the day we met || kmg

i

"good luck on your first day!" says a voice across my phone. i smiled and nodded, even though the person on the phone couldnt see it.

"thanks, mom. gotta go, bye!" i hang up.

i looked at the building in front of me and let out a small sigh. my heart is pounding so hard right now its like going to be ripped out of my chest.

i walked myself to the administration. the lady in ther late 20s stood up and giving me this warmest smile. yoon jehwa, said the nametag on her chest.

"how can i help you?" she said, the smile didnt seem to be off her face. i wonder how she could manage that kind of facial expression, that always-smiling face, i think i need to work on that because i always have this resting-bitch kind of face.

"um, yeah. i auditioned here last week for a spot in a runway?" i said, more like a question.

"oh you must be the new trainee." the smile still stuck on her face, much smaller than mine, "let me walk you to the training room."

she got out of the administration desk, and walk so painfully slow to the elevator in the back of the room, giving me a sign to follow her.

"you are way too early for the practice." she said as i stood next to her in the elevator. her finger pressed a number 3.

i chuckled, "its better to be early on my first day."

"you got the point."

the elevator stopped, doors open, revealing a long aisle with a lot of models picture on its wall.

han hyejin

ahn jaehyun

jang yoonju

lee hyori

park yuri

i swear to god i have never been this nervous in my entire life. they look so charismatic on that picture frame. man, i gotta work my ass off to be like them.

someday my picture will be hanging on that walls too, inner voice of me saying.

we stopped in front of a see through acrylic door. i see 2 figure of girls inside but i couldnt see their faces.

"seems like they're your fellow trainee members. im going to leave you here, yes?" the lady handed me a piece of card -a sort of bussiness card- "contact this to see you full schedule."

she let out a quick smile and and turning around, rushing to the elevator.

i open the door, it makes a small clack sound. but audible enough to be heared by the 2 girls inside the room.

one of them is very very tall, probably around 175cm and have a western-ish face. wearing an oversize stripped t-shirt and black legging.

the other one is shorter, but still taller than me. around 170cm and have a typical korean face structure. she dyed her hair blonde and was wearing a dark blue tanktop with a black legging.

and they are extremelly pretty. and tall. i am probably the shortest among the entire models. i am 166cm by the weight of 53kg, and if you asking me how the heck could i pass the audition, i dont know either.

the PDnim said i am too short for doing runway but if i can work on my height a little bit and rock my walking on the catwalk stage, i will be just fine.

which is why i have to wear high heels EVERYTIME. to cover my shortness, thats what the PDnim said.

"you new here?" ask the shorter one, they making their way onto me.

i stammered a little bit before i could answer them, "yes, this is my first day."

"oh, same here! my name is ahn riel." she smiled, her eyes are too. i immediately like her.

"uhm, my name is nain." i let out the most sincere smile i could ever give.

the western one took a quick observe on me, after a while she finally asked me, "are you a foreigner?" she asked in english. she probably notice my accent and pronounciation that wasnt so good.

i nodded, "yeah, im from indonesia." the two girls mouthed "oh" and then riel comes forward saying "i've been there once for vacation! its beautiful, really."

"really? im glad you enjoying it."

"by the way, im leah." the western one shake my hand, she said "from LA, baby" as she winks.

"nice to meet you guys." i let out a small laugh just to feel less awkward.

we talked for a while. as time goes on, people started to coming into the room. i look the clock on the wall, its 8.48am, just a few minutes until the practice start.

i glanced at everyone in the room, there is a total of 6 people. all girls. and as i expected, im the shortest among them. my self esteem decrease rapidly as i stare at them one by one. looking on how long and skinny their legs are, how silky their hair looks.

me, having a chance to be here is a goddamn miracle.

its about 9.05 when the coach is finally enter the practice room. we talk about a few basics, rules, how to maintain a good posture, walking technique, and a lot of streching.

coach divided us into 3 groups, based on the things we need to work on. me and a really tall and tan girl name park soora partner up. we need to fix our back posture since its a little bit slouching. the coach -which i learn later that her name is lia- tied our arms onto our back. pushing our chest forward and straightening our back.

and then she teach us to do a proper walking while our hands still tied on the back.

we fucking did that for 2 hours.

but im not gonna lie, my back feels a lot better. but only my arms are sore.

in the end of the practice, coach lia reminding us to stick on our diet plan and not ruining them. after that, she just gone out the door.

im about to pack my things up and put on my hoodie when riel and leah ask if i want to join them for lunch. i said yes, remembering this is a good opportunity for me to branch out and actually socializing with real people.

we were on our way to go out of the building when riel says she needs to go to the bathroom. so me and leah waited outside the building, looking at busy streets of seoul.

and suddenly a familiar tall figure catches my eye. he's wearing a tucked-in shirt and a jeans, with black cap and mask that covering his face. and behind him there's a shorter guy wearing beanie.

i think i know those guys somewhere..

riel exited the building and we continue our walk to the nearest restaurant. after finishing our lunch, riel going heading back to her apartment, and leah is off to her singing lesson.

i took a walk near the restaurant and discover a bookstore. its 12.30, half an hour till my shift at a convenience store started, so i decided to enter the bookstore for some books to read at home.

a disadvantage of being short, is you cant reach to the upper part of the bookshelf. as cliche as it sounds, but thats true. i tried so hard to reach the higher self to get the book when a really long arm grab that book with such an ease.

wait, its the black cap guy i saw earlier. he handed the book to me.

i was about to say thankyou when a sudden realization hits me.

now i know why he looks so familiar, he's fucking kim mingyu from seventeen.

act normal.

act like you dont know who he is.

dont say anything stu-

"thanks, mingyu."

what in the world did i just say.