T E A S E R  O N E

"The first two members for the show are here, so make sure you're getting them on camera before we find the rest. I want to get some candid shots before they know they're on the show, get a picture for how they really are, you know?" Cho Mirae quietly whispered to her companion, before the two entered the room to take some pictures and film. The two of them dressed in athletic clothes to blend in with the rest of the trainees there, wanting to draw as little attention away from the fact that they weren't trainees in the first place, but were there on a much more important agenda. But walking into the room as if she and her companion already belonged there and had belonged there for years, none of the trainees noticed their presence and if they did, they didn't care, all of them too busy to really take any time away from their practice to say something. 

Word had already gotten around that something big was going to happen and whenever something big was going to happen, it usually meant that Yang Hyunsik was going to start pulling trainees aside and put them in the running to being in his next group. And due to that, it meant everyone needed to practice and get better, because their careers and dreams were on the line. So ignoring the two as if they weren't there, the five trainees continued to practice, giving the two a show in the process. 

While Mirae, otherwise known as the PD-nim for YG's newest show, Hot Issue, could only watch them dance to one of SHINee's newest songs. Two of the five keeping up with the difficult choreography relatively well, while one danced pretty averagely but was able to dance to the rhythm, even if his moves weren't as crisp, while the last two were struggling throughout, obviously  not known for their dancing skills. The latter two being quite awkward in their moves and being a beat or two off from the actual beat of the song, despite one of the better dancers clapping to the beat as they danced to keep the two of them on step.  

The one clapping was the shortest of the group and from the information that Mirae had been given earlier about the ten boys that would be on her show, this one was called Heo Wonjae. While the second shortest, one of the trainees that was obviously struggling a bit, but was a tad better than the worst dancer of the bunch, and probably the best looking member of the group, a boy with looks that kind of screamed SM Entertainment to her and made her wonder if the boy had gotten plastic surgery or not, despite knowing the answer to that already, went by the name of Bae, short for Baejoon. The other boy could have been good looking as well, but with how much the other seemed to frown and the way his eyebrows made it look as if he was quite angry with the world, darkening his features just enough to come across as interesting rather than good looking. While Bae, even with sweat on his face and his cheeks pink from exertion, was the type of looker that made people want to throw themselves at them or stare at him in awe. 

It was no wonder why Hyunsik had mentioned their looks to her, Hyunsik quite taken with Bae's visuals, while a little bit on the fence with Wonjae's, despite finding him quite talented. But with Bae, she couldn't help but wonder how talented the kid was, because with how much Hyunsik focused on his looks, he didn't mention much about his skills at all. And if his dancing was supposed to be one of the talents he had, then she feared the worst for him. But not wanting to write either of the two off, especially since she was trying to stay as unbiased for this show as much as she could, especially since she knew Hyunsik was the type to sway viewers a certain way to get the end goal he wanted, she didn't want to be a part of that. If Hyunsik was going to have a show, she was going to make it as fair as possible, even if strange things happened in the future to make it otherwise. 

So to combat some of that bias, they had decided to go with weekly challenges for the show, so that they could weed out the tainees that obviously weren't good enough for the group and to strengthen the trainees that would be potential members later on. Each challenge being cutthroat enough that if a member failed, there was the possibility of them being cut from the company as well, especially since a trainee would be cut each week from the show until there were five left. Of course there were a couple of weeks where the loser wouldn't be cut, as the first two weeks were to get the boys used to what was going on, while half way into the show, there would be another week where a lucky trainee would get to move on, despite losing their challenge, able to redeem themselves the next week. 

While the constant footage of the boys training, filming their dorm life, and of course the times where Hyunsik's other artists would join the show, whether it was to teach or to be involved in a challenge themselves, Mirae was going to get quite a bit of footage to see how the members cooperated with each other and how the group dynamics evolved throughout. 

However, despite all of that, she couldn't help but feel like the first couple of weeks would be tough on all the boys as they would be forced to live in one little house together. Ten boys being forced into a house so small that it was obviously meant for a small family instead of their group of ten; they would be living in quite close quarters with living conditions reminiscent to the groups from before 2010 or groups from smaller companies before 2012. The time where many groups were forced to live in what some would say were hellish conditions, a life of luxury nowhere to be found as willpower and dreams would be the only thing to get them through it. It was going to be quite stressful on the boys, and she couldn't wait to see what would occur from it. Especially the drama that would happen, because as much as boys shied away from drama in the first place, it followed them anyway and living in conditions that were meant to be stressors on them, there would be even more so. 

It was going to be exciting and the fans were going to love it.

Because from watching Bae and Wonjae dance and interact with the other trainees in the room, Wonjae seeming quite agreeable to everyone around him, even a little timid at times, while Bae basically stone-faced his way through practice with most of the group. They were still interesting enough that she was sure a couple of misunderstandings and drama would occur, despite how quiet the two seemed to be. Because towards the end of her watch, she was able to witness Bae show some frustration about how much he was struggling with the dance they were doing and Wonjae's reaction towards that frustration. 

Bae visibly upset enough that he couldn't help but say something quite cutting that easily made Wonjae and one of the other dancers flinch. Only for him to notice their reaction, eyes widening in response, before he was diverting his attention to the ground and angrily muttering something to himself. His shoulders drooping about ten seconds later, fingers curling around the hem of his shirt, the wind slowly being taken out of himself as he tried to calm himself down before he was turning his attention back to the others to apologize. His voice rough and his words awkward sounding to everyone in the room. While Wonjae could only nod in understanding, before he was giving the other a small smile that didn't look very comforting in the least, even if he was trying to tell the other that it was okay and that there was no harm done. But with how scary his smile looked, making him look a little bit evil instead, Bae couldn't help but shakily nod to the other before he was moving to turn the music back on, unable to deal with what was going on. The two looking more than a bit awkward in their exchange. 

Unable to keep herself from laughing, Mirae couldn't help but hide a snicker behind her hand before she was quietly excusing herself from the room, cameraman following her as the two made their way down the hallway and away from the scene. She couldn't help but wonder what the other trainees would bring. But first things first, she needed to check out the rest of the boys on her list; Min Daewon being next.

To the recording studio.