◸ chapter | no. two ◿

 ‹ ETHEREAL › shincom's first girl group / revamped 。
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

chapter two

 

of stars and unpredictability
FEBRUARY 18th, 2016

Himawari always hid her heart, preferring to not allow it to travel down onto her sleeve disturbing her decision-making process. It was the sole reason she didn’t give in to the pressure of staying at SM Entertainment. A company that disregarded her talent and merely focused on her breathtakingly exquisite features that earned her the estimated title of ‘The Prettiest Trainee in SM,’ a claim that, despondently, followed her to Shinhwa Company.

Always placing her brain on a pedestal shaped her to the person she slowly became. A person filled with a terrific emotional detachment. Enabling her from prospering in an acting career or even a functioning social life.

However, for once in her life, Himawari disregarded her brain and prioritized her heart for it was necessary.

Ethereal’s debut preparations stood on a glass window. The girls were to debut in July or perhaps early August. However, April was nearing its end yet the four girls that anxiously waited for a little clue about their debut were getting none except something Melin had genuinely loathed. A drama offer for tvN’s upcoming drama alongside Ji Chang Wook. A drama offer she was obliged to accept.

‘The K2’ was its name. It would tell the story of Kim Jeha, a former mercenary soldier for the PMC Blackstone who returns to South Korea and by chance, gets offered to work as a bodyguard for Choi Yoojin, the owner of JSS Security Company and wife of the presidential candidate, Jang Sejoon. However, a love story would also be present. Go Anna, the character Himawari was to portray, – the hidden daughter of Jang Sejoon, whose life is always threatened because of Yoojin, her stepmother – strongly relies on the person assigned to guard her, in this case, Jeha. Living a life of isolation and loneliness, Jeha protects the naïve Anna from the world, consequently, falling in love with each other. However, Jeha is torn between having to work with his ally, Yoojin, to get his revenge and protecting his new-found love, Anna, from the constant attempts of assassination.

Conversely, its cliché storyline wasn’t what bothered Himwari's weary brain but rather the consequences of appearing in a drama while debut preparations should be taking place. Consequences she wanted to look over with Eric Mun, her CEO and the person that started everything.

Pacing in front of her CEO’s office door, though, Himawari pondered the implications of her future actions. Would they postpone the preparations for Ethereal’s debut once more? Would she receive a scolding for her attitude? Would she be offered to leave Shinhwa Company if she isn’t happy? But then again, Himawari hasn’t known the feeling of happiness in a long time.

Lifelessly looking at the door in front of her, she let out a long sigh whispering to herself, “Wear your heart on your sleeve.” 

“Why should you?” a soft male voice asked, “One becomes extremely vulnerable when their heart is the main key in their life.” 

Himawari owlishly looked at the man that stood stagnant beside her unable to pronounce a word, “Their life is beyond irrational if their heart is the protagonist of it.” He said, his eyes not moving from the door in front of him, “Emotionally driven decisions are objectionable, whereas intelligence driven decisions are indispensable.” 

“I agree,” Himawari blandly said, “However, in this case, I shall pretend I’m emotionally driven.” 

The man giggled as he pointed to the door in front of him, “With Eric Mun?” she nodded, “Use your brain when speaking to him, he likes people filled with intelligence that are able to refute his arguments.” 

“People filled with intelligence…” she slowly repeated, “He must like you then.”

He brought his Starbucks cup close to his pinkish and plump lips, “He likes you as well.” Taken aback with his words directed towards her intelligence rather than her beauty, a subliminal shade of peachy pink took over Himwari's cheeks, “Your body has a good head on its shoulders, use it wisely.” 

“I will.” She firmly stated. 

Goofily he smiled and the heels of his feet, “You didn’t tell me your name,” he said as he started getting farther from her.

“You also didn’t tell me yours.” She crossed her arms, her face stripped from any emotion.

Walking backward he tilted his head, “What do you see in the sky at night?”

“Stars,” Himawari responded a line forming between her brows, “Byeol, that’s your name.”

He nodded, “I would ask you yours, but I want to keep it a perplexity.” Himawari rolled her eyes at the boy’s attempt at flirting with her, “I also want to have a further reason to communicate with you in a distant future.”

Shaking her head, Himawari stared at the floor, “I shan’t wait for such moment and shan’t you either for it will never happen.” 

Cold hands knocked on the door and opened it as soon as the male’s figure disappeared from her sight. “I have the desire to talk to you CEO-nim,” Himawari said staring at the back of his black leather chair, “It’s about current events that are blocking Ethereal’s road to a successful and well-planned debut.”

“I don’t understand how you appearing in a drama alongside illustrious actors is something uninvited.” Eric said as he spun on his chair to face Himawari, “You should be thankful, people never get handed such chance before they have debuted, let alone if they are from a small company.”

Himawari scoffed, “I never said I wasn’t thankful. I would appreciate it if you didn’t put words that I never pronounced in my mouth.”

“Something so trivial is bothering you,” Eric got up from his chair, “Jangmi did say you didn’t like unpredictable situations.” 

Predictability. Something Himawari always wanted to be present in her life. From the moment her parents got divorced. From the moment she came to South Korea. From the moment she joined SM Entertainment. From the moment she left SM Entertainment. From the moment she found another company. From the moment she became a member of a four-piece girl group. Sureness that the unknown tomorrow wouldn’t stray from her expectations. 

There was nothing wrong with such thought process. Or so Himawari thought. 

Approaching the older man’s desk, she pointed at the sheets of paper, “Is it because a Shinhwa’s comeback is also in the wo

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
itswildflowers
#ETHEREAL; Chapter Thirteen is now up!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
LostHeaven
#1
Chapter 24: I'm so sorry for taking so long to comment on this but life just kept getting in the way ;; but yay, there's finally new ethereal content, i'm so freaking happy!!
first of all, this chappie just starts right off with a bat, it's so good the way you portrayed minwoo and the girls reaction to something that will be for their fans yet will be rushed because shincom and yg are idiots that don't know how to carefully plan things -_- im so sad for kyulbin, poor baby just wanted to be with her family ;; all of them want but it feels like she's much more closer to them than the remaining members, which is so cute, i hope she will rely much more on her unnies in the future so ethereal will be an actual family where they love each other unconditionally
minseo's face claim is freaking gorgeous, i think i fell in love with her (please tell me who she is authornim ;;)
minseo really seems like she would be byeol's older sister, the voice of reason admist all the chaos, i get that is deeply in love with meilin but him acting like that after being rejected is so childish >-< , also you broke my ing heart with dajung telling meilin she has the universe in her eyes when she's looking at her fellow members, meilin really is a woman of few words but her actions scream or perhaps behaviors are mouch louder. i understand jangmi's frustrations, i hope that all the rappers in the future will get their chance of showing how good of rappers they are!!
onto jennie's pov, damn, i have to admit, at the beginning, knowing she was considered yg's princess i did expect her to be rather stuck up and very self-centered and i guess you showcased that very well, i hope no one misunderstands you! it always helps having an 'antagonist' it spices things up ^^
looking forward to the next updates and yesh, stan ateez!
LostHeaven
#2
Chapter 2: you used the members individual colors for their profile pages, it looks so cute and like always it compliments the blue you used, also we stan a visual group! love all the images you chose for the members, they highlight the members personalities really well, imo
LostHeaven
#3
oh my god! the blue page looks so much prettier than the last one, it looks a lot more elegant! ;; im in love authornim
Sica_Sicachu
#4
Chapter 23: i'm so glad you've updated again
this was a really good chapter, looking forward to future updates!
LostHeaven
#5
Chapter 23: I ended up deleting my initial comments to put BTS pov with Saeron's so the comments section doesn't get messy, authornim ー( ´ ▽ ` )ノ
I wasn't aware Minwoo was a scumbag, there's really no decent men in the Korean Industry, he ed over so many years in the kpop industry over not knowing something as simple as CONSENT! What an idiot, (゚⊿゚)
I enjoy reading your authornotes so much, I am looking forward to future updates! (ノ^∇^)
LostHeaven
#6
Chapter 23: Now, onto my favorite part of this chapter, and the part that low-key yet freaking high key broke my ing heart, Byeol's pov TT
At the beginning i thought this was going to be a really adorable moment especially because of how Byeol was watching her and how the cat was in her lap sleeping, which btw, I love the name of, Allan Poe is an amazing name for a cat and i'll fight with anyone that begs to differ ఠ_ఠ We love a queen that protects her animals and decides to break the rules to be with them because they are unwell (Meilin really doesn't give a about ShinCom, girl will lead revolution, create a agency just for Ethereal ahaha)
At the beginning, I wasn't understanding why Meilin was so angry at Byeol's request but then I understood, he never pondered if she was comfortable working with someone she had never before as she has only worked with who she is comfortable with (nct and exo), when she says she refuses to mantain a 'relationship' with Byeol because she believes he only became friends with her to make money out of her made me really sad ;;
"Allowed you to see parts of me that only Jangmi and Taeyong have seen" First of all, damn, second of all, damnm Byeol x Meilin was a much stronger ship than I ever imagined.
You had no right in tearing my heart and soul apart with Byeol's monologue. "And I am more than someone you can rely on when it comes to producing?" He cares so much for this girl, it hurts. Bringing her a cup of coffee and a bagel every morning just to make her smile and see if she's well-off? Even when he wasn't needed at ShinCom? We don't deserve Byeol, because even though Meilin was being extremely cold-hearted, he still saw the good by admiting she was the most exceptional person he ever met. Meilin believing everything Byeol felt towards her was out of self-pleasure is one of the most inhumane things I ever read, I hope she regrets her words, in the future. "Downward spiral", I feel like this is one of the events that will lead to Meilin's full on depression and it's already breaking my heart because the upcoming event is discovering everyone lied to her face about Taeyong x Jangmi, also, Byeol saying he can't stay and watch her ruin herself, is coming from love, I understand, I also wouldn't be able to stand watching someone I deeply care for tearing themselves apart. Also, having read your author-note, my heart is completely shattered. Even so, Byeol decided to tell her he loved her, and Meilin's response once again, cold-hearted.
This is the first time you've ever shown how rational, logical and cold-hearted Meilin can truly be, I wonder how many repercussions, losing Byeol will have.
LostHeaven
#7
Chapter 23: starting with bts's pov
this might be the smallest part of the entire chapter, however, it's so neatly done it didn't need at all to be longer, i really enjoy how you can explain things so well in such small parts
i think you really excelled at showing bts's dynamics in this, especially taehyung's, he's someone that fins various ways to distract himself, also yes, we stan a queen that only makes bops, whalien 52 and butterfly are my two favorite songs from bts, they are absolute masterpieces. (i hope bts can do something similar in the future again)
also, we stan kings that know how hard dajung must be working for ethereal's comeback and prefer to not bother her as they don't want to cause any further stress!!
i am curious how well byeol works with bts, it would be incredible if you could touch on this topic in future chapters, i feel like they would basically be brothers (btw, authornim how old is byeol supposed to be? i don't remember it ever being specified)
the way this pov was ended was really well, like i said, it really showed how everything had already been said, loved it <3
Saeron x I.O.I interactions break my heart, especially knowing she could have been part of it ;;
I feel so bad for Chaeyeon, it must have been so hard fighting for a spot in I.O.I for then your company to yourself over by making your group comeback, in hopes of riding the success wave, a lot of the girls actually didn't even get to promote as I.O.I for more than 5 mnths becaus of their y companies.
Saeron has a heart of gold and the world doesn't deserve her, not caring if the ride would have been good or bad, all she wanted was to be able to be the girls side until the end, even if that meant suffering.
Their dynamics are sooooo good, and you wrote this so well, I pictured every single line in my mind, especially Chungha standing in the doorframe (she's so soft ;;) I loved the mentions of downpour, especially because we know it's Saeron that will write it (if you look at it, in a way she was by their side at the finale)
ALSO WE STAN INTERACTIONS BETWEEN JANGMI AND SAERON, #SAEMISHIPPERSRISE
Like always, the way you ended this POV was soo good! I'm enjoying this chapter so much it's unbelievable, authornim °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
LostHeaven
#8
Chapter 23: i'm so sorry authornim, but i'm pretty sure i'll have to do separate comments for the three pov's they are all so well written ;;
guisukigwi
#9
Chapter 22: first of all, welcome back lena! thank you, as always, for making time to make yet another great chapter. without further ado, lets get started (as in letting my thoughts loose :"D)

i like how the chapter started out as a questioning of some sorts. i don't think i've said this but i feel like i gained several brain cells everytime i read your writing :") english is not my first language so i had to re-read the sentences in order to understand what it means and the meaning / message behind it :"D you write so beatifully that im suprised your writing is not yet put in an art museum >< i understand the bittersweet feeling that dajung felt. wanting to be recognized not for one thing, but as a whole being. that feeling of seeing your member do better than you, and you want to be jealous and to hate them but you cant. i do hope that everyone will recognize dajung not only for her voice but her being as a whole. also this is the first time i see dajung and saeron properly interact and im screaming. theres still many ships that has yet to be sailed (dajung x jangmi, jangmi x saeron, saeron x meilin, etc) but im sure you have the best in store for us ^^
reading jangmi's part, i feel melancholy. the aftermath of a breakup took a toll on her state and i just wanna jump inside the story and hug jangmi. it's taeyong's loss and i still cant believe he'd do that :" the way jaehyun entered the girls' dorm was so cute >< im feeling rather antsy for meilin. im scared that she might shatter thus i dont want the news of taeyong to reach her ears, but at the same time, the longer they keep the news away from her, meilin might feel like she's been betrayed not only by taeyong, but by jangmi and jaehyun as well and this will cause the improving relationship between the girls to stop ;;;
i kid you not i almost had a heart attack when i saw kyulbin's pov :") i cant believe her brother had the nerve to say those words omg im mad :" shattering someone's confidence is like shattering their lifeline -- it's going to take a while for kyulbin to build up that confidence again. i have several ships im fond of in ethereal and i cant believe i've been graced with one of my fave ships :") correct me if im wrong but (i think) the last time meilin x kyulbin ship sailed was in the beginning when meilin invited kyulbin to go with her to a cafe :") thinking back it seems a while ago but i still bust out all my uwus every time i reread that part. im genuinely suprised that kyulbin called meilin, i thought she would call dajung or saeron or jangmi :") and ahaa same kyulbin, i dont think badly of meilin but i didnt think she would come - i thought she might send another member to come fetch kyulbin up. im happy that kyulbin's relationship with meilin is improving though <3 ouo
thank u for a great chapter lena ^^ i cant wait for what you have next in store for us! ~
LostHeaven
#10
Chapter 22: thank you so much for this chappie authornim, looking forqds to what much more thereal has to offer, also for sugestions, christmas is just around the corner (as well as are DaSae's birthday's) it would be really fun to see all the girls celebrating such events especially before they have to go back to work everyday
besides that, it would be really lovely to see more of seojun's pov especially when he is basically bursting from loving Meilin way too much hahaha, tbh anyone else pov's other than ethereal members would be nicd to see throughout the story authornim!