“Yedang Entertainment!” the sound Hyelin heard was pretty loud from where she was standing so she assumed that the girl who said that basically shouted for them to hear it. She, together with Heeyeon and Jeonghwa, were leaving the backstage to go with the rest of the contestants.

“Wow unnie! This is it, this is our dream!” Jeonghwa whispered to the both of them. Jeonghwa, always the bright one. Since she’s the youngest out of the three of them, she always has this positive outlook on everything. Nothing can darken the room as long as she’s in it.

“Not yet, Jeong-jeong. This is only the first step. We still have to climb to get to the top,” Heeyeon replied, pointing at the seat at the top. There are 101 seats in total, all arranged like a pyramid. The 10 chairs below the top one are fancier than the rest of the chairs, indicating that those are part of the group that will debut. The top one chair, however, is even fancier, the fanciest of them all. Shining with glitters, comfiest due to the amount of cushion in it. The dream of all the girls here, Hyelin is sure of that.

Well, Heeyeon can sit on that, Hyelin thought. Her unnie is very talented and hardworking. She’s gorgeous, y, and even smart. Yedang is so lucky to have her, Hyelin is very sure JYP will be crying in the future after he let her talented unnie go.

Jeonghwa can sit on that too. She’s a visual material and a great dancer. She’s quite young and she’s improving every day. Hyelin is sure Jeonghwa can make the audience’s heart melt by just her smile.

Hyelin, however…

“Do you want to sit in one of those fancy chairs?” Heeyeon playfully asked. As if I have the confidence to sit on that.

“Nah, let’s just sit anywhere but top 11. Anywhere is fine as long as we sit together,” Jeonghwa stated. “Yes please unnie, let’s not sit there, it’s scary,” Hyelin added. All of the girls that arrived earlier than them were staring at them so it was awkward for Hyelin. She’s not used at being the center of attention. She wants it, but she doesn’t crave it at all.

Thankfully, Heeyeon obliged and led them to the 45th to 47th chairs. They sat at the said chairs, politely greeted the other girls around them, and waited for the next girl, or girls, to come out.

A lot of stunning girls from different agencies came out and greeted them. The outfits they were wearing have variety: four girls from one agency wore all black while three girls from another agency wore clothes that burst in colors. There was this one girl who wore a gown and Hyelin wonders how the heck is she going to dance wearing that.

A couple of minutes have passed and there are still waiting for a lot of girls. Suddenly, a girl entered the stage.

Hyelin is sure she turned some of the other girls’ heads as she walked towards the seats. She’s wearing an all-black outfit. She emits coolness, and her shades are really helping with that.

“Rapper,” Jeonghwa whispered. Hyelin nodded hesitantly as she saw Jeonghwa’s point. The girl looks too cool so maybe she really is a rapper.

Suprisingly, she sat beside Heeyeon.

“Hello! I’m Hyojin, 20. My stage name is Elly,” the girl, Hyojin, said.

“Hi, nice to meet you unnie! I’m Heeyeon, Hani is my stage name. These are Jeonghwa and Hyelin,” Heeyeon replied. Hyelin shyly waved her hands at her. Jeonghwa, as expected, talked to her new unnie. Hyelin already pities Hyojin, Jeonghwa can talk anyone’s ear off with her high pitched voice. Anyway, she still loves her dongsaeng.

While Heeyeon, Jeonghwa, Hyojin were talking, another girl came out. Her outfit is simple, as if she will not dance heavily. Probably a vocalist. Hyelin wanted to meet more vocalists.

Luckily, the said girl sat next to Hyelin.

“Hello, I’m Solji, 22,” Solji greeted. Her teammates and Hyojin enthusiastically greeted her back and introduced themselves. Hyelin did the same. Compared to Hyojin, Solji gives off a much brighter aura. Don’t get her wrong, Hyojin looks like she could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll, but Solji…

She looks like a cinnamon roll but she could kill you.

Not in a bad way of course. She’s sure of that. She just can’t help herself to think that and she doesn’t know why.

“Hey Hyelin-ah, are you okay?” Solji asked her and gently touched her arm, probably her way to comfort her. Her eyebrows furrowed out of confusion.

“You look tense,” Solji clarified and Hyelin let out a sigh. Looks like she was not really subtle.

“I’m just nervous,” Hyelin confessed and looked at her hands to avoid eye contact with the older contestant.

“Relax, I’m sure you’ll do great! We can do this!” Solji cheered. Hyelin muttered ‘thanks’; she really needed that.

When all of the girls arrived, the lights around the room darken a little. When Jang Keunsuk, the presenter, arrived, the room’s lights brighten and all the girls cheered for him.

“Hello everyone!” He greeted and all the girls politely greeted him back.

“As this season’s presenter, I’m here as the messenger that reveals the nation’s producers’ choices,” he explained. After that, he also explained the mechanics of the show. The ranking, the elimination, the whole shebang, just laid there for them to understand and get used to.

It’s scary. It’s cruel. Hyelin doesn’t have any idea if she’ll survive this.

“We will greet the producers that are responsible for voting, your fate,” he stated then all of the girls stood up. “101 trainees, greet the producers,” he started.

“Producers, please take care of us well,” all of 101 girls said in unison, then bowed at the camera.

This is it. This is the start of their dreams coming true.

A/N: 

Hello! I'm trying to write again and this time, it's about EXID. I've been thinking about this plot for like a year now after watching lots of produce series. This is just a scenario I built in my head: what if the girls are trainees of produce 101? What struggles would they experience? Would they be able to debut if produce 101 existed before EXID were even created and the girls participated in it?

Their friendship and their journey are the main focus of this story. The title was taken from the english translation of the song We Are by EXID. Fluff, slight angst, and slight emotional hurt/comfort. (Of course there is angst here, mnet likes it when the trainees cry, right?) With side lesol and hajung if you squint very hard. I hope this will be interesting enough lol

(Anddd for the other trainees, I will be adding some girls from other groups that I like just because.)