Jongin has to meet some official representatives of SM Ent. and he is grateful Yeonsu has started summer school camp. He feels way lighter at the idea of her not staying at home with Byul-noona all day. It would stress them both too much and besides, his noona had work in the morning, too.

He sighs heavily. He doesn't know how hard it will be from now own, but he fears not spending much time with his little doughtier anymore. 

He has to repeats to himself it will be worth it. 

Since he has arrived too early, Jongin decides to  treat himself a good tea and heads toward the internal café, hopeful he will meet the funny, chubby waiter from the audition again. 

To his pleasure the man is there, busy handling a box full of sweets to adjust on the café's stands. As he hears footsteps, the man looks up.

"Oh, hey kid!" he greets, always that cheerful "You did it, didn't you?" 

Jongin nods shyly and sits down on a stool. "I have a meeting today, sir."

"A meeting is a great sign. And only a few days after your audition? Impressive."

"Thank you." 

He can't stop blushing, a happy feeling devouring his body as he hears the man's words. 

"So, what's your name, kid?" 

Jongin frowns and tries to ignore the infamous title, again "Kim Jongin." 

"I am mister Jung. You can call me that, everyone here does so." the chubby man announces proudly and serves Jongin right after. They chat a bit, Jongin constantly looking at his watch with nervous eyes, while mister Jung smoothly talks about things Jongin should know about SM.

"For example, practice is hard and can last until late in the night. But if you are lucky enough to make a good impression, maybe you will have some senior help you out."

The only thought makes Jongin's heart beat faster. 

"Also, do you remember about Luhan-sshi?" 

The boy tilts his head up fast at the name and mister Jung laughs "He came here the night of your audition and asked me if I had any news about you."

Jongin blushes and lifts an eyebrow suspiciously at the confession "I'm not kidding, kid. If you meet him around you should thank him. It was so sweet of him." 

Proved the man was not playing a prank on him, Jongin gets completely knocked down by the news. He feels his face on fire and buries it behind his cup for shelter. He can still hear the man giggles though, and that doesn't help. 

Three representatives of SM come in his rescue right then- perfect timing.

After a quick and emotionless greeting and a silent goodbye with mister Jung, the two men and the woman in suit take him around the building, until they reach a big empty room on the third floor. Suddenly Jongin misses mister Jung's cheerful voice and his stomach hurts. He would rather listen to the chubby man's giggles than be there alone with three quite scary people. 

He is asked to take a sit on a chair in front of other three settled down for them. He does, looking around in amazement. The room is quite small but the interior design is chic and clean, with a predominance of white that goes from the walls' covering to the expensive chandelier. It gives off a modern, cold yet chic feeling just like the rest of the palace.

The woman's voice calls him back to reality. "So, Kim Jongin-sshi. Are you excited?" 

Jongin tries to sit comfortably while nodding. 

"Please, relax. We are here to help you." she states and the boy smiles weakly. 

They ask him to perform a short dance, then a ballet and a jazz one, the dance styles he has personally studied more. Jongin once again performs per their requests, noticing he is being filmed with a phone and that makes him quite nervous. Their pleased expressions immediately calm him down, though.

Eventually they order him to sit down again, starting to ask simple questions such as his place of birth, to let him recover his breath. 

"You see, Jongin-sshi, we don't know if you realized it, but you left quite an impression on us since the day of your audition." 

The boy's heart stops beating at the recognition he has been given. The woman lets him digest the news before continuing.

"For this reason, as you may be offered the chance to enter as a SM official trainee, we have to ask you something personal to collect data. Is it okay with you?"

"Yes," Jongin immediately answers "Please, go ahead."

The woman is the only one talking, Jongin notices. The two men only stare at him most of the time, checking their phones and writing things down casually. 

Nerve-wracking.

"First of all, your family background. Please tell us about it."

Jongin frowns but tries his best to hide his discomfort. 

"Well, uhm-" he begins, his voice a nervous whisper "My family is composed of three members. My older sister, my younger sister, who is turning 5 this year.. and me." 

Biting his lips at the false information, Jongin meets three pairs of worried eyes.

"My father died when I was 14 from a lung cancer. My mother never really managed to move on.. and after giving birth to Yeonsu, she passed away as well."

Jongin's statement leaves the three speechless for a minute. He keeps his head down at the painful memories he has to modify to adjust to Yeonsu's birth. His father had died when he was ten, and his mother only three years later in reality, but he could never reveal it. 

"We are sorry, Jongin-sshi." the woman states with a shaking voice, and Jongin can feel her honesty. He shakes the gloom atmosphere away with a light smiles.

"We overcame it, please don't worry."

Just then one of the two men pokes the woman's shoulder and points at the phone in his hands. They take a minute to watch at something on it, Jongin observing the scene while trying to relax his muscles, and eventually go back looking at him, smiling.

"Actually Jongin-sshi, although I am very sorry, we had to ask. See now, knowing you have a little sister and a family that needs you, we will try our best to adjust to your needs and time, so your sisters won't miss you too much."

"Will you really?" Jongin asks, incredulous. Realization hits him hard a second later.

The last thing he knows, is that SM has officially accepted him as a trainee, and that they will reserve him a special treatment for his family. 

He is given a long contract to read and study carefully and a hour of shy questions and patient answers later he signs it, he signs his future. 

He has officially started climbing the never-ending path towards his dream.

--

"This is where our tour will end." the staff  member informs after a long trip around the building "Did you like it? If you work hard, this will become your second home."

Jongin lifts his eyes up to man and nods. "It's beautiful here."

"Glad you think so." 

The man was not really talkative when it came to informal conversations, and Jongin can feel his uneasiness while staying close to him once his job has been done. He feels the urge to thank him, because he has been so patient and exhaustive with informations he had to give, and because he had spent more than two hours just trying to make Jongin comfortable.

"You can start moving around alone now, can't you." he asks rhetorically while loosening his tie's knot up, and Jongin quickly nods.

"Thank you again." 

With a 90° degrees bow he greets the man, who dismisses him with two supportive pats on his shoulders. 

He is alone now, and curiosity of walking around the massive buildings is eating him up, although his conscience as a father tells him he should head home instead. Byul and Yeonsu still know nothing about the contract. 

Sighing, he starts walking away the hallway, towards the building's entrance. 

He passes by a crowded room at floor 2 and his body stops immediately at the sound of loud dance music and severe teachers' voices overcoming it with heartless scoldings. Jongin can't move. He stares at the open door, uncertain since the staff man had just told him to never enter a room without a teacher's permission. The door was open though, and Jongin could just sneak-peek through it innocently if he wanted, without disturbing anyone.

So he does.

Positioning himself right behind the doorjamb, Jongin observes the inside of the room with caution. He sees a group of boys performing a quite though choreography under the pitiless eyes of two teachers. They yell casually at one's mistake and Jongin freezes once again at their severity. He feels bad for the the boys as he stares at their exhausted expression through the mirror wall of the room. 

It's right then that Jongin notices him. 

Luhan was breathless as he danced, sweat drops falling down his wet hair at every sharp movement and his too large violet t-shirt  impregnated with sweat. Jongin finds himself staring at the strong expression gracing the boy's beautiful face, Luhan's eyes fiercely looking at their own reflection in the mirror as the music pumped through his veins. 

When the music stops Jongin quickly hides himself better behind the room's wall, sneaking his head to look inside the room as transparently as he can. 

The class is dismissed and Jongin notices one of the teacher quickly walking out, so quickly he does't even notice him. The boys inside collapses on the floor, collecting their breath without a word, while few others just take their things and run away, sending Jongin curious stares as they notice him. Jongin ignores them and look back at the studio see Luhan standing still on his shaky legs while he greedily drinks an entire bottle of water. His body is completely wet and trembling and Jongin dismisses the thought of it quickly.

He hears the teacher telling other boys in the room to go take a shower and leave Luhan alone with him quickly, and Jongin once again ignores the glares and the whispers he receives as they walk away. 

"Luhan," the teacher calls severely and Luhan can barely walks towards him "I don't know what's wrong with you lately, but I don't like it." 

Jongin can see how the boy's face cringe at those words. 

"They are mean to you, and your reactions please them."

"I'm sorry." Luhan tries to say while bowing deeply but the man simply stares, waving him off soon after "Don't force me to have you downgrade because of people malice." 

Luhan is left alone in the room and Jongin sees him standing still, eyes unfocused as disappointment falls over his body. 

He doesn't know what to do.

In the end he decides to approach the boy casually, walking towards him with cautious steps and when he hears him, Luhan turns around and his big eyes gets joyful and wide.

"Jongin-sshi," he greets. Jongin feels like going on fire at the sight of the big smile he was able to bring on the boy's face.

"Am I disturbing?" 

"No, no. God, I'm so happy to see you here. You entered, didn't you?" Luhan claps mildly "Congratulations." 

"Thank you." 

He doesn't even know why he is blushing to be honest, but he does, and Luhan smiles brightly despite still being quite breathless. Jongin can see the boy's slim legs shaking even through the oversized sweatpants he is wearing. 

"You are devastated." he says matter-of-fact "Is it always like this, here?"

Jongin doesn't miss the flash of disappointment in Luhan's eyes at his question, but Luhan pulls off a confident smile and shrugs. "It's a worth-fighting battle, I suppose. If you can overcome the teachers' severity, trainees' hostility and indifference and never-ending practice sessions, you will go far."

Beautiful, kind, talented and strong. Is it even fair for someone to be this perfect?

Luhan notices his embarrassed silence and offers Jongin a cautious and cute "I don't want to scare you, of course. I just want you to be prepared, it's fairer, don't you agree?"

"Yes. You can feel free to scare me as much as you want, if it will help."

Luhan giggles before looking up at him with curiosity.

"You must be a great dancer, Jongin-sshi."

"Jongin," the boy corrects "Just Jongin is fine."

Luhan's eyes smile at him in such a cute way, then the boy shows him a thumb up and Jongin finds himself slightly giggling.

"I really had a good vibe from you, Jongin. I told you, didn't I. I'm looking forward working with you." 

Jongin blushes, so he only answers with his head bowing at the boy and a youthful, embarrassed smile.

"You must feel tired, Luhan-sshi. I should leave now."

"Luhan. Just Luhan is fine." Luhan singsongs him, then he bows his head to Jongin as well "Let's meet again soon, shell we?" 

Jongin greets him goodbye and Luhan waves his hand cutely on the other hand. 

He couldn't wait until the moment they would meet again; the image of Luhan's tired and disappointed face turning into a bright ray of sunshine at the solely sight of him stuck into his mind. It had make him feel special, exactly like it would happen when Yeonsu was sad, and he could make her smile with a single touch. 

He treasured that moment; he realizes he treasured Luhan's smile.

A/N

Here we are with the second chapter~I was fast as promised U.U

Our talented Jongin made it in SM.. what will happen next? 

Keep following the story <3 <3 <3