CH.6 ♕ 042007
GDS4.COM
04262007 AT 08:12 AM // Shin Kaeseul
"Well, I've really given this a lot of though, so can't I just stay Minji?"
Sajangnim stared at our youngest with an impossibly blank expression, as if so shocked that she'd actually even come up with such a conclusion. In all honesty, however, he shouldn't be so shocked. He gave us a choice, after all.
Admittedly it shocked us all but only to a certain extent. I suppose it's because the four of us have already been together for a little less than a month, which may not seem like a lot to most people, however 'being together' truly does means being together. We wake up together, we eat together, we train together, we live together. We're all but glued together. But it isn't as bad as it seems, to me at least. I really do enjoy their presence around me. It's a nice reassurance that I'm not alone on this, which is a one-of-a-kind feeling.
These meetings at the conference room first began during the first Thursday of the month. We had been learning the choreography for our title track—since we had only finished recording that Tuesday—when we were called to the conference room. We all thought we were in some trouble because who wouldn't think that when being called for a conference with the president of the company?
We were wrong, needless to say, and the meeting turned out to be a full hour discussing the concept for Madonna; costumes, inspirations, everything. It was pretty clear what the concept would be from the title of the song, but I guess sajangnim felt the need to further explain since we're all pretty young. He stated that the inspiration for the song is about living with confidence by becoming an idol of this generation, prominently like the American singer Madonna. Bold, daring, in-your-face, much like old-Hollywood. We had to exude confidence and -appeal, which none of us were very excited about. But it's only a mere image to sell albums. It's our job.
The next hour we spent discussing diet. Diet, diet, diet. Right now we're all a little over 50 kilograms, give or take, and he stated that we had to lose some of those kilos because anything over 50 is apparently improper or less accepted by the public when it comes to females. Understandable, I suppose. We all had our own dietary plans, which we've been following since then. We're trying, alright?
(He also clarified that our living arrangements would only get better once, as Hyunjoong-sshi explained to the other three, we more than 100,000 physical albums. Sigh. At least he also clarified that he actually said once we win an award from at least one music program. Hyunjoong-sshi, that dirty liar. I get his intentions though. We've had nothing but positive mindsets since he told us, save for the little spats and hisses from the two oldest.)
We had more control during last week's meeting, which lasted much shorter than the previous.
First were important dates we had to remember regarding the debut. Rehearsals at Jamsil would start as soon as we get the choreography for all the dance tracks in the album. Teaser photos would be taken during late July. The music video would be shot during the first week of August. A period of promotions would occur from August up to the showcase in order to garner interest. A pre-debut single, An Inconvinient Truth, as well as tickets for the showcase would be released on September 12th. Jamsil Stadium was booked for our debut showcase on October 18th. The album would drop on October 20th. We were to make our first music stage appearance on Music Bank on October 21th.
We then discussed stage names, the importance, the unimportance. It is quite significant if one wanted to start anew uder a different name. It is also quite insignificant if one wanted to do their family name proud. Sajangnim had come up with some examples, which we could pick and choose from or even reject. It was all up to us.
This week we had to tell him our decisions, and here we are, starting with the maknae.
"I mean no disrespect at all, sajangnim," she continued. "But how would my name stage name be something like M-i-n-z-y if I can barely pronounce it properly?"
Well we're all really glad that she actually gave this matter much thought, and I guess that's all we could ask for right now.
Sajangnim straightened up and cleared his throat. With a pen in hand, he began to write on the notebook in front of him. "Alright, so Minji will stay Minji." He looked up at me. "And Kaeseul?"
"I'll stick with Kaeseul as well, if you don't mind."
In the end we all stuck to our birth names. I guess we all have that certain sturdy respect for our parents that it would be such a shame if we chose any other name? I'm not really sure. I've never really been any more than peers to them, much less become close to any of them. It was much easier to stick to myself.
"Now that that's done, let's move on to endorsements, features in other singers' albums, sponsors, and whatnot."
It's as if we were all possessed, but the four of us leaned in, listening more intently of what sajangnim had to say. We all knew these things are what helped pay off debut fees through publicizing the group. Any pre-debut work would be magical. The more, the better, in fact.
"Now, just because the public knows nothing about this group just yet doesn't mean other entertainment companies don't as well. We've been contacted by their company, and Dynamic Duo would like to feature an up and coming idol in their new album, Enlightened. They want a singer with a smooth and steady voice."
I heard a little 'oh' from beside me. Glancing at her, I saw that Sunyoung had leaned back on her chair, signaling her loss of interest.
"Since Gaeko-sshi requested for that type of voice, I recommended Kaeseul." Me? "What better way to begin promoting the group as the visual than featuring in a track, am I correct?"
Somehow I managed to overcome my shock—because one, I do not have the best vocals and two, wow, I'm really the visual. This is such a huge honor. "Thank you very much for the recommendation, sajangnim," I replied with a slight bow of my head in his direction.
"You'll be at the recording studio with them tomorrow. Make me proud, Kaeseul-ah."
The visual. Isn't that something? Under this position I would be half in charge of promoting the group by making the group look good, basically. The other half would go to the promoter, who more often would participate in those horribly scripted variety shows. My job was to be the endorser, the constant music video features, the photo shoot, and so on. I find it so ironic that I was chosen, to be honest. I'm quite tan compared to the normal standards, but I suppose we're going for exotic beauty? Nonetheless, I'm pleased with sajangnim's decision, despite having the strictest diet among the group.
"Kaeseul, we booked a photoshoot with CeCi magazine in May for the June issue, which should start of your pre-debut promotions. In the meantime, I have a list of upcoming television dramas and a list of possible OST participations for our three vocalists, and Epik High should be in the process of recording a new album that they'd want you to take part in, Sunyoung. The PR president will get in touch with all of you concerning the deals for important dates and such."
"Actually," Minji cut in, "How do companies and brands and whatnot know about us? As you mentioned, we haven't been publicized yet."
Sajangnim smiled. "Great question. We send out face and full body shots, demos, and everything else in between to every company out there and just hope for the best. As you know, we're quite a small entertainment company so in order to pull it all out for this debut, we need all of the funding we can get."
On my other side, Minji puffed her cheeks, completely at a loss of what to say.
"So, what you're saying that we're basically evaluated solely on our looks," Yoonkyung confirmed, sounding highly offended. I think we were all pretty shocked and just in complete disbelief that the entertainment industry could be this shallow. But what could we really do about it? In the end we all had a choice whether or not to enter this world, and if we all chose to go on with it then we should not only expect, but also be ready for these sorts of consequences.
"I wouldn't put it that way," sajangnim cringed. "It's more so based 65% on looks and 35% on talent. Looks can't really take you all the way up to the top, or at least I hope that's how it goes or else I've really lost all hope in human society, so they expect their endorsers to have talent as a back up."
Sunyoung pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes in that way that signaled the gears in her head were turning and that she was about to say something brash. I held on to my seat the best I could. "Is this your way of introducing us to plastic surgery?"
He was silent for a moment, playing with the pen in his hand as he thought. "I cannot force any of you to go through with it," he finally replied softly, "But as the president of company, it's part of my job to offer it. I told you what other companies look for when choosing who would endorse them? Well that goes for the public as well. Not only do they want someone talent, but also someone aesthetically pleasing to look at. I'm no one to judge wether you look beautiful enough to present to the public, but you are. You know yourselves better than I ever will, which is why I'm offering you this plastic surgery option."
"So it's up to us to decide wether we want to present this self to the public, or start anew with a new face," Sunyoung muttered. I took a chance to give her expression a slight peek, and that stoic stare thoroughly surprised me. Well, that's a lie. It only slightly surprised me. She always has that certain look on her face, but there was a certain hardness added to it today.
"I may not condone it, but I acknowledge the fact that it's out there and that it's accepted. But I will not allow myself to be put in a group full of fake faces." She gave the three of us a once-over, a glint of barely-there pity and dull anger and maybe even a hint of consideration in her strong eyes. "I'm sorry, but if any of you pursue this procedure I will withdraw from the group."
We were all quiet for a good minute, which was understandable. Plastic surgery, despite being widely accepted to the fact that there are offices at practically every corner in Apujeong, was a big decision. It really isn't for everyone, and something tells me the group felt that, too. I could practically feel the negativity radiating from the group. And, well, that practically does it.
My eyes met with sajangnim's. "I think I speak for the entire group when I say we decline any plastic surgery offers. All natural, or nothing at all."
Minji's hand caught mine under the table and gave it a soft squeeze. My heart swelled, appreciative of her innocent yet thoughtful actions, and I squeezed back.
Before he replied, the door to the conference room burst open and a sea of men poured in along with Ji Sun unni and with some excessive talking here and there. It was the sunbaes, along with another man I've seen around sajangnim and around the company building a couple of times before but never really spoke to. The four of us stood and bowed.
Sajangnim smiled brightly. "Welcome, kids. Please, take a seat and make yourselves comfortable," he said through the ruckus, gesturing to the long, conference table, and that they did after greeting us with (unecessary) pats on the head and 'Our maknaes!', that is. We all nodded and smiled—save for Sunyoung, the black hole that she is—not knowing how else to reply.
Once everybody settled down, sajangnim clapped his hands. "Good morning," he began, "You all may be wondering why I gathered you here today. Well, I have big news."
Jin oppa gasped. "Your wife is having a baby?!"
Sajangnim chuckled. "Far from it. Actually-"
"We're debuting a new girl group!" Jaewon, Nell's drummer, exclaimed.
Tablo oppa made a little, opposing noise. "Actually Epik High is debuting a new girl group." He shrugged nonchalantly, a slight smirk appearing on his face. "We're basically managing them."
"Kids," Ji Sun intervened, a solid expression upon her young face that declared nothing but authority. "Let sajangnim speak. We're not here for fun and games."
It's as if she was the queen and we were all her peasants because her word was treated like royalty and followed suit without a peep of complaint.
"Thank you, Ji Sun-ah," sajangnim nodded. "The reason I called you all over is because," he paused for a second to gather his thoughts, and, taking a deep breath, he continued, "I will be retiring after the debut of our maknae group." Seeing the shocked expressions and wild eyes around him, he put his hand up. "Before you all begin speaking again, let me explain why. I'm 58 years-old, nearing retirement age every passing day. I can't do what I used to do ten years ago, nor will I ever be able to do those things again. The work is getting to be too much for my mind and body, and it's time for a change."
Jungshik oppa muttered, "But how? Why? Who will replace you?"
Despite everything, sajangnim displayed the warmest smile. Gesturing to the unknown man who sat beside him, sajangnim stated, "Lee Jeongyeop, my assistant. He's been with me since the beginning, and I trust that he will do nothing but good for this company."
04262007 AT 04:45 PM
The music came to an abrupt halt, and we all froze in what was supposed to be the signature dance move during the chorus of Madonna knowing the upcoming lecture all too well to be afraid. "No, no! Stop! You're not executing the moves with enough passion!" the choreo unni, Ha Injung, exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation, remote for the stereo flying out of her hands in the process.
I glanced at the mirror and saw just how exhausted we all looked. Our limbs glistened with sweat and we were all but in these tank tops, shorts, and freakishly-high high heels. Any other articles of clothing—like Minji's 'BAD ENGLISH? THAT'S INACCEPTABLE' snapback (which no one is really complaining about) and Yoonkyung's signature XXL sweatshirt—were thrown to the back of the room hours ago due to such immense heat and perspiration. It's like a sauna in here, and all of the heavy breathing isn't helping at all.
Behind me, Minji threw herself to the floor and assumed a fetal position, eyes shut tightly and groaning in agonizing pain. Curling her arms around her stomach, she pouted. "I'm in so much pain." When no one made a move to help her or even spare her an extra glance, she peeked at us through one open eye and her pout deepened. "Aren't you guys gonna help? I'm like dying here."
Despite the exhaustion, Yoonkyung found it in herself to let out a hearty laugh. She wiped her sweaty palms on her shorts and offered the maknae a hand. "Ya, Minji," she said in between short chortles, "get up. Save the publicity stunts for later."
From the ground, Minji scowled at the oldest, but took her hand nonetheless.
Maybe the exhaustion really was getting to us because Sunyoung chuckled. "You know we're tired when Lee Minji goes to more extreme measures than usual to get our attention."
Injung unni sighed in frustration and put her head in her hands. "You know what, take a ten minute break. I think we all need one."
I was about to call out to her, to wish for ten more minutes of doing the choreo before getting a ten minute break. But then I realized how much my chest and legs and head and arms hurt from that nonstop four-hour choreo session so I bit my tongue. Plus the other three have already fallen to the floor as soon as those words left , but I have a feeling it wasn't all from fatigue. We were all still pretty schocked at sajangnim's news of retirement, and because we had only began to get to know him, it was harder to accept. We expected so much more time to spend with him, and now that was all being taken away from us.
Once the door was shut, Minji rolled over to her stomach. "I still cannot believe sajangnim is actually retiring," she muttered.
Yoonkyung sat up and crawled over to her bag, pulling out water bottles and rolling one to each of us. "I don't wanna think about it anymore. Let's just think about the good stuff. He's still going to be around the time we debut right? At least we have that to look forward to. In the meantime, just keep hydrated, guys. We don't need any unnecessary accidents."
Sunyoung pointed her water bottle at me before unscrewing it open. "Especially you, Kae. Keep your skin healthy and blemish free."
"Speaking of free," Minji grunted as she rolled over to her side in order to face Yoonkyung unni, "What's on our Yoonkyung's birthday agenda?"
"What's that got to do with 'free'?" Sunyoung snorted and somehow found a way to make it look graceful.
I got up and relocated so that I could lay my head on Yoonkyung's discarded sweatshirt. "Honestly, haven't we already established the fact that this one cannot watch ?"
"Just hang around Hongdae, I guess. Maybe Lotte? I don't know, nineteen is really nothing important enough to celebrate," Yoonkyung cut in. A mischievous glint shined in her eyes and she grinned. "Maybe a certain group of three people could treat me to a birthday dinner though."
"Hahaha—no," Sunyoung grunted, eyes shutting in order to catch what little relaxation she could. "We're all as broke as you are."
Yoonkyung clicked her tongue. "Yeah, you're right. It was too much to ask for." She reached into her bag and took out her cellphone. For a second, it was completely silent, save for little clicks from her phone here and there. "Hm, Yoona's asking if you guys wanna grab dinner with some of her group members tonight. You guys wanna?"
I laughed without humor, eyeing the way Sunyoung cringed when she heard me as if she expected what I was going to say. "Wanna, wanna, wanna, wanna, primado—"
Throwing the cap of her watter bottle at me, Sunyoung grumbled, "Don't even go there. It's only been a month, but I am already so sick of that song. And to think we have another six months till debut..." She shuddered.
"I actually need to go grocery shopping," I answered. "I'm running low on apples and we need more water bottles."
"And I think I'm gonna stay home to catch some extra z's, but thanks for the offer," Minji added, rubbing her eyes as if preparing herself for a nice nap right about now.
"I might be slightly interested," Sunyoung put in, eyes still shut. "It'd be helpful to scope around our rivals in the industry now than later."
Laughing, Yoonkyung replied, "Rivals? That's my sister you're talking about. She's got no evil bone in her body, except for when it's time to make fun of me."
Sunyoung scoffed. "Yeah, well, fame can change people. You never really know."
04262007 AT 8:22 PM // Jeon Sunyoung
"Any stage names we have to call anybody?"
Taeyeon snorted. "Thankfully not in this batch. All in all there are four people we need to get used to calling news names. I mean, it's hard enough that three out four are English, but Sunkyu had to go and choose Sunny." She scowled. "Do you know how difficult it is to keep a straight face while calling an eighteen year-old Sunny?"
"Pretty damn difficult, I assume?"
Taeyeon narrowed her eyes at me, and I shrugged. "Don't be smartass."
"So, Yoonkyung?" Yuri suddenly cut in, questioning Yoonkyung, at which she nodded.
"Let's all just keep from calling each other during ungodly hours, okay?"
Yoonkyung laughed at the strange request, and I suppose it's an inside joke thing. "Alright, deal."
Here we were, a group six girl gathered around a small table at a low-key barbeque restaurant. I admit, it was quite unsettling at first because Yoonkyung and I were outnumbered by this other group, but in time I learned there really was nothing to be disturbed about. The others—Yoona, Yuri, Sooyoung, and Taeyeon,—were anything but evil and manipulative. Their group was just like our group, albeit bigger in size, trying to find solace in each other while going through this demanding process.
"Yoonkyung, Yoona tells me your group is still nameless?" Taeyeon questions.
Beside me, Yoonkyung stuffs with galbi and shrugs. "Apparently they want us to choose our own name, but we haven't really decided on anything yet," she mumbled through a full mouth. I glared at her and covered . Her eyes turn up in a sheepish smile in return.
Taeyeon clapped her hands and smiled brightly. "Well, I had the best idea for a name the other day. 'Goddess'," she said with a certain softness to her voice, her eyes misty with wonder as she gazed off to the distance to add to the effect before grinning at us. "What do you think?"
Sooyoung takes this time to pause the watering of at the cooking bulgogi in front of us to elbows the eldest with a scowl. "Ya, unni, I thought about that name!"
"I never said you didn't," Taeyeon mocks, crossing her arms over her chest with a scowl of her own. "Plus it doesn't really even matter as long as it patented."
"'Goddess'?" Yoonkyung frowned. "What does that mean?"
Yoona scoffed. "Excuse this one. She never liked studying the English language," she announced, sticking her tongue out at her sister. "But," she redenned. "What does it mean exactly?"
"It's kind of like the Korean equivalent to yeoshin," I explained, poking the galbi on Yoonkyung's plate with my chopsticks before picking up a piece. "It's like a female, or I suppose in our case, a group of females that are beyond beautiful. It sounds nice, actually. I like the meaning as well."
"If it means yeoshin then I'm all for it," Yoonkyung agreed and tried to fend me off from taking anymore of her food by pinching my arm, which I in turn attempted to bite. She withdrew her hand with a scowl.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took it out and began to read the text message as Yuri went on to say, "It's pretty much perfect isn't it? Like, our two groups will dominate the charts, I can feel it already. GoddessGeneration, oh, I love the sound of it already!"
From: Minji
yoon isn't picking up her phone. tell her that jyp trainee jaebeom was looking for her. he came to drop off her b-day present. also tell her WHY DO YOU KNOW HIM WHY IS HE HOT AND NOT HERE FOR ME
"I hope. But we're from such a small company," Yoonkyung pointed out. "I doubt we're going to be class-A idols."
"So?" Sooyoung spoke through a full mouth. "Need I remind you how well known Nell and Epik High are? And not to mention Ji Sun unni, ughhhhh she's absolutely gorgeous! You guys have a good background, is what I'm trying to say."
Nudging Yoonkyung with my elbow, I said, "Minji texted. She said you weren't answering her."
She dug out her phone and pressed a button. No movement, no sudden flicker of brightness. "No battery. Why, is something wrong?" Her eyes narrowed. "Did she go to the kitchen without Kae there again?"
I almost laughed at the memory. Long story short, Minji went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water one day and instead ended up with three broken glasses and puddles of water all over the kitchen, and I do mean all over. No one knows exactly how it happened, and when asked about it she usually pales and mutters a bitter 'don't talk about it'. Needless to say we do still talk about it because it pretty much established the fact that we will never have vases around the dorm due to her extreme clumsiness. Plus it's perfect blackmail material.
"No, she says a Jaebeom came to the dorm looking to give you an early birthday gift, and she's asking 'why do you know him?', 'why is he hot?', and 'why is he not here for me?'." I replied, reading over the text again to make sure I got the name and message correct before showing her the screen.
Reading the message, Yoonkyung groaned. "I told him I was gonna be out today," she grumbled.
"Wait a minute," Yoona interrupted, chopsticks held in midair. "As in Park Jaebeom? That b-boy JYP trainee from America?"
Sooyoung raised her eyebrow expectantly. "Is this a only-Yoona-can-think-this-way thing? What's so great about the American trainee? Miyoung and Sooyeon are also from America, in case you forgot."
Yuri scoffs at this and Yoona yelps in pain at her words. "What do you mean 'what's so great about him'? You've obviously never seen the way he moves—"
"—or the way he looks, for that matter," Yoonkyung continued.
"I, for one," Taeyeon interrupts with a sly grin, "am more curious as to how you know him and what he is to you, considering he thinks about you enough to deliver a birthday present at this time of night."
Yoonkyung glared at her. "Well I'm not under a slave contract"—which the four shrugged in acknowledgement at—"and actually am allowed to associate myself with other trainees, and no, you shouldn't even go there. He's just a guy who's way too interested in making my life a living hell. As far as I'm aware of, that 'present' is a box full of dead fish or something equally disgusting."
Squealing and clapping her hands, Yuri exclaimed, "More like he's interested, period! You're such a lucky ! He is so unbelievably hot."
"Ohmigod, please don't talk about Jaebeom like that. He's literally a five year-old hiding himself inside the body of a man and it's just the weirdest thing." Yoonkyung proceeded to burry her head in her hands.
"If he's five then what are you, six?"
Yoonkyung threw a grain of rice at her sister for that comment.
"Can someone please explain to me what the deal is with him, or am I going to be third-wheeling to this conversation?" I asked. I mean, I've heard of him before, sure. It's always a big deal when a foreigner becomes a trainee, and they're basically the most talked about subject for the next few days or so. In this case, the name 'Jaebeom' lingered around much longer because he was also extremely good looking, or so I've heard.
Yuri gasped, as if she was highly offended. "You and Soo need to get out there and experience the world and hot, talented guys, for goodness sake. Your oblivion hurts to be around."
"Are you kidding me?" Yoonkyung snorted, and I prayed to whoever was up there because I could totally sense she was about to say something I didn't approve of. "We have our fair share of hot guys at Woollim, and this one gets a good amount of love declarations, I'm telling you. But she rejects ever single on of them! She won't even give out her number!"
I scowl. "Has the thought that we're basically going to be married to our work ever crossed your mind? Plus, it's my heart, dammit, and I will not delude myself into thinking he will actually stay interested in me."
"That's because you don't give anyone a chance, ," Yoonkyung chides. "You seriously have to let us give out your number to guys who ask for it and are worthy of being in your presence, Queen Sunyoung. And by the way, a little hook-up to distract you from all the stress isn't going to hurt."
Taeyeon shakes her head and wags her finger as I am about to reply. "That won't do," she states. "You have to give them her number before telling her or else she'll grow up to be a lonely old lady hoarding cats in her basement."
"Look, I don't mean to sound rude, but can we talk about something else?" I cut in. This subject is tiring me out, and I don't want my temper to be the one thing that ruins what was a good night with new people. "Yoonkyung, you and the other two can sign me up for a dating website for trainees or whatever, just drop it." It's times like this that I really appreciate my authoritative nature because the subject was indeed dropped without missing a beat.
"So, Yoona tells me Goddess is making a debut in October?" Sooyoung inquires with a smile, pushing her empty plate forward so she can rest her elbows on the table. Yoonkyung and I nod at this. "Well I was thinking that since we debut in August and you guys in October, we could have a debut party!"
I leaned in as well. "Well here's a great thought: our debuts are roughly a month apart. How exactly are we going to make that work out?"
"Okay, so maybe 'debut party' isn't the correct name. How about ... a pre-post debut party? We could hold it in September as our post-debut party and Godess's pre-debut party! Plus it'll be much mores fun with the more people going."
Taeyeon glance at Sooyoung in a sort of chiding manner. "Soo, has the thought that we are under slave contracts ever crossed your mind?" A pout.
I yawned. "And where exactly would we hold this party? I don't know if you've heard, but our dorm is tiny, and it's basically a suicidal move to hold it in yours." Yet another pout. I smirked. "Call me when you get the details together."
We ended up going our separate ways from the restaurant at approximately ten o'clock that night, but could have stayed longer just talking if it weren't for the owners breathing down our necks and ordering us to leave already because there was a drama the ahjumma didn't want to miss. Yoonkyung and I headed home—after stopping for some patbingsu because apparently 'it's never too late for patbingsu!'—hoping our dorm was still in tact after leaving the maknae home alone for a long hour without Kaeseul and thankfully met with the peaceful sound of snores the moment I opened the door.
04282007 AT 06:32 AM // Im Yoonkyung
"Yoon, Woohyun says he's coming down to let us in"
"Tell him to come faster, this cake is heavy," I whisper to Sunyoung, adjusting my grip on the cake in my hands for emphasis. Well, it is pound cake after all, but she didn't need to know that.
I couldn't help but find how much she looked out of place holding pastel blue balloons amusing because this isn't her. In fact, me holding this store-bought cake isn't me at all either. I usually don't care about birthday celebrations and such, but as his best friends, it's my job to not only remember his birthday, but also to do this for him every other year or so. Might as well practice idol hospitality, right?
The four of us are currently idly awaiting at the gates for Nam Woohyun, that vocal department trainee who Sunggyu found so annoying, to let us into the male trainee dorm at the Academy, and let me tell you, it's so early I don't even think those pretty unicorns in the far distance are a result of my hallucinating. Sajangnim wanted the company building, a.k.a. Woollim Academy, to somewhat be interconnected with the trainee dorms, which were split up into the male building and the female building. In order to make that possible, he had the company built in an estate large enough to hold three buildings: the main building, a smaller male trainee dorm building, and a smaller female trainee dorm building.
The three refused to come at first because I may have mentioned waking up early on our day off was a part of the plan until I discreetly added that it could be Sunggyu's birthday present from all four of us. I suppose there was something they found endearing in 'Sunggyu oppa' that I didn't see. Either that or they just didn't want to spend money. Yeah, it was probably the latter.
I was pulled away from my thoughts by a certain Nam pushing the gates open in only a bathrobe and house slippers—as well as a snort from Sunyoung at the sight of him. Ignoring Sunyoung finding humor in his current state, Woohyun led us up to their dorm and opened the door.
I would have doubled over, much like Kaeseul had just done, because the smell of boy was so strong in here. The scent of the sweat and the sight leftover food and the dirty clothing thrown around everywhere was purely disgusting, and I wonder how they could even think about living under such conditions.
Woohyun seemed completely oblivious to the mess and stepped over what looked to be a moldy pizza after closing the door. I honestly wouldn't have known what it was if it wasn't cut in a triangular shape. "We room together in the door straight across."
Putting the cake down on the table, I nodded and decided I didn't see what Sunggyu found so irritating about the guy. I mean, despite his uncanny choice of sleepwear, that is. Plus Sunyoung seems to like him enough because he apparently has her number. It doesn't really say much though. The two of us have been training together for three years, those two only a year, and I only get her number three days ago. She isn't easy get along with; I'm still working out the kinks. The only explanation is that he annoyed the crap out of her for it.
"Go wake up the other guys," I ordered. "I'll set up the decorations." With that they all dispersed, Sunyoung with Woohyun going into one room, and Minji and Kae going into the other.
Nam Woohyun
"Don't even go there, Jeon," I whispered as menacingly as the morning hour would allow me as Sunyoung and I walked in to Howon and Dongwoo hyung's shared room.
She scoffed. "How did you know I was actually planning on going somewhere, Woohyun-ah?"
I crouched beside Dongwoo hyung's sleeping figure and glared at her, patting and swatting and shaking his face in the meanwhile. It's going to take a lot to wake this one. "You've got this glint in your eyes whenever you're about to say something offensive, especially when it comes to me." Despite the fatigue, I smirked. "What is it, are you falling for me already, Sunyoung-ah?"
"You could only wish I was falling for you, Nam. Not with those slippers anyway." Before she looked down to kick Howon's jean-clad leg, her lips curved into a small smile and her dark brown eyes lit up behind those thick frames, and I, unintentionally quick to realize how rarely she was around me, much less truly smiled in my presence nowadays, subconsciously took a mental picture for future references. It was just that certain kind of smile that made my heart do an embarrassing leap and the butterflies in my stomach go wild.
Not that I'd ever admit it to her, of course. She'd probably embarrass the living soul out of me and then kick my limp body off of a cliff.
"Ya, Howon-ah, get up," she whispered fiercely, which in turn got him to stir and open his eyes.
"W-what?"
"Yoonkyung's doing a surprise event for Sunggyu's birthday, and she wants everyone to be there so it's time to get up," she replied. Pulling him up to a sitting position, she grunted, "Come one, Howon-ah, wash your face, freshen your breath, and go help Yoon put decorations up in the living room."
He swatted at her in return—and I laughed as his palm made slight contact with her face before she could pull away; she glared at me, of course, and not at him because everything is apparently always my fault in her books—before getting up to do as he was told.
Glancing down at Dongwoo, I sighed.
Couldn't we just leave him asleep?
Im Yoonkyung
"Alright, kids, put your hats on—and no, Sunyoung I don't care how childish we look because they're cute, okay?" Because people know not to mess with me when I'm intent on completing something, they all followed direction.
"Myungsoo, you got the camera?" Rubbing his eyes and holding in a yawn, Myungsoo held up my digital camera. "Sunyoung has the balloons, Kae has the poppers, Howon has the utensils ... I think we're ready."
With that said, I proceeded to light the candle and gestured toward the room. Woohyun went on ahead to carefully open up the door while fumbling with his cone-shaped hat. Inside—was as much of a mess as the living room, but that's a whole other story—Sunggyu was laying on the mattress set on the floor, covers thrown (or possibly kicked) to the floor and mouth wide open.
We gathered around him as I saw the camera flash and I glanced back to give Myungsoo a questioning look.
'Blackmail' he mouthed, and I smirked. I'm definitely making at least four copies later.
Alright, time to get this show on the road. I held up one, two, three fingers and soon I heard the beep that signaled the camera was recording, and then we were all singing that familiar tune of Happy Birthday. Being singers-in-training, we all sang at an obnoxiously loud level, competing with each other to see who could come up with the loudest, most exaggerated notes, and I swear there was no sleepy face in sight.
He awoke as we hit that first note, jumping up at the slightest noise in that way that was so sleepy-Sunggyu. He glared at us intruders through eyes that were even smaller than usual, frowning at the loss of sleep until he realized what was happening once his eyes eyes met with the cake in my hands and the 19 candle lit atop of it. His expression softened, and I grinned as he fought to keep his mirth at bay. He jumped again when the song came to an end and Kae pulled the poppers loose and confetti splayed everywhere, and Minji plopped a 'BIRTHDAY BOY!' hat on his head, her smile as bright at day.
Amidst the cheerful celebration and 'Wah, hyung, I wish I had girls pinning over me like this!' and random (but surprisingly pleasant) singing, our eyes met and I crouched in front of him and placed the cake on the bed as he whispered a clear 'Thank you', at which I replied by whispering back a 'You owe me' even if I didn't even remotely mind going through the trouble.
Howon handed me the knife as Sungjong and Minji began chanting, "Cake, cake, cake!" I obliged, cutting enough pieces for all of us and placing them on the paper plates Dongwoo handed me.
Because it pretty much became a custom between Yoona and me, I swiped icing off the top of the cake with my finger and dragged it across the birthday boy's face. He lifted his gaze to meet mine as he demanded in a scarily soft voice, "Did you really?"
My lips curved into a sheepish smile. "Happy birthday!"
"Did you really?" he repeated, tone significantly harder than the first time.
From the corner of my eye, I saw his hand making its my to the cake in my hands and I cowered inwardly, sensing that everyone got the gist of his actions. Oh, my god.
Needless to say, more cake ended up on the floors and on us than in our stomachs.
n/a
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