~~~~~~Hours Later in Korea~~~~~~

Hesitantly, Mark walked out of the airport, now unsure of his decision.  The fact that he didn't get to say his last goodbye to Jackson still made him weary.  He didn't want to continue with his dream if someone he really cared about wasn't with him throughout the journey.  He looked around and saw the JYP representative holding his name on a board and walked towards her.

"Hey, I'm uh Mark Tuan," he said slowly.

"Hello, Mark," she replied brightly, "just for protocol, I need to see your passport to check if you are Mark Tuan." He nodded and handed his passport to her.  After answering a few questions, they were on the way to the JYP dorms. He held his luggage tightly, his heart pounding harder with every mile they passed, getting closer and closer to his new life.  He looked at his phone and saw a picture of him and Jackson on the lockscreen.  He smiled at the memory.  It was a picture of them at the beach.  It was a fun and impactful day for the two of them because it was the day they realized how much they meant to one another.  The memory made Mark suddenly remembered how he never got a proper goodbye from Jackson.

Maybe it's for the best, he thought, because this isn't goodbye. It's a 'see you later.' Yeah. He sighed as he looked out the window and the car pulled up to a tall building.  The JYP rep turned around to the back seat to look at him.

"Okay, so I want  you to get a few hours of sleep since it was a long flight," Mark nodded as a response and got out of the car.  He followed her into the building and into the elevator.  The ride up was awkward.  It was just the two of them and they had to go all the way up to the 21st floor.

"Sooo," the rep slowly said, "I bet it was hard to leave everyone you know behind so quickly.  I'm sorry we had to do it on such short notice.  JYP is planning on debutting a new boy group soon and you're good but you need to learn Korean and yeah."

"It's fine, I'm happy to be able to even do this." She nodded slowly.

"So did you have anyone special back in L.A?" She nudged him teasingly with a smirk. "Don't worry I won't tell."  He looked at what floor they were on and saw "15" on the screen.

"Well, I had--" the elevator suddenly ringed and the doors opened.  He looked up and saw that they were on the 20th floor.  An old woman walked in and smiled.  Mark and the rep bowed in respect.  A second later, Mark and the rep reached the 21st floor.  They walked to a dorm with the number 626 on it.

The rep turned around and smiled.

"I bet you won't have a problem getting used to your surroundings."  

"Yeah," he said with a bright smile.

"Okay so the door password is 852 9264. It's a bit long, but you'll remember it in a flash," she typed the password and opened the door, "after you."  He walked in and was amazed at how clean it was.  He walked around the small living room and slid on his socks.  The rep poked him and gestured for him to follow her.  He did so and she opened the door to what was his room.  There were already boxes and bags in there.

"Sorry, another trainee came in earlier.  He actually got to the training rooms a few hours ago so maybe you two could get to know each other since you're both newbies."  He put his stuff down in what was assumed to be his corner.  This guy is already annoying.  Having all his stuff everywhere and claiming the far side without talking to me. Just got to get through it.  He carefully unrolled his blanket and laid down. He sighed in relief, already feeling his eyes drooping.  The JYP rep smiled and started to close the shades in the room.

"Ok so I'll come back in a few hours to wake you and we'll go to the training rooms to meet the other trainees,"  Mark nodded slowly in agreement.  She was about to close the door when she realized something.

"Oh wow" she laughed, "all this time.  My name is Minyoung, but you can call me Min."

She closed the door and Mark snuggled up to his pillow.  Slowly drowsing off he realized something.

I just met MissA's Min.  .

After 4 hours, Min knocked on the door to see a sleeping Mark.  She giggled as his hair was all over the place.  She slowly went up to him and nudged him.  He groaned in his sleep.

"Mark, wake up," she shook him some more, "you have to meet the other boys."  Mark sighed heavily.

"Jackson stop," he said in a groggy voice.

She stopped, remembering the name from somewhere.  She nudged him more aggressively.

"Mark, it's Min. Jackson isn't here," Mark stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He laughed softly while Min looked at him confused.

"Jackson," he said giggling more, "when did you get pink hair?"  Min realized that Mark was half asleep.  She smiled and pulled him up.  Mark rubbed his eyes and yawned.  After smacking his lips, he looked straight at Min. He jumped.

"Oh ," he rubbed his face more, "I am so sorry."  She laughed at his appearance.

"It's fine," she looked at him with curiousity, "is Jackson your brother?"  Finally awake, he looked at her surprised.

"What?"

"Oh, you kept calling me Jackson. So, I assumed it was your brother."  Mark stood up and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh no," he laughed nervously, "he's my best friend.  He could be my brother."

"Ohh, that's nice." She looked at the clock. "Okay so get ready in 15 and we'll go?" He nodded and started to get ready.  After 10 minutes, he went down and met Min in the car.  As soon as he got in, the car started driving to the training rooms.

As they were getting closer and closer, Mark could feel the anxiety and excitement rush all over his body that he didn't notice his breath shaking and leg bouncing.  Min looked in the mirror to him.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine.  The guys aren't that bad.  You'll fit in well," he nodded with a smile and looked out the window.  After a couple of minutes, he saw the JYP logo on a building get larger and larger.  The building he only dreamt about seeing was finally appearing before him. He took a deep breath and, when the car finally came to a stop, he got out and faced his future.

"Ok, so first things first, you should meet the guys you'll be working with hopefully for a long time.  After that, you'll meet with JYP and get settled in.  From there you should be getting more instructions," Mark's mind jumbled at the thought of meeting the other trainees and JYP.  His stomach was threatening to come out through his mouth. He wanted to say something to make sure he still had a voice.

"I didn't realize you were Min.  I'm sorry.  I'm a big fan," he said slowly.  She laughed at his distressed face.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine.  Rain was my rep and I didn't realize until the day after." Mark sighed deeply as his nerves were lessening.  Min led him into the building and up the stairs leading to the trainee rooms.  Fortunately, many of the directed signs were in Korean, English, and Chinese; 2 out of 3 languages he was fluent in.

How am I going to learn Korean and rap in it, a challenge he was willing to take. They stopped at one door, most likely the trainee room. Min turned around to him.

"You ready?" She asked.  Mark nodded with excitement and fear on his face.

"Hey loosen up, its ok," she assured and went on the turn the knob to open the door.

"Hey guys, I have someone for you all to meet," Mark's mind tried to process the unfamiliar language of Korean. He only knew a few phrases at the moment, so hopefully he could get by. "He just got off the plane, so he may still be a bit jetlagged."  She turned to gesture him in. "Come in." Mark walked in and saw 11 boys lined up in a straight line.  He recognized two from JJ project and smiled.  There was a short boy with braces, who didn't look Korean, hopefully spoke English. He saw another tall guy who was probably around his age and another short guy with a mole under his eye.  The other guys looked at him curiously, but the one that caught his eye was the guy at the end of the line.  He wasn't looking at him and had a hat covering most of his face. Probably the of the guys, he thought, I'll just avoid him.  

“Annyeonghaseyo!” all 12 boys said in unison while they bowed.  Mark did his best to introduce himself in Korean.  Min helped him a little but for the most part, he did well.  After Mark finished his introduction, the other trainees began theirs.  The boy with braces was BamBam, 15 years old, and was Thai.  The boy Mark thought was his age was actually only 15 and his name was Yugyeom.  Despite already knowing who they were, the boys of the JJ Project introduced themselves.  In person, JB and Junior were very friendly.  The next person to introduce themselves was the boy with the mole under his eye named Youngjae, who was 16 and still in school.  After Youngjae was a boy named Younghyun.  He revealed that English was his first language, making him very fluent in the language due to his hometown being in Toronto, Canada; thus putting Mark more at ease to learn the language.  The next 4 boys to introduce themselves were Wonpil, Junhyuk, Seongjin, and Jehyung, all of whom played instruments professionally.  It was finally the boy at the end of the line with his snapback pulled over his face turn to introduce himself.

In English, the boy introduced himself.  “Hi, my name is Jackson.”  He looked up and turned his snapback around so that his face was exposed.  Mark was in shock.  He just stood there for what could have been an eternity, staring at Jackson.

“What’s wrong Mark?” JB asked.  It took Mark a second to compose himself and figure out what JB had asked him.  

“Um… It’s just… We’re really close friends.  We knew each other in L.A.”

“Ahh, I see.”

Min said, “It’s nice then that you already know someone.  It’ll make it easier to transition.”  She clapped her hands together and, in Korean, said, “Well, I have to go and you guys need to start training.  Bye bye!”