It Started with a Small Favor

Training Part 1

I laid on the floor, panting. I had just finished my morning workout routine with the personal trainers they have on staff at HYBE. It was my second week as a Trainee at HYBE. I was enjoying my time so far. I have met some of the other trainees and most seem nice, but they keep their distance.
Being a foreigner at HYBE in Korea is an experience. At HYBE USA I would have fit right in, but here I am the only fair skinned one. There are some trainees from China, Taiwan, and other places in Asia.
I'm also one of the older ones, so that also makes me stand out. But at least, I am only with them for a little while. I spend the morning workout sessions with the other trainees. The personal trainers assign us with targeted workouts for what they think we need to work on.
I've been assigned to help with my core strength. I have good core strength, but with them wanting to focus on hiphop and kpop style dancing, I need to work on certain muscles in my core to make up for my nerve damage.
They had a doctor come in and consult with us on my nerve damage and ways to mitigate future problems. The doctor advised working on building strength in different core muscles to take the pressure off the more used muscles connecting to my hips.
So, this was why I was laying like a dead fish near the warm-down area of the gym. The rest of the trainees were either paired up and working on different machines, or were also in the warm-down area.
“Y/N!” I propped myself up on my elbows with much effort to see Pdogg standing at the door, looking around the room.
“I'm here,” I called up, slowly getting to my feet and wiping my sweat off with a towel. I was wearing a loose tshirt and workout leggings. The shirt was sweat through to show my purple sports bra underneath.
Pdogg spotted me and smiled as I walked towards him.
“I've had a last-minute schedule change. We were set to meet this evening, but I am not unavailable. I've switched your schedule with Seung Deuk. So, I have you for the next two hours and he will have you at the end of the day.” I nodded at the information.
“Let me take a quick shower and I can meet you in your studio,” I said with a smile. I had tried finding a more respectful way to speak to him, but Pdogg insisted on my calling him by his producer name. Once, I tried to call him sunbaenim or seonsaengnim (mentor or teacher) and he shuddered.
“Sounds good, take your time in the shower. We will meet around 11? I will order us in some food. I made sure to clear what you could eat with the dietitian!” He said cheerfully before hurrying off. Since I was working on building up new muscles, the dietitian wanted me to make sure to enough the right foods so I don't hurt myself and had the right nutrients to achieve what I need to.
I shook my head at his retreating figure and turned towards the female showers. Inside I could hear some of the other female trainees already in their individual showers. I went over to the locker I had put my things in and took out my shower supplies and towel.
I got inside my own stall and started my shower. I was in the middle of shampooing my hair when I heard more of the trainees enter. They weren't aware I was in the shower, because they for sure were talking about me.
“Did you see that foreigner?” One girl asked.
“Yeah, she is so fat,” another said and then there was a bunch of giggling. I shook my head, I was not fat for my body shape and height. Not my fault I actually have breasts and an ass.
“Hey, that's not nice,” I heard a different voice say.
“Yeah, if you keep acting like that, they will kick you out,” another said. I was internally grateful for the ones who were sticking up for me.
“Yeah right, like they would kick me out. I'm a Korean trainee and my mom works over at CUBE. They wouldn't be able to.” The voice that had called me fat said.
“Girl, we warned you. But if you are going to act like that, I want nothing to do with it, or you.” The voice that defended me first said. Then a heard quite a few voices also agreeing. I felt tears gather in my eyes but blinked them away and rinsed out the soap.
“Would you really do that? I mean, my mother is an executive at CUBE. Being my friend is a big deal,” the girl scoffed. She didn’t get a response as I heard lockers closing and then the door to the room. “You all are going to regret picking that foreigner's side.”
Then I heard the door open and close again, then full silence. I quickly finished my shower, dried and dressed in my clothes. I was wearing a pair of loose dark jeans with a belt, my Stussy shirt from Yoongi and white Nikes. I put on my black hat and left.
Outside, the hallway was clear of any of the other trainees. Silently thanking fate, I walked towards the elevator. Inside the elevator was two men wearing masks and baseball caps. I nodded at them politely before pushing the button for Pdogg's floor. The two men shifted slightly in the elevator, but were absolutely silent.
I didn't pay them any mind as we arrived to my floor. They were heading to the CEO's floor, if the lit up floor light on the elevator indicated anything. I left without a word to them and walked down the hallway towards my destination.
I knocked on Pdogg's door loudly, knowing that he needed to be able to hear it over any music that may be going through the speakers. The door to his studio was a frosted glass, so I know he could see my silhouette through it.
“Come in!” I heard from inside and opened the door.
Pdogg was sitting in his chair at his producer's panels, there were two others sitting on a couch behind him. They looked slightly familiar, but I couldn't quite place them.
“Ah, Y/N welcome in!” I bowed to Pdogg and then to the two men sitting on the couch. They seemed a little unsure of me and internally I shook my head. “Guys, this is Y/N, one of my trainees. We are going to give her the basics of music producing today.”
I pulled out my tablet from my bag and opened the notes application, holding my stylus ready.
“Y/N, this is Woozi a member of Seventeen, and Zico,” I gave them a small bow, now knowing who they were.
“Nice to meet you, but I feel bad that you two idols are going to help me, a mere Trainee intern,” I admitted, looking down at the stylus in my hand. The two didn't say anything and I clenched the stylus, trying to keep my nervousness and disappointment hidden.
“It's okay, we have the time,” I heard one say. I looked up to see a smiling Woozi and Zico nodded. I took a deep breath and nodded a thanks.
“Now, let's begin!” Pdogg said enthusiastically. I was truly honored to meet both Woozi and Zico. They were both under the HYBE umbrella, and I was very surprised to see them in the building. They were in different companies, much like how BigHit is still it’s own entertainment company.
They were hesitant at first, but each time I asked a question or posed things for clarification, the two of them became more relaxed around me. Soon, they were enthusiastically contributing to Pdogg's teaching.
“And that's how you can add a sampling over the tracks of your song without altering the original track,” Woozi said as I quickly wrote down the steps he had shown me. I was about to ask a question about sampling permission when there was a knock at the door.
Pdogg stood up, stretched and opened the door. A HYBE staff member was holding two big plastic bags in her hands. Pdogg thanked her and brought them in, placing them on the table in front of the couch.
“Here, let's eat. It's already after 1pm and I'm hungry,” Pdogg said as he unloaded the bags. I was shocked and glanced at the time on my tablet. We had been working for over two hours and the time just flew by.
We all thanked Pdogg and dug into our food. My food was different then theirs because of my diet. It was protein heavy with good fibrous vegetables. I had a roasted chicken breast covered in some sort of sauce, steamed broccoli all over brown rice. I took a bite and it was delicious.
We ate in silence before my phone rang. I looked at it, chewing when I saw it was a phone call from Yoongi. Surprised, I quickly swallowed my food. Usually when my boyfriends called, they were call from Joon or Jin's phone.
“Sorry, I need to take this real quick,” I told them and stood up, looking around to see where I could go.
“Here, go in the booth. The equipment isn't on,” Pdogg suggested and I nodded. I answered the phone before entering the booth and I could see the surprised looks as I spoke.
“Yoongi-oppa,” I said and closed the door behind me. I heard everyone saying hello on the other end. I smiled. “Sorry, hello oppas!”
“Y/N-ahhhhhh!” I heard Jin whine out and I giggled. “We miss you sooo much.” Jimin added to Jin’s whine.
“I miss you all, too!” I said with a smile. I saw out of the corner of my eye all three of the men quietly observing me while they were eating. I pretended not to notice and continued with my conversation.
“You have been so busy,” I heard muttered, Yoongi. “But you did warn us. I just didn't realize HOW busy you would be.” I heard the others chuckling at him and him yelling at them to stop.
“How long is your internship, baby?” I heard Jungkook ask and I blushed at the affection in his words.
“It is for at least six months, but I think it will calm down once all the initial training is finished and everything else is set in place,” I said, remembering the long term plans and schedule I had been given.
“Oh wow,” I heard Joon say and I chuckled. “Are you able to talk now? It should be lunch time there.”
“Yes, I have some time. How is Munich?” I asked them and we had a discussion about their tour and how my exams went.
“Wait, where are you interning?” I heard Hobi ask and I froze for a moment.
“Just a company, I can tell you all about it when you get back,” I assured him and everyone agreed.
“Next time, we will do a video call. We are just in the van on the way to the venue and we didn't want anyone to accidentally see you.” Taehyung told me.
“Thank you babies, oh, I got to get back!” I saw the guys on the other side of the glass starting to clean up their lunch mess.
“We love you!” I heard them all say through the phone and I smiled.
“I love you all, too.”
I exited the booth and went to finish my lunch. I ate for a few moments in silence before I noticed the three were staring at me expectantly.
“What?” I asked after swallowing my bite of rice.
“You know Suga?” Pdogg asked and I nodded.
“I know BTS, I met them because of the Trainee Showcase over a year ago,” I said to Pdogg. “Didn't you get a chance to read my file?”
He stared at me for a moment before hurrying over to his desk and going through the different layers of folders, notebooks, and books. Finally, he found a folder and opened it. I noticed my name on it. After the first day, I insisted all my teachers get a copy of my file. It would make things going forward much easier.
“I didn't have the time to read it through,” Pdogg mumbled and started to read. Woozi and Zico looked at him curiously. Pdogg noticed and gave me a pointed look before flashing his eyes towards them. I nodded, giving him permission to share my file with them.
“Come take a look,” Pdogg told the two guys. The stood up, giving me a quick look before hurrying over to Pdogg.
It didn't take them long to read through my file, but I did hear sounds of surprise and some of appreciation. I didn't know who or what they were reacting to, but I focused on finishing my lunch.
“Is this how you became a trainee here?” I looked up at Zico, he was the once who had asked. I shook my head.
“No, it is part of my university studies. I'm here as an intern-slash-trainee. The HYBE representative picked me from my interview and didn't have my file yet. The teacher had misplaced my file before the interviews.” I said as I closed my food container, finished with eating. I put it with the others in the bags and stretched.
“So, it was coincidence, or fate, that you got chosen by HYBE?” I heard Woozi ask me with wonder. I just nodded.
“Well, then we should continue. We need to go over a couple more things before you start with Seung Deok,” Pdogg said and I turned on my tablet again, ready to take notes.
“Now it all makes sense,” Zico said shaking his head. He was holding my file in his hands and looked up at me with a smile. “Would you be interested in giving us a small example of your singing and rapping?”
I just stared at him trying to process the request. Pdogg and Woozi looked at me as well.
“Actually, that would be a good thing to know.” Pdogg mused. I bit my lip, suddenly feeling shy.
“I haven't sang or rapped in awhile. Not since the showcase, really.” They stared at me in surprise.
“Not once?” I shook my head.
“Well then, no time like the present,” Woozi said with an encouraging smile. “What song would you be interested in doing?”
I thought for awhile before standing up and heading over to Pdogg's computer. I searched for an instrumental version of a song I really like.
“I will go with rap first,” I told them and left the instrumental open before heading into the recording booth. If I was doing this then I would do it with some distance between us. I was still shy to do this when people can see my face.
I put the headphones over one of my ears like I had seen my boyfriends do when in their apartment home studio. I looked up and saw the three men sitting at the panels waiting for me to give them the go sign.
“This song is all in English,” I warned them and gave them a thumbs up. The opening music and beats started and I took a deep breath, closing my eyes to settle the nerves. Then I began.

“Focus on it every single day, I wanna figure out a way.
To get ahead of what I think I know is coming.
It's obvious you got a problem if you always tryna make it seem as if you've never been afraid, then why you runnin'?
I could never look at what I do the way that other people can and walk away, I can't be separated from it.
Stickin' out my neck is how I made where I’m at you wanna cut it up but can't, man, they can never take it from me…

I started to spit out the lyrics by NF TRUST ft. Tech N9ne. I kept my eyes closed, keeping the beat with NF's lyrics preparing myself for the hardest section.
Tech N9ne is one of the fastest rappers in English. I really enjoyed this duet when I first heard it and listened to it on repeat. It was the song that helped me learn to rap in the first place.
I felt myself bobbing along with the NF lyrics and opened my eyes briefly. I was almost thrown off when I saw more silhouettes through the window from the booth. However, I couldn't see who they were clearly.
But, I refocused on my rap as Tech N9ne's part starts.

Tech N9na, next king up
Everyone knowin' that I'm a death bringer
That lingua vexing ya
Leavin' a regular rapper resting, bruh (chyeah)
This is what, I give it such
An incredible wicked rush, a vivid gush.

I really got into the beat and spit the words out as fast as I could while trying to make it seem effortless, the way Tech N9ne does. Then, the fastest part of the rap begins

The boogie monster rappin with NF in the hoodie
Want to step into the session and fully conquer
The weapon to lesson our profession go bully bonkers (chyeah)
Left in a wreck, never checkin' nor could he stomp us
Take his crown
Thought he was gonna make sun away in a battle with his fakish frown
Shake his ground
Like I'm a Mechagodzilla, I’m such a killer when I break it down (uh)
These flows are the cheat code for the weak Joes
That need those Elite bros with the heat, so
They can eat on the D low
Off a beast yo' ego, got it vetoed (chyeah)
Please close your beak foes, delete scrolls
Taken from me, thiefs chose to try to decode (chyeah)
Reload the beat, so I can reach each soul
No cease, no finito, release (go!)
I am the chosen and everyone is beholdin'
My energy is golden ‘cause dominion I being broken
From enemies in the open approachin', I'm never jokin'

I continued to go until the end. When the music stops I'm breathing a little heavy, but I have a smile on my face. It was the first time I was able to get through both parts without making a mistake. Ever. I felt so proud of myself.
“Okay, uh, Y/N, can I play you a song to sing?” Pdogg asked me through the headphones.
“You can give me any BTS song and I will try my best,” I said getting ready to start again.
I heard the opening lines to one of my favorite BTS songs, but it was in Japanese. I smiled and closed my eyes, starting to sing Your Eyes Tell. As I did my best to impart my emotions, I was having trouble with some of the Japanese pronunciation.
“Okay, that wasn’t quite fair of us,” I heard Pdogg say through the headset as the song came to an end. “However, you still sounded great.”
I grimaced. “I’m not very good at Japanese.” I hung the headphones on the mic and left the recording booth.