Prologue

Lee Yoon Mi, a Korean-American 22-years of age, anxiously gazed out the window of the plane. The open sea was something she knew well. How beautiful it was even from a distance as great as the sky. Her flight was heading to Seoul, South Korea; she was chasing after a dream she's had since she was young. She was always fascinated with music - dancing, singing, rapping, even learning her fair share of instruments - but her real passion was songwriting. Only a bit over a month before then, she had auditioned to become one of SM's new lyricists. She remembered the day well.

The audition was in LA, her hometown. The line to audition was huge and as expected many of the hopefuls therein were getting as much last-minute practice as possible. Yoon Mi noticed a majority of them were singing well-known songs; since she was going to audition as a lyricist, she realized just how risky singing with her own original song was. She clenched her ukelele tightly along with the boxed lunch she had prepared for the long wait. As much as she wanted to do it and get it over with, she couldn't help but feel nervous and at the same time want to avoid auditioning at all. The process leading up to the audition seemed to speed through, and, before she knew it, she had been brought to a room with nine other girls. 

Her heart racing with anticipation, she stood on a line of white tape near the wall as she was told along with the other girls. Many of the girls were much younger than her, and the others looked to be around her same age. There was a middle-aged woman sitting at a table in the front while a younger lady worked a camera next to them. Soon after the door was shut and everyone was in line, the first girl was asked to start. Yoon Mi was fourth on the line. The first two girls sung a quick verse of what they said was their favorite songs and the third modeled a few poses confidently. Though they all did well, Yoon Mi noticed that while they auditioned the woman at the table barely paid them any mind and typed away on her phone. She wished she hadn't noticed when she did because now she was all the more nervous about her own performance. It was her turn and she could hardly speak with her heart feeling as if it were galloping up .

Yoon Mi took a deep breath nervously saying, "I would like to audition as a songwriter. I'll be singing a song I wrote myself called 'Life Alone.'" She ped and took her uke out of its case and held her boxed lunch between her thighs while she got ready to play. The camerawoman was about to speak up when she began singing, but was overshadowed by Yoon Mi's angelic voice. It filled the room and the other girls looked on her impressed while at the same time more anxious to sing themselves. Yoon Mi noticed the woman at the table unlike with the other auditions stared at her the whole time even before she started singing; something was probably stuck in my teeth Yoon Mi assumed. Her eyes were like two branding irons torching her soul. It was definitely intense, and the whole while the camera woman was whispering in the woman's ear.

She finished the same way she started - shaky and nervous. The woman at the table said something to her in Korean, but she couldn't quite make it out due to the claps from the other girls. "If you could please state your name," the camera woman spoke above the applause. She must've been a translator too Yoon Mi thought to herself.

Yoon Mi realized then she must have forgotten to introduce herself in the rush to start the audition, but, on second thought, the other girls didn't introduce themselves either and the woman hadn't asked for their names. Strange, but she paid it no mind. "Hi, my name is Lee Yoon Mi," she replied. "I'm 22-years old and I hope to be a famous songwriter."

The woman's eyes drifted up and down as if inspecting Yoon Mi's figure then she noticed the boxed lunch in between her legs. Again in Korean, she asked, "What's that you're holding in between your legs?"

The translating camera woman was about to speak for her again, but having heard the words clearly this time Yoon Mi quickly responded in a fluster, "Oh, this? It's just a boxed lunch I packed in case the line to audition was long."

"Can I try some?" the woman asserted. "I haven't had lunch myself yet, and I'm pretty hungry."

"Uhhh," Yoon Mi was taken off guard by the question but felt like refusing would mean less of a chance of passing the audition. "Sure." So, she promptly walked over and left the boxed lunch on the woman's table. "It's just some barbecue galbi with kimichi fried rice," Yoon Mi said as the woman opened the box. "Sorry, I ate a lot of it already."

The woman didn't seem to care though. She sampled the foods and seemed very pleased with the taste making Yoon Mi more at ease. "You made this?" the woman asked.

"Yes ma'am," Yoon Mi replied respectfully. The woman kept staring at her while she continued eating for another few seconds as if expecting more to be said, but then moved on. Yoon Mi left the boxed lunch with her baffled that it wasn't returned and went back to her place in line.

Her audition over Yoon Mi was relieved, and now worried for what kind of impression she had made. She watched the other six girls audition, and, as with the first three, the woman really paid them no attention. The only exception was when the second-to-last girl sung a ballad. Her voice was amazing, but the woman only showed a brief interest - looking up and examining the girl for a moment then back to tapping away on her phone. Once the ten girls were finished, they exited the room and congratulated each other. All of them said the somewhat same thing to Yoon Mi: "She really liked you! You got this in the bag! I wish I had done that well." Yoon Mi wasn't sure though. Only time would tell if she really left enough of an impact to pass the audition.

Just over a week later, Yoon Mi and her family would get a call from a man with SM. She passed the audition! They all cheered and cried together embarrassing themselves while the man was still on the phone. He told them that Yoon Mi's plane to Seoul would leave in the upcoming weeks. Her ticket had already been paid for compliments of the company and they happily expected her arrival.

Excitement. That's all she remembered feeling. In fact, the feeling never went away; this was especially obvious now with the flight nearing its end. Yoon Mi almost squealed as the plane touched down. Her excitement was so insurmountable that even the long wait to get off the plane couldn't dull it. After getting all her things from baggage claim, Yoon Mi questioned what would need to be done next.

Where do I go now? she wondered as she glanced around the crowded airport. Then something caught her eye. Not far in the distance, a suited man held a sign with her full name written on it in Korean. It was like one of those movies she watched as a child. With her excitement reignited, she excused herself as she stumbled through the crowd to get to him. "Hi!" she exclaimed once she was in earshot.

"Are you, Miss Lee Yoon Mi?" the man said. Yoon Mi had almost forgotten that she was in South Korea now. His Korean had completely shocked her.

As she regained her sanity, she fumbled for words. "Yes, I'm Yoon Mi," she said with a giggle. It had been a while since she had spoken Korean. I hope I don't have too much of an accent now she wondered.

"Wonderful," the man replied. "If you will, I can help with your luggage and there is a car out front waiting on us." Yoon Mi smiled wider than a hippo's back side. This was the start of something new. That last thought reminded her of High School Musical, but, even with awkward brain farts like, her dream was beginning to come to fruition. She handed the man half her luggage and learned why it was named so as they bothed lugged her bags to the car. Once it was all packed in, the two of them got inside - the suited man in the driver's seat and her in the passenger's.

The man drove her to an apartment complex and let her know everything she needed to including, the land lord's rules, her room number (and quite the huge room it was), and the rest of the essentials. When they finally finished bringing everything in, the man told her that she had all that day to herself - tomorrow would be the day she met her manager. Her excitemented mounted and she thanked the man for all his help bidding him adieu with a hug and a bow.

I guess I should start unpacking she thought to herself. And unpack she did. By the time evening had come, half of everything she brought had been tucked away in drawers, shoved into cabinets, and, in the case of her family portrait, placed delicately at her bedside. It was exhausting work and she wished the man had stayed to help, but, on the bright side, she had still unpacked mostly everything she needed to. With a grin of self-satisfaction, she decided she would take a shower and turn in early. Tomorrow was the new big day - the day her dream come true would really begin so, of course, she needed as much rest as she could muster.

She washed herself while daydreaming casually about her future and running over the necessary Korean customs she knew she needed to remember in order to avoid a cultural faux pas and calamity. She had been to Korea multiple summers previously so she was pretty familiar with its culture and history, but it's always better safe than sorry. She might lose her job with one misstep. The thought crippled her. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned the shower's dial off. It all seemed too good to be true she thought as she dried her hair.

She didn't even feel like putting on night clothes so instead she went to bed in her bath robe. It was warm enough that she didn't need another covering or blanket. She curled up with her head resting on her pillow and her eyes fixating on the sun as it set beyond the distant cityscape's horizon. Why couldn't every day feel like this? That was the last thought she remembered thinking before she drifted away into the best sleep she had had in a very long time.

She woke up earlier than expected the next morning. 07:36AM her alarm clock showed. With more than three more hours until her meeting with her new manager, she decided to go ahead and prepare a big breakfast. So, she scrambled to put on some clothes and went to a nearby market. It was only after she was halfway down the street that she realized she had left without putting on makeup or letting her hair down, but it was too late to fret that now. After buying all the ingredients necessary for her early morning munch session, she returned to her apartment with a smile, sightseeing as much as possible along the way.

It would have made sense to cook a Korean-themed breakfast given that's where she now called home, but instead the meal she cooked was more reminiscent of the French pastry chef she called her roommate in culinary school. Sweet potato french fries, french toast, and a small spinach omelet seemed like a little too much while she was cooking it, but it was down within the hour.

10:23AM - about half an hour before she was to meet with her new manager. She quickly rinsed and wiped off her messy dishes then put on a cute outfit which included shorts with stripey-swirly designs and a sleeveless white blouse. She also decided to sport the black fedora her dad gave her long ago along with matching boots her mom bought before she left for Seoul. With one last examination of her outfit, Yoon Mi left in a pinch of excitement.

The suited man had left her a sheet with directions to SM's building. It was actually rather confusing and she ended up wandering around for quite a long while. Even so, she was able to find her destination and arrive right on time. Her manager would be waiting for her in the practice rooms on the sixth floor. Her excitement began to build back up as the elevator ascended floors beeping with each one passed. When she had finally made it, the practice room was more than easy to find. Room 3B around the corner and to the left. She took a deep breath before opening the door hoping to compose herself before meeting with the person who was going to regard her as a new client. I can't make a bad first impression! she thought.

It was at that moment that music started playing from behind the door. It nearly scared her seeing as she wasn't expecting anything to happen before she actually got inside. She started questioning whether she had took a wrong turn somewhere, but looking down the hall, the other rooms weren't even numbered so this had to be the place. She hesitantly opened the door only to find herself creeping in on a 12-member boy group rehearsing a dance to a loud track which played from the speakers beside her head.

Everyone in the room seemed to notice her right away, and even the 12 young men stopped and turned toward her. "Stop! Stop the music!" a man steps away from her said as he approached. "Right on time, it seems. You are, Lee Yoon Mi, right?"

Yoon Mi was flustered. She gawked around as her thoughts began to gather. "Yes," she replied. "I'm Yoon Mi. And you are?"

"Your new manager," the man stated as if continuing her sentence. Yoon Mi while still confused got excited again as he continued to introduce himself. "Hello, my name is Tak Young Jun. It's very nice to meet you." Such a formal self-introduction - Yoon Mi almost felt shamed by her own.

"It's nice to meet you, too!" Yoon Mi responded with a smile. "I look forward to working with you! May I ask who these other good-looking people are?" Yoon Mi gestured toward everyone in the room smiling brightly. Again she thought she can't make a bad first impression!

"The man standing over there near the speakers is the choreographer for the twelve boys you just saw dancing." Yoon Mi glanced over at the man and waved at him with the same bright grin. "And these good looking boys here are SM's newest rising group EXO. They'll be debuting next week."

The twelve boys all started cheering at the sound of their group name. "Wow," Yoon Mi exclaimed. "They're all indeed really handsome. So, are they the ones I'm going to be writing songs for?"

Young Jun suddenly took on a perplexed look. "No, what are you saying?"

Yoon Mi just as confused looked in his eyes and replied, "Then, what am I doing here? Am I not going to be their songwriter?"

Young Jun laughed uneasily rubbing his nose almost as if it were habit. "No, no," he said. "I think there's been a mistake."

Yoon Mi's heart felt as if it had gone missing when she asked, "So, I'm not SM's new lyricist?"

"No," Young Jun replied. "You're EXO's new chef."