Kyungsoo cleared his throat, and began.  “Ahhhh, chu-weo.”

“Oh GwangRok!  No – Doh KyungRok,” Baekhyun giggled excitedly, shaking Kyungsoo’s shoulder.  Chanyeol erupted in laughter next to him, rocking back on the practice room floor. 

“Let me try, let me try,” Baekhyun said, clearing his throat.  Kyungsoo smiled, pleased with himself, glad he could join in his hyung’s antics. 

Even Kai seemed to enjoy it, since he poked his knee repeatedly saying, “Do it again! A line from a movie!”

“A movie?  Let’s see…”  He tried to think of something, feeling Kai’s bright eyes on him, when the door opened and ten or so other trainees filed in.  Minseok shook his head in their direction as they sat, and three SM managers entered the room.

Everyone immediately snapped to attention, break time clearly over. This was not just a general warning to get back to work or a pop in assessment.  By the looks on their faces, this was big. 

Kyungsoo glanced sideways and met both Kai and Chanyeol’s eyes before the staff member in the middle – the tall one with the stern voice – began speaking.  Baekhyun was staring straight ahead, face frozen like a statue, which only made Kyungsoo more nervous. 

“Boys.  We gathered you all here for an important announcement.  As many of you may be aware, preparations are being made for a new boy group to debut under SM Entertainment.  While the final number is still undecided, we are planning to choose 11-12 members from among you.  These members will make up two units, one that will promote here in Korea, and another that will mainly promote in China.”

Murmurs broke out among the trainees, but Kyungsoo didn’t catch what they said.  He was too busy sorting out whether he was more excited, nervous, or afraid.

“We will monitor each of you closely over the next two weeks.  You will be called in individually to Lee Soo Man’s office to hear whether you have been selected or not.  This will be the final decision.  In the event that you are selected, at such time you will receive more information regarding your contract, debut, and other group details.”

The manager to his left now spoke.  “You all have the potential to be selected, so be sure to work hard these next few weeks.  We wish you the best of luck.  You know where to find us if you have any questions.  I believe the dance instructor should be back soon.”

With that, the three men nodded and left, just as suddenly as they had arrived. 

A collective gasp escaped from the group, and Kyungsoo felt a hole in the pit of his stomach.  He saw Suho, who’d been through this before and still pale as a sheet, and knew he must look the same.  Is this really happening? 

Suddenly, he sensed movement by his side, and looked up to see Kai standing to stretch.  He nodded at Kyungsoo to join him as Yixing and the rest of the boys followed suit.  Break time was definitely over.

______________________________

For the next two weeks, Kyungsoo worked harder than he ever had in his entire life.  There was never a waking moment he wasn’t worrying about the selection, or going over a song or dance in his head.  He even tried seriously studying Mandarin, although it was pretty obvious he was not in the running to promote in China.  In fact, he had a sneaking feeling the entire thing was hopeless.  Watching everyone else working just as hard, he didn’t have a chance in hell.

He tried anyway, no matter how much he wanted to give up.  He tried because all the other trainees tried.  Everyone stayed late practicing, and no one later than Jongin.  ‘Dancing Machine’ Kai who, as far as Kyungsoo was concerned, couldn’t possibly be rejected.  He was a done deal, just like Baekhyun.  But while Baekhyun’s talent discouraged him, Kai’s unrelenting attitude pushed him to keep going.  He promised himself that if (when) Kai debuted without him, he would continue to cook for him whenever possible.  I’ll be his biggest fanboy.  I can do that at least.

When the two weeks finally passed, Kyungsoo felt no more prepared than he had on his very first day at SM.  It was like everything he practiced was completely erased.  Throughout the day people were called out, but he didn’t see many of them after that.  The few he did see, like Baekhyun and Minseok, acted strangely and barely said anything.  He didn’t take that as a good sign. 

When he was finally called up to the CEO’s office, his chest was such a nest of butterflies, he didn’t even remember how he reached the door. 

“Deep breaths, Do Kyungsoo,” he told himself, before turning the handle. 

He stepped gingerly into the immense office and bowed nearly 180 degrees to where Lee Soo Man sat behind his desk.  When he straightened up, Mr. Lee cracked a smile and gestured for him to sit at one of the armchairs facing him.  There was another man sitting behind the desk with papers on his lap, but Kyungsoo only registered him vaguely.  He approached nervously, bowed again, and sat on the very edge of the chair nearest the door. 

“You’re either very polite, or very nervous, Do Kyungsoo-ssi,” Lee Soo Man said, leaning back in his chair.  “Don’t worry, you can relax.  You’re not in any trouble.”

Kyungsoo gulped, forcing his eyes forward.  “I know, sir.”

Lee Soo Man chuckled.  “No, I actually have very good news for you.”  What?  What is this?  Did he say good news?  “After only one year of training, you’ve made considerable progress.  I think you will be a good fit for the new group.  You have been selected, given you still wish to debut with SM and agree with the terms of the contract.  That being said, it will not be easy fulfilling the contract and preparing to debut within the year.  Would you like me to continue, Do Kyungsoo-ssi?”

Lee Soo Man stared at him quizzically, but Kyungsoo had stopped comprehending his words somewhere between ‘good fit’ and ‘selected.’  His heart was racing and he couldn’t get his thoughts straight.  All of it felt so unreal. 

“What?  Ye-yes. Yes!  Please continue…”

The CEO had clearly expected this.  The man beside him rose and handed him a bulky folder with an odd hexagonal logo on the front that read EXO.  “Here is a packet containing a copy of your contract, the group profile, and other training details…” He continued to speak, but Kyungsoo’s mind was a total blank at this point.  He gathered that the group’s name would be EXO, the subunits would be finalized later, and something about dormitories.  He hoped all this was in the packet somewhere.

During this explanation, he opened the packet and instinctively turned to the member profiles.  Xiumin.  Who?  Oh- Minseok-hyung. Nice.  Luhan.  Yes!  Kris (Wu Fan).  No surprise there.  Suho (Joonmyeon).  He deserves it.  He kept flipping, approving of all the names, but although he was happy to be on a team with them – to be debuting at all – he felt with increasing anxiety that a name was missing. 

Where was Kai?  He reached Sehun’s page but that was the end of the names.  He flipped more frantically now until the end of the packet, but he didn’t see ‘Jongin’ or ‘Kai’ anywhere.  He has a stage name already, for goodness sakes.  Then a thought came to him, entirely new and utterly familiar.  I can’t do this without Kai.

He flipped back to the front to search the names again, but Lee Soo Man had noticed his preoccupation.  “Is something wrong, Kyungsoo?”

Kyungsoo looked up for only a second before resuming his search.  “No, I….I just…can’t find…” 

But there it was.  Kai (Kim Jongin).  Stuck to the back of his own profile.  He smiled broadly at the CEO’s concerned expression.  For the first time in two weeks, he could breathe normally.   “Nevermind.  I found it.”

“Alright, well you clearly have a lot to process, and you have to discuss the contract with your guardians as soon as possible.  Nothing’s technically final until we have them in to sign.  But that’s enough for today.”

With that, Lee Soo Man stood, shook his hand, and ushered him out of the office.  Still in a haze, Kyungsoo made his way back to the practice rooms, seriously considering whether this was a dream.