I take a step outside of Lee Sooman's office and close the door softly behind me.

'You'll start training today,' He told me. Actually, he told his translator, that told me. 'And you'll start school tommorow. You're dorm is at this address.' He then had handed me a small slip of paper with a crudely drawn map and some numbers and a street name. 'You'll be rooming with three other girls. You better get along with them.'

Then he shooed me out of the room so he could get back to whatever he was doing at six in the morning.

Six in the morning. I never had reason to wake up this early back home, and even if I did wake up this early back home, I would have fallen back asleep in a second flat. Never-the-less, I wasn't tired right now. Maybe it was all the coffee I drank back at my hotel.

Sighing, I carefully exit the SM Entertainment building without getting lost, and stare at the slip of paper I had been given. The map is basically useless, I soon realize after a few seconds at glancing at the squiggles that are supposed to be streets. So I resort to asking an older lady hobbling down the sidewalk where I needed to be going.

"Where...?" I ask in my best Korean, pointing to the address on the paper. She points a knobby finger down the lamp lit sidewalk away from the SM building, then gives me a strange look and waddles away.

"Thank you!" I yell after her, even though I doubt she can hear me- after all, she looked about ninety years old. I get a few weird looks from early morning joggers, but ignore them and turn around, heading towards my new dorm.

After about 15 minutes or so of walking down the dark sidewalk, I come to a street sign that has the same characters on it as my paper does. I figure this is the right way, so I turn right and walk right into a huge apartment complex. Inside is a cleanly decorated lobby with navy blue chairs and white walls. It's a very big lobby, and a petite lady sitting behind a huge white desk makes it seem even bigger.

"Hello," I say in Korean, expecting this to be a painful experience with my awful Korean and her not being able to understand me.

Instead, she nods and says in perfect English, "Mr. Sooman told me to be expecting you. Here's your key." She hands me a small silver key. "You're room is on the 3rd floor, second door."
"Th-thank you so much," I say gratefully. This was the easiest things had been here for me in Korea- it was so relieving to hear someone else speaking English.
"If you need anything, you can come talk to me," She says with a smile. I smile back and nod, then turn around and head directly to the elevator. Stepping inside, I press the button that has the number '3' on it, and then I crouch down with my back to the elevator and my knees to my chest.

What should I say to my room mates when I get there? I wonder. Should I say hello in English or Korean? It'll be awkward if none of them know any English...

"Annaeyonghasayo," I whisper aloud to myself, trying to form each sound just like I had practiced at home. "Chuneun Olyiva imnida."

I shake my head. That was all the Korean I really could speak. I know little snippets of phrases from watching Korean dramas, but that's it.

You're really not cut out for this, Olyvia, I think. Of course, though, I knew that already. All my 'friends' back home thought so too. They thought I wouldn't even make it this far, they thought I was stupid when I told them I wanted to do this. 

I stand up, hanging my head as the door to the elevator opens. I look up at the doors of lining the hallway, and find the second one.

I nervously take a deep breath, and wipe my forhead. Should I knock first, or use my key? I think hard for a few seconds, then decide to knock and see if anyone's awake.

I rap my knuckles softly on the door. A few seconds later, I hear footsteps and then the door creeks open. Holding my breath, I watch as  girl with long curly hair peeks her head out. She looks me up and down, then closes the door. I exhale my breath.

What was that about? I knock on the door again.

The same girl opens it and asks, "What do you want?" In English.

"Umm, I'm living here from now on," I say, rather startled and relieved. At least one of the girls I'm rooming with knows english.

She looks at the suitcase I'm rolling behind me and the bag slung over my shoulder, than opens the door wider and says, "Come on in then."

I do as she says and bow my head slightly. "Thanks." I take a step inside the doorway and she closes the door behind me. I look around but try not to stare at how noticeably small the apartment is. I thought it would be bigger.

Just past the entry way, where I take off my shoes, is a small wooden table with four chairs set around it. A couch lays just past the table and on the opposite wall is a TV. A door to what I assume is a bathroom is on the left and our bedroom is on the right. There isn't even a kitchen.

The girl that opened the door for me yells into the bedroom. A few seconds later, two bedraggled and grumpy looking girls stagger out the door, cursing under their breath.

"I'm Haerin," The girl that opened the door for me says in English with a serious smile. "This is Jiyun and Hana." Jiyun, the taller of the two girls bows slightly and glares at me. The shorter one, Hana, raises an eyebrow and nods, her eyes half closed still.

I realise they were probably still sleeping when I came in. "Sorry," I say in Korean.

"Don't bother," Jiyun says grouchily, "We all know how to speak English." I look at her in shock. "And Korean," She adds, as if to make a point that I'm not Korean and she is, and therefore, she has an advantage over me.

"Umm," I say nervously, "I'm Olyvia. I'll be staying here for a while..." I bow my head and stare at my feet.

"Anyway," That was Haerin's voice. "Olyvia, I'll help you settle in." Grateful for Haerin's kindness, I look up and smile at her as she leads me into the bedroom, which is just as small as the nonexistant living room.

"There's your bed," Haerin says, pointing to the bottom bed of one of the two bunkbeds lining the walls. "And the closet's right there. There should be room for your clothes."

"Thank you," I say, pulling my suitcase to a stop by my bed and looking around. Although small it definitely is cozy. Every wall was lined with one piece of furnature or another-dressers, desks, bookshelves and beds.
"We're leaving in an hour," Haerin says as she leaves the room. I smile at her as she leaves and hope that she knows how much her kindness means to me.

Content, I open my suitcase I begin hanging up my clothes in the closet. I notice that all the other girls' clothes are very stylish in an array of different colors, whereas mine are mostly black with a few brightly colored t-shirts.

"I need to get some cute clothes too," I whisper aloud to myself. "Next time Mom and Dad send me money, that's what I'm going to do." I hang up the last shirt from my suitcase, and look down to see what else I need to put away.

A few books lay down at the bottom, along with my teddy bear and some bathroom products like my toothbrush. I toss my teddy bear on my bed take out the bag of my bathroom stuff, then push my suitcase under my bed. Setting the bag down on my pillow, I collapse tiredly on the floor and stare up at the ceiling. It was white.

The ceiling in my room back home was white.

A knot collects in my stomach as I realize I'm actually here, in Korea, training to become a star. It had been the most impossible dream for so long, and now I was living it and it didn't feel real at all.

"Olyvia," I hear someone's voice in the other room, "We're leaving now." I jump up and run through the doorway into the living room, slipping a little bit on the wooden floors. Haerin is holding the door open for me, and I can see Jiyun and Hana standing just outside the entryway. Hurriedly, I slip on my shoes and tuck my cell phone in my pocket.

Seeing this, Jiyun raises an eyebrow. "You still have that?" She asks. I nod, confused. "Usually Sooman-nim takes away all the trainees contact with the outside world before letting them into the company. I don't even have an email address."

"O-oh," I say, startled and feeling slightly taken aback. Why did I still have my phone? Would I get in trouble if anyone found out about it?

"Don't worry too much," Haerin says, " They allowed me to keep my email. I think it's different for each trainee." I nod and smile gratefully. If I ever knew how, I'd repay Haerin for her kindness a hundred times over.

We walk back to the SM building, where I had been just two hours before. When we get inside, I follow the other girls up a few flights of stairs and into a wooden floored dancing room, with mirrors all around. My jaw drops. I've never used such a big, professional looking studio. I was lucky back home to even have a full sized mirror to practice in front of.

More people trickle in to the training room, all bowing as they enter. Jiyun, Hana and Haerin all bow back. I follow suit, hoping I don't look too awkward. I'm about to go find Haerin and ask her when we're starting exactly, when I see she's already in a small group of other people, all laughing.

I stand awkwardly towards the back of the room, looking at my feet. I'm already a burden to her. I don't want to make it worse by interrupting her social time.

I've been standing for a few minutes now, trying to understand snippets of people's conversations- I can understand a little bit from the Korean dramas I'd been watching for a few months before I auditioned, when I hear something that makes my blood run cold.

"Who does that foreigner think she is?" I want to look up and see who said that, but I'm afraid of what may happen if I do. After staying here in Korea for a week by myself, I know that foreigners like myself are retaliated against, because, well, I'm a foreigner.

"Look how fat her legs are. Haha, she probably doesn't even understand us." I move my eyes from my feet up to my legs. Back in America I was considered skinny. Here was I fat?

"I don't know... Her face is bright red," Another voice says. "Serves her right."

Serves me right.

What did I do wrong? I came here, to Korea, to follow my dream, and I did something wrong already? I didn't even talk to them yet. I hear the door creak open again and look up, my eyes brushing over the group of people talking about me. It was four or five girls, who all are staring at me with hungry eyes.

I ignore them and look at the two guys that just walked in- they're too old to be trainees. I assume they're the choreographers.

Everyone, including me, bows and says hello. Then they show us the dance we'll be learning and we get down to buisness right away.

The choreographers show us the first 10-15 seconds of the dance slow, and we all follow along. I expect them then to show it to us faster, but instead, we keep practicing the slow version for at least half an hour. Then they show us the half minute of the song slow. Then we practice it slow until I'm so sick of the dance I want to puke.

Finally, the choreographers tell us we can have a ten minute break. Everybody stops dancing, and a few leave the room. I follow those few out, after realizing how hot and sweaty I was at the moment, and how I need some fresh air.

I get hostile looks from the other trainees, but do my best to ignore them and continue walking down the hall. I turn a corner and am faced with a long stairway going up, and an even longer one going down. A smirk spreads across my face.

After all you've been through today, Olyvia, you deserve something fun to take your mind off it. One little jump won't hurt, will it?

I look both ways to make sure nobody's coming. Then I take a few steps backward, run towards the stairs, then launch myself down all the stairs at once. I feel the adrenaline building up in my veins as I fly through the air and prepare to land. As soon as I do though, I realize something's not right. A shadow was moving on the wall around the corner from the bottom of the staircase.

I do the only thing I can think of- over rotate my body slightly forward, and when I feel my hands meet solid shoulders, I push off again and whip my legs through the air.

My knees meet the hard tile, and I allow a small yelp of pain to escape my lips. I want to stay like I am now- crouched on the ground and not have to get up, but I do so I can apologize to whoever I almost killed.

"Sorry," I say as formally as possible, standing up, bowing my head, and turning around all in one swift motion, "I'm really sorry." I allow my eyes to peek through the curtain of hair covering my face to see who I attacked.

I almost faint when I realize who it is.

Whoo!!! Finally got this done after the little accident AFF had with deleting a bunch of stories. Please comment and subscribe!!!