It’s already September.
Before the summer vacation, I was bouncing between school and work, and during the summer break, I participated in a piano competition. I started work at 10 AM and got dragged around all day according to a set schedule, and suddenly time flew by.
Just two weeks ago, the Topist Entertainment’s public audition, which started in July, finished the third round, and last week, they finally announced the finalists.
There are 5 winners.
Out of these, 4 signed trainee contracts and decided to start working at the company today.
“I’m so excited to see who will come~ I wonder how old they are? They must be pretty!”
The sister with flower-pot hair doesn’t seem to have a single thought about competition.
“They’ll probably come in soon with the Team Leader. Just wait a bit.”
“But I’m so nervous. It’s been a year and a half since Do-hee joined us!”
“In the end, they’re still competitors. You should be worried too, Unni.”
“Ugh… Do-hee is so cold.”
“That’s reality. This is the first time we’re getting new trainees, but from now on, there will always be more coming in.”
“But I’m confident I’ll debut with Do-hee! These days, even the teachers are only praising me.”
“The new trainees might do better than you, Unni.”
“Ugh…”
Of course, both unni and I have improved a lot.
Considering the only trainees were unni and me, it was practically a one-on-one lesson, so there was no way our skills wouldn’t improve.
Not long after we started chatting about the upcoming trainees, Team Leader Jeong walked into the choreography practice room with four young-looking girls.
“Hello, Team Leader!”
“Yeah, right. These are the new trainees who will be practicing with you from now on.”
Everyone, being their first day, had made an effort with their makeup.
Unni and I greeted the new trainees.
“Hello~”
The Team Leader spoke to the girls standing next to her.
“Alright, let’s have the newbies introduce themselves, starting with the youngest, Bo-yeon.”
“Hi! I’m 14 years old, Heo Bo-yeon. Nice to meet you!”
She’s the youngest among the new trainees but is the same age as unni.
Guess I really am the baby here.
“Okay, next.”
“Hello, I’m 15 years old, Kim Seo-yoon. I came from Busan because I want to be an idol! I will work hard!”
Busan?
Isn’t that really far away?
I asked, “How do you commute to the company then?”
The Team Leader answered, “Seo-yoon will live at the dormitory we have for trainees. From now on, anyone living far will be having group living at the dormitory. If any of you find it hard to go back and forth, just let us know.”
Well, since it’s a global audition, I guess they must have a dormitory for trainee foreigners too.
“You must have had a trainee dorm, right?”
“Now Da-ye.”
“Yep! Hello! I’m 15-year-old Han Da-ye. After watching the Pastel Love seniors’ performance, I thought I’d like to become an idol, so I applied. I’ll do my best!”
“Okay, last is Na-eun.”
“Hello, I’m Kim Na-eun. I’m 17 years old. Nice to meet you!”
Even though Na-eun is older than the new trainees at 17, I can tell exactly why she passed the audition.
Her visuals are outstanding compared to the others.
Of course, the people who introduced themselves before were pretty for trainees, but if they are B to C, then she’s an A.
Oh, and I’m an S.
Haha.
“Alright, now let’s have Do-hee and Woo-ah introduce themselves.”
“Yep.” “Yes~”
“Hello, I’m 12-year-old Lee Do-hee. I’ve been a trainee for a year and a half. Nice to meet you.”
“Hello, I’m 14-year-old Jiwoo. I’ve been a trainee for 2 years, and I’d love to get close! Thank you!”
The eyes of the new trainees widened as they listened to our introductions.
They probably didn’t expect that someone younger than them had been a trainee for almost 2 years.
Especially since I’m only 12.
“Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, let’s chat a bit before the dance teacher arrives for our lesson.”
“Yep!”
“If the new trainees have any questions, feel free to ask Do-hee and Woo-ah, and they’ll help you out.”
Once the team leader left the dance studio, the new trainees started to relax a little and began talking.
Seo-yoon Unni, who came from Busan, was the first to ask me.
“Um… should I call you senior?”
Between trainees, calling someone senior is a bit much.
“You don’t have to call me senior. You can just call me Do-hee since it’s by age order.”
“Oh, really? Then I’ll just talk comfortably?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, I was really surprised when I first saw you, Do-hee. I thought, this is what an idol looks like.”
Since Seo-yoon Unni seemed to relax a bit, her Busan dialect started slipping out.
“Oh, thank you. You’re pretty too, Unni.”
“So you were street-casted at 11?”
“Ah, yes, that’s right.”
“Jackpot.”
Seo-yoon Unni turned her head to ask Woo-ah Unni.
“Hey, Woo-ah… Aw, can I just call you Woo-ah?”
“Yes, I’m 14, so I’m a year younger than you. Please talk comfortably.”
“Okay. Speak comfortably, please.”
“I got it. Is Woo-ah going to be street-cast too?”
“No, I came in after auditioning.”
“Oh, really?”
This time, Han Da-ye, who had been quietly listening and claimed to be a Pastel Love fan, asked.
“Can I speak comfortably too?”
“Yes.”
“Do you ever meet the Pastel Love seniors while practicing here?”
“Oh yes, we often see them. They have a busy schedule and are often overseas for concerts, so they don’t come to the company much, but when they’re releasing an album, they come to practice.”
The problem is that every time I bump into them, they find me cute and take turns hugging me, pinching my cheeks, and pulling me around for at least 30 minutes.
Since they’re seniors, I can’t run away.
“Really? Then what about the X-TEN seniors?”
When celebrities came up in conversation, Heo Bo-yeon, the youngest among the new trainees, seemed interested.
“Oh, they often come to practice.”
Still, since X-TEN is made up of guys, if they encounter me, they usually just ruffle my hair and encourage me instead of hugging me.
“Really? I’m such a huge fan. I applied for the Topist audition because of the X-TEN oppas, I mean, seniors.”
“Oh, really? So is there anything you’re curious about, noona?”
I asked Kim Na-eun, the only high school student who was just quietly listening.
“Uh, not yet. I’ll ask if I think of something.”
“Okay.”
While I was accepting questions, Teacher Moon came in.
“Hey, everyone~”
Woo-ah and I greeted her.
“Teacher, hello~”
“How was your weekend, Do-hee and Woo-ah?”
“Yes.”
Then the teacher looked at the new trainees and said.
“So you’re the new kids.”
“Yes! Hello.”
“Okay, what are your names?”
After listening to the names of the new trainees, the teacher said.
“My name is Moon Ye-rim, and you’ll all receive dance training from me. Now, let’s do a skill check with some dance right away.”
The teacher stood in the center of the front mirror and said.
“Okay, I’ll dance first, so just follow along.”
When I first came, she taught me the basics considering it was my first time dancing, but this time it seems like she’s planning to test the trainees who passed the audition with choreography right away.
The teacher started dancing while explaining.
“Alright, first kick your left leg like you’re passing a ball, and open the opposite foot.”
“Then raise your hand to point and point down once more while passing the leg, pass, pass, pass. Do you get the feeling?”
“Do you get the feeling when we pass, pass, pass while shooting once?”
“Yes!”
“Okay, let’s give it a try, five, six, seven, eight.”
The new trainees began to dance.
And the teacher’s expression stiffened.
“Hey, are you guys sure you passed the audition? You have no basics! Again!”
The teacher sighed as she watched the new trainees dance, then pointed at Seo-yoon Unni.
“Aren’t you the Seo-yoon from Busan, the one and only?”
“Yep.”
“Right, Seo-yoon is doing okay. But what about the rest? Are you dancing or just moving out of sync? Da-ye and Bo-yeon, you two passed with the audition dance, right?”
“Y-Yeah…”
“I’m seriously baffled. If you can’t even do the basics… Do-hee, Jiwoo.”
“Yes!”
We responded.
“Come out and show us a dance.”
“Yes!”
We stepped forward and danced to the music.
“Did you see that? You need to hit the points and match the rhythm like them. Why are you moving separately on top and bottom, and your fingertips are just flopping around?”
The teacher sighed and continued.
“Since it’s the first day, I’ll be harsh. If you can’t beat them, forget about debuting. Got it? They’re younger and better than you, so who would debut you instead of them?”
“Y-Yeah…”
Oh wow…
Scary initiation from day one.
I sure got treated nicely from the start.
Heh.
The brutal dance lesson ended, and it was time for vocal lessons.
Thankfully, the vocal lessons were individual, allowing us to spend the time quietly compared to the dance lessons.
…
…
…
Before I knew it, all the lessons were over, and after writing my journal, it was time to clock out.
“Do-hee~”
Woo-ah Unni ran over to me as I was writing my journal and hugged me again.
“Why? I’m tired, just spill it.”
“Did you hear Teacher Kwon yelling today?”
“Huh?”
Woo-ah Unni said that Teacher Kwon’s shouting could be heard all the way outside the vocal room.
Teacher Kwon usually speaks softly, but was the plank punishment throughout the lesson the real deal?
I wonder how many of today’s newcomers will manage to stick around for debut.
New trainees aren’t stopping here; there’ll be endless auditions, and some may get cut in the end-of-month evaluations.
And some might simply walk out because it’s too hard.
Looks like I shouldn’t get too attached to other trainees after all.
I’ll just keep it moderately friendly.
