Watched: George Lopez

      September 13th, 2011

September 13th, 2011

"This cast is so annoying!" Echo growled, desperately trying to itch at the skin hidden underneath the pink colored plaster.

From the kitchen, Hyorin lightly chuckled at her nieces reaction. "It's also helping you heal faster."

"Did you know I apparently don't even need this thing? SM had the doctors put it on as a precaution!"

Her confession just resulted in more laughter from her aunt. "At least you know it'll heal properly."

"It's still annoying," Echo slowly stood up from the couch, mindful of the pain racing from her back down her leg, and made her way into the kitchen. Opening the utensils drawer she pulled out a single chopstick.

Hyorin gave her a weird look. "What on Earth are you going to do with that?"

"I'm going to use this chopstick for their intended use," with an intense look of concentration Echo pushed the metal chopstick in between her cast and arm, effectively relieving her itch.

Her aunt just burst into laughter.

A shrill high pitched sound pierced the air. Echo snapped her fingers in realization, it was her new cell phone. She really had to change that tone.

"Hello?" she answered without checking the caller ID.

"Echo-ssi?" a females light voice floated through the phone.

"Yes?"

"It's Kim Miyun from SM Entertainment. We wanted to know if you would be interested in a new idol-trainee training program we're trying to implement. You would be a mentoring a trainee we believe has the potential to debut within the next few years."

Echo was shocked by the suggestion. She thought they were going to be calling her regarding not having any schedules and asking what her doctor was saying regarding her joining the group again.

Mentoring a trainee was the last thing she thought they would ever suggest.

"Uh, maybe?" she mentally winced at her response. She didn't want to say yes right off the bat because she didn't know if she would do a good job, or if she even wanted to, and she didn’t want to say no because she thought of it as being able to do something during her time off.

Echo loves her aunt dearly but she was starting to get irritated by her over-bearing, motherly nature and just being stuck in the apartment all day. She thought she would love not having a daily agenda and just doing what she wanted to, but she soon realized she can't just do what she wants and found herself on the couch watching television more than she would like to admit.

"We would love it if you at least consider this opportunity. The company believes how you helped Kim Jonghyun when you were trainees would be very beneficial to our future idols, and Lee Taemin, Jung Krystal and Kim Jinri recommended you."

"T-they did?" Echo stuttered in her surprise. Those three recommended her to train a trainee? Why?

"Yes, take your time in answering but the offer will stand only for a few days. We want to try and get everything sorted out as soon as possible, we have the trainees already chosen after all."

No pressure at all.

"I'll give you my answer within the next twenty four hours."

"Great, thank you!" the woman hung up.

Echo slowly placed her phone back down on the kitchen table. Noticing her aunts questioning look she explained, "A woman from SM just called asking if I want to take part in a trainee-idol program. I don't know what exactly they want me to do but they want me to help prep a trainee to become an idol? Apparently three of my friends recommended me."

Her aunt's eyes glittered with excitement. "That's fantastic!" she enthusiastically clapped her hands together. "I remember how helpful you were for Hanbi-ah when she was training to become an idol. Your tips helped her a lot, especially when she was put in her debut group."

Echo took a second to think over her aunts words. Did she really help her cousin prepare herself mentally and physically for debut that much? She felt like she barely told her anything regarding being an idol, hell she's barely spoken a word to her since she's become a trainee at Cube Entertainment. To add to that Taemin, Krystal and Sulli recommended her, which means they see something in her as well. But she couldn't remember helping those three train… And why didn't Jonghyun recommend her? He was the only one she actually trained. .

"I guess it could be a nice idea, and it would give me something to focus my energy on. They did say they already chose some trainees…"

"Then you should definitely do it!" her aunt happily smiled. "If they have trainees already chosen, that means they must really have faith in you to do a good job, right?"

"Huh, didn't think about that."

"So you'll do it?"

"Yeah, why not."

      September 14th, 2011

September 14th, 2011

Walking into the SM Entertainment building was surreal for Echo. She hadn't been there in a record nine days and she wasn't going to focus on anything Girls' Generation related. The keycard around her neck proclaimed her as a Girls' Generation member, and yet she was going into the building as a trainer for the first time.

She didn't know what the agency expected of her, causing her to have little butterflies fluttering within her stomach. It was a refreshing feeling for the idol. It was like being a thirteen year old trainee again. She had no idea what she was doing except for a brief paragraph of where she was supposed to go in the building and at what time from the same woman on the phone from yesterday. Just the fact that they had all of this set up so quickly made her question how probable they thought it was that she would take the position.

The idol gave a bright smile to every passing trainee that acknowledged her. A wave of memories flooded throughout her as she walked down the trainee halls. It felt like it wasn't that long ago she walked these hallways in a similar manner as these trainees, eagerly waiting for their day to debut.

"Is that Echo?"

Her head whipped around at the sound of her name. "Oppa?"

Next thing she knew she was swept into strong arms, wincing at the pain that coursed down her leg and forehead as her stitches pressed against the man's shoulder. "Echo-ah! I can't believe you're here! I can't believe I'm finally seeing you in person!"

"Hey, Donghae, let go of her, you're hurting her," Heechul jabbed the younger man in the forehead, getting him to release the younger woman.

"It feels like forever since I've seen you two!" Echo grinned.

"How've you been feeling Sungwonnie?" Heechul questioned the female idol.

"I'm getting there."

Heechul didn't further question Echo's aversion to giving a straight forward answer. "When are you getting those stitches out?" He pointed a long finger towards the neat stitches etched into Echo's forehead that were currently not hidden by a band aid (thus reminding her she needs to put one on).

"I think the appointment is the twenty-first." In all honestly Echo had no idea, the doctors said they would have an appointment to check them and she would know then and there if she was going to get them out or have to have them stay in for awhile.

"I can't believe you walked in here like that, the news reporters are going to have a field day," the taller of the two Super Junior members grinned, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets.

She shrugged, not really caring. They had pictures of her with blood rushing down her face, unconscious on a gurney, at least this time she was aware of her surroundings. "I had my hood up so who knows if they even realized I was me, they didn't scramble to attention when I walked through the door."

"Please don't tell me the label is already making you get back to work," Donghae frowned, speaking up for the first time since the opening question.

"In a way they are," Echo shrugged. Before either of the Super Junior members could voice their dissatisfaction she swiftly added, "A representative called me the other day asking if I wanted to take place in a idol-trainee training program. I thought why not since I have nothing else to do and I'm slowly going insane just staying at my family's apartment. I don't know how people just watch TV all day."

"It's because you're not like regular people," Heechul off-handedly spoke.

"It was nice seeing you two, but now you made me late," the Girls' Generation member faked a mad look, creating chuckles from the elder idols.

"It's nice to see you're doing well, Sungwonnie!" Donghae gave her a final grin, the two members walking away, back to their original destination with quick good-bye waves.

Echo gave the two a wave before resuming her goal. She had the number of the trainee room she was supposed to go to in her phone, so she probably looked like a new trainee roaming the hallways looking at every single door sign she passed.

Here it is, she twisted the long silver knob, her heart beating faster with anticipation.

What kind of trainee was behind this door? Were they a new, gullible, trainee that still had wide stars in their eyes? Or were they an older trainee who was still here simply because of a passion, while the stars in their eyes dimmed years ago? Did they have little or a lot of potential? Were they male or female? Echo's questions were endless and she couldn't wait for them to be answered. She didn't realize how exciting this opportunity was until this moment, mere seconds before meeting the mystery trainee.

Before she viewed it as something to do, now she realizes how much power she has. She has the opportunity to train a trainee that the label must see something in. A perfectly moldable trainee who she could help along their way to stardom. This trainee had a guide with years of experience that Echo could only wish she had when she was a trainee.

She pushed the door open.

Looking around the small training room she noticed an all-too-familiar electric keyboard. A faint smile made its way onto her face, this was the same training room she used to help train Jonghyun all those years ago, back when they were just mere trainees.

A soft voice interrupted her memories, "Hello, Echo-ssi."

Echo's eyes immediately began examining the girl in front of her. A thin girl with average height. medium length jet black hair, pale skin, nothing screamed 'idol'. The only thing that caught the trained idols eye were the younger girls heavily angled eyes. With the right use of makeup she could make them her charm and capitalize on something she no doubt saw as a weakness in the entertainment industry.

"Hello, you must be the trainee I'm training?"

"Yes, I'm Kang Seulgi," the girl looked extremely nervous, her small hands tightly clasped in front of her and thin shoulders slumped.

"How long have you been a trainee Seulgi-ah?"

She looked surprised at the quick use of familiar tense from the elder idol, but kept her own formality. "Four years, Echo-ssi."

"Are you a dancer? Singer? Actor?"

"I'm originally a dancer," she softly admitted, looking down as if she was ashamed that she was chosen out of all the trainees to be trained by an idol. Echo could understand where she was coming from. It wasn't a secret that she was first and foremost a singer and lacked heavily in the dancing department. Which could only mean that SM saw something great in Seulgi and they wanted her to work harder on her singing abilities in order to create a perfectly well-rounded idol.

"What would you rate your current singing ability?"

Seulgi looked surprised at the straight forward question, but quickly hid it. "Probably a three."

"Sing something."

The trainee looked taken aback, her cheeks lightly reddening. She started playing with her fingers, her mind racing to figure out a song that wouldn't cause the idol to leave.

Echo set her shoulders back without saying a word, she could easily wait until the girl was ready.

After a minute of silence Seulgi opened to sing:

"Saranghae neol ineukkim idaero
Geuryeowassdeon hemaeimui kkeut
Isesang sokeseo
Banbokdoeneun seulpeum ijen annyeong
Sumanheun al su eobsneun gilsoke
Huimihan bicheul nan jjochaga
Eonjekkajina neo hamkke haneungeoya
Dashi mannan naui segye"

A wave of pride washed over Echo at the sound of SNSD's debut song coming from the trainee. "Seulgi-ah, when I'm done with you, you're going to be at least a solid seven, got it?"

For the first time a wide smile made its way onto Seulgi's lips, she happily nodded, excitement replacing the nervousness running through her veins. She was ecstatic that the singer in front of her saw something in her.

Echo whole-heartedly returned the smile.

I heard a rumor that Echo went to the SM Building!

I wonder how Echo's doing? We've barely heard anything…

It's times like this I really wished Echo had SNS!

THE FALL SEMESTER IS OFFICIALLY OVER!!!

Which also means I should be going back to updating weekly! YAY! :D