A/N

 

Finally!!! so sorry for taking so long, I've been really busy but hopefully this chapter is worth the wait.

 

---

 

The first scene starts with an old vide0 of a young girl dancing, couldn't be much older than 10. A small text on the right reads: Jessica Jung.

It's an audition tape.

One by one, all of the auditions pass by with the girls getting older scene by scene.

The screen now shows a young girl — the lead actress —around 16 years old entering what looks like a choir room. Inside, the room is filled with boys and girls ranging from 13 to 19 years of age.

Voices everywhere whispering about her.

"Isn't she the girl that won?"

"Yeah, that's her…"

"She's a lot shorter than I thought…"

"She's not that pretty…"

The girl shyly approached the crowd, praying she can blend in as quickly as possible.

 

---

 

"Watch where you're going!" A voice yelled when she bumped against another girl almost a foot taller than her.

 

The tall girl and her friend stared at her, suddenly realizing that that face was not a familiar one.

 

"What's your name?" One of them asked.

 

"Kim Tae Yeon," she answered shyly. "It's my first day here.”

 

Their faces suddenly changed. Tae Yeon was confused but offered them a small smile which was returned.

 

"Oh, hi, Kim Tae Yeon! You're the new girl, right?” The shorter girl said coolly. "I hope we can be friends, I think we're the same age, when's your birthday?”

 

"March, I’m turning 16 next year.”

 

"She's older than you, Soo Yeon," the tallest one whispered.

 

“Soo Young here is right, you are older than me, but it is only by a few months so I guess we're still the same age. Soo Young was born in January — or so she says — so she won't call you unnie”

 

"Okay," the young Tae Yeon said shyly. "What's your name?”

 

"I'm Jessica Jung."

 

"Your name's not Jessica, Soo Yeon, stop lying to the new girl," a random voice called.

 

"Well I'm changing it to that once we debut, but you can just start calling me Jessica already.”

 

"If we debut," a male voice behind Tae Yeon mumbled.

 

“Shut up, Si Won!” She yelled at the boy behind her before turning to Tae Yeon again. Her expression changing completely, sending a frozen shock through Tae Yeon’s veins.

 

“Anyway, it was nice to meet you…”

 

“She's a bit on the quiet side, though,” Soo Young coughed. Ignoring her, Jessica stretched her hand towards Tae Yeon who hesitantly shook it.

 

“Kwon Yu Ri!” A voice yelled. It was a bit deep but a female voice nonetheless. A short girl bursted into the practice room, she had a big nose and highlights although she looked around their age.

 

A lanky girl with dark skin who was sitting on the floor right next to them yelped and quickly stood up to hide behind Jessica. Tae Yeon could see the girl trembling in fear, which she found funny since she was the same height (if not taller) than Soo Young.

 

“Soo Yeon, please help me…” the girl muttered.

 

“You brought all of this to yourself,” the girl who was previously sitting next to Yu Ri chuckled.

 

“You’re so mean, Yoon Ah,” Yuri cried.

 

“Yah! Who's crying?!” The girl with the deep voice shouted.

 

“I’m sorry, Hyo,” Yu Ri begged for forgiveness but unfortunately Hyo Yeon wasn't feeling very forgiving that day.

 

Jessica, Yoon Ah and Soo young stared at the ridiculous scene laughing loudly while Tae Yeon just stood there quietly; the girls sure were lively. She let out a loud sigh as the instructor entered the room.

 

“Okay class, we’re going to warm up together and then you’re all going to leave to your assigned practice rooms. I understand there are two new students. Both of you will go to groups C of your respective genders”

 

---

 

Tae Yeon arrived at her dorm feeling exhausted. She noticed the bed besides her didn ’t have any covers.

 

“No roommate” she mumbles to herself with a shrug.

 

She laid on her back on top of her bed, staring at the celling and reviewed the names the people she met that day:

Two younger girls named Heo Chan Mi and Lee Hwan Hee, Hwan Hee seemed really nice and so did Chan Mi but she also seemed to have a bit of a temperament . She also met a girl named Park So Yeon, she was a year older than her but she was very nice to her, she was sure they’d be good friends later on. 

 

Almost instantly, she fell asleep. Trainee life was draining.

 

 

Outside the practice room, Tae Yeon found So Yeon to be a friendly face to talk to. "Are Jin Ki and I the only new trainees?"

 

"I think so, yeah," So Yeon nodded her head. "It's been over a week since you joined us, Tae Yeon. Are you finally getting used to the trainee life?”

 

"Slowly but surely, waking up early is still a pain in the though…”

 

"You'll get used to it soon enough," So Yeon smiled.

 

"Hey, Unnie, i've got a question," Tae Yeon said suddenly.

 

"What is it?" So Yeon replied warmly.

 

"We're group C, right? Why are the girls in group A....in group A?"

 

"Group A is the debuting team, they're the ones set to debut. Unless they get cut, that is.”

 

"And who's in group A?" Tae Yeon visualized these girls as complete goddesses, they had to be, they were the debuting team after all…

 

"You met some them on your first day, Kwon Yu Ri, Im Yoon Ah, Choi Soo Young and Jung Soo Yeon all those are in team A."

 

"Team A? Really?" She thought those girls  did not look like idols, at least, not yet. Yu Ri and Yoon Ah were very pretty but they seemed sort of...tom-boyish….was that how a female idol was supposed to be like?

 

"There's also Lee Yeon Hee, Zhang Li Yin, Seo Juhyun and Kim Ye Jin, who's 11 by the way, and...I think that's all. I don't really know them very well since we only get to see them during evaluations and monthly weighing.”

 

"How does one enter Team A?" Tae Yeon asked.

 

"After examinations, a few girls get cut from team A and they will be moved to either teams B or C. Realistically, B and C are not too different from each other, skill-wise. Eventually, the company decides when there are no more cuts to be made. Only THEN they’re officially confirmed to be in the debuting lineup.”

 

"Rumor has it the CEO is planning on moving Stella Kim to team A," Chan Mi suddenly interrupted. "Stella Kim is a girl from Group B, by the way."

 

"Especially since they cut like 5 girls from the group last week.”

 

"5 spots open..." So Yeon thought out loud.

 

---

 

"ALL RIGHT FATTIES, GET INTO LINE, YOU'RE GETTING WEIGHED TODAY!!" The instructor cried as she burst into the room, kicking the door open.

 

"All right, I'm calling you all up by alphabetical order so unless your last name's Hwang or Park or something like that you better get ready.”

 

“Yes!" Heo Chan Mi cheered.

 

Being last meant there was a chance you wouldn't get called on before the hour was over, which meant they might have to stay behind to get weighed. These trainees were the luckiest because only the trainers would see their weights.

 

“Kim Tae Yeon!” The instructor yelled out her name.

 

Tae Yeon cursed silently the fact that her last name started with the first letter of the Korean alphabet and awkwardly walked towards the instructor with heavy feet. She stepped on the scale, already cringing.

 

“155 cm short and 56kg fat!” The instructor grunted whilst taking note of her results.

 

The crowd stared at Tae Yeon in slight disbelief and Tae Yeon looked down at her feet, blushing profusely.

 

“I’ve always been a bit chubby,” she mumbled bashfully.

 

“You’re going to have to lose at least 3 kilos by next month! You might be new but that doesn’t mean you’re going to get any special treatment.” The instructor ordered and Tae Yeon nodded. “If you wanna be a star, you better start actually working for it. Do you think anyone’s going to wanna be a fan of an idol that’s FAT?! I don’t think so!”

 

Tae Yeon went back to her place and she stayed there while everyone else got weighed. Some of the guys were even lighter than Tae Yeon which made her eyes get watery but she repressed the need to cry. Tae Yeon knew she needed to toughen up if she really wanted to become an idol.

 

---

 

“Heard you made a fool out of at yourself on your first weighing,” Jessica bluntly blurted out.

 

Most of the female trainees were at the cafeteria eating lunch. Besides Soo Young, Tae Yeon had become especially close with Jessica and they often ate lunch at the cafeteria together. It was weird for Tae Yeon sometimes, hanging out with girls on the debuting group. She NEEDED to get a spot in that group.

 

“You definitely do not look like 56 kilos, and they say midgets always look fatter,” Soo Young added thoughtlessly.

 

“Shut up, Soo-tupid!” Jessica ordered, slapping her across the head.

 

“Sorry, Tae Yeon,” Soo Young apologized.

 

“It’s okay, Soo, I was just in shock,” Tae Yeon said with a small smile.

 

They were quiet for a minute or two before Jessica spoke again. “This will make you feel better!” she said. “I heard a rumor that the new trainee that’s coming is a foreigner.”

 

Soo Young and Tae Yeon both stared at Jessica wide eyed.

 

“A foreigner?!” Tae Yeon asked.

 

“I don’t know, she’ll probably be the first foreign trainee, right?” Soo Young said. "Oh wait no, Liyin's chinese, totally forgot…"

 

"For your information, I was born in America and moved to South Korea to become a trainee!" Jessica reminded them.

 

“Can she even speak Korean?” Tae Yeon asked Soo Young, blatantly ignoring Jessica.

 

“I don’t know”

 

“I doubt she’s Japanese… Chinese maybe?” Tae Yeon thought out loud.

 

“South East Asian, perhaps?”

 

“I doubt it” Jessica said. “From what I heard, she’s American!”

 

“You’re joking, right?” Soo Young said. “Now I know, you’re lying.”

 

“I swear I’m telling the truth!” Jessica defended herself. “It might not be true, but that is what I heard”

 

“We’ll just have to wait,” Tae Yeon said.

 

“If she arrives speaking a daegu dialect, you owe me a meal and a weekend’s worth of homework,” Soo Young threatened Jessica.

 

“Right back at you if she so happens to be a foreigner,” Jessica retaliated.

 

---

 

Taeyeon and Jessica were walking home together as the sun started to set. Tae Yeon was very fond of this sort of scenery, the orange hues of the setting sun made her feel at peace “What does it feel like, knowing you’re next to debut?” Tae Yeon asked Jessica.

 

“Good I guess but nothing is set in stone. I just happened to be one of the first to enter the company about five years ago.”

 

“Five years?! I can’t imagine training for so long.”

 

“Well imagine it. If we don’t debut together, it’ll be a long wait.”

 

“What about team B?”

 

“They're just like Team C if I remember correctly.”

 

“Now that I think about it, who’s in team B?”

 

“I’m not sure really. My sister's probably going to be in team B since she won't be in team A but that is just thinking ahead. There is no way my parents would let her join until after I debut.” Jessica chuckled fondly, although she often fought with her sister, she loved her very much.

 

“You’re sister’s a trainee too?”

 

“Not yet, but she was already accepted.”

 

“Oh cool, what’s her name? Maybe I met her at the auditions”

 

“She didn’t really audition. The reason why we moved to South Korea in the first place was because the SM reps really wanted Soo Jung but she was too young, six years old. In a way, I took her place, but I know she’s the one they truly want, not me.” Jessica said with a hint of sadness.

 

“I’m sure they want you too, you’re in Group A after all…”

 

“I’m sure they want me as well, but being a consolation prize still .”

 

Tae Yeon remained quiet for the rest of their walk back until it was time to say their goodbyes. She walked up the stairs into her dorm room on in the fourth floor. Like the night before, Tae yeon opened the door ready to passing out.

 

She laid on her bed quietly until she noticed the bed next to hers was gone. Although curious about the whereabouts of her bed, Tae Yeon let exhaustion take over and she fell asleep.

 

“The missing bed is a problem for later,” she mumbled to herself as she dozed off.

 

---

 

“Tae Yeon, meet your new roommate,” a woman said as Tae Yeon just stared in disbelief at the pink fuzzy bed before her. She didn’t even give the girl a second look, all she saw was pink. Pink suitcases on the couch, pink clothes in the closet, pink beauty products on the shelves, pink sheets on the bed, just pink pink pink.

 

“Hi.” The new roommate squeaked out.

 

“She doesn’t know a lot of Korean, hopefully you can be a good mentor,” Tae Yeon heard her instructor advise, but Tae Yeon wasn’t really paying attention when she stared at all the new pink items in her room.

 

“I trust your English skills, Tae Yeon,” were the last words before  the older woman abandoned the two trainees at the dorm.

 

“Wait—English?” Taeyeon snapped out of her trance to see the older woman shut the door behind her.

 

Tae Yeon turned to the new roommate helplessly and took a deep breath. The younger girl had shoulder length hair with highlights and hoop earrings. She was pretty but her aura screamed foreigner. Whether it was her sun kissed skin or the clothes she was wearing, Tae Yeon wasn’t sure, but one thing was clear, this was not going to be easy for her.

 

“Hello, my name is Tae Yeon,” Tae Yeon said with an embarrassingly thick accent. She stretched her hand out for the new girl to shake it. The girl took it awkwardly.

 

“Hi Taeyeon, I’m Stephanie,” the girl smiled brightly. Tae Yeon smiled back.

 

“I— like your name,” is all Tae Yeon could say, she was struggling. “Sutteppani...”

 

Stephanie glared at her slightly annoyed that she couldn’t pronounce her name but quickly covered it with a smile. She's new after all, the least she can do is make a good impression and not seem stuck up.

 

“You can call me Stephie,” Stephanie suggested.

 

“Sutteppi…” Tae Yeon mumbled and Stephanie shook her head.

 

Stephanie remained quiet for a few seconds. Something easy...

 

“What about Fany?” Stephanie suggested.

 

“Ppany” Taeyeon grins awkwardly. Shrugging her shoulders, Stephanie understood that was as close as she would get.

 

“Okay, I can get used to that…” Stephanie says to herself in a low voice. “Pany it is!”

 

Tae Yeon stops talking but her stupid smile doesn't leave her face.

 

"Um, do you know Korean, Ppany?" Tae Yeon asks in clumsy English.

 

"Not really," Stephanie mumbles in English. "But I'll learn."

 

"Learn..." Tae Yeon repeats, trying to remember what the word meant.

 

Stephanie doesn't bother explaining it to her as she is annoyed that her roommate and her can't communicate comfortably. Clearly Tae Yeon didn’t know much English. Letting out a deep sigh, Stephanie knew what her mom would have told her to be patient, so Stephanie drew a big breath in and decided let it go.

 

"But I guess it'll do..." she mutters to herself.

 

"Itull doo" Tae Yeon echoes excitedly making Stephanie giggle. The girl was funny at least and she seemed nice.

 

---

 

"Ppany! Food!" Tae Yeon indicates, pointing at the cafeteria.

 

Stephanie turned to face the place Tae Yeon was pointing and grabbed their lunches at the cafeteria. Although getting lunch wasn’t out of the ordinary, Stephanie felt at ease doing an activity she was familiar with.

 

"Ppany! Here!" Tae Yeon pointed at an empty table. Stephanie nodded and they both sat down facing each other.

 

"Good?" Tae Yeon asked after Stephanie took the first bite.

 

"How do you say good in Korean?" Stephanie asked.

 

"It's good," Taeyeon answered in Korean and Stephanie repeats it over and over again under her breath.

 

"Who's this girl, Tae Yeon and why does she look so lost? Did you bring someone from the streets again?"

 

"Soo Young, this is the new girl, she’s from America!" Tae Yeon cried excitedly, pointing at Stephanie as if she were a painting at a museum.

 

"Whoa! Soo Yeon! Soo Yeon! Come here!" Soo Young called out.

 

"I'm coming!" Jessica yelled back.

 

"Soo Yeon, meet Ppany," Tae Yeon said. "She doesn't speak Korean."

 

"Hey Ppany, I'm Jessica," Jessica said in perfect English as she shook Stephanie's hand.

 

"Call me Stephie, or Steph," Stephanie stared at Jessica in a pleasant surprise. "You can speak English? I'm so glad!"

 

"Yeah, I'm from America too but I've lived here for a while," Jessica explains.

 

"Wow! I hope I learn Korean quickly. Not being understood by my roommate is so annoying!" Stephanie complains.

 

"Tae Yeon's nice, you'll like her..."

 

"She kind of reminds me of a kid," Stephanie said out loud.

 

"In a way, I hope she never grows up," chuckled Jessica as a sad smile suddenly appeared on her face.

 

They both chuckle.

 

---

 

"Hey, what do you think they're talking about?" Soo Young whispers to Tae Yeon.

 

"I have no idea..."

 

 

---

 

A/N

So... how did you like the first chapter? it's quite long but I hope not too long. Although I did make this chapter very centered around Taeyeon, Jessica and Tiffany, the other members wil play big parts in the story as well especially Yuri and Sunny (who we have yet to meet :P).

Good news though! I managed to get a beta reader! This means the story will be proofread and won't contain the amount of grammar and spelling mistakes I fear it might have [thanks again, i owe you one <3].

The next chapter will be very long so I'll probably divide it into two parts. it flashes forward three years later when the final line up is chosen and the girls finally debut. It will talk about their reaction to the final line up along with some other things related to that, hopefully you guys will enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

Thanks a lot guys, comments are well apreciated, especially opinions and constructive criticism. I have the main points of the story figured out but I'd like to know what you guys want too.

 

Lots of love, Kimiikay