Chapter One
The Beginning of LOBB7
The rehearsal room was silent. I could hear my own breath, as I tried to keep my heart from racing. I look to my right then my left.
Six other figures stand beneath the same harsh white lights that come down over us, their reflections stretching across the polished floor.
Months—no, years—of training had led to this moment. I was not going to let it fall to someone else.
The single door across the room opened.
A young woman, no older than I stepped inside carrying a black folder with silver lettering across the front.
It read “PROJECT LOBB7”
She looked at each trainee before she started to speak. Lowly she walked around us as if looking into our souls. Then she spoke.
"You've beaten hundreds of others to stand in this room."
No one moved. None of us dared to speak before it was our turn, or dare to lose our spot.
"You weren't chosen because you're the best singers... or the best dancers... or the best rappers."
She paused.
"You were chosen because together, you create something impossible to ignore."
She slowly opened the folder on the table. "Tomorrow, your lives change forever." as she walks out of the room, leaving us looking at the opened folder..
The first to break the silence was Seojun Hyekoo. That’s right, me.
"So... we're really debuting?"
My grin carried the confidence. Well I hoped it looked that way. Black rings covered my fingers, and the hood of my jacket hung over my messy dark hair. Even though I was standing still, I tried to give off some chill aura. I hope it worked.
Doyen laughed.
"Took you long enough to believe it."
The tallest member leaned against the mirror with crossed arms. Built like an athlete, Doyen had muscles most idols dreamed of, but everyone in the room knew the truth.
He was secretly the biggest softie.
"If I cry tomorrow," he admitted, "none of you are allowed to tell the internet."
"Oh, we're definitely telling the internet," Min-ji answered immediately.
The female rapper smirked, earning a laugh from almost everyone.
Almost.
Kwon Myungsoo stood quietly in the corner, headphones resting around his neck. He hadn't spoken in nearly twenty minutes.
Typical.
Instead, his foot tapped out choreography against the floor, every movement perfectly timed to music only he could hear.
"Are you practicing already?" Eun-hye teased.
He gave the smallest nod.
She smiled.
Eun-hye was impossible to ignore. Every movement she made looked effortless, almost artistic. She could turn something as simple as walking across the room into choreography.
"If we're debuting," she said, stretching her arms, "our first performance has to be unforgettable."
"It will be," Yong-hae finally spoke.
The room instantly settled.
Nobody had asked him to lead.
Nobody had voted for him.
Yet somehow, whenever Yong-hae spoke, everyone listened.
His voice wasn't loud.
It didn't have to be.
"I've heard everyone practicing," he continued.
"We've sacrificed birthdays... weekends... sleep... friendships."
His eyes moved around the room.
"We deserve to stand on that stage."
Beside him, Soo-jin smiled warmly.
"That sounded like a speech."
"It wasn't."
"It definitely was."
Everyone laughed.
For the first time this evening, the pressure disappeared.
Seven strangers who had entered the company years apart had somehow become a family.
Tomorrow, the world will know their name. The world will know our name..
LOBB7.
None of us knew the fame waiting outside those studio walls.
None of us knew the rival groups...
...the endless tours...
...the scandals...
...or the sacrifices that success demanded.
Tonight, we were simply seven dreamers.
Before the Stage
Three years earlier...
Long before arenas...
Long before fans screamed his name...
Long before millions streamed his songs…
Long before I came to know him…
There was only Yong-hae.
A sixteen-year-old carrying a backpack almost as worn out as his sneakers. Jeans with holes in its knees.
His hometown wasn't famous.
It wasn't glamorous.
It was the kind of place where everyone expected you to work the same job your parents had worked.
Music wasn't considered a career.
It was considered a distraction.
Every afternoon after school, Yong-hae hurried home to help his parents at their small family restaurant. He washed dishes, cleaned tables, and greeted customers with a polite smile, but every spare moment was spent humming melodies under his breath.
One evening, after closing, his mother found him alone in the dining room.
The lights were off.
The chairs were stacked.
He didn't realize she was listening.
He sang softly into an old wooden spoon, pretending it was a microphone.
The emotion in his voice filled the empty room.
When he finished, she rushed over and hugged him.
Total shock as he thought he was all alone,
he could see the tears in her eyes.
"You should be on a stage," she whispered.
Later again, he tried to bring it up to his father.
His father wasn't convinced.
"Singing won't pay the bills."
For months the conversation ended the same way.
Until this one rainy afternoon.
A talent scout happened to stop at their restaurant for lunch.
As Yong-hae cleaned tables, he quietly sang along to the song playing through the speakers.
The scout looked up.
"Who was that?"
His mother smiled.
"My son."
That single conversation led to an audition.
Then another.
Then another.
Each rejection hurt.
"Not ready."
"Needs more experience."
"Come back next year."
Most people would have stopped.
Yong-hae didn't.
Every rejection became another hour in a practice room.
Another vocal lesson.
Another late night.
Another promise to himself.
"One day they'll hear me."
Finally, at seventeen, one company said yes.
His acceptance letter was only a single page.
But to Yong-hae...
...it felt like the beginning of an entirely new life.
The first day he entered the company's practice building, he looked around nervously.
He had no idea that somewhere inside those walls were six other trainees whose lives would become forever connected with his. One of which is myself.
The story of LOBB7 had officially begun.