1 – Dreams Come True

 

“Everyone, come together. I’d like to introduce someone.”

Her heart was beating fast, her knees a bit wobbly, and her hands were clammy and cold. As the mass of people closed into the space in front of them, what seemed like thousands of unsure gazes were penetrating her body. Even though she had already met some of the people, like the girls she had been put into a group with, this was still a little scary for her.

“Everyone, this is Stephanie. She’s our newest addition to the SM Entertainment company. Please treat her well.” The manager said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“Introduce yourself” He whispered.

Stephanie tried to remember everything she had been studying on the plane ride to Korea. Her family had moved to the states when she was young so her Korean was not up to par with everyone else.

“Hello. My name is Stephanie. I’m 18 years old and I specialize in dancing. It’s nice to meet all of you. I will work to the best of my abilities.” She said quickly, while she bowed.

“She speaks so politely!” said a soft voice from the back.

A tall, caramel haired boy stepped out of the group. His clothes seemed loose and his steps were light. Stephanie looked at his face and was a bit intimidated by his current expression.

“What’s with the accent?”

The manager stepped up in between the two and straightened his jacket.
“Oh, I forgot to mention that. Stephanie is from the States. She understands Korean but she’s still learning how to speak it, so be patient with her, ok?”

The tall boy nodded and placed his hand on her shoulder. His grip was light and Stephanie could feel her face getting hot.

“It’s cute anyway…” he said in Korean. He cleared his throat and stuck out his hand. “Um….Hi…My name is Micky. Nice to meet you.” He said in English.

Stephanie’s eyes widened a bit as she shook his hand. “You speak English? Does everyone?”

Micky laughed, “No. Me and that guy over there are the only ones that speak it.” He said pointing over to a big group of guys near the back.

The manager touched Stephanie’s elbow and leaned into her.
“Just mingle for now, I’ll be back in 15 minutes and we’re going to start working on a song then. Have fun and relax, ok?”

“Yeah…” Stephanie said. She turned her attention back to Micky. She’d forgotten where he pointed so she just picked a person to ask about.

“The one with poofy blonde hair?” She asked, feeling a little relieved that she wasn’t completely unable to communicate with everyone.

Micky laughed again, “Nah. His English consists of ‘You are so gorgeous’ and ‘Nice weather.’ The guy next to him with short black hair.”

Stephanie saw him. He looked like he was just taller than her and they appeared to be the same age.

“Kibum ah~ Come here.” Micky shouted.

Kibum patted someone on the back and then jogged over to the new girl.
Micky looked at both of them smiling, “Kibum, introduce yourself.” He requested.
“Alright…Hi.” He laughed because he was a little nervous, being put on the spot. “I’m Kibum. I’m 18 and I’m part of Super Junior.” He pointed back to the big group that he was in.

Stephanie looked at them. “That’s all just one group!?” She asked, surprised.

“Yeah, We are the biggest group around right now. There are 13 of us. We just got a new guy last month. He’s our age…”

Stephanie smiled. “That’s good. Hmmm…Can you excuse me for one second?” She asked.

They both nodded and chatted for a bit before returning to their groups.
Stephanie walked over to the girls she had met earlier, the ones in her group.

“Is everything, ok? Are you still nervous?” The oldest asked. Stephanie searched her brain for a second and remembered her name.

“Yeah, I’m still a little nervous. Lina, Can you show me who everyone is?” Lina smiled and put her arms around Stephanie’s shoulders. She started pointing towards different people.

“Those five guys over there are Dong Bang Shin Ki. You already met Micky, but going in order to his left is Junsu, Changmin, Yunho, and Jaejoong. That girl talk—“
Dana and Sunday cut Lina off and started talking loudly. “Don’t fall for their charm! They’re just players! Keep your distance” They said playfully, making faces at the boys that had overheard them. Stephanie laughed a little and listened as Lina continued.

“As I was saying…that girl talking with them is BoA.” Lina took a step to the side and pointed towards the big group Stephanie saw earlier. “That’s Super Junior. Again, it seems like you already met Kibum” As she said that, Kibum waved at her. She smiled back shyly and waved quickly. Lina chuckled a bit and continued her explination.

“Next to him is Ryeowook, Donghae, and Sungmin. Then the guys behind them are Shindong, Eunhyuk, Eeteuk, Yehsung, Kangin, and Kyuhyun and Heechul. Kyuhyun just joined too, so you guys are pretty similar. Those three off in the corner are Hankyung, Shiwon, and the new Chinese girl Jang Ri In. Hankyung and Jang Ri In are from China and Shiwon speaks Chinese, so don’t expect to catch any of them alone.”

So much just went into Stephanie’s brain that she was beginning to forget it all again. She was about to ask another question when the manager came in.

“Alright everyone, break time is over. Let’s get ready to record this song again.”
Sunday raised her hand and stood on her tippy-toes, “What about Stephanie? She just got here.”

The manager felt proud when he spoke, “She’s been preparing for a while, so she knows the songs. Just help her along with the basics because she’s never recorded before.”

Sunday fell back down to her feet and patted Stephanie on the back, “You sure are good for a newbie. Let’s go.”