Sunhwa nervously checked her ponytail again, making sure her long, dark brown hair was sufficiently tied. She took deep breaths and tried not to stare at the enormous building in front of her. The steel-plated sign read imperiously, “SM ENTERTAINMENT”.

“Aish, Park Sunhwa, you can’t be nervous! Don’t screw this up!” she muttered to herself. “You have to do this.” She took more deep breaths and when her heart rate had slowed down a bit and her palms were less sweaty, she looked up at the sign once more.

“Fighting!” she said to herself and pulled open the crystal clean glass door.

Inside, a big group of girls around her age were gathered around a woman with a clipboard. Catching glimpses of individual faces, Sunhwa thought that they were all gorgeous, worthy to join SNSD.

Welcome to the land of pretty people.

…Where you don’t fit in.

Gulping, Sunhwa forced the thought back. She tried to move toward the crowd, but her legs were frozen to the ground. All she could do was stand there, motionless, her eyes wide, and the only thought running through her mind, WHAT AM I DOING?

“Annyeonghaseyo!” She felt a tap on her shoulder and snapped out of her state long enough to turn around. There stood a girl with medium-length black hair, curled slightly at the ends, topped off with a pink headband. Her face was round and cheerful, with large black eyes and rosy lips. She was even wearing makeup – a hint of eyeliner.

“Are you all right?” Sunhwa realized that she had basically been staring at the girl’s face.

“Oh!” She jumped and stuttered. “I-I’m fine, thanks.”

The girl grinned a cheerful smile, lighting up everything within a five-foot radius. “Good! I saw you staring and got worried.”

Sunhwa blushed. “Heh, mianhe. I was just a little nervous.”

“Ah, don’t worry,” the girl said reassuringly. “I’m sure you’re a great dancer.”

“I sure hope SM thinks so,” Sunhwa replied, glancing at the crowd again.

“Omo! We should get going, don’t want to be late!” the girl said excitedly, grabbing Sunhwa’s wrist and dragging her toward the coordinator.

In the midst of pushing through all the people, she turned toward Sunhwa and said, grinning, “By the way, my name’s Song Hyun Jin.”

Despite the crazy crowd and the nervous pit gnawing at her stomach, Sunhwa smiled.

-

“I’m going to divide you up into groups. Each group will take turns going into the practice room, where you will be taught a dance. Then, you will perform it. Arraso?” The coordinator stood in front of the group, hands on her hips.

When there was nothing but silence, she nodded. “Good.” She began rattling off names from the clipboard, “Son Min Ju, Woo Hakyoung…”

Sunhwa heard Hyun Jin’s name being called and felt a gentle squeeze on her hand before Hyun Jin left to stand with other girls in her group.

“…Park Sunhwa…” She heard her name pass over the coordinator’s lips, and Sunhwa hurriedly squeezed through to bow to her. The coordinator barely passed her with a nod, and Sunhwa stood next to the girls in group three.

“Okay, Sunhwa,” she thought to herself. “Now just make it through. Prove you can do this.”

-

Half an hour later, Sunhwa found herself in a dance room with nine other girls, with a stern male dance instructor standing in front. They were facing a wall with mirrors and the instructor was drilling the last steps of the dance.

Sunhwa’s face was one of deep concentration: eyebrows scrunched together and lips pressed into a thin line. In contrast, her body moved with a will of its own, bending and turning with a rarely seen grace.

“Again,” the instructor said curtly. Sunhwa was sure that he would have said a lot more, too, but was keeping his mouth shut to weed out all the weak dancers first.

The other girls stood up wearily with groans, but Sunhwa immediately got into position. “Five, six, seven, eight…” It was pretty obvious that Sunhwa was the best dancer there, as she got the steps perfectly. Even for a rookie who hadn’t danced professionally before, she was impressive.

The music finished and the instructor waved them off. “Go now. That’s it.”

The girls murmured thanks and bowed to him as they filed out of the room. He stopped the last person. “You.”

Sunhwa paused. She kept her face blank, but inside, her heart was racing. Her first audition for SM, and she was already singled out? Why her?

“Me?” she pointed to herself.

He nodded gruffly. “You dance well.”

“Oh,” Sunhwa hid her blush with a bow. “Kamsahamida.”

The instructor raised an eyebrow at her. “You may go.”

Sunhwa bowed again and scrambled out.