“One two three and four repeat one-“ The dance instructor counted as he moved to the steps of a new choreography for their debut song.

Saera’s eyes moved along with the dance instructor’s gestures on their dance as she tried to follow the steps. Four other girls were also trying hard, following the dance steps.

In a big empty room with only a vending machine at the corner and clouds as background, a group of five girls were passionately dancing to the beat of the song.

Parallel is their group's name. Hopefully, it'll remain as that until they debut. Parallel means that the five girls, including Saera are on the same path and are thriving towards the same dream. The description was given to them by the company to memorize so that they can recite them on shows once they debuted.

Everything is changed. From their personalities to their names. The company has full power over them. Unless you give them money, they treat you as rubbish.

This is Saera’s fourth time being put in a group. However, she never debuted. She knows not to expect too much because anything can happen in a blink of an eye. She learnt it the hard way. First, she'll be put in a group to debut. Few months later, the debut is cancelled.

“Saera! Snap out it! Do the steps now, if you want to debut.” Daniel said, frowning at Saera’s actions.

Getting back to reality, Saera continues the dance for hours before they were all released to go back home.

She packed her stuffs and slung her bag over her shoulders. Her fellow members were doing the same thing as Daniel remind them to be early the next day for practice. Then, they left together to their dorm. The five members have been living together in a dorm six months ago when Parallel was created. Before this, Saera had been living in another dorm with other trainees, which is very small and there were 15 people, including Saera, staying together. They had to cramp in. Some even slept in front of the toilet or even in the kitchen.

On the way home, Saera was reminded of how her life was when she first joined the company as a trainee. She came all the way to Seoul from Busan to achieve her dreams. Once she passed her auditions, SM called her to go to the company with a guardian to sign some contracts.
Saera's father, however, disapprove of her desire to be an idol. So, her father didn't want to go with Saera as her guardian. He didn't want to have anything to do with Saera as long as she kept chasing her dreams, which means that she is still not on good terms with her father. Seeing Saera feeling so devastated at her father’s reaction, her mother decided to accompany Saera to SM Building as her guardian along with Saera's older brother. She was ecstatic.

Her excitement quickly died down when her friends told her about SM Entertainment. A company that spells trouble. A company where idols were trapped and were forced to obey their words. They told her to rethink her decision. But, Saera ignored them, thinking it was all rumors they made up because they were jealous