November 28, 2010

"One and two, three and four, five and six, seven eight."

Drenched in sweat, the six girls, who had been in the practice room since six in the morning, were dressed in baggy t-shirts and sweatpants, preparing for their end-of-month showcase that afternoon as a team. Their daily routine as trainees was tiring but they were having fun. The team's choreographer dance trainer stood by the side, sternly watching them, looking out for flaws in their performance.

He stiffly nodded, satisfied with the girls' practice yet suppressing a smile. He wanted to see the six of them be able to debut and stand on stage confidently, and he knew that to do that, they couldn't take anything lightly because of how competitive the industry was. That was why he refused to praise the girls even if they were brilliant, for fear that they would become complacent.

"Okay, let's run it once through with the music before going for a short break," he said as he walked towards the boombox. The girls scurried to their starting positions, yearning for their hard earned break.

With his back facing the girls, Angela nudged the girl nearest to her, Myunhong.

"Will it kill him to just praise us a little?" She whispered. Myunhong shrugged, smirking a little without meaning to. Just then, their dance trainer turned and caught the two of them sniggering.

"Choi Myunhong, Park Angela, you know what these showcases are for. You know if you don't pass them, you don't debut," he lectured. Upon hearing those familiar words he had repeated many times before, the girls had to restrain rolling their eyes. The trainer sighed, clearly stressed out about that afternoon's showcase. "Just once more and you guys can rest, okay?"

Angela and Myunhong both mumbled a 'sorry' and the music came on, and the girls started dancing, finishing the choreography perfectly.

Their dance trainer clapped slowly, giving an approving nod, and Angela and Myunhong looked at him sheepishly.

"You guys did well, but Haeri, remember to take note of the sharpness of your movements and your facial expressions. We'll work on that later. Go for your break now," he said, still fierce but seemingly starting to let his friendly image appear. Haeri felt her face burn a little. She felt embarrassed whenever their trainer singled her out. It too, felt like she was the only one who wasn't good enough.

Jaemi, the temporary leader of the team, signaled to the girls to thank him and they bowed, saying, "kamsahamnida!" in unison. He acknowledged their thanks with a wave of his hand while taking a sip of water and exited the room.

Angela, the team's current maknae, immediately collasped onto the ground, and Jaemi and Haeri followed.

"I'm so tired," Angela complained.

"Hey, you need to stop those antics of yours, stop getting others into trouble," Soojin, the eldest in the team told her with a disapproving look. Angela just nodded, used to Soojin's naggings after having lived with her for a year after she was placed on the team. Soojin clicked her tongue and passed Angela, Jaemi and Haeri a bottle of water each as she sat on the floor as well. Myunhong and Haera grabbed small towels to wipe their sweat and the girls sat down in a circle, quietly gulping their water down.

"I wonder when we'll ever get to debut," Haera thoughtfully murmured. "I mean, we never know what will happen to us after this showcase."

Soojin nodded. "We may get dropped and new trainees might replace us in the team. I heard new ones are coming in today..."

"Just like Junhong," Myunhong mumbled. Junhong was Myunhong's brother who was dropped by the company not too long before, and had since signed on to another company.

Jaemi shuddered. "It's already my fifth year as a trainee and it's still scary thinking about it."

The girls sat in slightly awkward silence, not knowing what else to say and just being able to empathise with one another.

 "Wow! SM Entertainment is so cool!" Min Xian gasped as soon as she saw the building. 

"Is this the first time you've seen it?" Lee Xian mocked. 

"Well excuse me, but I'm not a crazy fan like you!" Min Xian retorted. 

"Alright, break it up or people will think this handsome guy is related to twin idiots," Zhi Ern joked, rolling his eyes.

"YOU? HANDSOME? OH PLEASE," the twins shouted at their older brother in unison.

"Alright. Shut up and let's not attract anymore attention. Look at that family over there, can't you be quiet like them?" Their father sighed. Diagonally across from them was a small family of four, quietly making their way into the building. 

"The girl must be a trainee too. Lee Xian-ah, go say hi," Lee Xian's mother instructed.

"Do I have to?" Lee Xian whined. Even though Lee Xian was usually a hyperactive girl that people sometimes wish would shut up, she was usually shy infront of people she just met.

"Yes, now go," Her mother lightly pushed her over to the family.

"Annyeonghasaeyo," Lee Xian bowed politely. The family, bowed back politely, before speaking in Korean. Lee Xian was shocked. Yes, she had been a K-Pop fan for many years, but that didn't mean she was fluent in Korean!

"Um... Hangul... Molla...?" Lee Xian tried her best to say a proper sentence. The family's eyes widened. Is it not common to have foreign trainees? Lee Xian thought. 

"English? Can you speak English?" A girl in the family asked, with a slight Australian accent. Lee Xian's eyes lit up as she nodded eagerly. 

The girl chuckled. "Should we go into the company first? My name's Ji Eun by the way, I'm 19 this year, and I'm a new trainee," The girl spoke. 

"Uhm, yeah..." Lee Xian awkwardly started as they walked into the building. "My name's Lee Xian, and I'm from Singapore... So I don't really know much Korean. And I'm 15. I'm a new trainee too." 

The two girls became friends very quickly, telling the other more about themselves as they walked into the building. Once inside, a friendly voice immediately greeted them.

"Ah, you must be part of the new trainees! Welcome, I'll be your guide for today. Shall we have a look around?" A lady in a white shirt and black pencil skirt approached the two families. Ji Eun's and Lee Xian's parents smiled and eagerly nodded, and the lady led them to a small group by the reception desk, a few of whom Lee Xian assumed were new trainees as well.

"I'm hungry," Myunhong suddenly said as she reached out for a packet of crackers from her bag. Haera made a barely audible gasp.

"You know you're not supposed to!" Haera said as she snatched the packet from Myunhong. "You're going to get into trouble you're found out!"

Myunhong pouted. "But I'm hungry."

"There's salad and fruit in the fridge," Jaemi gestured to the small fridge at the corner of the practice room, and Myunhong groaned. Angela giggled as she watched her friend drag herself over to the fridge. They were all sick of eating so healthily everyday, but they knew they had no choice if they wanted even a shot at debuting because of their strict diet.

Suddenly, the team's minders burst through the door with their dance trainers, voice intructors and a company official.

"Annyeonghasaeyo," the girls scrambled up to greet them with 90-degree-bows. The company official acknowledged their greeting and gestured to them to sit down.

"So, how is your progress as a team going so far?" The company official asked with an authoritive voice. It was a question the officials asked every showcase day, and the girls knew exactly how to respond.

Jaemi immediately got into her leader mode answering his question firmly yet politely.

"We have been practising very hard for the showcase this afternoon, both our vocals and our dance. Would you like to see it?" The company official nodded, crossing his arms, and the six girls put in their all in that practice, treating it like they were performing on stage, singing and dancing their heart out.

"Very good," the official said as soon as the song ended, "but you," he continued, pointing to Haeri, "should practise a few more times. Just a bit of advice. All of you, take a good rest and we'll see you this afternoon, then," he said with an slight smile before leaving the room.

"Kamsahamnida!" The girls bowed, thanking him with their usual singsong voices. One of their minders stepped forward.

"The new trainees are coming in today, and are on their guided tour right now, going around the practice rooms. The company wants you to at least looks like you're practising. You don't want them to think all you do is slack, do you?" The six girls shook their heads, and their minder nodded. "Other than Haeri, you girls are more than ready for this afternoon, but doing that choreography one or two more times won't kill you. Mr Kim," he said, gesturing to the dance trainer who was with them that morning, "will stay around to supervise you." His harshness was obvious, but the girls had learnt to take it in their stride. They nodded, showing their minder that that understood his instructions.

"Haeri, you really need brush up on your skills. I know you're a genius when it comes to singing, but we're talking about dance here. Get some guidance from Mr Kim if you need to, okay?" he said assertively, and Haeri nodded sheepishly.

Giving them a thumbs up, he left the room with everyone else except the dance trainer, and the girls got into positions, preparing to practise their showcase item once again.

"-and this is the practice room for trainees. A year prior to a new group's debut, they will be assigned to a practice room on the other side of the building as a group to call their own." Ji Eun looked into the room. There were six girls in the room dancing quite vigorously, with a male trainer watching them intently from the side, whom Ji Eun thought looked quite scary. Her sight shifted to the trainees again, and she noticed that they gave off a rather professional aura, making her wonder how long they have had been trainees. There was one though, dressed in a purple long-sleeved hoodie and sweat pants, whose dancing skills were not as polished as the rest. Maybe she auditioned as a vocalist, actress or model? She asked herself.

Soon, the dance ended and the trainer at the side nodded before talking a little to the team, seeming like he was giving them pointers. After that, five of the girls grabbed their water bottles and Ji Eun saw one girl take a container of salad, before sitting down to chat with the others, while the same girl whom Ji Eun thought was lagging behind was getting one-to-one training from the trainer. Since the room was soundproof, they couldn't hear what the girls were saying, but Ji Eun realised something. There was a girl who looked really fierce while dancing, but somehow she seemed more friendly now that they were just sitting and talking, laughing with everyone else. There was another girl that reminded her so much of a mother... Or grandmother... Whichever was suitable. She was busy taking care of everyone, making sure that they drank enough water. 

"Don't you think she's like a mother?" Lee Xian asked her as she pointed to the girl with a soft appearance. 

Ji Eun nodded. "Yeah... hey, you see that girl over there?" She pointed to another girl. The girl was dressed in a light pink zip-up hooded jacket, a t-shirt underneath, and matching track pants, with one earpiece plugged in even though everyone was talking. Lee Xian nodded. "She looks unfriendly... Do you think we can get along well with her? If we ever need to, I mean." 

Lee Xian shrugged. "I hope so... Well, we never know, so don't judge a book by it's cover?" She replied. She had to admit what Ji Eun said was true, though. Even though the girl was just quietly resting and drinking water, she looked rather cold. "She's really good, though," Lee Xian added hastily. "She seemed to be dancing without any effort earlier."

Ji Eun nodded. "I think this team is pretty cool, though. I wouldn't mind getting placed with them."

Lee Xian could hear whispering among the other new trainees about the team they were currently watching, most of them about how they wouldn't mind joining the team as well. She started to wonder how competitive it actually was among the trainees the themselves, and wondered if there was even a place in a team for everyone.

"Thank you! Let's give a big hand to Kim Joonmyun and his team!" The said guy and his friends bowed and walked off stage. 

Waiting backstage, Angela was busy jumping up and down. "Omo omo omo omo it's our turn soon omo what do we do???" She repeatedly said as she started jumping around, kicking objects which were in front of her. 

"Yah! Stop that!" Soojin, the only calm one scolded. "You're going to dent everything here!" 

"How can you be calm?" Haera complained, as Soojin lightly smacked her knee. 

"Stop shaking your knees! It's a bad habit!" She scolded. "Calm down, we've done this so many times before, why is everyone so nervous?" She continued, looking over to Jaemi for help to calm everyone else down. 

Normally, Jaemi would be talking non-stop about things that didn't make sense, but because she was already used to showcases, she just plugged in her earpieces and marked her steps for the choreography later. 

"Can we have Jaemi and her team up on stage?" A voice called. 

"IT'S OUR TURN NOW! IT'S OUR TURN NOW! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Angela started hyperventilating. 

"Gel! Stand still and breathe. In and out, in and out," Soojin held her down and she breathed deeply, hoping that Angela would copy her actions. She did, but when the same voice called for them again, everything went down the drain. 

Lee Xian and Ji Eun were standing backstage, watching the groups perform. They knew that they'd have to perform soon too, and Lee Xian was busy playing with her hands, twisting her fingers in awkward postitions. 

"How do you do that?" Ji Eun asked, eyeing Lee Xian's hands. Lee Xian had hyperextended and flexible fingers, so whenever she was nervous, she would unintentionally bend her fingers further back than what a normal person can. 

"Huh? Oh, this?" Lee Xian held up her hands. Ji Eun nodded. "Something I've been able to do since I was young. I have hyperextended fingers..." 

"Oh.." Ji Eun nodded and resumed biting her lower lip. 

"You shouldn't do that you know," Lee Xian comment, gesturing to Ji Eun's lower lip. "It pushes your teeth out, giving you an overbite," she continued. 

Ji Eun was shocked. How did she know so much? 

"Thank you, Jaemi and her team. Next, it's the beginning of the showcase for the new batch of trainees! First up, Siow Lee Xian," a voice announced, "please come up and show everyone what you've got." Ji Eun gave Lee Xian an encouraging smile as Lee Xian made her way to the stage. 

Here goes nothing.

A/N: Spot the cameo! :)