a telemarketer or something. How unfortunate for him/her. This phone call to Yaebin definitely wasn't going to be the high point of their day.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is there a Kang Yaebin on the other end of the line?”

The womanly voice on the other end of the line didn't sound familiar at all, and the fact that this person knew her name threw Yaebin off somewhat. That excludes the telemarketer option. A distant relative perhaps? A friend from Texas who had learned to speak Korean fluently just to mess with her?

“Uhh, yes there is. This is she. Kang Yaebin speaking. May I know who this is?”

“Hello Yaebin-ssi. I’m Ryu Jin Kyung from Talent Relations here at Pledis Entertainment. I’m calling in regards to your audition a few weeks back.”

Yaebin's phone nearly slips out of her hands in shock, causing her to emit a panicked yelp that she hoped Miss Jin Kyung didn't hear. In her frazzled state of mind Yaebin actually shot to her feet in surprise, actually bowing to an invisible person as she greeted Miss Jin Kyung of Pledis' Talent Relations Department with as much respect as possible (eventhough there was no way for the woman on the other end of the line to see her actions). Siyeon, Kyungwon and Kyla just stared at her curiously while lapping at their ice cream cones. They were used to Yaebin's....idiosyncrasies by now.

“A-ah yes! Of course! Hello Ma’am!” Yaebin all but gave a salute in her nervous state.

“Who is it Binnie?” Kyungwon asked, curiosity having gotten the best of her.

“…Why is she standing up?” Siyeon followed up, eye-ing her strange friend with a raised eyebrow.

Yaebin paid no attention to them because she had more pressing matters to attend to. Matters such as figuring out why someone from Pledis was calling her. Was it a norm for them to call you to let you know you didn't make it? Couldn't they have just sent an email or something?

The woman on the other end of the line laughed at Yaebin's obvious jitteriness. Laughter was good yes? A good sign? What sign was Yaebin even expecting?

"You sound excited, Yaebin-ssi. As you should be, because I’d like to happily inform you that you have passed the auditions! Congratulations, you are now a Pledis trainee!”

“….What?”

Yaebin is sure that this sort of news was usually followed by tears or celebratory cheers or even silence as the receiver of the news would have passed out from happiness. As a representative of talent relations Jin Kyung must have seen all sorts of different reactions and Yaebin would have loved to provide one that fits the enormity of her current situation but the only thing that could come out of was another—

"What...?"

“Oh I’m sure it’s a lot for you to take in isn’t it?" Jin Kyung chirped, not letting Yaebin's disbelief take away from her cheeriness one bit. "You’ve been selected out of a thousand applicants! As for the details, since you’re still a student you can attend the 5pm practice sessions so as not to interfere with—Yaebin-ssi are you still there?”

“Yes! Yes I am!" Yaebin nodded furiously, finding her legs giving out from under her. A seat. She needs a seat. And maybe some fresh air and a new set of lungs. Hers doesn't seem to be functioning properly. Has she even taken a single breath in the past 5 minutes? "Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, may I know how many other people passed asides from me?”

“Well, the information is not exactly confidential per se, but it’s not usually revealed this early on. But since you’ll find out when you come in on Monday anyways, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. There’s only one other trainee that managed to pass the auditions in your batch.”

“I-I see.”

Only one other person. Yaebin was one of two, out of a thousand. This—what was she going to tell her mother? "Hey mom, remember all those years of me being a loser? Well, turns out now I'm a loser that takes dance classes. Hooray!". Oh she would flip. And her brother would never let her live this down.

“You’re very special Yaebin-ssi. We look forward to having you with us.” Yaebin could hear the smile in Jin Kyung's voice. There was sincerity in it. It didn't seem like a prank at all.

She could say no. Yaebin could easily turn this down. Being a trainee takes a lot out of you and Yaebin had barely gotten settled in to living in Seoul. This is too much out of her comfort zone. She could—she should say no, but then she remembers Minkyung say that Pledis was lacking trainees. That their lack of trainees was keeping Minkyung from debuting and achieving her dreams. But why should Yaebin care?

“Thanks. I-I’ll…I’ll be there on Monday.”

The reply leaves Yaebin's lips before she could make proper sense of things. Guess Yaebin cares a little too much for Minkyung. What now? Should she even show up on Monday?

“You look like you’ve just been told your pet cat just died.”

Yaebin slowly turned to Cathy who was leaning over the counter looking at her worriedly. The rest of her friends stopped eating their icecream to offer Yaebin a questioning look, who could only offer them a bewildered look of her own. How was she supposed to offer them an answer, when she herself was completely flummoxed by the phone call?

“I think my soul just died unnie.”

Siyeon was the first to speak up, toothy grin and all. "Explain. In graphic detail please, I love the gore."

****************************************************************************************************

Yaebin had been standing frozen in this hallway for the past 20 minutes just staring at the door before her in trepidation. "Dance Studio 5" emblazoned on it's dark wooden surface, signaling to her that she's in the right place. The faint sound of music and shuffling feet could be heard coming from the other side of the door and combined with the loud humming of the vending machine next to her and Yaebin's own loud thoughts her head was starting to feel mighty faint. She might just pass out right here, in front of this door without ever finding out what lies behind it.

She had spent the entire weekend trying to prepare herself mentally for this day but as Sunday night came and went Yaebin found herself nearly having a nervous breakdown in class earlier today. Why was she doing this to herself? Why was she going out of her way like this?

Because she wanted to try it out. She was chosen out of a thousand beautiful women, and Yaebin wanted to know what it was like to be special for once in her life.

A very small part of her was also looking forward to being in the same room as Minkyung again, even though a few weeks ago the latter had just told her off in this very hallway.

Yaebin heard a pause in the music coming from behind the door and figured this was as good a time as any to make her entrance. Summoning every ounce of will she could muster Yaebin placed a firm grip on the doorknob before turning it to let herself in.

As the door swung open Yaebin could feel more and more of her brief spurt in confidence slipping away with every square foot of the practice room that was revealed. The room was very brightly lit, and furnished to a minimum. There were two large black leather sofas, a small table tucked in a corner of the room that had microphones and stereo equipment strewn haphazardly on it's surface and floor-to-ceiling mirrors lining the walls.

What completely disarmed Yaebin however, were the extremely beautiful girls standing around with their attention fixed on her. There were 5—no, 7 girls in the room all taller and prettier than she was. Were they idol trainees or models? Holy the rumours about Pledis were true, weren't they? W-why was she here?! Look at them! Look at Yaebin! Something here doesn't belong!

“You!"

The venom dripping from that voice was unfortunately extremely familiar to Yaebin, and she was pretty sure she knew who the owner of said voice was. Sure enough, Kim Minkyung was standing by one of the leather sofas, crushing a poor bottle of water in her fists as her eyes bore holes into Yaebin. There was a look of disbelief in Minkyung's eyes, laced with loathing and what appeared to be more discontent than a normal person can handle.

“Me.” Yaebin gulped, as Minkyung started walking/stalking slowly towards her. All eyes were on the two of them and Yaebin cowered when Minkyung raised an accusatory finger at her, not looking pleased one bit that Yaebin was here in this room.

“Why the hell are you here you—“

“Minkyung. Down. That's not how you talk to your new teammate.”

The voice was soft, yet undeniably authoritative. It was enough to halt Minkyung in her tracks and Yaebin turned to look at her saviour with watery eyes. The voice belonged to a tall girl with reddish-brown hair and limbs so long Yaebin would bet that the girl could scratch her knee without bending down. This girl's body proportions were insane. Yaebin could feel her face heat up the longer she stared at her incredibly attractive saviour but Minkyung’s shouting brought her back to the current predicament she was in.

“Unnie! This girl—I’m NOT training with her!” Minkyung was pointing to Yaebin like she was a rat that needed to be disposed of. Yaebin would feel offended if she wasn't too busy feeling 200 different emotions currently.

“ it up Minky Baby. You’ll have to. If Management cared about what you wanted they’d probably fix the plumbing in the toilets by now.” A blonde girl suddenly came into the picture, wrapping an arm around a still seething Minkyung's shoulder before giving Yaebin a sly wink. “Be careful about stall number 3. It tends to flood.”

Whether this blonde girl had a deathwish or she just didn't give a Yaebin wasn't sure but the shortest girl in the room suddenly held so much respect for Miss Blonde Suicidal Girl here.

The sound of light footsteps caused Yaebin to turn her gaze away just to see her earlier saviour approaching her. The girl looked much taller up close, and about 5 times more attractive (that didn't seem possible. How was that possible? The girl just Kaio-Ken'd her own attractiveness level). So enraptured was Yaebin in this girl's beauty that she nearly missed the hand being extended to her as the girl neared.

“Hi. My name is Im Nayoung. The oldest one here, and in effect, that puts me in charge of all you girls. Unless you're older than me that is, then by all means you can take the reigns."

Yaebin gingerly shook Nayoung's hand, trying her hardest not to gawk. "Hello. Yaebin. Kang Yaebin. I kinda doubt that I'm older than you...I'm only 16. You’re uh, very tall.”

“We’re Pledis Girlz. We get that a lot!” The blonde girl from earlier (who Yaebin would later be introduced to as Jung Eunwoo) chirped from the side.

“So you’re Yaebin?" Nayoung starts, eyes scanning over Yaebin's small frame and nods once, as if satisfied with what she sees. Yaebin stood frozen. Nervous, because this girl was openly sizing her up while wearing the most stoic expression Yaebin had ever seen on a human being. Like a doll, or a greek statue. A work of art. Nayoung interrupted Yaebin's wandering thoughts by leaning down to look into the shorter girl's eyes, causing the latter to stop breathing for a moment.

"My sister's told me a bit about you, Yaebin. She’s expecting great things and it’s rare that she compliments anyone. I'm very much looking forward to working with you.”

Yaebin blinks twice before recoiling in surprise. "Wait, your sister knows me? I know your sister?!"

“Oh you know her sister alright." One of the girls who was seated on the sofa chimed in with a knowing grin. "The whole bloody nation knows her sister. That family name sound familiar to you at all? She’s Im Nayoung, Im Jin-Ah’s only sibling.”

Ah. Im Jin-Ah. Yes, that is indeed a very familiar name. Yaebin's heard it once or twice before thi—

“You’re related to NANA?!” Yaebin nearly shouted in shock, her reaction having satisfied the onlookers as they burst out laughing. Nayoung looked at them disapprovingly but made no effort to correct the statement. It must be true then.

“That's Nana-sunbaenim to you, rookie. You’re in the industry now and she’s your senior.” Eunwoo chastised, but the smile on her face showed that she was more amused than mad at Yaebin.

“S-sorry. It’s just…wow." Yaebin allowed herself to take a closer look at Nayoung's features and everything from the soft cheekbones to the gentle yet fiery look in the latter's eyes seemed to ring a few bells. "I can actually see the resemblance, now that you mention it."

Nayoung just waved her off, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips as she walked back to the corner she was at before to do some stretches while the other girls (save for Minkyung) began crowding around Yaebin to introduce themselves. There was Yewon ( Yaebin noted that she looked like the human embodiment of the “xD” emoticon), Sungyeon (this one reminded Yaebin of the Anpanman character, with her chubby cheeks) and Kyulkyung (this one…was just crazily pretty. Was she even Korean? If she was, she must be mixed. Half Korean half Goddess perhaps? And Yaebin was sure that it’ll take her a few weeks to remember that unique name).

So it’s Minkyung, Nayoung, Eunwoo, Yewon, Sungyeon, Kail—Kyuk—Kyulku—KYULKYUNG. There that wasn’t so hard was it? Yaebin noticed that there was one more girl by the lone table in the room that hadn’t introduced herself yet but she appeared to be busy filling up some form or something.

"….The one by the table over there is the other new trainee, if you’re wondering." Sungyeon informs Yaebin, following the latter’s gaze to the tall girl with brownish locks in the corner of the room. “Siwon-ssi, you can fill those up later. Come say hi to Yaebin.”

Siwon immediately looked up from her task, head snapping up so quickly she might have given herself whiplash. Accidentally tripping over her own feet the girl scrambled towards Yaebin, a sheepish smile on her face. She appeared to be a nervous wreck, something that Yaebin can immediately relate with. That, along with the apparent clumsiness, gives Yaebin the feeling that she’ll get along very well with this girl.

"Hello hello! Hi! Sorry about that, didn’t mean to be rude! I just kinda got caught up in the paperwork. There’s a lot of it. You’ll see.” The girl was much taller up close, and also extremely pretty. At this point Yaebin doesn’t even know why she’s still surprised. “Kang Siwon, fellow newbie.” Siwon extends a hand out, and Yaebin shakes it with a smile.

Siwon has this air around her that was…sort of relaxing. Maybe it’s the girl’s warm brown eyes or innocent smile. Yaebin didn’t know much about idols and trainees but just one minute of being near Siwon and Yaebin could already tell how this girl passed the auditions. She also secretly wondered if she gave of the same kind of aura?

“She’s got that Pledis feel doesn’t she?” Sungyeon says from beside Yaebin in regards to Siwon, only to realize her Freudian slip. “Not to say that you don’t! It’s just that she fits the Pledis Girlz stereotype.”

Yaebin couldn’t even feel offended. She didn’t know how a ‘Pledis Girl’ was supposed to feel like but if it was anything related to the aura Siwon was giving off then yeah. She is Pledis-ing all over the place.

“…Am I a Pledis Girl too now?” Yaebin asked Sungyeon uncertainly.

"Girlz, Yaebin-ssi. Girlz with a 'Z' because we're edgy like that. I know it's not grammatically correct at times but you'll learn to live with it. Us Americans don’t have perfect English anyways. Oh and I know you’re from Texas. Read your profile. Your brother is kinda cute."

Yaebin tries to ignore that last sentence. Wait what she has a profile? Where?! Who profiled her?!

"....So am I a Pledis Girlz too now?"

“Of course! Welcome to the prestigious club of only…” Sungyeon pauses to do a quick head count of the people in the room. “…8 people!”

8 people. That kinda seems like a lot of members to form a girl group. Or was that the average? Yaebin was still embarrassingly oblivious to this industry that she had just walked into. Speaking of industry….

“Eunwoo-ssi." Yaebin called out to the blonde who was currently pinching Yewon’s cheeks. With a hop and a skip Eunwoo was by her side, leaving Yaebin to wonder if all trainees were this energetic.

"S'up newbie #2?"

"You...uh...said something about me being in the industry now but...I don’t even know what being ‘in the industry’ even means.” Yaebin admitted while sheepishly scratching her cheek. Thankfully Eunwoo didn’t pull a Minkyung and chew her ear out. The blonde girl instead just wrapped an arm around Yaebin and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“It means you’ve sold your soul away to a bunch of men in suits who don’t really give two s about you. Congratulations Binnie! –I can call you Binnie right?”

“Not exactly my favourite nickname…”

“Great! I think we’ll get along just fine, you and I. We’ve already given Siwon a tour of the place but we’re running short on time now. Your tour will have to wait till later.”

Yaebin had so many questions. So many. Everything didn’t make sense, but before she could even voice out one of them Nayoung’s firm voice rang across the room.

“Formation! Lets start from the top.”

“Try and keep up noobs.” Eunwoo sniggered while smacking both Yaebin and Siwon on their butts.

As Eunwoo skipped past them and Siwon gives her a quick “Hwaiting!” before she too left to join the other girls in their dance formation, Yaebin realized that she was way in over her head here.

******************************************************************************

Pain.

Pain unlike anything Yaebin has ever felt before.

Kang Yaebin, 16 years old, has just seen her entire life flash by during the 3 hours of rigorous dancing she had just undertaken which just so happens to be 3 hours more dancing than she's ever done before. She was currently on all fours, sweat dripping off her nose onto the wooden flooring as she struggled to catch her breath.

If there was one takeaway from this, Yaebin found out that she was absolute trash at dancing. Guess it was too much for her to hope that her dormant dance prodigy skills would suddenly surface today after hiding away for 16 years. Nope. She had two left feet, and after today she actually wished she didn't have any feet because oh god the pain. Her body hurts. Her ego hurts. Yaebin was just one big ball of hurt.

“How're you holding up?” Sungyeon squats next to Yaebin, handing the panting girl a bottle of water which was accepted almost too eagerly.

“Truthfully? My everything is on fire.”

“Don’t be silly. The smoke alarms would have gone off.”

Yaebin tried to raise an eyebrow at the girl but even her eyebrows were in pain so all Yaebin ended up doing was squint at Sungyeon. "I...uh...didn't mean that literally."

"We shouldn't say things we don't mean, Yaebin-ssi."

"Oh. Uh...." Sungyeon had left Yaebin at a loss for words. Was this Anpan-face being serious right now of was she just messing with the newcomer? The mischievous -eating grin on Sungyeon's face seemed to answer a few questions though. Luckily the awkward moment was interrupted by Siwon collapsing next to the pair of them, breathing equally as heavy and grey tshirt drenched in sweat. It's good to know that Yaebin wasn't the only one struggling today.

“If my….if my legs could t-talk….they'll probably be…saying…”

The sound that left Siwon's mouth following her statement was similar to that of a blue whale that's just stubbed it's toe. The entire room stopped what they were doing to stare at Siwon who just continued to make whale sounds while rolling on the floor.

Yes, Yaebin can emphatise with that feeling completely.

“Put some ice on your limbs when you get home, else you’ll have trouble dancing tomorrow newbies." Eunwoo advised from across the room while stretching her limbs. One quick glance to the rest of the trainees and Yaebin realised that none of them were even sweating all that much. What kind of ungodly stamina do they possess?! Wait, what did she say?

“T-tomorrow?!” Yaebin shouted out in disbelief. She wasn't even sure if she could drag herself home tonight, how was she supposed to come again tomorrow?!

“What, you think this is a one day thing? This is just the beginning. They haven’t even threatened you with expulsion for over-eating yet." Sungyeon said while prodding Siwon's carcass.

“I can’t eat?!” That piece of info gave Yaebin enough strength to sit up and stare at the room with panicked eyes, wishing that it was a lie.

“Winners don’t eat, you Goose. Minky over there hasn’t eaten anything since 2003.”

“She uses the hatred she has for all living things as sustenance to survive.”

In the far end of the room, as far away from Yaebin as she could get, Minkyung flipped both Kyulkyung and Eunwoo an elegant middle finger.

“I envy her. So beautiful. So full of attitude.” Yewon chirped from the couch, lounging so comfortably it was as if she didn't just complete a 3 hour torture routine.

So this was what being a trainee's like eh? Yaebin's face fell upon realisation of what she had just signed herself up for. She wasn't made for this, whatever this is. Reading books and writing poetry in her spare time was a far cry from singing and dancing. She's spent too many years just sitting down on a chair that her neglected muscles were punishing her in complaint. This wasn't it. Yaebin has made a huge mistake. These girls are supernatural. Inhuman. Yaebin was a mere mortal.

"I was in pieces when I first started too, so don't let it get you down." Eunwoo assured her with a soft pat on Yaebin's shoulder. The latter was so out if it she never even noticed the blonde sitting down next to her.

"Really? Kinda hard to believe. You're not even sweating. Your ponytail is still perfect even."

Eunwoo laughed in response. Yaebin found it to be bright and airy, like a cheerful whistle. "Really. All those years spent eating ice-cream wasn't good for the ol' stamina bar. And a lil’ dancing won't affect this ponytail of mine. It's my pride and joy. My ponytail is like Charmander's tail, it shows the condition I'm in. A bouncy ponytail equates to an optimal Eunwoo."

Yaebin blinked back at Eunwoo as the blonde girl started lovingly caressing her own blonde hair. There really wasn't much for Yaebin to say about that so she focused on the other thing Eunwoo mentioned instead. "What's this about ice-cream?"

"Yeah, I used to manage an ice cream shop back in my hometown. Was a pretty bangin' one!" Eunwoo had a bright smile on her face and it was quite obvious that she was more than happy to tell the tale. Yaebin listened with interest as the blonde recounted stories of nightmarish customers and the pathetic store hand that shared the same first name as the girl currently brooding in the corner of the room. "The owner's a right prick tho. An insanely hot prick, but a prick nonetheless." Eunwoo finished, confirming Yaebin's suspicions as to the identity of the shop.

Cathy never talked about Eunwoo before though. Yaebin supposed it was because the topic was never brought up before, but she was starting to realise that the world is a pretty small place and some names were very common.

"What made you come here instead if you were doing so well? Quite a departure, isn't it?" Yaebin curiously asked Eunwoo. The blonde girl talked about her previous job with such fondness that this career choice seemed completely odd.

Eunwoo however, seemed to hesitate in answering. Was that question too forward? Yaebin forgets that she only met these girls 3 hours ago and some questions seemed to touch upon taboo subjects. Yaebin was a breath away from apologizing and taking back her words when Kyulkyung inserted herself into the conversation from across the dance studio.

"It's because of a girl Binnie! Our Nunu was chasing loooove~"

"Shuddup! Not another word Joo!" Eunwoo snapped, looking both mortified and absolutely livid at the same time.

"Was it DIA's Yebin? Heard a rumour she came to your store with Chaeyeon and swept both you and the owner off your lil’ feetsies and brought y'all to Seoul." Sungyeon joined in on the teasing and Yaebin watched on with odd fascination as Eunwoo's face managed to morph into several shades of red all at once.

"Baesoong don't tease Eunwoo-unnie like that, she looks like she's going to explode."

"Meh, it's fine Yewonie. It's not much of a secret anyways when everyone knows it."

"Siwon and Yaebin wouldn't have known if you didn't drop any names, Baesoong!"

"C'mon unnie, there're with us now. And besides, they asked so we answered. I'm just being a good sunbaenim to our newbies and letting them in on the inside jokes. I did good, right, Nayoung-unnie?"

Nayoung made her way over to them, taking a seat next to Siwon's corpse and leaned her back against the studio mirrors. "There's always a story when you ask a trainee why they want to become an idol. It's usually something interesting too. Very rarely do you hear the expected answers of 'to become famous' or 'I want to sing'."

"Minkyung ah, come join us here. We're having a team bonding session." Nayoung called out to the brooding girl in the corner while patting the empty space next to her. Minkyung whipped around, looking amazingly disgruntled but nonetheless she still moved to sit next to the leader, not even bothering to spare Yaebin a glance as she did so.

It was rather amazing how all these girls would listen to Nayoung, despite how soft the older girl's voice was.

"Yebin-sunbaenim's schedule didn't allow her to see much of Nunu, so they broke up. Nunu here's been chasing after her ever since. Poor sod, chasing after a DIA member. What are her odds of success?!" Kyulkyung laughed while messing up Eunwoo's hair. The blonde looked like she was about ready to blow up at any second.

"But Chaeyeon doesn't really seem that busy? I always see her...around." Yaebin replied uncertainly. Chaeyeon was always at the ice-cream shop just around the corner from here. She hardly seemed too busy.

That seemed to be the last straw as Eunwoo seemed to snap, fuming as she turned to Yaebin. "When you're at the top you get to pick your jobs! Chaeyeon could spend a whole year not working and still make a billion Won off royalties and merchandising! Yebin is still fighting, and mark my words I'm going to be fighting with her."

That declaration earned Eunwoo a few whoops and pats on the back from everyone in the room save for Minkyung (who was still brooding) and Siwon (who was still dead).

Yaebin somehow manages to make her way home that night, collapsing onto her bed and drifting off into sleep as soon as her body made contact with the mattress, still fully dressed and not even bothering to shower.

It was a bigger miracle how Yaebin managed to drag herself to the second day of practice. It would've been so easy to skip it after the hellish first day but for some reason she went anyway. Maybe somewhere deep inside her a masochist lay dormant and was only now starting to make itself known. Maybe that was also the reason why she came back to Pledis for the third day, and the fourth, and the fifth....

Days eventually became weeks, and if you were to ask Yaebin what her motivation was she probably couldn't answer you. She was just...doing this. She didn't really fancy being an idol, but she didn't fancy leaving things halfway even more. Plus she's sorta signed a contract and getting out of that was just too much trouble for Yaebin to even bother so she let it be, going with the flow and learning how to dance and sing.

 

****************************************

It has been 6 weeks since Yaebin became a member of Pledis Girlz. She probably went past her body’s limit about 2 weeks back. Right now she feels like a mess of pain. With no exaggeration, she could feel her body breaking down with each minute movement she makes. She had found her niche in rapping, learning that her natural ability to rhyme wasn't a trait that everyone else had. It was a breath of relief honestly, finding something that she was actually good at.

Because everything else was going horribly, horribly horrid.

Her dancing was improving, but not as quickly as it should be. She was learning how to dance from ground zero, and she was growing at a pretty decent rate. Decent however, was as good as trash when you're a Pledis trainee. In comparison to the rate everybody else moves and learns, Yaebin was very obviously dragging the whole team down. Her acting classes weren’t doing too good either. 6 weeks in, and Yaebin was still a normal human.

Being normal made her stick out like a sore thumb whenever she steps foot into Dance Studio 5.

“Alright. We’ll call it a day. Great job everyone.”

There was a short round of applause before everyone begins packing their bags, eager to head home for the day. Yaebin was still slumped over on the couch, trying her hardest to gain feeling in her numb legs while catching her breath. Today's session had been torture as well.

“Yaebin, you’re still lagging behind. We have to perform this routine for the Talent Relations team in a week. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Nayoung's soft voice was laced with worry and Yaebin looked up to meet the leader straight in the eye.

Gosh Nayoung was beautiful. Graceful and elegant, everything a trainee should be. Yaebin couldn't be more disappointed in herself.

“Yeah…I just…” Yaebin began, wondering if she should tell Nayoung just how not okay she was when Nayoung cut her off mid-thought.

“I understand if you can’t get motivated for this. My sister told me that you were scouted off the streets and basically dragged into the auditions by Mr. Jang.”

Yaebin could only nod solemnly in response. Mr. Jang made a mistake. She should apologize to him next time she sees him.

“The life of a trainee is hard, Yaebin. It’s an insanely rigorous lifestyle to lead. If your heart isn’t into it, this won’t be an easy journey for you. It will only get harder from here on out and if you don’t have the will to carry yourself through this you’ll only find yourself falling further and further behind.”

“I…I’m sorry unnie.” Yaebin mutters softly, feeling the corners of her eyes start to burn slightly.

“Don’t be sorry. Just…I hope you find what it is your heart wants. I’m worried about you.”

Nayoung does look worried, and Yaebin feels guilty. It was her incompetence that created the furrow between Nayoung's brows. She watches the older girl turn to leave, sparing Yaebin a reassuring smile before exiting the room.

With nobody else in the dance studio with her Yaebin slumps forward, burying her face in her hands as hot tears trail down her cheeks.

This life wasn’t for her. She was just too normal. She wasn't good enough. Even Siwon, who joined at the same time that she did had already caught up to the other girls.

....She gave it a shot right? Yaebin could say she tried. Nobody would blame her for quitting now would they? Minkyung was right. She shouldn’t have come here. Why did she bother in the first place?

God knows how she passed her auditions. What on earth did they see in her?

Eunwoo has her theories though. According to the girl's suspicions, Pledis was trying something new when they chose Yaebin. An experiment of sorts.

The thing is, the normal "Pledis types" were all very attractive, very tall girls. These girls were usually at the top of their schools in terms of looks, and they've never needed to try much in anything because their looks were enough to get them through life. They were always treated as "special".

So of course when it comes time for Pledis to hold an audition all of these beautiful, attractive girls will show up to give fame and stardom a go only to discover that they aren't special. That there are other girls just as attractive as they are if not more, and that their looks can only carry them so far in life. As a result, even if these girls manage to pass the audition they'll never last long as a trainee because they don't have the guts and determination required to be an idol, leading to them leaving the agency partway through. Their greatest strength becoming common and redundant between Pledis Entertainment's concrete walls.

Eunwoo refers to this phenomena as the "Pledis Problem". Your looks can only get you so far. Which is how Yaebin comes into the picture. Awkward, skinny and short, Yaebin does not fit any of the known criterias to be a Pledis Girl. Her being here was an experiment and a gamble on the agency's side, a test to see if she would run away. To be safe they picked Siwon as well in case Yaebin did end up running away.

So will she? Will she quit, and let the gamble and risk the agency took on her be in vain? Yaebin doesn't know. She doesn't know why she's even here. She doesn't know where to find the motivation to keep coming back to Dance Studio 5 because when she moved back to Seoul from Texas this was not part of the plan. She was supposed to be a journalist. A writer. That was what she was good at. Why was the pages of her notebooks suddenly filled with rap lyrics?

Yaebin was having an identity crisis. It was killing her.

In the midst of her breakdown Yaebin hears the door open and she hurriedly wipes her tears away with her sleeve, not wanting to worry anybody that might see her at her lowest point. Fortunately (or rather unfortunately, depending on the situation) the girl that walks into the room wasn’t one to worry about small trivial things like Yaebin crying.

In fact Minkyung paid no attention to Yaebin whatsoever, treating her as if she was just a part of the furniture. The beauty could obviously see her reflection in the mirror, but the lack of acknowledgement made Yaebin feel even more like .

Of course. She joined because she wanted to see more of Minkyung. That was how she got here in the first place. The captivating beauty and allure of her high school senior drew Yaebin in like a moth to a flame, and now she's burning up as a result of that fatal attraction.

And then Minkyung turns on the music and begins to dance the routine that they have been practicing all week and Yaebin is captivated once more. Minkyung danced as effortlessly as she breathed. Yaebin wonders how long it took Minkyung to learn to move like that. Was there any learning involved at all? Was Minkyung a natural born talent? No, that couldn't be, because it's been half an hour since everybody else left the studio and Minkyung was still here. She was still practicing.

Yaebin loses track of time as she watches Minkyung dance but a significant amount of it must have passed because the older girl was now sweating profusely, bangs sticking to her forehead and Yaebin catches sight of those beautifully sharp eyes in the mirror, curved upwards at the ends giving the beauty the appearance of a cat but what takes Yaebin's breath away was the sheer determination she sees. The hunger. The thirst to succeed.

That was what seperated Yaebin from these girls. She didn't want it bad enough. The hunger made them ethereal. Yaebin's comfort and subconscious hesitance to improve herself was what made her mortal.

“Minkyung-ssi?”

Almost immediately the older girl stops moving entirely, turning to Yaebin with a look in her eyes that was essentially daring Yaebin to say something that will be nothing but a waste of her time. Minkyung doesn’t say anything, she just stands there waiting for Yaebin to speak and the younger girl realizes that every second Minkyung spent waiting for her was a second she could have spent practicing instead.

Yaebin swallowed, still intimidated by the beautiful trainee although they’ve essentially spent 6 weeks together by this point.

“Can you…can you teach me how to do the part after the chorus?”

“Why?”

Yaebin wasn’t expecting that response. She was expecting something along the lines of crushing rejection or maybe even being laughed at in the face but that question threw her off.

“Why.…?”

Minkyung’s expression doesn’t change. Instead she was starting to look a little...bored...? “Why should I? You’re just going to quit halfway anyway. That’s what they all do. Why should I waste my time teaching you something that you probably won’t be using in 2 more months?”

Was that how Minkyung saw her? As a girl who was going to runaway? As an inevitable empty spot in their lineup?

It was justified though. Just a few minutes ago, Yaebin was questioning if she really belonged here. She was a weak link. She wasn’t as good as the rest of the girls.

But Kang Yaebin was not a quitter.

“Because I'll still be here in 2 more months. In fact, I’m sticking around for longer than 2 months. I’m going to be debuting with you, Minkyung-ssi."

Minkyung frowns, staring into Yaebin’s eyes for a sign that the girl was just spouting nonsense she didn’t believe in but Yaebin didn’t back down. She met Minkyung’s intense gaze with one of her own, fists clenched tight on her lap trying to communicate her determination to this girl who was trying to call her bluff.

“I can be good. I can be great. I just...I just need to learn. I have a lot of catching up to do and I swear I’ll get there someday but I need help. Please don’t leave me behind.”

Minkyung’s expression softened somewhat and she turned away from Yaebin, causing the younger girl to panic internally and wonder if Minkyung had given up on her.

“….The part after the first chorus or the second chorus?”

Yaebin perked up at Minkyung’s words. Did she...did she hear correctly? Yaebin can see the small smile playing on Minkyung’s face in the mirror’s reflection and the younger girl immediately shot off of her seat, eager to start dancing.

“Both! Please teach me both parts!”

Minkyung actually chuckled at that and Yaebin was suddenly not sure if she could dance anymore because that beautiful sound made her weak at the knees. Kim Minkyung was an angel. A literal angel.

“Have you been paying attention at all newbie? God. Show me what you’ve got and I’ll correct you where you’re wrong.”

They ended up staying in the studio all night correcting everything about Yaebin's dancing because everything was wrong but she was happy. For the first time since Yaebin stepped foot into this studio, Yaebin danced with a smile on her face.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello!

Okay. Wow. Where do I begin. A lot to explain here. First up! 

Y'all are probably wondering who Siwon is. Well, you might know her from Produce 101. She's the independent trainee that was on Nayoung's Say My Name team. She was tall, gorgeous, and I really wanted her to make it into IOI but I guess fate had other plans. After the show I was hoping she'd sign onto Pledis because of her talented she was despite not having an agency, but alas she signed on to Dream Tea instead.

So here's my lil gift to myself, where I add her into the fic because I'm really attached to her for some reason. Humour me! Hahaha!

If you wanna know more about her, HERE is her instagram, and HERE is her performing Afterschool's AH (SEE! PLEDIS!) and HERE is here performing Say My Name, choreographed by our leader Nayoung.

Speaking of Nayoung....She is Nana's sister in this fic. I couldn't resist. Her surname is Im and her nickname is NaNa. I just couldn't help it!

For all the readers who came here from my other fic Just Another Girl:

This is a different Nayoung than the one in there. The Kyulkyung in this fic should also not be confused with JAG's Jieqiong.

The Eunwoo however...this is the same Eunwoo. And now y'all know what happened to Eunwoo after the last chapter of JAG.

For all the new readers who did not read Just Another Girl:

You'll probably find the whole Eunwoo dating DIA's Yebin thing completely random. I...I kinda have no explanation for that. It just sorta happened in my last fic, and I kinda carried it over into this fic. I hope it doesn't feel too ridiculous a pairing for all of you.

Thank you all for reading, and I'm beyond thrilled at the amount of upvotes for the FIRST CHAPTER ALONE! All of you are amazing! I've read the comments and replied to them all and it's such a joy to see the feedback! Thank you thank you thank you for enjoying this fic and I hope I can keep up this pace and quality so that I won't disappoint all of you in the future updates.

Happy New Year!