"So today we're going to be covering the next chapter of your music theory, the basis of harmonic progressions. So open your books to page 50…"

I opened the fresh, new book on my desk to page 50 and just stared. Everything was so unfamiliar and new to me as it had been years since I last learned any music theory, and I had stopped my lessons long before reaching this level. My piano playing was much better than my knowledge of music theory, and that was saying a lot, considering my skills in performance also weren't where they should've been.

"As you can see, there are many different chord progressions that can sound good, but the whole premise of making these melodies is based on the V to I cadence. Can anyone tell me what that's called?"

A few hands shot up right away, near the front of the classroom.

"It's a perfect cadence, and they’re used for the endings of pieces."

"Very good, I see you remembered the content from last week's lesson. Now, who can tell me another cadence that's commonly used?"

The girl beside the first girl answered the teacher's questions right away.

"Usually after the first phrase, an imperfect cadence would be suitable, and then after the second phrase, there would be a perfect cadence."

"Yes that is correct. Now, read over the first paragraph and try some of the exercises underneath. I’ll come around to check your work."

I stared at the page, trying to understand the strange language of music. What is a cadence? What is a chord progression? Despite having my book be in English, it was as confusing as if it had been in Korean. I honestly didn't remember anything from whatever I had learned when I was younger.

I twirled my pencil, putting down a few notes following the examples. I watched as the teacher made her way around the classroom, quickly checking over most of the students' work.

"Can I see yours?" She took my book and glanced at it. I watched her carefully, awaiting my outcome.

"Yoonmi… look there are parallel fifths and octaves all over the place, plus you have some voice crossing here…" she circled many different spots on the page, marking it with angry red ink. "You also have too much space between the tenor and bass notes here. Yoonmi, what are you doing? You really need to study more."

"Neh, seongsaengnim," I bowed my head. As I lifted my head, I could see the girls from the front of the room looking back at me as they whispered to each other. It wasn't loud enough to be translated with my in-ear translator, which I was thankful for, as it was easier to try to ignore them that way.

"Okay class, go to the next chapter please. This chapter is all about analyzing music. Firstly you have to determine the key of the piece, and the chord tones. Then you search for any non-chord tones within each chord tone. You have to be able to label these non-chord tones with the appropriate names, as shown on page 61."

Though I got the English version of the book, the musical terms were all in Italian or French anyway, so it didn't help very much. I had no background in music at all and it felt like I was lagging further and further behind.

"Can anyone tell me what this one is called?"

"It's an appoggiatura." A girl from across the room answered. I followed the voice to see that familiar long black hair that could only belong to our group's visual, Minnie. I felt a sense of relief, finally recognizing someone that I knew among all the unfamiliar trainees in the room.

"Good, now what about the second one? How about you Yoonmi? Can you tell me what the second one is?"

"Um… Is it an appoggiatura too?" I said tentatively, as the non-chord note looked pretty much the same as the one that Minnie had pointed out.

"That is incorrect. Can anyone tell me why Yoonmi is wrong?"

I saw that the first hand that shot up was Minnie's.

"It would be considered an incomplete auxiliary since the note in the first chord is missing."

"Yes, Minnie, that is correct." As the teacher said this, I saw Minnie glance at me with a slight smirk on her face. I felt my heart sink a bit more. What had I been hoping for anyway? Just because she was nice to me that one time... "I expect you all to know up to this lesson by next class. So some of you better do some intensive studying." She gave me a stern look as she said this, and some of the other girls snickered a little. "You are dismissed for today."

I collected my stuff slowly with my head down, not wanting to see any of their mocking eyes. Everyone in the top tier obviously excelled at everything, and they have to be very competitive, in order to get to this level in the first place. I just didn't see how I fit in to any of this. Why did the CEO even put me here?

I was the last one to exit the room so I took my time and walked slowly to the cafeteria. I didn’t feel like eating anyway, after this depressing lesson. How was I ever supposed improve at this stuff?

I entered the cafeteria and sat down by myself in the same corner as last time, after getting my pathetic looking dinner.

"Hey," a voice floated by brightly, "...oh what's wrong?"

I slowly looked up to see Chen standing there, concern in his gentle-looking eyes. I watched in surprise as he took a seat across from me, just as he had done the last time, but he was carrying a plate of his own food this time. Once again, the questions popped into my mind. Why was he even sitting here? Was I stealing his table?

I quickly put on a content expression to hide the helplessness I was feeling from earlier. It was easier than I expected as seeing him here already made me push the other events out of my mind.

"It's no big deal," I said, flashing a reassuring smile. I saw him hesitate a bit, but he decided to drop the topic as he sat down in the seat across from me.

"The food here's not much huh?" He eyed the small portions of sweet potato and egg that I had on my plate. I chuckled, already forgetting about everything else. "Don't worry, it gets better after debuting for sure." He smiled, picking up a piece of the meat on his plate with his chopsticks and holding it in front of my mouth. "Here, try it."

How could he act so casual when this is only our second time meeting?

I decided to take it anyway and it was the right decision as I felt pure bliss while I chewed it. It was soft and chewy, perfectly salted but with a hint of sweetness as well. Chen scanned my face for my reaction and I just gave him a thumbs up and grinned.

"That was amazing!" I exclaimed, already looking forward to debut. He laughed, his smile showing off his two perfect lines of teeth. "What's it like being an idol?"

"I know it seems difficult, especially at this point, but it's definitely worth it." He paused for a bit, eyes unfocused as he thought. "It's a really nice feeling when your music can positively influence lots of people and maybe actually impact their lives."

"Wow," I was rendered speechless as that was probably the best sounding description of an idol I've ever heard. "That's a pretty deep aspiration for someone so young." I said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Not that young, I mean, you could pass off as the youngest member of the SM family." He smiled playfully then gestured at the SM Rookies poster in the hallway.

"Hey I'm already seventeen." I pouted. "Actually, nearly eighteen. My birthday’s coming up like next month."

"Oh thank goodness." He mumbled. "It's just that you look so young, well I know that SM likes them young, I mean, just look at Luhan ge." He pointed over at a table behind me, and I turned to see a group of guys there. One of them saw Chen pointing in their direction and waved back at us.

The guy got up from his table and came over towards us. He had really soft features, like his cute doe eyes and gentle smile, paired with a ruffled mess of platinum blonde hair. He had a carefree innocence that made him look around my age but it was difficult to tell, with what Chen just said in mind.

"Hey Luhan ge." Chen said, moving a chair over so Luhan could sit down. "Luhan ge, this is Rachel, a trainee from America. And Rachel, this is Luhan, the manliest member of EXO."

"Yah Jongdae," Luhan gently punched Chen on the arm. "Hey, nice to meet you." He said in his fluent Chinese, his voice soft like his features.

"So how old does he look?" Chen asked.

"Umm… like my age?" I estimated.

"Wrong, he's twenty three." I was thoroughly surprised, as he looked so youthful like a little kid, especially when he smiled.

"Really? Huh, what about you then?" I asked Chen.

"Twenty one, girl. Not too much older than you, huh?" He shot me a mischievous smile.

I laughed it off casually, wondering how crazy these EXO kids got when they were together.

"Well then, I have to be off for a schedule," Luhan said, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yah don't lie, ge." Chen pouted, kicking him lightly.

"Not lying, I actually have some, uh, EXO TV to go film." He smirked, his eyes turning into slight crescents. "It was nice meeting you, Rachel," he bowed a little before leaving the cafeteria.

"Well that was Luhan ge for you," Chen smiled wryly. "So now that he's gone, do you want to tell me what was bothering you earlier?" He asked, his voice dropping in volume a little. I hesitated, not sure if I wanted to look bad in front of him already. "Don’t worry, you can tell me anything. I know it must be a difficult transition to make." He was very sincere and looked like he wanted to help.

I sighed a little and then hesitantly told him everything.

How it was really difficult adjusting to the Korean culture with so many barriers, the main one being the language barrier. How the lessons in the highest trainee level were really demanding especially since I had barely any background in music or dance at all. How the diet was so harsh.

"I-I'm just so bad at everything. I'm not sure I will fit in this industry at all. Maybe it's not for me…" I trailed off, feeling like tears were about to spill at any moment. "My theory teacher is probably going to kill me next class. Why was I even put in the top tier in the first place?"

I looked down, unable to meet his eyes. Why did I even tell him this? He'll probably just look down on me like all the other trainees. Good job Rachel, you messed up your only chance…

It was silent for a while so I snuck a glance up at him, scared at what I might find.

To my surprise, his soft brown eyes looked genuinely worried and puzzled and he seemed to see through me.

"Ah, I can teach you if you want." He said softly.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Sorry for the lack of updates; I just finished my exam last night so now I'm finally free~ 
Thanks for all the support guys, I love y'all <3
This chapter is so crack omg forgive me LOL (but Luhan!!!)