Hyunjin POV:

I stared up at the building, admiring how the sunlight reflected rainbows off the glass windows before hesitantly stepping inside the JYP building. As I glanced around, I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket and sent a quick text to Chan to let him know I had finally arrived.

Chan decided a few months ago that I should meet the others he had selected to be a part of his group and today happened to be the day that I was free to meet them. My phone dinged, alerting me that Chan had responded. 'We are on level 7, I will meet you at the elevator'.

My heart began to thump loudly in my ears as I approached the elevator across the room slowly. Chan was excited for us to work towards debuting together. He was eager to debut with a team of nine and listening to him over the phone, I could hear his genuine enthusiasm for this to work out. My chest tightened at that thought. What if things didn't work out? Would Chan be alright? Would we be alright?

Debuting seems like some unattainable dream, so what makes him so sure that we can? I pressed the button to summon the elevator and waited a few seconds before the doors opened and I was able to step inside. I sighed and attempted to clear my mind of stray thoughts as the elevator ascended.

A loud ding signaled that I was on the level where Chan and the others were waiting. I stepped out into the hallway and was immediately greeted by pleasant laughter off to my right. I turned around and looked for the source of the melodic sound and spotted two boys goofing around with each other. The taller boy was wrestling the shorter boy for a cup of instant ramen while laughing loudly. I watched silently as the shorter one wiggled out of his grip and ran down the hall towards me. His facial features somehow reminded me of a cute squirrel. The squirrel boy laughed as he looked over his shoulder at the taller boy who had started to chase after him. When he looked forward, our eyes met and he came to a halt barely a metre away from me.

I felt uncomfortable as his brown eyes stared into mine with an undecipherable expression. The other boy slowed beside him but took advantage of his distracted friend and quickly snatched the ramen from the boy and bolted away. "Hey!" The short boy whirled around and was about chase after the other, his dark brown hair bouncing freely in eagerness to race after the thief, when Chan suddenly appeared, a large grin splitting his face.

"Hyunjin! I am so glad you could make it! It has been too long since we have seen each other," Chan strode towards me and tightly hugged me. He was a bit shorter than me and I could have easily pushed him away, as I would have done to anyone else, but he is not just anyone else.

"Channie hyung," I exclaimed, my excitement and relief washed over me in a crashing wave at the sight and touch of him, leaving me breathless. I embraced him just as tightly. "I've missed you."

"I have missed you too, Jinnie. How are your parents and Kkami?" Chan pulled away from me still smiling like the big goofball that he is. His voice was smooth and calming, and the way he spoke with lighthearted joy made me feel as if it had been a mere 5 days since I had last seen him, instead of 5 years.

"They're good, hyung. How are you?" I smiled at him as he responded energetically, his eyes crinkling into crescents as his excitement intensified.

"Great now that you are here, Jinnie! I want to introduce you to the others now, come on." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the squirrel looking boy who was staring at us with a confused expression. "This is Han Jisung. I told you about him a few months ago. Although, I don't know if you remember that." The boy, Jisung, was now glaring at Chan in annoyance. I don't know why he was annoyed but I decided to ignore it and quickly cast my mind back to previous conversations with Chan and vaguely remembered a Han Jisung. I bowed as I introduced myself to the boy whom I remembered Chan had nothing but high praises for.

"Hi, my name is Hwang Hyunjin. It's nice to meet you," I glanced up at the boy who was now just staring down at me until I straightened my back and he was forced to tilt his head slightly. Chan coughed and Jisung sighed heavily, his shoulders tense as he bowed respectfully.

"Hi, Hyunjin," I watched as he straightened his posture and glanced at Chan. "I will go get Minho. He ran off with my ramen." While he walked away I turned to Chan and caught a glimpse of frustration glinting in his eyes before he blinked it away and met my stare. He smiled at me before gesturing for me to follow him.

We entered a dance practice room and my breath caught in my throat at the sight of the five people inside the room. They were sitting huddled together on the floor watching a video on someone's phone. No one looked up as we entered, but I felt my anxiety bubbling in the pit of my stomach, especially as Chan grabbed everyone's attention by clapping his hands together and announcing my presence loudly.

"Hey, losers! I want you all to meet Hwang Hyunjin. He will be joining us," In that moment, as multiple sets of eyes landed on me, I wanted nothing more than to hide. I was usually pretty confident around people, but these were people I, if everything goes how Chan wants it to, will be around 24/7 for several years. I can't afford to mess up. I bowed and smiled, although somewhat tensely, at them, already anticipating comments about my looks and how I was definitely going to be just a visual. However, how they responded was with enthusiasm and by jumping up and rushing towards me. It was a chaotic mess as they pushed each other down, held each other back, and tripped one another while laughing.

I smiled at the boy who managed to excitedly skid to a stop right before crashing into me, the others not far behind him. He smiled and I saw he was wearing braces. 'Gosh this kid is cute' I thought to myself as he bowed and introduced himself as the maknae. "Hi, Hyunjin hyung! I am excited to get to know you. My name is Yang Jeongin. I am the youngest." I bowed and grinned at the cutie. I couldn't wait to get to know him.

"Hi, Jeongin. I am excited to get to know you too," He nodded and moved next to me so that the next member could introduce himself. I exhaled in relief. That wasn't so bad. I can do this. As the next person bowed, I recognised him from a picture Chan had showed me last month. "Woojin hyung?" I accidentally asked aloud. My lungs deflated in defeat as he straightened and stared at me in confusion.

"Yes. How did you know?" I tried to ignore the heat in my cheeks while several pairs of eyes watched me, confusion written all over their faces and replied.

"Channie hyung showed me a picture a while ago of you and him while you were out shopping," I laughed nervously as I glanced at Chan who was wearing thoughtful expression. I looked down and played with my fingers nervously. This was not how I wanted things to go. Anxiety picked at my insides restlessly as an awkward silence filled the room. After a few seconds, which felt like several minutes, I managed to convince myself to, at least, glance up at Woojin. I jumped, startled as Chan's low thoughtful voice disturbed the quiet suddenly.

"It's true. I sent him a picture of us at the mall that day we ran out of chicken," Woojin nodded and then grinned while slinging an arm over my shoulder and pushing Jeongin away with his hip in a single fluid motion that seemed too graceful to be humanly possible.

"Nice to meet you Hyunjin. What is your opinion on chicken?"

"Don't answer that!" Chan chuckled as he pulled – more like dragged – Woojin away from me. I looked between them in confusion and glanced at Jeongin for an explanation. He shook his head, a knowing smile curving his lips delicately in a youthful way. After a moment, I shrugged, deciding that it must be an inside joke no one wanted to explain to the newcomer.

I maintained an appearance of nonchalance as best as I could while grey tinged thoughts skipped gleefully into the forefront of my mind. I tried to stave off the thoughts that so easily came tumbling in through the holes in my defenses by focusing on others things, but I couldn't. The thoughts whirled tauntingly through my mind. They don't want me here. These boys have known each other for months and will have tonnes of inside jokes, I am joining too late. They won't ever want to share them with me because I am just a visual – they think I won't understand their jokes.

Thought after thought jeered at me, reminding me of how truly pathetic I was, while the anxiety tore into my stomach, shredding it like paper. Why did I even consider this? I may put in as much, if not more, hard work as the rest of them, but they will never believe that. No one will. No one will ever want me for nothing more than my looks. Why am I here? Why can't they just explain it to me? Why can't they just tell me why I shouldn't answer Woojin's question? I just want these thoughts to go away. I want to think normally. Not with all of these thoughts berating me about my mistakes and worthlessness 24/7.

Plastering on a learnt smile, I faced the next member and was genuinely surprised as I noticed freckles peppering his nose and cheeks prettily. "Oh! That's Felix. He is still practicing Korean, so please be patient if he takes a while to understand you or respond, Jinnie," Chan's voice caught my attention and I glanced at him at the same time as the boy named Felix did, possibly recognising his name. Our eyes met as we looked back at each other and he glanced away quickly, nervously, before bowing quickly and speaking. I blinked in shock as his deep voice rumbled through his accented words. It seemed out of place on such a sweet looking person.

"Hi, Hyunjin hyung?" His addition of an honorific seemed to be followed by a question mark as his intonation rose in the way native English speakers generally do when asking a question, and he glanced at Chan for what I assumed to be confirmation that I was older than him. Chan must have nodded because Felix visibly relaxed and continued. "My name is Lee Felix. It is nice to meet you."

"Hi, Felix. It is nice to meet you too. By the way," I reached out and touched his arm as he went to walk away. My brain instantly screamed at me. What was I doing? Why was I touching him? What if he didn't want me to touch him? A disgusting, pathetic thing like me... I wouldn't want someone like me to touch me. I forced out a bright smile as I completed my offer to him. "If you ever need any help with Korean I am happy to help you." He nodded and thanked me before moving towards Chan. Angry thoughts stomped through my mind as I turned towards the next person. Why did I do that? I scoffed inwardly at the incessant nagging from my own thoughts. What does it matter? He won't come to me for help with his Korean anyway. The angry thoughts and nagging anxiety slithered away as a wave of frustration and self-loathing swept them back to their dark corners. I focused my attention outward as another member stepped forward and bowed.

"Hi, Hyunjin. The name's Seo Changbin, but everyone calls me The Prince of Dark." He grinned while the others groaned. A flicker of recognition jumpstarted in the back of my mind, but I couldn't work out why.

"Don't call him that," Chan sighed, frustrated. "Literally no one calls him that." I smiled at Chan and nodded, feigning understanding. This was familiar ground. Chan's tone and stance was one of pretense. He wasn't actually annoyed by Changbin's self-given title, he found it amusing but was playing with the other. A glance between the two and I discerned that they both knew that this was just skit they both shared. Jealousy tugged at my chest harshly before disappearing. Chan and I used to be like this, constantly communicating through skits and inside jokes. I ignored the sharp tug as I began to wonder what the backstory was for the skit. I shook my head with a small smile. Why was I jealous? I had just been given the perfect opportunity to assimilate into a new skit afterall. I could bounce off whatever skit Chan and Changbin shared to include myself.

I bowed and tried to keep a neutral expression to hide my smirk. "Hi, The Prince of Dark, it is nice to meet you." Chan groaned despite the small smile fighting to break past his feigned disappointment. Changbin laughed gleefully and ran over to him gloatingly, dancing cutely, a complete contrast to his supposed title. The inkling of familiarity with Changbin's name popped into my head before I could turn to the next member. Recognition danced brightly through my brain with a rush of happiness that I had worked out why his name sounded so familiar. I almost laughed aloud as I remembered the conversation with Chan two years ago; where he had subtly announced that he and two others (Han Jisung and Seo Changbin) were in a group called 3RACHA. I hadn't thought too much of it back then, and Chan never mentioned Changbin or 3RACHA again except for once a few months later when he briefly brushed over the topic during a discussion about producing music.

The next member gave me a small, shy smile and introduced himself. "Hi, Hyunjin hyung, my name is Kim Seungmin. I hope we get along well."

"I hope so too, Seungmin." I smiled at him and was about to say something, when two bickering boys entered the room looking slightly disheveled and out of breath.

"I can't believe you ate it all, you pig!" Jisung yelled while hitting the other over the head. The boy laughed and ducked as Jisung went to keep hitting him.

"It isn't my fault. It begged me to eat it all!" Jisung snorted at the other boy's exclamation and shoved him away.

"Whatever you say, you delusional rat." The taller boy, unaffected by the insult, sniggered as he glanced around the room. His smile was bright as his keen eyes landed on me. An involuntary shiver tingled up my spine as his brown eyes met mine. There was something about his stare that screamed perceptive and it was perturbing to feel so exposed, to feel like an open book.

"You must be Hyunjin. Chan was super excited when you agreed to join us," I glanced at Chan who was staring at his feet, a faint blush colouring his cheeks. He was excited for me to join them? Does he think that I am good enough to debut? An overwhelming suffocating feeling pressed against my chest until I was forced to shallow my breathing. If Chan thinks that I can debut with him, then I must work even harder to make it happen. I cannot disappoint him. Not again... My attention snapped back to the brunette before me as he continued to introduce himself. I found myself floundering in his perceptive gaze as his eyes observed me attentively. "I am Lee Minho," The brunette hugged me. I blinked in surprise. I found I was unable to move- I was frozen in place as frenzied thoughts whizzed through my mind like racecars racing to the finish line. Why was Minho greeting me as if we had known each other for years? Did he just want to touch me because of how I look? Was he just like everyone else? In my panicked state, my attention was placed solely on Minho and how his arms wrapped around my body easily and gently in a friendly manner. I missed the tension in Chan's shoulders as he observed our interaction. I missed the wary stare he placed heavily upon Minho's casual touchy demeanour.

"You look like a good dancer, are you?" he asked as he pulled away. Relief spread through me. No. Of course he wasn't like everyone else. He just must like skinship. I grinned at him and nodded eagerly, pushing aside my previous concerns.

"Yes, Minho hyung."

"We should have a dance battle and see who is better. The Visual or the Cat," I flinched. He was just like everyone else then. Fear rang through my entire body and I tensed. Before I could become submerged by anxiety, my attention was snagged by the sudden lack of constant mumbled chatter that had persisted throughout the introductions. I glanced around, saw that the other boys were completely silent, and were seemingly frozen, their uncertain gazes locked on both Minho and I. I met Chan's concerned gaze and I understood why no one had brought it up before. Chan had told them not to because he knew I wasn't fond of being referred to as a visual. Minho ignored the tension blanketing he room and slung an arm over my shoulder before whispering in my ear. A casual movement followed by an intimate action. My brain short-circuited in response to the confusing situation. I shuddered as the brunette's warm breath curled softly around my ear. Was Minho a bad person or not? Why was he behaving so casually and yet so intimately? My wide eyes flickered to Chan instinctively. He met my stare with a gaze muddled with too many emotions to decipher.

"If it's worth anything, even though we just met, I think you have more character than people give you credit for. I see past the face, Jinnie," He pulled away from me and stepped back. I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my lips. I met Minho's understanding stare as I finally discerned that Minho was definitely not a bad person. The gratitude and relief, as well as surprise must have shown on my face because Minho smiled cutely, his kind brown eyes conveying a 'you're welcome'. It meant a lot. Knowing that he genuinely saw past what everyone called my pretty face and actually saw me was the greatest feeling I had ever experienced. I found myself eager to hang out with Minho as much as possible.

Everyone visibly relaxed after seeing me smile and began talking again. As Minho walked off towards Changbin, I glanced at Jisung who still had not moved from his position near the door, where he stopped when Minho began to introduce himself. He had the same undecipherable expression on his face as when we were in the hallway. His expression morphed into one of slight disgust as he glanced at Minho and then back at me before he stalked out of the room.

That's when I deciphered his expression. It was hate. Hate for me.

Hey readers! I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of Chapter 1. The second part will include Jisung's pov on these events. Also, let's discuss Side Effects! I was bias wrecked every damn second of that song. Were you?