"Pledis… what?" you stammer. Surely you heard wrong.

"Pledis, the company I'm signed to," explains Seungcheol, "They pay for our food and accommodation. They want you out."

You blink a couple of times, taking in the information.

"They… they want me to leave?"

Seungcheol sighs heavily and nods. He's trembling a little. Just a little. "Will you be alright?" he asks. His voice remains a little shaky.

You sigh. "Sure I will. I was managing before, right? And now I can actually see…"

He nods. You push up your glasses with one finger, looking at him with pity. He's stopped shaking, but still looks worried. You feel your own arms shaking a little. You close your eyes. You shouldn't cry.

You feel Seungcheol's warm arms wrap around you and pull you close to him. He feels safe and steady. He's warm. You inhale a vague aroma of… green tea. That's Seungcheol.

"Am I interrupting anything…?"

You look up to see Hansol in the doorway. You sigh. "I have to leave," you tell him.

"Wha..? Why?! Why are you leaving? Is it--" Seungcheol cuts him off.

"Pledis," he says, "Pledis doesn't want her to stay with us."

Hansol's face morphs from shock into helplessness. "They can't do that. They can't," he says, "Where will she go?"

"I'll survive," you reassure him, "don't worry!" You smile your best smile, partly to reassure him and partly to reassure yourself.

"Good luck…" he says.

"Thanks," you reply, taking his hand and squeezing it. He smiles a little.

After saying your goodbyes to the rest of Seventeen, you find yourself walking the streets of Seoul. Alone. Again. You sigh. You should've known it was too good to be true. At least you can see now, and you're relatively clean, with clean clothes. Perhaps you can get a job…

Who are you kidding. You didn't even finish high school, let alone get any qualifications warranting an actual job. You sigh, your eyes starting to tear up. Your only friends in the world, and you had to leave. Maybe you can still be friends, but it seems awfully unlikely. They're idols. You're homeless.

"Hey, excuse me?" You look up. A well-dressed woman looks back at you. "Do you mind telling me how old you are?"

"Excuse me?" you say, confused.

She laughs a little. "Your age. I want to know your age?"

"Wha- who are you?"

"I'm a scout from SM entertainment," she says, her voice quickly losing it's element of amusement, "are you going to give me your age?"

Your eyes widen. "S-SM…?" you stutter, quickly realizing what's happening. "Oh, ah, yes, I'm 17."

"Oh, cool," she replies, "ever thought about auditioning for SM? We hold auditions every weekend." She hands you a card. "I'd love to see you there."

"O-ok…" you stammer as she walks away. You? Audition for SM? You'd never thought about it before. You look down at the card she's given you. It looks a bit like a business card, with 'SM Entertainment' written across the top, and an address. Huh.

You begin to think about what an audition might mean. A job. A place to stay, food to eat. A place in SM is starting to sound like a pretty good bet. Auditions every weekend, the woman had said. That gives you 5 days…

You find a reasonably open space to practice in between two buildings, away from the main streets. It's a bit dark, and it doesn't smell the best, but there's nobody there except you. You put your cardboard box down, and start singing 'Adore U' to yourself as you go through the moves. Yeah… Yeah, this could work. You try rapping the part you remember from 'Ah Yeah'. This could actually work.

A couple of days go by; days you spend practicing. There's not much you can do to prepare other than to rehearse what you know. You don't have access to the internet or anyone who can help you. You sigh. Oh well, you'll do your best. You go through the beginning of 'Adore U' again. It's not pleasant, lying on the dirty sidewalk, but you have to get this right. This has become your only chance at a job. You're just getting into the chorus when you trip, with a surprised shriek, suddenly finding yourself on the ground without your glasses. Pain ripples through your leg from your knee. You feel around you and find your glasses, sliding them on to your face. Luckily, they're not too badly hurt. Maybe a bit dirty. You look to the source of your pain and find that your jeans are torn at the knees. A little blood is seeping through from grazes underneath. You sigh again.

"Is someone hurt?" a you can hear a kind voice in what sounds like the near distance. They must have heard your cries as you fell. You don't make a noise. The sound of footsteps grows closer until you can feel someone standing over you. You don't look up.
"You are hurt!" they exclaim, "do you want help? I have- wait." You look up to see a lady, perhaps in her mid-twenties, rustling around in her handbag.

"Aha!" she says, producing a packet of baby wipes. She kneels down and starts dabbing on your grazes with a wipe. You try not to look at her, feeling a little ashamed to be found here, like this. "Hey, keep this," she says, handing you the packet of wipes, "in case you fall again!" You smile. It's so awkward when people are so nice to you.

"What were you doing when you fell, anyway?" she asks you. You look back up at her.

"Oh, I um.. I…" Words don't come easily to you. You've barely spoken to anyone since you left Seungcheol. "I um, I was practicing something. A dance, actually."

"Oh! That sounds fun!" she says, smiling so brightly that it makes you want to smile back. "I used to dance a lot, but uh, I ran out of time."

"That's a pity..." you reply quietly.

She laughs a little, "yeah, I guess so.." She smiles "I'm sorry, I have to get to work!" she blurts, smiling, "good luck with your dance!"

You smile back as she hurries away.

It's later in the day, perhaps 5pm, when you hear the same voice from that morning. "Hey! Hey, you still here?" The sound of footsteps draws nearer once again and the same lady appears. "You are!" she exclaims, "I came back because I forgot to introduce myself. Hi, my name's Yoora. What's yours?"

You smile. "I'm (y/n)," you tell her.

"Oh! What a lovely name!" she exclaims, "so tell me, (y/n), why were you dancing in this dark alley between buildings? It seems a bit of a strange thing to do."

"Oh, uhh…" you hesitate. "Well, the thing is, I don't really have a job, and I kind of need one. A few days ago, a lady from SM entertainment gave me her card and asked me to audition this weekend, so I've been practicing."

Yoora nods slowly. "How come you don't practice at home?" she asks.

"Um, well," you start, "my parents don't exactly let me."

"Oh," she replies, looking into her hands. She thinks for a moment, then turns back to you. "I auditioned for an entertainment company once, I guess I was about your age. Are you around 17?"

"Yeah," you reply, "17. You?"

"Ahh, I'm 26," she replies, sighing. "I can't believe I'm so old…"

"26 isn't too old," you remind her. She laughs.

"I guess." She pauses for a moment. "Anyways, back to what I was saying, uhh… Yeah I auditioned when I was your age. Actually I think I was a bit younger than you but that doesn't matter, uhh… yes just remember to be confident and, uhh, yeah be confident and do you best!" she rushes her words and trips over them a few times, but smiles nonetheless. You laugh a little.

"Thanks."

"Uhh…" she trails off. "Hey I have to rush off again. Um, hopefully I can see you again. (y/n), right? Wait, uh…" She pulls a piece of paper and a pen from her handbag, scribbling down a number and handing it to you. "Um, that's my phone number. If you need anything, make sure to call me! Or y'know, if you just want to talk…" She smiles again, and you smile back, stuffing the paper into your jean pockets for safekeeping.

"Thank you!" you reply.

Her smile widens. "No problem!" she says. "Sorry I have to rush off so suddenly! My boyfriend is waiting for me…" She gives a light laugh, "you know how it is."

You laugh too. "Yeah, I guess. Bye"

"Bye."

The days flew by, and you spent as much time as you could practicing. Yoora wasn't able to see you everyday, but she bought you takeaway one day on her way home, which was nice. It seems as if you're going to be good friends with her. You snap back to reality as the sign reading 'SM Entertainment' comes into view. Oh god. A line of people extends from the doorway, presumably other people waiting hopefully for their audition. You gulp. There's every type of person you can think of, from tall, pretty girls in their early twenties to kids of eleven or twelve, and you look so different from all of them. You take another look down at your scuffed jeans and dirty shoes, and you sigh. Oh well. You join the end of the line and start mentally rehearsing the 'Adore U' choreography.

It takes a surprisingly short amount of time for the line to disappear, and before long you find yourself being called in to the audition. You try to swallow your nerves, but a lump remains in your throat. Here goes...