A/N….this is a long chapter. I just realized. ;-; Go get some snacks before reading it? Enjoy~

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              It was dark and still when Luhan opened the door to the dorm room. As the lights slowly flickered on, there was a shadow lurking on the left, slightly startling him. It was Feng. His friend was slumped on his bed. His shoulders were slanted down and burdened. His whole head seemed to be weighed down by worries as he rapidly tapped his foot. Slowly, Feng looked up to meet his gaze. Luhan saw that he had been teary-eyed, and red rings were forming around his friend’s eyes. Without warning, Luhan suddenly was enveloped in a warm hug.

            “Luhan! I’m so sorry! Are you okay? You are so talented. I can’t believe it! If you go, I go. SM entertainment is ridiculous anyway.” Feng stuttered over his words as rambled on and on, spewing kind words until Luhan couldn’t help but burst into a fit of laughs. He laughed until the point where a couple of hot tears streamed down his face. Feng just looked stupefied at the fact he was laughing, pulling back to examine Luhan, his seemingly-crazy friend.

            “L-lu-luhan, why are you laughing?” He stammered, obviously confused. Luhan just hugged his friend again and sat him down on the edge of his bed. Within twenty minutes, he took his friend on the the roller coaster of feelings that had just been dumped onto him shortly before as Luhan updated Feng. To be honest, Feng’s expressions were the best part of the day as they ranged from tense to elated especially when he rolled his eyes at the sound of Representative’s Moon name. Finally, when he explained the concept of the new group, Feng seemed just stunned, even flabbergasted by the news, as he mouthed, “Wow.”

“Did you tell your parents yet?” Feng asked, with his Shanghai accent. Luhan always picked it up slightly in his speech. He smiled.

“They already know.” He shook his head at the thought. After the practice room where representative Moon had announced the news was empty, Luhan immediately called his parents, not even caring about the phone fee. His parents wouldn’t care about the little splurge. When his mom picked up, he could tell she was trying to contain her excitement but his mom was actually worried that he had called, asking if he was sick, injured or in trouble, which stung a little. Had he really not called back in that long? He reassured his mom that it was none of the listed and tried to hint at the news, knowing she didn’t handle surprises very well. She didn’t get it (probably since it was a tad early there but he couldn’t help the time difference) so he told tell her point-blank, “Mom. I’ve been chosen to be a group. I’m one step closer and then you’ll be able to see me perform as a star.” Right after, there was a loud screech on the other side of the conversation before it went dead. His father would call back within a few second to tell him his mom fainted at the news and congratulated his son before hanging up to attend to his wife. Luhan guessed that’s where he got his jitters from. Oh mom.

           “Wait until the rest of the guys hear this.”

           Luhan chuckled, “I guess you are going to have to relay the news. I’m not going to be living here anymore.” He embarrassedly rubbed the back of his head. Feng stared at him, speechless, for a second before recovering his cheery disposition.

           “What? You are leaving our humble abode? Your loss.”  They both smirked as they glanced at their lavish dorm room-- the leaking part of the ceiling, the peeling paint on the walls, the broken blinds. The two broke out into laughter. Believe it or not, they had already solved most of the serious problems. He twitched, recollecting the initial state of the bathroom when they first moved in. No living thing should have been subjected to that.

           “Man, Luhan. You get the girls, looks and now you get to debut? I’m jealous.” Feng punched him playfully in the arm.

           ”What girls Feng?” Luhan chuckled softly, punching back. His friend gawked at him. It made him feel really awkward.

           “You didn’t know that most of the trainees and even the student tutor have a crush on you. I swear. I did too when I first saw you.” Feng goofily batted his eyelashes at Luhan, paired with a silly smile, Luhan couldn’t hold it in.

           “Pfft!” His eyes welled up with tears due to laughing so much. "Gross man. Never, I mean, never do that again,” He said he as he shoved Feng, who was still inching closer with the ridiculous expression, “ and don’t worry, Feng. If I ever meet Victoria I’ll put in a good word for you. I got your back, Bro.” Luhan dramatically tapped his chest with his fist as he stuck out his tongue. His friend had a bit of a soft spot for the starlet. Luhan saw Feng begin to glow and blush. Oh my god. He is so obsessed with her. Apparently, that was the final straw for Feng.

“Luhan! Ya! You punk!” Feng dived to snatch his friend. Luhan kept laughing as the two ran around the room, ducking each other’s lunges and anticipating the next move.

           He thought back for awhile as he hid behind the couch, avoiding the bombardment of pillows from Feng on the other side. Both of them, Feng and himself, had been together when they entered the academy on what felt like eons ago. Over the years, they had both struggled through crazy dance routines, survived nail-biting cuts, and endured erratic sleeping schedules, not to forget the forever-frustrating language barrier. Most importantly, whatever happened the day, every night, they fantasized about the future together—the concerts, the lights, the fans, the stage, everything. The dreams were all fun and games then. Now, one of them, him of all people, was one step closer to achieving them.

           Feng had crept on him while he was lost in thought. Luhan accidently slipped in his feeble attempt to get away and Feng caught him, locking him within his arms.

           “Feng! Let go!” He whined as he tried to wriggle out. His friend seemed to have no intent on doing anything of the sort as he cackled in one of those phony evil laughs.

           “Never Lu—“

           A knock at the door surprised them both. It was someone familiar. In fact, he went by the name Representative Moon. Luhan’s stomach still knotted at the sight at him, even if he was the one who had delivered the good news. The man still did not sit well with him. After all, the representative still had sent people he had known home. Luhan and Feng unknotted from each other’s grasp and sat up to bow to Moon.

           “Sorry to interrupt boys but Luhan, everyone is waiting for you downstairs.” Something was off as the older gentleman glanced at the two of them. Was it the shine off his designer shoes? The greasiness of his slicked back hair? Or the fact his mustache was slightly unbalanced? No. Luhan knew what it was. It was Moon’s smile. Although the man was greeting them with both a smile, it seemed sickingly fake. He probably was a professional at delivering them.

           Luhan felt the apprehension settle in and stick to his skin. Feng and Luhan looked at each other simultaneously. Like telepathy, he could feel Feng’s worries slowly pour into him. Why is he here? He softened his own smile, and gave Feng a reassuring look. Don’t worry Feng. He didn’t listen to his own advice as he could feel the nervous shakes subtly start. Then, Luhan prodded Feng in the ribs playfully as he noted the empty luggage bags that need to be filled. Help me pack? Feng sighed and eyed the idling representative moon lurking outside their room’s door. Without a word, Feng went to the closet and began deconstructing their elaborate system of clothes. Actually, it was just a humongous pile of both their clothes that both of them were too lazy to pick up. He started on gathering the albums, books and other knick-knacks scattered across his room.

           In thirty minutes, Luhan was juggling two duffel bags on each of his shoulders. Moon motioned them to follow him, and they did, but Luhan lagged behind for a minute as he took a moment to take in the now half empty home he had lived in for almost three years. He patted the doorway, as if to thank it for housing him to these years. He caught up with the other two. Luhan would have  teetered over as he wobbled down the hallway to the elevators had he not been saved by Feng who steadied him. He mumbled a “Thanks man,” and gave his friend a small hug. Feng laughed his signature heartwarming laugh. The down arrow lit up and the elevator arrived at their floor. Moon, silently, ushered him in. He went in first, narrowly making it through the doors with his two duffels scrapping the edges of the entryway. As he pivoted around, for some reason, no one was following him in. He perked his eyebrows up suspiciously.

           “I’ll meet you soon Luhan. I just need to talk to Feng here.” That same slimey smile appeared again. Before he could say anything, the silver doors were closing, and he saw the two figures on the other side do a small wave; however as the doors the closed, what Luhan saw petrified him.  He doubted himself but then again, he knew what he saw. They’d promised each other before, one night so many years ago, that they would never do it after a day of seeing half their fellow trainees disappear. He thought he saw Feng mouth a bittersweet, Good bye.

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           He couldn’t get off at any other level as other trainees boxed him in at the next floor due to the mad Lunch rush in the dorms. Luhan couldn’t even squirm out. Once he reached the lobby, he was pulled along with the crowd and he meant to turn right back into to the cleared out elevator however Luhan immediately was greeted with two smiling representatives. They were wearing that same plastic façade Moon had given him minutes before and he would not buy it again. They escorted him to the idling bus outside. The slippery representative must already had it all planed. Damn. He cursed himself for not even suspecting anything, blinded by his own happiness.

           Luhan felt a buzz in his jacket’s pocket. My…my phone! Wrenching one of his arms free from the very pushy ladies, he pulled out his phone. The lights were blinking so it had an unread message. As the two ladies “encouragingly” pushed him up onto the buss, he flipped his phone open as he took a random, empty row in the back, far from the crowd huddle in the center. In his heart, he already knew who it was from…and what it said. When he finished off the frustratingly short message “Don’t worry. See you soon”, he wanted to burst into hysterics. How could he not worry? Come on Feng! Luhan in some air and exhaled slowly. Calm down Luhan. He repeated the mantra in his mind so he could keep his cool. Luhan just needed to talk to him. Badly. He hit speed dial but every time, he was greeted by the voicemail.  Even his mails were being rejected. Restless, he balled up against the window, out of sight of the rest of the group. Luhan nursed his phone against his chest as if rubbing it would make his wishes come true or at least make some of his worries disappear. The bus slowly rolled out of the parking lot onto the packed roads. With time, slyly, sleep crept on him. He happily and willingly surrendered.

           “Luhan, Luhan—“ His eyelids slowly opened to the voice chiming his name. The voice was so gentle yet powerful. He rubbed his eyes and when his vision finally adjusted back to the light, a sleepy-looking but kind set of eyes met his. “Sorry to wake you up Sleeping Beauty but we are here.” Sehun patted him on the shoulder. “It’s time to get up.” Luhan felt his blood burn with embarrassment.  

           Frankly, he didn’t even know what he mumbled back, since he was mind was still foggy, but it must have been enough to assure his new roommate, who returned back to the front to get his own things. Luhan heaved the two duffle bags onto his shoulders, which now felt like a ton compared to before. As the others filled the bus aisle, he glanced outside the tinted windows. What? Instead of the other dorms which he knew were about thirty minutes away from the trainee dorms, they had reached main SM entertainment in the heart of soul, which honestly looked like any run of the mill beige office building. For those in music though, it was a magnet for hopeful talents. It was just odd. Why were they here? Weren’t they going to their dorms? A slight murmur rippled between the members who were now pooled on to the curb of the main building. Some of it was in Chinese, some in Korean. Everyone was just a little curious by the fact they were here. Their two guides, the ones who had basically kidnapped him, led them through the corridors, after they passed the initial glass doors  frosted with the foreboding and, somewhat infamous, name, SM entertainment. The awestruck group passed the awards room, which held all sorts of the trophies, certificates and plaques of the groups before them in the company like Boa, Trax, Kangsta, Super Junior, TVXQ, SNSD, F(X), SHINee and other groups that he didn’t really recognize. Finally, after winding through random hallways, they reached a room on the left. It was dark until one of the ladies the lights.

            Luhan almost choked. In fact, he heard all of them exclaim in excitement. The chestnut hardwood floors. The wall lined with familiar faces on poster. The cloud backdrop. Everything was all too familiar even though he hadn’t been actually been there before. It was the SM danceroom. His throat seemed like it was closing up. All his mind was thinking about was all the nights the trainees piled into one room and  stayed up to watch the dance MVs of their sunbaes get uploaded. As soon as they were uploaded, the trainees raced each other to learn the choreography. Yes. They included girl groups dances. He remembered and winced. Feng. The voice in his voice whimpered as he legs turned into jelly.

                       “Yoohoo--” He had been tuning out and he saw a very familiar face waved his hand in front of what must have seemed like his dumbstruck face.

            “Kibum Sunbae” When did he get here? Embarrassed, he bent over ninety degrees. Maybe it would hide his now scarlet face. Key lifted Luhan’s chin and winked. Even his heart fluttered for a second.

            “Call me Key. You are.... Luhan right? I think I've seen you around. Just pay attention kid.” Key flashed a bit of his signature smirk. The Shinee member strolled to the front of the room, with a little bounce in each of his step.

            “You all must be wondering why you are here right? Or why I am?” He flipped his hair overdramtically. They all chuckled as some of the tension was lifted. This guy was funny. Luhan would give him that.

           “Well, today is your first day of hell.” He cackled, rubbing his palms together like the evil villains in those cheesy cartoons. Key began slapping his knees as he probably saw their expressions—scared out of their minds. “Okay. Okay guys. I was joking but today, I was instructed to give you a little gift- a SM tradition.” He smirked at the word gift. Luhan’s nerves were already overloaded. Just what was this? Obviously relishing in the moment, he walked down their row, looking at each one of them with his cat-like eyes as he passed them.“You will all have to learn a new dance routine, within the next six hours and perfect it.” Key was smiling but his voice was firm. God. So this WASN’T just a prank?

            The speaker adjusted one of his falling bangs while he kept speaking, “In groups of three, you will design your own on the spot showcase. Those who don’t perform well enough for me will  be...lets just say dealt out cruel and unusual punishments.” Key wiggled his eyebrows mischievously. “Oh, and whoever you are standing next to. They are your assigned group. I suggest that you split into the smaller dance rooms next door. Well, actually, just get out. I have this room for the next few hours.” He began shooing them out as Luhan saw the other members of Key’s group stream into the main dance room—Taemin, Minho, Jonghyun, and Minho. All of them who waved to them, the newbies, as they prepared to warm up for their own practice.

          "Bye bye--I'll see you at 10pm sharp." Key sang before shutting the main practice room's door in their faces.

           Stranded in the hallway, the groups slowly hobbled to the other rooms. Trying to distract himself from Feng, he tittered, pivoting around to talk to Jongin and Sehun,  “I guess we should start huh?”

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           The choreography they devised flawless but over the next few hours, Luhan fumbled…badly. He kept tripping over himself, performing the wrong moves, and even blanked out on transitions, causing a few feet to be stepped on. He had lost count how many times he had apologized to his probably sore feet members. He was better than this. He knew he was but he kept zoning out. Luhan sensed the  worried glances, although small, from his team mates. They said nothing though, which made him feel even worse. Internally, he was screaming to dance, feel the music ebb all the way through his body, down to his finger tips. Just…at the moment, Luhan just felt out of his element.

           It was getting closer and closer to their deadline. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already 9pm. Beads of sweat were already dripping his temples. One look at his teammates and he could tell the dance was beginning to take its toll over what seemed the hundredth try.

           “H-How about we take a break? I’m going to go outside a little to get some air.” Jong In suggested, shyly edging toward the door. Luhan shrugged as he chugged down on his waterbottle and halfheartedly waved him on. Jong In looked to Sehun for approval as well and  Sehun nodded his head.

           After the door clicked closed, it took a while before Luhan realized it was just the two of them. Sehun…and…him. Sitting just a few feet from each other against the same wall, the two stared at this room's purple curtain which now fluttered lightly with the wind flowing in from the warm summer night's air.

           “Luhan.” The sound of his name honestly shocked him as he was in some sort of dreamy lull.

           “Are you-“ Sehun tried to talk but he was interrupted by a lyrical Chinese song. Luhan clutched his phone which was in his pocket.

           “Sorry.” He mouthed to Sehun, who nodded understanding. His heart throbbed again. He averted his eyes. Damn. What’s wrong with me today?

           He flipped open his phone and it was a video message from his best friend. Feng shifted awkwardly as he filmed himself. It was obvious he was in a car since Luhan could hear the blare of horns and noticed the light rumble of the road which caused Feng’s video to be a tad shaky. To his surprise, Feng’s smile wasn’t sad. It was just hinted with a bit of regret.

           “Hi there punk.” He saw Sehun in the corner try to tune out the broadcasting video but he knew was trying to the best to hide to his laugh. Luhan blushed. Stupid Feng. Embarassing me when I’m not even here.

           It seems like Feng anticipated his annoyance and winked at him at the video camera. “So, I got all your messages. Don’t worry Luhan but I have both good and bad news for you.” He tensed up as he saw Sehun also tense. Seems like Feng had an audience of two for his video message.

           “I’m guessing you would like me to tell you the good news first.” He nodded. His friend knew him too well.

           “Well, let me tell you about Moon. After you left, he scared the balls off of me.” He wanted to smack his face at his friend’s less than smooth way of phrasing things.

           “He told me that I was cut from the Trainee program.” How the hell is this good news, Feng?

           “Hear me out, Luhan. After cutting me from the program, he said acknowledged my skills as a dancer.” Luhan agreed with Moon on this. Feng had talent. Any style you gave him. He could master. Although he hadn’t remembered that many trainees since they came and went sometimes within a week, Feng was probably one of the best. It made him wonder to himself why the company choose him again.

           “…and they wanted to hire me as a recruiter and dance teacher for the company.” His eyes bulged.

           “WHAT!” He yelped, shocking Sehun. He muttered an apology. There was a slight pause and he saw Feng on the screen pause a little to smirk.

           “Did you piss your pants?” Again, he had the urge to face palm but he smiled proudly. Yes you idiot. Now keep talking.

           “Well, now that I told you the good part. Here’s the bad part.” Luhan felt his smile drop.

           “I have to leave.” Now his mouth gaped. He felt a warm pat on his back. Sehun was now whispering, “Calm down Luhan.” He was sobbing.

           “If you are crying. Stop stupid. I will comeback after a year or so.” You are the idiot for stranding me.

           “I’m heading off to London to meet a choreographer to train so I won’t be able to visit you, but I promise, I will be there for your debut.”  If you aren’t, I’ll kill you. His sobs had calmed down thanks to Sehun. The arms that wrapped around him were just so comfortable.

           “Luhan, I’m catching a plane right now to England. Yes. I will get you souvenirs you cheesy sentimental guy.” Luhan dreaded the fact that Sehun heard that, especially now that Sehun was basically embracing him in attempt to calm down Luhan’s boisterous cries. I’m not cheesy. Damn it Feng. Deep inside, he knew was a er though.

           “Bye Lulu. I’ll try and contact you soon since my number won’t work in London. Work hard and make your dreams come true. Become the star I always knew you were.” Feng stuck his tongue out, knowing that Luhan would cringe at that nickname. He gasped as the video faded out to a black image in his screen. That was it. Luhan felt so happy, sad, and confused at the same time, but he felt like everything that had been on his shoulders lifted.

           It took him a second before a realizing that he was still in Suhun’s arms. He jumped back, losing himself of Sehun's grip. Even though he regretted it the second he let go.

           Embarrassed, he scrambled to his feet, and wiped away the rest of his tears.

            “I’m sorry you had to see that. I usually am not an emotional wreck.” He shifted his weight back and forth, avoiding Sehun’s intense gaze.

            Sehun got onto his feet and walked over to Luhan, getting really close to his face. Sehun smiled dopily and moved his head to whisper into Luhan’s ear.

            “Don’t worry. This will be our little secret, Lulu.” The whisper tickled his skin, and it felt like ectasy.

            Sehun immediately his heels, and walked toward the door, announcing that he’d back with Jongin for one more run through before Key came to judge them.

            Once he was alone, he leaned onto the dance bar lining one of the walls and clutched his chest.

            The whole day was beginning to catch up with him. His feelings were all over the place. Debut. Exo. Moon. Feng…and Sehun. There was something about him that was raised his pulse by countless beats, made him always self conscious, and also feel so embarrassed and stupid for stumbling over his words. Yet, he liked it. Was...was that weird?

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a/n

Oops. I didn’t put too much of the otps in here but they will be coming up very soon. *giggles*

As for this chapter, honestly, as the author, I feel bad for putting Luhan through all this so I altered what I originally had planned for Feng(there was no good news. he actually was supposed to just be cut and automatically be shipped back to China but...I decided against it). I’m sorry if you didn’t really care for the Feng storyline but I thought it was important to remember that although Exo shines before us now, so many others have had fizzled out before their chance at the stage because of an unforgiving system that we fuel and sometimes, even encourage. Readers, don’t think I hate the entertainment companies. I do appreciate them for finding talents but in general entertainment is really a cutthroat business. Imagine how hard the artists have to work to get in and maintain their popularity.

I hope you all enjoyed Key’s little cameo. I thought it was appropriate since SHINee and Exo appear to be quite close, especially after Baekhyun’s comment. [As a Shinee and Exo fan, I screamed so loud. XD] Also, it probably isn’t uncommon for a sunbae to welcome a group—even though my way was a bit peculiar. If you don’t really care for Shinee, I don’t think they will appear again (at least for what I have in mind for the later).

The response to this fanfic was really surprising since it was quick compared to my other fanfic. It made me even more nervous for this chapter release. I had a mental breakdown on tumblr because I actually tossed out this chapter’s first draft because it was not working out how I wanted. Thank you for the support. All your comments were seen and I started to cry.  It meant a lot to me. FOR THOSE OF YOU HAD QUESTIONS, don’t worry. I will be clarifying those in the future. As always, your feedback is appreciated.

Also, as for an update timeline, I am not sure when I will always update this fanfic or how long it will be. I am sort of winging this. LOL.

By the way, God. Did I tell you all how much I love their album? I’m listening to Machine at the moment and it’s addicting.

…that was such a long author’s note XD UGH I FEEL LIKE I AM SUCH A LONGWINDED BAT OTL