"Umma, I'm going somewhere today so don't worry about me!" I said to Jonghyun's mom as I walked out the door. I saw her wave and I took the bus to the SM Entertainment building. I decided that I would get information about becoming a trainee today.It was about a half an hour ride to the building with all of the morning traffic. I leaned my head against the bus window and looked outside as we passed by the tall buildings. The sun was out and the sky was a cloudless blue.

When I got to the building I took a deep breath and then walked in. I walked to the front desk.

"Hello. Is Miss Yoo Gaeun here?" I asked the lady.

"Oh yes, I'll call her for you. What is your name?"

"Choi Hana," I responded. I waited as she called her. She then smiled and told me to go to the 2nd story, room B21. I nodded and rode the elevator up. When I got to room B21, I knocked and Miss Yoo answered smiling.

"Hello Hana. Glad to see you again. Come in," she said opening the door wider so I could enter. I bowed and walked in.

"So have you thought about becoming an SM Trainee?" she asked.

"Yeah I have. I want to but there are some things I'm worried about. Where would I stay and how would I go to school? And what are the chances of me debuting?" I asked.

"Well first of all, you would stay in a dorm with other trainees unless you live nearby our office. For school, President Lee is really big on getting a good education. You would attend an international school and then get the choice of going to college or focusing on your career. Your chances of debuting? Well there's a showcase every now and then that showcases your talent. That could influence your debut or if SM is thinking of releasing a girlgroup or a solo, we have a list of the best trainees in each "subject" such as dancing or singing. We usually take the best from each subject and put them together as a group. With your talents, I would say that you could be in the next girl group or solo," Miss Yoo explained.

"Wow." I smiled thinking about everything. As much as everything seemed so simple and laid out for me,I thought about leaving my friends, leaving my education, leaving the US, leaving my parents...

"You know Hana, you can try it out for a couple of weeks," Miss Yoo said seeing that I was still unsure .

"Really? Then.. can I try it for a few weeks?" I asked.

"Yes, you can," Miss Yoo said, "Read over the contract and sin and initial whenever it tells you to. I'll give you a handbook that explains all the rules and requirements and so on. I'd like you start training you tomorrow . Is that alright?"

"Tomorrow would be great.." I said as I read and signed everything, "Is this it? Nothing else?" I asked.

"Yup. That's it. I'm the auditions and trainee director so I'm in charge of all this. Usually it's a lot more steps but I'm confident in you," she said. "Also, In the handbook you'll have to fill out your information such as height and weight and give that to me. And may I ask, where do you live right now?"

"I live about 30 minutes away.." I answered.

"You'll have to live in a dorm. And your on summer break, yes?" I nodded. "Okay then school won't be a problem for now." she handed me a big handbook and I put it in my bag.

"Your done, Hana. I'll lead you to the trainee room. Your not starting today but I want you to meet your dormmates. I'll give you about two days to get ready, pack and move into the dorm," she said as we went downstairs. We went to the same room as yesterday and entered. Everyone was stretching, talking, singing, or dancing alone or with their trainee friends.

The trainees all stared at me as I walked in and started whispering. They then stood up and bowed when they saw Miss Yoo with me.

"Hello, trainees. We have a new trainee here. Her name is Choi Hana. She is 16 years old and from America." Some trainees shot me dirty looks. I guess I understood. I mean, while they had to go through the emotional stages of auditioning, I plainly got in because of pure luck and accident.

"Can I see Yejin, Skye, Hanbi, and Gayun?" Miss Yoo asked. 4 girls stood up and walked towards us while the others continued what they were doing.

"Girls, this is Hana. She'll be staying in your dorm," she then turned towards me, "Hana. You'll be staying in the Dorm C with these girls. Get to know them, okay? And make sure you girls make her feel welcome. Hana, turn in the papers to me tomorrow, and if you have questions ask these girls or come by my room." I nodded and me and the other girls bowed as she walked out.

"Hi, I'm Hana," I said. The girls smiled. They were all really pretty and cute... Well everyone in the room seemed like they were practically perfect. Well they had to be, they were all trainees.

"I'm Yejin. 15 years old," a girl said. She had short black pixie hair with highlights. She looked cool and tough with a big shirt, sweats and converse high tops on. I smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Skye.. I'm 16 years old! I'm half Korean and Filipino but I'm from California like you. I hope that you like it here,," a girl said when I looked towards her. She had long wavy black hair and huge eyes. She was pretty but cute at the same time. She had on a skirt and a babydoll shirt.

"I'm Gayun. 18 years of age," the next girl said with a cute smile. She had a very casual, the girl-next-door type look.

"Hi Hana! I'm Hanbi! I'm glad your here! We'll be friends! I'm 18 just like Gayun over here," Hanbi said excitedly. Hanbi was gorgeous. She had long hair with porcelian skin and almond eyes.

Yejin rolled her eyes, "She's too cheerful..." Hanbi replyed with a playful slap.

"So your gonna be in our dorm?" Skye asked. I nodded in response.

"Well you'll have to be in me and Yejin's room. Gayun and Hanbi Unnie share a room," Skye said. I nodded. I was truly excited. I had never lived in a dorm before and all these girls seemed really nice and fun.

Just then, Mr. Han came in. Everyone bowed. I just followed everyone and bowed with them. He nodded and walked towards our direction and shook hands with me, "Welcome... Let's forget yesterday, yes?"

"Ne, Mr. Han," I said with a smile.

"Okay well, Skye and Yejin since you two already sang your showcase song for me, I want you to show Hana the dorm during lunch break, okay?" Mr. Han said. They nodded.

---LUNCH BREAK---

I was awed at how much the trainees had to work. It was insane. They were singing and dancing like there wss no tomorrow. When artists say that it took their sweat and blood to come all the way to where they are now, they meant it. After a quick lunch consisting of milk and salad or bread we walked over to the apartments across the street.

"What do you think, Hana?" Skye asked.

"It seems so hard and tiring.." I answered truthfully.

"It is," Yejin said. I sighed. We walked into the apartment and went up to the 3rd story.

"The first story is SM employees, the second is the boy trainees and the third is the girls," Skye explained, "There's 2 boy dorms and 3 girl dorms. It's really competitive between the girl dorms and same with the boys."

"The dorms just increases the competitiveness between everyone." Yejin said as she punched in the code for the dorm. I looked around as I walked in.. The dorm had a mirror on one of the walls and the other wall was glass so we could see the view in the living room. There was a hardware floor and the apartment was filled with cute decorations.

Skye and Yejin led me to one of the rooms. It was a large room with three beds in three of the corners. The other corner had a keyboard in it with sheet music strewn across the floor around it. I could see that Skye and Yejin had decorated their beds and area how they wanted it. Yejin had Big Bang posters all around her bed and had tossed fabric and sewing needles over the place. Skye had B2ST posters and cute polaroid pictures of her and her friends from 8th grade graduation, music classes and so on.

"This will be your bed," Skye showed me to the bed across from the keyboard in the far right corner. They then set some ground rules like, "We take turns washing dishes" and "Showers cannot be more than 30 minutes". After a mini tour of the dorm, Skye and Yejin headed to the SM building while I rode the bus home. I was waiting at the bus stop when I heard girls screaming.

I looked towards the direction of the screams and rolled my eyes. Jonghyun was at the center of the chaos smiling and taking pictures with girls and signing autographs. He then waved and said he had to go and his black car stopped right in front of where I was waiting for the bus. The man driving bowed and got out and Jonghyun got in the car. I looked at him disgusted while he smiled arrogantly to the girls, shot a wink and drove off. I bet none of those fan girls know that he has a girlfriend, whoever she was.

The bus then came and I rode it home.

"I'm home!" I yelled. No one answered. I walked to the kitchen and there was a note on the counter.

Hana,

I forgot to tell you this morning and you wouldn't answer your phone.
Jonghyun's father is on a business trip and I am heading down to my hometown to take care of my sick friend.
If you need any help, you can see Jonghyun or call me. I should be home in a week or so.

Take care!

Love, Umma.

(011)342-1923; (204)863-1102; (239)811-2075

I sighed and called one of the numbers on the note and Jonghyun's mom answered. I told her that I was living as a trainee for now. She was shocked and surprised and said that I was, "all grown up" and now I could "take care of Jonghyun". She then congratulated me and made sure that I locked the door and always had a key for the house just in case. She made sure I had all my bags and supplies I would need and hung up. Jonghyun's mom didn't question me at all.. Thank God she was so cool...

I showered and changed and then went out to go shopping.  I bought all the neccesary supplies for dorm life, packed my bags and clothes and went into the dorm. All the girls were there and I was welcomed with a bunch of,

"HANA!" "Oh I'll grab your bags!" "Want some food?"and Yejin's "You pack fast."

"Thanks!" I said as they all welcomed me. Hanbi and Gayun went to make some dinner while Skye helped me with my stuff and Yejin checked kpop news on her laptop on her bed.

I put a white quilt blanket on my bed and put my clothes in the walk in closet. All of us shared that one closet and we tried dividing it into 5 different sections for each of us.

I set up a clock and a lamp, put pictures of my family and friends around my bed and arranged my stuffed animals. I basically made this corner "Hana's Corner." I smiled when I finished and fell on my bed exhausted when Hanbi called for me to eat.I grunted as I got up and walked to the dining table. We all ate and talked and tried to get to know each other.

Apparently, Miss Yoo talked to them about me after I left. Me and Yejin were the best singers, Skye was the best dancer of all of SM, Hanbi was the best visual with looks and figure and Gayun filled in for everything else.

After dinner, everyone went to sleep at about 8 saying that wewould need the sleep. We took turns using the bathroom and settled into our rooms.

"Yah. You sleepin'?" Yejin asked.

"Nope." Skye answered.

"Me niether," I said with a sigh. I liked dorm life but I missed living with parents. I looked at the polaroid of me and my family smiling at my aunt's wedding. I then looked at the picture of me and Jonghyun the night before I had to leave for California. Our families had dinner together and our parents had taken the picture of me and Jonghyun. Last minute, he squeezed my sides so i was screaming while he lookrd perfectly gorgeous smiling at the camera all innocent.

"You miss your family, don't you?" Skye asked softly.

"Yeah.. I do." I said. Yejin and Skye kept talking but I plugged my iPod into my ears to relax while I drift to sleep.

ON THE OTHER SIDE [JONGHYUN'S POV]
---------------------------------------------------

"Jonghyun and Luna?" the President of SM Entertainment asked.

"Yes President Lee?" Luna and Jonghyun said walking into Lee Sooman's office.

"Hello... I have a favor to ask of you two... As the best singers of SM's newest idol bands, I would like you guys to talk to the trainees about singing and train them about putting emotion into singing. I've got you guys a list of the trainees. I want Luna to be in charge of the trainees in the blue and Jinghyun, I want you to be in charge of the ones in the red." 

As Jonghyun skimmed the piece of paper his president gave him and read the names, he came across a name in small red print that caught his eye. Choi Hana. He sighed as he thought, Wow so she really is a trainee?I guess we really are gonna be singers together...

FLASHBACK- [08/02/2008; 11:02 PM]

"When you laugh I feel good too, even when you say it’s just pretend. You bring happiness to the days when I wait for you, the nights when I miss you~" Hana sang as her parents and Jonghyun's parents clapped along to the beat of the song beaming at their children singing and dancing for them.

"Even when I’m alone it’s okay if I can just see you. I’m always behind you, I’m always looking out for you, but it seems like I have to share~" Jonghyun continued the song. Hana and Jonghyun perfectly synchronized with each other even if they were 13 and 15.

"Wow!!! Our children are so good!!" Hana's mom exclaimed.

Hana and Jonghyun looked at each other and grinned proudly.

"Yeah umma! We're gonna be singers and set records!!" Jonghyun said to his mother.

"Me too! Jonghyun oppa and I'll do it together!!" Hana said happily.

"Yup! Me and Hana are going to be singers together and help each other sing and do duets and stuff! People are gonna be jealous of our popularity!" Jonghyun boasted.

"Alright kids, that's enough for tonight," Jonghyun's dad said smiling at the two children.

"Appa!!! I'm fifteen!!!" Jonghyun whined.

"I think its enough too," Hana's dad said glancing at yawning Hana. Hana nodded said gooodnight and went into a room to sleep. Jonghyun followed and rested next to Hana as their dads left their children to sleep.

"Oppa. Do you think that we'll really be singers?" Hana asked.

"If you really wanna be.. We'll be singers together," Jonghyun said as they fell asleep.