First day as a trainee; first day of being... something else for once.

Someone that belongs somewhere.

♡

When Woo Geurim had gone and passed her auditions to be cast into SM, it had spread around faster than the rumor before. It was like wildfire, suddenly everyone in school knew her name. Even some random people in her neighborhood began to recognize her. Knew her as the girl who got into one of the Big Three companies; that was it.

The lack of sincerity of people approaching her should've increased now that she's officially an SM trainee. Geurim had braced herself for it. Although luckily enough, it didn't. There were a few greetings here and there, but not too much went to her with fakeness basically plastered on their face.

She guessed it because of another surprising thing that happened during the course of the week.

Woo Geurim and Na Jaemin being friends.

It wasn't really something unexpected considering that they're both striving for the same goal, but did that stop people from muttering about how much of an odd combination the two together were? The answer was no. Seeing the two interact was such an anomaly to their classmates. They swore, this was probably the first time they seen Woo Geurim interacting with another human being besides the librarian!

Ever since then, there now seemed to be an invisible barrier to Geurim. Their classmates try not to approach her, not when she knew Na Jaemin, someone they admired and respected... and when Jaemin was more ready to call anyone out on their bullshit.

Geurim was grateful, completely grateful for the boy who began talking to her in the library a few days prior. He had become her social-encounter repellent! Who could've known the effects of knowing Na Jaemin!

And now, that was the least of her worries. However, she did have another concern.

Geurim had been a nervous mess the whole day since today would be considered her first official day as a trainee.

But, only earlier in the day, Jaemin offered they should go to SM together every day after school. He mentioned that it'd be just a waste if they didn't, since they are going to the same place anyway. Knowing that she'd have Jaemin, someone that was comfortable and warm, it did ease her mind... just a bit.

Once the last bell had rung, they were on their way to SM.

Following after Jaemin's usual route, they took the public bus that'll take them to a stop 5 minutes walking distance from the company building. Currently, they stood side by side by the window, as the bus filled up with passengers before, but they didn't mind it too much.

"Geurim-ah, you really shouldn't listen to what some people are saying. They're just jealous of your talent."

"I-I mean, I really am not... it's okay, Jaemin."

"I'm just saying. People are mean."

"... You seem more worked up about it than I am."

Jaemin always been the chatty one between the two of them, this Geurim had learned through the few days she had known him. It was alright, Geurim was more of a listener anyway, she didn't mind when he lead their conversations. Although, it looks like Jaemin was a little peeved off by some things he had overheard from their classmates. Things Geurim couldn't even bother on worrying about at the moment.

"Okay, but like, they're undermining your skill and talents because they see you as that one introvert? Sure, you're shy, but what does that have to do with anything?" Jaemin scoffed, his hand gestures intensifying the annoyed emotion he must be feeling. "It's not like we're debuting any time soon. We're literally trainees, we're meant to train so we can debut."

Geurim pointed out, "Jaemin, we're graduating from that school in literally a month. We won't have to deal with them that much longer, you know."

A look of defeat crossed his face.

"It's still frustrating. Like, even though I haven't seen you dance either, you were accepted in for a reason. I kind of want you to rub it in their faces..."

A chuckle left Geurim's lips at the thought. Someone as introverted as her doing that? That might cause some sort of outbreak. "Oh c'mon, Jaemin-ah. That sounds so bad."

"Yeah, well. They shouldn't doubt you in the first place."

The ride to SM didn't take that much longer with all their chatter. They exited the bus and walked rest of the way to the famous building. But with each step closer, the jitters crept more on Geurim. She didn't even realize her pace had slowed to a complete stop once she saw SM in the distance.

This was ridiculous. Geurim had worked so hard to practice and perform at her audition, she should be thrilled to be a trainee now. Nonetheless, SM's trainee!

But maybe that really did put a lot more weight on her shoulders...

"Geurim?" Jaemin noticed her. He backtracked to be by her side. "Are you nervous?"

"Very."

Jaemin then did something unexpected.

He had suddenly grabbed her hand in his. Geurim knew what he was doing, she knew he wanted her to finally step into SM and see how there's nothing to be afraid about. But, it didn't mask the bewilderment on her face at his brash hand holding.

And...

What was that?

Why did it feel like I pricked electricity?

He began to drag her with him, their pace only quickening the closer they got. He had a smile on his face, that famous sunshine smile, as he tugged her along. What a maniac... Some days, Geurim wonders why this extroverted boy decided to befriend someone like her.

His hand still tight on hers, they stepped through SM's glass doors, one step into their company. This was the third time now that Geurim been in SM. Even being there the third time, it still felt magical to be inside. Geurim couldn't help gazing around the pristine place with a sparkle to her eyes.

This was the wonderful and well-kept company that... saw her worth.

"How are you feeling now?" Jaemin asked her. When she looked over at him, he held a more smug expression. He knew he had achieved his plan now that they stood inside. All Geurim could do was roll her eyes. "Less nervous now, huh? I can understand, because that was exactly how I was my first day as a trainee too."

"Woo Geurim!" The call of her name surprised the very girl. Her eyes darted over to the direction where the voice came from. In the distance, she saw a man hurrying over to them. Once realizing who it was, she immediately pulled away from Jaemin, cheeks flushed.

"Park Namseok-sshi!" Geurim greeted the man with a respectful bow. She tried her damn hardest to hide her embarrassment. She didn't want to give the man, the one that gave her the golden opportunity to be here, the wrong idea of her and Jaemin. Definitely not on her first day. "Good a-afternoon!"

The older man adjusted his round glasses as he peered from her to the boy next to her. He doesn't look to have seen them hold hands... Geurim inwardly sighed in relief. "Ah, you're one of the newer trainees, right? Um... Jeno?"

"Close, but I'm Jaemin," the boy replied. "Na Jaemin."

"Oh, right! My apologies! Jeno was the other one," Namseok uttered with a snap of his fingers. "Sorry, Jaemin-ah. You two are always together so I mixed up your names."

"It's okay. I can understand that."

"Jeno?" Geurim questioned, as she looked at her schoolmate.

"Yeah, Lee Jeno. He was casted around the same time I did," He replied with a smile. "We're the same age so we clicked instantly. I need to introduce you to him and some others when I can, Geurim-ah. They're really cool!"

"S-Sure."

"Don't mean to interrupt, but I'm meant to show Geurim the ropes and everything here, mind if I take her?" Geurim and Jaemin paused as Namseok interjected in. "You must have something too, Jaemin-ah?"

"Oh, yeah. I need to go to my lessons," Jaemin murmured. "Geurim-ah, don't forget, we're going to be meeting up afterwards too."

This had been one of the other things the two middle schoolers have discussed in the bus. To properly celebrate Geurim's first day, Jaemin suggested they would stop by the nearby convenience store for ice cream before heading home. At the thought of a sweet treat to end the day, the girl was more than happy to agree to the plan.

"Yeah, of course. Ice cream awaits us," the lass chimed with a nod.

With that, Jaemin turned his heel and started jogging down a certain corridor, leading towards the elevators. Just before he entered one that had just opened, he waved his goodbyes to Geurim. And just like that, he had disappeared to rush to his lessons.

"Shall we get going then?" Namseok uttered. "I will be giving you an extended and detailed tour of SM, as well as giving you guidelines and what you will have to do as a trainee, okay?"

The two were on their way. They have delved deeper and deeper into SM Entertainment, twisting and turning into new areas and corridors that Geurim didn't think possible. It was amazing to see that SM had their own personal cafeteria for staff, trainees, and idols can go to eat, as well as their own cafe that was open to the public. There were plenty of office rooms with many people working away at their computers. Chatter was loud and they bustled about fast, it was a whole other side that people rarely see of the entertainment industry; the behind-the-scenes. The young girl was amazed.

Namseok continued on with his tour, leading Geurim up to several floors of the building. Meeting rooms, practice rooms, studio rooms, even more offices. Every floor was buzzing with determination and genuine effort. It did open Geurim's eyes to see all the work put in for an entertainment company.

While her personal concern did rise, so did some anticipation. Woo Geurim really did want to work hard just as much as everyone else was.

Just as Namseok explained some rules of a trainee to the girl, a group of people not much older than Geurim, were coming their way through the hallway. They were dressed in comfortable clothing, all of them drenched with sweat. They must've come out from some kind of workout, or perhaps a dance practice.

As one, an older girl, had noticed them first, she greeted Namseok. That was then quickly followed with everyone else greeting the man respectfully.

"Oh, Namseok-sshi, is she the new trainee you mentioned before?" One asked with genuine interest. Geurim's face was dusted with red at the sudden attention. There were five of them, two boys and three girls, and they were all looking right at her. "Hello, I'm Joohyun, congratulations on becoming a trainee!" The other four chimed in as well, cheering for her.

Geurim wasn't sure what to say at that point, and the other (she assumed) trainees saw this. After Joohyun, the others had introduced themselves too to release some of her tension. The youngest made sure to connect the names to the faces and have it stick in her memory. She will be seeing them a lot from this point on.

Plus... they seemed really nice. Definitely people she could probably go to whenever she needs guidance.

So, Joohyun, Koeun, Seulgi, Taeyong, and Yuta... Okay, Geurim, don't forget!

"My name is Woo Geurim," she hastily mumbled out. "I hope you all can take care of me and work together well!"

"Aw, Geurim, you don't have to be so formal. You can be casual with us," Koeun told her with a friendly smile. Geurim beamed back at her, she could already feel a connection between the two of them. Maybe that was what Jaemin felt with Jeno? "We're all trainees anyway."

"What do you specialize in, Geurim-ah?" Yuta asked her. Ah, his Korean sounds so natural, Geurim mentally noted. Of course, he must've studied hard on the language. It was impressive, he had one step further to take as a foreign trainee.

"O-Oh, I dance."

The whole group expressed high interest. "We hope we can see you dance some time soon then! Or maybe we can dance together for a group evaluation," Seulgi quipped with a lot of enthusiasm. Just witnessing these five take so much interest in her really spurred something within Geurim.

She felt warm and fuzzy inside.

She felt... wanted.

Geurim grinned, "I can't wait."

She meant that for once.

The five then went ahead to continue down the hallway, but not before they could say their goodbyes to the new trainee. Geurim said her goodbyes to them as well, a bit too eager to see them sometime soon.

Namseok gave Geurim a nudge, since she had been standing in the same spot for a good few minutes gazing at the direction the older trainees had disappeared to. With a small smile, he chided, "They're all really nice kids. You'll grow close to them in no time, Geurim-ah."

"You think so? I'm usually very shy but I really do want to!" The young girl replied with hope dancing in her eyes. Funny, she wasn't one to be enthusiastic to socializing...

"Let's continue our tour?"

Geurim happily nodded to the man. Namseok went ahead and gestured she follow, and they walked on. But maybe, there was a small skip to the girl's steps.

• • •

"Jaemin-ah!" After a good three hours of Namseok leading her around the building, teaching her the rules, and some additional things, Geurim had returned back to the lobby of the first floor. She instantly recognized her dark-haired friend standing about by some couches. Hurrying over, she tapped on his shoulder to get his attention.

The moment he turned and realized it was her, he beamed, "You seem to be in a very good mood. First day better than you thought?"

Geurim bopped her head in reply, her smile really showcasing her cheekbones. "SM is so impressive and I was able to meet trainees like me. They were so cool and nice, Jaemin!"

A fake gasp left his lips. "What is this? Does Woo Geurim want to make friends?" His teasing earned him a shove, which he had seen coming. Jaemin laughed. "I'm kidding! But yeah, everyone is really cool. I'm happy you met some of them already." His gaze shifted over to the screen of his phone for a split moment before looking back at her. "Speaking of new friends, how do you feel about making even more friends?"

Geurim's eyebrows knitted. "Meaning?..."

"I may have mentioned about our ice cream thing and the group I'm usually doing my practices and lessons with wanted to get ice cream too," Jaemin explained. "But I know how shy you can be around new people, so I wanted ask you about it first." The silence that crossed the two young teens must've made Jaemin antsy. He added in quickly, "There's... like three others, all guys. One of them is Jeno, the one mentioned before."

"O-Okay."

Surprise etched on the boy's face. He was not expecting that reply. "You're okay with that? Is that an okay like... you're accepting?"

"Yeah. Where are they?"

"Oh! I kind of made them walk to the convenience store first, because I wasn't sure! But we can go now and catch up with them!" Jaemin said as he pointed his thumb towards the front doors.

Geurim guessed he wanted to hang out with them a bit longer but remembered he promised her first. She knew in the back of her mind, that the boys he's specifically training with will be his future group mates. Who was she to try to stop Jaemin to hang out with them? She didn't want to be a bother.

He was already ushering for her to rush after him, so they can meet with the other boys. "You'll love them! Jeno is kind of shy at first like you but he opens up quick. Donghyuck is very outgoing, so he may overwhelm you at first but he's nice, I promise. And, Jisung-ah, he's very cute and very talented!"

Jaemin was already so excited.

This is fine, as long as I have Jaemin by my side, I'll be okay.

With a smile of her own, Geurim delightfully followed after her friend, readying herself to meet the other boys that Jaemin became close to. Right? A friend of Jaemin, is a friend of hers. And just like the trainees she met before, she knew she'll have to see Jeno, Donghyuck, and Jisung a lot too.

This will be her new life now.

And as nervous as she was in the beginning of the day, Geurim felt better. She wanted to meet these new friends and train alongside them. Cheer for them, support them, and have fun.

She... wanted to show her dancing to them.

And be able to stand on a stage with them.

... with Jaemin.

A/n: it has been a while, hasn't it!

First of all, I want to thank everyone for liking this story so far, I didn't expect it to get as much love as it seems to have! It really motivated me to type the next chapter. Sorry for making you all wait!

I will try my best to update this story more often, although please keep in mind I also have two other stories I'm also trying to finish! And I would love to finish those before the year ends (since that's when Wanna One disbands :/ ).

But, like, I finally planned this story a bit better and I have a direction with it now! So stay tuned ;)

Please leave votes and comments, lovelies, if you enjoyed this! It wasn't too exciting but because I have to introduce her into things~ I promise it'll be exciting, we'll be jumping forward in time a lot for this story!

Thank you all for reading~

— Bianca