“You must be Rhine, right?” Mrs. Yang questioned.

            Rhine sat across from Mrs. Yang at the desk. Mrs. Yang turned her attention away from the computer as she stared at the young girl with a friendly smile on her face. Her hands were perched on the desk in a formal way. Documents of Rhine’s records were scattered in front of them.

            The young rapper was tense in her chair with her fingers locked together in her lap; a habit whenever she was nervous. She could feel her heart beating rapidly inside her chest. It was as if she was reliving the three month auditions all over again. The auditions had left her anxious every day and she couldn’t eat nor think during that time period. It was an experience she refused to experience again. What she didn’t know was that her trainee period would be even worse.

            Rhine nodded, “Yes, I’m Rhine.”

            Mrs. Yang looked down at a paper in front of her, “You’re a foreigner and doesn’t know much Korean?”

            “Yeah, I learned Korean a bit a couple months back.”

            Mrs. Yang seemed like a friendly person to Rhine and it made her more relaxed. She wouldn’t know what to do if Mrs. Yang was strict. The vibe Mrs. Yang gave off was reassuring like a kind mother and it instantly made Rhine miss her mother.

             “It didn’t say where you’re from,” Mrs. Yang glanced at Rhine. “Can you tell me which part of California you’re from?”

            Rhine said in a low voice, “L-Laguna Niguel.”

            Laguna Niguel was a city in Orange County in southern California by the coast. Rhine loved Laguna Niguel because of the sunshine and the beach, and of course, she loved the mansion that her family owned. Rhine was born into a wealthy family. Her father worked as a surgeon doctor while her mother was a pharmacist. Even though Rhine was extremely rich, she wasn’t spoiled. Sure, she received a 2014 Lexus RCF GT3 as her first car, but she never took things for granted. Even though she was a billionaire, she never once looked down on people who weren’t fortunate.

            Rhine watched as Mrs. Yang jotted down Rhine’s responses on the paper. Rhine took a deep breath and started to calm down by the second. If she was going to succeed, she needed to learn how to relax. She had to believe in herself for others to realize her potential.

            “All right, we’re finished,” Mrs. Yang said with a grin as she neatly put the documents back into the folder. “If I’m not mistaken, you haven’t seen your dorm yet, have you?”

            Rhine shook her head as Mrs. Yang reached under the desk to retrieve another folder and set it on the desk.

            “You’re the last member to be added into Group 2,” Mrs. Yang informed as she took out a paper and slid it over to Rhine. Rhine studied the piece of paper and tried to understand what was printed on it. “There are four other members around the ages of seventeen to nineteen. You guys are the only female trainees at the moment so it’s important that you guys get along.”

            Around seventeen to nineteen. Rhine was glad to know that she wasn’t the youngest member nor the oldest. She didn’t want to have the responsibility that the oldest member had, but she also didn’t want everyone to only know her as the youngest. As Mrs. Yang talked, Rhine was stuck on something that the CEO just said. The only female trainees. Rhine had never thought that the entertainment had so little amount of trainees. The thought made her feel better about herself because she was the few trainees that YG accepted.

            “There are documents in there containing things that you need to know along with your schedule. It’s a good idea you look over those tonight.”

            Rhine nodded in understanding as Mrs. Yang piled the documents back into the folder. They had been talking for over an hour and as the time passed by, Rhine became comfortable around the CEO.

            Mrs. Yang looked at Rhine as she passed the folder over to the girl. “Even though it’s already mentioned in the papers, I’d like to say it myself. There is absolutely no dating while you’re still a trainee. It would be best if you don’t break the rules or else there will be consequences. Do you understand, Miss Leventins?”

            Of course Rhine understood. She’s not here to date and fall in love; she’s here for a reason. She’s here to prove to everyone back home that she’s more than just a no good girl and that they were wrong for ever looking down on her. Most of all, she’s here for a reason that she’s refusing to admit. Rhine’s here because of the guy she thought was her everything. It was because of him that she started rapping. It was because of him that her whole life fell apart. Every person has a reason for what they’re doing and Rhine’s reason was him. It had always been him and him alone.

*

            “Thank you, Han,” Rhine said as they stopped outside of Rhine’s new home.

            The meeting with Mrs. Yang had just ended a while back and Han drove her to the dorm. She was told that there wasn’t going to be anything happening that night so she had the whole night to get comfortable and know her members. Rhine was anxious to meet the girls. She never had many friends and hardly any social skills. Rhine was afraid that they’d judge her and betray her like her friend back home. She was terrified that she would be treated like an outsider.

             “Of course, Miss Leventins,” Han bowed and Rhine quickly bowed back. After all of these bowings, Rhine thought her back might become sore. She wasn’t used to bowing so much and the adaptation was making her exhausted. “Have a good night and enjoy your stay.”

            Rhine bowed once more, “Thank you.”

            Han nodded and bowed again, “Farewell, Miss Leventins.”

            Rhine watched Han walk in the opposite direction and turned to face the white door in front of her. She gulped as she held tightly onto a bag in her left hand with the other bags scattered around her legs.

            You can do this, Rhine encouraged herself.

            She took a deep breath and formed her right hand into a fist. She knocked lightly on the wood and braced herself. She honestly dreaded meeting new people because she never really fit in. She was always the outsider, the loner, the girl with different colored eyes.

            The door opened and a girl a few inches shorter than Rhine stood there with a wide grin. Her thin brown hair was down in curls that reached above her slim waist. She was beautiful even though she wasn’t wearing makeup.

            “You must be Rhine,” her voice was soft and a bit high, but extremely welcoming.

            Rhine managed a nervous smile and felt herself become self-conscious again because the girl immediately stared at Rhine’s eyes with fascination. Rhine avoided her eyes, trying to shed her eyes from the girl. Instantly she wished she wore sunglasses to cover up.

            “Is she here?!” an excited voice shouted from somewhere inside the room as a loud ‘thud’ followed right after.

            The girl in front of Rhine grinned and nodded towards the room, “Yeah, she’s here!” Then she directed her attention to Rhine, “They’ve been anxious to meet you.”

            Rhine weakly smiled and nodded, she was glad she wasn’t the only one anxious to meet them. The girl gave off a friendly vibe, making Rhine feel better. So far the girl hadn’t shown a slightest hint that she didn’t welcome Rhine so that was a good sign.          

            “Come in,” the girl stepped aside and Rhine brought her bags inside.

            After Rhine set her bags aside, she quickly bowed towards the girl. The girl came to her senses and quickly bowed right after Rhine.

            The living room was quite small with a television in the corner, a coffee table and two couches adjacent each other. There was a hallway extending to some closed doors that Rhine assumed was the bedrooms. A door led to the kitchen and the dining room and another door led to the shared bathroom. The room wasn’t big, but was big enough for five people. The size of the whole dorm was definitely smaller than Rhine’s room back home, but she didn’t mind.

            “I’m Kim Iseul and my role is the leader since I’m also the oldest,” introduced the girl.

            Rhine smiled and bowed once again, “Hello, Miss Kim.”

            Iseul chuckled and shook her head, “Call me Iseul.”

            Rhine nodded and made a mental note to call her by her first name. She didn’t want to come off as rude to her new members. It wouldn’t do her any good if she couldn’t get along with her members. Then, three other girls quickly entered the room. The first girl was shorter than Rhine, but taller than Iseul. She had a huge smile on her face as she awkwardly curled her neck length black hair behind her right ear. The second girl was shorter than all of them. She shyly smiled as she reached back and tightened her ponytail. The last one was taller than all of them with reddish-brown hair that reached her ribs and she also held onto a pink gift bag. All the girls were thin, but Iseul was more toned. All of the girls bowed at the same time, causing the second and third girl to bump heads.

            “Oww,” they both whined at the same time as they felt their foreheads.

            That caused them to laugh and the atmosphere was a bit more comfortable. Rhine grinned widely, the scene making her feel better.

            “Hello, I’m Rhine,” she introduced after they calmed down.

            The girl with red hair said, “Hello, I’m Yoon Eiseu, the youngest.”

            Rhine bowed as Eiseu also bowed and they exchanged greetings.

            “Hello, I’m Namgoon Hei,” the shortest one said. They also bowed and exchanged greetings.

            The last girl spoke up, “Hello, I’m Jung Jae.”

            After that, they gave Rhine the pink bag as a welcome present. Iseul then gave Rhine a quick tour of the dorm and they informed Rhine that she’d be sharing a room with Hei. Jae and Eiseu shared a room while Iseul had a room all to herself, but she also had the smallest room in the dorm.

            Afterward, they gathered around the living room as they ate the kimchi soup that Iseul made. Rhine wasn’t used to the food, but she didn’t say anything to the members, worried that they would feel bad. Even though the food wasn’t what Rhine expected, she thought it tasted good.

            “Your eyes are so unique,” Hei commented.

            Rhine instantly looked down at her bowl and faked a smile, “Thank you.”

            She knew they weren’t trying to be rude, but she couldn’t help feeling upset about it. She knew it was her fault, she should’ve gotten used to it by now, but she wasn’t. Rhine hated that she made it seem like it was their fault for noticing her eyes even though it wasn’t anyone’s fault but her own. Maybe one day, she’d forget about it and actually take their compliments as something positive.

            “How’d you get different eye colors?” Eiseu questioned.

            All the girls stared intently at her and Rhine took a deep breath. She’s never really explained her condition to other people before. She knew what heterochromia was because her father told her about it, but the doctors told her she was the few lucky ones who didn’t have any serious effects to it.

            “My father’s eyes are blue and my mother’s eyes are brown, so that’s how I basically got them,” Rhine repeated exactly what her father told her when she was little.

            Her father had always reassured her that it was a gift to have different eye colors. She was often upset and wanted to change her eye colors, but her father insisted she was special. Her father never liked the idea that his only daughter didn’t like her eyes. Rhine never knew that her father often went to bed feeling distressed because Rhine didn’t like her eyes. Her father loved her more than anything and only wanted the best for her and knowing that she didn’t approve of her eyes made him depressed.

            “You’re really special then,” Jae commented with amazement and the other nodded in agreement.

            “Thank you,” Rhine was eager to change the subject, she didn’t like the attention. “Is there anything going on tomorrow?”

            Iseul’s mouth formed an ‘o’ as she spoke up, “I almost forgot! We’re to choose a song for our next monthly evaluation tomorrow.”

            “Monthly evaluation?” Rhine had no idea what they were talking about as she set her bowl on the table and stared at Iseul with curiosity.

            Jae piped in, “It's an evaluation to see how much you’ve improved.”

            “And if Mr. Yang isn’t seeing any progress, you might get kicked out of the entertainment,” Eiseu said while nodding her head.

            As each member informed Rhine on the evaluation, Rhine instantly dreaded the future. It never crossed her mind that Mr. Yang had the ability to kick out a trainee if he wasn’t satisfied. She only thought that once she was a trainee, she would stay in YG for the rest of her life. Now she knew that being a trainee was worse than her audition period. All Rhine knew that moment was that she had to work harder than she ever did.