Your POV.

The next morning.

“Wake up sweetie…”

“I don’t wanna…” you whined.

You felt the bed sink down as your mom sat on the edge. “Come on baby girl I made you a nice breakfast.”

It was when she started playing with your hair that you suspected something was wrong. “Omma what’s going on? You never act like this.”

“Do I need an excuse to show affection to my daughter?” She said defensively.

Slowly you sat up and looked at her. She looked tired and stressed, with dark circles around her eyes that weren’t there before. “Omma…”

She smiled sadly at you. “Do you remember when you were little and you used to dance around the living room in your pajamas? You and your brother would put on shows using anything you could find as props, whether it was my good kitchen pots or the shower curtain.”

You gave a small laugh. “Of course I remember. You got so mad when we turned your new coffee table into our stage.”

“I still haven’t forgiven you for that.” She joked. The two of you sat in silence for a few moments lost in memories of the past.

 “Where has all the time gone? There are days when I wish I could just keep you and your brother to myself. But then again that is just a selfish mother’s wish. I understand that your dreams lie farther away than I would like, however the two of you make me so proud.”

“Omma is that what you are worried about, that I will go away to pursue my dreams and leave you behind?”

Her eyes held unshed tears while she gently smiled at you. “Oh no baby I don’t worry about that. It’s just that I wasn’t expected to have to let go of you so soon. Today you move into the dorms and I find myself reluctant to cut the strings. It feels like only yesterday I was doing your laundry and packing you a lunch.”

“Omma that was only yesterday…” You said.

She laughed. “Oh that’s right.”

Once again silence descended and you let your mom gather you in her arms. You weren’t sure how long you sat there soaking in each other’s presence. It was almost as if you were trying to burn each other’s scents and touch into your memory. When she finally let go you felt a lot lighter. Moving in and meeting the new girls seemed so much easier now.

“Okay that’s enough reminiscing for one day let’s go eat!”

Not bothering to change out of your pajamas you followed your mom downstairs. It was nice not having to rush. The company gave you the morning off so you would have enough time to be fully prepared before the move in. A van was supposed to come pick you up before lunch sometime in order to carry your stuff to the dorms. Anything that wouldn’t fit could be shipped a few days later.

After a leisurely breakfast with your mom you returned to your room to finish some last minute stuff. Deciding against showering you figured it was probably a waste considering you would get dirty while unpacking anyway. Instead you stuffed your hair under your favorite baseball cap and threw on one of your new shirts from the night market. It was a black cropped jacket with an asymmetrical zipper. Then you slipped into a comfy pair of jean shorts and stuffed your feet into your heavy duty combat boots. Those were just a precaution in case you dropped something heavy on your foot.

Finally satisfied that you hadn’t forgotten anything you looked around your room one more time. It was hard to believe that only a short while ago you’d been joking around with friends, going to school, and doing all the other normal teenage stuff. Now here you are just over a month later about to have a chance to make your dream come true. It was a humbling feeling.

*Beep*Beep*

The car horn returned you to reality and with one last look you slung your backpack over your shoulder and shut the door behind you. Before you climbed into the van your mom handed you a bag filled with kimchi to share with your new roommates. “It never hurts to soften people up with food.” She said. Thankful for her thoughtfulness you pulled her into a fierce hug and then found a seat. You waved to her until she was out of sight letting your hand fall to your lap as a wave of homesickness hit you.

“Toughen up Mel this is what you wanted.” You told yourself.

Steeling your resolve you took to watching the scenery pass by until your arrival. You passed through an intimidating security gate before pulling up to your new home. Apparently SME was serious about protecting their idol’s privacy. When the van pulled up under the overhang you climbed out slowly taking everything in.

It was a tall building with multiple floors and made of some type of metal that looked cold and uninviting. Hoping the inside would be nicer you continued to stare.

Well at least there are quite a few windows.

The base of the building was covered in flowers and shrubs helping to lessen the harshness of it all, though it didn’t help overly much. You turned as you noticed another van pull up and Hara stepped out. Happy to no longer be alone you ran up and gave her a hug.

“Easy Mel you’ll wrinkle my shirt.” Hara chastised.

You couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess some things never change.”

She just shrugged and smoothed her blouse back down, rubbing at imaginary wrinkles. “I’ll say… what are you wearing anyway?” Hara asked.

Feeling slightly embarrassed you looked down at your own casual outfit, which was actually kind of dressy for you. “I thought I was being practical figuring we would be doing a lot of work getting settled in today.”

Hara shook her head at you. “There is so much that you have yet to learn. Lucky for you, you have me. Unfortunately I don’t have time to start teaching you today, but not to worry I will make time for you later.” She promised.

You couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran through your body at her words. Typically Hara’s ‘lessons’ never ended well.

Soon the two of you were ushered into the lobby by some administrative guy, who showed you to a small conference room. A few girls were already there when you arrived. Some looked familiar from passing them in the hallways and others were completely new to you.

Someone waved and you looked over at them. You recognized Amber from your Korean lessons and smiled before heading over to her. The two of you had to take Korean language as a part of your training. Amber being a Taiwanese-American had even more difficulty than you with the language.  She was cast though the L.A. auditions being one of only two people to make it, the other being a boy. Despite being from the same place neither of you knew each other before coming here.

Amber was sitting next to a pretty girl who was busily chatting at her in rapid mandarin. There were a few other familiar faces including Mi-Na's and some other girls you had seen around the company. Sitting down next to amber you waited for the rest of the girls to arrive.

Suddenly both doors slammed open and in walked a group of girls lead by same girl who gave you a hard time about being on their floor during your first week at SME. She walked straight to the front and yelled at some of the other girls to move, claiming it was her spot. They got up quickly and ran towards the back of the room.

Finally some authority person made their way in. She was an average looking lady in her late 20’s, who introduced herself as Jin. She was to be your dorm mother until the final selections were made and you got your own manager. Then a squat looking man stood up. You recognized him as the ‘rat man’ who checked you in at auditions.

“Good afternoon ladies. My name is Dae-Suk, but you can simply call me director. I’m in charge of the administrative side for the dorms.” He gestured to his right. “This is my twin brother Dae-Jung, who is in charge of security.”

“Before we let you begin settling in there are few rules that need to be laid down first.” He glanced around the room. “Wait a second, we are still missing someone.”

Almost as if on cue the doors swung open again revealing yet another girl, only this time you were very familiar with her.

“Oh my god Mel!!!” The new girl squealed.

Immediately all eyes turned to you as she launched herself at you. All you could do was stand up and hope she didn’t knock you over while she proceeded to squish you in a fierce hug.

“Ehem..” Someone cleared their throat.

The new girl seemed to come back to herself then and bowed in apology. “I’m so sorry everyone. My name is Ailee…”

A/N: Well now you have another friend to help you through these difficult times ahead. I absolutely love Ailee. I watched her from the beginning with her Youtube videos and was so happy when she decided to go to korea and debut. It made me sad that she couldn't debut in the U.S. but oh well. I also started doing some artwork for the chapters as well as made a banner so check them out. As always let me know what you think. Comment, Subscribe, and all that good stuff.     -Sarah :)