[어울리는 우상 - Becoming an Idol] - [OPEN and ACCEPTING]

[Firefly_Dreamer]

[Einna gets a -5 pounds to weight]
[I'm gonna wait on Seall to post before I do]

[Seall]

Gri-Na nodded, “Yep, that’s me!” She replied, as she stretched and rested her hand on the back of her head before dropping her arm to her side once again.

A wave of relief washed over her as she heard Ki-Tae’s promising words. “I guess I’m lucky then,” Gri-Na laughed, and then stopped and said very seriously, “I would never quit out of nerves. She doesn’t think that right?” After a moment, she let out a small laugh. “Because that would be unfortunate, right? Kicked out during one of my first days.”

Gri-Na listened as Ki-Tae spoke, nodding her head to convey her interest in the conversation. “A missed entrance? Oh dear…” she chuckled, “I mean, I’m sure you did really well. You must have if Ms Myeong didn’t get angry with you.” The trainee smiled warmly to show that she was being genuine.

“Oh! How could I be so rude?” Gri-Na didn’t seem to notice the other trainee, who was standing right in front of her. “Nice to meet you, Einna. My name is Gri-Na!” She chirped. And then she realised that Einna already knew that. “Oh- you probably already knew that.” Gri-Na let out an awkward laugh. “America, huh? How long have you two been living in Korea for? I’ve lived here my whole life.” She looked to both of them, “Your Korean is amazing, you guys. I never would’ve thought you weren’t native!

Gri-Na’s stomach rumbled. “Yeah, we should probably get some lunch! Thank you so much for inviting me.” She said with gratitude as she pressed her two palms together, “Bossam sounds amazing. Let’s go!”

WC: 268
TWC: 452

[I did read the previous posts — I just wasn’t too sure how long ago (canonically) they became trainees 😅 Thank you for correcting me]

[Firefly_Dreamer]

Ki-Tae lead the wasy down to a small family owned korean restaurant. You could smell all the flavors and seasonings as soon as you entered the door. The restaurant was well lit with yellow tinged lights and tan walls. Ki-Tae chose a booth against one of the walls and ordered 3 orders of bossam for the girls.

The waitress was very friendly and respectful. She seemed to be the only one waitressing and she got three tables, including Ki-Tae's, orders with ease before disappearing into the kitchen and coming out with two more tables' orders.

It would be about ten minutes before their meals and drinks would arrive. In the meantime, Ki-Tae made small-talk with the girls. "So, where are all of you from, more specifically. I was from a small town in Wisconsin. Then I moved to Korea last year after having taught myself Korean to get more in touch with my father's side of the family. When I came here to introduce myself to him, he wanted nothing to do with me. He paid my tuition and housing for my last year of high school, so long as I left him and his new family alone. Now I'm on my own and luckily I got accepted here and they provided a dorm for me to live in and an allowance for me to be able to stay alive. Otherwise I'd have to move back. And to tell the truth, I really don't want to. I want to embrace this part of my culture."

Ki-Tae waited for the girls to open up more about themselves and after they did so, if they chose to, their meal arrived. It looked scrumptious! Thinly sliced pork belly, was lined up with salted napa cabbage leaves, and each came with optional side toppings of shrimp, oysters, garlic slices, chili peppers, cucumbers, kimchi, and ssamjang (a sauce made specifically for these kinds of wraps). Ki-Tae loved seafood so she couldn't wait to try this meal.

Although she initially struggled with creating the wraps, she remembered seeing a video of a K-Idol gathering his ingredients, dipping them in the sauce, and holding a cabbage leaf in front of his mouth and shoving the innards into the leaf and into his mouth. She tried it this way, and it worked pretty neatly.

Soon, she had finished her meal and had energy to go forth to their dance class next, and with 10 minutes to spare! She was excited and couldn't wait to get going, so she paid the bill and then waited for the other girls to finish up.

WC:433
TWC: 3463

[you're all good ]

[Seall]

Gri-Na followed her taller, but younger, newly-found friend. As soon as they reached the entrance to a cozy-looking restaurant, the flavourful aromas of food flooded her nose — it was even strong enough to make her mouth water. When the three of them were seated in a comfortable, warm booth, Gri-Na began to speak, “Ki-Tae, this is such a beautiful restaurant.” She said as she looked around in awe. Other customers were happily chatting amongst themselves and the waiters gladly took orders as the chefs clanged their pots and pans together. Gri-Na a just knew they were cooking up a scrumptious meal. “I should probably take this off.” She added, lifting the cap off her head and placing it next to her. It was very warm and wearing a hat would probably make her boil like the dumplings in the kitchen.

The older trainee engaged in the small talk, listening to what both Ki-Tae and Einna had to say. Gri-Na didn’t say much — she was usually more on the quiet side about her personal life. “Wow, that’s horrible. I hope you and your father can reconnect soon,” her frown turned into a smirk, “especially after you become a fully fledged K-Pop star!” Gri-Na thought this was a good way to lighten the mood and cheer her friend up, although she felt like she was taking a bit of a risk since it was such a sensitive topic. “But, seriously, it’s great you take such a big interest in Korean culture. You’re doing amazingly at speaking the language!” She fiddled with her cap, that was beside her, for a bit as she spoke, “I guess you deserve to know a little about me. I’ve never left Korea; in fact, I was born in the city of Daegu. My family were very supportive of my dreams to become a rapper and dancer — especially my sister. Though, my sister moved away to France for a job opportunity. I’m proud of her, but sometimes I miss her.” Gri-Na noticed she was getting a bit emotional in front of two people she has just met. She shook her head and cleared her throat. Thankfully, at that point, the food and drinks were being placed on the table in front of her. “Thank you!” She said to the waiter, and then she stuck right into the meal.

Lettuce, cucumber, kimchi salad, pork — Gri-Na put the whole lot in her wrap. She folded it carefully and dipped it into the sauce after Ki-Tae did so. She had noticed her friend struggling but didn’t point it out. Instead, she admired her determination to getting the food into her mouth.

After eating two wraps, she announced that she couldn’t eat anymore — or rather, she shouldn’t. Gri-Na didn’t want to risk being too full for the next class. As she headed out with the others, she asked “So, what class do we have next?”

WC: 488
TWC: 940

[Do I get to roll a dice?]

[єℓσqυєи¢є]

As Einna opened the heavy glass doors to a classic korean restaurant, a blast of warm air hit her face. She could hear the clinking of waiters stacking plates and customers chatting as Ki-Tae led them to a cozy booth seated against the wall. The lighting was dimmer here, but in way that felt calming and welcoming. "Ah, this place is gorgeous," Einna gushed, admiring the leather seats. "I wanna take so many photos right now."

While they waited for their food, the girls began opening up about their pasts. Einna listened closely as Ki-Tae and Gri-Na recounted their life stories, her heart aching for Ki-Tae in particular. "Wow. Speaking frankly, your father is a huge jerk," she said boldly. Although Einna had just met Ki-Tae, she felt they had become good friends and hated to see anything bad happen to her. Einna nodded vigorously to Gri-Na's little quip.

"With everyone talking about their pasts, I should tell you all mine. Well, I was born and raised in New York City, specifically Manhattan. My dad is an architect and my mom works as an environmental engineer. As you may guess, they're all practically uber smart. It's probably why it took me so long to tell them that i wanted to be a K-Idol," Einna admitted. "Surprisingly, my dad was all for it. My mom was reluctant at first, but my dad managed to make her cave. Fast forward, I'm on a plane to Korea, and I'm here now. It's pretty lacklustre." After listening to Gri-Na talk about her family, the food finally arrived.

As a plate of ingredients was placed before her, Einna's stomach grumbled in anticipation. Her father had made bossam for them back in America, but what she was handling right now had more toppings than what she was experienced with. She grabbed a perilla leaf and applied some ssamjang with a spoon. Then she placed a pork slice, lettuce, and kimchi salad on top. Einna experimented with different toppings a few more times, and decided she should stop there. After all, next class would require much physical activity.

"Ah, we have dance next," Einna answered Gri-Na's question. "Speaking of which, we should probably head back to the building soon."

WC: 372
TWC: 3375

[I accidentally deleted a paragraph while typing this... pain :')]
[@seall yep! After every 500 words you ask to roll either a stat die or a weight die :)]

[Firefly_Dreamer]

Ki-Tae lead the way back to the studio after all three girls had finished and left a generous tip for their hard-working waitress. The walk was rather quiet as they hurried to get there early. Ki-Tae would always prefer to be early in situations than on-time and definitely prefers it to being late.

A lot of trainees, some different than the ones from the vocal class, were already gathered in 203-A stretching themselves out for class. Ki-Tae joined in the back, as most of the front spots were taken. The dance instructor sat on the floor at a laptop, presumably setting up for the song he was about to have us dance to. His eyes were very serious with a dark focus on the screen.

Ki-Tae slid down into a splits position, slowly stretching her inner thigh muscles. She held this position for a while before changing to making her legs in the shape of a diamond and then bringing her heels in towards her stomach as far as they could go and then leaning forward while keeping her legs on the ground.

WC: 183
TWC: 3646

[Ah! I hate when stuff like that happens! It makes you just want to ragequit posting!]
[Grina gets a +4 to stats]
[Ki-Tae gets a +3 to weight] [perhaps I shouldn't have eaten so much X-X]

[Seall]

There were many other trainers in the studio, Gri-Na evaluated. Her eyes scanned the room for anyone she might recognise. However, the place was too bustling to concentrate on individuals.

Since most of the people were situated at the front, near the intimidating-looking instructor, Gri-Na chose a spot nearer to the back in the middle of the studio. She joined in on stretching (like everybody else), though her movement was severely limited due to her lack of flexibility. ‘Flexibility is one thing I must work on.’ Gri-Na thought as she began to execute some very simple moves: neck circles, shoulder circles, lunges, cobra, child’s pose and down dog. Her breath was steady as she concentrated on stretching her body nicely.

WC: 120
TWC: 1,060

[Please may I roll a stat die?]

[єℓσqυєи¢є]

Einna was a little out of breath from the journey back to the agency campus. They had speed walked for fear of being late, but thankfully they seemed to be right on time. Many trainees—some familiar from morning classes—had already begun to warm up their muscles. Before the dance instructor started class, Einna thought it would be best to relax and stretch slowly.

She started with her arms, extending her right arm to her left side and using her left arm to hold her right arm steady. After ten seconds of keeping this position, she moved onto her waist and back. Einna rested her left arm on her left leg and extended her right arm over her head, hearing a satisfying crack from her side. After repeating this movement on her right side, Einna continued into lunges, bird's position, and butterfly stretch.

By now, Einna was fully warmed up and ready for dance class.

WC: 156
TWC: 3531

[I'd like to roll a stat die for flexibility please!]

[Firefly_Dreamer]

Min Ki-Tae continued stretching herself out, noticing Einna's Yoga poses, Just as a young man entered class and as the bell rang. He was perfectly punctual.

"Jungkook-ah, so glad you could make it!" The Dance instructor's focused eyes drifted away from the Laptop for a mere second. "You can dance in the front next to me."

Jungkook set his bag, phone, and iced coffee down against the back wall. He undid the buttons on his suede jacket and folded it up neatly, placing it on top of his bag. Jungkook slowly walked past the girls, keeping his head down and making his way past the front row of girls to a spot in front of the class. He waited there for further instruction as the dance instructor finished setting up the music.

Some of the girls swooned over him, and one even lunged at him to touch him, however the dance instructor dismissed the desperate young girl.

"If I may have your attention." The dance instructor called, "I am Mr. Lee. I expect better from you than what I previously saw trainee 491. You are trainees at this company and you will behave as if you are full-fledged members. You will treat the idols of this company with respect. Do I make myself clear?"

"Ne" Ki-Tae chimed in with the rest of the class.

"Very good. Let's get started! Today we will be learning a well-known debut song; BOOMBAYAH. This song is very high energy but also cool and chic. It relies heavily on teamwork. We will learn all the basic steps first and then split into groups of four. There is an odd Number in our class, so Jungkook will join the remaining group."

Jungkook nodded to the instructors statement.

"So first everyone is in a line. I want everyone to do the special parts at this juncture, but you will also have to do the main parts that everyone else should be doing at that point. So you swivel down ..." The instructor talked through the dance once, counting out the beats and where things should go. "A Reminder that when I say you touch each other, you don't actually have to touch each other, just make it look that way."

The instructor was very precise in his movements and very verbal about what each of them was doing wrong as they followed his movements behind him. Jungkook never got called out, probably due to his skill.

After going through it with music 5 times back to back, Ki-Tae was exhausted and felt her knees quake beneath her. She thought she was going to faint for a moment, but somehow managed to keep on her feet. It was now time to get into groups, and Ki-Tae brought Einna and Grina toward her, automatically bringing them into the group. She began looking around the room with her eyes only, for a fourth member. She really didn't want to perform this song with a boy. Just the thought made her a little nervous.

WC: 502
TWC: 4148

[Einna gets a +3 to Flexibility]
[Grina gets a +4 to stats]
[Ki-Tae gets a +4 to Flexibility]

[Seall]

Gri-Na's eyes lit up as the popular singer entered the room; he walked with such sophistication and had an immaculate sense of fashion. Not to mention, he behaved so modestly — as if he was another trainee. Although, in reality, he was already way past that stage. Gri-Na thought back to how much she admired BTS as a whole.

As another trainee jumped out in front of him, Gri-Na cringed and shook her head. She could never imagine doing anything like that. The room was full of people gushing about Jungkook and it was all she could hear. Luckily, their effusiveness came to an abrupt end as the instructor started to berate the trainee Gri-Na had just witnessed.

"Ne" Gri-Na chorused.

She could feel her heart beat faster as the song they were going to be learning was announced. BOOMBAYAH was a song she enjoyed dearly as an adolescent. She definitely knew all the lyrics, but the dance was something she was rusty on.

Gri-Na practiced the very precise dance move; her body flowing with the music, she made sure she counted the beats internally. However, she accidentally placed her hand on the floor at the wrong angle and got called out. Annoyance flooded her but Gri-Na ensured to take a deep breath and carry on — after all, she did understand that precision played a huge role in dance, but she wasn't too big on being humiliated in front of everyone.

Afterwards, Gri-Na had to catch her breath as discreetly as possible so that the dance instructor didn't ridicule her. She turned to Ki-Tae and noticed that Ki-Tae looked as tired as she did. Gri-Na was happy that she was in a group with Ki-Tae and Einna, but they had to find one more member. "Who do you think should be our fourth member?" She asked, looking around for any loners.

WC: 310
TWC: 1,370