Minseok was surprised.  

The first time he entered the practice room, he was met by trainees completely drenched in sweat. Every one of them danced with precision, every one of them held an aura of professionalism, every one of them was physically fit.

Unbeknownst to him, the last reaction held most of the impact.

As time passed, Minseok met and befriended more and more of his fellow trainees. Each one of them had left similar first impressions: Joonmyun was extraordinarily thin, Yixing was obviously as bony, and the tall and foreign looking man on the stairs (Minseok later found out that he was Kris) held the appearance which could make any female fall for him in an instant.

Being surrounded by such handsome people might have left Minseok with double the negative emotion he felt when he first entered the company.

Being surrounded by such people might have given Minseok the ideas of quitting his dream before it even began.

Being surrounded by such people might have caused Minseok to feel insecure about his appearance every single practice day.

But it did not.

He convinced himself not to give in and to always hold the mentality that he was not as weak as others may think. He was still the happy-go-lucky man whom he knew he was.

Kim Minseok was not about to give in.

_ _ _ 

He did not always give support to only himself. A few streets away from Minseok’s apartment lived the rather silent girl who had unexpectedly become an absolutely irreplaceable figure in his life.

They were opposites who had somehow attracted.

They knew of each other’s favorite food, songs, gadgets and advertisements. They captured every single historical moment together and engraved it into their memories for future reference.

Everything from the most insignificant thought to the most important action was relayed to the significant other with incredible detail. They both knew of each other’s entire schedule, and they were the first to know of any change in their predictable lives. 

_ _ _

Years after he had first entered the company, Minseok gave his friend an excited call.

“Mirae, guess what?!” he asked while grinning widely.”I want to tell you this before anyone else. Now guess, guess!”

After carefully wondering for several seconds, the said girl answered, “I have a potentially correct judgment, but I want you to tell me first.”

With a laugh filled with hope and relief, Minseok revealed,

“I’m debuting.”                                                         

_ _ _

“You cannot debut looking like that,” the formally dressed woman stated almost disgustedly. It was the same woman whom Minseok had first met when he had entered the company. He hesitantly stared at his feet as she continued to meticulously inspect him.

In reality, he was not confused or angry because of her almost informal actions. As ashamed as he already was, Minseok long expected her objection.

“You need to lose weight,” she said directly. 

The woman continued, “Your face is too chubby and your arms are too big.”

Minseok bit the inside of his cheeks due to embarrassment and in hope that his face would then appear smaller to her.

“Look at Jongin and Yixing,” she started without noticing his efforts, “they have figures which would automatically attract fans. How about you? You can’t rely on talent for first impressions.”

Minseok felt himself become smaller and smaller as he stiffly stood in her huge office. Her words were much more than a slap in the face or a merciless kick in the stomach. It was an emotional scar, one that doesn't heal easily.

But Minseok knew that other people would readily agreed with her. He understood that she was only doing what she believed was best for the soon-to-debut group.

However, the worse fact was that he accepted what she said. Instead of fighting for what he wished to believe about himself, Minseok immediately gave in. All his past self pep talking was deemed useless. He knew that he needed to lose weight. 

“I’ll start the diet today.”