At six o'clock in the morning, before the alarm clock rang, Ouyang Guang opened his eyes.

A glimmer of light came through the gap in the dormitory curtains. He stared at the unfamiliar ceiling for three seconds before realizing where he was. When he turned over and got up, he felt a soreness in his thigh muscles - the sequelae of stretching his legs yesterday. He washed up quietly and took out his sportswear from his suitcase and put it on.

At half past six, Ouyang Guang walked out of the dormitory building. Following the instructions on the map on his phone, he jogged towards the nearby department store. There were few people on the street, and occasionally an elderly person doing morning exercises passed by him.

After passing the department store, he randomly found a sports brand store. In the window were displayed dancing shoes of various colors, with prices ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 South Korean dollars.

The clerk was a young girl with a ponytail, who was tidying up the shelves. Seeing Ou Yangguang standing at the door, she walked over quickly to open the door.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The girl's voice was clear and pleasant.

"Please give me a pair of soft-soled dancing shoes, size 40." Ouyang Guang nodded.

The girl took several different styles of dance shoes from the shelf: "These are professional styles, and many trainees wear them. This one has good support, and this one focuses more on flexibility..."

Ouyangguang tried on a pair of pure black shoes. The soles were as soft as the first layer of skin, and the wrapping feeling was just right. He stood up and walked a few steps, and did a few simple dance moves. The shoes fit his feet as if they were tailor-made.

"I want this pair." He took out his wallet.

The girl packed the shoes skillfully and suddenly lowered her voice: "You are SM's new trainee, right? Everyone on the forum was talking about you last night."

"Wow! She's absolutely a national treasure level beauty!"

Ouyang Guang paused: "What are you discussing?"

"I heard that you were signed by Director Jin and didn't even have to take the initial interview." The girl blinked, "But don't worry, there are new gossips like this every day."

After paying, Ouyangguang stuffed his new dancing shoes into his backpack and bought some milk bread for breakfast. Seeing that his Korean was awkward, the clerk slowed down her speech: "Five...thousand...Korean...㨾."

As he walked out of the department store while chewing on a piece of bread, Ouyang Guang glanced at the time - it was almost eight o'clock. He decided to go back to the company and get familiar with the new shoes before class.

The company building was already bustling with activity. In the elevator, several girls in practice uniforms looked at him secretly and whispered something. Ouyang Guang pretended not to hear and stared at the elevator button in a daze.

When he opened the door of the D class practice room, he saw someone practicing inside. A girl with a ponytail was stretching in front of the mirror and was visibly stunned when she saw him come in.

"Good morning." Ouyang Guang greeted in Korean.

The girl nodded hesitantly: "I'm Bae Joo-hyun, born in 1991."

"Ouyang Guang, born in 1995."

The two chatted briefly, and Ouyang Guang learned that most people in Class D would practice after the afternoon class, and few people came at 7 a.m. Pei Zhuxuan came early because she had to prepare for the end-of-month assessment.

"End-of-month evaluation?" This was the first time Ouyang Guang heard of this.

"There are assessments at the end of every month. Those with good performance can be promoted to a higher class, while those with poor performance may be eliminated." Bae Joo Hyun lowered her voice, "At least two people leave Class D every month."

Ouyangguang put on the newly bought dance shoes and did some basic movements in front of the mirror. The new shoes were indeed much more flexible than the sneakers she wore yesterday, and she no longer felt sluggish when turning.

At 8:40, Ouyangguang said goodbye to Pei Zhuxuan and went to the vocal music classroom. There were more and more people in the corridor. He noticed that someone was pointing at him and vaguely heard words like "Director Jin" and "make an exception".

The vocal music classroom of Class C was much busier than yesterday. Ouyang Guang walked to his seat in the back row and heard a deliberately low voice as he passed by:

"It's him, the one that Director Jin specially approved for the interview..."

"I heard that he doesn't even have any basic dance skills..."

"Did you read the post last night? Someone said they saw him backstage..."

Ouyang Guang walked to his seat and sat down without changing his expression.

"You are not practicing well. What are you talking about...?" a boy's voice said angrily, and then walked in front of Ou Yangguang.

“It’s okay!”

Ouyang Guang looked at the man in front of him - a standard handsome guy with fair skin, regular features, and about the same height as himself, around 174cm, with crescent-shaped eyes when he smiled.

"Hello! I'm Kim Junmyeon from Class B, born in 1992." The boy said in a friendly tone, "You are the new trainee from Country Z, right?"

"Ouyangguang, born in 1995." Ouyangguang responded politely.

"I heard you're very entertaining?" Jin Junmyeon's eyes sparkled. "I just wanted to get to know you and say hello."

This simple greeting surprised Ouyangguang. He noticed that Kim Junmyeon's eyes were sincere, which was different from the inquiring eyes of other trainees.

"Thank you, I just arrived and I still have a lot to learn." Ouyang Guang replied.

After chatting for a while, Kim Junmyeon returned to Class B classroom.

Teacher Park walked into the classroom on time and clapped his hands: "Today we will practice vocalization. Everyone will sing a part of the song we learned last week."

When it was Ouyangguang's turn, the classroom suddenly fell silent. He stood up and began to sing the first verse of the Korean song he had learned yesterday. His pronunciation was not standard, but his pitch and breath control were good enough to earn Mr. Park's nod of approval.