"I just get SO mad! He always told me that he wanted a wife who would wake up before the sun rose and cook for him and his family. HIS family. I want to take care of my family as well, you know?" Seo LeeYoon had been going on and on about her past boyfriend for the past hour and a half. Jinah yawned lightly and nodded.

"I know, I know. You've told me this story like 10 times already Yoon." 

"Sorry. You just know how extremely upset I get. I mean, he was my first boyfriend and everything." 

"I know. Don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry about." Jinah gave her friend a smile. 

"You're right, he should be sorry." LeeYoon added, crossing her arms over her chest. "We broke up because he cheated on me at least 3 times. Right after we broke up he started dating someone else. Hmph! Of course he would. He may look all nice and innocent on the outside but deep inside he's nothing but a , lying, cheating scumbag!" 

"That's a bit much isn't it?" Jinah asked. 

"No. He deserves it. I told him I wanted to wait until I was married, to share everything including my body with my husband. And he always told me, whispered sweet nothings to me, that I was the woman he wanted to bring home to meet his family and to be his wife. But it was all just a way to use me! We broke up because after 2 years of dating I wouldn't give in to him." LeeYoon began to tear and sniffle. Jinah stood and put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry for talking like this Jinah. It's just, he's the only one I can talk about. People have dated other people and can relate to certain experiences. This is the only one I can hold on to." 

"Well, sometimes it's best to just, I don't know, let it go?" Jinah suggested. 

"No. He hurt me too much. I know I should let it go but it's just there, you know?" 

"I know. And for someone so cruel, karma will come back around for him." Jinah reassured her friend. 

"Aren't you meeting with Yoonhee today?" LeeYoon picked up her nail filer and began fixing her nails for the 2nd time that day. 

"Yep, I'm leaving in half an hour. Did you want to come with?" 

"Psh, and watch her flop again? Or get stage fright and leave? No thanks. I'll save the theatrics for another time." LeeYoon replied sarcastically.

"It's not that bad. She's improved a lot and hey! If she makes it this time then she can finally move to Seoul and stay! No more going back and forth from here to Boseong." 

"I guess." LeeYoon shrugged. Jinah sighed and rolled her eyes. LeeYoon had always been hard to impress but was someone who Jinah had a lot of respect for. When Jinah had first moved to Seoul from the States 6 years ago, she had had a hard time adjusting and learning Korean but LeeYoon had helped a lot and guided her. They had helped each other through hardships and hard classes. 

"What are you planning on doing today?" Jinah asked as she began packing her bag. LeeYoon gave her a bright smile.

"I have a date." 

- -

"I'm really nervous." Shin Yoonhee said as she got off the bus. 

"You will be fine! You will be great!" Jinah smiled and linked her arm through her friend's. 

"Easy for you to say." They neared the audition room. "I'll go register first." Yoonhee said and walked away. Jinah looked up at the various artist photos that lined the wall of J.Tune Camp. The wall was nearly too small for all the members of MBLAQ as well as their sunbae and founder Rain. Jinah studied each members' photo. 

"Hm, you would imagine that someone who looks so charismatic wouldn't be so cruel." Jinah said to herself as she stopped before Yang Seungho's photo. 

"Unnie! I'm done! Let's go." Yoonhee called from down the hall. 

"Uh, okay I'm coming." she followed after Yoonhee. "Yah, since when did J. Tune Camp have their own establisment this large?" Jinah asked. 

"Don't you know?" Yoonhee asked. Jinah replied with a shake of her head. "When President Jung Jihoon was released from the military, he came back and bought his shares back from JYPE. He hasn't fully stopped his activities but he's focusing on debuting idol groups now since MBLAQ has been so successful."

"Oh really? That's interesting." Jinah glanced across the room at the other auditionees. Just another batch of dreamers who should loosen their grips on those dreams a bit. Everyone looked so tense and scared. 

"Unnie," Yoonhee rested her hand atop Jinah's.

"What?" 

"Actually," Yoonhee bit her bottom lip. 

- -

"You what?!?!" LeeYoon gasped as dramatically as possible. "Why would you do that?! What in the world were you thinking?!" 

"I, I don't know. I didn't want to see her like that anymore." 

"Like what? People fail and try again okay? She didn't need you to push her along! Oh my God Jinah, I can't believe you!" 

"Yoon ah, it's fine. It's great news actually, why are you taking it so poorly?" Jinah asked, eyebrows scrunching. 

"Ah, I, I..." LeeYoon placed a hand on her forehead, feigning sick. "I just don't want people to take advantage of you. How could you let her use our dance? For her own audition? That's ridiculous." 

"Actually," Jinah chewed on her bottom lip as she watched LeeYoon's eyes widen.

"You danced it with her?!?!" LeeYoon's mouth dropped a good 5 inches. "I can't believe this! I can't believe this!"

"Oh c'mon Yoon, stop being so dramatic."

"Dramatic?!" she shook her head. "No, this is not drama. You let her dance our dance." 

"Yoon, just stop please." Jinah took a deep breath. 

"And what?" LeeYoon stared back accusingly. Jinah her dried lips. 

"Yoonhee wasn't the only one who got a call back." Jinah admitted, crossing her arms over her chest protectively. 

- -

Jinah sat quietly in her small studio apartment staring at her wall. She was too lost in thought to even think anymore. 

"You got in? You got into J.Tune?" LeeYoon had asked. 

"It's not forsure. There's still paperwork and contracts. Nothing is set." 

"What do you mean? I thought that for J.Tune there are 2 sets of auditions?"

"I did both of mine today. We got there, we danced, Yoonhee sang, and suddenly they asked me to sing as well. I had nothing prepared so I told them I wasn't prepared. But the head judge must've liked something about me since after our audition he asked someone to personally come get me in the waiting room. Yoonhee's second audition is set for next week."

"What did you do when you went back?" LeeYoon had squinted curiously at her. 

"They asked me to sing again and that if I couldn't produce anything in the next 2 minutes then I was out." LeeYoon moved closer, listening desperately. "So I sung "Gil" by Navi." LeeYoon's eyes widened. 

"Daebak." she had whispered. "That's your best song."

"Actually," Jinah added. "They didn't like it. The head judge said that he really liked my energy while dancing. The style reminded him of Bi sunbaenim and therefore of MBLAQ. And therefore of..." She had trailed off before LeeYoon could blow up. 

"You reminded them of him?!?!" and she did. Blow up. LeeYoon fumed quietly for a long moment before she finally made her way over to the window and stared out into the darkening night sky. "I guess this can be a good thing."

"What do you mean?" Jinah asked. 

"Jinah, you're smart and you'll figure it out." LeeYoon replied as she picked up her purse and headed to the door. "These past years you wouldn't have survived in Seoul without me." She opened the door and took a step out. "Just keep that in mind." 

- -

"New trainees?" G.O. smiled at his fellow members. "Girls?" he asked excitedly. Mir nodded in return.

"I heard that they're really pretty too!" he added. 

"Really?" G.O. squealed. "Finally! Jihoon hyung is doing a good job." They giggled in excitement. 

"Yah, yah, what are you guys giggling about?" Seungho asked as he joined them in their practice room. 

"Mir was telling me that we just got a new batch of trainees. Girl trainees." G.O. replied.

"Pretty girls." Mir giggled. 

"Yah! Yah! Yah!" Joon shouted from the door. "They're here! Jihoon hyung wants us to go greet them!" All of them rushed towards the door with lightening pace. 

- -

"Annyonghaseyo? I'm 18 years old. My name is Park Minjung. I am from Seoul. Nice to meet you." 

"Annyonghaseyo? I'm 20 years old. My name is Lee Jaime. I'm originally from Anyang but relocated to Australia when I was 2. It's nice to meet you."

"Annyonghaseyo? I'm 20 years old. My name is Yoon Dae In. I'm from Seoul. My specialty is beatbox and rap. Thank you." 

"Where are the other two?" CEO Jung Jihoon cut in. "I said, where are the other two?!" he asked again icily. 

"We're sorry we're late. We couldn't catch the bus and," Yoonhee began. 

"We're sorry we're late." Jinah cut in. "We have no excuses." Jinah directed her gaze to CEO Jung. "Annyonghaseyo? My name is Kang Sujin. I am 23 years old from Seoul. I was born in Busan but immigrated to the States with my family. I returned 6 years ago on my own to pursue art. My specialty is dance. Please take good care of me. Thank you." Jinah elbowed Yoonhee to give her introduction. 

"Neh, annyonghaseyo?" she began nervously. "I'm Shin Yoonhee. I will be turning 21 in May. I am from Boseong known for it's green tea. My specialty is singing. Please watch over me well. Thank you." Yoonhee's voice shrank. 

"Do you two think it's funny to keep everyone waiting?" CEO Jung began. 

"No, sir." Jinah replied. CEO Jung leaned back in his seat and clasped his hands together on his lap, then crossed his left leg over his right. 

"From this day forward, each of you will be moved to the J.Tune dormatory as stated in your trainee contracts. You were each selected because you have an asset that will be useful to yourself as well as to J.Tune. In order to move forward in this world you must utilize those special traits to the maximum. You five are the final batch of trainees for this season. You will be sharing this practice space as well as your dormitories with the first and second batch of trainees who have been here longer than you. I ask that you respect their space and their schedules." He paused then stood and paced before the girls, military style. "To your right, is your team manager Kim Jung. He will show you to your dorms as well as let you know your schedules. Dismissed." 

"I heard that we were selected for a trainee special. Is that correct manager Kim? Will we really be on TV?" The youngest, Minjung, asked excitedly after they had departed the practice room and were out of earshot from their icy CEO. 

"Neh. We'll talk more when we reach your dorms." He replied as he guided them down the long hallway and towards the back doors. A series of voices entered the hallway in giggles and hooting and hollering. "Please greet your MBLAQ sunbaes." Manager Kim said, as he gestured a hand towards the wild group of boys. Each one of them bowed and greeted their seniors with a smile. 

"So you girls are the new trainees. It's nice to meet you all. We're actually really friendly here at J.Tune so if you need any advice, please come ask us." Lee Joon was the first to chime in. The girls nodded as their manager pulled them forward and out into the back parking lot. 

Jinah glanced back at them. Their leader stood tall and proud before the girls. Unlike the rest of the members he did less hooting and hollering and his dark circles drooped down his cheeks that lifted when he smiled. Strange, Jinah thought to herself. That a man like that would cause LeeYoon so much stress. She shook her head and followed the rest of the girls out the door. 

- - 

Jinah stood staring at her new home for the next few months. Her heart wasn't really into this whole trainee thing. She was too old to be a trainee. The thought of having a gazillion fans screaming her name wasn't something she was looking forward to either. She just didnt have the heart to really be in her position. There were probably thousands of girls who would kill to be in her position as a featured trainee under J.Tune. According to her manager, 3 batches of 5 girls per batch were chosen throughout the year. Each batch was featured on a TV program along side MBLAQ and were tested to their full ability. Jinah chuckled. The whole concept was absurd. 

"Unnie, what are you thinking about?" Yoonhee asked from the door. Jinah shook her head.

"Just that this whole thing is so absurd. I didn't think we would be chosen for such an obscene thing. Doesn't it feel like we're caged animals? They have us train here and there and then show us off to the world. I don't know. Maybe I'm just too old for this." she chuckled.

"Well, if you felt that way, why did you sign the contract?" Yoonhee cocked her head to one side prettily. Jinah crossed her arms and stared at the wall.

"I just feel like I should be here as a favor to someone."

"To LeeYoonie unnie?" Jinah smiled at Yoonhee. 

"How's your roommate?" Jinah asked, changing the subject. Yoonhee shrugged.

"She's nice. But I still don't understand why you get your own room when the rest of us have to share." she pouted. 

"Because I'm old. Do you want to be old too?" she asked jokingly as she nudged Yoonhee's head. They laughed. 

"Unnie, I'm hungry."

"So?" Jinah replied. Yoonhee pouted prettily. "Ah," Jinah sighed. "Fine, let's go." Yoonhee smiled triumphantly and linked her arm around Jinah's as they made their way out of the dorm. 

"Ah, the hallways here are so narrow." Yoonhee said as she walked ahead and down the hall first. Jinah fixed her jacket over her tanktop and followed behind. Suddenly a door flew open and a man was flung out not seeing Jinah as he did, crushing her to the wall. Jinah felt her heart thump in her chest as the man's warmth engulfed her for a brief moment. 

"Aish!!" he swore. "Sorry," he said quickly not looking at her. Jinah's eyes widened and a gasp escaped her lips. 

"Sun, sunbaenim." she managed to whisper out. He turned then, ignoring the woman shouting at him from the doorway and turned his attention to the girl before him. 

"Oh ." Bang Cheolyong breathed when he finally recognized the new trainee. "I'm dead." he added then took off down the hall almost running Yoonhee down as he made his escape.