FLASHBACK

 

 

 

 

The company had several training centers, but the one Jongin stood in front of was the biggest one of them all. Some centers were reserved only for idols, some for trainees and some for soon-to-be-debut trainees, some for only management and production teams, and so on. But the one Jongin in front of, was the mothership. It is also the first center where he joined as a new recruit. All had to report here at least once a month or quarterly. It was a training center that was the biggest of them all, accommodating all of them; trainees, idols, productions, management, staff, and even audience and parents and guardians. With several halls and long passageways, with canteens running 24/7 and 365 days, it was one of the best as well.

That's why no matter the season or time, it was the busiest, it worked in shifts. 

Literally all the trainees were added to this center to be trained for the first few months, immediately after training camp. And it worked like this:
Each recruit was assigned to a group in the hall on the ground floor. The group was further divided into four - six smaller groups and assigned distinct songs and choreography to learn. 

The trainees had two weeks to be assigned to a fixed group by the trainers, through constant evaluation. The trainees were rotated in different groups as per the discretion of the trainers. Trainees that do well on both, dance and vocal in hall as well as group, are assigned a room and later a fixed group to practice. 

 

As Jongin walked through the corridors, many faces looked up at him. Jongin was in a rush to reach his room, so he greeted as many as he could. Some bowed back, many nodded at him, and others just ignored him. The ones he wanted to avoid the most were the ones who ‘wanted to have a word with him’. Still touchy about the rookie ballot, Jongin was truly tired of them now. Initially, they had a lot to say first about him, and now it had escalated to his friends and those he practiced with. The hyungs of his first group had informed trainers and the managers about their behavior. That backfired as they were told, “Deal with it yourself” and “man up”.

After that, pretty much, everyone avoided him.

He had been a part of so many groups that it was difficult to make and stay friends. The constant competitions didn’t help either. By the end of the third week of his joining the center, he was placed in a group of seven. He was in that group long enough to be friends with the other members. He grew close to Taemin. They were able to compete and still be friends after. Though Taemin was his senior in terms of joining, they both listened to each other well.

But he was rotated out of the group and added to a new one. He wasn't the only one though, he recognized Junmyeon hyung, who was with him in the previous as well as the new group. Every day, one or two members were added and later removed, few even left the company. He could now count on his fingers how many still stayed in his group. Those who stayed included Minseok Hyung, Kris and Sehun. Chanyeol and Junmyeon Hyung were also part of their group, but they were often expected to help out other groups because of their production and writing skills. Jongin was happy in his small group, even if trainers and managers ignored them and didn’t give the required guidance.
 

And today, Jongin was late. 

Well, not technically late. 

He just wanted to be the first one today. He wanted to practise longer and harder before the group.

Their last trainee inspection was an absolute disaster for as a group. As the rookies they were, they all panicked when Junmyeon Hyung slipped and injured himself while performing. Their panic was visible to themselves, so it would be obvious to everyone watching them as well. The trainers, managers and staff loitering around them post performance were vocal about how this would place them at the bottom of the rooster. 

The consequence was, more members were added to Jongin’s group, to make up for lack of talent.

Today, he needed to practice before any of the new trainees joined them. Minseok, Yixing hyung and Sehun had split the task of teaching them the choreography. Few of them picked up quickly, others not so much. Two in particular were unable to pick up steps even with constant practice. They were of course struggling to adapt but none of them were spiteful, and were friendly to everyone in the group. Probably because they hadn't really participated in proper competitions to have hateful feelings that Jongin got from other groups.

However, Jongin couldn’t help but feel restless and anxious around them. 

He thought back to the day when Chanyeol hyung serenaded them about the new trainees.

Jongin wondered out loud, “Are you sure?” with a frown on his face.

Kris Hyung huffed out a laugh at his question, telling others to take a break. Hyung and Junmyeon Hyung were determined to have a smooth transition for both, new and old members. which is why they were observing and guiding the training, even though it wasn't required.
Out of all the members, Jongin found it hard to accept the new trainees in his group. The additions were made only to their group. No competing, no rotating in different groups, directly added to the group and fixed to it.  Based on what Chanyeol Hyung said, they were personally scouted by The company. It meant that they were handpicked and added to his group.

Chanyeol grinned, “Heck yeah!! He is in the chingu-line with Jongdae, Baekhyun and me!!” 

Jongin stared at the person being discussed. Kyungsoo and Jongdae were the ones who were slow in picking up choreography. To be fair, it was their first week and they just had to learn two dance choreography. Kyungsoo, the tiniest of them all, was glaring at everyone, throughout the day with those big doe eyes of his.

“He doesn’t look like it. He looks younger than Sehun, who is the youngest here! Totally maknae line hyung.” Jongin was seriously confused, “Why is he in the chingu line again?”

Even Tao made no sense, he looked Kris’s age but was actually one of the younger members. But how did Kyungsoo end up in the chingu-line? Given how Jongin was yet to interact with any of them, his skepticism had no ground. He truly hoped they would get rotated out to another group, even if it meant lessened chances of debut. 

It’s just that their addition had made him feel incompetent. Had he done enough, they wouldn't be added to his group. 

The instructors and trainers had already started saying that their group only had visuals and rap, and literally no vocal strength. This  bothered him. They had their own individual strengths. Maybe other trainees had excellent control and breathing capacity from the very beginning, but these people were HIS group members. Minseok hyung and Sehun picked up dance as quickly as he and Taemin could. Taemin and he started their training when they were in diapers, so their ability truly took him by surprise. 
Kris hyung always covered for him (and others) when they couldn't interpret training well. Junmyeon Hyung had almost debuted, had he not injured himself. Which meant his dance, charisma, and vocals were already on the level of an idol. Chanyeol hyung was multi-talented in terms of singing, playing, composing and performing; the fact that he could easily raise everyone’s morale was just an add on to his bright personality. The way Yixing hyung would make dance practice easier to interpret and break down steps, and he was often seeked by others to help them.

“What about the others?”Jongin asked.

“Lu Han and Tao are going to be in advance rap and dance training with Sehun and me,” Chanyeol pointed towards the ones that had been doing well, “and Baekhyun, Jongdae, and Kyungsoo are here only for dance. The three are advanced vocalists.” He smiled brightly at Jongin, who was sporting a frown, “Are you nervous about the new members, Joginah??”

“No,” Jongin said too quickly for it to be honest.

His pout made Chanyeol and Kris laugh out loud at him, “Baekhyun hyung is good, Jongdae hyung is still better than Kyungsoo….?” he paused as he saw in slow motion Kyungsoo twist and fall flat on his . He had turned a beat too quickly and tripped over his own feet. 

Jongin would have rushed to help him up, but Kris hyung started laughing while holding Jongin's shoulder for support. 

The person on the floor was glaring at the room at large. Baekhyun was the first one to start laughing loudly and clapping, and in that he crashed onto Jongdae. Jongdae, who lost his balance, and was trying to steady himself, failed. 

The two fell down, on the almost up Kyungsoo, only to fall on his , again.

Jongin was scared that a fight would ensue or they would be reprimanded for causing a commotion. But most of the occupants were busy laughing at the pile of fallen amateur dancers.

A slight action made Jongin turn away from others to s. Just in time to see Kyungsoo cushioning the falling members' head by holding them from knocking into each other or on the floor. Waiting for laughter to die down, he patted Baekhyun's head who was still laughing and apologizing between his giggles. It was Jongdae's arm that tickled Kyungsoo that made him giggle.

 

That's when Jongin sees it. 

A smile blooming on the tiniest new member.

‘Oh’, Jongin notices, ‘he has a heart shaped smile, how cute!’

As he looked around, he saw that everyone in the room had a small smile on their face. Younger trainees were hesitant in laughing but were still smiling as the room echoed of the dwindling laughter. 

For the first time, after a very long time, Jongin has tiniest hope. That things will get better.