“Seulgi, you’ve done well. Stop crying, we will be having new trainees with us soon, surely you don’t want them to see a senior trainee sobbing like that,” the fellow male trainee by the name of Jongin teased.

Seulgi sniffled and wiped away her tears with the hem of her sleeves.

“Come on, give us a smile,” he encouraged and Seulgi did as she was told, flashing her biggest bear smile.

Seulgi has been a trainee at one of the biggest Korean entertainment company for two years. The company was called SM Entertainment, one that many aspiring teenagers had wished to get into to realise their dreams of becoming a world-famous Korean pop-star. Seulgi was no exception.

Having auditioned at the company at a tender age of thirteen, Seulgi’s goal was to become an artiste, one who could be loved by many and who could share her love for music and dance to many others. Yet, this was a much harder dream than she had expected it to be.

Seulgi remember the very first time she had shed tears, it was during a performance before her seniors, a soon-to-debut girl group. The trainee had cried because she thought she had done poorly and cried even harder when one of the senior told her otherwise.

Since that time, Seulgi had only shed more tears, not less, and for various reasons. For fellow trainees who had trained with her but was forced to leave because they were not good enough, for all the scolding and harsh training that she was made to do, and for the fear of eventually being unable to debut and fulfil her dreams of becoming an artiste.

Yet, despite all the harshness that she had faced, there were also good things that happened to her, and that was of course, befriending fellow trainees like Jongin and Soojung. They were her very best friends and both of whom were highly regarded by their vocal trainers and dance instructors. Soojung, especially, had potentially the highest chance of debuting. That was what everyone said and Seulgi was really happy for her, really happy. Deep in her heart however, Seulgi wished that people could say the same about her.

I wish to debut too, with Soojung, my best friend.

Yet, Seulgi would later learn that she would not be debuting with her best friend.

**

This was the day the company would receive new trainees and this was nothing too shocking for them all, except that, they also heard that there would be a trainee who was aged eighteen.

“Eighteen?!” Many had exclaimed the first time they heard and Seulgi was equally surprised as well. Except that the others made mockery and scathing remarks out of this news whilst Seulgi was feeling bad and really sorry for the would-be trainee.

“It is going to be so difficult for her,” Seulgi had voiced her concerns to Jongin.

Jongin shrugged, “well… she chose it herself. She is older than us, I am sure she knows what she is doing. Besides, if SM has chosen her despite her age, I am sure she stands a great chance at debuting.”

“Really?! That is good!” Seulgi said with the same big bear smile and received a flick on her forehead from Jongin.

“You silly, that means more competition for you,” Jongin told her but Seulgi continued smiling.

“Or maybe I would get to debut with her,” Seulgi said jovially.

Jongin shook his head at the girl’s naivety. “No, Seulgi, remember you cannot give in to anyone. We are all on our own.”

“We aren’t. You are helping me now, aren’t you? By giving me advices,” Seulgi said with that lovely smile on her face.  

Jongin rolled his eyes. “That is only cause you are not my competition, silly. I will debut in an all-males group whilst you will be in an all-females group.”

To which Seulgi replied with an innocent “oh…”, the very same thing she uttered when she first saw the eighteen-year-old trainee.

“Oh…”

Seulgi was stunned, at a loss for words. Her heart was racing and her mind was in a whirl. Seulgi kept quiet when the trainees were introduced to her because Seulgi was certain her words would come out wrong because of that trainee, the eighteen-year-old who did not meet others’ eyes when she softly spoke. Despite her usual slow mind, Seulgi knew immediately what she was feeling.

A crush.

**

Jongin nudged Seulgi during their supper-time, “I heard that you’ve seen the new female trainees already. How were they?”

Seulgi was about to eat her spicy rice cake at the time but she laid her spoon down to answer Jongin’s question. “She was really pretty.”

The expression on Jongin’s face spelled befuddlement and it took the male a while to realise who his friend was specifically referring to. “Oh, you mean the eighteen-year-old?”

Seulgi nodded, smiling as she shoved a spoonful of rice cake into .

“Dude, you weren’t even answering my question. I asked how all the female trainees were, not the eighteen-year-old specifically,” Jongin flicked Seulgi’s arm this time round and the girl smiled sheepishly as she rubbed the spot where she was hit.

“I could only remember her though,” Seulgi said honestly.

Jongin shrugged his shoulders as he responded, “well then that is probably a good thing. The rest most likely won’t be good enough to vie for a spot with you whilst the eighteen-year-old is just… pretty?”

Seulgi then stopped chewing and with her right cheek puffed out with rice cake, she retorted, “I don’t think she is just pretty... she seems… nice…”

“Being nice isn’t good enough to debut in SM. You should know that, Seulgi.”

“I know… but… I like her vibes.”

Jongin spun his spoon in the air as he contemplated his fellow trainee’s words. Vibes… Could this perhaps be one of the criteria the vocal and dance instructors looked out for amongst trainees when they recommended them to be put into groups? Perhaps it was…

“If you like her, then try to get to know her more,” Jongin advised, hoping that his thoughts were right and also that his reckoning that this eighteen-year-old would debut was right as well.

“Y-You really think so?” Seulgi asked eagerly.

Jongin nodded and that made Seulgi break out into another wide grin. Jongin’s advices were always something that Seulgi took seriously because he was the more intuitive and smarter one amongst all of them.

**

She is really, really quiet… and alone… Seulgi thought to herself sadly as she observed the eighteen-year-old.

All of the new trainees quickly got themselves acquainted with each other and the existing trainees, all except for Joohyun. Joohyun was her name, the eighteen-year-old trainee who had kept to herself.

Seulgi was hugging a cushion and eating her pringles with a perpetual frown on her face when a young trainee, Yeri came to interrupt her.

“Seulgi, why do you look so gloomy? Did you get scolded again? Or did they say you will stand no chance in debuting in the upcoming line-up?” Yeri asked tauntingly.

Seulgi shook her head and capped her can of pringles before she shook her head and replied, “no, nothing of that has happened yet…”

Yeri giggled, “I am sure that will happen soon. I am just kidding, then why do you look so upset?”

“Because… she has not made friends yet…” Seulgi replied listlessly.

“Who?” Yeri asked, confused and then seemed to realise a second later whom Seulgi was referring to. “Oh! You mean the eighteen-year-old!” Yeri giggled again before she added, “why don’t you go make friends with her first then?”

“You think I should do that too?!” Seulgi asked, surprised that the advices from Jongin and Yeri were similar.

Yeri, surprised by the girl’s enthusiastic response, suddenly became slightly scared, “well… yeah…? I mean… it is one way or other right? Either you make friends with her or she makes friends with you but since she is so shy… you should do it first!”

Seulgi smiled. “I agree.”

Which was why, Seulgi had offered Joohyun her can of pringles at 5 am the next day. Seulgi knew that Joohyun lived in the dormitory together with her fellow female trainees and was always the first to arrive at the SM practice room and so Seulgi did the same that morning.  

“I am Seulgi, I’ve been a trainee here for two years already, would you like to make friends with me? Oh… and this, breakfast?” The breakfast Seulgi was referring to was her sour cream and onion pringles.

Joohyun looked confused for a second before a small smile broke on her lips and she stuck out her hand, palm up. “T-Thank you.”

Seulgi smiled wider as she clumsily removed the lid off her pringles can and took out the crisps for her newly-found friend.

It was later that Seulgi found out that her new-found friend had a very strong but cute accent as they chatted with each other. The accent was so adorable that Seulgi could not help but comment on it.

“Joohyun,