Shine Seoul City Lights~ A BTS Encounter

The Trainee Tank

I was just running across the ceiling to brush my teeth when a strange music began to play. It sounded vaguely familiar, but my mind was slightly fuzzy and I couldn't quite place it. I stood in the middle of the ceiling next to the piano and listened. What was that? I began to dance, dropping my toothbrush so that it flew past my head and landed on the lamp far below. My movements were as familiar as the music was, and I wished that I could remember what it was...

I woke with a start. What a strange dream... My phone was still ringing the new Bangtan song that I'd set as an alarm: Spine Breaker. I groped blindly with my hand and managed to swipe my phone across the table and send it skidding across the carpet. I groaned. My head was fuzzy and my eyes felt heavy and swollen. Suddenly I remembered the texts from the night before, and I suddenly felt much more awake. I had a lot to get through today, but at least I had something to really look forwards to. First things first.

I leapt out of bed to retrieve my phone and grabbed my clothes to take a quick shower. After a few moments, I blow-dryed my hair and brushed it to its full length, admiring the silver dye. I braided it loosely on both sides, making sure that the silver parts were visible. Then I put on a bit of mascara and tinted chapstick. The lotions that the stylists had given me really worked well. They also seemed to be making my skin a bit more paler. I couldn't quite tell, but that was the way it looked.

My palms were still raw, red, and stingy, but they weren't bleeding, and weren't infected, which was the way I liked them. My knees were the same, but didn't hurt as much. I checked my clothes, making sure that everything was in place, and then rushed back to my room. I had about fifteen minutes before the call time on floor three in the newly finished studio.

I grabbed my phone and headed to the kitchen to eat quickly. While I was sitting at the table, wolfing down salad, I went through the texts I'd gotten from my friends the night before, but hadn't the energy to check. And then I headed up to level three.

The carpet here was the same as everywhere else in the building; brown and short and boring. I found the dance studio and opened the door slowly. Excitement had begun to catch up to me. I was going to meet real trainees. Actual, live, real trainees that would someday become famous just like Bangtan.

The studio's shiny floor was the same material as Bangtan's, and I immediately noticed the cameras and the mirrors. There were four other trainees in the room, all guys. It was pretty quiet, and the boys were just sitting and talking. They hadn't noticed me yet.

Three of them had black hair, and the fourth had blonde hair. Two were wearing black shirts, the third a blue shirt, and the fourth a white shirt. They were sitting in a circle, facing each other, and all looked a bit older than me. I approached them cautiously.

"Um," I said quietly, and they all turned around to stare. "Annyeonghaseyo." I bowed, not sure if I should come any closer.

All four scrambled to their feet and bowed at me. I almost felt like laughing. I stood awkwardly, unsure of where to go next. All four of the boys were pretty good-looking, with large eyes, tall physiques and sharp jawlines. I looked around. No one else was in the studio; no cameraman or MC or interviewer or anything. It was just the five of us standing and unsure what to do. I decided to introduce myself.

"Joneun Emma-imnida. Pangapsumnida." I told them with a bow.

They all bowed back to me and introduced themselves. Wonwoo was a tall boy with black hair, a black shirt, and black pants. He was twenty years old. Hyeonu was the blonde boy in a blue shirt. He was also twenty. Hae Seong was the other boy with a black shirt, and he was nineteen. Jin Ho was the boy in the white shirt; also nineteen.