(Cutie)

Eun Ae

I quickly dropped Jongdae’s hand and bowed until my hair almost skimmed the floor. “Annyeonghashimika!” I straightened up and watched as the stern CEO smiled and held out his arms. I stared at him blankly.

“Go.” Jongdae whispered into my ear and gently pushed me into Lee Soo Man’s arms. I felt him embrace me warmly.

“So you are Park Eun Ae!” he laughed merrily. “Are you the new prodigy trainee that I have heard of? The genius turned idol?” The old man hugged me tightly, chuckling in my ear. Then he looked behind me and gave Jongdae a look. “But, Jongdae-ah...what are you--”

“Oppa!” a slim, baby-faced girl ran out of the hallway and rammed into Jongdae, who stumbled backwards with wide eyes. “Wah, where were you yesterday? I didn’t see you at all!”

My stomach clenched at the sight. The whiny girl had large, painted eyes that practically bulged out of her face, and her soft brown hair was in perfect, bouncy curls. Pouting, she fluttered her eyes and clung to the EXO member’s arm, who looked down at her and smiled weakly.

“Kiyoung-ah...” Jongdae laughed half-heartedly and gave me a look that clearly read, ‘HELP.’ I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

“Kim Kiyoung, immediately get off of him!” Soo Man barked, his eyes ablaze. Boy does this man have mood swings... “Jongdae will be debuting soon and he does not need a scandal,” Kiyoung stuck out her tongue and let go of him, but still stood beside him with her arms behind her back. Soo Man turned to me and smiled again. “Eun Ae, you will be meeting the female trainees who are in the line-up for the female EXO. Of course, we are including you in it as well.”

“Is Baekhyun oppa in the room?” a bubbly girl with short brown hair bounced over to us, her eyes merely skimming over me. “I bought him some food at the park--I mean,” she blinked a couple times at Soo Man. “I bought him some steamed buns off the street.”

“Don’t think that I don’t know where you girls went!” the CEO barked, grabbing her wrist. “I know exactly where you've been--the amusement park, neglecting your training. You’re coming with me, Hyesung!”

Hyesung yelped and struggled against his grip. “Ah...CEO...I need to give my oppa his food!”

“Don’t worry, he’s probably eaten plenty of buns in the past five minutes.” I chuckled, glancing at Jongdae. However, he just pursed his lips and shuffled farther away from Kiyoung.

“And...how would you know this?” the bubbly girl snapped, her eyes narrowing as Soo Man began dragging her down the hall. Just as she was turning the corner, Hyesung shouted, “Did you perhaps buy him food?!”

“Yes, we just--”

“Omo!” a small-sized girl with black hair like me interrupted our conversation and placed her hands on my shoulders. “Are you Eun Ae unnie?” She scrunched up her nose happily, watching me squirm in her grasp. “I heard your audition! It’s so nice to have such a talented person be with us!”

“Ne...” I slowly answered and squinted at her. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

The small girl immediately loosened her grip and smiled widely. “Moon Jeonghye. You entered with your singing, I was admitted with my dancing,” She impressively did a few dances steps, moving her body in impossibly ways. Then she looked at me with hopeful eyes. “I’m currently the maknae, so my unnies seem too distant from me. Be my friend?”

I stared into her large, bright eyes. Such an adorable girl...how can people be distant from her? “Of course!” I exclaimed and squeezed her cheeks, causing her to squeal. “Jeonghye-ah, we can go out tonight! I can treat you!”

“Excuse me,” a soft, yet firm voice echoed from the other side of the hall. Everybody stopped buzzing and stared at the tall, slender girl. She flipped her long bangs back and slowly, slowly, walked up to me. “You can’t go out tonight.”

Spluttering, I asked, “Why?”

“Because,” she responded in a monotonous tone and turned her head towards Jongdae. “I said so. You’re new.” She smiled slightly at the EXO member, who just gave her a quick wave and ducked back into the practice room. Her grin faded, but her cold stare did not. She turned back to me and cocked her head, scanning me from head to toe.

“Um...” I broke the silence that filled the room. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Park Eun Ae--”

“I know,” she hissed quietly, making sure the heartbroken Kiyoung wouldn’t hear. Her face was only inches from my face, her breath clean and fresh, unlike her personality. Over her shoulder, I saw Jeonghye’s frightened expression as she silently backed away from our conversation. “You’re that ‘new main vocalist’ the SM staff is considering. But let me remind you just once--I’m the best singer in the line-up. There’s no way you can take my position.” She jabbed a finger at my chest and stalked away, leaving only me in my astonishment.

“That’s Jinseong,” Kiyoung explained, examining her sparkly pink fingernails. “She’s absolutely amazing, but a little scary at times,” She blew on them and smirked at me. “You’ll learn to love her.”

I nodded once and quickly shuffled back into EXO’s practice room, shutting the door behind me. The members had finished changing, and an upbeat song was blasting from the speakers. It sounded completely different from What is Love, but it was equally as impressive. I watched silently as both groups practiced side by side to the Chinese version of the song.

Baekhyun was dancing with the EXO-K members, holding a plastic microphone. He was definitely one of the more charismatic members, giving off an amazing stage presence while sweat drips down his face. During the second chorus of this new song, he caught sight of me and gave me a slight wink, but stumbling in his footwork while doing so. I flinched, not wanting to distract him anymore. I scanned the faces for Jongdae, and I found him on the far side of the room with his hood up.

It was during the bridge, and Jongdae was singing one of his many solos. I giggled as his Chinese accent popped up in the beginning of his line, but nobody’s perfect. Besides, I’ve studied Chinese for as long as I have been studying Korean. For someone who seems to only have studied the amount of time he has been training in an entertainment company, Jongdae was doing quite well.

I watched as he squirmed in the back, obviously not a perfect dancer. He seemed to struggle at being perfectly in sync with Lay, who was rocking it out in the front. Jongdae’s eyebrows knitted together whenever he blundered slightly, giving away his mistakes. Still, he seemed charming as he danced, with sweat glistening on his cheekbones...

Shut up, shut up! I shook my head furiously and wrung my hands anxiously. I’m no longer just a lovestruck fan, I’m also an SM trainee. I’m their friend. Jongdae’s friend. I can’t fangirl anymore. Letting go a deep sigh of exasperation, I bolted from the practice room without turning back.

I bursted out of the room and ran straight into someone, crashing into the ground. Jumping up, I looked down to see who I had bowled over.

“Aiya...” the long-haired girl swore in Chinese as she squinted up at me. “What the...” She slowly stood up, pushing off from the floor.

“I’m sorry!” I blurted out in Mandarin, hoping to soothe the Chinese girl’s anger. “I’ll be more careful in the future.” I reached out to shake her hand, but she just stared at me.

“You’re Chinese?” she shrieked, her eyes bulging out of her head. She suddenly grasped my hands and spoke with great adoration, “No one told me we were getting a new Chinese trainee! What’s your name? Where are you from in China?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but she immediately cut me off. “I’m Ai Hui. My surname is Wang. I’m from Hunan, just like Yi Xing ge ge!” she flashed a bright smile and continued to babble. “We also have three other Chinese trainees, they’re back at the dorm building. You--wait, are you that trainee? The one whose Korean name is Eun...Ae?” She blinked at me, pausing slightly.

“I’m--”

“Oh!” Ai Hui exclaimed again. “Your baggage was sent to our dorm already! You’ll be staying with me, Jeonghye, and Ming Xue. Oh my, this is going to be so fun! Did you meet EXO yet? I’m so excited for their debut! Hopefully soon after they have their showcase, we’ll be well on our way, too! You--” She paused again, thinking deeply about something. I began to try explaining to her again, that I was not Chinese, but in fact Korean, but instead she yanked my arm and in only a matter of moments, we were outside.

She continued to flood me with information on the line-up: how there were eleven trainees before I arrived, but now there are twelve, the perfect number for the debuting group. That there are now five Chinese trainees (her, Ming Xue, Cheng Mei, Ning Wei, and now supposedly me). Her Chinese was so fluent and so fast that I had an extremely difficult time catching up with her words. As we neared the dorm building, I tuned her out completely.

Still babbling as we arrived on the seventh floor, Ai Hui excitedly dragged me over to door number 703 and called in fair Korean, “Kids, I brought Eun Ae!”
I could hear scuffling and loud shouts as the door finally opened, revealing a wide-eyed Jeonghye. She tackled me, wrapping her legs around my body. “Unnie, I thought Jinseong unnie as going to fry you and eat you back at the practice room!”

“Jeonghye-ah, Eun Ae is Chinese. She won’t be able to understand you unless--” Ai Hui began to explain, but finally I was the one who cut her off.

“Jinseong doesn’t scare me, it’s okay!” I patted the maknae’s head. “She’s just a little lost...up here.” I tapped Jeonghye’s head, who giggled.

“What?!” Ai Hui yelped in Chinese. She tilted her head and studied my carefully. “Did you learn Korean before? How is it so good?”

“Ai Hui jie jie,” I chuckled, finally able to tell her my true identity. “I’m actually Korean. I learned Chinese since I was a little kid.”

“Aiya!” she exclaimed again, rubbing her head frustratingly. “Whatever, okay?” She poked her head into the dorm and shouted, “Ming Xue, that Eun Ae trainee is here!”

Almost immediately, a pale, round-faced girl appeared at the doorway. “Eun Ae unnie?” her Korean was slightly worse than Ai Hui’s, but it wasn’t horrible.

“Ne?” I slung an arm around Jeonghye, who giggled. “Ming Xue, is it?”

Ming Xue nodded sharply. She stepped outside and walked towards me. When she was only a few feet away from me, she stopped and pointed an accusing finger at me.

“So it was you who seduced Jongdae oppa.” 

*Cries* MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES. I'm back on a normal writing schedule now, so comment, read, and subscribe, ne? ^^;

I don't remember which comments I replied to and which I didn't, but I will the next chapter! I have to make up 7 chapters, so be prepared for an influx of updates!

<3

Also, there will be a lot of new names involving the girls. If you guys get them confused, let me know and I'll type up a short character analysis list or something. Thanks for reading!!!!