hong aeji lived a simple life in california with her parents and older brother.
however that simple living quickly changed when her brother was scouted to be in one of the world's next biggest kpop groups.
this is hong aeji's diary, where she keeps...
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and this is, well, pre-debut seventeen! the boy group my brother ended up training with for a few years before debuting with them.
"hong family?" a man in a suit called out into the lobby of pledis entertainment. josh's head shot up, his leg finally stopped shaking after all this time. i could tell how anxious he was along with our mom. all three of us stood up and bowed to the man. josh greeting him personally.
"this is my mom," josh said pointing to her, "and this is my sister, hong aeji. she just turned 15."
i smiled and waved to the man, as he bowed his head to say hello. "well, shall we get you guys inside to meet the rest of the trainees?" the man said after a few minutes of small talk.
he led us through some interesting corridors, ultimately leading towards a room that was practically leaking of screams and laughter.
"josh- where are we?" i whispered up to my brother.
"aeji-ah. relax. i think these are just where the trainees rehearse."
the man opened a door, the noise settling down as he cleared his throat. "seventeen! i'd like you to meet the newest trainee to be joining you! hong jisoo, but he may go by joshua. along with his mother and his sister." he announced.
all i remember was the peace and quiet had gone away in a split second, as there were maybe 15 boys trying to greet us at once.
"hi! i am kim mingyu. you are from america?" a tall boy said in what sounded like broken english.
"yea but, we can speak korean too." josh smiled at him, replying in korean, to which the mingyu boy looked relieved to hear. liar. my korean was horrible compared to his and mom's.
"ah! this is jeon wonwoo, he's shy, don't mind him." mingyu said back to us as he pulled his close friend to his side, him giving us a wave.
although all of the boys had given us a brief introduction, josh and i were still extremely confused while our mom and the other man from before chatted in the corner.
"seungcheol, can you uh, give us a crashcourse?" josh asked him shyly.
seungcheol let out a laugh, "of course! so like i said, there's me, i'm the oldest. and i'm a rapper. there's jeonghan, he has the long hair. i think you would fall next in the age line actually. then there's junhui, he's from china so his korean isn't the best yet. sitting next to him is minghao, same situation." he said as he pointed to the two boys sitting together. "then there's soonyoung, seokmin, and jihoon over there. soonyoung's insane at dancing! and jihoon has been writing a lot of our songs- you'll learn them." my eyes followed his to the three boys sitting together by the small keyboard piano. "you met mingyu and wonwoo, both rappers. wonwoo seems quiet but i think it's just because there's new people. mingyu's very outgoing so be ready for that." he moved his hand to point to 3 boys in the corner. "over there is seungkwan, hansol, and chan. the three youngest. aeji when were you born?" he finished with a question.
i looked up at him extremely confused, missing half of what he said. "he asked when you were born." josh said to me in english, translating what seungcheol has asked me.
"oh! may 6, 1998."
"ahhh, you're just a few months younger than hansol-ah. he was born in 1998 too. yah! hansol, chan, seungkwan!" he yelled, calling the three over.
the three ran over, greeting us again. "jisoo! what's up my man?" seungkwan said in broken english, similar to mingyu's which caused me to crack a smile.
"hansol-ah, could you stick around aeji while i show jisoo around the practice room? she's not fluent in korean yet." seungcheol asked the boy with long-ish wavy hair.
"yea, of course!" the boy who, by now i assumed was named hansol, said as the other 4 boys walked away. he was, well, definitely attractive. "so you guys are from LA?"
"yea uh- woah how is your english so good?" i said, taken aback by how well he spoke it.
he laughed at my sudden question, "my mom's american, dad's korean. i was born in new york but i don't remember much of it. i live in hongdae now. you're still learning korean?"
i shrugged, "i guess. there's not a heavy need for it in LA unless it's with my family. but... if this is josh's life now then it seems like i should learn now."
"well if you ever need a tutor you know who to call." he said, flashing a big toothy smile. adorable.
"so.. what do you do.. here?" i asked him, unsure of the right wording.
"i'm a rapper! with seungcheol, wonwoo, and mingyu!"
"and there's... how many of you?" i said, already forgetting about mingyu and wonwoo.
"13. i know it seems like a lot but, you'll get used to it, i promise."
from that day on i was no longer just hong jisoo's little sister. i was seventeen's little sister.
and this was just the beginning of the story. the story of love, heartbreak, growth, and dedication.
