"It's starting!" 

 

The first round of judging just started, nervous trainees trembled and some tried to distract themselves by talking to the others. Nari was really nervous, she was supposed to be one of the last ones to perform, which somehow made her even more anxious of whats about to happen. Nari was sure there were a lot of more talented trainees than her. Korea was known to have the best trainees due to the hard training everyone had to go trough before they could debute. She herself went trough a hard trainee period of almost two years, but it was focused solely on her vocals, which made her really nervous to dance infront of the judges. She had a huge disantvantage becouse everyone in the room had better dancing training then her. The worry must've shown on her face, becouse a japanese trainee sitting beside her started to talk to her. 

 

(this conversation is in japanese)

 

"Are you alright?"

 

Nari turned around to face the girl with chubby cheeks she saw earlier when she was looking around for a seat. She had a kind smile on her face and a genuine worry in her voice as she saw Nari's hands tremble and shake. 

 

"Ah-h, yeah...just a bit anxious. I'm confident in my singing skills, I mean, I trained for three years focusing just on them, but that's the problem...I wasn't supposed to debut as a idol, just a singer. I have no training in dancing whatsoever. Well, if you don't count the last month I spent on trying to learn the choreography for the first performance here."

 

"Don't worry, I'm sure you're going to do great! Most of the japanese trainees aren't that good as the other korean trainees, so you can feel a bit better."

 

The girl replied, smiling at Nari, making her relax a bit. 

 

"Thanks, I really needed that. My name's Kyun Nari by the way."

 

"Honda Hitomi."

 

The girls smiled at eachother for the last time, before turning around to face the stage. The screen showed the logo of Yue Hua Entertainment, three trainees making their way up on the stage. Nari recognised one as Kim Shihyun, she saw her on Peoduce 101 when she wached it with her brother. She wasn't the best then and lacked a lot of things, so she was exided to see how much she improved from the last time.

 

"1, 2, 3, Hello! We're from Yue Hua Entertainment. I'm Kim Shihyun. Wang Yiren. And I'm Choi Yena! Please look kindly upon us!"

 

___

 

"Why is everyone so good?" 

 

"There isn't a single person that is bad. How come?"

 

"That was amazing."

 

The judges thanked for their performance, before talking among eachother, deciding on the grade their going to give them. Nari thought that all of them would get an A for sure. Their vocals were stable, dancing good and great energy. She felt even more nervous now. How was she supposed to beat that?

 

"We will be annoucing the rating for the trainees of Yue Hua Entertainment."

 

"The one who gets an A...is Choi Yena. And...nobody else."

 

Nari felt her heart leap, no one else got an A? How was she supposed to make it now? She would be glad for a D. The fact that such talented trainees didn't get an A made her chances on getting a decent grade lower and lower. Before coming here, she thought she could get a D or a C if she was lucky, but now she was quite sure she was getting F. 

 

"The one who got a B...is Kim Shihyun...and Wang Yiren."

 

The three trainees thanked the judges, before going back to their seats, glad that it was over for them.

 

Next group of girls were from Woolim and WM Entertainment. Both groups were amazing and one from each one got an A. Kwon Eunbi from Woolim, and Lee Chaeyeon from WM. Then others and other were each going to the stage, performing their best. The more time passed, the more nervous Nari felt. Just looking at the other trainees made her selfconsious. Especialy Kim Minju and Kang Hyewon. They were so pretty it was almost unbelivable. Bothe of them had big eyes and fair skin without any blemishes. Nari on the other hand had monolid eyes and freckles on her face, a feature that lot of asian people hated. She was told many times to get them removed, but she felt like they were a part of her image, now she wasn't so sure.

 

Nari's turn for performing on the stage was nearing quickly, each minute felt like a second, and the closer her turn was coming, the more nervous she felt, unable to focuse on the performance of the japanese group that were currently on the stage getting judged. The staff came closer to her.

 

"It's your turn in a minute, please follow me so you can prepare for your performance."

 

Oh god, it's here, there is no turning back now. Nari released a deep breath, trying to calm herself, failing miserably. Walking quickly behind the staff, her feet felt like jello, unable to support her, threatning to give up and buckle under her. The staff gave her a few last instructions like when to come out and such. After that he left, leaving Nari alone with another trainee from the ZB label. Her vision was blurry, and not becouse she had to wear glasses, she had contacts, but becouse she was nervous. Her breathing was ragged. Nari started to take deep breaths and reached to her pocket for something her brother gave her right before he left. She turned around from the other trainee so she couldn't see her. Her hands felt the fammiliar packet, quickly tearing it open and swallowing the small white and round pill without water. Her anxiety medications helped her calm down, so she always carried some with her, if she forgot, her brother gave her some, knowing his sisters forgetfulness. She felt the pill calm her down almost immediately. 

 

"It's your turn! Go to the stage please."

 

Nari took one last deep breath, before standing up and heading towards the stage, confidance disappearing with every step she took. 

 

The lights felt almost blinding, every face was on her making her want to turn around and run away. felt dry her hand trembling as she looked around. She stoped in the middle of the stage. 

 

"Annyeonghaseyo, my name is Kyun Nari and I'm from RBW Entertainment."

 

"Are you nervous?"

 

This question took Nari by surprise. The confusion must've shown on her face, becouse before she could reply, Lee Hong-gi continued.

 

"Your hand are shaking."

 

"Ah- I'm sorry. Yes I'm a bit nervous. 

 

Nari smiled slightly before controling her hands, making them stop trembling. 

 

"It says here that you trained for three years as a singer, but I can't find anything about dancing, why is that?"

 

"Well, I was supposed to be just a singer so I didn't get a training in dancing, I just started practicing dancing last month when I was told that I will appear on this show."

 

Murmurs started to spread throughout the room. The judges looked quite surprised, before speaking again.

 

"Please show us what you prepared."

 

Nari turned around, her back facing the judges, as the fammiliar song by Mamamoo started playing in the backround. Nari did her best to dance to the song, trying not to mess up the choreography. She felt the stares of others on her, supressing the feeling of nervousness and carrying on with her performance. As the last tones of the song were heard, Nari stopped singing, ending her dance and staying in her ending pose for a bit before bowing to the judges. The judges thanked her for the performance, before discussing among themselves. They turned around after a while, Lee Hong-gi grabbing the microphone. 

 

"We will be annoucing the rating for the trainee from RBW Entertainment."

 

"Kyun Nari has been given the grade...C, congratulations."

 

"T-thank you very much."

 

"The vocal aspect of the performance you gave us was perfect and I can see the three years of training in you, the dancing aspect however was lacking quite a lot. You are stiff and miss the beat quite a lot, I hope you will improve your dancing skills as soon as possible as it is just as important."

 

Nari bowed, returning to her seat, happy with her results. She was determined to train hard and become a part of the group at any cost.

 

This was just the beginning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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