Seeing as I am only a trainee I don’t get much say in my schedule, but when the CEO asked me to be a part of VIXX’s showcase and tour I couldn’t be happier. When I asked the CEO why he asked me to be a part of the showcase, he just smiled and that told me that the guys had something to do with this. VIXX was the reason I wanted to become an idol. I worked so hard to get into Jellyfish Entertainment and I was very thankful they were willing to take a chance on me.

My first meeting with VIXX didn’t go as I would have wished. They had surprised me in the practice room one day and I couldn’t contain my excitement. When they asked to see my skills, I totally choked too. I messed up the choreography I was working on and my voice squeaked when I tried to sing. Thankfully they were humored by it and offered to mentor me from time to time. This allowed us to grow close and I found myself spending a lot of time with them, when we weren’t all practicing.

I rushed down to the practice room, knowing that’s where VIXX would be. I slide past the door slowly seeing as they were in the middle of practicing Superhero. I sat down on the side and smiled when N noticed my presence.

“Let’s take a break, guys. Our trainee came to visit.” He said, signaling to stop the music.

Hyuk and Ken rushed over and sat on both sides of me. “So, do you have something to say to us?” Ken asked, his ahjumma side coming out.

I tapped my chin. “Hmm. No I don’t think so.”

“Noona, you REALLY don’t have something to say to us?” Hyuk leaned into me.

“Well I have some news, but it seem you guys already know.” I smirked.

“Just say thank you so we can start practicing.” Ravi whined. “There’s a lot to go over.”

“Thank you, guys. This is so exciting, but are you really sure I’ll be good enough?”

“You’ll do great. Have some faith in yourself.” N said. “And we’ll all help you out when you need us, right?” He looked around at all the other members and nudged Leo. They all nodded.

“So what am I doing? I know most of your choreography already.”

“And the fan chants.” Ken added.

Hongbin and Hyuk grinned at each other before Hyuk grabbed my arm excitedly. “You’re going to help Hongbin hyung and I with our solo stages.”

“You two got solo stages? I’m so happy for you!” I hugged Hyuk and gave Hongbin a high five.

“Quick question though.” Hongbin began to scratch his arm nervously. “Are you okay with dancing ‘Troublemaker’ with me?”

“And ‘Now’ with me?” Hyuk added.

“What? But then it would technically be a duet and not a solo.” I was confused now.

“That’s what we told them, but they both insisted on having you perform with them.” Ravi said.

“It’ll be good practice for you and a slight promotion before your debut.” Hongbin said.

“Is this really what you two want?” I looked at both of them and they nodded. “Then I’ll do it.”

“YES!” The two exclaimed.

“Then we’ll pick you up tomorrow so you can get your tracking done and then you can start working on choreography.” N said. “Come on now. We should get back to practicing.  You should start practicing too.”

I nodded and got to my feet along with Hyuk and Ken. They all walked to get into position, but N looked at Leo and motioned his head towards me. I saw Leo let out a sigh before turning around and approaching me.

Leo and I were on good terms but him and I weren’t as close as I was to the other members. To be honest, I was closest with Hyuk and Hongbin than anyone else but it was probably because we were so close in age. Leo and I have talked a little bit and he has helped me out a few times before but it was usually after N would tell him to, which looked to be the case right now.

He had his hands shoved into his pockets and I could tell he was trying his best not to look annoyed. He hated it when N would boss him around and I could tell right now he would much rather be practicing with the rest of VIXX then talking to me.

“Do you want help with the vocals before tomorrow? They may be a little difficult for you.” He said, looking at me briefly before looking down at his feet.

“Do you want to help me? You don’t have to.” I told him.

He looked conflicted, but shook his head. “No, I’ll help. N will be mad at me if I don’t anyways.”

I nodded and walked out of the practice room and into one of the bigger vocal rooms. Leo followed me and closed the door behind him. He had two water bottles that he must have picked up in the practice room and handed one to me that I set on the floor. I pulled up Troublemaker on my iPod and pulled up “Troublemaker” and the lyrics and looked up at Leo.

“Um, are you going to do the other parts too or do you just want me to sing?”

“Just you sing for now.”

I took a deep breath and hit play. I tried to pretend Leo wasn’t standing there, ready to nitpick my every mistake, but it only made me less focused on the lyrics and the song. He held his hand up and stopped me from singing.

“You should probably hit the high notes. Hongbin’s voice won’t be able to so even though it’s supposed to be the male vocals that go up, it’ll be okay if you do it instead.”

I nodded and restarted the song. That criticism wasn’t as bad as I was anticipating and I tried to relax a bit more this time.

“More feeling. This song is need passion when singing it and when you perform it.”

After stumbling on the raps a few times and Leo having something new to critique each run through of the song, he finally sighed and told me to move on to the next song. I couldn’t help but notice that Leo was getting lost in the song as the intro started. I started to sing and when it came to Hyunseong’s part, Leo sang as well. His eyes were closed and he sang with such passion, I was reminded what I strived for as a singer.

I wanted that look singers have when they are entirely immersed into a song. Leo would be this way when singing ballads. First his eyes would drive close, then he would slowly start to sway about it. Then when the song would pick up a bit, he would effortlessly make his voice so loud that even with the door closed, I’m sure he could be heard in the practice room. That’s the kind of singer I wanted to be.

The door opened as we reached the last chorus and N and Ken poked their heads inside. Leo hadn’t noticed them and kept sing, but I felt my face heat up and I felt my voice get caught in my throat. Leo’s eyes opened and he looked at me confused before following my gaze to the door. N and Ken smiled at him and waved.

“Sounds good in here, but we’re heading back to the dorms now.” N said.

“You too, Yoo Kyuri. We’re dropping you off at your dorm.” Ken told me, motioning for me to come out of the vocal booth.

Leo sighed and slipped past N and Ken, wordlessly. They both chuckled at each other and motioned for me to quickly follow after them.

The next morning Hongbin and Hyuk came banging on my door. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to pour myself a cup of coffee. I let them inside in hopes I’d get a few more minutes to wake up, but I should have known better.

“Noona, hurry up. We’re already late.” Hyuk whined as I grabbed a to-go cup out of my cupboard.

“I’m trying, Hyukkie. I really am. Give me three seconds.” I said, pouring the fresh coffee into the cup and putting a lid on it. “Ready.”

“Have your practice bag?” Hongbin asked as I was putting on my shows.

“Shoot.” I rushed back into my bedroom and grabbed my bag before meeting the two at the door again. “Okay now I’m ready. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. We can blame Ravi hyung.” Hyuk joked.

Hongbin and Hyuk climbed into the back and I was left to climb over a sleeping Ken to sit in between him and Leo. I tried my best not to startle Ken. I knew they all need their rest. As I reached my seat, Ravi gave me a sleep wave before drifting back to sleep. Leo had his eyes closed and his ear buds in so I tried my best not to bump either so I sat stiffly in my seat until we arrived at the recording studio.

At the recording studio, things went pretty well. Hongbin and Hyuk didn’t receive as much criticism as I did, but I was expecting that. I was kind of embarrassed that I took so long for tracking each song, but everyone was very patient with me. I had only tracked a few times before so this was all still kind of new to me. However I saw that as no excuse for doing as poorly as I did.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it.” Hongbin soothed me as we walked back out to the van. “It turned out great in the end.”

“Yeah, but…”

“HEY! YOO KYURI! Don’t you think we didn’t feel the same way back when we were trainees? Did that stop us? No. So just remember that.” N pointed his finger in my face, almost poking my nose. “And if you try to run away, I will find you and bring you back.”

“And we all know he will.” Hongbin smiled.

At the practice room, N and Ravi started help Hongbin and I break down the choreography for ‘Troublemaker’ while Leo and Ken helped Hyuk start learning the choreography for ‘Now’. I tried my best to set my focus onto the dance but my mind still lingered on my tracking.

“Yah! Come on. You’re better than this.” N groaned after I had messed up, yet again.

“Take a break.” Ravi told me with a soft smile.

Hongbin, Ravi, and N talked while I walked over to the couch to sit down. I watched as Hyuk quickly grasped the choreography he was being taught. That’s the level I was trying to be at, and yet I just wasn’t getting it. Maybe this isn’t what I’m supposed to be doing, I thought to myself.

Leo had walked away from Ken and Hyuk and joined me on the couch. “Do you want to try that choreography instead?” He asked. “Hyuk is ready for his partner.”

“I can try.” I told him.

Leo walked over to N and told him that I was going to attempt the other dance for a bit. He seemed a bit frustrated but nodded and he and Ravi went back to teaching Hongbin. I walked over to where Ken and Hyuk were waiting for me and they both smiled at me.

“Don’t worry. We’ll take it easy on you.” Ken said.

I don’t know what they called easy, but dancing with Hyuk wasn’t going any better than dancing with Hongbin. N had noticed too and came over to scold me so more.

“Do you even want to do this?” He shouted.

“Hyung.” The other members tried to hush him and I looked down at my feet.

“I’m sorry. I’ll keep working harder.”

“Kyuri-yah, don’t say that. Show me.” N said, moving back until he was sitting on the couch.

The other members followed suit except for Hyuk, who took his position. The music started and I put every bit of focus I had into remember the moves that Ken and Leo had shown me. I had made my way through the song but there was one MAJOR thing missing.

“You know what you did wrong?” Leo asked before anyone else could say anything.

“Yes. It lacked passion.” I took a drink of water and glanced over at Hyuk.

“You can’t be afraid of Hyuk getting close to you like that. I know that may be difficult but that’s how the dance goes.” I nodded as I took in Leo’s advice. The other members seemed impressed that he was even giving any input.

“Do you want to try again?” Hyuk asked me. “That was the best you’ve done all night.”

“I think that’s enough for tonight.” VIXX’s manager walked into the practice room. “Do you kids know what time it is? You need your rest.”

“Go on home, guys. I’m going to practice a bit longer.” I waved a goodbye to them.

“Don’t stay too much longer.” Ravi said. “You’re already pretty tired as it is.”

“You can’t stay here by yourself.” N sighed. “You’re going to go back to your dorm alone at this time of night?”

“Hyung, let her practice if she wants to. You know she’s a stubborn girl.” Ken put his hand on N’s shoulder, trying to get him to follow him out the door.

“I’ll stay and help her.” Leo said, not moving from his seat.

“Leo-yah…”N went to protest but sighed in defeat. “You two better not complain about being tired tomorrow.”

“Yes N oppa. Goodnight guys.”

A/N: Hey readers, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't be afraid to leave a comment saying what you think! I hope to update soon! Thank you for reading!