“Yah, Baekhee-yah.” Baekhee groans when she feels her mom shakes her body harshly and tugs away her blanket. “Get up. Your boyfriend is here.”

Baekhee squints her eyes in confusion. “Who?”

“Your boyfriend. Park Chanyeol.” Her mom tsks and grabs her hand to sit her up. “Now get up and wash yourself. A girl should always look good in front of her boyfriend.”

“But Chanyeol is not my boyfriend.” Her mom waves away her retort, leaving her alone pouting over the fact that she needs to wake up this early.

She washes her face, brushes her teeth, put her hair into pony and put on her tracksuit before she gets down. There she sees Chanyeol is chatting with her parents, laughing over God knows what but it makes her feeling fuzzy inside. This is not good.

“Chanyeol-ah. Let’s go. Umma, Appa, I go first.” She runs away even before her parents reply her greeting.

“Ah that girl is always rude.” Her mom grumbles. “Sorry Chanyeol-ah.”

Chanyeol bows slightly to her parents, giving them slight smile. “That’s okay, Auntie. We will go first.”

Baekhee has been waiting in front of her house, in the middle of putting on her shoes when Chanyeol walks out. He is wearing a plain white t-shirt with a black jogging pants. It is simple but somehow it looks good on him. Stop it, Baek. It’s just a normal clothes really.

“Good morning.” He says, too cheerful for this morning and Baekhee only grunts in reply.

“Are you ready to jog with me?”

“Since you forced me to eat last night, you must accompany me at least 5 laps around the neighbourhood before we go to SM.”

He gives her a smile makes her heart stops beating for a while. “Call.”

---

Baekhee regrets for challenging him for 5 laps. She barely made it to the last lap but her pride forces her to pour her strength to defeat him. The man still has energy to joke around and she is covered in sweats, barely breathing when they finish their morning jog.

They are sitting in a bus on the way to SM building since Baekhee doesn’t have any energy left if they were to go there by foot. Few girls enter the bus and Chanyeol feels Baekhee goes rigid beside him. He looks at her concernedly but she looks away from him, putting on her earphones. He is about to ask her what’s wrong when one of the girls, Jiyoung, calls him.

“Chanyeol-sshi.” She waves at him and Chanyeol waves back at her, he doesn’t notice that Baekhee is scowling beside him.

The girls are also trainees in SM same as them. While Chanyeol doesn’t know them really well, Baekhee has few experiences with them that she doesn’t wish to repeat. These are the bully that makes her early days in SM like hell on earth. They are older than her, more experienced than her and yet their coaches favour Baekhee more than the girls.

In SM, the trainees are put into several categories. From the most likely to debut to the least likely. Even though Baekhee has only joined SM for one month, she was put into the most likely to debut with Jongdae who was also passed the audition. And somehow Baekhee understands why this girls don’t like her. She is a newbie and yet she is almost debuted, not like them who are still grasping with uncertainty.

The girls decide to sit around them, Jiyoung sitting at the seat beside Chanyeol and the others surrounding her, clearly trying to flirt with Chanyeol. But Chanyeol being himself, is so dense of their so obvious flirting, politely entertaining them with enthusiasm.

Stupid Park Chanyeol! She curses inwardly.

“What are you doing with that girl?” Jiyoung’s fake sweet tone makes her squirms in her seat. Even though she doesn’t mention whom is she talking about, Baekhee knows that they are talking about her.

“Ugh, look at her. She is all sweaty. Even the back of her shirt is wet with sweat. Does she even take showers?” Mira’s disgusted voice is heard and Baekhee turns up the volume of her earphones, trying to ignore the jab.

“We have just finished our morning run.” Chanyeol replies on her behalf and Baekhee wants to bang her head into the window after she hears that.

“Oh really?” Jiyoung asks, surprised and steals a glance at Baekhee who is still busying herself with her phone. “With her? I thought you have better taste, Chanyeol-sshi.” She says with mocking tone and there’s gone Baekhee’s last shred of patience. She pushes the bell, the sign that she wants to alight at the nearest bus stop even though SM building is located 3 more stops ahead. It’s better for me to walk rather than being in the same bus as that girls.

“Excuse me.” She tries to pass Chanyeol and the giggling girls before Chanyeol grabs her wrist to stop her.

“What are you doing?” He asks but she releases his grip easily.

“I need sometime alone. I’ll see you later.”

----

Yifan is walking alone from the dorm to SM building when he sees Junhee’s getting out from an expensive car.

“I’ll see you later, Appa.” She pecks her appa’s cheek and starts to walk to the entrance.

Junhee is rumoured to have an impressive family background. Her father is a professor and her mother also a high school teacher before she decided to retire and became a housewife. At first, Yifan thinks it is only a baseless rumour but when he sees her coming with an expensive car, it might be true and to be honest, it wounds his pride.

It’s not like he is coming from a poor family. His family is quite well off in China but after his parents divorced 10 years ago, his mother brought him to Canada to make a new life, away from her ex husband. Not that he blamed his mother but sometimes, he wishes that she is not that selfish to run away to Canada. He knows that it is all for his own good and the fact that he can speak English fluently is all because of her decision ten years ago to move from Guangzhou to Canada but he sometimes wonders if she didn’t make the decision, she wouldn’t struggle with all those bills and his education.

“Hey!” A pat on his arm jerks him and Junhee looks at him guiltily.

“Sorry if I startle you.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I shouldn’t daydream this early.” He waves it off, feeling his cheeks burning being caught of daydreaming with Junhee.

“Yeah. What are you thinking about?” She sends him an easy smile, “Girls?” Grinning when Yifan looks away flushed.

“I knew it! You must be thin