So here I am, in the CEO's room sitting on one of twelve stools. I'm the first to arrive. I've never liked the notion of being late to anything, even to bed. SM's CEO is sitting at his over-sized desk, typing away at a computer. Man, I wish I knew what he was doing. He keeps glancing at me like he's making note of my appearance, my posture, my hair, my scent, my teeth, my chapped lips. I start to get nervous. Sweat forces its way out of my pores and I'm left in a puddle of my own body fluid. Fantastic. I hope he finds me a great addition to the music industry.

  I've been a trainee at SM Entertainment for a few years, waiting to be debut into a group. Dancing and singing pretty much took up the latter of my childhood. I blame my parents. Not really. I love them. They treated me well, supported me in times of need. I have no complaints. And now I'm here. I managed to pry my way into a huge 12-member boyband called EXO. We're set to debut next year. I'm not too sure about the details, but I'm both excited and scared. Change hasn't always been my strong point. It took me ages to adjust to a trainee life, some of which affected my personal life. I had a steady girlfriend before I was accepted as a trainee. She was my ideal type at the time. Girly yet mature, hot yet modest, nice yet had personality. She treated me like a God, and I did nothing in return. I guess I was at fault.

   "Kim Jong In," the CEO said, interrupting my chain of thought. "Why are you so early?"

   "Uhh, I don't like ...” I paused. “ I don’t like being late”. I replied with some degree of uncertainty. His question caught me off guard.

   He looked at me with this unidentifiable gaze.

   "Good attitude. Keep it up, and you'll go far." His tone seemed a bit cold for something so encouraging.

   "Will do, sir!"

                 ~

   One by one, ten boys filed in, each sitting on a stool as they came. I recognised a few from practice, some seemed foreign, and others looked downright scary.

   "Who are we missing?" asked the CEO in his monotonous, but stern voice. He checked something on his computer and proceeded to call rollcall. "Kim Min Seok (Xiu Min),”

  “Here!” replied a boy with the chubbiest checks I have ever seen on a male.

  “Lu Han”

  There was no answer.

  “Lu Han,” The CEO repeated. “Lu Han, are you here?” From my limited knowledge in linguistics, he was saying that in Chinese. Am I debuting with Korean-Chinese trainees?
    “Give him five minutes, if he doesn’t show up, call in the reserve,” The CEO said to his PA. His assistant, a young woman neatly dressed bowed.

 “Kim Jun Myun?”

~

  Rollcall ended. Turns out the roll was based on ages, the first being oldest. I was one of the last. This Lu Han guy still hadn’t showed up. If the CEO stayed true to his word, he only has two minutes to make it up here in time and sit down. I hope he makes it. His name gives off this weird exotic vibe. Sounds Chinese. In fact, a handful of my band-mates had Chinese-sounding names. Now, I’m more confused than scared.

  The door slams open. A panting figure appeared crouched at the door way, puffing heavy breaths, face hidden in his chest.

  “I’m here! I’m so sorry for – “ The boy, who I presume to be Lu Han, stopped, obviously too out of breath to continue his apology. His head is still down. All I can see is his bed-ridden brown hair, sticking at angles I didn’t know existed. He had a slight accent to his Korean. I guess he really is Chinese.

  “No need. I know how far you had to travel to get here. Sit down.” The CEO said with sympathy. Wasn’t he just the one who only gave him five minutes? This man gives me the creeps. Maybe he has bipolar-mood disorder. Maybe I should just stop thinking about stupid stuff.
   Lu Han bowed to everyone, head still down. I’m beginning to wonder whether or not he even has a face. He moved to a seat and sat down out of my line of sight, head glued to his chest. I still haven’t seen his face.

  “Now that we’re all accounted for... I’m your boss, Kim Young-min. Call me sir. It’ll be easier for both of us,” Yes, he is weird. “I congratulate all twelve of you for finally being placed into a group. I know how hard it was for all of you to train to get this far.
  “As you can tell, your group is going to quite large, almost the size of Super Junior. We are somewhat hesitant to debut such a large group, since six-member groups seem to be the trend in the industry at the moment. In any case, changes can be made. You can be dismissed, if you are deemed unsuitable for group. Harsh? Yes. Get over it.”
  At this point, I think every one of us is scared of the CEO – no sorry, I mean Sir. I don’t even dare to look away and glance at the others expressions.
  “If you want to live in the music industry, you’ll have to face far worse trials than just this. You’ve all got a long way to go. Don’t think just because you’ve made it into a group, you can relax. The fun only starts here.
 

~

  Sir, spent the next ten minutes lecturing on what is expected from us. I still didn’t dare to look away from him, even when his back was towards me.

  “...Got it?” Sir sternly said.

  “Yes!” said all twelve of us at the same time.

  “Now, you’ll all be moving into a dorm. You’ll be eating, sleeping , showering and living together up until you debut. I want no fighting or complaints. Now head to the carpark. Your bags are already there. Your appointed manager awaits.”

   I expected as much. We stood up, bowed and began to file out of the room. As they walked as group to the carpark, I trailed behind last. I needed some time to digest. I looked at the back of all my bandmember’s heads. I tried to spot a few people out, but I couldn’t.
  One head stood out of the rest. Brown hair. Messy. Who was he again? I hate having such a bad memory. I hope this doesn’t make it awkward between my new --

Oh.

Lu Han.

I remember now. Messy-brown hair sticking in angles I never knew existed. Accented Korean. Head glued to chest. I remember now.

Lu Han.

___________________________________________________________________

PLEASE BE GENTLE (sounds erse).

It's sloppy, but I really wanted to get something out there within a day of my foreword. I hope you enjoyed it! Expect more to come!

Tell me things I should improve on. Do i need more dialouge? More descriptions? Come on now, be honest.

Oh, comment on anything you want in the next chapter, and I might do something about it :).