“Annyeonghaseyo,” screamed 11 other younger trainees. Among all of them was one fairly tall and attractively curvy girl in the middle, looking like the leader of the group.

This was in fact Ahn Sojin. Yes, Ahn Sojin as in the heiress of Hanwha Group, one of the largest business conglomerate groups in South Korea.

“Step Forward when I call your name. Ahn Sojin.”

Oh God. Sojin’s stomach twisted and turned. She wasn’t sure what this pleasant visit from Director Jung was for. Director Jung was famous for her scary face. And her unpredictable mood swings.

Am I in trouble? God, Am I debuting? I never thought I’d be ready for this in a million years.

See, Sojin is somewhat a sunbae. Well, at least in the training world. She was first casted in early 2006 by a SM Entertainment casting director randomly in the mall. At first, she declined knowing the field of work wasn’t for her. But after finally realizing her goals, Sojin auditioned for SM in late 2006 automatically getting a callback to be asked to join the company. She gladly took it. She worked hard, mainly as a vocalist, and always got good reviews every monthly evaluation. She had a good trainee life, doing school well and being friends with today’s Girls’ Generation and SHINee.

But she thought her good trainee life would be over when she found out that she was no longer to be a trainee in SM. Instead, she was to move to this newer company that was having trouble finding trainees, WM Entertainment. That was in 2008.

It is now 2013, and Sojin is probably the oldest and longest running trainee there making her the ‘Big Unnie’.

She guided everybody, not only the female trainees, but everybody. She was everybody’s unnie/noona, that most likely knew the game well more than anybody.

“You six, grab your things and come with me. We don’t have a lot of time.” Director Jung said strictly.

Sojin zoned out the entire time Jung spoke, not even realizing that 5 other girls stood forward in a straight line with her.

All of the girls did what they were told and made their way through the door where they were roughly greeted by three cameramen in their face. Each of the girls reacted differently, but Sojin (being the oldest out of all of them) tried to set an example by smiling and bowing in politeness.

“Wha---“ Sojin heard one of the girls behind her start.

Jung was too fast to answer. “I’ll explain more in the car.”

 After the girls left out of the board room back into the car, everyone was silent. Except for one.

Sojin was probably the quietest. She didn’t dare speak a word. Sure, she was excited that all of her years of hard work is finally paying off, but she thought she’d never see this day come. There was a lot more preparation to do than she thought.

Once the girls were sent back to the training center, they were all sent to go home early for another early meeting in the morning to explain the specifics, but Sojin decided to stay back a while.

“Are you coming?” Bang Minhee (Sojin’s closest friend in WM and also her new group mate) asked her with a bored expression, but obvious care in her voice.

“Uh, yeah. I’m just going to use the bathroom first. You can go.”

“Okay.” Minhee hugs her with a tight squeeze before she leaves. Sojin gives her a convincing, sweet smile as she walks towards the door.

Once she saw Minhee walk through the automatic doors, Sojin quickly grabbed her phone out of her pocket and stalked to the girls bathroom. She dialed a phone number she must have known by heart by the way she typed it in so fast.

“Hello?” A deep, rough voice spoke on the other line.

“Hello Father?” She had no idea why she asked that question when she knew who it was.

“Sojin? Lovely hearing from you. What do you want? Money?”

Sojin was taken back from her father’s snappy tone. “Uh, no. I just, um, wanted to tell you that I-“

“Yes?” Her impatient father spoke before she could finish her sentence.

“Well, I finally get to debut.” Sojin said the last part slowly, awaiting the response her father would give her.

It was silent for a while; nobody dared to speak. After a good minute and a half, Sojin heard a low gruff from the other side of the line.

“Well… If that’s what you want. You didn’t leave us for nothing, now did you?”

Remember the extra preparations Sojin had to do? Well, let’s just say Sojin’s father, chairman of Hanwha, wasn’t a fan of her becoming a singer.

But what was she supposed to do?

Ahn Woo Il, Sojin’s father, was a very traditional man. He believed that only a man could take on the responsibility of a business as big as his. He wouldn’t dare leave his company in the hands of a woman. So, when Sojin’s older brother was born, Ahn Jaejung, he was to be the sole heir to the throne of the business world. And when Sojin was born, it was a mistake. Don’t get him wrong, he loved his daughter, but he had a bad way of showing it. Jaejung and Sojin always got the best of the best education. They were forced to be the best of the best. Both were student council president, had multiple extracurricular activities, and placed top in their classes. This was all for Jaejung that ended up in training to become the next heir. But when Sojin asked to have a place in the family business, she was laughed at. She was perfect to please her father, not for herself. She took the SM gig to find something for herself. What was she to live for other than her father? She needed to figure that out for herself. Sojin wanted to be perfect in something for her, and she found her new love: singing.

Sojin took a big sigh. “This is what I want.” She tried to say convincingly.

“Okay.” Woo Il slightly chuckles into the speaker.

“Okay.” Sojin mocked him until she heard the line drop into a buzz sound.

She ended the call and looked up into the mirror. “This is what I want.”