Wow! 8 subscribers and thank you to the commenters, you guys are fantastic! I made slight changes to the end of the foreword, and this is chapter one! Comments are appreciated, I will reply to each one! 

Thank you 

- Emz

I slowly drifted apart from Junghwa after the fan sign event, and I wasn't really sure how I felt about it.   In a sick, cold way, it was good because I could focus on my practise more. But in another way, I think it was mainly just sad. And lonely. I didn't really have friends between the trainees - I couldn't. They were all competition, and I had heard many stories of friendships breaking due to stress and people using others to gain more popularity between the managers.   I don't think I've introduced myself yet though! My name is Park Heri and I'm 16 years old. I was scouted for SM entertainment a few months ago, did the audition and got in after two tries. When I met Kai and the rest of EXO at the fan sign, it had been my fourth day as a trainee.    Now, I've been a trainee for about 4 months and lemme tell you - it's hard.   Idols are perfection. They perform impeccably, no matter the conditions: be it a slippery stage, bright blinding stage lights, cameras zooming in their faces - they do their thing and still look good.    That's who I'm striving to be. And I repeat. It's really hard. I graduated school this year, before I joined SM, so I don't have it as an excuse not to be in the studio, practising at 7 in the morning when I had left the damn place 4 hours ago. At least the dorms are close.   The next time I saw Kai was a real big unlucky coincidence. I had left the building to grab lunch outside with a previous school mate, and was just returning when the building entrance was swarmed with people.   "Um. Excuse me, is something happening here?" I asked a man by a car with out windows who looked like a manager. He looked at me boredly.   "Are you trying to get into the building girl?" he asked bluntly.   "Yes." I said truthfully.    "Do you have a pass to get in?" he asked snidely, obviously thinking I was another fan wanting to get into the building.   "My fingerprint is my pass. I just need to get to the door." I told him impatiently.    "Manager hyung, she's a trainee." I heard a muffled voice say. The window had opened a tiny bit and I recognised the voice as Kai almost immediately. I couldn't help but blanch at his voice confusedly. What was he doing here?   "We're going to drive round back. Girl, you can come with us. Is there space in the back Jongin-ah?" the manager asked. My eyes widened. Half of EXO were in there! Idols usually stayed and practised at the main SM building. No wonder there were fans here.    Eventually I got into the car to find 5 pairs of curious eyes on me.. And a camera. Oh they were shooting something. That's probably why they were coming.   "Hello everyone, I'm very sorry to bother you." I said awkwardly with a bow. I literally had no make up on and I was wearing training clothes. Fantastic. At least I had a snapback on to sort of tame my hair.   "Nice to see you again Heri-ssi." Kai said with a nod. "Looks like your friend wasn't lying when she said you were a trainee."   He remembered my name? That was an ego boost.   "No she wasn't." I agreed with a small smile.   "Do you know the rest of EXO-K? Chanyeol, D.O., Baekhyun, our leader Suho and Sehun." Kai introduced. I nodded - of course I knew. All of their faces were planted around the SM building.    "This is Heri, I met her at a fan sign event a couple months ago."    "So she's a fan?" Baekhyun asked with a wide grin.   "Yes of course, who isn't?" I said immediately. No I wasn't, but there was a camera. They all laughed back at me knowingly and then Suho asked,   "How long have you been a trainee?"    "Four months now." I answered.    "That's really not very long! So you joined late? How old are you?" Baekhyun asked curiously.   "I turned 16 last month." I said. "All the other trainees in my classes have been here for a lot longer than me."    "That's not a problem though, don't worry. Fighting! Work hard." Chanyeol said with a bright smile.    I chuckled and thanked him.    "Do you major in dance or singing?" Suho asked again to stop the awkward silence. We were stuck in traffic - I didn't think the drive around the building would take this long, but I was still grateful for the extra time with the idols.   "Dance." I told him. I was kind of trying to ignore the gaze that Kai was staring at me with. It was really concentrated and I felt kind of uncomfortable under the scrutiny and I tried not to look back at him.   "What did you do before you came into the company?" Kai asked, and I was forced to look at him as I replied. God. He was handsome.   "I did contemporary - mainly lyrical but I have had experience with hip hop and jazz." I answered cordially. "I did gymnastics professionally though."    "Oh that's cool, why did you stop?" Baekhyun asked.   "I had a severe injury in my left knee. I've recovered fully but it was advised that I stopped gym because of the strain.."     All the boys "ahhed" at this.    "It was lovely meeting you, Heri-ssi." Suho told me, shaking my hand when we got into the building. "We might even see you around - the filming is part of our new variety show."   "Were they filming in the car just now?" I asked.   "Yes, not sure if they'll include it though." he replied, nodding. "Mhm, it depends if ... You haven't been told about a group have you? Your trainee time has been a bit short for you to be ready." he added thoughtfully.   "No I haven't." I said, shaking my head. "I need to go to practise now, thank you for the ride. See you soon, Suho-sunbaenim."    I bowed and we parted ways inside the building.   When I got inside the practise room, an hour early before my class, I jumped as I was met with cameras set up around the room.   "What is this?" I asked, shocked, to a camerawoman.   "Do you have class in here now?" she asked.   "In around an hour." I told her.    "Then you are being filmed today. Were you not told?"    "No!"   "Well do whatever you usually do and ignore us." she told me kindly.   What was this? Was there a chance to debut? Surely I wasn't ready.. I had only been a trainee for 4 months! Some people in my class were going to debut, I was sure of it. Their skills were really impressive.   I some music on my phone, and trying not to feel self conscious, I started to do warm up stretches and exercises and went through the dances that we did last lesson. Doing them slowly, and repeating them endlessly. Eventually, I was called out of my 'dance mode' as I call it, as some other people from my class entered the room. I greeted them in a friendly manner and chatted lightly with them until everyone was here. All the girls in my class were older than me.   We were greeted with another shocking sight as our dance teacher entered with four other people - managers!    "Hello class. You must be wondering what the cameras are for today." my dance teacher said clearly, with a bright smile. That's weird. She never smiles. "We have some special managers here with us today who will be telling you what's going on."   "SM headquarters are launching a new scheme for the trainees that will be televised to gain more popularity from the public before their official debut. It contains a hand picked group of trainees who will compete for a spot as featured back up dancers in EXO's upcoming world tour." one manager said. Her face looked stern.    "The higher-ups have thought long and hard about people who will be in this group. This does not guarantee a debut, remember. If the s