My manager was waiting for me by the time I finished the series of diagnostic tests today, and he drove me back to the dorm in the van. Outside was the fading light of evening, the rays of sunshine even warmer than before as it hit my face. I watched as streets flashed by with words that were unreadable to me, and more people than I've ever seen before. Slowly the city's night started to come alive with the bright flashy lights of tall buildings lighting up, and the bustle of young couples walking happily hand in hand.

We soon arrived at the dorm building, and I quickly thanked my manager before heading up. The faint sound of the girls' talking approached me as I got off the elevator, mixing with the smell of good food. My stomach grumbled, making me realize that I hadn't eaten anything all day except for the tiny breakfast this morning.

I unlocked the door hesitantly again, still not used to the idea of having to live with these four other girls who've already known each other for so long and probably never even considered having an addition to their group. The delicious smell of Hyojin's cooking greeted me as I opened the door. The girls setting up the table in the living room seemed to look up at my entrance, surprised, but that was soon followed by the look of recognition...or annoyance. I dipped by head as I slipped my shoes off and changed into the slippers Hyojin brought me yesterday.

"Annyeonghaseyo," I greeted, pulling out one of the only words I learned yesterday.

"Oh, great, you're back in time for dinner." Hyojin said, smiling at me from the kitchen. She was wearing an apron over her casual clothes, her face without makeup, and hair brought back into a bun. Still, she was able to make me feel self-conscious about my own looks.

I went to the bedroom to set my stuff down on my bed, then suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to ask my manager for another copy of the company building floor plan. I dashed to the washroom and washed up, before going into the kitchen and helping with bringing over the dishes.

"So how was your first day?" Hyojin asked as we all sat down around the small coffee table in the living room. Her smile was warm, so unlike the scowls of the judges that have been so deeply engraved into my mind already. So unlike the stoic face of Minnie who seemed to want nothing to do with me.

"It was okay," I replied vaguely with a bittersweet expression. It was only the first day, so it was bound to get better, right?

"That's good. What did you do?" Hyojin said, picking up some of the 'japchae' and putting it into my bowl when she saw that I hadn't started eating yet.

"Thanks," I smiled, "I was put through a series of diagnostic tests for vocal ability, dance, and fitness in general." The food was really good, almost giving me a sense of familiarity of my own mother's cooking back home.

The other girls seemed really quiet. Jiwoo, who was sitting on the other side of me, was quietly focused on eating, while Minnie and Miyoung, who were across from me, were occasionally whispering among themselves.

"Oh, so they were assessing your skills today. Good, because it gets harder from there." Hyojin shot me a grim smile, then chuckled when my wide-eyed surprised expression involuntarily appeared. "Do not worry about it. It might be hard, but it's nothing that cannot be done."

"So what else is there other than singing and dancing?" I could see the other girls' gazes flicker to me sometimes, but then they always hastily looked down back at the table. I took some of the kimchi in the small dish closest to me. The spiciness that hit me was almost unexpected as the small cabbage leaf had barely looked red at all, and I quickly downed a giant blob of rice.

"There is a lot. There is also music and playing instruments, rapping, acting, comedy, foreign languages, and talking in general. But it also depends on your position in the group."

"Oh, what do you mean by position in the group? Do you get assigned a position?"

Hyojin glanced at the girls around the table before turning back to me. "Yes, each of us have a role within the group. For example, I'm the main singer and Miyoung is the main dancer and rapper." She tilted her head over at Miyoung, pointing her out. "It depends on what you are good at."

I nodded, this information slowly sinking in. If your role is only what you're good at, doesn't that mean that I only have to focus on improving one particular skill?

"So what are the roles of Minnie eonni and Jiwoo eonni?" I asked, putting the new words I learned into use again, to show respect.

"Our Jiwoo-shi is the maknae, or the youngest of the group. She was a former model and is a rapper and vocalist." I turned, looking to Jiwoo and somehow unable to see her sweet looking persona as a rapper. "Though I reckon you're the maknae now, Yoonmi, since you look so young. What year were you born?"

"1995." I responded automatically, only realizing that I had no idea how old the other girls were.

"Yes, then you are the youngest of our group now. I am the oldest, followed by Miyoung and Minnie who are the same age, then Jiwoo, then you."

"Ah, really?" I nodded, taking another piece of the seaweed salad nearby, trying to draw as little attention to myself as possible, especially to my incorrect method of using the chopsticks, which had become a bad habit I had yet to fix.

"Oh yeah, and Minnie's position in this group is a mix of everything: singer, dancer, rapper. She's the triple threat of our group." Hyojin sounded very proud of her, just like a mother talking about her child.

I nodded once again, sneaking a glance up at Minnie who was sitting across from me. This time, she met my eyes and flashed me a smile. It wasn't a warm smile like Hyojin's, however, it seemed more like a challenge as if saying 'see if you can beat me'. I quickly looked down, thinking about how I could make her stop hating me already.

"So are the lessons usually done as a group, or are they individual?" I turned back to Hyojin, avoiding looking in Minnie's direction.

"A little of both. We have individual lessons to improve our individual skills first, before having group lessons to put these skills together, like for when we record songs and learn dances for those songs."

"What about for things like acting, comedy, and public speaking?"

"Ah, for those we have group lessons." She paused, frowning as she thought hard about something. "I think the training system is changing. For those subjects, we are actually going to have lessons with the idols in the company."

The room suddenly became silent as the fridge in the background decided to stop humming at this exact moment. The three other girls all stopped what they were doing and stared at the leader in surprise, especially Minnie, who had sharply turned her head towards Hyojin. The silence in the room seemed to stretch as Hyojin looked back at Minnie, a series of unsaid words seeming to exchange in between them.

Then the motherly leader turned back to me with a smile as if none of that had happened. "The new system creates lessons that match the trainees with the idols in the company as this is meant to bridge the big space between trainees and idols. This way, the friendships between trainees and newly debuted idols would not be broken," her pretty eyes flickered over to Minnie's still shock-stricken face for a brief moment, "and we would be able to learn a lot more from the idols directly instead of from just watching their interviews and variety shows on television."

I nodded again, this information new to me. The CEO had talked about a new training system, but hadn't given me any details. It must be very exciting for the trainees though, to finally be able to meet the idols that they admire.

"That sounds like a good idea," I said slowly. "What better way to learn to be an idol, than from the idols themselves?" I looked up at Minnie again, to see that she was staring at the table, unseeing and lost in her thoughts.

We finished up dinner and I helped Hyojin and Jiwoo clear the table. Miyoung was talking to Minnie, but Minnie still seemed to be in a daze, perhaps still shocked at what the leader had said. Could there be an idol that she really wanted to see?

In the kitchen, I helped Hyojin dry the dishes while she washed them, and we talked some more about how the lessons work. She told me that they were in the process of recording for their debut album, with a couple of songs already done, and that they'd probably have to redistribute some of the parts depending on what position in the group I end up having. Although she had told me this without even the slightest resentment, I still felt like I would be bringing the whole group down.

Besides, wasn't I only going to be here for the next four months?