"Are you nervous for today?"Kim Areum, the trainee that had singing classes with me, asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"Nervous? No... Why?" I asked.

"Oh my god... You don' know?" she questioned, her voice getting a bit louder and her moon shaped small eyes getting wider. I shook my head. "Today we are having our singing contest day... Did no one tell you about it?" I shook my head once again, confused.She rolled her eyes, like I was supposed to know this information. "Okay, so every month we have sort of a singing contest here in SMent. Usually we sing the song we have been practicing in the following month.. The judges are our teachers and three or four members of a band. The top 3 always get a lot of recognition and are seen as a threat because they're one step closer to actually getting picked." I smiled, I had been practicing TTS's Baby Steps for two weeks, I was pretty proud of it, even Baekhyun, a great singer and a SNSD fanboy, said my cover was as good as the original... Areum probably noticed my happiness because she smirked "Don't get your hopes too high... This week we have Yoona, Taeyeon and Luna as our idol judges... They're pretty though. Besides, you've only been here for a month, no one wins with just a month of practice." She finished, grabbing her neon pink and yellow Nike bag and leaving. I sighed. Although a month seemed like a long time to me, it was nothing compared to the time some of these trainees have been here for. Areum has over six years of practice, I can't compete with her...  Suddenly I remembered something,a wave of excitement washed over me. This was my last lesson of the day, and it was still noon. I could go home, eat, practice and comeback full of energy for this contest. Besides, EXO had no schedule and it was Kyungsoo's cooking week ( after last week, which was Baekhyun's, when all of us ate fried chicken the whole week, some delicious homemade jajangmyeon was all I could think about).

I came home and Baekhyun was already setting up the table. I layed my backpack on my bed and hurried downstairs, to help him placing the chopsticks.

"So, are you excited for today?" I looked at him.

"Did everyone know about this besides me?" I answered

"You didn't know?" Joonmyeon asked, taking the chopsticks from Baekhyun, who glared at him "These are wood chopsticks, we can't eat jajangmyeon with these, it doesn't taste as good." I sighed.

"No, how was I supposed to?"

"Usually the older trainees explain everything to the younger ones... That's why we never told you anything, we thought the other trainees told you." Joonmyeon replied, I my chopsticks, savoring the nonexistent taste of food also known as the taste of iron.

"No one told me anything... Not like I'm surprised, the girls don't seem to like me that much..." Joonmyeon and Baekhyun shared gazes "What do you two know?" I asked them, pointing my chopsticks at them. Jongin came into the kitchen and sat next to me.

"There are rumors going around that you're living with us..." he said quietly, my eyes widened and I gasped a bit.

"People know?!" I cried slightly.

"No! Of course not! As Jongin said, these are rumors, no one knows for sure... But that makes the girl trainees hate you." Chanyeol, who had just sat down, said. I sighed.

"I never really had girl friends anyway... Forever alone!" I said and did the peace sign. Baekhyun smiled.

"Not really, now you have us..."

"Will you paint my nails?"

"No" they all answered in unison.

"Will we badmouth boys while eating gallons of ice cream at three in the morning?"

"There's nothing to badmouth boys for." Jongin said.

"We are sort of perfect" Chanyeol finished. I laughed.

"I guess that's a no"

"Precisely" Baekhyun said, smiling.

"I need some girl friends" I replied, sighing and placing my head on my hand. Kyungsoo placed a huge bowl of jajangmeyon on the table.

"Let's eat!" He smiled. He smiled a lot. Before I met him, I looked at him as this very serious squishy guy, but, although he is tidy and very responsible, he is not at all that serious. "Don't worry Cath, you'll do amazingly well"

"Thank you... But I think either Areum or Soojung will win... They're really good singers." Joonmyeon choked on his noodles.

"Kim Areum?" he asked, widen eyes, after drinking a full cup of water.

"You know her?" I asked. He nodded.

"Hyung used to practice a lot with Areum when he was a trainee... " Sehun explained.

"I never saw her again once I debuted, I thought she had given up..." Joonmyeon finished. 

"Does she treat you badly?" Baekhyun asked.

"Sort of... I mean, none of the girl trainees treat me nicely, but let's just say she's the one that treats me the worst.." I said, thinking about all the "accidents" that have happened with her. She spilled her drink on me four times, two of those it was flaming hot coffee ( the boys asked me why I was holding frozen peas against my chest, I said I got hurt during practice), she spilled water on my music sheets, she would always hit me slightly when singing duets, so that I would miss the right note; thinking about it, she was actually pretty mean to me...

"It's as clear as water" Jongdae declared.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Areum doesn't like you because she thinks you live with us." explained Zitao.

"That doesn't seem like Areum. She's a good girl." Joonmyeon said.

"Sure but love blinds people" Zitao countered. Joonmyeon sighed, I looked at Zitao.

"Love?" I looked at Joonmyeon "Is Areum in love with you oppa?" 

"NO!" he answered.

"Totally..." Baekhyun said.

"She had this major crush on hyung!" Sehun finished.

"She did not! We were just really good friends..."

"Really good friends do not steal each others first kisses"  Chanyeol said. My jaw dropped. I never thought Areum and Joonmyeon even knew each other,  it had never crossed my mind, not even my wildest dreams, that she had been his first kiss. Kyungsoo hit Chanyeol's arm.

"We were 14, it has been a long time since then. She has dated other people and we haven't spoken in years. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even remember my face." I sighed. This past month I've seen Areum dating five trainees, maybe Joonmyeon has a thing for that kind of girl... I looked at the clock and my heart dropped. I had less than one hour until the competition. I didn't have high expectations, but I still wanted to impress the judges.

"Deo gakkai... Deo ddaseuhi.... Annajulaleyo"

Areum just sang "Closer" by Taeyeon. I couldn't win against her, never to be honest. She sang so well and with so much emotion. She was almost at Taeyeon's level.

"Next one is Kim Caetherineu" Yoona called, they always made my name sound more Korean, maybe they can't say Catherine ( Baekhyun doesn't seem to have a problem saying it though). I stood up and walked towards the judges, bowed and smiled. They smiled back and Taeyeon nodded, telling me to start. I heard my instrumental and sang. I sang with all of my heart. My technique was not the best, I was extremely nervous, maybe my voice wasn't likeable, but I gave my all. Within every note I sang there was a piece if my soul, and I just hoped that was enough, I just had to believe my best was good enough. I finished and everyone clapped. I was the only one Taeyeon clapped for, that probably meant nothing qualification wise, but that simple gesture made my heart jump out of my chest with joy. I bowed once again and sat back in my place. The boy trainees still had to sing, so although I was the last girl performing, there were still at least thirty boys to go.

*One hour later*

Luna got up smiling.

"Congratulations everyone! You all did a great job." she said, we thanked her and bowed, all at once. "We will think carefully about the qualifications and our final decision will be posted today at 10 p.m. Thank you for your hard work." She finished and all the judges left. I grabbed my phone, Baekhyun had sent me four text messages.

"How is it going? Have you sang already?"

"Why aren't you answering? It has been twenty minutes, you can't still be singing!"

"Chanyeol says you'll win >-< I'm with him on this one, Areum isn't even that good of a singer..."

"-_- still not answering me... When you get home I'll make you clean our bathroom as your punishment!"

I laughed, it was good to know they supported me this much, even if he was lying. I replied him and right as I was pressing send a shadow hovered me. I looked up and saw Areum.

"You had as much emotion as a cardboard" she said. I was already prepared to hear something from her, she was never nice to me, and she never will be. I smiled.

"You did very well Areum. I wouldn't be surprised if you won." I said and returned my gaze to my phone. Baekhyun was snapping me, that idiot. I can't see his pictures right now, it would be too suspicious. Areum scoffed.

"Thanks. I probably will." she gave me her best fake white smile and walked away. Sometimes she reminded me of Regina George from Mean Girls, the way she walked and how she flipped her long, fake blonde hair.

I grabbed the door nob and the smell of sweet popcorn entered my soul, literally. With everything that had happened today, I had forgotten that it was Friday, which meant it was movie night. I let my backpack slide gently of my shoulders and fall on the floor, making a quiet sound that caught the attention of a smiling boy.

"So... " he said.

"Soooo...." I replied.

"I heard you won." he said, his smile slowly turning into a smirk.

"News go by fast..." I said, smiling.

"Especially when they're good. You're the first trainee ever to win with just one month of practice."

"I really wasn't expecting this at all, to be honest."

"You deserve it though." he placed his hand on my shoulder, keeping his smile. It was the second time Jongin touched me. Although we live together, he hasn't touched me at all since our little dance moment ( that was probably only a moment in my head...) "You're amazing, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"JONGIN-AH!!! IS CATHERINE HOME ALREADY?" I heard Baekhyun screaming, I giggled. Jongin laughed a bit, probably because Baekhyun's screaming voice was honestly extremely funny, and removed his warm hand from my shoulder.

"YES BAEKHYUN! I'M HERE!!" I screamed and walked towards the kitchen. He was standing besides the microwave, for some reason he was wearing my pink and white polka dot apron, it fit him perfectly. He looked at me and smiled widely.

"Congratulations Catherine!" he said, I ate a popcorn and smiled at him. "I spoke with Taeyeon." I almost choked on my popcorn.

"You what?! What did she say?" I asked, gasping for air.

"She said...." he began, I waited for a couple of second, he tapped the marble on our kitchen island. "I don't remember what she said, to be completely honest." I hit him.

"C'mon Baekhyun, don't tease!" I said. He chuckled.

"She said you were amazing." he finished. "She said she couldn't stop looking at you, because your performance was so captivating. She also said your voice was like honey and your singing is perfect." I died. Taeyeon was Baekhyun's noona, she was like his older sister, the one he never had. She helped him with his singing and when he was sad and lonely and about to give up, she would hold him and tell him everything would be alright, as long as he believed in himself.

"Did she really say all that?"

"Yup."

"All of those adjectives?"

"Oui!" his French skills were awesome.

"About me?"

"Of course!" I was overwhelmed with joy. I was so happy I couldn't bottle it up, I had to share some of this energy with someone. So I hugged him.

Baekhyun.

I hugged Baekhyun.

And the most surprising this was that...

He hugged me back.