When She Became A Pledis Trainee

CHAPTER 14: BEAUTIFUL MOMENTS

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This is a work of Fiction. Names, characters, places and incidences are either products of the author's imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.

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PLɛDIS posted on their channel today. It was a special Christmas release of Seungkwan doing a cover of Beautiful Moments. I still haven't gotten over Seventeen's performance on MAMA eleven days ago, and of course I still haven't gotten over the fact that I'm actually going to be a trainee in their agency. Let us tackle this one at a time.

Since my father gave my passport, I've sent PLɛDIS my confirmation response. They already sent me the date and time of departure as well as the list of things I need to bring. They made me pack a lot of winter clothes because apparently, it is cold there in December. I don't have any idea on how cold it will be but I guess I'll know soon enough. I quickly put my academic problems in order. First, I made sure I passed all of my subjects before ending this semester. Fortunately, I did. I searched for a new adviser since my former adviser will also be leaving soon for his study leave. Dr. Mina was old but kind. I explained to her the conditions of me becoming a trainee, and my plans to continue my thesis in SNU. She was really supportive about it, and advised me to inform her who my thesis adviser from there will be and relay the progress of my thesis frequently. The idea of doing my thesis abroad is in itself very exciting; my only fear about that part of the plan is that I'll get too distracted by training and slack off on my thesis. I silently swore to avoid that from happening. The hardest part was informing the University about my plans. They actually agreed on my plan to do my thesis in Korea, but they told me that I have to be present during the graduation ceremony if I succeeded. Dr. Mina would be the one to send the university a copy of my manuscript once I finished it so that they can decide if they will let me graduate or not. The processing of documents from the University just ended yesterday, and I am thrilled, because processing a lot of documents was actually very tiring. I only told my few close friends about my development with PLɛDIS and we had a farewell gathering a few days ago. There were six of us, all girls, mostly friends from high school. We stayed at one friend's house, cooked food and watched movies all night. They were more disbelieving of the news than I am, but they were crazy happy for me. They gave me tips on how to handle people who might look down on me, since I'm not a Korean (which cannot be avoided I guess. There will always be people who won't look beyond the surface.). They told me never to drink alcohol to avoid the risk of getting drunk and doing something stupid; it's not like I've ever tasted alcohol anyway. I don't drink. They also gave me beauty tips, and subtle but bad gestures I should never do. It was a fun gathering; I'll miss them when I'm gone.

The second thing was Seventeen's performance on MAMA. (Congratulations to our boys!) The perfection is just incomparable. And their new song, 'Getting Closer', is just...wow. I still haven't gotten over it. I streamed their MAMA performance like crazy. I was already anticipating their music video, which leads us to the next thing. Their music video is of course deadly awesome. The boys look so mature now it makes me tear up. Congrats to the leaders for a great masterpiece once again and for the whole team for slaying the dark concept; they have proven themselves once again. I was a bit saddened by the uprising against PLɛDIS though. Fans were getting restless because of the issue of merging the Seventeen Channel with PLɛDIS' Channel. There were talks about how PLɛDIS was stealing copyrights from Seventeen and the fear of Seventeen getting thrown into the basement just like PLɛDIS's former (not so successful, but had high potential) groups. I had a pang of fear about how my own fate would play out. Not all groups soar high after all; and not all trainees get to debut. Being a four month old Carat, I simply streamed their MV both on Youtube and Vlive as if my life depended on it. After a day since the MV release though, the Carats had somehow cooled down. Those fans who were against PLɛDIS were clarifying that they never mentioned disliking the music video but rather only recommended streaming the Music Video from Vlive (and not on Youtube) instead. They explained that the dislikes were most probably from antis. I sort of believe that, because one of my EXO-L friends from the farewell gathering said that she didn't like the new song and MV released by Seventeen because it "seems like they're copying someone else." I didn't argue with her of course, because I learned that not all people can be pleased. And it's because people (who are not fans) are used to the bright and light concept from Seventeen, and does not understand that fans were asking for a dark concept and are actually very impressed that the boys had slayed it and are simply proud of the boy's hard work. I was too happy to even argue with her. When I thought Seventeen can't surprise me anymore, they still do, with their scary creativity and skills; so I can't imagine anyone disliking that Music Video, especially now that the dislikes had reached seven thousand. The boys must have been hurting, seeing dislikes and Carats fighting, but I believe they are smart and will surely understand. Seungcheol and Mingyu gave messages for Carats to remain happy and strong, and I knew, that they feel the tension too.

I was actually streaming the MV when I got the notification on Instagram that Vernon, Joshua, Seungkwan, The8 and Mingyu had updated their 'My Day'. They were sharing Seungkwan's cover links and photos. I had to pause streaming the Getting Closer MV (I'm so sorry) because I need to see that cover right now, like, RIGHT NOW.

Oh, Uri Boo looks so handsome with blue hair, singing on a roof top with the city lights shining behind him. I realized just how much I missed his voice. I remembered how Charlene said that I will later find it hard to stick to one bias. I wondered how long it will take me to pay more attention to other members other than Seungkwan. It's been four months now, and he still impeccably catches my attention, pulling hard on the threads of my heart he didn't even know he is holding in his hands. Is he an angel though? Did he bless me on that rainy night, giving me the desire to pursue my passion and give it another chance? Did he share with me his charms, for me to be lucky enough to be given the chance to be trainee? Which reminds me... I was so busy thinking about what things will change in my life upon being a trainee that I forgot one exciting fact. They're under PLɛDIS. This PLɛDIS.

I dropped my phone to the floor just as Seungkwan was starting to sing the second chorus (I'm so sorry Seungkwan.) and just then realized what this entails. I will be training in the same building these boys spent their time from Seventeen TV (which I still haven't watched) and Seventeen Project; the place where they give birth to songs and masterpieces. Hell, I might even see them. THEM! Wooah, daebak! You might be thinking right now that I'm so stupid for realizing this just now, but I was so occupied with the idea of convincing my parents to let me go and then later, processing documents and straightening things out before I leave; that I forgot how PLɛDIS and Seventeen are related. Yeah I was really dumb. Stupid! Waaah. I can feel the excitement buzzing around me like electricity. We'll be in the same building, but how can that be? Do trainees and idols get to interact? I'm not so sure about that part. Actually, I have no idea how trainees and idols share practice rooms; and I don't even want to think about it right now.

I picked up my phone and unplugged the earphones. I increased the speaker volume and placed it on my bed. I continued packing my clothes and made sure I had everything I need. My flight is tomorrow, on the 26th, which is good, because there was an announcement that a low pressure area is already forming and might turn into a storm on New Year's Eve. And since the day I sent my confirmation response, I felt another feeling other than the fear of finally arriving at PLɛDIS and the challenges I might need to face. For the first time, I felt the excitement that finally arriving at PLɛDIS, has to offer.