It's been months since Kibum has gotten a call from the SM headquarters letting him know that he has to get to the headquarters in Seoul from Monday to Friday starting from 3 p.m. to however late it can get. Sometimes he'll get home around 10 p.m. and sometimes even 1 in the morning. His teacher even told him not to become an idol when he excused himself from class earlier to take the subway from Daegu to Seoul. The training was exhausting. They would do different trainings such as dancing and vocal; he's even going through English classes. He hasn't even been getting enough sleep. Everyday he'll come home from training, his mother still up waiting for him sometimes, he'll then go straight to the shower and bed. 

 

He's met a lot of other trainees, some who were new and some who have been trainees for a while already. He met some girls such as Jessica, Taeyeon and Yoona who were recruited before already. He even got to see some of his sunbaes who were getting ready for their debut as Super Junior. He was lucky enough to see his Dong Bang Shin Ki sunbaes once practicing their new choreography.

 

There were two boys who were also new trainees just like him. Taemin was a boy with an extremely pretty face. Pretty enough to be a girl. It wasn't even a joke! He could've fooled him if he wore a wig and a bit of makeup. But besides his pretty face, he was an amazing dancer, especially for a twelve year old! There was also Jonghyun. He had big eyes and a nice smile all the girl would fall for. His singing wasn't bad either. To be honest, it was better than his. It was strong and had a nice different tone he hasn't heard before. 

 

Even though he's being flooded with these new changes and people in his life, he's been able to make time for Nicole. He felt as if there was never enough time to see her and he was right. Ever since he got her number, they would be texting each other occasionally even though he couldn't reply until hours later due to his training. However, things seemed the same for her. She seemed pretty busy with other things too. He was going to ask about it but he didn't want to seem nosy. They were able to chill for a bit two weeks ago though. Seeing her and her smiles seemed to be enough to make him happy for the week, while looking forward to the next time he'll get to see her. He had found out that she actually lived in Seoul and that she was in Daegu only to help at her imo's bakery.  There were times when he felt like calling her because he'd gotten home earlier.

 

When he finally brought up the courage to call her for the first time, she hadn't picked up. He frowned thinking that she'd purposely ignored his call. For the next entire day, he'd been distracted with the thought that maybe she found him annoying. During dance, he accidentally bumped into Taemin and when he was walking out the door with his head down, he hadn't seen that Jonghyun wasn't holding the door open for him and ended up walking into it. Later on that night, he heard his phone ringing outside while he just finished his shower. Quickly, he ran out of the washroom and almost tripped while pulling on his shorts.

 

“Yeboseyo?!” he answered, a bit short of breath.

 

“Yeboseyo? Ki-sshi?” a big grin crept onto his face the second he heard her voice.

 

“Mm,” he answered as his mind raced.

 

“Sorry! For not calling back till now! I was going to call last night but by the time I saw your call it was already really late,” Nicole explained.

 

“Oh, it's okay! I thought I was bothering you.”

 

“So um... did you need something?” 

 

“Um...er...” Her question threw him off a bit. Why had he called her? Because he had missed her voice and that texting wasn't enough to satisfy him? “Well you know... I just wanted to talk to you.”

 

“....Yeah.” Nicole said, understanding how he felt. To be honest, she'd missed talking to him too. They only got to see each other over the weekends and it was like once every two weeks. She loved how he could be such a funny diva but had his caring manly side too. “So what's up?”

 

“Just showered, really tired,” he stared down at his hands while concentrating on their conversation.

 

“Oh, what did you do today?” Should he tell her about his training? He debated in his head. He trusted her a lot and they've grown so close over the past month neither of them have gotten over using honorifics. 

 

“School, and everything,” he lied. If he were to tell her, he'd rather do it in person. “Are you busy tomorrow?”

 

“Hm... nope!”

 

“Want to go catch a movie together?” he asked, trying not to sound nervous.

 

“Sure thing! What time?” her voice filled with excitement. 

 

“How about 4? I'll meet you in front of the Seoul Cinema.”

 

“That sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow then.”

 

“Alright then, good night,” he said in English

 

“Good night,” she replied back.

 

Kibum waited for her to hang up first before putting his phone down from his ear. He couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear. Everytime he thought about her, he would smile without even realizing it.  And he couldn't wait to tell her about being his big secret tomorrow. Quickly, he crawled into bed hoping that time would pass by quickly so he could see her again. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

He glanced at the time on his phone and saw that it was already 4:08. He woke up at 11 to help his umma out at the small fruit store she owned. He got home around 2 to shower but it had taken him an hour to pick out the right outfit and fix his hair. He wore a black blazer over a white t-shirt with a black key design imprinted in the middle. He matched that with a pair of black skinnies and white high tops. When he got to the subway, he had missed the 3:20 train and had to wait for the next one which was a bit late.

 

He quickened his pace to the Seoul Cinema, not wanting to be more late for their meeting. He spotted her standing by the cinema entrance. Her hair was down and in long small curls. She wore a pink summer dress with a pair of white flats. Even though she wasn't wearing anything fancy, Kibum liked it. She looked so cute and innocent looking around with a small pout on her lips while holding her small purse. It wasn't until she saw and waved at him that he had snapped out of it and jogged over to her. “Sorry for being late!”

 

“It's okay! Come on, let's go pick a movie!” she smiled, taking his arm and pulling him excitedly into the cinema. Only she could be as excited as a 3-year old riding the merry-go-round. But that's why he enjoyed being around her so much. 

 

After the movie, they spent the rest of the time together walking around and just talking. There was just so much about the past their past to talk about. They talked about school and their friends. It felt like they were best friends who haven't seen each other in years. However, Kibum waited till after dinner to tell her about the big secret. He offered to take her home since it was already dark and even though she said it was okay, he ignored her refusal. When they were walking he finally said, “There's something I need to tell you.”

 

“Sure! What is it?” she looked up at him with her bright eyes. 

 

'God, why'd she have to be so cute.' Kibum thought to himself. “I've actually been accepted into the SM auditions.”

 

Nicole stopped walking and gasped, “Really?!”

 

He nodded, not really know if she's happy about it or not. It was when she gave him hug that he felt the same happiness he felt when he had passed the auditions. “That's great! I'm so happy for you!”

 

The two of them continued to walk while he only nodded bashfully as she continued to praise him. His ears perked up when she said, “Actually I have something to tell you too.”

 

“You know all those times when I've been busy?” Looking around, she whispered “I was actually at the DSP headquarters.”

 

Kibum's eyes looked like they were going to pop out. 

 

“I've been a trainee at DSP for a year now,” she added causing his jaw to drop. It's a surprise that he's a trainee, but Nicole too? And she's been a trainee for a year already?!

 

“...Is that why you came to Korea?” he asked in disbelief.

 

She nodded happily and clapped her hands together, “Whew! I feel so much better getting that off my chest. It was getting hard trying to hide it from you.”

 

He remained silent trying to process everything in his head. “Kibum-sshi?” she frowned, a bit scared that he stopped talking. “Are you okay?”

 

“Huh? Oh! Yeah,” he smiled. “You should stop calling me Kibum-sshi.”

 

“Well...” she thought deeply, “how about Kibumie?”

 

“Kibumie? What am I, some little kid?” he joked.

 

“What! It sounds cute! I'm calling you that from now on.”

 

“Alright then Cola.”

 

“Let's work hard together Kibumie! Hwaiting!” Nicole grinned, holding up a fist.

 

“Hwaiting!” The two of them laughed and continued to talk happily about the training and people they've met. They were both naive to think that they could continue to be this close. 

 

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After their last rehearsal of the day, Nicole and the rest of the girls bowed and thanked the choreographer for coming in for the day. She grabbed her towel from the floor and wiped the sweat from her neck and face while the girls all followed the same suit.

 

“I'm a bit confused about the last part,” Seungyeon said, trying to figure out the move before the ending.

 

“Oh. Your arm's supposed to scoop across the the bottom and up and then you cross over both arms and hit,” Nicole explained, doing the motion slowly.

 

“Across...cross over... hit,” Seungyeon repeated to herself, trying it again.

 

“Yeah! That's right!” Nicole smiled. The two girls went to the change room to join the other two. Gyuri already changed into a tank top and was rinsing the sweat from her face at the sink while Sunghee was combing her hair up by the mirror. 

 

The four of them were training hard together awaiting for the day when they'll debut. Nicole was the youngest one out of the three. They'd grown quite close over the year but there were still learning about each other everyday. These 3 were one of the few friends Nicole had in Korea and it was hard because she would rarely see the girls outside of training. At school, she still had trouble communicating with the other students even though her Korean's improved over the year. Seeing her umma and the girls reminded her that she shouldn't let these things bother her. She only needed to concentrate on her goal to become an idol and work hard.

 

Walking over to her bag, the first thing she does was check her phone. 

 

1 New Message

 

Nicolaaa~

I'm texting you during my water break. We're learning a new routine! Jonghyun-hyung keeps stepping on me! Aish!

How's training for you?

-Ki.

 

Nicole smiled to herself and pressing a few keys and then send. Kibum had told her a bit about Jonghyun and Taemin before even though she's never actually seen or met them before. 

 

Sunghee peered over her shoulder and grinned. “Who are you always texting?”

 

Seungyeon joined in and sat down beside her trying to peek at the recipient's name. “Yeah! Why you smiling so much?”

 

“It's no one!” Nicole blushed.

 

“Mystery man hm...?” Gyuri snuck up beside her and snatched her phone. The three older girls peered at the small screen and cooed.  “Ouu~ Kibumie?”

 

Nicole's mouth opened but she only stuttered in English. “H-He's... err... I-I....aish!”

 

“Are you going to tell us about him or are we going to have to find out ourselves,” Sunghee grinned mischievously. 

 

“But!” Nicole started.

 

“Press the call button,” Seungyeon suggested, peering up from the screen and grinning at Nicole.

 

“No no! Okay fine! I'll tell you!” Nicole squawked, flinging around flustered arms.

 

“That's more like it,” Gyuri smiled to herself, satisfied and handing back Nicole's phone to her.

 

“Who's this Kibumie? How did you meet? And are you guys dating?” Sunghee questioned.

 

“No! We're not dating! He's just a friend I ran into after 2 years. He was an exchange student at my school when I was still in L.A.” Nicole tried hiding the disappointment in her voice knowing that it would be impossible for the two of them to date. Trainees shouldn't be dating when preparing to be an idol. It would only lead to trouble.

 

“Aw.. that's so cute!” Seungyeon's eyes softened. “It's like a little love story.”

 

“No! Unni! Why won't you believe me?” 

 

“We do,” Gyuri smiled patting my head as the three of them went back getting ready to leave.

 

“Sure you do,” Nicole pouted. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Who you texting?” Taemin asked drinking his water, he watched from afar as Kibum pressed the buttons quickly on his phone.

 

“A friend,” he answered coolly. Secretly, she meant more than a friend to him. She's always crossing his mind everyday. Everything he did he would be reminded of her and he couldn't stop wondering what she could be doing right now even if the answer was usually training.

 

“Is it a girl?” Jessica asked walking over to Ki.

 

“Maybe?”

 

“Maybes always means yes! What's her name?” Yoona asked curiously.

 

“Ou~ Ki's got a girlfriend,” Jonghyun announced. 

 

“Shut up! She's not my girlfriend,” Ki snapped. He knew that they weren't allowed to be dating.  It was one of the few things mentioned when becoming a trainee. They said that they only want committed people who are willing to give up on everything which may become distraction. They never said that they couldn't be friends though!

 

“Let's see!” Jessica said trying to grab his phone but Ki held it out of her reach and went to put it in his locker.

 

“You know, we're going to find out sooner or later right, hyung?” Taemin grinned innocently. Ki knew that this maknae is anything but innocent though. He's good at acting cute but he could be quite the rascal. It didn't matter even if they found out since Nicole and him weren't dating or anything but he'd rather keep it a secret than have rumors start spreading.