My hands stayed warm in my pockets and I kept my face under a scarf. I hate walking, especially during the winter, when the weather felt like it was ten-below. I just I tried walking faster, almost jogging. I'm almost there. 

I'm back to work, after two weeks of suspension. I'm here again, with the usual schedules and only few hours of sleep. I was lucky enough that my weeks of suspension was Christmas break which meant that I had a free two weeks off to celebrate with my family.

Just today was the first day back at school in Seoul. Even though I was still dressed in my school uniform, walking through the streets of Gangnam alone made me feel older. I feel like an adult, knowing that I would be the only one to defend myself from pick-pockets, on-the-loose criminals, and those people who trick little girls into getting into their mysterious white van. I just noticed one next to me.

Just keep walking..

 My Ipod was on shuffle and the next song played, Eat You Up by BoA. I winced, immediately changing it. I can't listen to any SmTown for a while. It brought back memories from a year ago that weren't exactly...good. Out of all of the entertainment labels that were holding auditions, my first choice was no other than my favorite label with all of my favorite artists.

Yes, no other than...SM Entertainment. It was really the only entertainment agency I knew at the time. I was obviously a newbie to the whole Kpop scene and so oblivious to reality and what will soon happen after I, possibly, was accepted.

I stood in front of the judge, frozen. I blinked and just remembered to bow, "A-A-Annyeonghaseyo... Jang Baekji-imnida..." I forced myself not to seem awkward in front of him.  "I'm thirteen years old and attend Pyoseok Middle School and I sing and dance." The judge nodded as he clicked a button and the BoA song came into play.

I practiced my freestyling at home, mostly alone in my room when my brother was out and my parents were at work. I knew that I was never a good dancer but then, like any typical fangirl, being a Kpop star was my dream. I only thought about how perfect and luxurious idols' lives seemed. I used to sit in front of my TV just watching idols amazed at their perfect singing, dancing, perfect members; perfect everything. They were living the dream.

When I finished, I was out of breath and fixed my hair back in place. I stared at the judge, expecting a good review.

The judge looked down casually, reading something off a a piece of paper. He squinted closer as if the letters were too small for him to read, "Re-Reee-becca Jang?"" he struggled.

"Oh, yes. But you may call me by my Korean name, 'Jang Baekji' if you want." I stuttered.

"Ahh. Jang Baekji." he read when he found it on the paper.

"Mm-yes?" I expected good comments from him, I tried to control my nervous sweat.

"Ahh, so you're a foreigner. You have a weird pronunciation when you speak."

"Uh-"

I wasn't really expecting him to be commenting on my Korean rather than my dancing. I was embarrassed, "Uh-um, yes. My Korean is still a little rough. My family and I moved from Oregon about three weeks ago. "

"Hm. Not that long ago." he replied.

 

I wasn't a dancer, nor did I take dance lessons at the time, but I practiced by myself everyday for that audition. This was how bad I wanted to be a Kpop star.

I smirked under my scarf, I was so naive back then, thinking that I was going to pass the audition. But that moment, I believed that anything could happen next.

I passed.

 

 I received the news a month after my audition. I felt so ecstatic, overjoyed as if I had been waiting for this forever. All that I had to do now was to covince my parents to let me train.

"Jang Baekji, you're not even a dancer! Do you know how much you'll have to train- Do you know how late they sleep? Plus, you'll have to move all the way in Seoul! And how about your studies! You'll be too focused on Kpop than school!"

I continued to beg them everday. Folding my hands together and on my knees, I kept overusing the word, Pleaaseeee...

The three of us knew that if we kept going on like this every single day, none of us would win.

My family and I stayed in a little-temporary apartment in Seoul for a few weeks, until they trusted me to live in a dorm by myself. My parents and I settle on an agreement that I can train as long as I do well in school. And what they meant by "well" was to rank number one in my class. When my parents and I made this deal, I knew my parents certainly thought that I wouldn't be able to make it through the first two weeks, overwhelmed with all the stress and work from day to night.

I couldn't argue with them; I was stressed out at first.

I woke up at 7am for school, 3pm I train, 11pm-1am I go back home, 1am I work on homework, 3am I cherish my four hours of sleep as I collapsed in bed. I got used to the daily headaches and hid my pain whenever I faced my parents, and most of my trips to the bathroom were the times I just sat by the sink and broke into tears. My mom and dad only knew about how well I did in school, I actually succeded being at the top of my class. I didn't want them to see the struggle and pain I face after I begged them for this.

After the fourth week in SMEnt, the "Monthly Trainee Evaluation" has begun. My parents have already went back home, so they haven't seen my dark eye bags or what senior trainees called, "the zombie-look newbie trainees get at the first month of training" look. Every trainee practiced harder and the competition heated up. As a "newbie-trainee", I did try to train harder and practice more but I didn't worry about it that much. I thought, how important is this evaluation anyway? The day of evaluation, I didn't sweat about my performance in front of the judges.

Two days after, I received the message.

I was no longer a trainee of SM.

Still, I go back this time one year ago and laugh at my foolish self. Even then, in the back of my head I knew that being an SM trainee would be a bad idea but I tried to think like anyone else and aim for my goal to be an idol. But being my lazy, yet optimistic self, this is where I lead to at the end.

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

I walked through a few street vendors and couldn't help but slow down. I listened to the meat sizzling on the grill and couldn't resist the smell of the barbeque cooking. My mouth watered.

"Miss! Would you like to try our barbeque?!" an older lady smiled, gesturing to come to her. I walked closer, getting a better look at the good looking food. I almost drooled. The sound of the lady's giggle over the table made me snap out of it. I looked up to see the lady holding a fresh batch of juicy barbecue beef. Was she trying to torture me?

I tried not to look at the food, "Sorry, no thank you." I waved. "Oh, just try a sample of my dalk-galbi! It's fresh!" She pulled another plate over the glass and held it to my face. I stared at it, second-thinking about this. "-Oh! umm..." I sighed and swallowed. "I'm fine. Thank you." I walked off. 

Second thing I hated: dieting.

"It's not dieting, it's called managing a healthy lifestyle." that's what my manager unnie tells me as I eat my salad as she takes a bite of chocolate cake.

 

Everyday I took the same route from my dorm to the building. I could almost see the huge-old billboard with a car advertisement with the actor, Song JoongKi on it. By this, I knew that I was almost there. I turned to a corner of a hair boutique and saw the small white Pledis building ahead.

"Annyeonghaseyo, annyeonghaseyo," I waved and bowed at the fangirls and boys that usually hung around the building.

"Who the heck is that?" a girl with a 'JR Oppa, Saranghae' sign made a disgusted face at me. "Psh. Just some trainee." the boy with an After School shirt smirked. I knew they wouldn't care about me, I was just some trainee to them.

I was just being nice.

But I wasn't just some trainee, I'm preparing to debut in just a few months. Pledis already gave me minor appearances in sunbaes' music videos. I thought just a few would maybe recognize me, but some even took photos. "Yah. What are you doing?" I saw the girl pointing to her friend as she snapped a few pictures on her cellphone. "Oh, wae? Just incase she debuts some day."  I ran inside quickly with a grin on my face, about to freeze to death. 

"Annyeonghaseyo, Security Cho-nim," I bowed to the security at the front desk. His chin was rested on his fist, staring at his computer, "Ehh," he waved his meaty arm lazily. "Has any manager unnies checked in yet?" I asked. He looked up and sighed to see that I was still here, "Uh, yeah... Woojin and the others came about...two hours ago."

"Two hours ago? What are they doing here so early?" I said to myself, taking off my scarf. Security Cho-nim struggled to get up from his chair and smirked. "Beats me." He took off his hat and scratched his head. "Aigoo, where's the new guy who's supposed to take care of the next shift?! It's almost my break!" he walked out from behind his desk. "Ah, whatever." he threw his hat on his cluttered desk and passed me, heading out the doors to pick up something to eat.

It was quiet in the office, I liked it this way. All of the trainees were in the middle of classes in different rooms, but it felt like I was the only one here.

It was still early for guitar class. I thought about if I should see Doyoon Oppa, but he was probably busy training right now. I decided to go to the composing room, it was the very last door, deep in the building, where nobody could find it. It was a very small room for independant rehearsing and composing. This is where I wrote songs with my guitar and piano. I was the only one who used this room, so I kept my music sheets inside the piano and just laying on the desk.

As I walked in, I flipped the light switch on and took a seat. I looked around the room first. Seems that not much has changed since I left. Everything still seemed in place. I walked into the room as it was peaceful and quiet. I breathed in the fresh smell of wood that filled the room. I quickly jumped when I heard a faint sound of a boy's yell upstairs. I then smirked and shook my head, probably one of the Nu'est Sunbaes messing around upstairs.

I took the guitar off the stand and slid one of the sheets of music on the desk infront of me. I plucked a few notes on the strings, closing my eyes, preparing to sing along with the lyrics I came up with so far. I played the song that I wrote with my brother. He's a musician too, a bass player of an underground rock band in Mokpo. Although the lyrics were incomplete, it was the melody that would always calm me down, or even bring my spirits up. 

We wrote this song a few days before I joined Pledis, I remember. It was after I was dropped out of SM. It was only him and Doyoon Oppa that I told. That day when I came back from the SM building, it was only my brother, Jungshin and I who lived in the apartment while our parents moved back home. I could have been living in a dorm by now, but Jungshin and his band were trying to get signed by record labels in Seoul.

 I wasn't brave enough to tell the news to my parents, but I felt I had to tell somebody. I walked to my brother's room. He was just doing the usual, laying around by his instruments, making noises.

"What's your problem?" I remember him asking when he saw me come into his room. We weren't close then, but when I told him everything, I was surprised about how he tried to comfort me. He actually let me stay in his room and we talked about it for a while. As we talked, he sat by his keyboard and played short melodies over and over.

"Baekji, my little sister~ Don't be sad! Even if you have a bad day, your Oppa is here~!" he sang with the piano.

"What. What are you doing?" I threw a small pillow at at him and laughed.

"I made you your own cheer up song!"

The Cheer Up Song is what we called it for now, the lyrics always changed depending on the situation.

"Isn't there already a cheer up song that Mom used to sang to us?"

"The '1234, I Love You Song'?" 

"One! If I can't see you for one second. Two! I feel so lonely and depressed. 3! How can I wait another three seconds? Eeyah Eeyah eeyah~" he began to sing again. "Do you want me to do the dance too?!"

"Eh, no! Oppa, stop!"

_______________

I smiled to myself, switching to the piano to play the tune that reminded me of my brother.

 A loud crash sounded upstairs, followed by a boy's crazy laugh. This startled me again and it begun to irritate me a bit. The sound was probably coming through the vents. I sighed and waited until it was quiet again. Aishh...Nu'est sunbaes can get annoying sometimes.

I gripped the guitar in my hands, and again, I heard yells and obnoxious noises upstairs. This time, I heard what sounded like a bunch of boys messing around. I exhaled deeply, gripping my guitar tighter. I strummed louder and began to sing. I sang louder and louder, trying to play over all the yelling and chaotic noises from upstairs. 

Now, I heard them blast music through speakers. I frowned, defeated, and put my guitar back on the stand and checked the time. Already passed five. My manager and I usually met here around this time. Why wasn't she here yet?  "Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed and barged out of the room and begun to search for Woojin.

She wasn't anywhere on the first floor. What would Woojin be doing upstairs when she was supposed to be down here with me? I walked back to the entrance of the building to go to the elevators. I pushed the button to go up, as the elevator door's bell rang and slid open. Two younger boys came out.

"But I have to go REALLY BAD!!!"  the smallest boy whined in English, jumping in place.

 "Well, hold it, Samuel! I don't know where the bathrooms are!" The two boys didn't look Korean, so I assumed they were foreign fanboys touring around Korea. I wondered how they were able to get in, but considering how Security Cho was in charge, I couldn't really be surprised.

I walked up to them, remembering the feeling of being in a new country. "Hi, guys," I waved and tried to act friendly. They turned their head to notice my existence in the room. "The bathrooms are just over there. Two doors before SungSoo-ssi's office." I pointed.

"Thank you!!" the little boy dashed away and the older boy behind me smirked at him. I turned to see him walking toward me. He gave a smile before leaving, "Thanks," he said.

 

When I got into the elevator, I felt urgent to get to the second floor to see what was with all the chaotic sounds. As the door opened and I ran out and begun to hear the faint sounds of loud music and laughing again. I followed the noise all the way to the last dance studio at the end of the floor.

I saw a lady outside the door on her phone. She looked familiar. I squinted and walked toward her. "Oh, Woojin-Unnie!" It was my manager. She was here all along. I ran towards her.

I caught her quick glance at me and she somehow looked panicked, "Yeah, yeah. See you later-Ye-yeah. I'll call you later." she quickly hung up and ran back into the studio before I made it to her.

I tried to opened the door but it was locked. Since when was there a lock on this door? Since she didn't listen to me, I spoke informally with her nickname, "Doogi-ya! Doogi-ah!!" I knocked with my fists and yelled so she could hear through the thick glass door. "It's Baekji!! Open the do-" I stopped knocking when I saw a red light beep above the door.

Infront of me, I noticed the wall had a sticker.

Seventeen TV? 

 I read the paper next to it:

 

Please do not disturb when the red light above is lit .

Thank you for your cooperation.

 

"What the..?"

Doogi-Unnie was doing some TV show when I was gone? To my surprise, the red light suddenly turned off and the door opened. Nu'est Sunbaes came out with all laughter and passed by me. "Yah!" They seemed not to have noticed me, as they were so caught up in a conversation with about...guy named Dumbbell?...and how cute an Appa of a person named Teeny is?

Nu'est Sunbaes are kind of out of their minds today, I thought.

"JR sunbae." I called as JR passed me and just smiled, he didn't even look up.

"Sunbae..!" I repeated. Minhyun and Baekho passed after. They were ignoring me too, still laughing and caught up in their own conversation.

"Ugh, yah!" I stopped Ren Sunbae with Aron Sunbae who were the last to come out.

"Oh, WAEE?!" Ren asked with a diva-ish whine.

"What were you guys doing in there with Doogi-Unnie?" It was probably a stupid question to ask now because then I noticed Aron holding a rolled up mat for the game, Twister.

"Oh, we were just hanging out with the guys," Aron replied.

The Guys?

"Uhh, what guys?!"

Ren looked at Aron then he laughed, "Oh, yeah. You haven't met them yet. They're pretty cool kids! They're in there still." he leaned his head inside. "I-I think. You should meet them, Baekji." Aron and Ren grinned at me as they walked away.

Kids?! I walked slowly into the green dance studio, afraid of who or what was in there.

The room was empty. Not even Doogi-Unnie was in here. I looked around. Nothing seemed to be different.

-Wait a second.

I sniffed. Although, the room reeked of a manly-deodorant smell. I saw the other door open to see Doogi-Unnie's face peek out. She saw me and had a shocked look, about to shut the door immediately. "Hey! I saw you!" I yelled.

She frowned, walking toward me with a weird expression. "Hey...Baekji. You're back from Mokpo..How are your parents doing..?" She tried to sound cheerful even though we both knew that she didn't care.

"What is going on?" I asked. "W-what's that SeventeenTV thing outside?  A-And Nu'est Sunbaes talking about these ki-"

The other door in my view opened.

Out the door poured guys.

One, after another, after another...

....after another.

 

 

 

My jaw dropped. The room was filling quickly like bees when someone blows up their hive, they swarm the room, all around me.

"Unnie, w-what...who are these people?!"

Two guys ran to me, surprised, they all began to notice me, "Mingyu, Mingyu-ah! Look!".

"Oh..Hey~." he paused. "...Hellooo. How you doing?" the two guys waved at me with low voices.

"Uhhh..."

The quiet, empty dance studio was now filled with noisy boys everywhere.

"Boys! Boys! Listen! I would like you to meet someone!" with just the call of Doogi-Unnie, the rest of the group ran toward us. A few walked slowly, fixing their hair in the mirror before gathering in a group.

 

"Hana, deol- Annyeonghaseyo! Upcoming Pledis group, Seventeen-imnida!" they yelled in unison.

"Oh..um...okay then." So a new boy group, huh? This is manager Unnies' suprise for me after my trip, I guess.

Doogi elbowed my arm beside me, "Come on," she whispered. "Introduce yourself too."

I took a tensed breath in, "Annyeonghaeseyo, Jang Baekji-imnida. I'm looking forward to work with you guys."

They all smiled at me after that. A few of them left to dance in front of the mirror or go back on their electronics, but there was a group that still stood infront of me. Then there was an awkward silence, one gestured another to introduce themself first. They pushed each other, prattling small words.

"Yah, come on....You go -no you go first..." 

One boy was pushed out from the group.

He looked shocked as he stood alone and scratched the back of his head, "A-Annyeonghaeseyo. Lee Seokmin-imnidaaa~" he gave a nervous smirk and eye-smile. I gave a forced smile back at him and he giggled. A boy from behind, pushed him away with his body and they both almost tumbled over.

"A-Annyeonghaeseyo!" the second boy struggled to get back up on his feet. He bowed,

"Hello~my name is BU-SEUNG-GWAN." he separated each syllable, making sure I got his name. His voice sounded funny when he spoke in English and it was much more louder than Seokmin's. I laughed. He was about to walk away, then turned back.

"-Oppa." he added with a nod.

"Psh! You're not her Oppa!" the little boy yelled from behind. Seunggwan just pinched his cheeks then looked at me. "Aww...isn't he just adorable?" he asked me.

Wait. That was the little boy I saw downstairs. "Annyeonghaseyo~SEVENTEEN's youngest member, Samuel-imnida." the boy said sweetly. An older member told him to do aegyo for me and he gave me a hug. "We're looking forward to training with you Noona." he said in a baby voice. 

"Aww. Me too. You're so cute." I smiled as he ran away. "How old are you? Eight? Nine?"

"I'm elevenn~!" he yelled in English. I blushed, embarassed.

Another boy walked up to me, "Annyeonghaseyo, Chwe Hansol-imnida."he cleared his throat. "Hi Baekji, my name is Hansol. We all are excited to work with you," he acted cool.

"Oh, wahh~!" the whole room applauded, praising his perfect pronounciation.

There was so many boys and most of them looked younger than me. Aside from Samuel, I was not ready for all these guys to call me Noona.

"Who's next?" Seunggwan said.

All of the guys were lost on their Ipads or dancing. 

Doogi-Unnie came back in, "You guys need to wrap up quickly.Your classes will start very soon and PD Noonas and I have prepared some snacks too!"

"Well.." the tallest boy in the back stretched. "Saved the best one for last?" he walked forward.

"Annyeonghaseyo,"  he said coolly. "Kim Mingyu-imnida."

He had a grin on his face that I found a bit creepy. He kept staring at my face. "Nice to meet you, Noooona." he winked.

 

 

"Wahh~!" Everyone aplauded at his charm, "Ne, let's go eat now!" Seunggwan cheered. Most of the boys ran out the door as Doogi Unnie led them. The last guy in the room looked lost when they all left.

"Oh! Junhui-hyung! You didn't introduce yourself yet!" Seunggwan patted his back as he passed by.

"Annyeonghaseyo," I walked torward him instead and bowed.

He looked at me nervously, "Oh, a-annyeonghaseyo. W-Wen Junhui-imnida." he said very quietly.

 

Junhui:

Now that I was the only person in the room, she only focused on me. "Annyeonghaseyo." she said to me. I thought her voice was pretty. I felt her staring at me, waiting for me to speak. My face felt warm, "Oh, anneyonghaseyo. Wen Junhui-imnida." I didn't want to look straight at her.

Right after, I dashed out the door without looking back, embarassed. Did I speak too quiet? Did she hear me? Did I look weird when I bowed to her? I overthink things too much. This is why I don't like talking to girls...

Our noonas brought in some cookies. "Ah! They smell so good~!" Soonyoung cheered bringing in the rainbow table. I looked for MingMing and sat next to him.

Doogi-noona slid the tray of cookies and I took a couple. I turned my head to the door to see Baekji come in. Doogi Noona stopped her right before she came in. She had to talk to her outside.

I turned my head back to the table, to the guys, and noticed every single one of their eyes looking the same direction out the door. Chan got up from his seat and tip-toed to the front and slowly closed the door shut. He ran back to the table where it was just the eleven of us.

Seokmin poked the cookie that was on the plate, "Jang...Baek..ji..." he almost sang in a low tone.

We then all sat around the table, with a silence that was immediately broken. "I CALL DIBS ON HER!" Mingyu announced to the whole table with his hand thrown up in the air.

This was followed by more guys shooting out of their chairs like cannons and yelling across the table, starting a rukus.

"Ah! WHAT?! NO Fair!!! @*#(@ YOU CANT CALL DIBS!! %&^ SHE'S MINE!&>*$%HYUNG!!@*#AAIIIISH!!..gjosidfg...WE CANT ALL HAVE HER! @#))$gjfsgfdjodfig...SHE LIKES ME BETTER..Noona thinks IM CUTE...rgoifjg....SHES LIKE FIVE YEARS OLDER THAN YOU!!"

I just stood so I wouldn't be the awkward one calmly sitting in a chair as everyone else is yapping about of how they're better. I'd rather be the awkward one...standing up.

 I looked at each of them as they yelled at each other in a circle around the cookies. Just some of them were fighting over the new girl, others like Soonyoung were trying to break the arguing, and the rest, like laughing Seokmin, just yelled nonsense at each other.

My Korean was not the best so I could barely understand what each of them were saying. Plus, with them all yelling, it just sounded like gibberish in my ears. I only knew the members for a while, but I was surprised about how much they like the new girl. Maybe it's because our teacher never lets us talk or practice with the other female trainees? 

Mingming was standing by my side. He was quiet too and looked at me. He smirked at them and smiled.

"Have you had a chance to introduce yourself to her?"

I nodded. I'm glad that there's another Chinese member in Seventeen that I can talk to.

"Have you?" I asked.

"Not yet." he replied.

"-But," Mingming bit his lip.

"She's not bad." he shrugged. "Don't you think?"

 

Baekji:

I couldn't believe even before my debut, they were already forming a new boy-band, "When did you guys decide that you were going to form another group?!"

Doogi Unnie shrugged. She opened , but nothing came out. She thought for a second.

"We've been having many Pledis Youth Auditions happening around Korea, remember?" she begun.

"Umm, yeah?"

"Wah! There were so many talented boys that we just couldn't say no to. And plus, those trainees that have been working hard. We all decided that these boys had potential to debut as a group soon despite their young age."

"W-wait-wait. When exactly are they going to debut?"

"Uhh~I don't know, maybe around the summer?"

"WHAT?! Unnie! You can't! How about me? We were supposed to focus on my debut! If I'm not going to debut before then, then when?" Pledis is not going to lose their focus on me with some teenage-boy group, do they know how hard I've worked to this point?

"Baekji! Calm down, " she smiled, holding my arms down.

I sighed, still a bit annoyed, "Is there anything else that you need to tell me?"

Just for a second, she thought, "Well, I know that.."

Unnie looked through her Ipad,  "Oh, yeah!  We're taking you out of Jeseung International High. You're tranferring to this art school not that far away from the Pledis Building. Namlin Arts Academy. That's where the boys are going too."

It was kind of ironic listening while I was still in my Jeseung High uniform, but I was happy to hear that I was leaving that school.

I never liked it there anyway.

"Yeah, I think you're going to like Namlin. Well, although you're not going to speak English at school anymore, there are many talented kids attending the school. You can finally make friends there!"

I crossed my arms and shrugged, "Wh-what are you talking about? Psh. I-I have friends!"

Doogi Unnie giggled and shook her head. She gave me a pat on the shoulder, "Whatever you say Baekie. It's almost time for your guitar class. You should start heading over." she opened the door as I followed behind her.

"-And about the boys' and your debut, we're still unsure about the dates so don't worry about who will debut first yet."

She opened the door slightly first, "Plus, it's more likely that you'll debut way before these guys will." she lowered her voice. "We still have no idea who the other four members of the group will be.."

"-Wait, what do you mean?" I closed the door before she entered.

"Oh, but isn't it obvious though? 17?"

 "What?"

"Their group will have seventeen members total."  what...

"SEVENTEEN?!"

She laughed, "Of course, Seventeen! It's in the name, Baekji!"

I frowned. And I thought twelve was a lot.

"Oh come on, Baekie. Don't be like that! Make friends with them. You'll be training with them from now on!"

I didn't like the sound of that, but I had to agree, "Fine".

She patted my back, "And don't think I didn't forget about it," she handed me tickets. "Merry Christmas!"

"What's this?"

When I read the tickets, I was surprised to see what it was for.

"Unnie?! You didn't have to get me this?!"

She laughed, "No need to thank me, Baekji really."

"No, really. Why did you give me tickets to the Annual Seoul Circus World Concert Tour?!"

She looked at me dumbfounded, "Didn't you say you wanted to go to the Circus World concert on Friday?"

I thought about a few weeks ago, before I left, "Ohh. Unnie, no. I said I wanted to go to the SHINee World concert next week." I laughed at my manager.

"Sorry, Woojin Unnie. You can go to the circus with Teacher Youngmin instead. I can't go to circuses. Clowns freak me out." I handed her back the tickets.

"Well, okay. Youngmin-ssi always bugged me to take him to one of these things anyways, but I thought bugs were your biggest fear?"

"They are. But, clowns?" I got chills thinking about it.

"Ehh. Just no. I can't even look at one."

The sound of coughing made both of us turn to face the door, where one of the older boys were standing with a tray of cookie crumbs.

"Soonyoung, what is it?" Woojin asked the boy.

"Oh, nothing. We were just heading to our next class. Where should I put this?"

Unnie patted my arm, "Right, Baekji! You need to start heading to your class now. I'll take this. I'll see both of you later!" she took the tray from him and walked to the kitchen.

The boy's back was facing me now when he headed out. I followed him to the door noticing our height difference. He held the door for me and for a second we faced each other. He kept a serious face and slightly bowed to me. I looked at him, bowing back before we parted ways.

Soonyoung:

At the burst of an argument around the table, I got up as well. I'm one of the eldest of the twelve, so it's my responsibility to be a good leader and manage my younger brothers. I looked around at the several groups that formed, covering my ears, overwhelmed how loud they all can get. I first tried to break up Seokmin and Seunggwan and noticed that they were only laughing and mocking an argument. I rolled my eyes. "Guys, stop playing around and sit down,"

I walked towards the bickering Hansol, Wonwoo, and Samuel. I passed by the quiet Junhui and Mingming, and with just a glance at them, they sat down. 

"Just give it up. You're just a kid to her." Hansol smirked at the little Muel. Wonwoo kept snickering and whispering next to Hansol as they both looked down at our maknae. Because the were talking in a foreign language that I can't understand, I wasn't sure if they were even arguing. I placed my hands on Wonwoo's and Hansol's shoulder. "Hey, sit down and eat your cookies." It's only now that I realized how I treated them like little kids. "Soonyoung-hyung," Samuel looked up at me as he sat. "What is it, Muel-ah?"

"Hansol. Hansol-hyung is being mean." Hansol looked annoyed and took two cookies from the tray.

"Yah, Hansol-ah. Stop messing with Muellie, understand?" I jokingly hit his head with a paper plate. Samuel laughed as Wonwoo grinned. Hansol faked a laugh and smile, but I still saw in his eyes that he was still annoyed. I patted the irritated Hansol on the back before leaving.

The last group, I realized was the source of the chaos. Chan kept going on about how he is a much better dancer than them and cuter. Jihoon kept laughing and was on critical mode. He wouldn't stop talking about how better he is than the two of them, busting move here and there or singing a line of a song and saying, "Well, can you do this?"  Mingyu laughed with big eyes, "I have twice the talent, looks, charm, and height, as both of you combined!"

I walked behind the three of them, leaning on the table and took a moment to listen to their foolishness. "Children," I broke in during Jihoon's high note. He gave me dirty look after. "Break it up," I almost sang, hoping they'll listen. Jihoon and Chan gave a hard sigh and sat down. Mingyu stayed standing above me, "Haha, and once again I'm the last man standing! This proves that Kim Mingyu is the be- Oof!"

I stuffed a cookie in his mouth. The other members watched him from the table, laughing. Mingyu sat, taking a bite of his cookie. "Seriously guys. Let's not have just one girl, that we've only met today, get in the way of our relationship. We don't even know her that well or how old she is." I picked up my bag from the floor. It was almost time for vocal class.

After Seventeen's little "talk" in the practice room, the guys walked off to the next class in their schedule. I stayed behind to put the big table away and give Doogi Nuna the cookie tray back. When I walked out of the room, it was to my surprise that Doogi Nuna and Baekji-nim were still in the studio. I waited for the right time to kindly cut in for a short moment.

I ate the few remaining pieces of cookies on the tray, looking at Baekji for the first time. She was still in her school uniform which made her look innocent. I guess she seems like a nice person. Baekji's probably around my age, I thought, looking at her face, or maybe a little younger.

What came to my mind just now was that these cookie crumbs on the tray were the ones I picked up from the floor. I choked and coughed loudly. Too late, I already swallowed it.

I looked up. Their attention was on me now. "Soonyoung, what is it?" Doogi Nuna asked. "Oh, nothing! We're just heading to our next class." I brushed the hair on the back of my head. I looked at the tray, "Where should I put this?" Doogi said a few more words to Baekji before taking the tray and leaving to the kitchen. When I walked off, she followed behind. I was able to get a glimpse of her face when I held the door for her.

I don't get why the guys were fighting over her.

She's not that pretty..

I respectively bowed to her before leaving. As I walked to my next class, I thought about what the guys and I talked about at the table after I told them to stop arguing over Baekji-nim.

"I bet Hyung just wants her to himself," Mingyu mumbled with the cookie to his mouth. I gave him a face.

I never look at girls. I'm too focused on training to pay attention to the female trainees around me. My love and passion goes to dancing.

  "That's not true!" Chan snapped back with a thought that he just remembered. "Hyungie already has one girl for him." The guys begun to giggle and nudge my stomach. I switched from leader-mode and began to blush.

I felt my face heat up again after the thought of it. Okay, maybe there is one girl that I found interest in. "Aigoo! Soonyugie-hyung is turning all these shades of red! So cute!" they teased.

 I covered my warm face at the thought of her.

It's not Baekji, her name is Rian.

 

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Sorry for the long, long, long, long wait T.T I begun this story around sometime in February 2013 but didn't finish until now . Sorry if there are any grammar/spelling errors, or if it was boring again.

The future chapters will be better. I hope..

~so the first few chapters will take place during season one of 17tv, when there was only 11 members ~But don't worry; Doyoon, Seungcheol, Dongjin, Jisoo, Junghan, and the 17th member (as of now none of us know yet) will be in the story very soon!!  It's only the beginning of the story, so I hope you stay with me and wait for the other chapters keke~:D 

Thank you to all who subscribed!! I would love to read your comments~^^ And, Happy Belated Birthday Joshua, happy new year, and happy 1 year anniversary to our 17 boys :)