Higher (Chapter 1)

“Vicky please come forward.”

I exhaled slowly and walked from in between my members. The sweat dripped down my forehead into my closed eyes and I wiped my face before looking at YG. I opened my eyes to see him looking up at my drenched state. His eyes trailed up to mine, “I thought I told you to lose your accent, huh?” he asked. I nodded and looked him straight in the eyes. "You did very well to focus on what you already have learned." he muttered writing his replies on his evaluation sheet. "Make sure to work on that accent," he continued.

“Next time we meet it will be gone. You did good today.” I nodded and bowed. I stepped back and kept my head down as he called Pan Ho Jeong. She had dark brown eyes and her black hair came past her shoulders. She looked at me and stepped forward. Her long black stuck to her forehead and nape. She smiled brightly at him and waited for her evaluation.

“As a lead vocal I expected more out of you. Your voice cracked three times,” YG stated looking at her shaking his head. Ho Jeong’s smile slowly started to fall and she crossed her arms behind her back. “Once during the ballad and twice during the final song. Can’t you get it right?” he questioned her. She simply looked down and nodded. He shook his head and motioned for her to move back. She bowed deeply and stepped beside me.

The last member to get an assessment was the youngest, Seo Na Na. Her highlighted brown hair came down to her chest and although she was the youngest she was closest to my height. She sauntered forward and froze in place. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement on your part Na Na. You blended well with the group this time. Keep improving, understand?” Na Na nodded, thanked him, and stepped back into the rest of the group. We waited for YG to continue.

“There was some improvement, but some of you are still lacking. If I do not see individual development that will give me a reason to stop all of this together.” The hair on the back of my neck stood. I felt Ho Jeong flinch as those words cut through her. The remaining trainees around the room started to murmur, but quieted as YG proceeded.

“That’s all for today. Worker harder.”Everybody bowed to him as he and the judges walked out of the training room. I stretched my arms behind my head and let out a big yawn. I felt Ho Jeong wrap her arms around my neck and hug me. We both walk over to our stuff and she let go of me.

“Did my voice really crack?” She whispered. I grimaced.

“Yeah, but we all know you can nail the song. It was probably just nerves. We can all improve,” I told her. She nodded absently and grabbed her stuff. We waited for Na Na and walked to the hall where the other member were waiting.

On the ride back to the dorm it was silent; except for a manager encouraging words. We were all probably thinking about what had happened twenty five minutes ago. My head was swirling with thoughts. Could I improve on time? What if he gets rid of members? What if he gets rid of me? I toyed my necklace and looked out the window. I’ve only been in Korea for three months and it wouldn’t be worth it to go home. I had worked hard being a black trainee: worked even harder trying to standout.

“I’m so hungry!” I said walking into the elevator. The members chuckled at my loudness. “Somebody should make kimchi stew for me! I’ll give out free dance lessons!” I said. The offer was met with silence. I frowned, but remembered that Ho Jeong had leftovers in the fridge. “Yah Ho Jeong, can I have your leftovers?”I asked and she give me a face.

“You know I don’t have enough for the two of us,” she said sighing defeatingly. “Just leave me some.” I pumped my fist into the air happy I was being fed. Na Na giggled at my actions and leapt out of the elevator. We walked to the dorm and I punched in the code. Shoes were slipped off and jackets were thrown into closets. I walked into the kitchen to heat up the leftovers.

“I could have done so much better!” Ho Jeong pronounced collapsing dramatically into the chair. Her forehead banged onto the table causing her to rub the pain away. She pouted and looked up at me as I prepared the food.

“It isn’t the end of the world and plus— after this quick snack I want to go back to the training center. You want to come?” I asked her as I turned the stove off. I poured the food into a bowl and Ho Jeong dug in. “Yaa! Wait for me!” I yelled playful at her. She looked up at me still chewing.

“You should get producer Kim to help you. You know his schedule right?” I asked. She blushed looking down into her food. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. “He’s probably working with Team B right now.” She replied chewing. I smiled lightly at her. Within the span of three months I had watched Ho Jeong develop a relationship with our vocal coach and YG producer, Kim Jae Dol. I a lot because of her “relationship” with him, but I was worried for her. We all had our secrets, yet we had to be weary. Ho Jeong was wearing her heart on her sleeve.

“Maybe we can catch a glimpse of Han Bin down there too.” She said teasing me this time. I laughed loudly and nodded my head agreeing with her. We had met Team B right after the stopped filming WIN. They were faithfully in the training rooms everyday either singing or dancing till the early morning. We had even seen them in the cafeteria eating among themselves. Even though we were all trainees they were well above us. Han Bin, the leader, composed, wrote lyrics, and did choreography for the whole team. Rumored had it that he and Bobby were gonna be in a competition show going against other rappers.

“Did you finish?” I asked her looking across the table. She nodded and placed the empty bowl into the sink. Ho Jeong grabbed her phone charger and I walked back to my room. “I’m gonna head back to practice some more Na Na, don’t wait up for me.” I told her. She looked up from her studies. “Ok.” She replied quickly looking back down at the Japanese book she was reading.

I slipped on my shoes and jacket as Ho Jeong waited out in the hall. I texted our manager telling him we were going to be coming back late to the dorm. Since we lived six blocks away we walked. As expected our dance room was empty and the lights were off. Walking in I took off my jacket and Ho Jeong raced over to the computer. “I’m doing the song I messed up most with. I will dominate this song.” She said swiveling in the chair. I walked over to her and waited for her to play the chosen track.

“Here we go.” Ho Jeong said as the music started up. She grabbed the mic from the cabinet and proceeded to sing. I listened carefully to her tone and made sure she didn’t fall flat. Knowing that the next part was what made her fault in the evaluation. I took extra care to listen and when Ho Jeong effortlessly sang the notes I could feel her smile through her voice. She stopped singing and started dancing to the music. I watched amuse as she wiggled across the room. She caught my eye and noticed the face I was giving. WIthin those seconds we were both laughing, but then someone interrupted us.

“Are you practicing?”