I walked though the halls of SM entertainment studios, heading to the door labeled: 훈련받는사람.

I opened the door and stepped inside. The two men inside jumped in surprise.

“Who are you?” and “Why are you here?” I was asked. More like, shouted at.

“I’m JooRi, a trainee. I’m supposed to record here today…” I bowed.

“Guys?” A voice called, “We want to run through that last part one more time, okay?” the voice continued. Both men in front of me shared a look and then jumped for the button to talk. They wanted to stop him because I was here, but I wanted to listen to the voice. And the other voices that followed.

It was sweet, soft yet powerful, strong. I almost wanted to be the girl they were singing about. ALMOST.The two infront of me hadn’t stopped him, they had fallen. I stopped paying attention to the struggle to get up and focused my attention on the words.

One of the guys on the floor managed to hit the “TALK” button just as I began to sing a long powerful note along with on of the guys behind the hidden glass. The man had opened his mouth to yell “STOP” at the same moment I opened mine to let out a very long, powerful, soulful “yeah”.

“Sae ggi son ga rak ja beun chae geo chi mal gi u ri ye bbeun sa rang jeol dae shi heom ha gi shil ta

Yeah Yeah Yeah My baby

Gyeo te i sseo do geu ri wo ji neun geot neo man saeng gak ha myeon ga seum han jjo gi a ryeo o neun got

Sa rang hae ra neun ma re nun mul heul li neun geot nae pyeon i dwae ju go mi deo ju neun i ge sa rang i ran geol

Hot Times Ne ip su reul hum chil ddae nae shim jang do mo du jae ga dwae go ma ra

Da ha ya ke bam eul sae do a jik mo gi mal la seo na reul meom chul su ga eob seot ji

Hot Times nae ga neo reul nun ddeul ddae All my life time o jik neo man ga jyeo do dwae

Nal heun deul go shi ryeon jwo do in jeong hal su ba gge eom neun geol neon ha na bbun in nae sa ram

Deok su gung dol dam gil ga teun geon geo chi mal gi ki seu hal ddae neun do jung e nun ddeu ji an ki

Sae ggi son ga rak ja beun chae geo chi mal gi u ri sa rang jeol dae ro jeol dae ro shi hom ha ji mal gi shi heom ha ji mal gi

Yeah”

I sang along only with the “Yeahs” and the “Ohs”, already knowing where they belonged, even if I didn’t know the song. The song ended. The two men on the floor looked at me, completely startled. I felt a presence behind me and turned to see some idols, looking into the room curiously. I turned back around to see the studio sound door open and four more idols standing in front of me. I felt my eyes get really big. I tried to run, but they were surrounding me. So instead, I stood still and placed my hands in front of my face. Hoping that maybe they’d think I was weird and leave me alone. 

Unfortunately, when I peeked from between my fingers…they were still staring at me. I don’t want to be here all day. I want you people to leave so I can practice so that maybe I can debut! I whined on the inside. “Yah, who are you?” the men on the floor, who were finally standing, asked me. Some of the idols in the crowd at my exit started to move around. Then I found my savior in the form of my teacher.

“Eunhyuk-ssi!!” I jumped on him, hoping I could just hide behind him. Everyone else seemed startled that I did this. “Eunhyuk, you know her?” another idol asked. “Ahhh~ I wondered why the voice was familiar! JooRi!” Donghae oppa hugged me. “Oppa!” I hugged him, still hiding behind Eunhyuk. “JooRi, why don’t you call me oppa?” Eunhyuk whined but turned his attention back to everyone else. “Mianhae if she ruined rehersal or anything, this is my trainee, JooRi.”

“If she has a voice like that, why is she still a trainee?” one of the floor-standing men asked. “She doesn’t feel she’s ready, so I continue to train her.” Eunhyuk shrugged. “Yah! But she hit AND held Jjong’s notes!” another idol pointed out. Please, please leave, please stop talking about me…I prayed.

“Yah, don’t worry about it. She’ll make her debut. I will make sure of that.” Eunhyuk proudly placed an arm around my shoulders and gave me a hug for confidence. I puffed out my cheeks, feeling better with him here. “Yah, JooRi, this is SHINee and the rest of SuJu.” Eunhyuk pointed at the idols. “And that’s Jay from TRAX and another trainee, Jino.” I bowed, “Mianhae for bothering your recording…”