Nara stared at her reflection, tossing her honey, brown hair behind her shoulder as she took deep breaths. Five, six, seven, she counted as her beats matched the motion of her breathing. She brushed the back of her finger against her eyelashes, extending them out longer before putting her hand back down to her side. Studying her face, she made sure that her makeup was in place before stepping out for what was about to change her life. Her eyeliner had outlined her eyes and winged out to the sides. Her makeup artist followed the American style with thick mascara and smoky eyes that made her appear younger and ier, which was the concept of their debut.

The brunette could hear the stage director call on the other girls, lining them up to prepare them for their big show. “You got this, Nara. Hwaiting,” she pumped her fists before turning from the mirror and heading out with the other members for their first debut and changing kpop history.

“Annyeonghasseyo! We are Kisses!”

***

Six years has passed since their debut, and of course, trainees were now coming and going as they were either being cut or allowed to proceed to the next step of becoming an idol. Nara had the opportunity to evaluate the new group, and she walked down the halls of SM’s training room, reminiscing on the days when she was once here.

“Narayah, come here!” One of the agents had called to her, gesturing her to take a seat beside him and pointing to whatever was ahead of him. “The first group is going to come. It’s consisted of three boys. They’ll be singing together, harmonizing, and then they will sing individually. Feel free to openly criticize them, but all the evaluation will be written here.” She nodded her head as she took her seat, patting down her skirt before tucking her hair back behind her ear.

“What are their names?” She asked as she scanned through the stack of paper and realized that evaluating was a lot more difficult that she had anticipated it to be. The agent beside her tapped on the sheet at the top corner and saying that each page should have the trainee’s name on it.

Someone from outside had signaled the group to come in, and as Nara looked up, one boy in particular had caught her attention. His brown hair was swept to the side and laid perfectly flat just above his eyebrows. His cheekbones were much defined and quite high, and his eyes were easily slanted. He could easily be mistaken for someone who was Chinese, which Nara initially thought until she saw that on his file, it was written that he was native to Korea. Her finger traced the name Kim Jongdae before looking up and waiting for the agent’s signal to start.

Not only did his appearance catch her attention, his voice couldn’t stop her from staring at him. It was incredible to hear such a powerful, yet angelic sound come from his lips. His voice seemed to ring against her ear, causing goosebumps on her arms as she watched. The veins on his neck popped as he reached a high not, which to her surprise was absolutely perfect and not a single note was cracked or shaky. He was breathtaking, which is an understatement to start with.

She clapped her hands, the only one in the room to do so, but her applause was meant for Jongdae. “That was amazing,” she managed to say to the agent beside her. “Did you hear his voice? Kim Jongdae? I haven’t heard a rookie sing as well as that before.” She practically praised him as she stared at his file, smiling and studying his picture to be able to have a face for the voice that was repeating in her head.

“Well, his rival is just as good as him. It’s hard to compare the two when their voices are completely different.”

“Wah, there’s another one?” Nara leaned in closer to stare down at the file of the participant that the agent spoke highly of. “Byun Baekhyun? Is he as good?” The agent nodded his head, and Nara took the two files in her hand and smiled. “SM better make a group out of these two, then.”

It was thirty minutes past ten, and Nara had been one of the few to stay back at the SM training area where she was busy cleaning up her area and packing a few files in her luggage. Her fingers came across the one that she had been focused on the entire day, tracing his face and smiling slightly to herself. “I want to meet him,” she whispered to herself.

“Meet who?” She jumped at the too familiar voice, turning her attention at the same face that she had just been caressing. His bag had slung over his shoulders as he was holding on to it with one hand while the other was occupied with a water bottle. He had been sweating, obviously by how soaked his shirt was, and the tips of his hear had been drenched as well. The odd thing was, he didn’t smell or anything. Well, he did, but it wasn’t any displeasing to the girl.

“Oh, nothing,” she quickly answered as she tucked the papers back into the manila folder and shoving them in her bag. “What are you doing here so late? Shouldn’t you be resting? I mean, trainees have to wake up early, right?”

“I was just finishing up on some choreography. I’m not really the best dancer, and my only quality is singing, but I can’t just rely on that.” He shrugged before taking a sip of his water, his eyes never leaving the girl as she pulled the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

“I watched you sing, in case you didn’t remember,” she had shyly said. She wasn’t sure why, but being at his presence made her feel so timid and self conscious. “I thought you were amazing, just saying.”

Jongdae’s lips slowly curled up into a smile, a smile that had took her breath away as his perfectly lined teeth flashed before her eyes. “Really? That means a lot coming from you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you’re Mae Nara, Kisses’ sweetheart and innocent flower girl. You’re also their best vocal, and hearing a compliment from my sunbaenim means a lot to me.” He bowed at a ninety degree angle, probably even lower, which made the girl even more embarrassed as she reached over and pulled him up.

“Ah, no! Please, don’t bow. I’m not really comfortable with that. And don’t think of me as your sunbaenim. We’re about the same age, so treat me informally.” She patted his back as she was heading out the door, stopping halfway and turning to look at him. “Are you hungry?”

The two stopped by at one of the late closing restaurants, which was usually barren at night since people liked to sleep and whatnot. Her fingers tapped the back of the menu as she studied the food, her lips at each food she came across. “What are you eating?” She had asked as she lightly tilted the menu down to take a good look of him.

“Probably some spicy chicken, steamed pork with vegetables, sliced beef, and probably a side of cabbage and kimchi. What about you?” She stared at him, practically dropped to the table at the food he had listed. Mind you, this was a restaurant that served in large proportions, so it was only natural for the girl to be surprised.

“You’re going to finish all of that? By yourself?” He nodded his head and he stared at her, quite confused with her question. “Aren’t the trainees supposed to be on a diet?”

“Oh, I don’t gain weight no matter how much I eat, but if you’re so concerned, share it with me.” He placed his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his hands as he watched the girl.

“Fine, I will, only because I don’t want to eat a lot.” Jongdae called for one of the workers, ordering his food before turning his attention back to his companion.

“You know, this is completely unreal to me.”

“What is?” Nara asked as she nibbled on the chopstick to occupy so she wouldn’t be thinking of how hungry she was feeling at the moment.

“Well, I used to watch Kisses’ music videos and thinking, ‘Wow, this girl is insanely beautiful, and she’s my age.’ I was talking about you, in case you didn’t get it. Anyways, I would always wonder what you were like, and it’s not far from what I imagined.”

“Can I assume that’s good?”

Jongdae nodded his head. “Yeah, you’re nice, and you’re easy to talk to. Being here as a trainee is hard. Some of the sunbaenims really look down on me, I don’t know why. Maybe because I’m a trainee and inexperienced. Anyways, I always feel like I have to meet their expectations that I have to try hard to earn their respect.” He lowered his eyes down to the table.

“Why? You’re better than them,” Nara bluntly said. She reached over, placing her finger under his chin and lifting it to make him look at her. “I’ve never witnessed a trainee sing as well as you do. Trust me, you’ll be fine.”

Nara planted her back down to the chair once she saw the worker approach them with food. The girl practically squealed at the sight, but Jongdae was too busy watching her and thinking about what she had said. He smiled slightly before saying, “I was right to like you out of all the other members.”

She had blushed, nodding her head before stuffing food in as she couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Nara walked a couple of feet behind him with her hands on her back, staring up at the dark sky that had a couple of light dots painted on it. “Living in the city makes it hard for the stars to appear,” she took note as she walked her head faced up. She didn’t realize that Jongdae had stopped, and she crashed into him. He wrapped his arm on her lower waist, supporting her to prevent the two of them from falling back. “Sorry,” she mumbled before pulling away.

“I haven’t seen a night that was just filled with stars. I’ve always wanted to,” he told her with a smile on his face.

“Don’t tell me you’re walking me back to my apartment,” she said. “Like I said, you have to wake up early tomorrow. I’ll be fine walking alone at night. I have pepper spray in my bag, anyways.”

“No way. I’m a guy, and there’s nothing in the world that is going to stop me from escorting you back. What would that make me look like, making you walk home alone?” He chuckled before gesturing for the two of them to start walking.

“Thank you,” Nara whispered, smiling a little as it was the first time for her to be treated this way. Usually she travelled with the members, and they rode their cars back home. She never really had to walk anywhere, and if she did walk late at night, her manager was always there. So, it was the first to have someone completely new take her home.

The two stopped at the entrance of the apartment complex, and she turned to look at him. “You should sleep well, understand? And don’t work yourself too hard. Also, don’t listen to what anyone says. If you think you’re good, then you are. Don’t live up to their expectations. Live up to yours.” She patted his head. “If you ever need me, just shoot me a text.” She took out a slip of paper, writing her number in and handing it to him.

He smiled quite gratefully, finally feeling relieved that he made a friend during his training days. “Good night, Narayah,” he had said, backing away and waving.

“Good night, Jongdaeyah. Good luck.” She walked back into the apartment, the smile on her face failing to leave.

***

Nara wasn’t expecting much that morning as she tossed and her bed, stretching her arms and letting out a strange noise in the process. Her feet were dangling off of the bed, the blanket failing to cover her leg as she scratched her stomach. She reached over for her phone that rested at the side of her bed, turning it on to find a message from Jongdae.

The brunette sat up straight, her now tangled and messy hair draped over her face as she stared at the screen.

“Morning! I have training today >.< Will you come see me? xx.” She chuckled to herself as she could just picture his face as he typed the message.

“Maybe later. <3 I have practice.” Nara typed in reply then tossing her phone back on her bed to make her way to the bathroom.

After a couple of hours, Kisses was on their way to their training room. Nara leaned her head back against the seat, humming to the song being played on the radio. “I met someone yesterday,” she had randomly blurted to the group, all eyes now focused on her. “He’s a new trainee, and I really think he has a lot of potential. His voice is incredible, literally breathtaking.”

Hyerin, one of the members, raised an eyebrow. “Really? Maybe we should go visit the training area after we practice. They’ll let us, won’t they? I mean, we’re just going to watch.”

Nara nodded her head, pulling out her phone and telling Jongdae that she was going to come and see him that afternoon.

Practice was a pain, since when was it not, and it took a lot of energy from the members. Three of them were sleeping in the car; one was focused out the window, while Nara was busy replying to Jongdae’s message. Throughout the day, they would send short messages to each other that seemed to last for a long time. It would start with a question then grow from there. She found out Jongdae had an older brother. She also found out that he was trying to control his nasal voice.

The car had stopped, snapping the three sleeping beauties to wake and fall from their seats. “This is why we don’t sleep in the vehicle,” Nara reprimanded them with a small laugh.

Kisses entered the building, and Nara searched the place for that familiar face. Hyerin, on the other hand, was just wandering her eyes. “Annyeonghassey, sunbaenim!” One of the boys had said to Hyerin. Nara recognized him as Jongdae’s rival, but she had forgotten the name to his face.

“Go back to training,” was all Hyerin said. Ah, cold as usual, Nara had thought to herself. She looked back at her friend and shook her head.

“Couldn’t you have said hi at least? Or encouraged him?” Hyerin shrugged, obviously finding it pointless to feel that way. “This is why you’re single,” Nara mumbled, but she saw something in Hyerin’s eyes that she hadn’t seen before. It looked like a spark of pain, and a little bit of reminiscence, but she didn’t observe too deeply into it since she knew that if Hyerin wanted to talk about it, she would.

“Ah, Narayah!” This caught her attention as that too familiar voice rang in her ear. He was now approaching her, engulfing her in a hug and completely suffocating her.

“Okay, let go, Jongdaeyah!” She squealed as she pushed him off, laughing slightly and wiping off his sweat from her cheeks. “You’re so gross.”

Jongdae bowed to the other members before her, saying his formal greetings and positioning himself straight up. “Narayah said that you’re good at singing,” the eldest member, Mihyun, took note as she eyed him. “Sing, then.”

Nara noticed how he had flushed and stiffened slightly at the request. It was probably the first time he’s ever been demanded by an idol to sing. He let out a nervous chuckle before calming himself down and opening his mouth to reveal that angelic voice that hid in his throat.

The members were clearly taken back at this, not expecting something as great as what he had presented. He cleared his throat as he rubbed the back of his neck. “How was it?”

“Wow, Nara wasn’t kidding when she said you were incredible,” Mihyun smirked as she patted his arm. “You got potential, kid, I’ll give you that. If SM doesn’t put you in a group, I’ll quit being a member of Kisses, form my own company, and have you be a solo singer in it.”

His ears reddened at her comment, and he was too flustered to say anything. He merely bowed in gratitude. “Okay, you four have to go now! I’m staying here with Jongdae for a while,” Nara told them, urging them to the exit before returning to her friend. “I haven’t seen you blush so much before.”

“I can’t help it,” he mumbled. “Mihyun sunbaenim just complimented me.” She rolled her eyes, wrapping an arm over his shoulder.

“Get used to compliments, Jongdaeyah, because you’ll be hearing a lot of it.”

 

 

 

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Finished the first chapter!!

Well, I finished it a long time ago....

I hope you enjoy!! <3

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