One by one, names were being called down a roster and no one had any clue whether being on the list it was a sign of good fortune, a turn for the worse, or a routine check. The company never really told trainees anything until they were kicked out of the academy or were signing a contract for their debuts. LuHan stared at the glass door exit as he saw several of his friends throw back nervous looks from its doorway as they were called into the next room. Crap. Feng left too? His legs were beginning to shake until the point he could hear the buckles on his boots tremor.

                “Lee Yun Fei”  The man’s voice boomed and reverberated throughout the whole room. He had seen the man before. His named was Representative moon, one of the recruiters for SM; however, whenever he saw Representative Moon, trainees would disappear from the academy. He gulped.

                LuHan looked at the taller guy near him strideout in confidence, thinking he was safe from whatever was happening. Was I going to be cut? No. I can’t be. Please. As the room of over fifty trainees was slowly being whittled down, he balled up my hands and squeezed them and the pressure turned his  knuckles white. Dear God. His knees were ready to give in under the anticipation. Everyone is so talented. I can’t even be sure of my own safety. Over what seemed like centuries, Representative eventually called on Hyun Bin to leave the room. Oh god. I’m on the cut list. Hyun Bin was the favorite, even I know that. All the vocal and dancing coaches loved him. This was it. The room was beginning to fade in and out as he just thought about going home empty handed. All those years of training…were they really for nothing? He couldn’t go home. He just couldn’t. Not with all his parents, teachers, and friends who had wished him good luck all these years.

                Instead of fainting, he got a grip on himself and glanced. There were only a handful left of the original flock of trainees in the room. Since he was in the front, he didn’t want to whip his head around and see the other souls that would sink down with him today. He hung his head in despair, knowing he would be returning to see his parents back in Beijing. No words could describe the vacuum he had in his heart. The blood just seem t be leaving his body and a bitter cold was beginning to creep on to his skin. LuHan was just waiting for the blow to finally be dealt out.

                The grim reaper (a.k.a. SM representative moon) cleared his throat as he set the rooster down by his hip and beckoned the small group of chumps to meet their doom. The older man said nothing and closed his eyes, as if he was waiting for something.

                Surprisingly, he heard the clattering of new footsteps as the glass door opened and six other guys, who seemed just as panicky, joined the line up next to him to face the representative.

“Let’s check if everyone’s here. Shall we? ” the representative paced his voice.

“JoonMyun” On the left side of the line, a mature looking, squared off jaw guy raised his hands. His bangs seemed to be swept off to the side as they slightly grazed the top of his eyebrows.

“Jong In” A slight yet lithe guy, who stood next to JoonMyun, raised his hand. His slightly darker skinned face was well contoured with high cheek bones. Oddly, Luhan could only stare at the set of lips the person had.

“Baekhyun” Next, one of the tallest of the lineup enthusiastic  “here.” His voice was much deeper than Luhan anticipated (even though he didn’t know anybody in the room).  Baekhyun, to him, seemed like a cheery guy even his smug disposition.

“Chanyeol”  A curly haired, gawky, wide eyed  male nodded his head and replied with a throaty “Wassup?”

“Kyungsoo”There was an awkward pause before Chanyeol nudged the apparently absentminded person next to him alarming with him with a small “Hyung!” The guy came out of whatever trance he was in and raised his hand embarrassed. Representative Moon seemed unsurprised by Kyungsoo’s behavior and just shrugged it off as he kept going down the list of names.

“Sehun” The broad shouldered person next to Luhan perked up his eyebrows and did a small little wave to acknowledge he was there.  

The older man just chuckled as his pace now quickened to list off the rest of the name, probably out of impatience.  

“WuFan.” The charismatic and, from what he could tell, the tallest of the group shot a smile to the rest of the group…or was that a smirk?

 “ZiTao.” Next to WuFan, a darker haired, and meek guy stepped out of the line with a polite bow to the head. His gaze was intense, especially with the slightly darker rings around his eyes but his eyes were gentle.

“Xiu Min” A short haired and round faced person mumbled a “hi” before stepping in line with the rest of them.

“yixing” A guy with slightly tusseled hair yet large eyes raised his hands awkwardly and sank it back down his side quickly.

 “Jongdae” In the middle of the line up, a guy with quirky smile and intense stare raised his hand to his hip before dropping it back down.

Finally, it was him. He was the only one left.

“Lu Han” Embarassingly, for reasons unbeknownst to even him,  Luhan shot both of his arms up, shouting “here!” The rest of the group, even the representative, chuckled while he begged God to just hide him under a rock. Why. Did. I. Do. That? He must have seemed like he was possessed.

“ Well, now that is in order. I want you all head back to your dorms and pack your bags to leave.”  The representative said briskly, as he drew his smartphone out of pocket.  

Lu Han’s mouth gaped a little. Just like that? Everything was…gone?  There was a slight tension in the room.

               JoonMyun was the first to speak on all their behalves, “And sir…may I ask are we going?” He asked with a strong firm tone but LuHan could tell that even he was also unsettled by the situation. All the trainees were.

                 The representative looked up from his phone and saw the tentatively waiting crowd. He smacked his own forehead as he seemed like he had come to an epiphany.

“Boys, boys, boys. That isn’t a bad thing. You are moving to a new dorm.”

“Why?” Luhan guessed by  where the voice was coming from that  it was WuFan. His Korean seemed to be tinged with a slight accent.

                           Shockingly, with a growing smile on his face, the representative said, “I’m happy to tell you all have been chosen to form a new group.” With that statement, the world seemed so much brighter. The whole room erupted with shouts, yells, and cheers.  Luhan jumped up in joy and randomly embraced whoever was next to him. The hug was warm and welcoming.  Luhan’s eyes only flickered open when he felt a cough ripple through the person he was hugging. He looked up and fell back, losing his grip on the person he had just hugged. He mumbled a sorry as he blushed furiously. The other said nothing but Luhan swore he saw a slight grin with a slight of the lips.

The air seemed electrified now with excitement. The representative let a hearty laugh and resumed his speech and his tone seem to grow slightly serious. “Boys, let me explain. You will be segmented into two fractions: Exo-m and exo-k however you will be united as "one".” Every trainee, well, now, member, looked down the line trying to guess who was probably in which group.

Tucking the front sheet of his clipboard behind, the representative examined what seemed to be another list. “Since some of you haven't met each other since many of you are from different sections of our academy we will be mixing who will be in the exo-m and exo-k. Here are the room arrangements. Due to medical reasons, Zi Tao will be in one room and two rooms will house three members.  JoonMyun will be with Jongdae. WuFan with Baekhyun.  Yixing will be chanyeol and MinSeok. Finally, Jongin, Luhan and Sehun will be in one room.  Any questions?” Luhan’s pulse quickened a bit as he glanced at his new roommate…the one he had just hugged. Sehun glanced back with a small smile  and he felt his cheeks almost burst into flames from his blushing.

“None Representative Moon. Thank you.” Kris, at the end of the left of the line, sputtered out as he made a slight bow. Like a domino effect, the rest of them followed, failing to bow at the same time.

“Don’t thank me yet boys. You still a while until your debut. Honestly, you have a long road until your debut; however, when you do, it will be unforgettable. All twelve of you will be making history.” Representative moon exclaimed, slapping his  own knee in fervor. “Now all of you, go pack your bags and celebrate.”  The room was electrified as the new members began high fiving each other and rolling out of the room as they ran to their dorms to spread the news.

Luhan made a slight smile, beaming with happiness and dumbfounded at the same time.

Making history?  I love that sound of that.

____________

A/N

Well I named this chapter Phoenix because Luhan that his dreams were dying but it was just the start of something new—a fiery passionate group called Exo.

To be honest, I was a bit reluctant to write this since they are really new and I'm not really confident in my own writing. >o<

;~; If you could, send me a message or comment on what you think. J Thank you~ I'm always on my tumblr (holyaegyo.tumblr.com)

The first chapter is dedicate to my friend who I shall call “Lulu” who wanted me to write this fanfic.

Thanks~