The staff were zipping around the hall, doing about their own businesses. They didn't even notice Tony and I. Samuel walked in front of us so we can follow him, the staff bowed to him in respect but didn't spare us a glance. Not that I was complaining.

There were two sets of elevators. One was silver, one was gold. The staff cramped inside the silver one but Samuel les us to the golden one and swiped a card on the side. The doors opened with a ding.

I was about to ask why we were using the V.I.P. elevator instead of the common one when I remembered that Samuel was the owner of the company.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned on the metal wall, "You'll meet my assistant first. She'll lead you to the salon so you can have your hair and make-up done. You'll be having an interview after so it would seem like you're not different from the other members. I'll take care of your processing data. You should expect a busy schedule from now on."

"I'm used to busy schedules," Tony said.

Samuel rolled his eyes, "You should forget your old life now. Build a new one."

My heart felt a pang when he said 'old life'. I wanted to believe that this was temporary.

An uncomfortable silence settled in. I stared at the screen that said 14, 15, 16, every time it made a ding. I remembered from before that his office was at the topmost floor—the 20th floor. 4 floors left.

I decided to forget about my recent predicament and focus on my life today. I was curious about who I was going to be with as long as I was in this situation. Would they be nice? Or would they not?

Not once in my life have I thought about being an idol. A famous ballerina, sure, but not an idol. I'd have to improve my stamina a lot more since I'd be singing while dancing. Also, the genre wasn't anything like I've been dancing. I might need to practice a lot harder.

How should I introduce myself? What name should I use?

"Samuel," I called, "If we're supposed to hide our identities, what name should we use?"

Samuel hummed, "Maybe . . . Sophie Reese for the lady and Haris Farrow for the prince."

"You need to provide us our backgrounds so our stories match," Tony stated.

"How about you create your own?" Samuel asked. He snapped his fingers and smiled, "That's it! Your first assignment. Send me a 3 page report of your background. It's due the day after tomorrow. You will be provided with your own rooms and other necessities like a laptop. Use the laptop and just send the report to me via e-mail and please, don't search the internet for the report."

My jaw dropped, "You're expecting me to create a 3-page report on my background?"

Samuel shrugged, "If I didn't need it as soon as possible, I would've required you to send a 6-page report."

I groaned, "What is this? A school?"

"I don't see why you're complaining, Dee," Tony said, "3 pages is reasonable for a background story."

I looked at him incredulously, "Reasonable?" I asked, "I could fit it all in just one page! It's just a background!"

"Font should be Times New Roman, font size is 12, alignment is justified. First line should be indented. Apply proper punctuation and capitalization, and of course, grammar should always be correct," Samuel stated, "the title shouldn't be made larger than the body. That would be cheating. Also, only four spaces is in between the title and the body."

I put a hand in my head and rubbed circles on my temples, "I wasn't informed you were a teacher."

"We're here!" Samuel exclaimed as the doors of the elevator opened, revealing the same office I saw before.

His assistant was at her table looking at files and checking her computer.

"Denisse," Samuel called.

The girl looked up from the document in her hands and stared at Samuel before saying, "Yes, sir?"

Samuel motioned to us, "These two are new members of the two new groups. Lead them to the salon and get their hair and make-up done. I want them to choose their own color. After that, assist them to the dance studio to meet their teammates. Let them choose their stage names. After that, come back to the office. We have work to do."

Denisse nodded and rose from her swivel chair, "This way, please."

Samuel gave as an encouraging nod—although it did nothing to encourage us—and motioned to follow his assistance. I took a deep breath and followed the woman back to the elevator.

This is it. I'm starting a new life.

We entered the silver elevator which was less majestic than the golden one. It was a regular elevator but there were no people inside except for us unlike earlier which was crowded.

Denisse didn't talk to us on the trip. She just stared blankly in front and didn't pay us any attention.

I looked at Tony questioningly when I felt his hand wrap around my own. I raised an eyebrow that was translated as 'are you okay?'

He just smiled and nodded which was translated as 'yeah, I am. I just want to hold your hand'

We reached the sixteenth floor where the supposed spa was located. I expected a cheap salon but what I saw amazed me. It was like a giant spa put into a single enormous floor. The place smelled of a pleasing ocean scent mixed with flowers. There were other artists inside making themselves pretty. I didn't know them. I wasn't a fan of pop music. I was more into classical music so these people seemed ordinary to me. The girls looked like Beatrice and Margarette having their nails manicured. The usual witchy attitude. The men were having their hairs styled. The staff were dressed in uniform, wearing white skirts and blouses with a colorful cloth tied on their necks. Their hairs were styled in a low side bun and they wore white platform heels.

Without further notice, Denisse walked out of the elevator and started to walk to one of the chairs. Seriously, I can't take my eyes off of her for even 1 second otherwise I'd be completely lost.

Tony and I followed her to one of the staff. There were three girls gossiping there. Their hairs were untied unlike what they should have been.

"Yeah so I heard that Derek was going to be the main singer," the first girl said.

"Really? Oh my god! I'm sure they'll be really popular! With his handsome face? God! They're obviously going to be the best!" Another girl exclaimed.

"I know right? Oh and that other group? The one with the girls?" The third girl asked.

"Which one?" The first girl asked.

"The one with Miss Ayumi," the girl replied, "they are like the girl counterparts of the Erotes."

Denisse cleared her throat, "Why are you not in your proper uniforms?"

The three girls stared in shock at the girl in front of me. They bowed to her and muttered their apologies.

Denisse waved them off, "These are new trainees for the Muses and the Erotes. Give them a makeover then maybe I will forgive you."

The three girls bowed again as Denisse left. The first girl made me sit down on a fancy chair as she tended to my hair.

"What color would you like, miss?" She asked.

"Oh um, can you make it an ombre style of violet to pink to gray? And please, call me Sophie," I said.

The girl nodded, "Would you like us to straighten your hair, Miss Sophie?"

"Um, no. And I told you to call me Sophie. What's your name by the way?"

"Yana," she answered, "And I can not call you by your name only, Miss."

I nodded in understanding, "Can you tell me about the Erotes and the other group with that girl Ayumi?"

I saw Yana smile through the mirror, "I'd be glad to, Miss Sophie. Let's start with the Sirens so we can save the best for last."

I nodded as she started working on my hair.

"First of all, the Sirens is a group of three girls. Miss Ayumi, Charmaine, and Vannessa. They haven't debuted yet but they already have a lot of fans. They're often compared to the biggest artists in the industry. Miss Charmaine is the oldest and the leader of the group. She's the lead vocalist of the group. Miss Vannessa is the lead dancer and a sub vocal. Miss Ayumi is the youngest and is the main singer and main dancer of the group. She is very talented. She can act and model. I heard she entered the selection but didn't get picked."

"From what state was she?" I asked.

"From here, Angeles." She replied.

I pursed my lips and nodded. I knew I was the reason why she wasn't picked.

"They are set to debut next week before the Erotes. The Erotes is composed of three members too--well, now there are four if you include your friend. The leader is Derek or Eros if you want to know his stage name. He's the main vocal and the most handsome member of the group. He's always being shipped with Ayumi. The second member is Hudson. He's the main dancer and his stage name is Himeros. The third member is Damien. He's a rapper and and he's Pothos. If your friend will join the group, I guess his stage name would be Anteros."

"How do you know that?" I asked her.

"Miss Sophie, the Erotes are the gods of love and pleasure in greek mythology. You can search the internet and learn that their stage names were based on those gods."

I raised an eyebrow, "So that's why their stage names were so bizzare. What do they mean?"

"Eros is the god of love. I'm sure you know him. Himeros is the god of pleasure. Pothos is the god of passion. Anteros is the god of love reciprocated or mutual love."

"How do you know so much about them?" I asked, "I mean, they haven't debuted yet, right?"

Through the mirror, I saw her nod, "They have not but that does not restrain me from researching them."

I nodded in understanding, "It seems to me that you're a die-hard fan."

She smiled, "I certainly am, Miss."

The rest of the time I was there, I was asleep. I hadn't realized I was tired until my eyes got heavier and heavier and eventually, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, my hair was new and trimmed. My make-up was done and I looked absolutely gorgeous. I never admit to myself that I look pretty but this time is an exception.

My hair complimented my pink hoodie and it added to the look. Yana must have seen my awe from the mirror. She smiled widely and said, "I'm glad you liked it, Miss."

"Who wouldn't?" I asked, "It's fantastic!"

I rose from my seat and stared at myself in the mirror. I might be able to pass as another person with this. I loved my new hair but I'll miss my blonde curls. From behind me, I heard someone whistle.

When I looked back, I saw a boy with silver hair. His hair was swept to the side in a bad boy kind of way. My jaw dropped, he was that handsome. To think that I'd be in the same company as a lot of handsome artists, maybe my jaw would be dislocated from my head from to much awe.

I looked at the boy in front of me from head to toe. He was wearing a blue hoodie and some jeans, like mine.

If possible, my eyes grew more wide and my jaw dropped even lower, "T-Tony?"

He raised his eyebrow, "I believe you're mistaking me for someone else, Miss Sophie. I am Haris Farrow, a new trainee at this company."

I rolled my eyes. Right, we changed our names. "Nice to meet you, Sir Haris. I too am a trainee here."

"So what now?" Haris asked, "do we wait for Denisse or do we do what we want to?"

"Let's wait for Denisse, we might get lost in here," I replied, "she should be here anytime now."

Tony sighed, "But I wanted to look around and get familiar with this place."

"We'll have a tour sooner or later," I assured him, "but right now isn't the time. I think Samuel said that after getting a makeover, we're going to meet our groupmates."

Tony sighed and shoved his hands inside his hoodie's jacket, "I heard a lot of things about my teammates."

"At least you heard something about them. I never heard of anything about mine."

He shook his head, "I wish I hadn't. It put me on a lot of pressure when I learned about them. Apparently, their debut is nesr so I have to work double time to catch up. Thankfully though, they haven't shot their music video yet. But on the other side, they've recorded the song already. I don't know how this is going to work but I'll leave Samuel to work on it."

I nodded, "Maybe he'll just make you guys record another but with you in it. They have to adjust for you."

"That's the point. I don't want them to adjust. If anything, I should be the one to adjust. I was the one who was entered into their group late so they shouldn't do things for me. I should do things to make the team feel like I deserve to be with them."

I sighed and held his shoulders. I looked him in the eyes before saying, "Tony, you don't need to please everyone. You're correct when you said that they shouldn't sacrifice a lot of their effort on you. But you're also wrong when you said that they shouldn't adjust. This is a team. Everyone needs to contribute something to make it work. Besides, thay have no choice but to let you in. You've been handpicked by their boss."

He smiled and removed my hands from his shoulders and squeezed them tightly, "You're right, but I still want to prove myself worthy."

I shrugged, "God knows I tried."

"Do you know another thing God knows?" He asked.

"What?"

"Denisse is approaching and she's going to be suspicious about us holding hands."