Chapter 5

6 months later...

August

After passing the final screening Haejin was finally able to train with the other trainees.

There weren't a lot of them compared to when she was still auditioning. It wasn't easy to sing and dance a strenuous choreography at the same time. Aside from training, she was also undergoing a diet because some of the staff members told her to lose a bit of weight.

But everything finally fell to its proper place, when their main producer, Lee Sooman, included her in the final lineup of an upcoming girl group.

"This... this is where you're going to train for months," Mark said the moment they stepped out of the van. "The practice rooms in this building are more huge than the practice rooms in the old building."

As usual, there were many people outside the entrance. Ther probably knew that NCT is going here today.

"You guys go first, I'll give Haejin a tour for a moment," Mark ordered the other members.

Not long enough, they heard a voice, "Mark!!"

Both of them looked at the person who shouted.

"Ah, Xiumin-hyung!"

Oh my gosh, EXO's Xiumin!!!!

"Hyung, meet my sister, Lee Haejin."

Xiumin looked at Haejin and smiled, "Hello, nice to meet you! I heard that you're the new rookie?"

Haejin nodded, "Yes, I am and I'm really excited!"

Xiumin laughed, "That's good! I wish you good luck." He turned to Mark, "I have to go now. Chen and Suho have been texting me since this morning."

"Understood, hyung. Bye!"

"Bye Mark and Haejin!"

Haejin was starstruck. She just met Xiumin from EXO. She suddenly remembered her best friend back in Canada. She's a fan of EXO and her bias is Xiumin.

"I remembered Kimberly out of the blue."

"Your friend?"

Haejin hummed, "If only I had a picture with him, dang it. I could have teased her."

"You won't be needing a picture because you'll see them often now."

"I know that." She laughed.

***

SM Entertainment announced the last member to join SM's upcoming girl group. Lee Haejin, which happened to be NCT Mark's younger sister.

"Haejin, there's your manager. I have to leave now, text me if you need anything, good luck!" Her brother hugged her.

"Hello, Haejin-ah. I'm Do Sujin. I'm gonna be the manager of your group," the girl who was standing in front of her smiled.

"Hello, I'm Lee Haejin!" She bowed.

"Come in, I'll show you your group's practice room."

"Woah, daebak..."

The room was quite big, to be honest. Too big for a group of trainees.

"You can sit here first and I'll call the girls."

Haejin nodded.

***

Meanwhile at NCT's practice room...

"Hyung, there's an update that Jaemin-hyung posted." Jisung handed his phone to Mark who was eating.

"Really? Can I see?" Mark said, wiping his hands.

Here's what's happening to NCT's missing member

Mark clicked the link.

Mark scanned the text that Jaemin posted. He smiled unknowingly. Jaemin's really sweet.

"He thanked the fans who greeted him on his birthday. He also told them to support us this comeback," Mark smiled.

"His back, what about his treatment?" Haechan asked.

"He said here, 'I'm receiving treatment for my back and I'm just counting down the days until I get to see you all.' so I guess, the treatment is going fine," Mark smiled.

The other members sighed with relief.

****

"You can sit here first and I'll call the girls."

Haejin nodded.

She fished her phone out of her pocket and texted Jisung. They became really close now since they both have the same age.

To: jisungie

Jisung, i'm nervous. I'm meeting my co-members today what if they don't like me??? ㅠ.ㅠ

Jisung replied in less than a minute.

From: jisungie
you know, you really are mark-hyung's sister. both of you overreacts ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

She frowned. Jisung really had the guts to tease her right now.

Sujin was back after some minutes. She was with some girls who looked like Haejin's age, some looked younger than her.

"Haejin... meet SM Rookies. Soon to be Girls' Avenue."

"Girls, introduce yourselves."

There were five girls in front of her. She was scared. They look intimidating. What if they don't like her because she's new?

Thoughts flooded her head immediately. She shouldn't be scared. She wanted this. She waited for this.

"Hello, I'll be the leader, Park Eunji." The girl smiled.

She's a bit shorter than Haejin. Her hair was brown that's up to her shoulder.

"Hello, I'm Soeun."

The girl had crescent eyes like Jeno. She smiled at Haejin and she smiled back. She had a smile that's contagious. You'll automatically smile once she smiles.

Maybe she's the visual? Damn, they're all beautiful. Do I even belong here?

"Hello, I'm Zhou Xiurong. I'm from China."

She looks like she's the quiet one. Wait, is she?

"Hello, I'm Watanabe Yui from Japan. Nice to meet you!"

The girl was the same height as Haejin. She has short black hair.

"Hello, I'm the youngest. I'm Shin Junghee."

The girls smiled at her.

"Haejin-ah, these are the girls. Your turn to introduce yourself."

"Hello, I'm Lee Haejin! Nice to meet you all and I look forward to work with you," Haejin bowed.

"Now, I'll leave you girls so that you get to know each other."

***

"Fix the wave formation... Jisung, move a little to the left—there. Haechan, your arm..."

NCT Dream has been practicing 'We Young' since they arrived. Their comeback will be on the 16th, that's why they're practicingㅡfor a better stage performance.

"Okay, break time!"

The dream members immediately sat down.

"I'm tired," Jisung said as he lied down on the floor.

"I wanna sleep," Chenle laid down beside Jisung.

"I wonder what happened to Haejin," Renjun said out of the blue.

"She texted me earlier," Jisung said, eyes closed.

"And...? What did she say?"

"She said that she's nervous about the girls not liking her."

"She said that?!" Haechan said, surprised.

"Woah what," Renjun, with wide eyes, said.

"You see, that's the problem with my sister. She isn't confident with herself. But sometimes, she gets too confident." Mark sighed. "When will she ever learn?"

"Break time's over!" Their choreographer went back into their room.

The members looked at each other and let out a sigh.