Freefall (Seungjin)

11

I'm not nervous. If he said it a few more times, maybe he'd let himself believe it. He walked into the room he had been told to use.

The room was wide, mirrors covering two walls, quite similar to the first few practice rooms he had seen. The lights on the ceiling spelling ‘JYP’ in bold, bright letters, obnoxiously reminding whoever sees it of where they were and what they were doing in the modern walls of the building.

I'm not nervous. He felt as if he were being watched– observed even. Despite the fact that he was alone in the room, he felt as though he's doing something wrong and that any minute someone would walk in and scold him. He felt like he didn't belong there.

What exactly was he supposed to be doing here? He had been run through what he should be doing, but his nerves didn't let him remember– isn’t there supposed to be someone with him right now?

And as if the universe had heard him, a woman walks in, unannounced, as if whoever was in the room would know exactly when she sets foot through the door.

I'm not nervous. Hyunjin stiffens up at the arrival of the woman, who seemingly hadn't noticed the cat-eyed figure tensed up a few feet away from her as she sets her duffel bag atop of low leveled wooden cabinets that were placed next to a couch, which in itself seemed to have gone through more things than the pair of converses she was wearing.

When the woman turned back around was when Hyunjin had a clear look at her, and by the looks of it, she had just noticed him as well.
She was wearing a white t-shirt that had some English saying scribbled on it, black cargo pants, and a Nike cap that held her tied, elbow-length brown hair. If Hyunjin were to guess, he'd say the woman was only a few years older than him– probably in her twenties– but he couldn't be sure considering she was wearing a mask over her mundane features.

“Hwang Hyunjin-ssi.” The woman called, startling him from his floor-staring. “Today we'll just be seeing what level you are in so that we can maybe arrange you into one of the trainee groups. But don't get your hopes up cause you might end up being put with a mass.”

“A mass?”

The woman hummed, fiddling with a remote facing the ceiling towards what seemed to be the air conditioner. “You'll be put with other kids your age, training until you get put into a new trainee group, an existing trainee group, a survival show, or they decide to make you debut solo. And if you get none of those by the time your contract ends, you either get to have it renewed or they release you. But I'm pretty sure you know all this already.”

She finished setting the air con and clapped her hands, announcing the end of their one-way conversation. “Alright. Give me a song, and we'll warm up.”

Before Hyunjin could start worrying about choosing a song, she started up again.

“Oh I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Aya, I'm 23 and I'm from China.” She stated with a hand over her chest.

All Hyunjin was able to do the whole time was look around the room and occasionally at the woman when she was talking, but he decided it was polite to introduce himself as well, considering the short silence that followed.

“Im Hyunjin, my international age is 17, and, uh, I'm from around here.” Aya nodded after he finished and asked for a song again, this time letting him reply.

'Around here'?? What the hell, Hyunjin?

“My House by 2pm would be ok”

✁✂✁✂✁✂✁✂✁✂✁

3:24 AM

February 02, 2024

640 words