"Well, that went well," Nuan sighed to herself. It was her 3rd job interview that week. As flexible the hours at the convenient store were, the pay was simply too low for what she needed. When she suggested a higher salary, the auntie at the store went off on her about how ungrateful kids are and chased her out of the store. Nuan rolled her eyes at the memory and had begun her mental retaliation on the short-tempered auntie now 2 blocks away.

She had her long hair tucked under her grey beanie and her black jacket zipped to the collar on that chilly April morning. She was about to put her headphones on when she heard a car behind her - no - a mini-van and it was headed straight at her.

Her side of the street had no crevices nearby and was just a wall of brick fences. She flattened herself on the wall and at the last second, the mini-van swerved to the side, right into a pole.

The front of the mini-van looked like an accordion.

Nuan shook her shock off and slowly approached the vehicle.

A man struggled out of the driver's seat and went around the front of the car to see the damage. Nuan could hear him cussing and a sudden spark of rage flared up in her. Here I was, about to see if the guy that nearly killed me was ok and he's only worried about is his car.

He wasn't bleeding and it looked like only the very front of the mini-van was effected by the crash so Nuan walked away. The last thing she needed was to deal with a car crash of a guy that is overly attached to his car.

"Hey! You punk! Where do you think you're going?!"

Nuan heard the drivers fast steps and a second later she had her back slammed into the wall. The man was breathing hard and had one of his arms pinning her down by her collarbones. She winced as the cold stone grated on her back and the man's arm made it hard for her to breathe.

"What do you think you're doing?! Jumping in front of a car, are you crazy?! Do you know who's car this is?! What if they were already inside, huh? You're lucky it was only me or else you would be dead, kid!"

Nuan couldn't stand it anymore. It was her second time being yelled at by an adult today, her back and chest hurt, it was cold, and he was spitting all over her with his yelling. She pushed him off as hard as she could and took a deep breath.

"You almost killed me, you crazy uncle! And you have the audacity to blame me?! Who jumped in front of who?! I didn't do anything! Who speeds down a narrow street, you idiot!"

"Who are you calling an idiot, you disrespectful bo-" he man smacked her in the head hard enough to knock off her beanie. His words died off when he saw her hair tumble down.

Nuan couldn't believe he just hit her and she hated the frustrated tears that gathered in her eyes. Nothing was going right. All she wanted was to get a good enough job to get the money she needs. What did she do to deserve all this? She was a good enough person, she didn't deserve to get almost killed one minute, then smacked the next.

The last thing she was going to do was show anyone the glistening in her eyes so she took off and could hear his yells get softer and softer as she ran.

A week later, Nuan was waiting in the office of the CEO of SM Entertainment.

"Do you know why you're here, Miss Nuan?" asked the man who just walked in with two other men all dressed in suits.

Nuan, initially, had no idea why there was a letter slid under her apartment door two days ago that told her to come to SM Entertainment on this date, but now she did.

The last man to enter the room was the driver who almost killed her last week. "I.. have an idea, now," Nuan said casually, but internally she was in a panic. This was not going to be good and she knew it.

The man who asked her the question took a seat at the largest chair in the sitting area, but he didn't take the seat behind the desk. A ghost of a smile flit across his face as if he was happy with her answer, "I am the CEO of SM Entertainment, Kim Youngmin."

His close proximity put Nuan on edge. There are no good reasons why a powerful man would not choose to sit in his seat of power. "You've met Kangho," the CEO gestured to the driver. "And that is Sunghwan," he gestured to the third man who stood next to Kangho.

The CEO opened a folder that he pulled out from the end table's drawer. "You are Song Nuan," he stated as he read the file. "Who, last week, intentionally caused a car crash-"

"What?!" Nuan said outraged but the CEO continued through her outburst.

"-And proceeded to verbally abuse the victim driver and fled the scene," he finished calmly.

Nuan was speechless, for a total of 2 seconds, then she said appalled, "tha- that didn't happen. That is not what happened."

"Ah, but it is what the police are going to hear and believe," Youngmin explained. "You see, you are in a very... precarious position. That van was important and expensive, used to transport idols." The way he said transport unsettled Nuan, as if the idols were animals rather than people. His calculating eyes and cold way of speaking injected Nuan with droplets of disgust for the man.

"But, you've totaled it and it will cost a lot to replace it... It seems you haven't had a lot of luck with jobs recently."

Nuan clenched her jaw. If he knew that much, then he knew she couldn't possible pay for a brand new mini-van.

"How's your grandmother?" he asked with fake concern.

Her heart skipped a beat at the mention of her and her irritation gave way to fear. "How do you know about-"

"You left Hong Kong just to be with her. How sweet. She's all you have left, isn't she?" he said with a clinical voice. "That's quite amazing. Your life is like a drama," he scratched his chin as he continued to look through the files.

"What do you want?" Nuan said lowly. He knows she can't pay, so what is the point of all this, Nuan thought to herself.

"I have a project I'd like you to be a part of," Youngmin said as he finally put the file down and looked at her. She quirked an eyebrow at him when he didn't continue his explanation.

He laughed softly, "ah, yes, you'll do fine. Very charismatic... I have a group that needs... someone like you."

"You want me... to be an idol?" Nuan asked slowly when he paused again.

"Not just any idol. You'll be a very special idol. Like none before you," the CEO explained with a hint of excitement behind his words. Sunghwan shifted uncomfortably. "You'll be in EXO-M."

Nuan's heart dropped. "Is this a joke?" She scoffed, "don't play with me. I'm a girl!" She felt stupid stating the obvious, but he didn't seem to understand that so she felt the need to vocalize.

"Precisely," Youngmin stated. "None of our current trainees are at your level in terms of language. You speak Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. You are also half-Chinese and half-Korean so you can curb the stigma against Chinese idols if you act right."

"Yes, and I am also not a guy. Or was that not a requirement to be in a boy group?!" Nuan was getting angry. He really thought that she would be a part of this project. This was way too much. She didn't have time for stupid ideas.

"As a girl, you will know how to charm the ladies. You will also have a special charm of being feminine and charismatic - it can be your concept," the CEO answered calmly. His stoic behavior was unnerving and made his idea seem plausible , as if she was the unreasonable one for getting worked up. She had to calm down and tell him exactly how many things were wrong with this.

"No, I am not doing that. EXO is a world star. You think the fans will accept you replacing their old members? You think the members will accept a girl into their group? You really think you can keep my gender a secret? This is a huge risk for you. If they find out, you're done," Nuan said as calmly as she could.

"EXO-M is going to die out if they don't have another Chinese member. EXO is carrying the company right now. You can save them. I can't lose the Chinese market. It is a risk I have to take," Youngmin explained dejectedly. He could tell, however, that Nuan still wasn't going to cooperate. He leaned forward and held Nuan's eyes, "if you do this, I won't press charges for the van... and I'll pay off your grandmother's medical expenses."

Nuan racked her brain for a way out of this. How did that crash that was totally not her fault get her into this kind of mess? "I could always just tell the reporters about this, you know," she said boldly.

"And would they believe you? If they did, getting a scandal like that off the radar is as easy as 1, 2, 3, here at SM," Youngmin challenged.

A laugh of disbelief escaped Nuan and she shook her head. "This is ridiculous. You think I don't know how you treat your idols? Like dogs! That's why they all leave. I would never believe you would let go of my debts and even pay off medical fees."

"You're special, as I said. Do well and you don't have to worry about bad treatment. You've had martial arts training in Hong Kong according to your file so you have muscle control to dance and if you can't sing, you'll learn or rap... I would not gamble on my most prized group if I had plans on failing, Nuan," Youngmin hissed, finally letting his poker face slip. "Do this or go to jail because of the car crash. Who will take care of your grandmother then, hmm?"

Nuan looked into his eyes and saw no humor. She looked at the other two men who had remained silent this whole time. Kangho, the driver, looked so smug he looked as if he committed the perfect crime, and Sunghwan looked resigned, like he had tried to fight against this but lost as well.

"What'll it be, Nuan?" Youngmin probed.

She glared at him hard as if she could make him feel just how much hated this. She felt a glimmer of happiness when she saw his mouth tighten. She couldn't find a way out. Again, she found herself wondering how things could have gotten so messed up. She sighed and crossed her arms. If she was going to do this, she was going to make sure she did it on her terms.

She could do this, for her grandmother.

She mustered up her strength from that thought, sat up straight and tilted her chin up proudly.

Looking down at the CEO of SM Entertainment, she took a breath. "When do we start?"