Donghae strolled out of the kitchen, a lopsided grin on his face as he made his way toward the kitchen table. Everything was going according to plan. Dinner was cooking on the stove. The table was set. He even had several candles out that he lit himself--with only a small burn on his thumb to show for it. He pulled out his phone and slid his finger across the screen, pulling up his music. He the music, activating the Bluetooth function. Immediately, low, romantic music began to play from the speakers nearby.

He reached into his back pocket, ascertaining that the small, black, velvet box was still there. He let out a breath of satisfaction as he surveyed his handiwork. A wry smile crossed his face. Everything was all set for the night.

All he needed was for dinner to finish and for Aeyeong to arrive.

With a grin on his face, he strolled down the hallway toward the bedroom. He felt the butterflies inside his stomach flutter, but he took in a deep breath to calm his nerves. He entered the adjacent bathroom and took up a bottle of eau de cologne. Giving himself a couple sprits of the cologne onto his hands, he began to rub and pat his neck with the warm aroma. With a sigh of satisfaction, he leaned his hands against the counter.

This was it.

The big question.

He closed his eyes and let out a breath.

He could do this.

He could totally do this. 

It was just a simple question.

Just a simple sentence.

He could do this.

He could—

What was that?

A strange, burnt smell met his nostrils and his eyes immediately snapped open.

He darted out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen as the fire alarm began to blare throughout the apartment.

****

Jaemi opend up her apartment door with her cell phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder as she took the key from the lock . "Mmhmm," she hummed into the phone as she bent down to snatch up the grocery bags that she had placed momentarily on the floor just outside the door. As she brought her groceries inside, she listened as her brother, Jaehyun, told her of his latest goings-on on campus.

"So, there's this girl I've been seeing. She's pretty cool. Theatre major," he said over the receiver.

"Oh? Theatre major, huh?" Jaemi said with a smirk. "She's got my approval already," she continued in a teasing tone as she headed toward the kitchen.

Jaehyun laughed. "Thought you would. But seriously, I'm kinda thinkin' of changing my major now..."

Jaemi's face grew stern as she hoisted her groceries onto the counter. "Don't you dare." 

Her brother's laughter echoed in her ear. "Kidding, kidding."

Jaemi scoffed. "As it is you're barely passing." She paused for a moment as she began to take out the groceries and set them upon the counter. "Speaking of which, don't you have a paper to write?"

It was her brother's turn to scoff. "It's not due until Monday, umma."

"How did your exam go the other day ?" asked Jaemi, quirking an eyebrow as she began to sort the groceries.

There was silence on the other end and Jaemi immediately knew that her brother had failed to get the score that he wanted. 

"Jaehyun..." Jaemi began, letting out an exasperated breath. 

"I know, I know," responded her brother with a slight huff. "I don't know what happened. I really did study for it..." His voice trailed off as he let out a sigh.

Jaemi could hear the sincerity in his voice and knew it would be best not to pester him more about it. A small smirk crossed her face as an idea came to mind. She cleared and her voice fell into a deeper octave. "You have failed me for the last time."

A chuckle echoed in her ear as her brother began to laugh. 

"I should let you go," continued Jaemi nonchalantly as she began to put the sorted groceries into the refrigerator and the pantry. "I don't want to be your excuse for not getting your paper done," she said teasingly.

"Meh. You're probably just trying to get rid of me. Do you have plans tonight, since you've got the apartment to yourself?" Jaehyun said in a somewhat suggestive tone.

Jaemi groaned. "You're just as bad as Byulhee. She asked me the same thing. It is my apartment after all. Can't a woman just have a night alone?"

"Alone? Pff. You've been alone for years, Miss Margarita." Her brother scoffed.

"So?" she said. "What's wrong with that?"

"Well...nothing really. But..."

"But what?"

"You know," he began slowly a hint of amusement in his voice as if he was trying not to snicker aloud. "I'm sure with all those guys you work with on a daily basis, I'm sure there's one that wouldn't mind doing the job." Jaemi could hear the slight edge in his voice and knew that there was a smirk plastered on her brother's face.

She clenched her jaw as she shut the refrigerator door with a thud. "That's not funny, Jaehyun."

"Never said it was."

"I told you never to mention him again."

"I didn't say his name," Jaehyun replied with a chuckle. "You're the one that thought of him."

Jaemi groaned. "You're a jerk, you know that?"

"Maybe you just don't wanna let go? You know, you could give the guy a break."

"Pfft. I forgave him a long time ago, but that doesn't mean I trust him."

"I know, I know, Miss INFJ-Trust-Issues."

Jaemi's lips pursed together.

"Sorry," Jaehyun continued, his tone changing to one of pentenance. "I shouldn't have said that."

"Don't worry about it," Jaemi replied, guising her irritation with a tone of nonchalance. "Apology accepted," she continued, dropping her voice low again in imitation of Darth Vader.

"You're such a nerd, noona."

"And proud of it," she said in a British accent.

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "That was a quote, wasn't it, Jae?"

"Mmhmm," hummed Jaemi before chuckling. "Though you probably won't be able to figure it out."

"It's a musical, isn't it?"

"How'd you guess?" she replied jokingly. 

Jaehyun chuckled. "I should really start brushing up on my musicals. Gotta impress my little thespian." 

"Just don't change your major, okay?"

"I won't, umma." He chuckled. "Anyway, I should probably let you go, just in case you do have plans for tonight. Wouldn't want to keep him from--"

"Shut up!" Jaemi cried, interrupting him from saying any more of his nonsense. "You shouldn't be talking like that."

"Yes, umma!"

She groaned. "Just get your paper done already."

"Of course, umma! Have fun tonight! Hope he doesn't keep you up all night!"

"You--!"

The line went dead and Jaemi put down the phone with irritated sigh. "That little jerk," she muttered, as she set to work on starting her dinner.

After a few minutes of silence, Jaemi pulled out her phone and her favorite playlist. She never could stand the silence so she always played music or sang when alone. As music filled the atmosphere and she continued to cook her dinner, her mind wandered.

It was rather irritating really. She loved her brother, but he had a way of getting under her skin. Like suggesting that her and Leeteuk could even be together.

Ugh. Her brother had one sick mind.

It was already a pain having to work with Leeteuk on a regular basis, but to always put on an act of being civil and cooperative with him was mentally exhausting. It was a real test to her acting abilities, she thought with a soft chuckle.

She tasted the soup broth she had made. She reached into the cupboard to grab some more spices and  added a little of each spice before stirring her soup.

She let out a sigh as her mind drifted. She would rather not think about Leeteuk or SM right now. It would be better if she just relaxed and did something to get her mind off of work.

She clicked her tongue.

She could only hope that putting their trust in SM would not lead to betrayal, yet she could not shake the lingering doubt in her mind that something was just not right. 

Something was just not adding up.

She felt her stomach churn.

Deep inside, she just knew that--

She shook her head, dismissing the thought. 

Leaving her soup to cook, she made her way into the living room to put on a movie and remove Leeteuk and SM from her mind.

****

Aeyeong walked into the apartment, the sordid smell of something burnt immediately caused her nose to crinkle in disgust. She took off her shoes and hung up her coat in the closet. Shutting the closet door behind her, she walked into the kitchen where Donghae stood by the stove, his clothes in disarray and amuck with black cat hair. His own hair was a disheveled mess as if he had lost a battle with his hair comb.

Aeyeong began to laugh. “What happened to you?” she asked, taking in his appearance, her eyes gleaming.

Donghae let out a sigh. “Don’t ask.”

Aeyeong tilted her head expectantly, knowing that in a moment Donghae would tell her.

Donghae sighed once more. “That cat.”

She giggled. “What did my cat do, Fishy? And why does the apartment smell burnt?"

"Long story," he said with yet another sigh. "I've got dinner done though. You wanna watch a movie or something and just eat dinner on the couch?" he asked. 

"Sure," replied Aeyeong with a small shrug. "I'm going to freshen up first. I'll be back." As she headed toward the bedroom, Donghae let out a small groan as Berlioz strolled into the kitchen with a triumphant meow. 

Donghae shot the cat a look of irritation. "Thanks a lot," he muttered. Now he had a burnt table cloth in the trash can and several candles that looked completely ruined. Aeyeong would probably think that he had been careless with the candles once  she discovered their disfigured appearances. There was no way he could propose to her tonight with him looking like he did. In trying to get the cat off the table and preventing the table from burning up too, his own appearance was no longer fit for trying to be suave. So much for that. 

He let out a sigh and headed toward the bedroom, resolving to clean himself up as much as possible. Perhaps he could salvage something of the night ahead.

After they had finished dinner, Aeyeong sat upon her bed, laptop on her lap as she typed on her blog, using her pen name, "GE". As she typed away some poetic observation about life and love, Donghae entered the bedroom. Aeyong hasitly saved her work and then logged off, quickly opening up her email to casually check on it. 

"Hey," Donghae said in a low voice as Aeyeong felt the bed shift next to her. 

"Hey." Aeyeong scrolled through the list of emails, deleting all the unnecesary spam and quickly scanning at the one Minho had sent with an update to their upcoming schedules.

"Today was fun," Donghae said, leaning back against the  pillows. "It was nice being able to work with you-- You looked really beautiful by the way." There was a pause. "Though I was a little jealous that the guys got to see you in those outfits," he muttered, clicking his tongue quietly.

Aeyeong chuckled, glancing over at Donghae as she logged off her email and set her laptop on the nightstand.

His nose was somewhat scrunched, like a pouty kid who could not get his way. 

"It's part of the job, my Fishy," she cooed jokingly.

"Still," Donghae began with a scoff as he tilted his head. "You're my girlfriend." He turned to her, lowering his eyes as a wry smile drew across his face. 

Aeyeong closed her eyes as Donghae began to draw closer, his lips brushing against hers. 

The bed shifted as Donghae began to wrap his arms around her, her arms drawing up over his shoulders in turn. As soon as Aeyeong felt his lips begin to move against hers, he suddenly broke away and sprung off the bed. "Wha--!"

"Rrreow!"

Feeling slightly dazed, Aeyeong opened her eyes and blinked in confusion as Donghae tried to detach Berlioz from his leg. "Berlioz!" called Aeyeong sternly. "Get down!"

The cat immediately detached himself from Donghae's pajama pants and scurried up to her, looking penitent. It meowed softly and rubbed it's head against her hand.

Donghae groaned. "That cat is going to be the death of me."

"Sorry, Hae," Aeyeong said, putting the cat on the floor.

Immediately, the cat bolted back onto the bed, slipping beneath the covers.

Donghae waved a hand in dismissal. "Don't be. I'm tired anyway." As he crawled back into bed, he felt the cat brush against his hand as if warning him not to try anything. Donghae's lips pursed together as he resolved himself not to try to make any advances on his girlfriend until a certain beast was no where in sight.

Perhaps he should lock him in the closet.

Nah. Aeyeong would not go for that.

His eyebrows furrowed.

How was he ever going to  to propose to her with that fiend around?  

He yawned sleepily as he wrapped his arms around Aeyeong. He was too tired to figure that out at the moment. As his eyelids became heavy, he hoped that an idea would strike him soon enough.
 

****

As the ealry morning sunlight streamed through the living room, Byulhee strolled into the room with a newspaper in hand. She flopped on the couch, humming slightly as she snapped the newspaper open and began to read about a new medical breakthrough that doctors  were currently working on in Japan. 

After several minutes of contented reading, she looked up from her newspaper as she heard the gentle sound of feet patting down the hallway quietly. 

Nell slipped into the room, dressed in a lovely, white lace dress. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of Byulhee.

"Oh, good morning," said Nell with a polite smile as she adjusted the purse strap on her shoulder.

"Mornin'!" Byulhee cried with a wide grin. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Oh, I'm just going out," replied Nell nonchalantly as she began to head to the door.

"Ooh! Where?" asked Byulhee, springing from the couch. 

"I just have church and then some errands that I need to run by myself," Nell responded brusquely, pulling a sweater from the closet.

Byulhee's face deflated, noting that Nell had no intention of inviting her along. "Oh..." Her smile brightened. "Have fun!" she said with a wave as Nell left the dorm. As the door closed behind Nell, Byulhee puffed up her cheeks with air.

She wanted to do something fun... 

She glanced out the windows. 

It was too beautiful of a day to miss out on some sort of adventure. 

Ascertaining that she had her indentification card and her bank card in her phone case, she hurried out of the dorms, ready to traverse upon some journey.

As the chilled air touched her bare arms, she shivered slightly and continued onward down the sidewalk, not going in any particular direction. 

It was lovely. The windows of the tall buildings glinted with the golden, early morning sun. The air was fresh and crisp.

She passed by an elderly man who sat on a bench with his cane on the seat next to him as he stared off towards the sunrise, gently humming. After waving to the elderly man, Byulhee continued on, taking in a deep breath as she passed by a bakery and was struck with the aroma of freshly baked goods.

Her stomach growled.

She had forgotten to eat breakfast before leaving, but now was the perfect time!

Or, maybe not.

Glancing at the "Closed" sign hanging in the doorway, she reached into her pocket and fished out her phone. She glanced at the time and then back at the door with a sigh. The bakery would not be open for another hour. 

As she resumed her trek, her thoughts were immediately disrupted by the rumble in her abdomen. She was hungry and now that the thought of breakfast had entered upon her mind, she could not think of anything else.

An idea struck upon her.

Jaemi was surely up by now!

She pulled her phone from her pocket and pulled up Jaemi's number. As the number began to ring, she held the phone to her ear. After a couple rings, the line picked up, and she could hear Jaemi breathing somewhat heavily on the other end.

"Hey, Byul," Jaemi said between pants. "What's up?"

Byulhee cracked a smile. No doubt that Jaemi was exercising as she did every morning when she had not exercised the night before, but wouldn't it be fun to anyway? "Am I interrupting anything?" she said in a teasing tone. 

"Huh? No, not really. I'm just--"

"You sound so exhausted. Have you been at it all night long?"

"Huh? What are you talk--" There was a slight pause and Byulhee could picture Jaemi's eyes widening as she realized the implication of what she said. "Byul!" Jaemi cried over the phone. 

Byulhee threw her head back laughing. She could just imagine Jaemi's face turning as bright as her red hair in embarrassment.  

Jaemi groaned. "You're just as bad as my brother."

"You're brother's there too?!"

"NO!"

Byulhee began laughing harder, doubling over and clutching her stomach. Several passersby glanced at her with raised eyebrows and confused gazes.

"I just finished exercising and was about to take a shower! Eeesh! Ça m'énerve!" 

Byulhee continued to laugh at her joke, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. 

"Byul."

Byulhee leaned against a lamp post for support as she continued to laugh.

"Byul?"

"Y-yeah?" asked Byulhee as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes as her laughter began to subside.

"Why'd you call me?"

"Oh, yeah!" Byulhee bounced back up, her laughter completely dissipated. "Can I come over?"

"Uh, sure. But if you're expecting to find a guy hiding around my apartment, you'll have to look elsewhere."

"Hey, Jay!" another woman's voice came in over the receiver. "Sorry I'm a little early."

Byulhee let out a mocking gasp. "Jaemi, don't tell me that you're--"

"Pfft. It's just Aeyeong. We were gonna hang out and have breakfast. Do you wanna come?"

Byulhee completely forgot about teasing Jaemi as soon as the thought of breakfast came back up. "Yeah. I'll be there in a bit. I'm just going to call a taxi and be right there. See ya soon!" She quickly hung up the phone and hurried to call the nearest cab. 

****

Nell stepped up the stairs leading to the church doors, her dress whisping slightly in the early morning breeze as the sound of the bells drolled through the air. 

Several churchgoers--mainly a few young men-- immediately turned in her direction as soon as she gracefully entered the place. Instantly sensing their gazes, Nell turned her head to regard them all a polite smile before focusing her attention on finding a temporary place to sit. 

As soon as she sat down, she pulled out her cell phone from her clutch and slid her fingers across the screen to unlock it. She pulled up her text messages and began typing away on her screen. 

"I'm here. Where are you?" she texted.

A moment later, her phone vibrated. 

"Same spot. I'll let you know when the coast is clear," the text from Siwon read.

"I'll be waiting," she replied back before hastily slipping her phone back into her clutch as a young man sat down beside her.

"Hi," the young man said, his face flushing a slight crimson. 

"Hi," Nell responded, sending the man a polite smile.

The young man shifted slightly in his spot as he tried to make small talk with the lovely woman next to him. 

Nell graciously listened and responded to him in turn. It was not uncommon for men to be fall over themselves to try and impress her. Whether it was because of her parents' money, or her own beauty and charm, or a combination of the two, Nell always found herself as the belle of the ball. 

Just before the session was about to begin, her phone began to vibrate on cue. 

"Oh, excuse me!" she said, hastily gathering up her clutch and taking out her phone. "I'm so sorry. I've gotta take this. Excuse me," she continued, sliding past him and out of the pew. 

As everyone made their way to their seats, Nell quickly and surreptiously made her way to where Siwon was seated where no one would no notice him, using the crowd as cover.

It was not easy to always to meet with Siwon like this in public, but they always made it work. 

****
 

Sijin sat on the couch in the living room of the dorms with a book in her hand and her hair showing signs of not having seen a comb or brush yet in the day. She stifled a yawn as she turned the page of her book. She was tired from their schedules the previous day, and she wished she could have slept in some more.

The front door opened and Lìxúe stepped into the dorms, donned in her running shoes and accompanying athletic wear.

"Good morning, Sijin!" she said cheerily as she made her way to the kitchen to grab a water bottle.

"Morning, unnie," replied Sijin with a soft smile.

Lìxúe returned to the living room with a water bottle now in hand. "How are you this morning?" she asked sweetly.

"A little tired," Sijin responded honestly, once again trying to stifle a yawn.

Lìxúe giggled quietly at how cute her dongsaeng looked when she was sleepy.

As if on cue, the last Starlet member to wake up entered the living room, mp3 in hand and her ear buds in her ears.

Sijin and Lìxúe turned to the eldest Starlet, smiling and greeting her.

"Hey, Minnie," said Lìxúe with a smile. "How are you this morning?"

"Good, thanks," Minyeon replied simply, flopping onto the couch to take a few minutes to wake up from her bleary state.

Lìxúe glanced around the room. "Is everyone out? I didn't see anyone when I left."

Sijin shook her head gently. "I haven't seen anyone either, but I think Nell is at church. I thought I heard her getting ready this morning, but I was too tired to get up."

Lìxúe nodded her head. "Do you know if they are going to be back for when the show airs tonight?"

"Yeah. Jaemi and Aeyeong are definitely going to be here for that," Minyeon said with a slight nod of her head. "And I'm sure Byulhee wouldn't miss it for the world." Her lips curved into a slight smile, thinking about how excited Byulhee was for their upcoming debut. "I think Nell will be here too, but I'm not quite sure. She didn't say anything to me last night about her plans."

Lìxúe started to head down the hallway toward her and Byul's room. "Well, I hope they make it." As she stepped into the room, her eyes wandered to the bed. Shutting the door behind her, she crossed over to the bed and pulled out a small box from under the bed. Her fingers gently traced over the words written across the lid; "The Starlets". Her fingers slipped to the edge of the lid, and she plucked the top off of the box. As her eyes met with the contents inside the box, her lips slipped into a warm smile. Seven leather bracelets laid inside, one for each member of the Starlets, including herself. Each was handmade and personalized for their respective owner.

She gently placed the lid back over the box and slid the container to its place beneath the bed. She was excited to give them their bracelets, but she always wanted to wait until their stage debut; just as she had planned all those years ago before they were disbanded.

****
 

Aeyeong and Byulhee were seated upon the couch in Jaemi's apartment, chatting away. Jaemi entered the living room after having just showered. As she braided her hair, she sat down on the floor in front of her coffee table and opened up the laptop that was on the table. 

Byulhee's phone emitted a sound, indicating that she had just received a text. She glanced down at her phone and then heaved a heavy sigh upon seeing who the caller was. She flopped back into the cushions with a groan. "What does he want?"

"Who?" asked Aeyeong politely.

"Jinuk," muttered Byulhee as she quickly deleted the message and then tossed her phone so it would land on the cushion beside her. "My ex-boyfriend."

"Oh," replied Aeyeong with a knowing nod, allowing Byulhee to either drop the matter or vent about it, whichever she preferred.

Byulhee chose to take the latter option. "He thinks we're getting back together. Again." She blew a raspberry. "What is wrong with men anyway?"

Aeyeong chuckled quietly. "They can be a handful."

"One minute they want to collaborate on a rap song and then the next you know you're fighting over who gets which side of the bed." She groaned. 

Aeyeong nodded encouragingly as the elder continued to vent over her previous marriage and divorce and then her back-and-forth relationship with Jinuk that almost resulted in her losing herself. At length, when Byulhee sat back with a sigh, Aeyeong spoke up to offer words of encouragement. "I'm glad that you aren't in either of those relationships now," she began in a slight motherly tone. "They weren't healthy for you. They prevented you from being who you are." She let out a breath. "You know, a lot of people think that your 'soulmate' has to be your perfect fit. But I think that if you find someone who simply lets you be who you are--just being yourself honestly--and loves you for it, then that person is who you are meant to be with."

Byulhee sat up for a moment, letting the words sink in. It was true. In both her previous marriage and her last relationship, she had let herself get lost and couldn't be herself around either them. "Wow," she said softly after a moment. "That was deep." A beat passed and then Byulhee's lips curled into a smirk as a thought struck her. "So, do you have someone special, then?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

Aeyeong chuckled. "I do, actually," she replied with a wink.

Byulhee's eyes widened and she leaned forward in anticipation.

With an amused twinkle in her eye, Aeyeong cupped her hand towards Byulhee's ear as if she were about to share some great secret. "My cat, Berlioz."

Byulhee's face deflated. "Hey! That's not fair." She scoffed. "I was hoping for some juicy details about your love life."

Jaemi chuckled, looking up from her laptop. "Aeyeong doesn't talk much about her personal life, so I doubt she would suddenly spill her love life to you." As Jaemi turned back to her laptop, she could not help but wonder if Aeyeong really did have a boyfriend or not. There were times when it felt like Aeyeong kept things from her. Despite the fact that Aeyeong was very quiet about her personal life, Jaemi could not help but have suspicions about her friend. Aeyeong hardly ever invited her to her apartment. In fact, out of all the years that they had been friends, Jaemi could probably count on her fingers how many times she had actually been inside Ae's appartment. It would not be a surprising thing if someone else lived in the apartment with her, though Jaemi had no intention of prying more into that. If her friend did not wish to speak of it, she would not bring the matter up.

Then again, perhaps she was just overthinking things. Though, it was rare for her intuitiion to fail her. She could only think of one instance where it had. She let out a sigh. "L'amour est toujours très compliqué," she muttered. "Love is always very complicated."

"You can say that again," chimed Byulhee, puffing up her cheeks with air. A beat passed and then she bolted up from her place on the couch as an idea struck her. "Let's have enough talk about men! I say, let's have a girl's night--day-whatever! We could go shopping! See a movie! Hit up a club!" 

"No clubs," muttered Jaemi with a tone that left no room for arguement.

"No clubs!" exclaimed Byulhee in whole-hearted agreement. A beat passed and she threw her head back, laughing. "Oops! I didn't really think that through, did I?" She chuckled. "Then how about just shopping? And should we call up the rest of the gang and see who wants to come? Get some new clothes. We gotta start looking good after our debut." Byulhee posed with her hands on her hips as she battered her eyelashes. 

Aeyeong chuckled. "Sounds like fun." She turned towards Jaemi. "Jay, you coming with us?"

"Hmm?" Jaemi looked up from the screen. "Nah. I'll think I'll pass. Thanks though," she responded with a small  smile.

"Whyyyyy not?" whined Byulhee playfully.

Jaemi chuckled. "I gotta take care of a few things around the apartment." She did not wish to tell her dongsaeng that she absolutely hated clothes shopping. She never felt more self-conscious about her body as she did when she shopped. It was better to just let the matter be. "But don't let me stop you. Go and have fun," she continued with a smile. 

Byulhee looked disappointed for a moment at the idea that Jaemi would not be coming with them, but her frown quickly faded at the thought of going shopping with so many of her fellow members brought a grin to her face. "Then let's go!" she said, bolting off the couch.

Aeyeong giggled quietly as she pulled out her phone. "I'll text everyone and see who wants to come." She got off the couch and grabbed her purse. "We can take my car too." She began to make her way toward the front door with Byulhee. "See ya, Jay!"

"See ya, Ae. See ya, Byul," responded Jaemi with a warm smile as she got up to walk them to the door. "Have fun!"

"Bye Jaemi!" called back Byulhee with a grin. 

"Bye!" Jaemi replied with a wave before she shut the door behind them. 

****

Nell and Siwon sat at one of the pews in one of the secluded areas of the church, hidden partially by a large column. Nell leaned against Siwon's shoulder as he shared his well-worn Bible with her as they followed along with the minister's sermon. She glanced up discreetly, peering at Siwon's calm face as he poured diligently over the text. 

A gentle smile creeped across her face as she was reminded of how grateful she was to have such a spiritually minded boyfriend in her life. 

As she focused her eyes once more upon the written word of God, her smile fell as a certain thought crept upon her mind. 

What if someone found out about their relationship?

They always sought to be discreet, but what would happen if someone where to discover their secret?

As if seeming to sense her disquieting thoughts, Siwon adjusted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder comfortingly. 

Nell glanced up, sending him a soft, reassuring smile to his now concerned gaze. She refocused her attention on the sermon once more. As another scripture was cited, she helped Siwon turn the pages to the corresponding verse. 

"'Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee: He will never suffer the righteous to be moved,'" the minister read from the 55th Psalms. *

Nell reread the words in her mind, a feeling of calmness washing over her. Even though things might seem uncertain and problems might arise between her relationship with Siwon and their line of work, everything would be alright. She could always turn to God for a listening ear if her worries started to overwhelm her.

As she found solace in those thoughts, she smiled. She and Siwon would be  alright in the end, come what may.

As the service came to an end, Nell gently slipped herself from his grasp. "See you later," she whispered.

"Wait," Siwon began in a hushed voice, his eyes furrowed with confusion. "I thought we were going to hang out."

"I kinda wanted to play Resident Evil," she replied with a quiet chuckle. "I want to finish replaying the last one before the new one comes out." Even though the new one would not come out until January, Nell was so excited for it that she just had to play the old ones first. 

"You can play it at my house," Siwon replied with a warm smile. 

"Oh, alright," Nell said with a smile. "I'll see you at your house then." With that, she turned to leave, discreetly slipping away from Siwon and out of the church, lest anyone should see them together. Once she was outside, she got inside her car and pulled out her phone to see if she had any messages.

There was one text message from Aeyeong, inviting her to go shopping with them. A smile crossed her face at the pleasant thought. It was nice to see how comfortable her group members were with each other. She quickly texted back, politely declining. Though she would like to spend more time with her fellow members, she had already promised to hang out with Siwon, and that was something that was not going to give up on. 

After declining to shop with them, she continued to text, promising that she would be back in time to watch the first episode of the show with them. 

****

Five of the members met up a mall, smiles on their faces and purses in hand, ready to have some fun shopping. They hit the first store and almost immediately split into different groups--one group headed for the clothing department, while the the other headed for the beauty section.

Lìxúe, Aeyeong, and Sijin wandered the clothing department, browsing through the selections.

Sijin felt rather out of her element. She never really paid much attention to fashion. She usually just wore clothes that covered as much skin as possible. She knew that she would have to branch out a bit, especially if she was going to be seen as a Starlet, but frankly she did not know how to go about it. She glanced at the two members with her. One was a model who was used to wearing the most trendy fashions and sometimes the most outlandish of costumes. It was probably easy for her to find clothes to wear. She always seemed to have fashionable, but comfortable clothes. Aeyeong, on the other hand, was not model, but she was beautiful, and even though her everyday style was rather simple, it always appeared to be rather classy and mature. Sijin felt she did not fit on either end of the spectrum.

As she sifted through one of the racks, she felt almost completely lost.

As if sensing her dongsaeng's discomfiture, Aeyeong glanced over at Sijin. "Need some help?"

"Yeah. I'm not good with this sort of thing." Sijin chuckled self-deprecatingly as she wrapped her arms in front of herself subconsciously.

Aeyeong immediately discerned Sijin's insecurities and she regarded her dongsaeng with a warm, comforting smile. "Don't worry, Sijin. We'll help you out."

Lìxúe smiled encouragingly. "We'll find some things that will work perfectly for you." She took a look at Sijin's attire, noting the large coat that hung over her frame and the slightly over-sized, flared jeans on her legs. Her eyes lit up. "I have an idea." She hurried over to a nearby rack with a range of skinny jeans in a variety of sizes and colors. She grabbed a few diferent colors in a couple of different sizes that she thought might fit Sijin. "Try these," she said upon returning, handing the assortment of jeans to Sijin.

Sijin took the clothes, eyeing them with a look of uncertainty. Skinny jeans always hugged a person's figure, outling their legs almost completely. How could she pull off wearing something like that? "Are you sure these will work for me?" she asked aloud.

"Positive," replied Lìxúe with an encouraging smile.

Aeyeong nodded. "Why don't you try those on first and then we'll move on from there, ok?" she said warmly.

Sijin nodded in turn and headed toward the dressing room with Aeyeong and Lìxúe by here side.

"If you need any help, we'll be waiting right outside," said Aeyeong as she and Lìxúe took a seat just outside the dressing room stalls.

"Alright," replied Sijin with a small nod as she entered one of the stalls. After locking the door behind her, she set down the clothes on the nearby bench. She took one glance at the jeans and let out a sigh.

Could she really wear those?

Steeling herself, she took in a deep breath and grabbed the first pair of jeans.

After donning the skinny jeans and not daring to look in the mirror behind her, she exited the dressing room, exhaling a breath. "How do they look?"

Lìxúe and Aeyeong both stood up, smiling and gasping.

"Those look so good on you," Lìxúe said with a warm smile.

"They're perfect!" Aeyeong agreed. "How do they feel?"

Sijin blinked, not expecting their reactions in the least. "Uh... good, I guess." She glanced down as she shuffled her legs. "Comfy too." Surprisingly. She had not expected them to be comfortable at all.

"Did you see how you they look?" Lìxúe asked.

Sijin shook her head gently. "No."

Lìxúe gestured her hand toward the nearby mirror. "Take a look."

Sijin walked over to the mirror, her heart quickening. She gulped as she turned to face the mirror. Her eyes widened immediately upon seeing her reflection in the glass. gaped slightly. She looked...good. She blinked, not fully believing her eyes.

"Do you like them?" she heard Lìxúe ask.

She looked down, shuffling her legs awkwardly. "Yeah." She turned her gaze back to the mirror, a smile subconsciously crossing her lips.

Lìxúe smiled at Sijin in the mirror. "Then let's go find you some more clothes."

 ****

In the beauty department, Minyeon found herself in front of a large selection of nail lacquers with Byulhee following closely behind, chatting away. 

"So then--" Byulhee stopped mid-sentence as she eyed a deep red nail polish. "Ooh!" She snatched it up into her hands. "This one would be perfect for our debt, don't you think?" She held the vial out for Minyeon to look at. 

Minyeon regarded the color with a nod. It was actually a color that Minyeon owned that was sitting in her nail polish rack at home. "Yeah, I think so." She turned her head, admiring a light mint polish.

"Oh, and this oneis so trendy, right now," commented Byulhee, snatching up seashell taupe nail lacquer. 

"This one is cute too," added Minyeon, taking up a pretty coral shade.

"That is!" agreed Byulhee.

As they continued to casually admire the different nail polishes, Byulhee suddenly fell silent. 

"What?" Minyeon asked, noting Byulhee's change of attitude.

"I was just thinking," Byulhee replied with a sigh. "We're not going to be able to do this a whole lot after we debut. I mean, the whole walking around in public thing without people recognizing us, you know? What's it going to be like once people can actually recognize us?"

Minyeon nodded in understanding. "Red Velvet was worried about that too before they debuted, but it's not so bad. There are ways to work around it."

Byulhee nodded as they continued to look at nail colors.

Minyeon smiled subconsciously. Tonight was the night that the first episode of the show would air. It was exciting. After all the years of training and working at SM, the public would finally see some of her hard labor.

She wondered how the public would react to seeing their group for the first time. Would they love them? Would they be skeptical? Hate them? 

How would her role as leader come to play out in the days and weeks leading up to their official debut? The weeks of promoting? The months of different schedules and events? And hopefully their activities in the years ahead?

She was confident in what she was doing and the role she played within her group, but the public and the industry were fickle things. 

You can never quite tell what may happen.

She just knew one thing for certain: It would be interesting to  see just how their debut would affect the rest of their lives. 

Author's Not
*The scripture is quoted from the American Standard Bible.

A/N: I'm sorry my dear readers that it has taken me so long to update. I am truly sorry. My work schedule has just been so busy. Let's just say that even after my schdule change, they messed up and I've ended up working more hours than I was before the schedule change. It is starting to even out again, so *hopefully* I can update regularly again. Sorry about the wait though.  Rest assured though that I shall never quit writing this fic. I'm just slow. So again, my apologies. 

Also, I'm sorry if this update feels a little slower paced. It kinda needs to be that way though before all the different events to come. 

Anyway, thank you all for taking the time to read this and for putting up with me. ^^

Have a good day/night! I love you all! ^^