prove it • stray kids

09 | stray kids

riley smith

[english]

Throughout the week, whenever we had free time, we watched the Stray Kids survival show. Episode 8 was the most recent one released, so, unfortunately, we witnessed the eliminations. We were so sure they would debut with 9 members. The final mission is supposed to be a live broadcast, so we are interested to see how the boys pull that off.

"Honestly, the show is really helpful. While it slightly scares me how intense it is, the advice PDnim gave was super useful," I told Suwei and Nyla as we walked to the practice room after school ended.

Nyla agrees, "Yeah. There were so many details I wouldn't have noticed earlier, but now we know what kind of stuff can help our performances."

"It completely surprised me how the little things can make their voices sound so much better. Like when Changbin was helping Hyunjin shout his rap so that it projected well," Suwei adds, "You can really see their improvement."

"Right, it's so cool. I think the Matryoshka performance by Changbin and Jisung impressed me the most. They are really good together," Nyla says.

I eagerly nod, "Those two are so stable in singing and rapping. How the hell do they do that?"

»

[korean]

Walking into the practice room, we are greeted by PDnim.

"Hello," he smiles at us.

We bow to him and subconsciously stand in a line in front of him.

He chuckles at our still awkward behavior before explaining why he came to see us, "With your survival show approaching, I thought it would be good that you meet the other trainees in a survival show. Jinyoung said you guys have been watching the Stray Kids show, right?"

"Yes, we have," Suwei confirms.

"Great!" PDnim says while checking his watch, "They should be arriving anytime soon."

Nyla leans over to me and whispers, "We have to socialize with new people?"

I laugh, "Yes, apparently."

"That's terrifying."

For some reassurance, I pat her shoulder. A knock is heard at the door of the practice room as some boys file in. They stand in a line across from us. Even Felix and Minho, who we thought were eliminated, are here.

PDnim speaks up to ease the tension, "As you can see, they're just as awkward as you are around me."

We all laugh and gradually grow more casual with being around each other.

"Anyway, Stray Kids, this is Suwei, Riley, and Nyla. They came from California but are quite fluent in Korean. I suppose you girls know their names by now?" PDnim asks.

We nod at him, and he grins, "Perfect. I'll leave you kids to talk." He exits the practice room, and the 12 of us are left in silence.

Chan is first to speak up, "So, let's get to know each other. It'll be nice working near people our age."

Suwei, the most outgoing out of the three of us, replies quickly, "Sounds great. These two are a bit shy, but they'll warm up to you guys quickly."

I decide to finally say something due to my curiosity, "I hope this doesn't sound rude, but I am a bit surprised to see Felix and Minho here. Don't get me wrong, I prefer all 9 of you together, but I'm confused."

The boys chuckle, and Minho explains, "We're in the middle of filming Episode 9, so you wouldn't have seen this yet, but we have been invited back to perform with them one more time."

"That's amazing!" Nyla says, "You guys will do great. Seriously, we're constantly impressed."

Suwei and I immediately agree.

"Wait, Nyla, are you in my math class?" Jeongin inquires.

She thinks for a moment, then smiles in recognition, "I knew you looked familiar. Yeah, I guess I am."

Felix asks a question after, "PDnim said you're from California. It'll be fun having English speakers around."

"Oh, yeah, you and Chan are from Australia, right?" Suwei asks them as they nod, "How is it there?"

"I love it there. Korea is amazing too, but I can't wait to go back an visit," Felix replies, a grin on his face as his thoughts float to Australia.

"Australian accents are great," I say.

Nyla high-fives me, "Gotta agree."

Chan and Felix laughs before saying a couple sentences in English to show their accent.

After more small talk growing us closer together, Jisung asks us how old we are.

"We're all 15," Nyla responds.

"2002 liners," I add.

Chan sees his members' confusion, "They're 15 in international age, not in Korean age."

Suwei realizes something, "We totally told the JYPE judges our international ages on accident."

We all laugh and continue to talk about anything that comes to mind. The boys said that when they have time, they would love to help us practice for our show. The Stray Kids members, despite seeming like already debuted idols on stage, are humble and supportive people that we will hopefully connect more with in the future.