Pacific Troublemaker

Headquarters

It was finally July 1st.

Jena woke up early, wearing a pretty white dress that her mother had bought her from a market they had visited. She combed her hair, letting it fall straight down her back. Staring at herself in the mirror, she tried smiling.

After returning back to the hotel from the SM Headquarter building, her mother had told her that the old grandmother had said that Jena was beautiful. 

First the girl from auditions and now a grandmother. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make Jena feel more confident about her visual. She found a lip tint that her mother had picked out and lightly slid it over her lips, smiling with her new red lips. Ever since she had been young, she had always thought that she was too skinny and that her cheeks were too thin and that her eyes were too big for her face and her eyelids too noticeable and her chest too flat for a thirteen year old...

"Mom! Let's go!" Jena hollered as she slid on her flats.

"I'm right here, honey. No need to yell." Opening the door, Mari and Jena stepped out, retracing their steps from the first day. 

Standing in front of the building, Jena took a deep breath, slightly nervous. 

"Hey, it'll be fine," Mari said, smiling reassuringly. "They're just going to tell you more information about life as a trainee."

Jena nodded before stepping in, her mother following behind closely. They walked up some stairs to find a nice lobby with various offices. There was a young lady who walked over to them, smiling before speaking in Korean. Jena recognized "hello" and that was it. 

Smiling dumbly at the lady, Jena allowed her mother to talk for her. After some rapid conversation, the lady nodded and told them to sit and wait on a green couch against the wall. 

After a couple minutes, a man walked in, wearing a suit. Something clicked in Jena's brain. "Mr. Kim!" she exclaimed, waving and smiling. "Hello!" 

He turned to look at her, raising his eyebrows with surprise. "Oh, hello.. Jena." He bowed politely to her mother and said hello before turning to look back at her. "You've arrived early. That's great. If you and your mother could follow me to my office," he said, turning around to climb up the stairs. 

They followed him up the winding stairs to a floor full of offices and studios. Jena glanced around, peering through the little windows on each of the doors to see what was inside. An empty office, a dark practice room, a storage room, a - !

She could have sworn she saw the boy's face in a practice room... The boy she had seen walking into the building on the first day she visited. 

"Here we are," Mr. Kim said, distracting Jena from her thoughts. He opened a door to a wide office, allowing Jena and her mother to enter first. "So, I would just like to talk to you about becoming a trainee and give you additional information." He smiled gently. "So, let me tell you about trainee life. We have countless trainees here as well. Probably around thirty to fifity?" 

Jena gaped.

"Numerous young boys and girls all in training. After a couple years, I suppose, they'll debut if they don't drop out. Some of our debuted groups, EXO, SNSD, SHINee, TVXQ, and others, have all been great successes. We actually intend to debut a girl group sometime this year. Anyhow, we have a school that you will attend. Do you know much Korean, Jena?" 

She shook her head.

"This school is called Korea Kent Foreign School. We send our young trainees who were previously educated outside of Korea to learn at this school. They have a wonderful academic program where Jena can learn how to speak Korean, dance, and sing as well." He paused and took a breath. "As a trainee, Jena will be living in provided dorms with some other girls who are also trainees. They range from different ages, but I'm sure that everyone should get along." Mr. Kim smiled. "Next.. a daily schedule of life. First, Jena would go to school in the morning then return to our dance studio for practice. Afterward, she'd have vocal lessons and exercise sessions. Food is provided by our working staff and there is a cafeteria at Kent."