Across the World - NCT Chenle

Chapter 22

"Oh my god! Rae!" Herin squeals, the moment I step into the dorm.

Yup, that's right. The Seoul dorm. It's half term and we've flown out to Korea for five days - including my birthday. After the long journey that began after school last night, it's nearing 2pm in the afternoon in Seoul.

Because it's school holidays and everybody has a week off, sm have called us back for our evaluations and such. Today, we just simply have a meeting at the main building to go to. It'll explain our schedule for the time we're here such as our meetings, evaluation times, practice times and where. Rather useful. I don't know how long it'll take but after that, we have nearly four hours of practice.

Herin meanwhile leads me through the dorm and to her room with the spare bed. I put my suitcase down, excited to be back and see them all. Despite knowing the girls for only a short amount of time, we've become close and I think of them as friends. You never know how much time we'll have to spend together in future after all. Nobody knows what sm have planned.

The girls however have to leave soon, some schedule or another, meaning it's just me left alone for twenty minutes. I drop my friends a quick message so that they know I've arrived safely before grabbing my phone and backpack. I shut the door to the dorm behind me, crossing the hallway and into the boys one. All of those based in Korea are currently out on schedules, promoting and such so it's just us British lot around the flat.

Noise erupts from numerous rooms as I pick my way through the littered floor. Shirts, shoes and bags line the floor, all scattered around. They've obviously just been flung around with nobody having enough time to clean up. Then again, it could just be that they're not bothered.

I walk along the hall that's littered with even more laundry as well as a couple of closets. There's plenty of sound coming out of them, bedroom doors flung open. As I pass each one, I remind those in them that we need to leave in ten. Today, there is no time for naps.

Walking along, I admire all the different rooms. Some are messy, some are neat and others are a combination. The neatest by far is the room that I assume belongs to Taeyong and Taeil whilst a large amount of the rooms that are currently occupied the boys are clean. They haven't been lived in for nearly two months with a large percentage of clothes and such back in the uk. Chan, Junseo and Jungwook are in a similar position to me though. They didn't live here so are having to share the spare bedroom at the end of the corridor like I am with the girls.

After a lot more yelling and general chatter though, they're all assembled in the living room with their necessary  items. We're all in our training gear so tshirts and sweatpants for them, leggings for me, as well as our trainers. You never know what's meant planned for us and it's better than being unprepared.

We make our way out of their apartment and into the lifts that take us down to the parking lot where there are a couple of vans ready and waiting. Manager Kim is sat in the driving seat of one while Manager Lee is sat in the driving seat of the other. When I hop inside Manager Lee's van and ask about my uncle, he explained he had some errands to run since we were back in the country.

The drive to the sm training centre takes around fifteen minutes. Like I did the previous time we were in Seoul, I simply put my headphones in and relax. I look out of the window, watching the surrounding buildings as they vary from large skyscrapers to the older, slightly shabby buildings. It's interesting and I can't help but wonder about all those that live there or work there and what their back stories are.

Soon enough, the van pulls up in front of the trainee centre and it's a mad dash into the building in hope of fans not spotting us. We cover our faces, hoods of pulled up as high and tight as possible. When we get inside, Manager Kim checks where we're meant to be. We're directed to the top floor with the offices and meeting rooms.