After separating from Hyun-ah earlier, I went directly towards YG, hoping for it to be another normal training day as always. But I couldn't be more wrong about it.
Just after arriving in front of the company, already with my face covered after separating from the little girl, I noticed an angry young man waiting at the front door. A teasing smile appeared on my face as I got closer while saying.
— Yo! Ji Yong, anything wrong?
The angry man rolled his eyes at me while saying.
— Don't you have respect for your superiors? — he maintained a firm stance, probably trying to look intimidating, but as I was taller, and looking at my background, more experienced, that kind of stance was basically a joke to me.
Jokingly, I started looking everywhere, looking for the so called "superior".
— I don't really see a superior here — I kept smiling since the earlier interaction with Hyun-ah, but now, the smile became a smirk.
I could see how Ji Yong hyung was really frustrated, as he was rubbing his glabella. Thinking it was enough, my smirk disappeared and I jokingly said.
— Come on, Ji Yong, all the other Hyungs listen to everything you say, it's not funny like that. You need some opposition for it to be interesting.
Ji Yong Hyung loudly sighed, and simply said.
— Come on, just follow me — without waiting for me to reply, he rushed towards our usual spot. It was just the smallest training room in the building, not that we complained about it. Following him into the room, the usual two other guys were there.
— Young Bae-Hyung, Tempo-Hyung — I immediately bowed once I entered, making all the guys smile, except for Ji Yong who was incredulous.
— How come they.... whatever, beats me — of course, I called everyone Hyung but him. As I said before, he was just too accustomed to everyone listening to him.
Young Bae-hyung, with his usual eye smile came and fist bumped me while laughing.
— Jangsu, some of these days, he will really hit you — after some time of interacting with them, I finally told them my birth name. I did it because before that they usual called me Cobra, or King C, which was really awkward for both of us.
— Come on, Hyung. He will beat me whenever he stops making mistakes while practicing — looking at Ji Yong-hyung from the corner of my eye, he was laying down on the floor with his eyes closed. Time to stop teasing him, before he really gets mad.
— So, why was I called like this? I mean, the mad guy laying down waited for me at the door — by now, Seung Hyun-hyung, or as I usually called him, Tempo-Hyung, was loudly laughing.
— Hyung, should you be really laughing at me about making mistakes? — that immediately made Hyung silence — anyway; it was actually Byung Hee-noona that told me to call you.
Byung Hee-noona was actually the one in charge of all trainees. Not that she trained us in any way, but was simply the bridge between higher ups and us trainees. She doesn't usually interact with us like this. I mean, she could have told us separately, why would she do it like this?
Just as I was deep in thoughts, Byung Hee-noona came crashing into the room while hurriedly saying.
— YAH!!, Ji Yong-ah, sit down correctly, why are you laying down? Choi Seung Hyun, how many times have I told you to not wear sunglasses inside, huh? Young Bae, change your top, it's all sweaty, can't you look decent at least? Jangsu-yah, why are you still in your uniform? Quickly!! Change your clothes, quickly!!
The room got quite hectic instantaneously, as each of us did exactly as Noona indicated. After a couple of minutes, everyone was standing in a line, looking at Noona while waiting for her approval. I guess military training couldn't be that different.
Just as we finally got Noona's approval, I could hear the door opening, making me instantly turn to look at it. There he was, the most important person in this company....
Yang Hyun-suk in person was standing up there looking directly at us. All of us were shocked seeing him here, but then, Noona woke us up.
— What are you waiting for? — just after she said this, all of us immediately said, while bowing.
— Thank you for being here.
After saying that, the room got dead silent once more. This time, the silence went until someone brought a chair for our PD. Then, he took his usual pose, that was so nerve wracking for us.
Crossed legs, body slightly bent backwards, hand supporting his chin. Even though he sat down, for us, his presence just got bigger after doing that. While staring at us for a couple of minutes more, he finally said.
— So.... News just came out. JYP, that man, signed g.o.d — Our PD had a really particular way of talking, making a sound each time he ended a sentence, almost as if he was smacking his lips continuously.
As he said that, I could feel his gaze on me. Not to be surprised actually, he knows my background, so it wouldn't be a surprise that I was the first one to know about this.
— Anyway, seeing as he just signed with them, he would be too focused on them, and as Rain is still actively promoting, I don't think he will debut a new group any time soon. So... I think it's about time we debut a boy group — he paused for a moment to stare at us.
Judging by his reaction, he was not too happy with our reaction, as our eyes were shining since he mentioned a debut. After a couple of seconds, he continued.
—Oh sorry, you think I'm talking about you? Well, that did pass my mind. But I've heard the reports from your trainers, and I didn't like them quite a bit — all of our trainers gave reports weekly to the higher ups, and it seems, we weren't doing too good — in other words, as I see it right now, you think this is a game, don't you? — he looked at us with a smile, as if he found the situation funny.
Then, he turned towards Ji Yong-hyung saying.
— Ji Yong ah, you think it is possible to debut with that level of dancing and singing? If you just want to rap, go and be an underground rapper again — all of our gazes were low, we couldn't gaze directly at his eyes right now — the same goes for you, Seung Hyun ah, you passed your last audition because you showed us your determination, but what about now? It's been some time but you still haven't showed any progress at all, does that make sense?
Seung Hyun actually auditioned multiple times before getting accepted, in the process, he actually lost a lot of weight. The thing is, he was told multiple times he was too chubby to be an idol, but proved them wrong later.
It must be really hard for him right now, after all he's been through, to be scolded like that. But the scolding continued.
— And you, Young Bae, you're talented that's clear, but isn't it time you show me you're good enough to debut already? All the trainers had told you about your facial expressions while singing and dancing, are you ignoring them, or is it impossible for you to follow instructions?
Trainers have been telling Hyung to stop forcing his expressions, it's true they look quite awkward, but he's been getting better and better. Why would he say it like that? As I thought about his words, he finally turned to me, and said.
— You, Jangsu-yah, you're the best from this group, that I got to admit. Your singing is quite stable, your dancing is pretty good, and you can rap if it's needed — as I was getting happier because of his words, he suddenly broke all of my hopes — but that's also your problem. You are actually the biggest problem if you really want to debut like that — he pointed towards the setup covering my face — being decent is not enough. The other guys have a high probabiliyy of debuting if they practice enough, but you, if you can't show me something that really surprises me, don't even think about debuting.
Silence permeated throughout the room before he finally ended his speech.
— As it is now, not even Ji Yong would be able to debut right now, do you understand? — all of us slowly nodded, while maintaining our gazes lowered — It's 2004, and we are just initially preparing for a possible debut of a group. It wouldn't be until the end of next year that we would start seriously talking about it. You have all this time to prove me wrong, all of you — he emphasized — and to show me that you have what is needed to debut. Think about it. — after that, he stood up and left the room with the rest of the staff, leaving us deep in our thoughts.
All of us kept quiet for some time until Ji Yong-hyung finally broke the silence.
— Well, you heard it. This is just the start, you better start thinking about what he said, but this doesn't change anything for me, just the amount of training I will be through — with that being said, he started to stretch.
As he said that, a smile appeared on my face, while I started stretching my body while saying.
—Well said, it's about a year and a half until he decides something, a lot of things can change until then — an evil smile slowly appeared on my face.
The gloomy mood disappeared as Young Bae-hyung and Tempo-hyung finally said.
— That evil smile has appeared once again, the last time it appeared, Byung Hee-noona was so shocked, she almost passed out.
— Yeah, I don't want to think about what would happen this time.
And, that's how our hellish training started. Four bodies, but only one goal in our minds, debuting together.
I couldn't help but think "You better step up your game, little girls, because Oppa is going ahead" as their images passed through my mind.