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![☆ ITZY - LOCO [Ver. C] ☆](/forums/data/dbtechShop/itemIcons/2/2002.jpg?1632758575)
Chapter 1: Where the dream began
It was incredible. My eyes were blinded by bright stage lights as I stood there with pride. In front of me was a sea of faces, smiling, their cameras flashing as they excitedly took photos to remember the day forever. They’d come to see me. And my members of course. But me. As I opened my mouth to say my thank you speech, they began chanting my name: Moon Eunseo! Moon Eunseo!
“Moon Eunseo!?”
I sat up in panic, rubbing my eyes and glancing around the now empty classroom. Yeseul looked like she was clearly trying to hold back a laugh as she packed my backpack. Oh. It was all just a dream. Of course it was.
“How late were you training last night?” She asked with a smirk, causing me to sigh and slump back in my chair with fatigue.
“Too late, judging by that response,” she snickered as she pulled me up by my hand.
“Yeah, I admit the hour was a bit ungodly,” I murmured, my cheeks turning pink as she laughed, “I just couldn’t help it, Yeseul. If I’m going to debut I need to improve my skills. They’re not up to my Unnies’ levels yet.”
Yeseul shook her head, sitting back down in her chair to meet my level as she grabbed my cheeks to force me to look at her.
“Yeah, but you’ve been training for six months, and they’ve been training for years. Didn’t you say Kahyun has been training since she was born more or less? Of course you’re not on their level. But the company wouldn’t’ve accepted you if you didn’t have the potential to meet it in time.”
“I guess. I’m sorry Yeseul… I always dump this on you. I’m just so desperate…” I exhaled, taking my bag as she handed it to me.
“It’s fine, we all are, right?” She smiled, standing up and making her way to the door of the room, “see you tomorrow, assuming you’re not too tired,” she snickered.
“Yeah… see you Yeseul,” I mumbled back, trying to hold in a yawn as I threw my backpack over my shoulder. Thankfully, my impromptu nap fell during the final lesson of the day so I didn’t have to suffer through any more hours of school feeling like my head was on a cloud far away. Unfortunately, I did have an even harder evening of training. Still feeling like a zombie, I made my way through the hallways to make it to the school courtyard to meet my label mates.
Immediately, I could spot Nanami-Unnie chatting to a larger group of people, a smile on her face as she waved at people coming and going. I waddled my way over to her, to be met with a surprise hug as she said her goodbyes to her remaining friends.
“This is new,” I chuckled awkwardly, with Nanami-Unnie’s smile wavering a bit as she pulled away.
“I’m just happy to see you, Eunseo.” She continued, grabbing my hand and starting to leave towards the gates.
“Woah, hang on,” I gasped, pulling her back, causing her to swing around and meet my eyes, which allowed me to immediately see clear pain on her face, “what about Nayul?”
Nanami inhaled sharply, running her fingers through her hair with her eyes falling to the ground.
“She’s not coming.”
I froze, daring not to say anything as Nanami-Unnie nodded before turning back around and continuing to pull me along, with me not protesting this time.
We walked through the city, in silence for a while, my head racing with thoughts about Nayul. If she wasn’t coming that likely meant she’d been cut from the team. Which means the company may be cutting more people alongside her. Which means I could possibly-
“So, Eunseo, tell me about your day,” Nanami-Unnie tried to inquire cheerfully.
“It was fine,” I gulped, trying to stop my mind from spiralling,” I made it through my first classes ok, but by last period I fell asleep,” I continued with shame.
“Again? How late did you stay up last night?” Nanami-Unnie gasped, hitting my arm playfully.
“I was at the company until 2,” I mumbled, the red creeping into my cheeks once again. Nanami-Unnie gasped.
“Huihyeon-Unnie must’ve been fuming! That late? No wonder you’re so tired!”
“I’ve never seen her that upset with me,” I winced, but with a small chuckle escaping me, “she would’ve put me in chains and carried me back to the dorms if I’d stayed any longer.”
“We’re lucky to have an Unnie that cares,” Nanami-Unnie replied simply, her mind seeming to wonder, “but still, stop training so late into the night! You’ll start to get sick! You can’t debut if you’re sick!”
Nanami-Unnie doesn’t really understand my situation. But maybe you will. You see, Nanami-Unnie competed on a survival show last year and placed 10th, just missing the top 7 positions she needed to debut. I can understand that missing the debut lineup must’ve been disappointing, but ever since she’s been one of the company’s favourites. Not only that though, even without the survival show, she’s the best vocalist in our company. Basically, there’s no way she won’t debut. For me? I’ve been a trainee for such a short period of time, I have no special talents, and the company has made it quite clear they’ll be selecting the debut lineup pretty soon for the next group. If I want to debut, I don’t have much time left to prove myself.
“So… how was your day?” I asked, trying to take the attention off of myself.
“Ah, it was fine. Though during my singing practice, I had a really embarrassing voice crack! It sounded like a pig being strangled. I'm not kidding. You should’ve heard it!” She snorted, seeming fond of the embarrassing memory.
“I bet even when sounding like a dying pig, you made it sound good. Seriously, Unnie, you’re such a good vocalist,” I responded with a smile.
“You’re a great singer too, Eunseo,” she replied brightly, squeezing my hand. My brain rejected her compliment, but I still gave her a grateful thank you.
We fell into silence once again on the train to the station close to our company. Being in crowded places can be hard for Nanami-Unnie due to her appearance on TV. Most adults do not know who she is or care, but the occasional person (usually someone younger) will stare at her, or take photos, and when she stalks social media she sometimes sees people talking about how they’ve spotted her in public. I feel bad for her. It also makes me feel tense knowing it’ll get a whole lot worse for all of us once we actually make our debut…
We reached our station in no time, climbing the steps to reach the daylight again.
“Boo!”
Both Nanami-Unnie and I froze in panic, Unnie grabbing my hand and me whimpering a little. We heard a silly laugh, and a familiar face suddenly appearing in front of us, her wrapping her arms around Nanami-Unnie and giving me a little pat on the head.
“Yul?” Nanami-Unnie asked in shock.
“Yep! I beat you guys for once!” She giggled, grabbing onto our hands and swinging them around playfully.
“No Gaeul or Soobin either?” I whispered emptily, Yul’s face going slightly pale as she frowned.”
“Nope… it’s just you, me and Nanami now, Eunseo,” she said weakly.
My mind started spiralling again. That’s three of our team gone at once. What’s stopping them from making it a fourth and cutting me as well?
We walked in an eerie silence to the company, it not being too far from the station, tucked behind some shops and restaurants. The company itself isn’t very well known or special, but good enough that I feel hopeful that if I debut, we won’t be complete nobodies in the industry. Having a known face in the industry like Nanami-Unnie on the team will help too.
We entered the doors, greeting a couple staff members as we climbed up the stairs to reach the trainees floor. The route was familiar by now, having done it almost every day for the past six months. The Unnies and I are part of trainee group 2A, the 2 referring to the fact we’re female trainees and the A meaning we’re group one out of three. When a debut lineup is picked, it’ll be either group A, B or C that is chosen. I inhaled hopefully. Maybe the missing trainees were just moved because the company didn’t think they fit with us?
...
It was incredible. My eyes were blinded by bright stage lights as I stood there with pride. In front of me was a sea of faces, smiling, their cameras flashing as they excitedly took photos to remember the day forever. They’d come to see me. And my members of course. But me. As I opened my mouth to say my thank you speech, they began chanting my name: Moon Eunseo! Moon Eunseo!
“Moon Eunseo!?”
I sat up in panic, rubbing my eyes and glancing around the now empty classroom. Yeseul looked like she was clearly trying to hold back a laugh as she packed my backpack. Oh. It was all just a dream. Of course it was.
“How late were you training last night?” She asked with a smirk, causing me to sigh and slump back in my chair with fatigue.
“Too late, judging by that response,” she snickered as she pulled me up by my hand.
“Yeah, I admit the hour was a bit ungodly,” I murmured, my cheeks turning pink as she laughed, “I just couldn’t help it, Yeseul. If I’m going to debut I need to improve my skills. They’re not up to my Unnies’ levels yet.”
Yeseul shook her head, sitting back down in her chair to meet my level as she grabbed my cheeks to force me to look at her.
“Yeah, but you’ve been training for six months, and they’ve been training for years. Didn’t you say Kahyun has been training since she was born more or less? Of course you’re not on their level. But the company wouldn’t’ve accepted you if you didn’t have the potential to meet it in time.”
“I guess. I’m sorry Yeseul… I always dump this on you. I’m just so desperate…” I exhaled, taking my bag as she handed it to me.
“It’s fine, we all are, right?” She smiled, standing up and making her way to the door of the room, “see you tomorrow, assuming you’re not too tired,” she snickered.
“Yeah… see you Yeseul,” I mumbled back, trying to hold in a yawn as I threw my backpack over my shoulder. Thankfully, my impromptu nap fell during the final lesson of the day so I didn’t have to suffer through any more hours of school feeling like my head was on a cloud far away. Unfortunately, I did have an even harder evening of training. Still feeling like a zombie, I made my way through the hallways to make it to the school courtyard to meet my label mates.
Immediately, I could spot Nanami-Unnie chatting to a larger group of people, a smile on her face as she waved at people coming and going. I waddled my way over to her, to be met with a surprise hug as she said her goodbyes to her remaining friends.
“This is new,” I chuckled awkwardly, with Nanami-Unnie’s smile wavering a bit as she pulled away.
“I’m just happy to see you, Eunseo.” She continued, grabbing my hand and starting to leave towards the gates.
“Woah, hang on,” I gasped, pulling her back, causing her to swing around and meet my eyes, which allowed me to immediately see clear pain on her face, “what about Nayul?”
Nanami inhaled sharply, running her fingers through her hair with her eyes falling to the ground.
“She’s not coming.”
I froze, daring not to say anything as Nanami-Unnie nodded before turning back around and continuing to pull me along, with me not protesting this time.
We walked through the city, in silence for a while, my head racing with thoughts about Nayul. If she wasn’t coming that likely meant she’d been cut from the team. Which means the company may be cutting more people alongside her. Which means I could possibly-
“So, Eunseo, tell me about your day,” Nanami-Unnie tried to inquire cheerfully.
“It was fine,” I gulped, trying to stop my mind from spiralling,” I made it through my first classes ok, but by last period I fell asleep,” I continued with shame.
“Again? How late did you stay up last night?” Nanami-Unnie gasped, hitting my arm playfully.
“I was at the company until 2,” I mumbled, the red creeping into my cheeks once again. Nanami-Unnie gasped.
“Huihyeon-Unnie must’ve been fuming! That late? No wonder you’re so tired!”
“I’ve never seen her that upset with me,” I winced, but with a small chuckle escaping me, “she would’ve put me in chains and carried me back to the dorms if I’d stayed any longer.”
“We’re lucky to have an Unnie that cares,” Nanami-Unnie replied simply, her mind seeming to wonder, “but still, stop training so late into the night! You’ll start to get sick! You can’t debut if you’re sick!”
Nanami-Unnie doesn’t really understand my situation. But maybe you will. You see, Nanami-Unnie competed on a survival show last year and placed 10th, just missing the top 7 positions she needed to debut. I can understand that missing the debut lineup must’ve been disappointing, but ever since she’s been one of the company’s favourites. Not only that though, even without the survival show, she’s the best vocalist in our company. Basically, there’s no way she won’t debut. For me? I’ve been a trainee for such a short period of time, I have no special talents, and the company has made it quite clear they’ll be selecting the debut lineup pretty soon for the next group. If I want to debut, I don’t have much time left to prove myself.
“So… how was your day?” I asked, trying to take the attention off of myself.
“Ah, it was fine. Though during my singing practice, I had a really embarrassing voice crack! It sounded like a pig being strangled. I'm not kidding. You should’ve heard it!” She snorted, seeming fond of the embarrassing memory.
“I bet even when sounding like a dying pig, you made it sound good. Seriously, Unnie, you’re such a good vocalist,” I responded with a smile.
“You’re a great singer too, Eunseo,” she replied brightly, squeezing my hand. My brain rejected her compliment, but I still gave her a grateful thank you.
We fell into silence once again on the train to the station close to our company. Being in crowded places can be hard for Nanami-Unnie due to her appearance on TV. Most adults do not know who she is or care, but the occasional person (usually someone younger) will stare at her, or take photos, and when she stalks social media she sometimes sees people talking about how they’ve spotted her in public. I feel bad for her. It also makes me feel tense knowing it’ll get a whole lot worse for all of us once we actually make our debut…
We reached our station in no time, climbing the steps to reach the daylight again.
“Boo!”
Both Nanami-Unnie and I froze in panic, Unnie grabbing my hand and me whimpering a little. We heard a silly laugh, and a familiar face suddenly appearing in front of us, her wrapping her arms around Nanami-Unnie and giving me a little pat on the head.
“Yul?” Nanami-Unnie asked in shock.
“Yep! I beat you guys for once!” She giggled, grabbing onto our hands and swinging them around playfully.
“No Gaeul or Soobin either?” I whispered emptily, Yul’s face going slightly pale as she frowned.”
“Nope… it’s just you, me and Nanami now, Eunseo,” she said weakly.
My mind started spiralling again. That’s three of our team gone at once. What’s stopping them from making it a fourth and cutting me as well?
We walked in an eerie silence to the company, it not being too far from the station, tucked behind some shops and restaurants. The company itself isn’t very well known or special, but good enough that I feel hopeful that if I debut, we won’t be complete nobodies in the industry. Having a known face in the industry like Nanami-Unnie on the team will help too.
We entered the doors, greeting a couple staff members as we climbed up the stairs to reach the trainees floor. The route was familiar by now, having done it almost every day for the past six months. The Unnies and I are part of trainee group 2A, the 2 referring to the fact we’re female trainees and the A meaning we’re group one out of three. When a debut lineup is picked, it’ll be either group A, B or C that is chosen. I inhaled hopefully. Maybe the missing trainees were just moved because the company didn’t think they fit with us?
...
