I wake up the next morning in Maria's and my dorm room in NHM's headquarters. Our dorm was small, but quaint. It was just like an apartment: it had a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a extra room that was too small to be considered another bedroom. We haven't had time to really personalize it yet. I suppose we can try to after we finish our schedules for the day.

I walk into the bathroom and take a long shower, to clear my thoughts. I come out to find Maria sitting at the bar on our kitchen counter with breakfast. "Good morning~" She sings. "I cooked breakfast. We have a exciting and busy day ahead of us, so I thought I would start us off right." She winked.

We quickly eat and start getting ready for our day. I throw on a pair of black Nike basketball shorts and a white spaghetti strap tank top and start putting on my purple skate shoes by Converse. I stand up to see Maria in a pair of grey Hollister sweatpants and a matching grey Hollister tank top with a pair of light pink low-tops Converse. We nod to each other and head off to the training floor of NHM. We stop before we have to split up to go train in different areas. "Good luck." We chime in unison. We give each other a tight hug. "Fighting!!" We say with an arm raised for motivation, as we turn to go our separate ways.

I walk to a room labeled 'Dance Studio', and head in. I find a young man not much older than me in there, waiting on me. "You must be one of our new trainees, Caitlin! Hi!" He slightly bows and offers his hand. I shake it and slightly bow back to him. "I'm Kim Donghee, and I will be your personal dance instructor. Let's get started then, shall we?" He spoke with no accent what-so-ever. If he was born and raised here in Korea, he must be like AJ and have gone to an amazing school to be able to speak English flawlessly.
"Okay!"

"Time to take a break. You're doing very well! I am very impressed! For someone with no formal dance training, and who is on their first day as a trainee, you are very good! And you are learning fast! That a attribute of a good idol." He wink, making me laugh. "Are you hungry? I could get someone to bring in some lunch, if you want."
"Sure."

It takes about 10 minutes for someone to bring us our food. It was in a pretty maroon box with gold leaves painted on it. I open the box to find rice, sushi, pork, kimchi, and a sweet bun. We happily dig in, while chatting and trying to get to know each other more. "So you just met U-KISS at your hotel? And you're gotten to be really close?"
"That's right. Even I don't believe it sometimes. I wake up some mornings and wonder if it was just a dream. But it obviously wasn't, because thanks to their manager, Mr. Shin, I am now a trainee at NH Media. It's so crazy."
"I would think that it would feel like that. Have you told your parents yet?"
"Told them what? Oh, about me moving here to Seoul and becoming a trainee here?" He nods. "Oh.. Well.. No.. I never really thought to. I supposed I should do that when I get back into my dorm room."
"I bet they will be super excited and happy."
"I don't know.. I think they might be upset with me..."
"Why?!" He seemed really shocked.
"Well.. Before I came here, I was living in Los Angeles to go to the University of California LA, and they didn't like that I had moved away just to go to school.. And they never liked that I wanted to move here to teach English. I always had dreamed that. But now that I will be an idol, I guess I can't do that." I laugh. "So them hearing that I moved here, without telling them, and to pursue music, they will be upset..."
"Oh.. Well hopefully they will understand. I mean come on, you're going to be FAMOUS. They HAVE to be happy about it." We both burst out laughing.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." I say in between laughing fits.

We have practiced all morning, and up past noon, and we are finally done. "Annyeong Mr. Kim." I call to him as I start heading out of the door to go to my vocal lessons.
"Please, call me Donghee." He bowed. I bowed back and disappeared into the hallway.

After about 3 hours of vocal lessons with my instructor, Mrs. Lee, I head down to the elevator to go up to Mr. Kim CEO's office to find out who my Mandarin and Korean Instructor will be. I get to the door and stop to knock. "Come in." He calls through the door. I walk in and take a seat in front of his desk. "So.. How was your first day as a trainee?" He was smiling widely.
"It was wonderful, Mr. Kim CEO! It was really fun and tiring, but well worth it." I was smiling as brightly as I could. He seemed very pleased with my answer and reaction.
"That is very great to hear! Now I bet you're wondering who your instructor will be. And I have a surprise for you. Your Mandarin and Korean instructor both be the same person." That was uprising. I expected two different people. "And, you may not know this, but NH Media has just become a part of a collaboration with SM Entertainment. And so as a result, your instructor will be none other than Kris of EXO." At that very moment, Kris walks through a door that I never noticed before at the right side of the room.
"Hello." He says as he takes a seat next to me. I am flipping out inside of my head. KRIS is going to teach me Mandarin and Korean!!!
"Hello." I say back shyly.
"Kris, this is your girl. You will be working with her on Mandarin Chinese and Korean. She already has a background in both, so you won't have to worry much." He winks at me, making me feel self-conscious and start blushing and trying to hide my face.
"It is very nice to meet you Caitlin." Kris smiled warmly at me. Oh gosh his accent just KILLS ME.
"It is very nice to meet you as well." I manage to say with a bow. He will technically be my sunbae now, so I just treat him with the utmost respect.
"Caitlin, you will be spending a lot of your time with Kris from now on. You are scheduled to be instructed by him everyday from 4:30pm to 8:30pm, that will give you time to practice both, and time to practice dancing and singing with the members of EXO." Wow, that's 4 hours straight with Kris and the rest of EXO. "Kris, if you please, can you take Caitlin with you to SM's headquarters and show her where you will be meeting everyday?"
"Yes, Mr. Kim." He stood up and deeply bowed to him. I stood up and did the same, and followed him out of Mr. Kim CEO's office and into the elevator.

"Wow! You are very lucky!" He exclaims as he get into a taxi and make our way to SM's headquarters.
"I guess you could say that." I giggle, delighted that he's opening up to me so quickly.

"This is SM Entertainment." He says in Chinese as we pull up up front and step out.

We get out of the elevator and head down a long hallway and into a room labeled 'Dance Studio'. A group of boys are all gathered around each other, obviously goofing off during a break in practice. *"This is the Dance Studio, where we practice. And these goofballs are my other members of EXO-M."* They all hear Kris' voice and run over to us all happy and excited.
"So this is the girl?" Tao asks happily, examining me from head-to-toe.
"Yes, this is the girl." Kris tells them.
"I am very happy to be working with you guys." I say, sheepishly and bow to them.
"Wow!!! She can really speak Chinese!!!!!" Xiumin exclaims in wonder.
"Thank you so much, but my Chinese is not very good." I say, blushing.
"Of course it is!" Lay exclaims happily.
"Well? What are we doing just standing around here? Let's get this lesson started!" Chen jokes.
"Are all of you going to be working with me on my Mandarin and Korean?" I ask Kris in English, uncertain.
"Yes. I was put in CHARGE of teaching you, but I'm going to use the other members to teach you. I think it would be a lot more fun and you could learn better like that." The others look at Kris and I with confused looks, obviously not understanding what we are saying.

Our 'lesson' was done through song and game. They made me dance and sing for them, then they'd critique my Chinese and rate it. Then they would make me play various games with them if I got a good enough rating. Tao was the most energetic of them all, truly the maknae of the group, and always made me wrestle with him after I got rated. The rest made me play hand games, card games, or games children would play during recess in Elementary School.
 

Even though we had just met, we had already clicked and started using terms of endearment. After just 2 hours with these boys I was already exhausted. "Panda Tao-ge ge, you make me feel so old, even though I am younger than you!!" I giggle as he picks me up by my waist and lays me on his shoulder, making me only be able to see that is behind us.
"Kai Lin-mei mei, don't be a baby." He giggled and started running around with me still laying on my stomach on his shoulder.
"Play nice with her, Tao." Lu Han giggled. That giggle almost made me melt right there.
"I am Lu Han-ge ge, I promise." He slipped me off of his shoulder and now had me in a spinning hug. When he let me go my head was spinning and I almost fell to the floor until Kris caught me.
"Now Tao, you need to be more careful. She isn't a doll you can just throw around." He started chuckling. "Even if she may look like one."
"Hey! What was that supposed to mean?" I get up and start to back away, but fall backwards into Chen's arms.
"I believe Kris was saying you are pretty." He smiled a winning smile at me as he gentle sat me upright on the floor. I start blushing like crazy.
"That is true! Mei mei is very pretty!" Lu Han giggled. Oh Lu Han, if you keep acting like that, I will squeal and run to you and give you the biggest hug ever.
"Oh stop, you guys are being too nice to me." I giggle, feeling extremely flattered and happy at the same time.
"But it is true mei mei!" Xiumin says, coming over to sit by me on the floor.

I am invited to their dorms for dinner, and I gratefully accept. I start working with Tao to cook for everyone. "Can you get the Soy Sauce for me?" I ask, busy.
"Anything for you Kai Lin-mei mei!" He exclaims, bringing it over and sitting it on the counter next to me. He leans his head on my shoulder. "What are you making? It looks and smells really good."
"It's a surprise." I say playfully. I hear the boys in the other room start getting rowdy. They must be playing another game.
"I like surprises!" He muses, making me giggle.

I set out dinner and run back into the kitchen to get something special started for Tao. I come back to see everyone happily enjoying my food. "This is really good!" Xiumin exclaims happily, stuffing his face.
"Bao Zi-ge ge is so cute!!" I exclaim with a giggle.
"What about me mei mei?" Tao asks, trying to act cute.
"Oh my goodness! You are so cute too Panda Tao-ge ge!!" I giggle. "All of you are so cute!! Even though it's only been a day, I really love you all, as if you are my family." I smile, finishing my food. I walk into the kitchen to check on my surprise and find Lu Han following me in. "Do you need something? I can get it for you, whatever it is."
"I don't need anything. I wanted to come and thank you for being so kind of us. It's only been a short time, and you are already being so nice to us. And you aren't even in the same company as us. Thank you so much mei mei." He hugged me tightly. I was REALLY flipping out in my mind now. We pull out of our hug and I check the oven. "What are you cooking now?"
"I made a cake for you all. I wanted it to be a surprise, but now you know." I laugh as I pull out two cakes.
"Who is the other one for?" He asks.
"I made this one to take back the NHM with me to U-KISS. I haven't talked to them since we came into NHM yesterday when we arrived from the US."
"Ohhh. They are very lucky to have you as their friend, just like we are lucky that the CEO’s of both of our companies decided to go into a collaboration, and let us teach you Mandarin and Korean. Now we have you as our friend too." His pretty brown eyes were glittering.

I take the cake out of the kitchen and sit it down in front of everyone. "Wow!! Kai Lin-mei mei knows how to cook everything!!" Xiumin exclaims as he takes a piece and bites into it.
"Cake~" Lay sings as he digs in.
"Thank you so much." Kris says with a smile.
"Yeah, thank you Kai Lin-mei mei!!" Tao says through a mouthful of cake. Chen and Lu Han giggle to each other about Tao and his bad manners. Seeing Tao behave like this reminds me of Dongho.
"Oh my! I am truly sorry, but I must go back to NHM now! They must be waiting for me!" I exclaim, walking around their dorm to gather my things.
"Awww.. But do you really have to leave?" Tao said with a sad expression, his mouth still full of cake.
"Yes. But I'll be back tomorrow! And I can't wait! You guys are so fun! Bye bye! See you tomorrow!"
"Wait!!" Kris exclaims as I turn around to see all of them coming towards me. They grab me into a HUGE hug, all six of them. I start giggling and hug them each back, one by one.
"Bye bye!" I wave as I start walking down the hallway.
"Do you want me to come and pick you up?" Chen calls from in front of their door.
"Do you want to? If you want to, and it's not too much trouble, you could come and pick me up." I stop walking and smile at him.
"I'll be at NH Media to pick you up at 4:00pm." He says as I nod and turn away to start walking again.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wookie_96's note:

I feel a little better today, so I'm going to get to rolling on the updates. :3

WOOOO!!!!! EXO FINALLY SHOWED UP!!!!!

I hope the EXOtics that are reading this are happy now~ If you're even still with me... ._____.

****** 哥哥(ge ge) and 妹妹(mei mei) are the Chinese words for 'big brother' and 'little sister' respectfully(just in case you didn't know), they can work like 오빠(oppa) and 여동생(yeodongsaeng) do in Korean.

********** I named the dance instructor, Kim Donghee, after Super Junior's Ryeowook(surname) and Shindong(given name; Shindong's real name is Shin Donghee)~ Lol~