To be able to experience a lot of things with you, Jaemin, it all became very precious to me.

You... were—are very precious to me.

♡

"Rimy! You totally killed it in the latest episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!" Park Gowon proclaimed once she had finding Geurim within the great sea of people swimming in this slender hallway. "It's so surreal seeing a friend of mine on television!"

With the iconic yellow uniforms and having stepped into the very school, Woo Geurim didn't want to believe it she has been attending the School of Performing Arts in Seoul for a couple months now.

When Namseok told her that she had the opportunity to attend SOPA or Hanlim upon graduating from middle school, Geurim thought she misheard him.

Going to the famous School of Performing Arts Seoul, it had been wishful thinking since Geurim was younger. Even though her parents had told her that she would help in any way to get her into the high school before, she dismissed it. She never thought it would be possible.

For it to come true, to attend her dream high school, it was nothing she could have ever imagined.

And since her days at SOPA were with Jaemin, Jeno, Donghyuck, and Hina; things finally felt... right.

Geurim felt like she was stumbling through junior high, without much direction. And since she was introverted, she couldn't talk to anyone out of nerves, even if it were a question for class. She was quiet and afraid, she felt safe and comfortable by herself. But she always felt out of place. It felt that everyone had made it their mission to exclude her in things.

Maybe, she did that to herself.

Since meeting Jaemin and becoming a trainee at SM, all of that changed. She finally had a confidence in herself. She wanted to strive towards her goal of being an idol. She wanted to stand on stage with her friends. She was walking alongside her friends for this same goal.

Little by little, it did feel like she was getting to that point. She could almost taste her debut.

Geurim felt like she could be more open about herself now that she was attending SOPA. This was a place where everyone shared the same kind of dream, so it was natural to connect to people.

One in particular, Park Gowon.

She had met the half-American, half-Korean girl only her first day of school. They both wanted to scurry away and check out the practice rooms the building provided before classes started. It startled both the girls to see there was one other person that had the same idea. It was an instant click when they found out that they both specialized in dance.

Gowon was the first person that saw her as someone of a higher class.

Everyone in SOPA seemed to know who were the ones that were trainees or artists of the big companies, and more so one of the big 3 companies. It was so incredibly daunting for people to marvel at her as she walked through the hallways. It wasn't as bad compared to her junior high days when her classmates wanted to put her on a pedestal.

It took a couple weeks for the effects to wear off, since it wasn't rare for SM trainees to be at SOPA. It was only earlier in the year when Jaehyun-oppa had graduated from SOPA; and Mark and Koeun was just a year ahead of the 00-liners.

Gowon was different in that sense. The girl never acted like Geurim, or her other friends, were special. She had welcomed Geurim as anyone would to a new friend. And that was why she enjoyed being in Gowon's presence.

Additionally, she was a supportive and bright person and the SM trainee loved that about her.

Geurim closed her locker after putting things away so she could head to lunch. She smiled shyly at her friend after such the compliment. "Ah, thanks, Wonie. I've been worried about the performance we did for the show, but it seemed to have turned out okay!" she chimed, as the two of them began down the hallway.

"It wasn't just okay, it was amazing!" Gowon burst in English, holding two thumbs up. "With the way you are, as well as Hina-yah, Koeun-unnie, and the others, you all would be so fantastic once you debut in a group!" The wavy-haired lass clapped her hands together. "You're all so killer. Can you imagine if we debut in the same time? We'd be rivals! That's thrilling!"

Gowon was a trainee under Tangerine Entertainment, a new company with a reputation since it consisted of producers and directors from past successful companies. Gowon was still very new as a trainee, but she held just as much promise as Geurim did, or even more. While Geurim thought herself as a good dancer, her dear friend was a fantastic dancer. She focused a lot on hip-hop based dances, which does make her different from Geurim. Gowon was also a great rapper.

When Geurim first heard Gowon rap with her own made lyrics, she was blown away.

Sometimes, Geurim wondered why Gowon didn't audition for SM, or any other bigger company. With her talents, she would have made it.

Tangerine Enterainment was still very much unknown in the music industry, so whenever Gowon quotes how she was a trainee under them, some of their classmates would give off looks.

She didn't seem to care.

She was confident in her future under the company.

Geurim wished she was the same.

"You know well we'd both still got a couple years to go," Geurim sighed, as she peered over at her shorter friend. "Red Velvet is still new, and your company is still technically preparing for everything. Didn't you say they were going to debut a solo singer later in the year?"

Gowon pouted at her. "Yeah, but they promised they will make a group! They are still figuring out how many and which girls to add. Our CEO is very picky, but I think it's good to have a direction. I just wish it's now!" She stomped her feet to the ground, Geurim couldn't help but chuckle at the cuteness.

"What if they make you the solo singer?" Geurim chided with a curious glance.

The shorter girl burst into giggles. "Sorry, but hell no! I made myself clear that I wouldn't be able to handle being a soloist. CEO-nim was more than okay with it. Plus, she'd much rather have a rapper in this girl group anyway."

"Didn't you have an unnie that can rap though?"

"Yeah, well... a group can have two rappers." Gowon huffed. "Don't be like that, Rimy."

"Sorry. I only say that because I know you're going to be in that group."

The two girls began walking down the hallway to get to the lunchroom. Gowon then suddenly glanced around her, only now noticing something odd. "You know what, you're not with Jaemin today." She stopped dead in her tracks. "You two didn't fight, did you?!"

Geurim's eyes widened as she waved off the comment. "Oh gosh no! It was just that he and the other boys had some meeting today. They got permission to come in late."

"A meeting?" Gowon murmured with a raised thick brow. "Did they get in trouble again?"

"Ha, knowing them, it could be," Geurim giggled. "I don't know why you just noticed. You share the classroom with Jaemin and Jeno."

"You know how I am. My head is very occupied with my music only, I tend to not notice a lot."

"As to why you failed that last quiz?"

"I didn't fail!... I was just at the brink of failing. I very much passed!"

"And surely, music wasn't the only thing in your mind."

Gowon gasped, smacking Geurim's shoulder, who only laughed. "That's very rude of you to say..." Despite her actions prior, a very goofy smile tugged at her lips. "But it can't be helped, though!"

Geurim shook her head. "I still remember when you saw Mark-oppa for the first time. You turned to me and was like 'oh my god, he's that one cool sunbae!' and when I told you I knew him, you flipped out!"

"Well, you get to be blessed with his presence every day! I'm so jealous," Gowon groaned, her hand tightening into a fist. "He's so cute!"

"He's such a baby though."

"Maybe he is... a little bit. But he's still so cool!" Gowon was absolutely swooning. Geurim smiled at her weak friend. It was fun talking about crushes and boys to someone, to be honest. "We both rap and dance. Wouldn't we be such a swag couple?"

"Ugh, don't call yourselves a swag couple."

Gowon peered over at the taller girl, her hand on her chin. "I wonder what kind of couple you and Jaemin would be."

Geurim's poor heart skipped a beat.

"Aish, just look at you! You're not any better than I am. It's probably about time that you figured out your crush on that boy."

It still felt foreign hearing it, or even thinking about it.

However, it felt true.

She didn't dislike the idea of going on dates with her best friend... as more of a best friend. It made her stomach flip a thousand times. Geurim was at war with herself whenever she had such confusing feelings flourish.

Na Jaemin is her best friend. A boy she cherishes and appreciates the most within her bigger group of friends. She couldn't even tell anyone of her fellow SM trainee friends about this dilemma, since they were all a close-knit group. Geurim was afraid they might have it slip. They see each other every day for practice and training, it was bound to happen.

She can't even imagine if Donghyuck knew. His constant teasing and jabs would be unbearable!

And telling the other girls about it would be so agonizing! They'd be so horribly obvious about it when they're all in the same room.

Her only solace in all this was Gowon. And the damn girl had the guts to say she saw it from the very beginning.

Woo Geurim was foolishly in love with her best friend, Na Jaemin.

"The cutie couple? Visual couple?"

"Jeez, shut up!"

The duo finally made it to the lunchroom. Once getting their food, they found their way to the table that Koeun and Hina already occupied. All the girls happily greeted each other and fell deep into conversation about the few dramas they were watching. They were so engrossed in their talk and food that they didn't notice that the missing boys have come in.

It was only they realized when their lone table was being combined with an empty one, and the SM boys then occupying it. Jaemin didn't fail to get the spot next to the surprised Geurim.

"Hey! I heard you guys had a meeting," Gowon greeted the boys. "What happened? Got in trouble again?"

At the question, Donghyuck gestured for the girls to lean in. Confused, the girls did, huddling closer to hear what the boys had to say. The tan lad glimpsed at each of them with a cautious look. And in a hushed tone, he told them, "We... are going to debut!"

The four girls were all appalled. Geurin even glimpsed over at Jaemin, to see if this was some silly joke the boys wanted to play on them. But that uncontrollable, bright smile; there was no way in denying it. Geurim clasped her hand over her mouth to refrain herself from screeching so loud (as well as the others).

"Congratulations!"

"That's amazing~"

"It's about time!!"

Their table were now so chatty all over again, as the girls coaxed them to tell them the details about it. They tried to keep it to themselves, but anyone could notice how rowdy they were all being. But, could they help it?

While everyone was babbling about, Geurim thought it'd be best to hear from her crush himself.

"Geurim-ah, I still can't believe it," Jaemin chimed as he reached over and grasped onto her hand. He did it to feel like he was in reality, not wanting any of this to be a dream. "When Lee Sooman-sshi called all the boys, I literally thought he was going to nag at us!"

Geurim knitted her eyebrows. "What do you mean about all the boys? Who's going to be in the final lineup?"

"Ah... you'll see, but technically, every one will be! It's basically going to be a group with multiple units!"

"I don't understand?..."

"Erm, you will eventually. Not sure I quite understand either." Jaemin squeezed on her hand. "But this is a dream come true! Of course I wanted to debut with everyone, you know? And it's actually going to happen! We get to be one team. It's not everyone, of course, but Renjun and Chenle will be able to join!"

Geurim's mind wavered back to the newer Chinese trainees they've gained recently. She genuinely smiled. She really liked Renjun and Chenle too, she was happy to see them get to debut.

"That's so great. I'm so proud of you, Jaemin," the girl beamed at him.

"Thank you! And soon enough, you'll debut too!"

The very thought fluttered within her. She so desperately wants to join in with her lucky friends. Now that the boys were getting their chance, it'd be about time for her and the other girls too, right?

But for now, Geurim was going to be the best supporter and cheer on the boys.

However, why was there something unsettling in the pit of her stomach?

A/n:

Name: Park Gowon
Age: 18 (as of right now)
Portrayed by Kyla Massie
| Tangerine Ent trainee |

Finally, we meet our Gowon! For those who don't remember, she becomes Geurim's groupmate. We just gotta find out how the girls got to that point.

A few important things have popped up here! Crushes have been developed (finally) and then the spark of the boy band we all have come to love today!

I also realize that the timeline of this story is kind of all over the place. Initially, this kind of chapter (which they begin their first year of high school) was meant to be earlier in the story. But I just realized that the times which each event (MMC, School time, NCT) happened would be wrong. So please keep in mind that the timeline for this story might not be accurate to real life!

Additionally, don't forget to VOTE AND COMMENT! I would love it if you guys give any kind of feedback🤗 storywise or on my writing and such.

Thank you all for reading through this~ I'll see yall next time.

—Bianca

PS: WHO ELSE IS SUPER EXCITED FOR THIS UPCOMING 127 ALBUM? JUNGWOO AND A FULL LENGTH ALBUM? I'm ready to throw my money at SM 😩😩😩😩