𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 ˢᵛᵗ

six ♬

We arrived at the canteen, the place buzzing with other trainees and staff. I guess they don't get many breaks, so they utilise the ones they do get as much as they can. Seokmin was still tugging my hand through the crowd as I knocked into Jeonghan.

"Oh Chae-ri!" He seemed startled. He quickly picked up his dropped strawberry milk carton before continuing.

"Mingyu and Shua are seated over there, you should com-"

His voice was cut off as Seokmin dragged me through the sea of people. I caught a glimpse of JJ and Bo-ri sitting with Wonwoo and Chan. They must've noticed me too because I saw JJ gesture for me to sit down next to her. However, Seokim resumed his search for Seungkwan and Vernon with me in tow. We passed Minghao and Jun, who had Korean language workbooks out in front of them next to their food. The pair looked up as I brushed past and gave a small wave, but they were already out of sight before I could wave back.

Eventually, we reached Seungkwan and Vernon who were seated near the back.

"What took you so long? The Tangsuyuk is almost cold!" Seungkwan whined. He didn't notice me standing next to Seokmin.

"Chae-ri?" Vernon perked up. As we sat down in front of them, I spotted that Seokmin still hadn't let go of my hand.

"I brought her along. That's okay right?" Seokmin stated. It was less of a question, considering I was already here.

"Oh, um yeah.." Seungkwan seemed to be caught off guard. I offered to leave but Seokim insisted that I eat with them.

On the table, a variety of Chinese dishes were laid out. There was two portions of spring rolls, two portions of jjajangmyeon, a portion of my favourite : Tangsuyuk, and a side of pickled radishes. The smell was so delicious that I almost drooled with hunger.

We began to eat. Seokmin and Seungkwan talked about their classes whilst Vernon and I just ate away. It wasn't long before I became the topic of conversation.

"So are you any good at singing?" Seungkwan pointed his chopsticks at me as he munched on a slice of pickled radish.

The question was so straightforward and unexpected that I ended up choking on my spring roll. I grabbed my bottle of water and drank before answering.

"That depends on what your definition of good is," I said, wiping my mouth with my sleeve.

"Of course she's good, you should've heard her today in practice," Seokmin replied in between bites.

"Why, you jealous that she might be better than you?" Vernon chimed in, teasing the boy. Seungkwan just rolled his eyes and continued eating.

"He doesn't mean to be rude. Seungkwan just isn't used to new people," Vernon explained whilst secretly kicking Seungkwan under the table. He yelped in pain before apologising to me.

"Sorry. Yeah new people, very unfamiliar..." Seungkwan rambled. Thankfully, Seokmin swiftly changed the topic and saved the boy from any more embarrassment.

"How was dance with Yoona nim? Difficult? Easy?"

The question seemed to have interested Seungkwan, but not in a good way.

"Don't even get me started on that," He began to rant

"Jihoon literally fell over after doing the crossover slide, so naturally I laughed at him but according to Yoona nim that "wasn't appropriate" so she sent me out of the room to calm down. I ended up missing the last eight counts of the routine and had to freestyle like an idiot." He mimicked quotations with his fingers at the words wasn't appropriate.

Vernon was struggling to hold back his laughter. Same with Seokmin. Seungkwan just huffed and turned away. I simply carried on eating as I listened intently.

"That was hilarious, anyways, how was vocal practice?" Vernon asked.

Seokmin was about to answer when he noticed that I hadn't spoken much. He stopped himself and encouraged me to answer instead.

"Um, it was fine. It was my first time so I'm still getting used to it," I answered. I turned to see Seokmin giving me a thumbs up to which I chuckled. The four of us kept eating until it was time to head over to our next class. I said my goodbyes to the boys before walking over to the dance room. On my way there, I bumped into Mingyu.

"Hey Chae-ri!" He came to join me by my side, matching my footsteps.

"I saw you sitting with Seokmin at lunch. He must've taken a liking to you after hearing you sing."

"Haha maybe," I responded, widening my steps to copy his.

We reached the door of the dance room. Mingy pulled it open, letting me go in first. The dance teacher, Yoona, looked very young and feminine. A very big difference from Ms Change whom I saw this morning.

Dance went by fast. It was a hip hop routine consisting of many jumps and turns. I learned it fast, that's not to say I did it amazingly though. I was told I needed to sharpen up my technique and that my movements were sloppy. I've been told worse from previous dance teachers so I'll take it as a win.

Lyric writing practice was just the five of us sitting in a room with pieces of paper and pens. I have never written a song before, so the whole idea was foreign to me. Mingyu helped me out for the first hour until he got too immersed into it. He soon forgot about me and just kept writing away. I left him be to go bother Jeonghan, who was nose deep in writing. We talked for a while before I let him get back to his work. From there, ideas began to form in my head and I wrote away. After the session ended, I looked over the lines I'd created.

Not bad. Could be better, but it was a good first attempt.

It was already dark when I started to head back to my dorm. The time was 10 at night, and my body was tired from the hard work I did. I walked through the infinite number of corridors, remembering to look at the signs. When I reached my room, I looked to see JJ and Bo-ri coming back too.

"How was your day?" JJ asked, a curious edge in her voice.

"It was good. Yours?"

"Amazing! It's only been one day but I'm already loving it!" JJ gushed as Bo-ri nodded along in agreement.

They wished me a goodnight before heading inside. I was about to open my door but suddenly heard footsteps behind me. Instantaneously, I whipped my head around to see what was there.

But there was nothing. Just an empty hallway.

Weird, I thought to myself. I could've sworn that I heard something.

Without thinking twice, I turned in for the night.