forecast | oc bg

trainee fair (chen)

As the large speakers began the music - starting with a light trickling sound and leading into a soft instrumental - Jiyu and Kaito watched the TV with awe.

"You guys actually suck." Taeyang whispered jokingly, making Jiyu turn around with a sarcastic offended expression, while Kaito replied while still keeping his eyes on the screen.

"What did we do this time?" he asked casually.

"You guys know Chen doesn't know all this Korean slang - he's only been here for a year." he said, Jiyu making a silent 'o' with her mouth.

"Shoot - you're right. That's why he looked so confused." she said, lightly covering her mouth with her hand in realization.

"He's gotta learn somehow, right?" Kaito shrugged, still looking at the screen. He reached over and hit Jiyu on the arm a few times. "Hey, here's the cool part - watch this."

The three performers had their eyes glued to the screen as Chen Bao did a backflip and spun, landing perfectly. On stage the young boy didn't seem at all shy, his movements fluid and confident, his expression determined.

"Damn." Taeyang breathed, resulting in a slap on the arm from Jiyu.

"CEO-nim is like four feet away." she hissed quietly, yet her eyes didn't leave the screen.

"Do you think Chen knows what 'damn' means?" Kaito asked nonchalantly, posing the question without any thought as he focused on the performer's movements.

"Probably not, and he doesn't need to." Jiyu stated, pointing up at the screen as Chen leaned back, flexibly continuing on with a nearly-impossible dance move. "But this boy - he's debuting with you, right? - he's gonna make you performances shine. He's got the whole 'talent' aura."

"Should we be offended or agree?" Kaito asked, finally taking his eyes off of the TV as the song slowed down and Chen froze into his ending position.

"Both," Jiyu replied, quickly clapping and rushing over to the stairs as they gathered around to see the performer's side-view as he walked towards the front of the stage. There was a shuffle from behind them of the sound manager clicking on the boy's microphone. Chen adjusted it a bit, letting out a breath of either tiredness or relief.

"Hello everyone..." he smiled, waving to someone in the audience. "My name is Zhu Chen Bao and I've been a trainee at C.S. Entertainment for a year now."

"Uh, I really enjoy training here. There are many great friends I have made and they help me learn everyday." he continued, his hands together in front of him as he squeezed them together. "I've learned a lot of Korean and more about dance too."

"Ask for questions," the CEO said suddenly, magically appearing in front of the sound manager's microphone. "Like one of the reporters."

Taeyang, Kaito and Jiyu all glanced at each other with worry. Woojin noticed, joining their group and whispering, "He'll be okay."

"Oh, I can take questions. If you want." he quickly added, looking towards the reporters who suddenly were shuffling, trying to get close enough to Chen to ask the question.

"Uh, uh... yes?" he mumbled, pointing towards one of the most frantic reporters. She quickly calmed down, glancing down at her notepad although everyone knew what question she would be asking.

"A lot of rumors are going around about your involvement with the upcoming boy group, especially with you being added to the program a little later - can you give us any information on the members of the upcoming group?" she asked, looking up with anticipation. In fact, nearly everyone in the audience seemed the same.

Chen made a single nod. "The only things I am allowed to speak of are that not all of the trainees to debut are unknown." Chen said, his Korean suddenly seeming formal and mixed up as he tried to phrase the information correctly. Backstage, Taeyang gave a little nod of encouragement. At the microphone, the CEO quickly said something about the number five.

"Also," Chen began again, "I can tell you there will be five of us."