(Moving those hips)

Jongdae

 “She didn’t make it.”

“WHAT?!” I shot out of my seat, furious. How did she not? Anybody that talented should be able to receive SM training. How could they... 

“Her breathing was off, her emotion was uncontrolled, and she was off pitch,” My vocal instructor, Jinsoo, answered while pounding away on the keyboard.

“Simple as that. Not accepted.”

 “That’s crazy,” I mumbled to myself. Then I raised my voice, glaring at Jinsoo. “Crazy! Come on, she pretty, youthful, talented--the full package! You can’t miss the opportunity!”

 My hyung looked past me, not penetrated by my words. I spun around.

 “She’s only a fan.” Baekhyun shrugged and walked away.

 Only a fan.

 Only a fan.

 My eyes flew open and I shot up from my bed. Light shone through the window and birds were chirping outside, signaling a bright and sunny day. I groaned and let myself fall back into bed, not at all eager to spend the entire day practicing again. Suddenly, I remembered that I had company.

 Peeking over my covers, I caught a glimpse of Eun Ae. She was curled into a ball against the far side of her bed, her messy dark hair spread over her back. By the way she was breathing, I could tell she was still fast asleep.

I sat up in bed and stretched my back, trying not to make any noise that would wake up the sleeping girl. She must be exhausted, I thought to myself as I quietly crawled out of bed. Running away...auditioning...meeting EXO...all in one day. What a girl.

Suddenly, the door burst open and a horde of boys ran into the room, hollering. I stood up and waved my arms around, trying to tell them that Eun Ae was still sleeping. They ignored me, as usual.

“Jongdae, how was your night?” Jong In nudged me with his elbow and raised an eyebrow. “You used protection, right?”

I smacked the back of his head and poked his chest. “No. We--”

His eyes grew wide and stared at me in surprise. “YOU DIDN’T USE PROTECTION?!”

“WHAT? NO, HOW--”

“What is going on...” a sleepy female voice sounded from over in the corner.

“EUN AE!!!!” Everybody squealed at once and crowded around her bed.

“Was it fun? How’s the bed?”

“Jongdae is such a silly kid, isn’t he?”

“You’re so special to be in the same room as that precious boy! Ah!”

Rubbing my eyes, I kicked Sehun’s and shouted, “Guys, you look like those dwarves from Snow White! Get out!” Sehun turned around and gave me a cold look, but then simply stuck out his tongue and ignored me. I threw my arms into the air and gave up trying to convince them to give the poor girl some space.

“OMO!” Baekhyun sprinted into the room, his eyes ablaze. The boys grew quiet. He was smiling widely and breathing heavily when he announced, “Eun Ae, you’ve been accepted into SM!”

The room erupted into cheers and they each high-fived Eun Ae, whose mind was clearly muddled. She peered over their shoulders and gave me a look of exasperation. Biting my lip, I clapped my hands loudly and screamed at everyone to get out of the room so Eun Ae could get out of bed. Eventually, after several tries, one by one they reluctantly filed out of the room until only Baekhyun and I were left.

“What? What happened?” Eun Ae looked at us with an extremely confused expression. Her hair was tousled and messy, but her skin was glowing after a good night’s sleep.

“You passed the audition!” Baekhyun exclaimed excitedly, his eyes lit up. “I knew you could do it! Congratulations!”

Just a while ago you were mad at her for being just a fan... I glanced at Eun Ae, who was also staring at me with the same thought in mind. I grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up sign. She smiled back and looked down at her hands.

Baekhyun, who seemed to have noticed our little exchange, pulled out his phone and began scrolling through his texts. “Jongdae, manager hyung and Pauline noona want to know how our conditions our after missing practice. Also, one of the staff members wants to know if we have Eun Ae’s contact information.” We both looked at each other and tried to suppress our smiles.

“What? But I’m right here!” Eun Ae exclaimed, even more confused than she was before. She slipped off her bed, revealing her pajamas that had my face on them. I turned away. Why did they have to use that picture of me? I look horrible.

“Exactly, no one but us--and well, the rest of EXO--knows that you’re here!” Baekhyun laughed but then made a face when he saw her pajamas. “Dude...are those...?”

“So,” I jumped in and quickly pulled Eun Ae out the door by her wrist. “That’s why you should tell the staff that we do in fact know Eun Ae’s information and she will be at the SM building shortly!” I pushed the struggling girl into the bathroom and closed the door. Leaning against it, I yelled, “Wash up! Afterwards, head over to the SM building!”

“Are you leaving without me?!” she squealed, banging on the door. “I at directions! I’ll get lost!”

“You literally just follow all the fangirls,” Baekhyun called as he strolled out of the bedroom. “They’ll lead you right to the company!”

“Bye now!” I grinned mischievously and took off with Baekhyun, who was giggling madly.

We ran out of the dorm building with our practice bags, laughing uncontrollably. By the time we reached the practice room, everyone else was already there, stretching. They all looked at us as if nothing had happened back in Tao’s dorm and that we were doomed.

“Late,” Pauline, our foreign dance instructor, walked up to us from the back of the room and stared at us. She asked us in broken Korean, “Are you guys still sick? Or just not ready to become singers?”

“No, noona,” I answered, standing tall. “A mishap occurred back at the dorm. We are ready to train.”

Pauline pursed her lips and pointed to the ground. “Good. Because you’re both giving me one hundred.”

Feeling dread, Baekhyun and I dropped to the ground and began counting out loud as we did pushups. Sweat poured from every inch of our body as we reached eighty, ninety, and finally one hundred. We collapsed onto the ground. I closed my eyes tightly as my biceps and abs clenched with pain. Exercises usually only consisted of thirty or so push ups, vigorous stretches, and basic dance moves. However, today was the first time we were treated so.

“Up,” Pauline ordered. We slowly stood up, our legs shaking. “Go join the rest of the members. Don’t ever be late again.” Baekhyun fell on me for support as we limped over to our brothers. As soon as we reached the other side, we both fell onto the floor, exhausted.

Chanyeol immediately came to our aid. “Dude, you shouldn’t have stayed behind,” he chastised Baekhyun and massaged his legs gently. “This girl seems to do fine with just Jongdae, so next time just leave them alone.”

“So?” Baekhyun snapped, pulling his legs away. “I was the first one to actually meet Eun Ae. Get your facts straight.” Chanyeol bit his lip and shuffled away, looking downcast.

I scoffed at Baekhyun’s behavior. “Just yesterday you were making such a big fuss about letting a homeless fan stay with us. Now that she’s a trainee, you’re fine with anything?”

He raised an eyebrow and answered, “No, she’s still a fan. But she’ll be working with us now, so I guess I’ll have to get to know her.” He fiddled with his shoelaces and watched Jong In perform one his solo dances.

I sighed and jumped up, ready to show Pauline that I was a performer. Our next prologue single, History, began playing and I jumped into my place. EXO-M and EXO-K were practicing side by side in the large dance studio so we could correct each other on any mistakes or encourage each other to keep working hard.

After a few runs, my shirt was becoming sticky with sweat. Yi Xing, who danced with all his concentration, was already changing into his next shirt. Most of the members were drinking from their water bottles, so I decided to grab mine, too.

The door opened, and one of the female staff members walked in. “You recognize EXO, right? Well, this is their practice room.”

We all spun around and saw Eun Ae, looking fresh and pumped up, step into the room. Although the staff member wrinkled her nose at the sweaty stench, Eun Ae breathed it in and let it out with one happy sigh. She caught us all looking at her and waved. “Annyeonghaseyo! My name is Park Eun Ae!” She bowed, exchanging knowing glances with some of the members, who mockingly bowed back and announced their names. She giggled and glanced at me, smirking proudly.

“Oh, but excuse me,” she politely asked the staff member. “Where are the female trainees? I want to get to know them.”

The staff member sheepishly rubbed her neck and answered, “Ah...it turns out most of them skipped class today to attend the opening of a nearby amusement park. Only a few girls stayed behind, but their instructor is sick as well,” she nodded her head at me and Baekhyun. “Instead, the CEO thought it would be good if you trained with the main vocalists for a while to see where you stood.”

I gaped at her, not entirely grasping the situation.

Eun Ae? Training with us?

Singing?

“Uh," she hestitated. "With...these guys?"

The staff member gave her a look and shrugged. "Why not?"

Training?

WITH EUN AE?! 

Ahhh, don't worry, the plot will get moving very soon. Comment so I know what you think! ^^

Also, I have begun adding random pictures at the top of the chapters that I really...admire. Just a heads up!

@mangojuice - Hahaha I don't know where that came from. Glad it instigated some giggles XD I'm happy you think that way, cause... (: