Chapter Three

The beginning of her day hadn’t been exactly what she had hoped for before she went to bed last night. Waking up in Seunghyuns room had been incredibly awkward and breakfast had proved to be no different. Yongbae wouldn’t even look at her and the rest of the members were making things worse by trying to make things better. By the time she had arrived at YG she was more relieved than nervous. She walked through the lobby and up a couple floors until she walking into one of the practice studios, unknowingly walking in on another group. She froze as all eyes turned to her. Maybe this was more awkward than the breakfast fiasco earlier that morning. She cleared and bowed politely,

“I’m so sorry.” She said quietly, looking at the floor. She heard someone chuckle and she looked up to the front of the room; Teddy was leaning on the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. She stood up completely straight and looked at him questioningly, “You told me to be in this room right?” Teddy smiled and kicked himself off the wall, walking towards her,

“I did. You’re in the right place.” He said. She relaxed, not feeling as awkward as she did five seconds ago. “Boys, this is Dong Na-Young. She’s a new trainee here.” The six boys all bowed in her direction and said hello. She smiled and bowed back. “Na-Young, this is team B from the WIN competition.” Teddy said.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Na-Young said. Teddy frowned,

 “Introduce yourselves, be polite.” He said. A boy stepped forward and smiled at her,

“Hi! My name is Goo Joon Hwae, I’m the youngest member and I’m a vocalist.”

“I’m Song Yunhyeong. I am also a vocalist.”

“Kim Jinwoon, vocalist.”

“Hey! My name is Kim Jinwon, but everyone calls me Bobby, so you can too! I am one of the rappers

“My name is Kim Donghyeok, I’m another vocalist.”

“My name is Kim Han Bin, but I go by B.I.” the last one said. Na-Young took a moment to look him over; he wasn’t bad looking by any means. In fact, out of the six of them, he was the best looking in her opinion. Na-Young bowed one more time, letting them know that she had heard all of their introductions.

“It’s very nice to meet you all. I hope you all do amazing in the competition this week.” She said. Jinwoon tilted his head and look at her thoughtfully

“Dong Na-Young…does that have any connection to Dong Yongbae?” he asked. Na-Young smiled hesitantly, but nodded,

“Yes, Yongbae is my older brother.” She answered.

"Wow! That’s so cool!” Yunhyeong exclaimed, bouncing on his toes. “I bet he gives you advice all the time! I wish I had a family member in this business!” Na-Young smiled at him, letting him believe whatever he wanted to believe. Teddy shook his head and stood up from the wall, walking closer to the group of kids in the middle of the room.

“I wanted Na-Young to come today to watch you dance the choreography that I taught you last week. She has to get it down by tonight before she joins the other female trainees tomorrow.” He explained. The group nodded their heads in understanding. Donghyeok stepped forward and bent down so that his face was right next to hers,

“Watch well. We’ll only do it once.” He whispered quietly in her ear before turning his back on her and joining the rest of his group. Na-Young frowned. That didn’t seem anything like the friendly guy who had just introduced himself minutes ago. She frowned slightly and took a seat leaning against the walls so she could watch the choreography. She was generally good at memorizing different dance moves. She had the talent for dance, just like her brother. One of the many similarities they shared.

Teddy started the music for the boys, and sooner than she thought, the dance was over. She had understood most of it. She would definitely have to work on it in order to get it where she knew it needed to be. She could just imagine the long day that was ahead of her.

“Did you get it?” Teddy asked. Na-Young nodded her head.

“It was fairly easy to keep up with. I’m not worried. I’m going to go upstairs and practice for a bit.” She answered. Donghyeok frowned,

“Why would you need to go upstairs to practice?” he asked.

“To use a practice studio.” She said, picking up her bag and stretching her arms above her head. Donghyeok shook his head,

“Trainees aren’t allowed to use the practice studios here. We have to go to the trainee building.” He stated. Na-Young glanced at Teddy, who lightly hit Donghyeok over the head.

“She has family here. She can practice wherever she wants. Besides, she has to be here in case she has question about the dance for me.” He said. Donghyeok rolled his eyes and walked out of the studio, leaving Na-Young, Teddy, and the rest of the members in an awkward silence.

“He’ll come around.” B.I. said, stepping forward. Na-Young smiled slightly,

“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to things like that.” She Said. “Anyway, thank you for showing me the choreography. You guys are really good. I can see why YG keeps you around.” She continued, smiling at all of them. The group of boys all bowed at her and said thank you before gathering their belongings and heading towards the door.  B.I. stopped besides her and held out his hand for her to shake.

“I’ll see you around sometime.” He said, before walking out the door with the rest of the group. Na-Young raised and eyebrow and glanced at Teddy, who was already walking towards her snickering.

“Looks like you left an impression.” He said. Na-Young rolled her eyes and pushed him away,

“Oh shut up.” She replied, walking out into the hallway with him.

“So…” Teddy started, “Has anything changed with Yongbae?” Na-Young laughed,

“You know him. Of course nothing has changed.” She said.

“Well, just give him time.”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying!” she exclaimed. “I shouldn’t have to give him time. He should be the supportive brother, giving me advice. Not ignoring me and pretending I don’t exist.” Teddy sighed,

“Then ignore him back. Focus on training. Excel at it and make it into the girl group. Show him you can succeed without his support.” Na-Young looked at Teddy for a while, then nodded in agreement. There was no need for anything else to be said.

Jiyong and Yongbae were sitting in the studio, Jiyong finishing lyrics and Yongbae playing on his phone. Jiyong sent him a glare,

“You could be looking over the finished song lyrics finding any mistakes or places that need improvement instead of playing that game.” Yongbae raised an eyebrow,

“You seem stressed.” He answered. Jiyong rolled his eyes and looked up from his work, turning to face the younger,

“Look, honestly, I’m a little annoyed with they way that you’ve been acting for the past couple of days.” Yongbae turned his phone off and put it down, noting the seriousness of his tone,

“What’s up?” he asked, although he knew what he was probably going to say.

“Yongbae, you know I can’t tell you what to do, but the way you’re acting about your sister…it’s not okay.” He said. Yongbae stood up and started walking to the door,

“I’m tired of this conversation Jiyong. I’m an adult; I don’t need your opinion on everything in my life. She’s my sister, I’ll handle it how I handle it.” He said before walking through the door and closing it behind him.

 Na-Young layed out in the middle of the studio floor and stared at the ceiling, the music still playing in the background. She had been practicing the dance for about four hours now and she needed a food break. She was already exhausted; she could only imagine how tired she would be once the real training began. She heard the door open and close quietly but was too tired to maneuver herself to see who it was. The footsteps slowly made their way towards the center of the room and after a couple moments of complete silence she finally decided it would benefit her to acknowledge someone’s presence. She picked her head up and looked to her side. Yongbae was standing a couple feet away from her. Na-Young put her head back down on the floor and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Yongbae closed the small space between them and sat down next to her,

“What are you doing?” he asked quietly.

“Breathing.” Na-young answered simply. She heard her brother chuckle softly before she heard the ruffle of his jacket as he layed down.

“I’m a jerk.” He said.

“Yep.” She replied, still staring at the ceiling. Yongbae glanced at her and shook his head.

“Do you know how stubborn you are?” he asked. It was Na-Young’s turn to chuckle. She turned her head and met his eyes,

“Mom tells me just how frustrating it is every chance she gets.”

“Look, Na-young…I’m happy for you, I really am. I just…this life wasn’t what I had planned for you.” He explained. Na-Young nodded,

“But that’s not really your choice to make Yongbae.” She replied. “You need to let me make my own decisions, and if they turn out to be mistakes, you have to let me fix them on my own.” Yongbae smiled and sighed,

“You’re growing up too fast” He said quietly, “It’s hard to believe that you’re not running around asking for piggy back rides from all of us anymore.” Na-Young laughed and turned so she was lying on her stomach.

“I’m never too old for a piggy back ride!” she exclaimed. Yongbae smiled and reached up giving her a gentle knock on her head.     

“I’ll give you one on the way home to make up for being a jerk.” He said. Na-Young nodded,

“Deal.” She replied. Yongbae stood up and offered her his hand,

“You want to show me your dance? I’ll give you some pointers.” He said. Na-Young smiled,

 “I would love that.”