Idol Trainee

June 15, 2025

Wing Entertainment

Inside a trainee practice room.

"Five, six, seven, eight!"

"Ahh, Yoo Jay! Do you really want to drag us down?! Why are you so sloppy?! Huh?! If you want to debut, just good looks will not do! Skills and talent are necessary for one to become successful!"

"Look at your batch mates, they are already having their own group yet you, ah, you should've just quitted and go find another job instead of troubling us like this!"

The owners of the complaining voices left grumpily after venting their frustrations.

One man is left alone in the room he is a 20-year-old looking man, the man is handsome and tall, he had short black hair, fair jade-like skin, bright brown eyes, a tall nose, and firm red lips.

The man is heavily breathing but keeps on dancing the same steps, but could not do it smoothly due to the complexity of the move, he seems to be tired as he is heavily breathing and his clothes are soaking wet, but if you look carefully upon his eyes, you could not see tiredness but a steady and firm determination instead.

Strangely, that will to persevere seems to be ineffective, because no matter how hard he danced, his dancing skills didn't improve and it instead seemed to be unattractive when he danced it.

His name is Yoo Jay, he is 24 years old, after graduating from high school he immediately applied to be an idol, he's training for 5 years, and it seems that he had no hopes to debut, due to his inferior talents.

He had below-average dancing skills, his singing voice is average at the very least, yet this did not hinder him to pursue his passion, he persevered day and night for five years, yet he doesn't seem to improve that much.

He wanted to quit and apply for a stable job, but could not do it, as this is what he likes, he expended 5 years of his life on this too, so how could he suddenly quit halfway?

He has a little brother, they are orphans, he's just 5 years old when his parents left them in front of an orphanage, his little brother was just a 10-month-old baby at that time.

He does not have any memory of his parents, it seems to be obscured by heavy fog, maybe it's because he was still young back then, anyway one thing that he knows was that they were left behind by their parents.

His little brother doesn't know and believed that their parents died in a car accident, he felt sorry for lying to his little brother, but he planned to tell the truth after his little brother finished his studies.

He resented his parents for leaving them behind, but he thought that his parents must have a reason. His parents could not have possibly abandoned them without reason right?

"Haa, mom, I, am I really worthless and undeserving of becoming an idol? Just like what the people around me have said?" he sighed while rubbing a silver ring.

His memory of his parents surfaced in his mind, they appeared vague, but he still remembered the warmth that his parents had.

This silver ring is the only memento that his parents left behind for him, he always had it on him, hoping that his parents might find him if they found this ring on him.

He waited for 19 years, but his parents did not even come back to the orphanage. He was sad and disappointed, but he left those negative emotions behind and kept moving forward.

"I can do this!" he slapped his cheeks hard then stood up.

He exited the room to head downstairs to eat something, while heading downstairs, he attracted countless eyes, these gazes were not admiring him but were gazes that were filled with scorn and ridicule.

"Look, it's the famous pretty boy of the idol department, hehe~"

"Yes, I heard that he is untalented and had been a trainee for 5 years yet he still had the face to stay, how shameless can he be? He's like 24 right?"

"Yes, idols usually retire at the age of 30 or so, if he could manage to debut this year, he would have at most 6 years of time or something."

"What a waste, he looks handsome, so he might as well become an escort, hahaha"

He knows that he has already missed the golden age to debut but what can crying do about it?

They said that 13 years old was the optimal age to train and they would then debut by the age of 18 if they have outstanding performance, but at the age of 13, Jay was still at his school studying.

He headed downstairs and couldn't help but think that instead of wasting their time gossiping about another person's life, they should've spent their precious time in practice instead.

Just as Jay came out of the stairs, his vision suddenly darkened. He didn't faint, it's because someone had covered his eyes intentionally and he already knew who that someone was.

"Moon..." he said then smacked his lips.

He reached towards the hands that covered his vision and remove them from his face. He frowned a bit when he felt that the hands were not budging even an inch and he had no choice but to resort to violence.

Jay raised his hand and whipped his elbow behind him. He heard a pained groan behind him and his eyes recovered their lost vision as well. The elbow was effective and he couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Ah! Jay! That hurts like hell!" Moon's aggrieved voice sounded behind him.

He turned around to face his best friend. Lee Moon, 20 years old, had short blonde dyed hair and was slightly taller than Jay but only fell short in handsomeness in front of Jay.

Though it could be said that Moon had a unique cheerful charm on him that made him seem approachable while Jay had a cold and distant aura that makes people reluctant to approach him.

Moon latched his arms around Jay's neck and started to blabber.

"Jay, where are we going? Let's go to the cafeteria! I'm hella hungry right now."

"... okay, let's go together then," Jay nodded as he didn't have the heart to refuse the constant pestering of his friend.

They headed towards the cafeteria together while talking.

"Oh, right. What did you guys do? I heard your debut is next month, are you doing well?"

"Yes, we were practicing our dance, and it's almost done, then we will film for our music video after that." Young Woo said gleefully.

"Oh, I see," he replied awkwardly.

"Yes, it's really exhausting you know. We recorded, we had a photo shoot, then this hell-like choreography. There's still the music video! Ah! So frustrating!" Moon sighed mournfully.

He seems to be imagining the things that he had gone through the past 2 months because his body shivered occasionally.

"Oh, I see," he replied absentmindedly.

"Jay, what's wrong? Are you not feeling well?" Moon asked upon seeing him being unfocused.

"Oh, I'm okay, I'm not feeling sick or anything," he assured his friend beside him.

"Really? Are you really worried about not being able to debut?" Moon asked with concern on his face.

"Oh, I'm not worried about that. I was just thinking about something," he replied awkwardly.

This friend of his is really sharp, he could not help but sigh, it seems that he could really not hide anything from his friend.

"Jay, I know you, you don't need to lie, anyway, I am sure that you are going to debut this year," Moon assured him.

He knows that Moon was just comforting him, but he could not help but ask.

"Oh, why are you so sure?" he asked.

Moon then suddenly become so serious, he looked left and right, then cautiously leaned on his ear to whisper something.

"I heard that the higher-ups were planning to create a 7-man boy group," Moon whispered.

Jay, seriously looked at Moon, he could see that Moon is genuinely worried about him, though he doesn't know whether this is the truth or not, but he was touched by this and felt warm inside.

This best friend of his really is dependable, he was friends with this guy since middle school, they both wanted to become an idol so they applied and was accepted together.

His best friend is good looking, as well as talented, he can dance really well, his voice is very good too.

The comparison between them is really great, he's not bitter about it as they were good friends, to begin with.

Moon, upon seeing Jay look serious, sighed in relief, he was really worried that his best friend might do something stupid, but seeing him being this serious, he was instantly assured.

"Moon, is what you said true?" Jay asked seriously.

He knows that his best friend is worrying about not being able to debut, so he gathered news for his best friend despite him being extremely busy, then he found this piece of news.

He was really glad when he received the news, and thought that his best friend will be able to debut this year too.

"Yes. I heard the six members were already taken, with the last spot remaining, the spot is reserved for the visual of the group," he whispered.

"As you already know, everyone here is good-looking, but there are very few that could be called a 'true visual', one is me, while the other one is you, and the other one is a senior, the visual of our agency. You will be chosen this time for sure, as you are the true visual remaining in the agency that's not part of a group." he continued.

"Moon, do you really think so?" Jay asked nervously.

Jay looks excited as well, it seems that this news brought him hope of becoming an idol.

"Yes, so you do not need to worry about not being able to debut anymore, and you could now focus wholeheartedly on training, I will be cheering on you," he assured and cheered Jay.

They stopped talking as they already arrived in front of the agency's cafeteria.

Jay, after entering the cafeteria, the initially bustling cafeteria gradually turned silent, he then looked at Moon.

"This is why I don't want to bring you with me when I eat here, sigh," he said to Moon beside him.

"Ahh, haha, it's not my fault to be this handsome you know, haha." Moon awkwardly avoided his eyes.

"I'll order, hehe, my treat," Moon said.

Jay could only sigh and roll his eyes helplessly.

"Okay, you already know what I want to eat anyway, so I'll look for a table for us to eat then.." he answered then left to look for a table.