Vocal Coach ~ Baekhyun & Sungchan(NCT)

Chapter 4

*April 3, 2021 | Spring Break*
After having a long chat with my parents, having a bit of a language barrier, my parents were finally convinced that it is okay for me to travel alone to South Korea, with permission, to go meet Baekhyun. I have no idea what he has planned for me when I get there, but man, am I excited. My dad drops me off at the airport in Salt Lake City. From here, I'll be flying to Los Angeles, from Los Angeles to Seoul. The flight is going to be insane and long, but I know once I get there, it'll be worth it. I board my first plane that'll take me to LA.

I have a layover for about two hours before I can get on the plane to Seoul. Due to the recent events, travel outside of the states is still being monitored very closely, and I'm healthy enough to travel, so that's why this is okay. I get on the plane that will take me across the ocean to South Korea. The last time I traveled this far from home was when I went to the Philippines with my mom, but this time, I'm going all alone. I'm a little scared and nervous because I'm meeting my one of favorite idols, and I don't know how he's going to act in real life.

After about 13 hours, I land at Incheon International Airport. I go to baggage claim to pick up my big suitcase. I also have one smaller, carry-on suitcase, and a white Betsey Johnson backpack. I wander around my terminal until I see one familiar face, holding a piece of paper with my name on it, waving and calling my name. No way, is that Baekhyun.
"Baekhyun?" I asked.
"Yes, follow me." Baekhyun said.
"I thought you were going to send a driver so you wouldn't get mobbed here." I said.
"I'm in disguise, so people don't know it's me." Baekhyun whispered.
"Oh, okay." I said.
I follow Baekhyun to his luxury brand car, a Lexus. Wow, even idols drive in luxury. This is a life I would never be able to get used to if I became an idol. I also noticed that Baekhyun is wearing expensive clothes as well, Burberry. His entire outfit has to top at least $5,000. Wow, I could never. I look like a bum compared to Baekhyun right now.

We pull up to SM Entertainment. Baekhyun told me to put my belongings in the storage room in the lobby, so I do so. Baekhyun leads me up in an elevator to a large practice room. When we walk in, there is a gigantic group of guys who scream,
"WELCOME TO SM ENTERTAINMENT!"
"Okay. . . I just got here and you're introducing me to. . . EXO and NCT? So, you're telling me that there are the 7 members of EXO, plus the 23 members of NCT. It's taking me a moment to process all this." I said.
I noticed that NCT is broken up to their respective subunits as well; NCT U, NCT 127, NCT DREAM, and WayV.
"Baekhyun told us that NCT is one of your favorite groups." Johnny said.
"I mean, yeah. I love you guys. There really are too many of you." I said, joking. Making jokes is the only way I'm able to calm my nerves right now.

Baekhyun joins his group, EXO, then says that they should introduce each of their groups. EXO starts,
"We are one!! 안녕하세요!! 엑소입니다!!"
"Hi, I'm EXO's leader, Suho." Suho said.
"Hi, I'm EXO's oldest, Xiumin." Xiumin said.
"Hi, I'm a main vocalist, Baekhyun." Baekhyun said.
"Hi, I'm Chen." Chen said.
"Hi, I'm EXO's rapper, Chanyeol." Chanyeol said.
"Hi, I'm a main vocalist, D.O." D.O said.
"Hi, I'm the main dancer, Kai." Kai said.
"Hi, I'm a lead dancer, lead rapper, and maknae, Sehun." Sehun said.
"Nice to meet you all." I said, bowing to them respectfully.

Next, it was each of the NCT subunits' turn to introduce themselves. First was NCT 127.
"NCT to the world, this is NCT! Hello we are NCT 127."
"Hi, I'm the NCT leader. I'm Taeyong." Taeyong said.
"Hi! I'm Taeil." Taeil said.
"Hi, my name's Johnny." Johnny said.
"Hi, I'm Yuta." Yuta said.
"I'm main vocal, Doyoung." Doyoung said.
"Hey, I'm Jaehyun." Jaehyun said.
"Hi, my name's Jungwoo." Jungwoo said.
"Ay, yo what's going on? I'm Mark." Mark said.
"My name is Haechan. H-A-E-C-H-A-N." Haechan said.
"Ahh, I love you guys." I said.
"We love you." Mark said.

The next group was NCT DREAM. Haechan and Mark comically shuffle over to join their other subunit. They introduce themselves as such,
"To the world, this is NCT! Hello, we are NCT DREAM!"
"Hey, it's me again, Mark." Mark said.
"Hi, I'm Dream's main vocalist and lead dancer, Renjun." Renjun said.
"Hi, I'm Dream's lead rapper, Jeno." Jeno said.
"Hi, I'm Haechan. . . Again." Haechan said.
"Hey, I'm Jaemin." Jaemin said.
"Hi, I'm also a main vocalist, Chenle." Chenle said.
"Hi, I'm the NCT maknae, Jisung." Jisung said.

Next up, and second to last, was the Chinese subunit; WayV.
"大家好。 我们是威神V!"
"Hi, I'm WayV's leader, Kun." Kun said.
"Hi, I'm the main dancer, main vocalist, and center of WayV. I'm Ten." Ten said.
"Hi, I'm WayV's lead dancer, lead rapper, and visual, WinWin." WinWin said.
"Hi, I'm Lucas. I'm lead rapper, sub vocalist, visual, center, face of the group." Lucas said, comically counting his positions on his fingers.
"Hi, my name is Xiaojun. I'm a main vocal and sub rapper." Xiaojun said.
"Hi, I'm Hendery. My positions are; main rapper, lead dancer, sub vocalist, visual, and center." Hendery said.
"Hi, I'm the maknae of WayV, YangYang. My positions are; main rapper, main dancer, and sub vocalist." YangYang said.

Last but not least, the current line-ups (90's Love & Work it) for NCT U. They introduce themselves,
"To the world! Hello, we are NCT U."
"Hi, I'm WinWin." WinWin said.
"Hi, I'm Ten." Ten said.
"Hey, I'm Mark." Mark said.
"Hi, I'm Jeno." Jeno said.
"Hi, I'm Haechan." Haechan said.
"Hey, I'm YangYang." YangYang said.
"Hi, I'm NCT U's maknae, Sungchan." Sungchan said.
Now, for the Work It line-up,
"Hey, I'm Johnny." Johnny said.
"Hi, I'm Yuta." Yuta said.
"I'm Ten." Ten said.
"I'm Jungwoo." Jungwoo said.
"Hey, I'm Hendery." Hendery said.
"I'm Jaemin." Jaemin said.
"Hello, I'm the maknae, Jisung." Jisung said.
Finally, all on his own, Shotaro introduces himself,
"Hi! I'm one of the new members, Shotaro."

It took a lot in me to be patient and wait for all 23 members of NCT to finish introducing themselves and not interrupt. I literally had to stand there and wait for members to introduce themselves multiple times since their line-ups always are changing. Except for the permanent units that are NCT 127 and WayV. Then, I introduced myself to NCT and EXO. They applauded me for my simple introduction, I'm also really shy.
"Uh, hi guys. My name is Raeshel, but if it's easier, you can call me by my Korean name, Heejung." I said.
"We heard you can speak a little Korean." Taeyong said.
"Uh, 조금요. 안녕하세요, 저는 희정입니다." I said(Uh, a little. Hi, I'm Heejung)
"Ooh, good." Baekhyun said, cheering my Korean introduction.
"It's nothing really." I said.
"You've got good pronounciation." Johnny said.
"Thank you. Oh, YangYang, I've been waiting three years to try this." I said.
"What is it?" YangYang asked.
"Ich spreche Deutsche. Ich woll Deutsch gesprochen mit dich." I said(I speak German. I want to speak German with you)
"Ah~ zur gut. Hast du Deutsch gelernt?" YangYang asked(Ah, very good. You learned German?)
"Ja, ich habe in der Schule Deutsch fur drei Jahre gelernt." I said(Yes, I learned German in school for 3 years)
"Das ist zur cool!" YangYang exclaimed(That's so cool!)
The other members stare at us having our German conversation with confusion and curiosity. They only really heard German from YangYang speaking it, and from their German fans.
"Du bist ein Erhrenmann." I said(You're a cool guy. Note: the literal translation is; man of honor, but it's more of a German slang now)
"Danke schön. Deine Deutsch ist zur gut." YangYang said(Thank you. Your German is very good)
"Danke, YangYang." I said(Thanks, YangYang)