“Krystal, wake up! You’re going to be late.”

I hate this. This is what I get for signing up on SM. I have to wake up early in the morning for school and after that, I have to go straight to the company and attend extra classes on ballet, jazz and all sorts of exhausting stuff. I end up looking like a zombie every day. At least my friends in Kent Foreign School don’t care much about my appearance. They don’t expect much from you as long as you’re fluent in English. I wonder how my sister juggled her school time and trainee days. I envy her but their songs are too cutesy and kind of unfit for her age. Who would carry lollipops while dancing on stage? We should’ve stayed in San Francisco. Sigh. But she’s my sister and I’m happy for her.

“Soojung-ah!”

“Jinri…I mean, Sulli-ah!”

“Aigoo, you called me by my real name again.”

Sulli is one of the many trainees here who’s at the same age as me. She used to be an actress. I have not seen any of her movies though. Thinking about it, I have never been interested in any South Korean Movies. I heard she auditioned a year before me. We’re not really that close but we’re often grouped together so we hangout a lot. Who knows, we might be in the same group in the future.

“Soojung-ah, are you gonna watch the Youth Best Contest tomorrow night?”

“For what?”

“Oh, don’t be like that. Smile a little!”

“I’m not interested.”

“Oh come on, everyone will be there!”

I was never annoyed of Sulli. Somehow having her around made the atmosphere lively. I’ve always been jealous of her pretty smile and cute face. All the oppas and unnies would say ‘Sulli, you’re so cute!’ She was everyone’s favorite in the company.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Okay! See you Soojung!”

____

“Krystal, wake up! You’re going to be late.”

It's Saturday but I still have to wake up early. This is me every day: complaining about how dragging my life is. But this is what I wanted so I'm doing it anyway. The company promised me a debut. But I don't know how long they can keep that promise. Auditions are open every week, I see new trainees every day, and how can I even compete to them? Sure I starred in a few commercials, I was with Han Ga In senior on a Green tea commercial and I had a cameo appearance on Shinhwa senior’s ‘Wedding March’ video, right, I've really taken a lot of pride in that. But you can’t underestimate other trainees. And now there’s this Youth Best Contest tonight. Sigh. I better get going.

The same thoughts wandered in my mind while practicing. Being a trainee is stressful. Right after my ballet class, I dressed up immediately and waited for Sulli at the lobby. Then suddenly this tall guy bumped into me.

‘Who are you?’ that’s what I wanted to say, but I didn’t anyway. That would be rude. “Watch where you’re going.”

“Oh, sorry.  But excuse me, miss, do you know where the SM Auditorium is?”

Is he a part of that youth contest thing that Sulli was saying? No, he couldn’t be. He looks a bit shy and…awkward.  

I gave him a cold stare.

“To the left, read the signs.”

“Oh…okay. Thank you.”

Sheesh. He must’ve thought that I was gonna audition too. I wonder what’s his talent.

“Soojung-ah!”

“Oh, it’s you.”

“I thought you wouldn’t come. Who’s that guy you were talking to earlier?”

“Just a random stranger who’s asking for directions.”

“Oh, Let’s go! The contest’s about to start!”

It’s hard to escape from Sulli once she puts her arm around you. She’s so tall that I had to look up when talking. The show started about 10 minutes late than its actual time. The contestants were boring, as usual. A guy who was playing a flute, another one was showing his basketball skills, what the hell was that about? There was a cute girl who was singing some of SES’ songs. If I weren’t seated in the front row, I would’ve slept. Finally, the last performance, from some guy named Kim Jongin or something, I don’t remember what the announcer said. 

“Hey, isn’t that the guy you were talking to before?"

“What?”

She was right. It’s that guy who was asking for directions. And “Oh My God.” he can actually dance. 

“Soojung, he’s awesome.”

“Um...yeah.”

I’ve got to admit that he was pretty awesome in his performance. He could be the next Yunho of DBSK or Eunhyuk of Super Junior. He’s really good. His moves were fast. Sulli was saying something but I couldn’t hear anything because of the loud cheers echoing in the auditorium, he’s already got a fan base.

Results were out and it’s obvious who would win. That Kim Jongin guy was the only performer I saw at that contest. Well, congratulations.

“That guy who won was probably given a contract by the company!”

“Probably”

“Oh well, I have to go home now, the dorm closes in 30 minutes! Are you gonna take the bus?”

“No. My dad’s picking me up.”

“Okay, see you Soojung!”

“Bye! Take care”

And now I’m left alone, as usual. It’s still a few minutes pass eight, ghosts don’t appear early Soojung. But why do I keep on imagining stuff in my head? And why do I hear noises from the hallway? And now I find myself running in fear toward the entrance doors until I bumped into somebody. Guess what, It’s that guy again.

“You keep bumping into me!” I said.

“No, this time you bumped into me.”

Right. Wrong move.

“Oh…sorry.”

“I didn’t see you at the backstage earlier, I thought you were part of the contest.”

Why did he ask? Was he looking for me the whole time? Suddenly I’m at a loss for words.

"I'm...I'm a trainee here."

"Oh,"  he smiled. "So I guess we’ll bump into each other again?"

And at that moment, I thought that was the cutest thing ever.

"Yeah."

This is my first fanfiction. I'm sorry if there are grammatical errors. English is not my first language. If you spot mistakes (and I'm sure you would) just pm me! Thaaaaaaaanks~