DAHLIA - Xu Minghao

Chapter 1 - New Environments

   "Last year, I needed change of pace,
Couldn't take the pace of change."

***

June 8th, 2014

"Ready, Miss Wang?" the male staff member walking alongside Meilin said, giving her a sympathetic look. The girl shook her head as her eyes settled on the door she had to enter. The paper taped to it said 'SEVENTEEN' in messy writing.

She cleared her throat nervously. "Not at all, but I don't think I have much of a choice." Of course she wasn't ready, how could she ever be? This was positively the most terrifying thing she had done in her entire life.

The staff member swung the door open, and immediately the commotion inside died down. All the boys inside fell silent, and simply stared at Meilin, unsettling her even further. Her throat closed up, and for a moment, the girl thought she was going to throw up. But she kept her demeanor, and with her head held high, she took a single step into the room. She regretted the action before she even completed it. The tension, the intensity of their eyes on her, made her feel small. She wanted to cry, to run away down the corridor and not look back. She wanted to escape the icy looks she was receiving. They were horrible, to the point Meilin was sure she hated this room already.

And she'd been inside for all of a mere few seconds.

One of the boys took a step towards her, and Meilin nearly flinched at his height. He must've been about a full head taller than her, no doubt. Amongst her own friends, she had always been considered tall, but all of that was nothing compared to this guy. To most of these guys, actually. At least half of them towered over her, she realized, as she let her eyes scan each of them up and down.

The door slammed shut behind her, and Meilin was left alone with thirteen dirty, sweaty, teenage boys.

She was terrified.

People greeted her, told her their names, and asked her questions, but Meilin didn't hear any of it. She just saw their lips move, their faces come close, and their eyes piercing into her own. Meilin wanted to panic, but she couldn't let herself. Not in front of them. Not at their first meeting. The buzz in her ears finally softened, and Meilin managed to hear what was being said.

"Can you hear us?" Meilin looked into the direction of the voice and nodded, trying to maintain her stoic expression as she felt the panic in her stomach rise up to her heart at the interaction. The boy that had spoken to her was probably the most mature looking one, she concluded after a quick scan around the room. He wasn't tall, but he was visibly broadly build and trained. His face held an expression of confusion and worry, but she could tell from his relaxed and confident posture that he'd been here the longest.

The boy smiled at her when he saw her nod, and gently pushed the other boys out of her space. Meilin was beyond thankful when she noticed that, but she remained still.

"I'm Seungcheol, welcome to Seventeen!" He said, pointing at the camera above the mirror. Meilin lifted her gaze to the camera, but it was turned off. Not knowing what else to do, Meilin nodded curtly and looked back at Seungcheol.

After realizing she wasn't going to talk anytime soon, Seungcheol ushered the boys away, telling them to get back to their business. They listened to him surprisingly well, and Meilin knew in that instant that he was their leader, and starting today, she would have to listen to him as well. Seungcheol smiled at her one last time before turning his back on her and disappearing into a different room.

Sighing softly, Meilin dropped her bag on the floor and sat down, leaning against the wall. From her little spot, she could perfectly oversee the practice room, and she used that to watch over the boys as they practiced. Or, well... it wasn't practice, really. They were just messing around with one another, seemingly without a care in the world. Whenever they went quiet for a few moments, Meilin could hear people counting beats next door, which meant that at least the people in the other room were practicing. Meilin wasn't very keen on the idea of being stuck here with people who didn't practice much. Though, admittedly, in that very moment, she wasn't doing much either.