Soonyoung:

Evaluation Week (Day 1/Lvl.6 Trainees)

I went off to the studio in the afternoon to practice for a while before the evaluation. We practiced "Action" choreography and some other dances with our teacher. Samuel was left out in this dance and was allowed  to stand on the side. The teachers said that they'll only evaluate him for his individual performance. I felt sorry watching him alone, but at the same time, I wished I was him. Despite the "modifications" in his work schedule due to his young age, it did not require rigorous training.

I felt better today though, even if I didn't see Rian at all yesterday. Probably she was enjoying her whole Saturday with her boyfriend at the concert. That Cookie kid.

"I think we got it down, guys," the teacher nodded at the end of the song. After weeks of practicing, the twelve of us cheered in exhausted joy. I took a towel from the corner to wipe my wet face. The group took a ten minute break before practicing for our solo evaluations. Some of us went to the other studio next door to see the other level six trainees practice. 

"Hey~" Doyoon sang to us as we came in. Other trainees crowded toward the mirrors and around the floor dancing. In contrast, Doyoon sat against the wall with Soyi and Jijae, two of his female-trainee friends. I struggled to breathe in the warm-sweaty air. I only planned on staying here for at most a minute, in which I think I can only attain before dying. It was much hotter and stuffy in this studio. All of the sweaty-trainees were packed here to practice inside the small dance studio while we shot SEVENTEEN TV.

"Is your group finished in studio one?" Doyoon jokingly whined. He and Seungcheol weren't quite official Seventeen pre-members yet until the next season of 17tv in a few days or weeks.

"Our class is over already, some trainees can practice in there now if you want," Chan said.

The three of them got up from the floor and stretched. "Ohhh! Thank goodness!" Jijae stretched her muscles. "I'm dying for fresh-cool air!"  Jijae followed other trainees into the other room.

"I heard that the staff will do Seventeen's evaluations last today," Doyoon said to Chan, Mingming, and me. "That's not fair! -And you guys get first dibs at the good studio to practice too?" Doyoon faked a cry.

"The perks of being idols," Soyi added in a mutter. "But don't be complaining too much, DoDo. At least you know that you're going to be a member of their group next week with Seungcheol! Lucky..." she complained with a glare.

"Oh yeah!" Doyoon laughed, " for you, then! " He teased his female friend.

Doyoon and Soyi pushed each other around, but happily left to the cooler studio one. "I'll see you guys later. Fighting!" Doyoon greeted us with a fist for luck. 

Baekji:

I stayed up all last night to get this song finished. I chose one of my old compositions,  freshing it up by rewriting the lyrics and speeding up the tempo. I sat alone in the composition room, surprised because the rooms were usually packed with trainees during evaluation days. I almost gloated to think that I had the room all to myself. Although, the quietness and lack of energy made it harder for me to stay awake.

My guitar was sitting on my lap for hours, I forgot it was even there. I went over my song more than thirty times since I came from my dorm this morning, or at least I think. I tweaked some lyrics and some notes here and there and started over again, and then again. I used some of my teachers' advice and edited the song to reach the judges' levels of expectation. I replayed the song over and over again, trying to improve myself.

I only had three hours of sleep last night at the dorms, which was a drag. I still couldn't get used to the dark- eye bags that felt heavier by the minute. It was worse last year when evaluations were on a Thursday. I stayed in the Pledis studio until three a.m. with homework still waiting for me at the dorm. With school still the next day, I only had thirty minutes of sleep. Think about taking a school exam that day too. When it was over, regular students felt relieved that they can go home and rest, while I stay up until midnight training. 

"Stop complaining, Baek. Remember why you must do these things," I tried telling myself at these kind of times. "Hard work will get you to your dreams faster. Hard times are only temporary, and then you can take a breath out in happiness as you sit in a cloud of success when the sun shines upon thee."

What the heck was I saying. My body felt weak and my brain was mush, my forehead was breaking out too. I felt like a zombie, dragging myself to practice. My vocal coaches told me to drink tea to prevent my voice from straining before evaluation, but it was only making me fall asleep!

I checked the clocked above me. 30 more minutes.

My heart beat as evaluations came closer and closer, almost bouncing at the anxiety.

Thirty more minutes until failure. I pinched myself for thinking that. 

I took a deep breath and thanked the world and skies that after today, the tensions will simmer down. The tensions among training is even higher these days, it feels like any moment the Pledis building would explode.

Not knowing what to do anymore, I took a quick run out the door to the bathroom to rinse my face with cold water.

 I must pass the judges' standard. I walked stiffly to the restroom with an eagerly-pensive mood.

 There is no way that I'm going to disappoint them this time. I must stand out.

Soonyoung:

During our early lunch at a nearby sandwich shop, I decided to leave back to Pledis before the others. The individual evaluation was all that went through my mind, from now, since last night when I had nightmares about failing. My confidence in my choreography and SEVENTEEN's performance was about a hundred-percent.

It was only vocal evaluation was all that gave me nervous-sweats. My heart felt weird whenever thinking about it. 

I walked along the sidewalk with my hands in my pockets, singing my song quietly. I looked up to the people that I passed by, consciously. I hid my face whenever I felt my voice cracked, eyeing every single one I passed again, increasing my pace until I made it into the studio.

The building was only blasts of noises in my ears with music booming through every wall. The loudness was almost unbearable, the aura at the entrance was extremely-energetic in a questionably good, or bad way. I covered my ears, running straight to the piano room. I made it on time as the trainees were leaving. Immediately, I shut the door to sit on the stool for a second to breathe, taking in the beautiful peacefulness and silence I haven't cherished for so long. 

I then turned to face the board of black and white keys, considering that maybe my song would sound better accompanied by a piano. I felt a jolt for a moment to believe that the evaluators would love this. Too bad I know nothing about playing the piano, I realized.  

I hesitated looking at every key as if I knew what note they were. A B C D E F G H, H? There's no H, right? What are these other keys, then?! 

 I sang the first note of my song, gambling to see if I could match it with the piano. Every wrong note was like a beat in the back, making me frustrated. Ugh, forget this!

I got up to leave the piano room, anxious to find another method for last minute improvements for my performance. I looked down at my phone as I passed through the door, putting the earphone in an ear. I stepped back, almost bumping into someone who was coming in.

I looked up when her scent was familiar. "Oh- Hello, Rian!" At that moment, my stress inched away and I smiled.

"Hi, Soonyoung," She replied in almost a whisper. Only then did I notice that she hid wet, red eyes. Rian hurried passed me to walk to the piano room. 

I rushed down, stopping her at the door, alarmed. "W-Wait, Rian." I stood in front of her as her head dropped, she didn't want to face me. I gulped. What is a boy supposed to do when he sees a girl cry? "Why are you crying?" I asked in the most gentle way I could. I bent my head in attempt to see her eyes. 

Rian sniveled, looking up to reveal her sobbing face. She jumped when she saw how close I was to her face. 

I almost jumped too at her reaction. I awkwardly stood back, looking away, "S-Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." She brushed hair away from her face to only laugh in tears. She gave out a breath and nodded. "I'm so stupid," she said in a rough voice. I blankly watched her as she slid down against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest when she sat on the floor. 

I followed next to her. I bent down as she covered her head again. I still wasn't sure what she was so upset about. "You're not stupid," I replied sincerely.

Rian's mouth laughed again, above it, I only saw the tears in her eyes form. It scared me, almost, making me worried sick for her. "Tell me what's wrong." I got off of my knees and sat in front her. 

Rian sniveled, trying to end her cries. "I-It's about..." She exhaled. "K-Kook-..."

"That Cookie-kid?" I raised an eyebrow. "What, did he break up with you?"

I guess that I brought it up too quickly or harshly because she began to ball again. Talking to Rian right now felt like Jenga. I hate Jenga. Sorry Rian.

​"Oh..." And so, I tried picking up the blocks again. "I'm so sorry, Rian! I didn't mean to- like- um...bring it-...up- I'm-... sorry?" Nice try.

Rian wiped her bare face and that reminded me that I had tissues in my pocket. I quickly took them out and handed the handful to her. Rian took a look down at them. I looked at my hand too. They weren't tissues, though. They were only wrinkly napkins with the sandwich shop's logo on it. 

​Rian took one out of my hand with a chuckle. "Thanks," she said sarcastically, but in a happier tone.

"No problem," I smirked. 

Rian wiped the tears away from her face, getting a hold of herself. "I sang the song to him in when we had our picnic on Friday." Her face was calm now, looking towards her feet.  She chuckled. "He loved it, or at least- I thought he did." Rian furrowed her eyebrows for a moment, thinking. "The day was just so perfect- and then the next day..." She paused, her eyebrows were still furrowed.

"That's when you went to the SHINee concert, right?" I woke her up from a thought.

She looked at me, then back to her shoes, "Y-Yeah. I was planning on meeting him there. I probably waited in line for more than an hour, until I spotted him at the frozen yogurt shop right across the venue."  She paused again.

"-And then what happened?" I asked softly.

"Well, I got out of line to see what he was doing there. And he-" She coughed and struggled to talked. "Sorry," She cleared , taking breaths. "I saw him inside having some apple frozen yogurt with red gummy-bears...his usual." She barely smiled at the memory. "-But there, when I walked towards him, I could hear him talking to someone. A- a girl."  Rian frowned, she begun talking in a soft tone. "He told her that he was heading to the SHINee concert with his cousin," Rian chuckled. " I...I knew it, but I was just hoping that he wasn't like what everybody told me." She nodded in regret.  "-and then he promised her that he'll give her Taemin merchandise...on their date next week-" Rian's voice faded at the end of the sentence. 

Hesitantly, I placed my hand over hers. "I'm sorry, Rian." 

She wiped the last tear from her eyes, "Taemin's mine."

I had to process what she just said. I tried holding back my chuckle, but it poured out once I peeked a grin from her lips. I was glad to know that she was fine.

"Ugh! So I worked so hard to get those tickets for the concert you ended up not going to?!" I asked sarcastically.

"Oh. Of course I had to go! There is nothing that would stop me from going to SHINee's concert!" Rian yelled. She playfully hit me, as I cringed in pain, crying. I masked it with a smile and laugh before she noticed.

"And best of all, he let me hold the tickets and backstage passes! He didn't even get to see the show," she chuckled evily.

"He didn't find you in line?"  I asked less connected to the conversation. I was too glad that Rian dumped that Cookie-kid good.

"I tried my best to hide behind other people. He never found me," Rian gloated. "That kid will fade in history," She snickered, playing with the napkin in her hands.

Rian looked to me and we met eyes for a second. She flashed a small grin, like sunshine after a storm...or for me, it felt like the ring of your phone when it dies and you charge it for a couple of minutes and it turns back on. 

Rian blinked, reverting her gaze forward. "Well, I'll let you go now. Sorry I stopped you from practice." She got back up on her feet.

"Oh, no. Don't worry about it." I stood as well.  I cleared my throat and scratched my head. As she stood there in second before leaving, I contemplated whether to hug Rian or not. Are we close? Close enough to hug each other? Soonyoung, makeup your mind!

"I'll see you later. Good luck with practice!" Rian said with her feet already leaving. I waved back at her, my eyes following her until she was gone.

Dang, missed my chance.

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Baekji:

I walked out of the bathroom, refreshed. I shivered walking out. The building was much colder than it was in the restroom. Trainees zoomed pass me, left and right, the cool breeze making the little hairs on my face raise and my ears feel like cold pieces of raw tuna. I took hold of the end of the collar of my sweater to hang them to my ears and walked back to the practice room with half of a face.

The song I've been preparing and the thought of my performance was the only thing in my mind as I advanced  to studio three. I began to experience more symptoms of evaluation week. I looked down to my feet to see myself stepping to the rhythm in my head. My head bobbed as I hummed the tune that will seem to forever be wired to my brain. My right hand strummed against the side of my thigh as if they were strings. My expressions and moves I have prepared today were right on point. Look at the judges fiercely here, shake my head there. I entered the studio as I looked back to my feet to see them almost skipping.

"Ahck."

Soonyoung:

I exchanged my shoes on the rack before entering the dance studio when our choreographer called our group. Only a few more minutes until evaluations for level six trainees begun. I was pumped, ready to present my teachers improvement and potential.

I chose an empty corner to tie my shoes as the rest of the trainees were preparing to leave. Familiar giggles brought my attention to look up, and I saw Rian on the other corner with other girls noticing my gaze. Rian grinned, waving at me, making my heart tingle. I smiled before watching her leave with the rest through the other door. Sighing, I looked back to my shoes with a mind to jumbled to remember how to tie them.

"Ackkkk!" a girl tripped over me, her yell like a punch in the eardrum. I toppled to my , watching her face ready to plant on mine. Her face was covered, but still I wasn't surprised of whom I ran into once again. I defended myself with the palm of my hand squishing against her forehead before she touched me. I pushed her face away, recoiling her back to her wobbly feet. 

"You really can't get your hands off of Soonyoung can you, Baekji?" Eunhyun-noona, one of our dance instructors laughed as she passed by.

"Get off of me. Gross." I wiped the germs off my clothes. 

"Attention level six trainees; please report to studio one now for evaluation!" We heard Youngmin's voice through ceiling speakers. I peaked through the door to see trainees and most of my group mates gathered next to Youngmin and his microphone. 

My eyes went back to Baekji before opening the door. "Ready?"

Her lip quivered, looking through the door than at me. "Evaluations are already starting? Last time I checked we had thirty-minutes. I-I just came from the restroom to wash my face."

"What, did you fall asleep?" I smirked."Come on," I said before she replied. She followed behind me as I walked into the studio.

More trainees entered after a couple of minutes as the rest of us were asked to sit against the wall. With others squishing in front of our feet, I sat with my group against the mirror as Baekji with us at the end with Doyoon. The feeling was unpleasant with my anxiety of evaluation mixing with discomfort from the trainees breathing on me.

For a large group of people in a room, our voices were toned down to only whispers, but even in quietness I could still feel the tension among the people. A camera was set up next to the table of trainers, adjacent to us, facing the other wall. These were the hours of Evaluation week when the Pledis building was suddenly silent, almost eerie, giving me indescribable chills throughout my body.

Suddenly, our CEO of Pledis stepped in from the door in front of us as we all stood. "Hello," we all bowed.

"Hello. Please sit down everyone, as we must proceed with evaluation." Youngmin passed him a microphone. "Yes. Good afternoon, trainees. As you all know, today is a very important day each of your trainers and I will evaluate your skills and improvement. I observed that most of you were preparing for this day,and for my highest-level trainees I expect the best from each of you. Let's begin." 

It was as if I could feel everyone's heart at that moment fall with mine, I even believed that the floor was going to break at that moment. The CEO walked behind the table and sat in his seat in the center. He returned the microphone to Youngmin as he read the first trainee from the clipboard.

"Jang Baek-Ji."

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A/N: Hey guys! It's funny because I started this fanfic during Season One of Seventeen TV, so the story takes place at that time. So now this is a "pre-debut story".

I can't believe our boys already debuted! If you guys need a refresher, they are supposed to look like this here:

-ish (this is season 2).

-I feel like also that I go on too much about the training life that it clouds over the story(?)

-Well just tell me your thoughts in the comments because I love reading every single one of them!

-taegyoelf