My heart was filled with dread.

My vocal teacher had wanted to see me tonight so that we could fit an extra lesson in, since I needed a lot of extra work on my voice, but in my mind I could already see what was going to happen. Last night I had spent several hours practicing singing, all the way into the early morning. Not only did it make me really tired at school, but I felt like nothing had changed. My voice was still as horrible as it was before.

"You're not doing it right! I told you you're supposed to loosen up your voice and ‘land on top’ of those high notes! Don't let it fall flat." She said in English, giving me a stern look. 

"Sorry," I bowed my head, and cleared my throat, preparing to try again. This time, I managed to hit the first high note properly but then the second came out flat with a bad tone quality again. I looked down, hiding my face beneath my bangs.

"No, you're still doing it wrong. Let me show you how it's done." she said, then demonstrated. Both of the high notes came out perfectly and effortlessly. Her tone quality sounded full, and had adequate air support, and she even added some vibrato. "Can't you do anything right?" She complained.

"Sorry." I said again. "Ugh, can I just be a rapper instead? I'm a terrible singer."

"Yah, you think you can just be a rapper? If you can't even speak Korean, how are you supposed to rap?"

"I-" my heart slumped again, crushing the tinniest bit of hope that I had. "Right, sorry."

But suddenly, the tears just started accumulating on their own. Just a bit over two months left, there's not much to go, just two months and you can get out of here.

"They’ll never pick you to be in the next group,” she rolled her eyes. "Why did the CEO even pick you as a trainee? I would've kicked you out long ago."

"I'm sorry okay?" I said back, sick of all her insults. The hot tears threatened to fall at any minute and there was no way I could let her see me this weak. It would only make her words truer. "I don't know why he picked me. All I know is that I'm trying my best to do all this but it seems that no matter how much effort I put into it, nothing ever changes."

I ran.

I didn't know where to go. I ran down another street, but all I could see were words that made no sense to me. Words that didn't have any meaning to me. It was already starting to get dark and cold outside so I wandered onto a small alley, knowing that I probably won't be able to find my way back to the company building. I stumbled around and sat against the wall, the tears streaming down my face endlessly.

After I said all that to my vocal teacher, I immediately regretted it. What if she tells the boss to actually kick me out? But maybe it would be for the better if it meant that I could get out of this place as fast as possible, and go back to my family and friends.

What was wrong with me? Why were there so many problems? Why couldn't I do something that others could do without even needing to put any effort into it?

My sobs filled the hushed street as my tears clouded my eyes. It felt like I was alone in this world. Like an island. I missed my home, my family, my friends, my fluffy little cat at home. Two months left. I should have spent more time with everyone instead of being so selfish to only focus on my dreams. Just two months.

Suddenly, I felt a warm presence beside me, as a hand wrapped around my shoulder, holding me close. Without the need for any words, I immediately knew who it was.

I didn't want him to see me this way, not when all trainees go through these kinds of hardships. Not when he probably had it even worse than I did. Not when I was being such a burden again.

He shifted closer until my head was resting against his chest and he gently my hair, offering a silent but constant source of comfort.

We remained like that, in such stillness, until my sobs finally died down to little hiccups.

"Chen," I whispered, looking up at him.

"Shh, it'll be okay, it'll all be okay." He said, gently grabbing my hand with his free one and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"How can it be okay? I don't know anyone here, I don't know Korean, and I don't have any talents. Tell me, how can it be okay?" I whimpered. Nothing was going to be alright. Two more months.

"Don't worry, I know what a hard time you're going through." He started massaging my back in light circles, trying to comfort me, and it was working.

"Really? Like that's ever happened to you. You can sing and dance so well. You're so good-looking, you can act, and you're really good on variety shows too. You're just so good at everything." I looked down and hid my face behind my long hair, feeling like I was so useless. Why was I even here at all? Two more months.

He sighed quietly as he brushed the loose strands of my hair away from my face. "Rachel-ah don't think like that. We all had struggles when we were trainees. When I was a trainee, the competition was so fierce, and some of us had to be cut from the team. You just have to stay strong. The more difficulties you have, the stronger you'll be, and the more emotion you can convey to the audience." He murmured softly, his melodic voice soothing.

I sighed. "I guess you're right, but I'm not very good at anything," I said sadly, my tears finally coming to a stop.

"That's not true, let's see...you're caring, you're fun to be around, and you're very good at making people smile." He said, and then paused, looking like he was thinking. "You're very cute," he abruptly said in broken English, poking my cheek. I laughed at his attempt at speaking my most fluent language. 

"Gomawo," I replied, right back in Korean, since it was one of the few words I actually did know. He never failed to make me laugh. But there's only two months left...

We sat together in the quiet, enjoying the peace of the night together, something we barely had.

From the top of the building, it felt like you could see everything in the city. From the little moving dots that were actually people, to the small clouds of smoke coming from the distant factories, everything could be seen. He decided that the view would probably always remain this gorgeous.

It had been a month and there they were for another meeting, always at the same time, on the same day. The CEO looked out the window, thinking that there would probably be nothing to discuss again,
just like the usual meetings. It was only different last time, he thought, it won't happen again for a while.

"There's something important to discuss, sir." A voice said, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, yes of course." He responded, gesturing for the others to start their presentation.

"So the last time we had a meeting, we had stated the need for another potential member for the upcoming girl group."

"Yes, and isn't that what we have now?" He answered impatiently, almost wanting to wonder why it was necessary to have such meetings when everything was going to smoothly.

"Yes, sir, and while we don't want to question your judgement on her potential to be in the group, we thought that it might be necessary to address some of the issues surrounding her..." One of the choreographers said.

"In other words, we asked for someone who's pretty and has a nice personality, but we didn't ask for someone who's talentless." The vocal teacher said flatly, crossing her arms. "I mean, the whole point of this is so that they can become performers and entertainers because they have the skill for it. What's the point of training her to be in this industry if she doesn't have any skills that would prove useful in the first place? It's like teaching a fish to climb a tree." Some of the other team members looked unsure, as if the outspoken woman was a bit too harsh.

"While we're not saying that she would be no help to the girl group in the future, she would certainly hold up the group's debut for a long time, like maybe for another few years, while the rest of them are completely ready to debut now," said one of the managers. This time, the other team members nodded.
The CEO looked around the room, not seeing what they were all talking about. She was such a sweet girl who gives her best in everything she does. She definitely has potential.

"I don't understand, she is such a kind hearted child who gives it her all in everything she does. Have you ever seen one of the current trainees try this hard before? It's especially difficult on her with the major language and culture barriers already, on top of all the catching up she has to do in terms of her training. I don't know what you're talking about, but she definitely has the potential to go on. And imagine when they debut? They'll be one of Korea's hottest stars, just like EXO is. Personality plays a role too, it's not just about talent." With that, the CEO stood up. "The meeting's over; you are dismissed." 

Had to edit lots this time round; the first half of this chapter was actually the very first thing I wrote for this fic, omg it's been so long >.<
Did Chen just call her cute  but srsly, did y'all see Chen on Masked Singer AND HIM WEARING THE GUITAR MASK AT THE AIRPORT OMG I'M SO DONE WITH HIM