prove it • stray kids

02 | south korea

su-wei lin

[english]

I glance out the window at the deep blue waves below me. Our flight will land in South Korea in about an hour, and I can't help but feel nervous. I'm not nervous about the audition but about what is going to happen if we end up staying in Korea to become artists. None of us are Korean, and Mark is the only person we know here. It's not going to be easy, but hopefully—if things work out—it'll be a fun challenge.

On the bright side, we are almost fluent in Korean. Mark has taught us quite a bit so we are pretty good at understanding and speaking Korean. We've been practicing reading and writing in Korean as well, so the language barrier shouldn't be too bad.

For the rest of the flight, I put in my earphones and listen to a recommended playlist on Soundcloud. Music by other artists always helps inspire us.

»

"This city certainly looks beautiful," Nyla says in awe while capturing the cityscape in a photograph.

Riley nods, "Yeah, I've always wanted to travel to this part of Asia."

"Well, you guys are going to love it even more after we explore the city," Mark assures, "But first, you have to meet the other GOT7 members."

"What are they like?" I ask him, excited to meet new people.

"Are they like you?" Nyla questions with a worried look on her face. It takes awhile for her to be comfortable with new people. Riley is in the middle: She is shy to approach people, but if they approach her, she opens up pretty quickly.

"You know all their names, right?" We all nod, and Mark's eyes shine as his thoughts wander off to his best friends, "Jaebum looks serious and intimidating, but he is really fun to tease and joke with. He also looks out for everyone since he's the leader. Jinyoung is basically our mother, so Suwei, you'd get along with him."

I interject with a fake expression of offense, "What's that supposed to mean?"

He quickly tries to cover it up, "Nothing, nothing at all. Jackson is really funny. He's super outgoing and easy to talk to. Youngjae isn't as outgoing, but he's still loud, and he laughs a lot. He and I take care of that little dog I showed you photos of named Coco."

"There's a dog?!" Riley asks with pure enthusiasm, "Can we meet Coco?"

Mark laughs, "Of course you can. Bambam is in the maknae line, so he's a bit evil, but, like Jackson, he has a great sense of humor and is wonderful to talk to. Finally, the youngest member: Yugyeom. This evil maknae enjoys pissing off his hyungs. But he is super talented, especially in dancing. Those are all the members, and it looks like we're almost at the dorms, so it's about time you meet them."

a/n
»
maknae: youngest
hyung: older brother (or in this case, member)

[korean]

Mark leads us into the dorms, and the other GOT7 members are all watching something on the TV in their living room.

"Miss me?" Mark asks as the boys look in our direction.

Jackson runs over to give Mark a huge hug, "Mark!"

He laughs and returns the hug, "Jackson!"

The other boys greet Mark and then turn their attention to us.

"You must be those girls from California that Mark told us about," Jinyoung says.

Yugyeom steps closer to us, "He said you're going to audition at JYPE!"

"Yup," Mark confirms, "This is Suwei, Nyla, and Riley. English is their first language, but they are almost fluent in Korean. Oh, and they know your names."

"Don't worry about your Korean too much," Bambam tells us, "Jackson and I speak decent English too, so feel free to talk to us in English if you prefer."

"Thank you," I reply.

Youngjae suddenly lights up, "We should eat at a restaurant for dinner tonight to welcome them!"

"Yeah!" Yugyeom agrees, "And Jaebum can pay!"

"You don't have to," Riley says.

Jaebum shrugs, "It's okay. Besides, we haven't gone to a restaurant together in awhile. It'll be fun."

»

After dinner, we felt much more comfortable around the boys. Although they are different from Mark, they still treat us like little sisters the way Mark does. Maybe staying in Korea wouldn't be so bad.