I was stiff and sore as I climbed the stairs to the dorm.  I was drenched in sweat. All I really wanted to do was to shower and flop down in my bed. But  I would have to settle  for a quick shower and a change of clothes before heading down to the meeting.

 As I opened the door to our dorm, there were four of my roommates  getting ready to head down to the meeting.  I came in and  bent over to take my shoes off.

"You better not be late again, Kim!" a hand slapped my back... hard. It  burned like fire.  I quickly looked up to see who it was, but from their unfriendly looks, it could've been any of them. I held my tongue, I needed to keep myself in check. They left.

Kevin came out of our room. "You okay? Bunch of Retards... They blame you for how hard the trainer was today! "

"Oh, I've been better...I need a shower." I went and grabbed a change of clothes.

”I'll wait for you," he sat on the couch. 

”You'd better head down. One doormat per dorm is enough."  I motioned toward the door. The four other English speakers were about to head down. "Go with them. I'll been down quickly." I shut the door to the bathroom.

 I stripped and got in. The water felt so good but I had to hustle. I was out, dressed and flying down the stairs with my hair still dripping. 

I glanced to my watch, 6:56pm. I knew I was safe as I rounded the corner to see a group of girls just about to  enter the theater as well.  I jogged over to them and held the door open for them. They smiled and bowed to me. I nodded my head back.

Kevin spotted me and waved me over to a saved seat with the younger guys.
"Man, you've got some skill, Kim." he smiled and shook his head. 

The meeting started at exactly at 7:00pm. The Probation coordinator as well as all of our managers were standing the stage. They introduced a few more important people from both the voice training and choreography departments. There was polite applause from the audience.  

Now for the moment that most of the audience were anticipating, the arrival of J.Tunes Entertainment Founder and President, Jeung Jihoon, my father. The audience gave my father a loud standing ovation as he walked out on the stage.  Of course, he looked amazing as always, not a hair out of place.
 
"Well, thanks for the warm welcome. If you have this kind of enthusiasm towards your training, you well definitely make the cut." That got the group hyped up again. He gave a great speech about how he started out  as the poor kid with a big dream and how one must believe in oneself no matter what others may say.  You must follow your dream. After his speech was finished, he asked for a warm welcome for some of his friends. His first successful idol group, Mblaq. Once again, the group went crazy. The five members walked out, Seungho was first, followed by GO, Joon, Thunder and their not so young youngest, Mir. They introduced themselves and fielded some questions from the audience before singing one of their early hits "Y". 

A group of females sitting close to our group keep looking over at us. They were laughing and smiling. Kevin noticed them and elbowed me. I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Seriously...we could have some fun." He nudged me.

"Yeah, I'm already on Kang Bok Gu hit list. I wonder how many more I can piss off before the week is out." I commented.

"What was that guys problem, anyway?"

"I seem to have that affect on people, either they love me or hate me." I warned him.  

The meet and greet was coming to an end. My father waved to the group and said he expected big things from our group.  I'm sure he says the same thing every time he gets a new bunch of probees.

Yoo Ji Sung motioned for his group to stay in our seats as the other groups headed out.
"Well, that is the man, himself.  Who knows? If you are talented and a little lucky that could be you twenty years from now... You should be heading down to B studio now.  I will see you in the dorm at 10:00pm....reminder that all probees must be in their only dorm by 11:00pm unless  your manager as given you permission." He waved to us as we left the theatre.

Great...hopefully whatever we doing in that studio doesn't take too long.  

As we entered the studio, there seem to be a noticeable division our group. The young English speakers were on one side talking and the older Korean men were on the other side of the room, doing the same .  

A few minutes later, two instructors walking in. We stopped talking and listened for instructions. 

"How many of you have ever had any formal dancing lessons whether it being in any form like tap, ballet or hip hop?" the male instructor asked. Four people put up their hand.

"How many of you have trained in martial arts?" he asked again. This time three people raised their hand.

"Okay, we will start with some of the very basics." 

We spent the next hour trying to copy what was being shown to us. Thankfully, I found it quite easy.  At the end of the hour, we had to perform what we had learned to the whole group. They picked Kevin to go first.  He was awesome and even added a few of his own moves.  The group clapped and cheered when he finished. 

The instructors seemed to be pleased with his efforts. Most of the others did manage to bumble through it and were given a quick clap from the whole group. Only one guy seemed to have two left feet and seemed to have no rhythm. I got to go last. I was battling in my mind if I should try and look cool or just do the basics.  

When the music came on, I just went with it.  I did all the moves we were shown plus I added some of the interesting taekwondo movements in time to the music and finished off with a backflip. The younger guys all jumped up and hooped and hollered, but the older guys just clapped their hands together three times, if I was lucky.  The female instructor seemed quite pleased and clapped her hands with enthusiasm, but the reaction from the male instructor was not what I'd hoped for. His face remained neutral. Oh well, you win some, you loose some.

Our groups normal dance training time was going to be 6:45 to 9:30pm daily, even on the weekends to start. It was like being back at in my private army again, the only difference was now there were others to suffer with.

So, my schedule looked like this so far: 
                                                           7:00am wake up
                                                           7:30-8:00am Body Wellness
                                                           8:00am-8:30am Breakfast Period
                                                           8:45am-12:15pm The Learning Academy 
                                                          12:15pm-12:45pm  Lunch Period
                                                          1:00pm-2:15pm Voice Training
                                                           2:30pm-4:30pm Physical Training
                                                           5:00pm-6:00pm Group Training (Choir)
                                                           6:00pm-6:30pm Dinner Period
                                                            6:45pm-9:30pm Dance Training
                                                           9:30pm-11:00pm Individual Study
                                                           11:00pm  Probees Dorm Curfew (Quiet)
                                                                                    

After the instructors dismissed us, the group headed back to the dorm and I headed to the janitor's room.  I grabbed the broom and hustle back to B studio. As I enter, I noticed a group of four Male sunbae were starting to do warm up  stretches in the studio.

What should I do? How should I handle this? 

"I beg your pardon, I was assigned to sweep and wash the floor in this studio. I was wondering how long are you going to be?" I hoped that didn't come off as rude, but it was the question that needed an answer.

They turned and looked at me.  Their mouths dropped opened.  What did I have three heads?!!

"And you are? " one of of them asked. 

"James Kim."

"Well, James Kim,  we've got this studio booked for the rest of the night."

I bowed to them and headed out, put away the broom. There was no need to wait now.
I called the jerk to inform him.

"Kang Bok Gu here."

"It's James Kim calling, Sinsangnim. There's a group training in the last studio for the rest of the night. I will have to finish my punishment tomorrow." I keep my voice flat.

"I suggest you get up early and do it, because it'd better be done before our class tomorrow  afternoon... That's all I'm saying." He hung up. Once a jerk, always a jerk!

I headed back up and decided to try my luck in the cafeteria, I was starving. The place was deserted. I walked over to one of the glass coolers, it had juice and milk in it.  I took one if each. There was some fruit in a basket by where the compliments were. So I took a banana and an apple.  That would have to tie me over for now.  I headed back up to the dorm. 

As I entered the dorm, Yoo Ji Sung was giving out chore assignments for the first week. I bowed to him as he looked over at me.  

" Ah, there you are?... Kevin and you are responsible for keeping both bathrooms clean. Everyone is to do their part in the dorm. Your Chore Chart is posted in the kitchen. Remember all aspects of your behaviour are taken in to consideration when deciding who will make the cut six weeks from now. Any questions?" he asked. "No?...I suggest you hit the hay as early as possible. The first week is going to be hell until your minds and bodies become accustomed to all the new physical and mental demands you're going to go through."

He dismissed us.  I headed toward the kitchen and washed the apple.  Kevin followed me.

"You must be starving...give me and minute." he said so he started rummaging around the kitchen. I sat over at the table and wolfed down the fruit in seconds.

"Do you eat anything?" Kevin asked. 

"If it's food...yeah." I wasn't a picky eater. Right now I would settle for anything that would stop my stomach from growling.
 
He found some raymon and held it up. I got up and headed over to him. At least, it was something.