"D-debut!? Us?" Bom stammered as she tried hard to look straight at Mr. Lee. She still couldn't believe her ears and her chest started to pound in nervous anticipation. It has been two years since they entered as trainees, and although after four years of training is the expected time of debut, two years was also not impossible.

"So this might be the reason Teddy hyung have been keeping me so late at nights," Jiyong mumbled to himself and nodded. He was also surprised about this news, but he had hunches about it over the past few weeks when Teddy Park kept asking him to revise and rewrite one particular song he had written over and over again.

"Yep, you've heard me right," Mr. Lee gave a small nod and the rest of the trainees at their back errupted in cheers. "I wasn't supposed to announce it this way but I guess it was inevitable. It's not just you two who'll be debuting. Seunghyun, Dara, step forward."

"Ne," Dara and Seunghyun both answered and stepped beside the pair.

"The four of you will be forming a coed hiphop group called 'Nolza.' But before your group debut, a sub-unit from your group will debut first, which will consist of Jiyong and Bom called 'GBOM'" Mr. Lee explained in front of the trainees.

"Uwa, daebak," Dara whispered with wide eyes.

"GBOM will be a concept sub-unit that will mix hiphop genre with Bom's strong and unique vocal abilities. And since your debut is nearing, you four, especially Jiyong and Bom, should practice and train harder," Mr. Lee read from his small notebook with a smile.

"Ne, algesumnida," the four all answered in unison with a bow.

"Hyungnim, when would the debut dates be?" Jiyong asked.

"Hmmm, if everything goes accordingly, Nolza would be debuting in three months, and the subunit would be a month before Nolza's."

"S-so there's 2 months to go before our debut," Bom mumbled under her breath.

Bom smiled at all four of them. She felt excited with still a bit of nervousness. She would be sharing the stage with her friends, and she'll have a special stage with her one and only monkey. Omo, this is like a dream come true, she thought and felt her cheeks blush. She linked arms with Jiyong and squeezed his arms to hers. It's been two years, and now everything is coming true.

~~

Of course, with their nearing debut, Jiyong and Bom's schedules were tightly packed with back to back training and rehearsals. The best part about it is the two were constantly together. Jiyong helped her and even tried to teach her how to rap. And Bom would spend almost half the day with Jiyong in the large walk-in closet in the building with almost every outfit and costume they could dream of.

"Omo, this will suit you perfectly for our debut stage!" Bom exclaimed and held out a Monchichi costume in front of Jiyong.

"Monchihi," Jiyong wrinkled his nose and frowned. "He doesn't look like me at all!"

"Aww, come on," Bom pouted and did the puppy-dog eyes. "Just try it on~"

"Ahh, shireo," Jiyong shook his head and flung the costume at the very back end of the closet. "Why do we even have that kind of costume?"

"Beats me," Bom giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. "They probably had it made just for you."

Their laughters and giggles echoed along throughout their preparations along with the sweat and tears from rehearsals that would almost last until midnight. Jiyong's meticulous behavior would show at times whenever he would ask them to repeat their routine until it was polished perfectly.

~~

As their debut date got nearer and nearer, the pressure started to sink deeper. Despite of her friends and Jiyong's reassurance, Bom still felt a little nervous at times. Especially when Jiyong was not by her side, like this certain afternoon when she had just finished with her costume fittings. Bom was on her way to the cafeteria to meet up with Dara when she met Mr. Lee, who she has been calling 'oppa' comfortably now.

"Bom-ah, just the girl I've been looking for!" Mr. Lee said and took her by her arm.

"Ah, oppa, is there anything wrong?" Bom asked.

"Nope, nope, we just need to record some interview segments of you," he answered when they reached a small video editing room on the second floor. 

One area of the room had numerous tv screens stacked to one another while rows and rows of buttons and knobs were on the desk. A bespectacled man sat in front of the screens and where editing footages and videos.

"As promotional material, we will be airing a show called YGtv," Mr. Lee explained and pointed to one of the screens that displayed the logo of YGtv. "The first broadcast will of course focus on you two." 

Bom nodded and watched the different screens that showed her sunbaes and mentors being interviewed about them.

"In my opinion," Bom watched Teddy Park's interview from one of the monitors. "This new sub-unit that we are going to debut is a fresh concept in the music scene. G-Dragon's rapping and hiphop musicality combined with Bom's strong voice will be a pair that is unique and will offer something new to the audiences."

G-Dragon? Bom repeated to herself. Ahaha, the name suits Jiyong perfectly when he's on stage. As fierce and commanding as a dragon.

"We chose to debut the sub-unit first because we want to show a part of what our new coed group can offer," on the screen it was now CEO Yang Hyun Suk who was talking. "This sub-unit GBOM is comprised with two of our best trainees in the company. The group, Nolza, will be debuting soon too, and GBOM won't be the last sub-unit from the group."

"Daebak," Bom said under her breath. Hearing those compliments from the big boss himself sent Bom's spirits in the air. She was touched and humbled at the same time. Bom clasped her long fingers near her lips. Mr. Lee smiled to her in satisfaction. The monitor turned to black and then a video clip of Jiyong's audition showed on the screen.

"Omo, they're going to air this as well?" Bom asked and watched Jiyong's audition from two years ago. On the screen, he still looked like the same Jiyong back then with the goofy smile and passionate eyes. Bom giggled as she watched Jiyong on the monitor rapping his own composition at monster speed. And how he awkwardly tried to do break dancing.

Those were the good times, Bom thought. When we auditioned, we gave it our best despite knowing not all of us can make it. But here we are, in a months time we'll be back onstage together. But this time it's not just a school festival. We'll all be facing the world this time.

"Her voice..." another interview clip went on the monitor. This time it's Jiyong with his stage makeup and concept outfit for their debut stage. He smiled at the camera while sitting casually on top of a giant wooden block. "Whenever I hear Bom's voice, there's a deep impact everytime."

Omo, what is he saying, Bom's eyes widened in surprise. It looked like the interview was done yesterday before they met after practices. He didn't say anything about this to me. 

"There's something about Bom's voice," Jiyong's interview continued on the monitor. "The way she sings, the way she talks, even the way she sighs. She really has a lot of character and you hear it in her voice."

Bom stood frozen on her spot while she felt another rush of blood to her cheeks. Th-this will air on national television! What is this monkey doing!? these thoughts ran on Bom's mind, but she couldn't deny the fuzzy feeling she felt inside her. 

"I really like the way she says certain words," Jiyong continued to say. "Like how she says 'Don't touch my corn!', 'omo', and even when she calls me 'Jiyong-ahh'." He imitated Bom's high pitched voice which made her giggle. 

"I guess, you could say that I'm addicted to her," Jiyong's voice reverberated against the stillness of the recording room. Bom smiled as montages of video clips from training were shown on the monitor. And then a familiar scene went to the monitor.

"Yeorobun, say annyeon to Mera~" Jiyeong's cheery voice said as a shaky camera went on screen.

"Mera-ssi, this guy is annoying me," Bom saw herself in the monitor pouting. She laughed as she watched herself. Omo, I remember this time. Jiyong really did show them these clips. 

Bom heard the door behind her open and she turned to see Jiyong who just entered the room. He gave her a sly smile and went beside her. Bom pretended to glare at him and hit him in his right arm.

"Yaa, why didn't you tell me about this?" Bom whispered in his ears.

"Look!" Jiyong, instead of answering her question, pointed to the monitor which now showed Bom's audition clip. 

You and I together 

It just feels so right

Bom's voice echoed throughout the small room. She got goosebumps when she watched her audition clip. Bom realized how far she have grown both as a singer and as a person. And I wouldn't have done it all if it weren't for this monkey beside me, she thought and squeezed Jiyong's hands. 

"Gomawo, Jiyong-ah, gomawo," she whispered to him as she tried to push back a tear that formed in her eye.

~~

:"> Thank you for reading. 1 chapter more and an epilogue... <3