Pale hands tremble as they grip on the side of the black seat, leaving slight marks from the trimmed nails on the leather. The scenery starts to change as the car turns on the highway, first buildings of the capital city of Korea appearing. The closer the car gets to the final destination, the more is the seventeen year old nervous. Yes, today is the day of Produce 48. As much as she's looking forward to the show, she can't help but the feel quite anxious. She only had a month to properly practice her dancing skills, and she was quite sure she hasn't changer a lot. Her moves still lacked flow and power that was necessary for a good performance. 

 

"If you grip the seat any tighter, you might tear the leather." 

 

Her brother speaks up from the driver's seat, eyes not tearing from the road. Her family lives quite far away from Seoul in a rural area, so she usually stayed at the dorms at her company. It was also better since her parents weren't quite happy with her decision of becoming a singer. The only one that supports her is her brother, and she appreciates it a lot. He's almost ten years older, but he feels like a best friend.

 

"Sorry oppa, I'm just really nervous. The show is a really big deal you know?" 

 

"Yeah, we watched the first season together haven't we? I saw how hard everyone trained." 

 

"Oh god, what if I forget the lyrics, or mess up the choreography?"

 

Nari started to panic, thinking of every little thing that could end up with her embarrassing herself, and if she's honest, there were a lot.

 

"Calm down Nari-ah, Your singing is the best that I know, and what if you can't dance as well as the others? I'm quite sure you're going to improve a lot there, it won't be that bad!" 

 

Tae-so, her brother, smiled reassuringly, successfully calming Nari down. 

 

"You just have to believe in yourself, and everything will be alright."

 

———

 

The car stops in-front of the big building, a lot of cars already parked on the side, with some just arriving. Nari takes a deep breath and opens the door on her side, giving her brother a kiss on the cheek before waving to him as he leaves. She would like him to stay a bit longer, but he has to get to work and can't waste anymore time. The black haired girl turns on her heel before confidently walking towards the building. That confidant facade last her quite some time, as she talks with the staff, that leads her to where she's supposed to go. After a while she starts to get a little nervous, even though she hasn't seen even one trainee yet. The staff leads her to a waiting room, she sits there alone, the name of her company printed on a paper stuck to the door. The stylists appear soon after her, only touching up her makeup a little, and making last few adjustments on her outfit 

(If you don't like it, choose something else, but I'll use this in the story.)

Nari sat on the small chair in the corner of the room, nervously playing with her sleeves, trying to act brave in-front of the staff members. The door opened as a male staff told her that it was her turn, leaving the door open, signaling her to follow. Nari stood up almost too quickly, slightly bumping into the chair, making it sway a little, before settling back in the right place. She quickly followed him, looking left and right for another trainees, but not seeing anyone else she could tell apart from the staff working. The guy stopped in-front of a set of doors.

 

"Alright, you're going to go inside and sign yourself on the wall like everyone else, then you're going to wait for a signal that you can go to the chair room, so our team can put your labels name on the big screen, after that it's up to you where you sit. Good luck!" 

 

The man smiles at Nari, before heading back leaving her alone. Said girl sighs and enters the room, looking around. She grabs the marker prepared for her, deciding where to place her name. She finds a spot in the top corner that has been left empty. Nari wasn't small, but she wasn't tall either, her 163,5 cm weren't enough for her to reach the place easily, so she tiptoed and finally placed her name proudly on the wall, smiling at her accomplishment.

 

"Alright, you can prepare yourself for going inside." 

 

Nari nodded, standing in-front of the door leading to the big chair room. After being told that she can go, the seventeen year old headed inside, hoping to make the best impression on the other trainees already inside. 

 

She was quite startled at the sight of everyone staring at her once she entered the room, making her gulp slightly. 

 

"Ah! Mamamoo is from there, I wonder how good are her vocals." 

 

Many whispers erupted between the trainees. Nari stepped on the stage, looking around fir any left seats. Plenty if them have been occupied by others, but there were still some left. Some of the seats she saw being 1, 31, 57, 58, 70, 71, 72, 80, 96 and quite a lot more. She decided to choose the seat 31, which looked to be surrounded mostly by AKBN48 members, one of them being a girl with really fluffy cheeks. She started to go up the stairs, eventually turning and sitting on 'her' chair. 

 

"She looks kinda scary, don't you think?"

 

Someone said in japanese behind her. That made her turned around, to see two japanese girls looking at her, while one of them was saying something to the other one. 

 

"Do I look scary?" 

 

She asked in fluent japanese, which se learned because her parents forced her to take japanese classes since first grade. The girls seemed to be a bit startled, as well as the other japanese girls around her, listening to the conversation.

 

"A-ah, sorry I didn't know you could speak japanese."

 

"Oh, well I can. Sorry if I seemed unfriendly, I just tend to not show my emotions around new people. I'm actually quite nervous." 

 

The girls then apologized to which she replied it was ok, and turned around to see another two trainees enter on the stage.

 

———

 

Everyone was seated, waiting for the instructors to come in. The chair room almost dead silent except for the few word uttered between the trainees from same companies, or the korean and japanese girls trying to communicate. 

 

"No, no, I mean your birthday. When you were born." 

 

Nari looked to her right. A few korean trainees were trying to talk with the japanese once, struggling to lead a meaningful conversation that would help them to get to know the girls better. Both sides were visibly confused as the koran side tried to make the japanese side understand what they were saying. Due to Nari being able to speak both languages, she decided to help out.

 

"She's asking you for your birthday." 

 

Both sides looked at her, to which se just smiled slightly. 

 

"Ahhh, 12. May 1998!" 

 

The japanese girl exclaimed happily, fin sly understanding what was the question. 

 

"Thanks, my names Lee Sian, thanks for the help, I don't speak japanese or english so I didn't really know how to explain it to them." 

 

"No problem, I used to study japanese and I'm pretty fluent in it. My names Kyun Nari."

 

Lee Sian smiled at her and they continued to talk for a bit, involved the japanese trainees as well, Nari translating for both sides. Suddenly, the bid screen lit up again with 'national producers' written on it. 

 

"Huh? Who could they be?"

 

Sian mumbles beside Nari. A pair of two legs appeared from both sides, revealing Jeon Somi and Kang Daniel, the two winners of Produce 101 season 1 and 2. 

 

"Gosh! He's so good looking!"

 

'What..'

 

"Hello, everyone. The program, "Produce 101", has given birth to the hottest idol groups, I.O.I an Wanna One, strictly through viewers participation. The two of us wouldn't be here now without the viewers who voted for us. We're exited to find out which one of you will get to make your professional début through the show like we did. All trainees will be evaluated five times in total. Every time, your score will be decided strictly based on how many votes you get from the viewers. And those with low rankings will be eliminated. Those who pass all evaluations and survive until the end...They'll get to make their début in both Korean and Japan. This competition is more special due to the fact that producers who have produced albums for top idols in both countries will personally work on your début album this time around for your global promotion activities. You want to know who they are, right?"

 

"Yes!" 

 

"Yes! I want to know." 

 

"Allow me to introduce them." 

 

Somi ends and two males appear on the screen. They are Han Sung Soo and Akimoto Yasushi!

 

"Shall we greet the national producers who will be producing all of you from this point onwards?"

 

"Yes!"

 

"The 96 trainees of Produce 48," 

 

Says Daniel, and everyone in the room repeats after him.

 

"meet national Producers," 

 

And again, everyone repeats.

 

"Nice to meet you, National Producers!"

 

Everyone in the room bows respectfully, before Somi and Daniel announce the training teams.

 

"Trainers please come out!" 

 

Somi exclaims, as the screen shows the same words and the first trainers comes out. 

 

Lee Hong Ki! A vocal trainer

 

Soyou! Vocal trainer from Sistar

 

Choi Young Jun! A dance trainer

 

Bae Yoon Jung! A strict dance trainer

 

May J Lee! Dance trainer from 1MILION

 

Cheetah! A rap trainer 

 

Kahi! A one-day special trainer

 

"Oh god! I'm so scared, they look so serious!"

 

Someone whispered from behind her. Nari looked at all of them a shiver running down her spine from the cold looks. She admired Bae Yoon Jung because of her skills and dedication to make all trainees better. She saw her on TV and other social media, even if she was scary, she looked forward to teaching from her, because she knew she will help her to get better.

 

"The rankings are from A to F based on your skill and potential. Our ultimate goal is to make all 96 trainees A-grade performers. Since the judging is solely by the National Producers, please do your best to put on a great performance."

 

"Now, we will begin the entertainment agency specific performances."

 

Lee Hong Ki ends, making everyone shiver in excitement and anxiousness. 

 

'Oh god!'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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