Purple Mist

Chapter 2

As a trainee at Big Hit, they pay for mostly everything for you, so that you can devote most of your time to them. And when I say most of your time, I mean all of your time. My first priority was learning Korean, so I had class for three hours every day, and studied outside of class. Days were long and hard, but this was finally the one thing in my life that I really really wanted, so I tried as hard as I could, and I never thought negatively. Only a few of the other girl trainees were nice to me, the rest thought I was weird for wanting to be here. Then again, I didn't really blame them. My first friend was Toni, who immediately introduced herself to me in English. She was cute and small, and very sweet. Her hair was long and chocolate brown, and her eyes were so big, but in a good way.

"Wanna eat lunch with me today?" She asked sweetly on my very first day as a trainee. Of course I said yes.

"How is your English so good?" I asked her as we were walking to the local convenience store on our lunch break.

"I'm actually Filipino, but I grew up in the US!" She smiled as she held the door open for me.

"No way! That's so cool!" I mostly just thought it was cool that there was someone like me; however, I still stuck out way more than she did.

"Yup! So how are you enjoying your first day?" Toni asked as we picked up some ramen and walked over to the seating area.

"It's....different." I searched for the right words. "But it's new, and exciting." I added. She smiled like she knew exactly what I meant.

"Well, don't be shy, ask questions, and don't let anyone hold you back. I may be 15, but I've been a trainee for two years, so I'd like to say I know what I'm talking about." I held my chopsticks, but remained looking at her, taking in her words.

"How long does one usually train for before they actually get to do something?" I wondered out loud. Toni finished chewing her ramen before answering.

"Hm. depends on the person. Some people take two years, some people take six, and some never get to debut. You probably will though, I don't see why they would take an American if they didn't have plans on putting you somewhere." That didn't really make much sense to me, but I didn't question her about it.

*****

After two months I knew the basics of the Korean language, but I wanted to learn it so quickly that I often pulled all nighters studying. One night I left at 2am, not expecting anyone to be there, but of course as I turn the corner staring down at my phone I collide with someone. I was so startled that my phone flew five feet away and made a loud smacking sound, making me wince. I looked at the boy, his gaze making me even more embarrassed.

"Ah, I'm sorry." I apologized in Korean, immediately bending down to pick up my phone, but of course he reached out at the same time I did. Our hands grazed across each other and he pulled his arm back slowly. When I picked up my phone he was still looking at me, and I couldn't read his expression. I quickly apologized again before running around him and out of the building. When the warm summer air touched my face, I closed my eyes, my heart still beating out of my chest. Why was that the most awkward encounter I've had? Why have I never seen him before, and why is he here at 2am? And why didn't he say anything? Maybe I should try harder to know everyone who trains here...unless he wasn't a trainee. I made a mental note to ask Toni about it tomorrow.

****

"What did he look like?" Toni asked after I had casually brought it up in our conversation the next day. We were sitting on the floor of the practice room, stretching. I thought for a second.

"He had swoopy brown hair, and eyes that looked like they were staring into my soul." Toni laughed.

"How am I supposed to know just by that description?" She asked.

"Well, I don't know! It happened so fast I didn't get the chance to really look at him! He looked like he was around the same age as me," I added, not knowing if that would really help. Toni sighed.

"It was probably someone from bangtan." She said quietly, then looked around to see if anyone heard. I stared at her blankly, waiting for her to continue. When she saw my expression, she tilted her head.

"Maya, come on. Do you live under a rock? They're at the same company as you for crying out loud." I let out a long breath. It wasn't that I lived under a rock. I was so busy training and studying that I had no time to do anything else. Toni quickly stood up and grabbed my wrist, pulling me up and out the door with her. She led me closer to the main entrance of the building and stopped me at a poster on the wall.

"This is BTS. You need to watch their music videos, they have a few." Toni explained to me. I looked at the poster of the boys, all wearing black with gold chains. When I saw the boy in the hat I pointed to it.

"This is him!" I told her. Toni nodded.

"That's Jimin. He's the same age as you. So is Taehyung." She pointed to a different boy on the poster. "Taehyung and I are good friends." She told me. I thought it was so cool she was friends with one of them.

"So how come I haven't met them yet?" I asked.

"They've been really busy promoting lately. I'm sure you'll get to eventually....We should probably get back to practicing, but tonight I can show you some of their music."

"Yeah, that'd be awesome." I took one last glance at the poster before heading back to the studio.