“Hello everyone, my name is Sulli.”

I giggled shyly as I introduced myself to everyone in the room. Apparently, Mr. Lee, our CEO in SM Entertainment introduced me into the company as the youngest trainee. After the short meeting followed by our lunch break, I walked around the building, eyes wide open and amused by every sight my eyes had laid on. I was totally mesmerized by the insides of the SM building, until someone tapped my shoulder lightly, bringing me back from the imaginations running in my mind. I turned around and saw a man, his name card writing “Staff Member” dangled around his chest.

“Uhm... Mr. Lee called you to his office now. He said he wanted to put you in a girl group.”

The man said. My mind froze for a couple of seconds, before I recognized his words in my mind.

“Girl group?” I asked. The guy nodded, “Yes.”

“Okay... Thanks.”

I bowed politely and awkwardly, seeing him rush off in a split second. I blinked a few times, before jogging to the CEO’s office. It didn’t take five minutes before I reached the CEO’s office. I knocked a few times until I heard a deep voice calling me in. I turned the knob in, to be greeted by our friendly CEO of SM Entertainment, Mr. Lee Soo Man. However, it wasn’t just him as there was another girl standing timidly beside him. Guess it might turn out to be a member in the girl group. I bowed after looking around and greeted Mr. Lee, before I gathered my bravery to ask him,

“I heard a guy said you wanted to put me in a girl group?”

Our CEO nodded, motioning the timid girl beside him to come closer to me before introducing her to me. “We’re still recruiting members for your girl group Sulli, but here’s Jessica’s younger sister, Krystal.”

“Nice to meet you, my name is Krystal Jung.” She took her hand out, implying a handshake.

I ignored her, a pout evident on my face as I eyed the CEO before asking another question.

“I thought I was planned to debut as an actress?”

In the corner of my eyes, I saw Krystal awkwardly drew her hand back.

“Yes, but you had the visuals to be in an idol group. And you can quit the group if you still want to pursue acting, just like those singer-turned-actors or actresses.”

Mr. Lee explained gently, hoping I won’t have any more objections to his request. I kept silence for a moment, having tangled thoughts in my mind.

“So, Sulli?” Mr. Lee asked, as if he was waiting for my answer eagerly.

I took a deep breath before pulling my hand out to Krystal and flashed her a big smile,

“Sorry but, nice to meet you too, my name is Choi Sulli.”

We shook our hands and our journey as part of the girl group began.

---

Just two days later, the CEO called Krystal and I to his office for our girl group matter. We were informed that the members have been fixed and we will start to undergo full training until our real debut.

“Sulli and Krystal, come and greet them.” Mr. Lee ordered, motioning us to the two empty seats across three other girls. I blinked a few times, my mouth staying zipped and silent.

“A-annyeonghaseyo... I’m Victoria from China. I’m still learning Korean so please do take care of me.” A Chinese looking girl smiled shyly at us.

“This is Luna and my name’s Amber. I’m from America and I’m older than you guys... Uh, so you’re supposed to call me ‘unnie’ right?” The other dinosaur-looking girl introduced herself and the cheerful looking girl beside her.

We nodded, still unable to open our mouths. I sent a signal to Krystal and she returned me a look asking me to start introducing myself first. Perhaps the CEO knew what the both of us were doing and he sighed before introducing us himself.

“These will be the maknaes in the girl group, Sulli and Krystal. You guys will go on a proper training as a group and your group will be named ‘f(x)’. Any objections?”

We shook our heads, thanking the CEO secretly in the bottom of our hearts.

“Now, your training won’t start till tomorrow. You guys should go hang out and break the ice soon. Do remember that you guys will be sticking together as one starting from today.” He announced, before dismissing us and our girl group meeting.

We went out one by one, but none of us really knew what to do when all five of us stood frozen outside the CEO’s room. I looked at Krystal and Krystal was staring at the dinosaur-looking girl, I mean Amber.

“We should really go hang out like other girls do. It’s the fastest way to get along well right?” Luna suggested while all of us stayed quiet.

We shot glances at each other before all five of us come to an agreement to go shopping. The trip ended up very enjoyable and we did get along better after that. Though, there were moments of awkward silence when we tried to communicate with Victoria unnie since her Korean was still bad... Little did we know, this was just the beginning, we still have a long journey ahead of us and we will stay by each other’s side to overcome hardships together.

---

Few months later, we were getting busier each day as our debut stage was coming soon. It was supposed to be another typical day of endless training and practicing of our debut song “La Cha Ta”, but today Krystal and I were running breathlessly towards the practice room because we missed the bus this morning. We quickly barged into the practice room, panting hardly and apologizing instinctively to whoever was in the room. However, weirdly enough, we were met by seconds of silence, and most importantly, faces I haven’t been seeing in a while.

“S-sulli?” He asked, while the other four guys stood there startled and speechless.

“Taemin.” I called, looking at him in the eyes while trying to maintain my composure.

Before the awkward silence continued, Krystal took charge and stood in front of me with her chin slightly lifted up, “Who are you guys? Why are you in our practice room?”

I could see Jonghyun laughing behind Taemin, before he cleared his throat and stepped up to reply,

“You’re Sica noona’s little sister, Krystal Jung, am I right?”

I looked at Jonghyun surprisingly, then blinked my eyes wondering how he knew about that.

“Yeah… How did you…?” Krystal tilted her head to a side, her eyebrows locked together in curiosity.

“I believe you’ve come to the wrong room, Krystal-sshi.” Jonghyun answered patiently, now giving her a friendly smile. Krystal was still looking at him suspiciously, but I pulled her closer to my side before giving them a bow.

“Sorry guys, we’ll leave immediately.”

As we hurriedly pushed the door open to make our leave, I felt someone grabbing my wrist.

“Sulli…”

His voiced sounded in my ears. I turned and looked at Taemin intently, his eyes seemed to convey a tinge of sadness. I let out a deep sigh, before opening my mouth once more,

“Taemin, it’s okay. I'm fine now. Besides, we had a mutual agreement on this.”

He slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before finally letting go of my wrist. Now, we were standing in front of each other, and I waited for him to say his last sentence. Krystal had her arms crossed outside of the room, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.

“G-good luck in your upcoming debut.” He finally said.

I nodded and smiled, then said my goodbyes to the SHINee members and left with Krystal.

---

If you ask me if I had ever regretted joining f(x), I would answer yes. I didn’t know that the life as a trainee would be so difficult and exhausting, and I felt even worse when I noticed that I was far behind the members’ pace in learning the dance routine. It made me feel so desperate and helpless at the same time. Anyways, I was taking a short break from dancing as I sat down on the floor and began to massage my leg. I hurt my knee a few days ago and that made me feel utterly guilty to my hardworking members. I started feeling that I was dragging the whole group down because I wasn’t as talented as them. Having all these thoughts lingering in my mind, I ended up burying my head into my knees while the sweat continued to slide down my forehead. Seconds later, I was unsure anymore if it was just beads of sweats or beads of tears on my face.

Moment later, I could sense that the members have gathered around me, and our leader, Victoria, handed me a packet of tissue. Krystal sat beside me quietly, her face also filled with tiredness and bitterness. The time went by when the members resumed their dance practice, leaving me and Krystal sitting in the corner of the room staying silent. At that time, I had calmed myself down, refilling myself with determination to catch up to my members’ pace.

But suddenly, Krystal nudged me while talking in a low deep voice, “Sulli-ah, do you want to run away?”

I froze.

It was at that moment, I realized that I wasn’t the only one feeling desperate and worn out, maybe everyone was feeling the same way. I immediately cleared my mind from the negative thoughts from earlier before getting myself up and patted my crumpled shirt.

I took my hand out and tried to smile, “No Krystal, let’s try harder together. It’s not just for me, it’s for the five of us.”

Krystal took my hand, her lips curved into a perfect smile. “Alright, Sulli.”

---

September 2^nd, 2009. It was finally the day for our debut showcase. I felt like I have turned into a brand new person. Well, to be precise, I have just become an idol in a girl group named f(x). Despite feeling like a totally different person, I know that deep down in me, I was still a teenager, young and naïve. By now, I don’t regret getting involved in the entertainment industry anymore, since I’ve met four awesome band mates and wonderful seniors who had our backs.

All of us were wandering about anxiously in backstage, getting everything prepared and checked before we go on stage. I could barely feel my heartbeat, unable to catch up to its pace. It was beating really speedily, as if it will beat out of my chest any sooner. I looked at the other members, and they were not looking any better than me. As the MC began to speak, we knew it was time for us to perform. We gathered around for a final cheer before entering the stage one by one. This was it. Our first exposure.

“Annyeonghaseyo, we’re f(x)!”

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This turned out to be really long xD I combined a couple of chapters from my previous failed Taelli fic *cough* and added new stuffs to create this. Do enjoy! :)