A few months ago...

Won Cheol's intercom buzzed multiple times before he finally answered it.

"What?" he growled.

"Sir, Mr. Young-Min and Mr. Soo-Man would like to see you," his intern squeaked before hurriedly closing their connection.

He sat there dumbfounded for a moment before finally standing up and making his way towards his boss' office.

Compared to his, it was large and lavish. Fit for a king. The big men of SM Entertainment always deserved the best.

He wondered about why he was being called into Young-Min's office as he walked.

Did he do something wrong? Was he about to get fired? No, that's impossible, Elemental was set to debut in a few months and it had taken them forever to trust Won Cheol. They'd be idiots to get them a new manager.

He knocked hesitantly on the door, was greeted with a "Yes, yes, come in." and followed suit.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Park. This will be brief, so no need to sit down," Soo-Man started.

"We have a few things we need you to discuss with Elemental. Please do it as soon as possible," Young-Min finished. He stood up, walked across the room and handed Won Cheol a list.

"S-Sir, please excuse me for saying this but... must they do all this?" Won Cheol asked. "It's a bit much for them.."

His answer was a closed door in his face.

------

The four girls of Elemental sat together on the floor, each downing a bottle of water after their nth run-through of their dance. A few fellow labelmates had dropped on by and were lounging around with them.

Won Cheol didn't even bother to knock when entering the room, instead he pointed at those not in Elemental and said "Out - now."

"Yah, whatever you have to say, just say it now," Yunji said. "Not like it's going to matter."

Their manager shrugged and opened up the list.

"Alrighty then," he cleared his throat. "Starting tomorrow, you'll all be on a diet. No food after 11PM, and only 2,000 calories a day. You'll be on a strict when-to-eat-and-when-not-to schedule that I'll be keeping a close eye on. You will also be practicing every morning starting at 6 going on until around 12PM, then a short half-hour break, then continuing until around 1AM or so."

He paused.

"And... Oh, almost forgot! Teeth whitenings, blah-blah-blah, fancy cosmetic girl things and all that stuff has been scheduled over the next few months. You guys need to attend each and every single appointment, otherwise I'll be paying for them."

The room went silent.

Won Cheol cleared his throat again, pulling awkwardly at his collar.

"Well, uh... your instructor should be back in a few minutes. Get practicing, girls. I'll see you all later."

He smiled sheepishly and hurried out of the room.

The four girls sat in shocked silence.

"You know, all of us had to go through with that," Seohyun commented quietly.

"Even I had to," Taemin sighed.

"It'll be worth it, though," Kai smiled. "Debuting is definitely worth it."

And now...

When the music began to play, each girl reacted instantly. It was as if the music, song, and dance were permanently imbedded into their minds from the months of practice...

It wouldn't be too surprising if it was.

[ Yunji || Natalia || Jiseol || Soeun ]

dadhin nae gaseumeun
nu-gudo sarang-hal suga eopt-da
keureohke mideo-nneunde
eoneusae nae gaseumi yeolligo isseo

kudeun nae gaseumeun
tashineun seolle-il suga eopt-da
keureohke mideo-nneunde
neoreul bol ttae-mada nae gaseumi ttwiiyeo

You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
budeureoun songillo
nae ma-eumeul eorumanjyeo (touch)
You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
nae ma-eumeul modu da
da da kajyeo kasseo (touch)

sang-cheoreul jugido
badgido ije-neun cheongmal shirhda
keureohke mideo-nneunde
neowahneun waeh keureon ili eopseul keot kanni

gaseume sang-cheo-ga
na-euryeomyeon han-chami geollil keoda
keureohke mideo-nneunde
eoneusae nae-ga neoye pume ankyeoisseo

You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
budeureoun songillo
nae ma-eumeul eorumanjyeo (touch)
You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
nae ma-eumeul modu da
da da kajyeo kasseo (touch)

You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
budeureoun songillo
nae ma-eumeul eorumanjyeo (touch)
You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
You touch my heart baby (touch touch)
nae ma-eumeul modu da
da da kajyeo kasseo (touch)

eo-reumcheoreom cha-gawojin nae gaseum
eoneusaenka salmyeoshi ppaeaseun
neoneun ttaseuha-ge bichineun haessal
nae sang-cheoe tashi naneun sae sal

nado moreuge eoneusae neo-ye-ge gidae
haneu-ri tashi han beon nae-ge gihwehreul
jun geol-jido moreundaneun saenggagi
nae ma-eume deu-reo baby

The fan chants throughout their performance did little to help calm their nerves, but they made it through alright. The girls hurried backstage, eager to rip off their microphones.

"Ah.. That felt weird on my face!" Soeun whined, rubbing the place on her cheek where the microphone was taped down.

"I liked the stage," Jiseol said in almost a whisper. "Especially the roses."

"The roses were nice," Nana agreed. "I could feel some of them when we were dancing. Soft.."

"I liked the fans the best!" Yunji grinned.

More waiting around followed, more listening to the MCs announcing who won first place, more bowing and waving as they everyone left the stage, and finally... peace and quiet.

Sort of.

"YO, NATURE FREAKS!"

Jiseol flinched at the sudden voice invading their waiting room. She turned around to find Jonghyun of shining SHINee standing in the doorway, and she was sure the rest of SHINee was behind him.

"WASSUP, DINO FREAK!" Nana shouted in return.

He winked at her and paraded into the room, the rest of SHINee following.

"In honor of your debut, we, your awesomes labelmates, have decided to take you out to KARAOKE!" Key whooped and cheered, jumping around the room with Jonghyun and Onew.

Minho and Taemin stared at their hyungs for a moment then looked back at Elemental with expressions that probably meant "We don't know them".

 Abrupt ending because I suddenly got a writer's block while I was actually writing this. //headdesk.

I promise the next chapter will be much better and full of drunk SHINee.

i'm not representing what sm does during training but just going by what i think they do. HAVE YOU SEEN THEIR TRAINEES? holy .