Chapter 10: Hiatus

~2011~

The moment A-Pink debuted, their schedule was packed. They continued their "I Don't Know" promotions on several music stations whilst filming their reality show A-Pink News. This show gained them a lot of fans as they held a mini-fanmeeting of 90 fans. Although through a public's perspective it wasn't much but for the girls, they were grateful for each and every one. The girls treated their fans like their own friends, sisters and brothers. Always making sure that they ate, weren't sick and made sure they returned home safely. Soon, the girls began appearing on other variety shows where Bomi became popular for her gorilla imitation.

That year itself, A-Pink returned with a comeback on Nov 22 with "MY MY". It was well-received and for the first time on M Countdown, A-Pink snagged their first win. No one expected it, even the public. It was a first ever for a girl group who was not even a year-old to win.

~Back at the dorm~

"AHAHAHAHHAHA" laughed Eunji hysterically as she watched the video of A-Pink's first win.

"YOON BOMI HAHAHAHA, YOU"RE SO UGLY" Eunji was dying of laughter as she kept hitting Bomi. Her crying face looked hilarious.

Among the six of them, Eunji was the only one who didn't cry. Instead, she was laughing at all her members.

"Shut up, Eunji-ya........." said Bomi as she stared at her crying face, only to find herself laughing too.

~X~

Towards the end of the year, A-Pink attended year-end awards shows where they received Rookie Of The Year. It was indeed a great indicator of success for A-Pink.

~2012~

"Me? In a drama?" asked Eunji to the CEO as she was told to auditon in the upcoming drama "Reply 1997".

"The director said you fit the role perfectly." said Jin Ho.

"That's right Eunji-ya, remember what we did to those people who bullied Naeun long time ago? Your acting skills were awesome." said Bomi.

"Hmm...should I go for it?" asked Eunji.

"We will support you Eunji-ya. Go audition." said Chorong with a smile.

"I want to see unnie on tv." said Hayoung.

~X~

2012 was the year where the name "Jung Eunji" or rather "Sung Shiwon" was a hot topic in Korea. The drama "Reply 1997" was a big hit especially for a rookie actress who showed excellent acting skills, including her scandalous kissing scenes that even her sisters couldn't watch properly. The staff at Acube thought this would be good publicity for A-Pink but instead, it turned into "Jung Eunji's group" or "Yoon Bomi's group". This was a problem.

There was a lot of pressure for A-Pink's next comeback after their success with "MY MY". The company decided to spruce things up with a song that was slightly y called "HUSH". The girls returned to the music scene on May 8 2012, but to the public's eye it wasn't nothing much to shout about. Acube began to worry as comments started flooding, mostly hate comments directed to the group.

"Oh look, they're going for the y concept like other groups now. What a dissapointment."

"Eunji should just leave the group and become an actress instead"

"What group was this again?"

Reading was unavoidable, it brought hurt and pain. The company tried their best to protect the girls from such comments until, the unavoidable happened.

"[RUMOR] A-Pink members are actually blood-related? Past photos resurface, showing their high school days."

It was as if a huge bomb was dropped, the secret that the girls and the company had hid for a year was finally exposed. 

"Account of A-Pink's Eunji & Bomi bullying others in school."

"Owner shares story of A-Pink Chorong working before debut."

Things became unstable, news reporters flooded Acube's building for answers. There was no point hiding the truth that Apink were indeed a girl group of six sisters. It was true that Chorong used to work but it was completely false about Eunji & Bomi's bullying case. The company had advised them to stay at the dorm for awhile and avoid the public.

A-Pink's dorm which used to be noisy and full of laughter was now, a silent and gloomy dorm. As a leader, there was even more pressure on Chorong. There were more hate comments targeted towards her, and her sisters were worried. It was especially hard on Bomi, who tried to cheer her elder sister because she hated seeing her frown. The once, dorky and happy sister was no longer there.

For one whole year, A-Pink were missing from the spotlight. They went through a long hiatus. During their time, they reflected on themselves and trained to become stronger. Chorong and Eunji began working out while the other girls focused on other things. Chorong in particular, lost a lot of weight. This worried the sisters a lot, she was skinnier than ever and began a strict diet. One day, a news article popped on the internet.

"[RUMOR] A-Pink disbanding?"

"Aish, these reporters are still writing these nonsense." sighed Eunji as she closed the laptop.

"Don't read the comments unnie." said Naeun.

"Of course, if I did, my anger would boil and I would want to go find those haters." said Eunji.

"Where's Chorong-unnie?" asked Hayoung as she came out of her room. She just woke up.

"She left early this morning to the gym." answered Namjoo as she watched the television.

"Again?" said Hayoung with a worried expression.

"Don't worry, Bomi's with her. She's trying her best these days to cheer Chorong-unnie up." said Eunji.

"Time heals emotions"

As days and weeks went by, the girls slowly felt better. They learned to overcome the emotional pain by doing other things. By sharing their feelings, consulting and comforting one another, A-Pink became so close to each other that their bond couldn't be broken. One day while Chorong was out, the five girls planned something to cheer their sister.

"Ok, I just called Chorong unnie. She said she will come back in 15 minutes." said Bomi.

"Alright, you three will decorate. Bomi and I will go prepare the cake." said Eunji to the other three.

"I'll draw." said Naeun as she took some coloured paper and started drawing hearts.

"Let me think of a healing song for Chorong unnie." said Namjoo as she searched her phone for some lyrics.

"Let me help you Naeun-unnie." said Hayoung as she helped to cut paper into patterns. Because she was tall, she could reach the wall and hang the decorations.

~At the kitchen~

"I've never written something with this cream thing before...." said Eunji as she looked at the strange item. She's seen people at the bakery writing stuff with it before.

"Want me to do it instead?" asked Bomi as her face was evident with cream.

"Yah! Don't eat the cake!" said Eunji as she took some cream from her face and ate it.

"You're eating it too!" 

"No, I'm cleaning your face."

"Oh! Let's play a game and see how fast you can clean my face." laughed Bomi.

"Yah! We don't have much time, hurry up and help me." said Eunji as she hit Bomi playfully.

Together, the twins managed to write "Chorong-unnie, cheer up!" on the white cream cake, which was clearly evident of eating marks.

"Hayoung-ah, can you go down and see if Chorong-unnie's arrived yet? I think we're all prepared." asked Eunji.

"Alright unnie." said Hayoung as she left the dorm.

Preparations were completed and the girls turned off all the lights while hiding in the kitchen. Carefully, they lit up the cake and waited for Hayoung and Chorong to return.

~X~

Chorong sighed as she walked up the stairs leading to the dorm, exhausted from all the exercise. She had already forgotten all about the comments she read online, exercising seemed to relieved herself from stress. She wondered how long she would continue this routine, oblivious of what's going on in the dorm.

"Welcome back unnie!" said Hayoung as she went to her sister.

"Oh, Hayoung-ah. Were you waiting for me?" asked Chorong suspiciously. She never did this before.

"Uh..yeah. I was worried so I wanted to wait for you."

"You'll catch a cold if you stay outside for too long. Let's go back together." said Chorong with a smile, walking up the stairs with her sister, who was twice her height.

"I just realised, you've grown a lot Hayoung-ah."

"Really unnie?"

"Aigoo, seeing you all grown up makes me feel proud." said Chorong with a motherly smile as she caressed Hayoung's head. Soon, they reached the entrance of their dorm.

"Unnie." said Hayoung as she stood in front of the door.

"What is it, Hayoung-ah?" growing suspicious of her actions.

Behind the door, four girls were waiting with a lit-up cake. Telling each other to be quiet as they waited for the door to be opened. They could already hear Hayoung and Chorong outside.

"Nothing, just wanted to say that I love you unnie." smiled Hayoung as she opened the door. Immediately, the four girls yelled and cheered, "Welcome back Chorong-unnie!!!"

"W-What? It's not my birthday though?" said Chorong confused.

"We all know you weren't feeling well so we wanted to cheer you up!" said Namjoo.

"Blow these candles unnie." smiled Eunji.

"Omo, why are you crying unnie?!" said Bomi in surprise as she hugged Chorong.

"No, I'm just thankful." smiled Chorong as she blowed the candles.

"Unnie, I prepared a song for you!" said Namjoo as she looked at her phone for the lyrics.

"Cheer up. For Chorong unnie."

"Song title. Please Be Happy."

Bomi cracked up at Namjoo's awkwardness.

"When I think of chicken feet, I think of Chorong-unnie"

"When I think about you being sad, I can't sleep"

"I am crying. Unnie is crying too."

"Unnie's happiness is first for me, do you know that?"

"Please Be Happy"

"I will always be there for you"

"I will always smile for you."

Namjoo laughed after singing the last line as it felt awkward, the other girls laughed too because it was too cringy.

"Omo. You call these lyrics?!" laughed Chorong in her normal dolphin voice. This was the first time Chorong laughed ever since the incident, which made the girls laugh too. Although it was a diss, Namjoo didn't feel offended at all because her sister was finally smiling.

"Someone please burn this paper please." said Namjoo in embarassment.

"No, no. It's good Namjoo-ya. Thank you kids..." said Chorong with a smile.

Then, Eunji and Bomi glanced at each other cheekily.

"You have to eat the cake unnie!" grinned Bomi as she pushed the cream cake onto Chorong's cake.

"Guys! Run!!" shouted Eunji as all five girls ran around the dorm, fearing for their lives.

Once again, A-Pink's dorm was lively again. The dark clouds dissapeared, laughter was heard again. A-Pink was back to their normal, dorky selves.

~2013~

It was another normal day where the girls spent every day in the practice room, dancing and singing. It was to the point, the practice room was like their second home. They wanted to work harder in order to show a better image to the public. Drenched in sweat, they couldn't be bothered by their tiredness as they were hungry to improve themselves furthur.

At that moment, their CEO came in.

"Hello, what brings you here sir?" bowed the girls.

"I see that you're practicing hard. But, I wanted to bring a news that may sadden you."

"What news?" 

"Your manager, Kung Fu Panda has decided to resign."

"Huh?"

~End of Chapter 10~

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A lot of references were used for this chapter, especially the song which Namjoo wrote for Showtime Ep 3. And wow, 10 subs ^^ thank you for subscribing and reading. The girls are gonna be back stronger than ever ;)