Chapter -2

It’s alright. I can do it. You can do it, Lee Taemin. I was continuously reminding myself that I could do this. I’ve been preparing for this for like forever. Also, mom and dad had given such supplies for me. I have to do this. And mostly, it’s your dream, isn’t it, Taemin?

I was really acting to look confident, but inside, I was nervous as hell. The judges didn’t seem to notice though. After all, they were all overwhelmed by my dance moves. But, I was also afraid of them. Well, I was only grade six. I was distracted a lot by other competes either. They were really noisy. However, I managed to catch more attention, I think.

The music had come to a stop, and we all heard the clear voice of the judge from the middle who stood up, saying we’d have to wait for the phone call for the final audition.

Ha. Finally, I was out of the audition room. Do all audition rooms give you anxiousness?? Well, this one sure looked crept out to me although it’s decorated with some poster of Super Junior. Whatever, to sum it up, today was fun.

-Flash back ends-

***

I got some shivers, thinking back about the last audition. Did they really like me? What if I would be humiliated? The nearer I got to the SM building, the more thoughts occur in my head. As if reading my mind, dad assures me to relax.

“Taemin, you can do this. This is just like a job interview. They’re just making sure you’re a human. They like you a lot. That’s why they called.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” Dad gave me a smile, following by a nod.

At that time, I hoped nothing but that, that what he said was right.

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“You ready?”

“I think so.”

I returned to my father with a smile, ready to face whatever fate that would come.

“Don’t worry, you’ll do great.”

“Yeah, thanks, dad.”

“No need. I’ll be right here, okay?”

“Okay…”

Finally, I arrived at the great hall of anxiousness. Okay, okay, I was being cheesy; however, I was at the audition room. It was a little awkward since I had to enter alone. The judges were already there sitting in roll. With all those stares, I felt so small. I felt- well, I felt nervous, and a lot. As I was drowning in thoughts, one of them called out my name, getting their attention.

“Hey, Lee Taemin, right?”

“N-Neh.”

“Introduce yourself, little boy.” The woman from the judge said. It finally clicked my head that I haven’t greeted properly. How could you this clumsy, Lee Taemin? Whatever-

“Ah, yeah. An-yeo-ha-sa-yo. I’m Lee Taemin. I ‘m here for the interview for the final audition.”

“Yes, yes, okay. Tell us about yourself.”

“Um…, my name is Lee Taemin. I love dancing and started it since I was grade three. My favorite food is steak. I’m attending grade six at Cheong Dan High School. This is all, I guess. Thank you very much.”

“Okay. Do you have singing any experiences?”

“Eh, no, but I’ve been learning it after the first audition.”

 They didn’t say anything after that. Am I really that bad? Do I still have hopes? I don’t know anymore.

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I was outside the building, where my father would be waiting. I was filled with so many emotions that I didn’t even hear my dad calling until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Hey” That’s only I could say back.

“How was-”

My father was cut off by my look, my emotions full face.

“It’s okay, Taem-”

“No, dad, I- freaking, ugh, this couldn’t really happen, right? This must be a dream.”

Realizing my silliness, I started laughing again. My father just stood there, stunned. Of course, he was. I started giggling again.

“I can’t believe it. I really did this. I just-”

“Taemin, what’s going on?”

“I did it, dad.”

“Yeah, Taemin, we can always-”

“No, dad, I really did it. I was selected.” God must love me today. I was so happy.

“Omo, Taemin, you scared me.”

“I know, right?” I was just smiling, more like grinning like an idiot.

“I’m so proud of you, son, your mom and your hyung might probably proud, too. Come on; give your daddy a hug.”

And I lingeringly obeyed.

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“So, Taemin, were they scary?” My hyung asked me at the dining table. My family was currently at the dining table, enjoying mom’s homemade food.

“Yeah, hyung, I felt so small in there.”

“You are small.”

“Hyung…” I said with a pout but I knew I was happy inside.

“But I knew you could do it.” Mom interrupted.

“She’s right.” Dad added.

“We all believed you from the beginning.”

“Thank you.” I really couldn’t be happier. My lovely family and everything were there for me. And I knew I’d miss the times with them when I become a-somewhat-trainee.

“It’s okay. We are family.” The silence was broken by no other than dad. And he was right.

“So, when will your training start?” My hyung asked me, finally getting to the subject.

“Um, they haven’t decided yet. For now, I have to practice myself. They’ll call at weekend practices. I think it’s because they thought I’m still too young. Regular training times will be later they said.”

And blah-blah-blah, our family’s dinner ended up with my little experience at the audition.

I was excited and I couldn’t wait for my trainee days, really.

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As usual, I was practicing in the SM training room, the SM training room. I wasn’t use to it, I guess. As I was saying, I was practicing mostly every weekend about three months after the final audition. But I haven’t met any other trainees yet. I was only practicing alone most of the time. I’ve been practicing dancing with the noonas. I mean why not the hyungs? I’m not a girl. I’ve also been observing singing lessons from the internet even more. But I haven’t really improved yet.  A teacher from SM taught me sometimes, too. Do they think I am that young? I’ve met some hyungs from Super Junior but still. Or was it my looks? Maybe it’s because of that. Eun Hyuk hyung said I was prettier than the trainee noona from the front.

Another two months of training, I was tired of being neglected. Why? I just kept asking that.

Why-

As if they were reading my thoughts, just in a few weeks after the two months, I’ve heard that I was going to be trained with the other permanent trainees. Well, I was happy, of course.

It turned out to be tomorrow. Tomorrow I would be able to meet the trainee hyungs and later, practice together with them. I had a feeling that they’d be really nice. Finally, then I could hang out with boys and do the boy thing instead of my cheeks being pinched by noonas. I’d still give candies to those noonas though, since it’s my habit. Yeah, silly habit, right? Giving sweets to any noonas I met.

However, I couldn’t wait for the next day to finally come.

Tomorrow is just a day. But still, we all wait for tomorrow. There’s always tomorrow, they said. It’s true but partly, because who knows what’d happen just in another minute. So, we should do our work right now. But we all have hopes, right? That’s why we’re still waiting. Don’t just keep on waiting, work while you do. Meaning, work with hope. Tomorrow doesn’t really exist, you know? There’s another tomorrow after tomorrow and another one after that and another-

But still I waited with hope for tomorrow.

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Whew~ I could do an update. I have no idea how this turned out but I feel like I’m going in loops. However, I also couldn’t wait for the tomorrow in the story since there’d be new characters. ;)

Oh, about what Eun Hyuk said, it’s true. I mean he really said that in real life. It’s also true that little Taemin gave candies to noonas, I think y’all know.

With regards,

Namri.