2:30 pm. A new dance instructor came and SME’s dance practice studio was booming with a modern hip-hop beat, a Korean-pop one. A new dance routine was introduced and it brought new hope to everyone.

“Finally,” A faceless senior trainee sighed in exasperation. “It seems our debut’s coming. They finally decided to let us dance our own genre.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Another trainee mumbled near her ear. She hoped the beat of the music drowned her wary voice. “A new group’s going to be debuting soon, but I think it’s an all boy-group.”

Since the two girl trainees’ dancing abilities were too good, they were put in the boys’ dance practice studio just like SNSD Hyoyeon when she was a trainee. They eyed the good number of boys around, some outshined the others by merely moving a few limbs, some trying very hard to be noticed, but none of them, not even one in this batch appealed to the two ladies.

“Do you think the members will be in our group?”

The other couldn’t help but smirk. “The best things that our group’s boys can do are dance and sing. Either one’s really good in singing but dances a bit off and vice versa. If we’re going to debut a new group, they should be good all around like Joonmyeon or Chanyeol.”

“You’re right; besides, no one here is good-looking or appealing enough.”

 After a couple of dance routines, the dance instructor called it a day. Before he dismissed the group, he turned the sound system off and cleared his throat. He looked at the couple of guys who were just steps away from the oozy trainee girls.

“Kim Minseok and Kim Jongdae, proceed to the director’s office immediately.”

+++++++++

Minseok never felt the same emotion ever again. After being told by the director that his and Jongdae’s possibilities of being in the new group SM’s planning to debut, he is unsurprisingly happy. He wants to shush off those senior trainee girls whose voices were loud enough to provoke them.

Not good-looking enough? Not appealing enough?

Minseok smirks at himself in the mirror. He knows he’s neither good-looking nor very appealing but he knows a lot of people find him cute and aegyo­-worthy. He believes his singing prowess alone can beat those other odds.

By lunch break the next day, rumors of him, Jongdae and all the other trainees whose names were called by the director the previous day circulated around the entire agency. That it was going to be a big group. That the group itself would have sub-groups. That the sub-groups were going to be based in Korea and China. But Minseok knows better than believing in rumors…

“Hyung, we have to be better, don’t we?” Jongdae suddenly speaks before finishing off his can of orange juice. He glances back and forth and finds fixated eyes of other trainees upon their table. He leans forward to Minseok opposite him. “We’re going to do our best, aren’t we?”

Minseok simply smiles and nods. He and Jongdae got in the company almost at the same time. They know they were both better-than-average in singing. And Jongdae, he may be one of the top-notch singers out there. Minseok knows this but he never saw him as a competitor. Maybe it was because Jongdae’s superior bony structure or his square jaw but he knows a friend when he sees one.

Weeks pass by and Minseok and Jongdae find themselves engrossed by Mandarin literature. The director tells them to study the language, and with the help of language instructors their progress is faster than expected.

“Aren’t we supposed to be taught how to answer interviews in Korean?”Jongdae’s two weeks old question still rings in Minseok’s ears as he constructs Mandarin sentences in his room one particular night.

Whatever thoughts that were bothering him at the moment are pushed into oblivion for the meantime. There are things that are worth thinking about tonight. He and Jongdae’s debut is taken serious although it was about the group itself he was more worried about. Would they be like Co-Ed school and mix girls? Would the two trainee girls in their dancing group be included? Because if they were, the chances of getting along with them would narrow down to an incredulous 10%...

He heard Joonmyeon and Chanyeol were in the group too, and Kim Jongin, one of the most popular trainee around. Jongin may be young but he is very promising. Minseok saw him last week and SHINEe seniors were already congratulating him. Jongin is very close with SHINEe members, especially Taemin. Having your seniors being close to you not only increases the chances of being recognized, it also increases your connections in the industry. So far he has only been close enough to Jinri (who is now in f(x) as Sulli) for her to mention him in their album.

Tomorrow, Minseok thinks, will be the day he’s going to meet the rest of the members. Their number… Their faces… Their personalities… If everyone’s going to be like Jongdae who’s keen and quiet to be around, it would be no problem because Minseok dislikes annoying people.

Would his group be taken seriously? Or will they be just another group who receives little recognition until they have a song that would change the way people would think of their group forever? Minseok’s seniors have been the latter. DBSK have been kings in their time despite their clumsy (as others say) debut and even now that they’ve disbanded, they’re still formidable opponents. Super Junior, despite shocking everyone with the largest number of members a boy group can have, has become the leaders in spreading the famous hallyu wave. SNSD, despite being coined as Super Junior’s girl version because of their number, they have established their own identity and has become the country’s national girl group and is currently taking the world by storm. They were almost unknown when they debuted but looking at them right now, they were on top of their game.

Would Minseok be the famed singer-idol he wanted to be known as?

He barely sleeps that night. His mind is too full to think of anything else. The next day he wakes up and rushes to the Yellow Fin Studio, where recordings take place. He is running late, but Jongdae is running behind him. It seems he didn’t sleep well too.

Minseok glances at his watch and sighs when he realizes they are fifteen minutes early. Nevertheless, he composes himself and glances at Jongdae who is currently catching his breath.

“Ready?” says Minseok.

Jongdae nods and gives him thumbs up.

The door swings open and they find themselves in a brightly-lit room. Their dance instructor is there, and so are their language and singing instructors. Their director is there. At the middle of the room, SME’s CEO stood, his power and influence radiating all over the room. But it isn’t his presence that made Minseok’s palms sweat.

Surrounding Lee Sooman are ten tall guys, some faces are familiar although most are not. They turn to Minseok and Jongdae with curious eyes and it is what makes him shiver. Excitement? Anxiety? Fear? Minseok isn’t sure of his own emotions.

The tallest guy, the most foreign looking of all, spoke in cautious Korean. “It seems that the rest of my members are here.”