(Kai's POV)

 

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After yesterday, I became sort of a celebrity within SM's staff and trainees... a LEGEND even. People had cried, vomited, or even fainted during the debut trainee announcement ceremonies in the past, but nobody had EVER forgotten their pants in the history of SM entertainment. 

I guess that lovely title belongs to me.

It's early morning, about 6am, and I'm in the car with my parents, ready to move into my new home - the SM dorm rooms, with 11 other EXO guys. I barely know them - until now, we've all been going to our own schools (international school for the chinese boys) and the most we've done together is train together a bit for vocals and dancing. But there are so many trainees in SM that it's hard to remember who's who. Plus, we were really busy with school up until now... and we still are. It's hard to make close connections when your whole life is dominated by academics and harsh training. So I guess it's going to be awkward at first, but we'll be comfortable sooner or later.

I could hear my luggage rattling in the trunk.

"Now Jongin.... you take care of yourself," my mother said with a worried voice. I know she loves me a lot, and so does my dad. Even though they were against me becoming a singer at first, after seeing my talent they realized it was the right thing to do. But having to leave home sooner than regular kids is probably really tough on them.

I looked at my dad through the car's central mirror and I could tell he was trying to be strong for my mother. "Jongin... whatever happens, don't let anybody change who you are. Always be yourself, no matter what. Know who you are, always."

"I will, dad". I thought about his words for a moment. I guess I'm lucky to have such caring parents. My two sisters and Monggu back at home will probably miss me too. But it's not like I'm gone forever... "I'll visit you guys often. I promise."

"You better!" my mom raised her voice over her tears. "I need to see my son..."

I wanted to cry, too. But I held it in. I need to be strong in front of my parents.. I need to show them that I can do it. That I'm serious about following my dreams. Then the SM building pulled up on the horizon. Our car seemed to be travelling towards it faster and faster. 

"Now Jongin, remember to brush your teeth, and eat all your meals, remember to keep trying hard in school, and oh, don't forget to wash your underwear daily! You know how lazy you can be!" my mom frantically spat out.

"Moooom!" I whined like a kid. 

"I'm sorry dear... I know you can handle yourself. I'm just worried..." she quited down.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'll work hard in everything and do my best. I promise."

My dad pulled up in the SM parking lot. I stepped out and took out my luggage from the trunk. Two large bags of clothes and other necessities. 

My dad and I did our secret hand-shake, and then he gave me a hug. "I love you, son. Do well."

Then my mom ran up to me without saying a word and hugged me as tight as she could. How did I know? I can't breathe. She stepped away and held my face in her hands. "Jongin, I love you. And like your father said.... never change who you are." And with that, she kissed me on my forehead and I started walking off.

"I LOVE YOU!" I screamed back at them. They nodded and waved. 

I turned around and looked towards the SM building that I've so often visited to train, almost everyday, for the past several years of my life. Now it gets serious. Now I'm not just training but I'm going to be preparing for my debut. And I really need to try my best. 

 

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The SM building is quite large, actually. The first floor has the lobby, staff offices and cubicles and the auditorium.

The second floor has the infamous cloud-wallpaper dance studio and the other hard-wood floor practice dance room. This is where trainees and debuted artists practice dance with choreographers. The second floor also has several sample recording studios for trainees to practice their vocals.

The third floor is known as the "chill" floor. There is a cafeteria for SM trainees, artists and staff with a small staged area where people can go up and sing noraebang style, and a lounge with comfy couches and stuff.

The fourth and fifth floors are where the boy and girl dorms are, respectively. EXO has its own dorm on the fourth floor, with the rest of the guys. We're beside other male trainees that have yet to debut. Debuted artists like SHINee, Super Junior or DBSK have moved out to make room for us trainees, and also because they can afford it and want their own space. But they visit here a lot, just to see how we're doing.

I took the elevator to the fourth floor and found EXO's dorm room.

I knocked.

An extremely handsome guy with flawless porcelain skin and a tall nose opened the door. He was really tall, taller than me - and probably Chinese.

"Hello, my name is Kris", he said with an English accent.

"Hi... I-I'm Jongin", I said, stuttering. His beauty was stunning. I'm already having trouble talking to this guy.

"You're the last to come, like yesterday..." he said, trailing off. "Good to see you have pants today. Come on in," he gestured.

So I followed him into the room, luggage and all. There was a narrow lobby area where all the members dumped their shoes.... and then the space opened up into a large living-room area. This living-room area wasn't terribly small but it wasn't huge, either. Probably about the size of half a classroom. To my left was the kitchen and two washrooms, and to my right were pathways leading to the member rooms. Straight ahead was a small balcony overlooking part of Seoul. I was surprised SM had dorms that could fit all 12 of us comfortably. 

All the members were busy unpacking, greeting each other, and just settling in. Some were even putting up posters and pictures of their family in their rooms. 

Kris put his hand on my shoulder. "Since you and Luhan were the last ones to come, you guys will be rooming together.... since we all thought it would be fair if we roomed with the order in which people came."

"Thanks, uh.. Kris." I said. He saluted me with his hand and walked off to his room, continuing to unpack. Is he the leader of EXO-M? Probably is. He's very leader-like. All of a sudden, somebody came out from a room that I was standing in front of.

It was the guy that was hysterically laughing at me, that stood beside me yesterday at the ceremony. The handsome one.

"Yo, I'm Luhan!" he exclaimed.

So this is Luhan, the one Kris was talking about. I guess we're roommates now.

"I'm Jongin, nice to meet you!" I replied. He extended his hand out to me. We shook hands awkwardly.

He looked kind of cute, actually. Messy brown hair, a cute button nose, and huge puppy eyes, like I remember. He kind of reminds me of Monggu....

I pulled my luggage into the room. Our room seemed to be the smallest out of all the small rooms in our one dorm. Our beds were literally next to each other. I put my luggage bags on my bed and started to fill our closet with clothes. I hope we don't mix up our clothing! I then took out a poster of SHINee and put it over my bed. I really like them, and I'm close with Taemin. I smiled at my poster. Then I took out my SNSD calendar, my keroro digital alarm-clock, a picture of my family and I on vacation, and arranged them all on my desk beside my bed. 

I saw that Luhan had his own pictures of his family. He was Chinese, definitely. His accent, his mannerisms, his behaviour, his clothes... everything about him. Having lived in Korea my whole life, it's very easy for me to distinguish who and who isn't Korean. But of course I love everybody the same!

Luhan lay flat on his bed from exhaustion.

"You okay?" I asked him. He rubbed his eyes.

"No, nothing... just sleepy", he replied, yawning.

"Well, go to sleep! It's Sunday today!" I cheered excitedly. Weekends are awesome!

He smiled. "Yeah, well, I think I'm going to take a nap."

I watched as he fell asleep within seconds. He must have been completely wiped out from the excitement and nervousness of this whole debuting thing, and the moving in process.

I stepped outside. Where is everyone?

Then I saw someone I recognized from vocal class. 

"Kyungsoo?" I tried to recall, as I approached the relatively short, peppy guy.

"Yep, that's me! Hey Jongin!" his face lit up. He put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed his cheek on mine, so tightly that I could feel the warmth from his face flow into my own. He really takes his skinship seriously.

I slowly tried to functuay myself out of his grasp. "Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Oh..." he started, "while you were unpacking, most of them left to train on their own initiative. Our debut is in a few months, you know. Today is the first day of December." He started speaking seriously now.

"That makes sense..." I replied, half-conscious. I should probably be practicing, too. Kim Young Min said I would be the lead dancer and rapper in EXO-K. On top of being the "center" or "image" position, it's a lot of work. 

"Well, I'm going to go too! See ya later, buddy!" He completely changed the topic, and patted me on the back. Then he strolled cooly out the door.

What a hot dog. I think we could be good friends, except maybe for the excessive skinship part.

Now with Luhan sleeping and the other members gone off to practice, it would be an ideal time to take a shower. I calmly took out a clean pair of boxers from my suitcase and headed for the washroom.

 

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"Ring ding dong ring ding dong..." I started chanting quietly. I washed my hair and body thoroughly in the mediocre dorm washroom. After about 15 minutes, I stepped out, feeling refreshed. 

On the counter, the other boys had already laid out their toothbrushes, bb creams, hair wax and other things. I looked at myself in the mirror. I'm so skinny and slim, it's a bit scary. I need to workout harder with my personal trainer!

But... where did my towel go? I figured I must have forgotten to take a towel before coming in to shower. I unlocked the washroom door and peered my head out. 

"Anyone here?" I said with volume. No response. "Luhan?" I yelled a bit louder. "Luhan!" Still no response. I could hear him snoring. What a deep sleeper.... just like Monggu. 

I stood there for a good 5 minutes before finally deciding that I would step out of the washroom and quickly dash to my room to get my towel, then dashing back. Hopefully nobody comes in!

After gathering enough confidence, I tip-toed out of the washroom and ran to my room. Luhan was still asleep... good. I rummaged through my luggage and took out my towel. Then I made my way back to the washroom, running...

And then the unthinkable happened.

I slipped. Hard. On the hardwood floor... so hard that my ankle felt funny.

"CRAPSTICKS!" I screamed accidentally at the top of my lungs. With panic, I looked at my ankle and held it in my hands. This can't be happening! I'm debuting soon and I need all the practice I can get! I can't injure myself now!

Then I hear some movement from my room. Great. Puppy boy is up. I covered my crotch with my towel in hand at lightning speed. Luhan walked out, rubbing his eyes like a cute puppy, still half-awake.

"..Jongin?" he opened his eyes fully to readjust. "JONGIN?!!?" he yelled in surprise at me on the floor, with just a towel over my crotch.

"Heyo," I replied smoothly.

"What on earth are you doing out here... ?!" he looked at me with a combination of shock and.... another emotion I can't distinguish.

"Well.. I went to my room to get a towel after showering, and... I sort of, kind of, maybe slipped."

"Then why don't you get up?"

"Oh, well I sort of, kind of, maybe busted my ankle, too."

Unable to register, he looked at me, baffled. We stayed there, looking at each other for almost a minute.

"W-want me to help you up?" he offered. 

"That would be wonderful", I said half-sarcastically at the amount of time it took for him to offer help.

Careful to wrap the towel around my waist, he helped hoist me up on one leg and I limped irregularly back to the washroom.

"Thanks." I added. He nodded in approval. "Oh, and Luhan, if anyone asks. This never happened."

He nodded, still half-asleep, and doddled back to our room, off to bed. 

 

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It's the late night now, about 1:00am. The other members are sleeping. I quietly took the opportunity with the absence of the members (again) to step outside our balcony and just think. 

Looking at the stars always seems to help me get my mind together, especially after a hard day of training like today. Even though my ankle was hard to get around, and still hurts a bit now, it's better. And I promised my parents and myself that I would work hard and do my best no matter what. 

I located Ursa Major and Ursa Minor in the sky. 

Then I heard footsteps behind me. It was Luhan. Of course.

"Jongin.. what are you doing up so late? I woke up randomly and I tried to find you next to me but you weren't there."

I looked at him with a calm face. "Sorry Luhan, I'm just.. thinking about stuff. Y'know... about our debut, and moving in and everything. It's all so overwhelming. Sometimes I feel like giving up... but we haven't even debuted yet. I just need to find the strength to keep going... and thinking here, under the stars gives me that for some reason."

Luhan looked at me softly, like he understood. "I know what you mean." I saw some pain in his face. "A long time ago, when I first became a trainee, it was so hard for me to leave China. My home, my friends, and my family and everything. It was so hard to leave it all behind just to follow a petty dream."

"Hey, it's not a petty dream!" I interrupted. Startled, Luhan looked at me attentively. "You love singing, dancing and performing, right?"

"It means everything to me."

"Then it's not petty," I said again, but this time softly. He stepped up beside me, so that we were both leaning lightly on the balcony railing, looking at the stars together.

"Thanks," he whispered under his breath. All of a sudden, he twirled me towards him and wrapped his arms firmly around me. He was stronger than I thought! I had a pretty secure stance in another direction... and he suddenly just whipped me towards him with his arms. I'm surprised he's so strong. But even more, I'm surprised he gave me a hug.

I returned the favour and put my arms around him, too. We remained in our embrace for several minutes, which felt like hours. It felt nice, under the moon and the stars. I actually never shared my feelings like that to anyone before. I kind of feel relieved to have finally let out my emotions to someone. Me and the EXO guys.... we're all in the same situation, so we can relate to one another. Maybe we're not so different after all.

Luhan then walked off into our room again, without looking at me.

For some reason I felt butterflies in my stomach, and my heart started to beat faster. Why was that embrace with Luhan so... stimulating? I felt so reenergized... and I never felt this way before. 

It must be that yucky cafeteria "mystery meat" that I tried today. Baekhyun warned me that it wasn't made from a species of animal on earth, and I should have listened to him.

But mystery meat or not, I felt some special connection with Luhan, although we just got to know each other today.

I think it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

 

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Thanks for reading, guys! This was a REALLY, REALLY long first chapter, but I hope you guys read it well and maybe even smiled! Stay tuned for more Lukai.... their relationship will only begin to grow and become more complicated from now on! and SNSD will be making a cameo in the next chapter!