CHAPTER 01

I CAN SEE YOUR VOICE; ATH3NA'S INTRO STAGE

Wednesday, 13 Jan 2016

"Okay eonnie, I'm done changing my clothes.." Jooeun said to her coordi-eonnie as soon as she stepped out of the changing cubicle.

"Oh, you're done? Okay, come here.. let me take a look at you," her coordi-eonnie, Kwang Minjung, said as she took Jooeun's clothes from her and then corrects the younger girl's outfit. 

Once everything had been perfected, Jooeun was asked to sit down on one of the dressing chairs in front of the mirror and a makeup artist started working on her face right away. Hoping to catch a few minutes of napping time as she barely had 4 hours of sleep the night before, Jooeun forced down a yawn and closed her eyes. ATH3NA had been busy perfecting their dance steps, preparing for their introduction stage, debut performance and showcase, and filming their tv show at the same time that they barely had any rest throughout the past few months.

"Aigoo Jooeun-sshi, your eyebags are almost as dark as your senior's Seungri.." the makeup artist said teasingly and everyone who heard that, including Jooeun herself, laughed.

"Well, it's the unavoidable life of a rookie idol.. It all depends on how hard you work now," her manager, Kim Soohwan, said and Jooeun nodded her head lightly but soon, all the noises becomes a distant buzz as she falls asleep. A plus point for Jooeun, she can sleep anywhere and everywhere.

Jooeun had no idea how long had passed when someone knocked on the room's door. Opening her eyes, Jooeun immediately stand up when she realised that her visitors are none other than 2 of their Mnet TV show's VJs. She greets them politely and invites them to sit down.

"I'm sure your manager has informed you on today's special filming," one of the VJ, Park Seohwan, said and Jooeun nodded her head, and he continued to say, "We're going to film ATH3NA separately. Each girls will have 2 VJs with hand-held cameras with them. We'll asked questions and you'll answer them. I know this will be harder and different from previous recordings but try and make it less awkward and more fun. We'll do our best to help you but you have to do this yourself. Any questions? We'll re-enter and start recording once you're ready."

"Alright, I'll do my best! Except for my lipstick, I think I'm ready. You can start filming.. now? I don't mind getting filmed while having my make up done," Jooeun said, grinning adorably, and the 2 VJs smiled, showing an 'okay' sign as they proceed to walk out the room.

Jooeun sat down at the same dressing chair and as soon as they walked out, less than a minute later, the same familiar knock was heard. Manager Soohwan opened the door and everything happened as though they hadn't came by earlier. Jooeun greeted them oh-so naturally and the filming carried on as she has her lips painted in a shade of nudish pink lipstick.

"Ahh, I wonder how my members are doing.. It's really hard and lonely filming without them," Jooeun said as she looked at the camera through the mirror, laughing cutely as she thought of her members.

"Oh.. ATH3NA has not filmed or have any other projects without each other before?" VJ Seohwan asked from behind the hand-held camera.

"No, we have had projects without each other before.. But since we're preparing for our intro and debut stage and showcase, we have been with each other day and night. I don't think we have spent even an hour apart from each other since the past few months.. So yeah, maybe that's why I'm feeling a little awkward and lonely without them," Jooeun answered as she smiled.

"Ahh, I see.. Well, don't worry, you'll meet them soon.." VJ Seohwan said and Jooeun laughed.

"But thats the problem! We'll meet but we have to pretend not to know each other! Do you know how hard that is?! We have always talked and laughed about things together and now it's like... I have to pretend they are strangers.. I really don't know what to do," Jooeun said.

"Urh... you sound like your members are your ex-boyfriends and you're just about to meet each other again," VJ Seohwan said in a funny tone. 

Laughing as she realised how true his words are, Jooeun said, "Urh.. I guess thats how it feels too.. I'm just very nervous right now."

"Ahh, to those who didn't follow the show, explain to the audience on what you're talking about earlier and what have you prepared for today," VJ Seohwan said.

"Oh.. okay! As ATH3NA have said last week, we'll be taking part in 'I Can See Your Voice' as contestants. We really love the show and we have always watched it as we tried to guess who can sing and who can't.. It's really fun and interesting! But.. being on the show itself, it's really nerve-wracking.. But we'll do our best!" Jooeun said, showing a fighting pose. 

"So, what's your given nick name for this show? And what have you prepared? Are you going to win this?" VJ Seohwan asked.

"Urh.. my given nickname.. haha! It's really embarrassing for me to say it myself.. It's urh.. 'Better Than CL, YG's New Queen of Rap'.. It's really given by the show's writer.. I really didn't know about it until today.. I really respect and like CL-eonnie," Jooeun said nervously as she shows the camera her nametag, and then continued to say, "Well, I prepared a song by Yoon Mirae-sunbaenim. It's a special song and I hope you'll like it! But! But! Even so, ATH3NA cannot win this. We have to lose so that we can perform our song."

"Hmmm, that sounds really interesting. Although ATH3NA will have to lose the performance, you'll still give your best right?" VJ Seohwan asked as he zoomed into Jooeun's face.

"Of course! I'll give my very best! But.. But we must lose! Argh! I'm so nervous right now! I wonder how my members are doing?" Jooeun asked, laughing as her mind eventually still think of her members.

All dolled up and ready in her solo performance outfit, Eunhee looked at the camera and laughed. She had been answering and talking to the camera for the past half an hour or so but she still couldn't get used to it. 

"Haha! It's really awkward for me to talk on my own like this.. " Eunhee said, laughing, as she then continue to say, "I wonder how my members are doing. Joonie is probably doing better than I am.. but Hannie.. aigoo my maknae.. she's probably finding this harder than I do.. I think she'll spend her time rehearsing her dance steps to get rid of the awkward atmosphere.. Hahaha!"

The moment Eunhee's laughters died down, awkward silence engulfed the atmosphere that caused her 2 VJs to laugh and asked, "Eunhee-sshi, this silence is almost like a broadcasting error. Hahah! Okay, let us allow you to call someone to talk to. Who knows you're going to film today?"

"Hmmm... my members? Hehehe!" Eunhee replied cheekily, and the 2 VJs laughed at her reply, and she continued to say, "Urh.. Who knows ATH3NA is filming today.. Hmmm, obviously our director.. I think he might even be in the studio so as to watch our performance very closely.. Haha! Hmmm, our seniors would know.. Ahh! My twin! I talked to him yesterday and he told me that the production staffs approached him. Can I call him?"

"Of course! Let's call SHINee's Taemin," one of the VJ, the same one who had been talking to her, Kang Daehan, said as he gave her an okay sign and zoomed the camera towards her face as she got her phone from her manager.

SHINee's Married to the Music blast from the cellphone and a few seconds later, a familiar voice answered the call, "Annyeong baby girl.."

Eunhee laughed, blushing a bright shade of pink as she internally cringed at Taemin's favourite nickname for her, and said, "Annyeong oppa.. Are you busy? I'm filming ATH3NA's show right now and also waiting the cue to enter the stage for the recording of 'I Can See Your Voice'.."

"Ahh, I see.. No, it's okay.. I'm not busy.. It's rest day for SHINee and so we're just lazying around in the dorm. So, how was your preparation for the intro stage? What's your nickname on the show?" Taemin replied and other members' voices could be heard faintly in the background.

"Hmmm.. you know that they used your name right? You told me that they approached you as one of my background hint," Eunhee said. 

"Yes, I know they used my name.. But what exactly is your nickname? They couldn't have just said 'Taemin's Twin' right? That would be so plain and boring!" Taemin said and Eunhee unconsciously nodded her head, agreeing that her twin is right. Variety show is never that straight forward.

"The nickname.. I have no idea who came up with it but it's so embarrassing! It's 'Taemin's Twin, Korea's Own Whitney Houston'.. Can I change it? Like I definitely don't mind the Taemin's twin which is true but putting me as Korea's Whitney Houston is too much!" Eunhee rambled, pouting and fake crying while Taemin could be heard laughing in the background.

"Hahaha! Well, it may be embarrassing but your voice is definitely that good! I honestly think it fits you.. You just have to be confident on stage and gives your best," Taemin said and Eunhee sighed as a small smile appeared on her face. Taemin is bias, she's always the best in his eyes.

"Oppa, I know you love me but I am not Korea's Whitney Houston.. I'll still do my best though.. Thank you oppa," Eunhee said, smiling. 

"You're most welcome! All the best for your intro stage! I'll be rooting and cheering for you and the rest of ATH3NA. Fighting!" Taemin cheered excitedly but before Eunhee could say anything, a rush of cheers and chants come from the other side of the line.

"Eunhee-ah, congratulations on your group's intro stage!" 

"Eunhee-ah! Fighting! ATH3NA! Fighting!"

"GODDESS have descend! Woohooo! ATH3NA FIGHTING!"

"Hahaha! Thank you SHINee-sunbaenims!" Eunhee replied, laughing at their excitement.

"You're welcome! We're cheering for you from over here!" 

"Why!? Why are you pushing us away!? Where are you going?! We want to talk to her too!"

"Yah Hyungs! Can you please go away! I'm talking to my sister right now! Shoo, shoo!"

"Yah Lee Taemin! Your sister is our sister too! We wanna cheer for her too!"

"Yah! Hyungs! Can you guys please go somewhere and not interfere? Yah! Seriously!" Taemin could be heard shouting, grunting and sighing as he probably escaped to a quieter place as the voices faded in the background.

"Oppa, your SHINee members are so funny and nice," Eunhee said, smiling and occassionally giggling as she recalled the chaotic atmosphere a few minutes earlier.

"Well, I find them annoying at times like this.. Talking about members, your room seems quiet. Where's Jooeun and Haneul?" Taemin asked.

"Hmmm.. they're placed in a different room at the moment. Because we have to pretend to be strangers, we came to the show and even prepare separately until later after the reveal," Eunhee said, sighing as the feeling of emptiness of being without her members sink in again.

"Oh, its to that extent? Wah, so you have not seen them from morning?" Taemin asked, surprise evident in his voice, and Eunhee unconsciously shook her head in response to his question. 

"No, I've not seen them from the moment we went separate ways at our dorm.." Eunhee replied softly, pouting cutely as she then said, "I wonder what they're doing..."

"This is.. urm.. different. I've never had a changing room all to myself before," Haneul said, smiling rather awkwardly as she glanced around the spacious room and continued to say, "Usually I would be sharing with so many people.. and most of the time I would have my eonnies with me.. I don't know how to feel.. Haha! It's quite lonely but it doesn't feel so bad too. I have my own time to think about my stage peformance later."

All dressed, made up and ready for the show, Haneul had been doing her best not to have any silent or awkward moment for the show's filming but it's really not easy as she's running out of things to talk about. Usually she would be spending her time sleeping or playing with her members.

"I see.. So what have you prepared for 'I Can See Your Voice'? Is there anything different that you'll be doing from your members?" the VJ, Jung Jisung, asked as he tried to start a conversation for the inexperience younger girl.

"Hmmm, I'll be dancing quite a bit today.. After finding out who the guests and guests judges are a few days back, I picked out some of the best songs and practiced with YG's dance crews. I've also chosen what to sing and I'm really nervous about that. I'm used to dancing on stage but to sing live, this is my first time. But I really look forward to it though," Haneul replied as she flashed her adorable signature smile. 

"Uwah.. It sounds like you'll be putting on quite a show for us. So, what's your given nickname for the show? I heard that it has something to do with your birth place and your talent to speak Italian?" VJ Jisung asked and Haneul laughed. 

"The name is ridiculous! It's so funny! It's.. urh.. What is it again.. Ah! It's 'Cousin to a Legendary Idol, Italian Speaking Singer From USA'.. It's funny that they included my ability to speak Italian as part of my name. But, since they're including my real background, Director Yang Hyunsuk suggested that I show my real eye and hair colour.. and I agree! So I'm not wearing any contact lense today and I had all the colours dyed to my hair removed 2 days ago. So yes, I'm all natural now.. Hehe!" Haneul replied as she showed off her hair awkwardly yet adorably.

As the camera zoomed in to her blue eyes, Haneul looked around awkwardly as she thinks hard of what else to say. When silence engulfed her surrounding and she really couldn't think of anything else to say, Haneul asked if she could practice her dance performance and the VJs agreed. Rather than talking aimlessly, at least they'll be able to show how hard Haneul practice behind the scene. Approximately 15 minutes had passed when someone knocked on the room's door. 

Manager Joonyup opened the door and one of the production staffs could be heard saying, "We're going to start filming in 5 minutes.. We'll need the contestant to be on standby now."

As they stand by backstage, the contestants looked at each other nervously. They could clearly hear the audience filling up the studio while the production staffs did a last check on all the microphones and lightings. The 3 MCs, Super Junior's Leader Leeteuk, comedian Yoo Seyoon and singer Kim Bumsoo, entered onstage as they greeted the audience. Loud applause and cheerings was heard as they introduced themselves.

"Thank you so much for coming today," Kim Bumsoo said as he smiled and waved towards the crowd.

"Yah, Kim Bumsoo-sshi.. Why are you greeting the audience like you're closing the show?" Yoo Seyoon teased and the crowds roared with laughter.

"Ahh! No no! Thats not how I intend for it to be like.." Kim Bimsoo tried to reason out but they were not letting him off the hook.

"Thats right! We barely begin and we have so many things instored for the audience tonight," Leeteuk added, teasing the smaller sized guy even more while the poor guy just laughed and lowered his head.

"Ahh okay.. I apologise for choosing the wrong words to use," Kim Bumsoo said and everyone laughed. 

"Okay, as Leeteuk-sshi has said, we have a lot of exciting things instored for you today. First off, our line of guests and panel of tone-dead detective team are slightly different from the previous episodes," Yoo Seyoon said. 

"Yes.. Before the show starts, let us introduce to you our tone-detective team.. We have the 2 team leaders who always lead the detective team, Kim Sanghyuk-sshi and Lee Sangmin-sshi!" Kim Bumsoo excitedly introduced and the 2 said man walk onto the stage, smiling and bowing as they greets the audience. 

"And the beautiful roses amongst the thorns, we have our beautiful Shin Bora-sshi and Stephanie-sshi!" Leeteuk enthusiastically added and the crowds applaused and cheered even louder than before as the 2 beautiful ladies walked on stage.

"And this is where everything gets even more interesting! As part of a final episode for season 2, the producers would like to give the audience and fans of 'I Can See Your Voice' a very special gift!" Yoo Seyoon said excitedly and the crowds cheered, screamed and shouted even louder upon seeing 4 handsome figure walking on stage.

"Put your hands together for BEAST's Yoseob and Gikwang, and BtoB's Minhyuk and Sungjae!" Kim Bumsoo said and the crowds cheered and applaused even louder, and ATH3NA take a deep breath as they stole glances at each other. Senior idols are here and they have to give their absolute best. 

Upon receiving the cue from the producer to officially start the show, the 3 MCs proceeded to ask the panel of detective team to take their seats and settle the audience down. The contestants began to enter the stage and stood with their backs facing the audience. The lights dimmed and one of the production staffs started to count down and clapped the slate, cueing the official recording of the show. The MCs started the show as how they usually did and introduced their special gift amongst the panel of detective team. 

"Ilhoon-hyung have guested on the show before.." Sungjae said, smiling as he recounts talking to his older member about guesting on the show.

"Ahh, yes.. Ilhoon-sshi guested during season 1. Did he say anything or gives any advice to the 2 of you?" Leeteuk asked.

"Urh.. yes. He said that those who looked most confident usually cannot sing and the ones who dressed up funnily at times can sing, but he also said that sometimes the more obvious a person is, the more likely the person is to be tone deaf," Minhyuk answered as he smiled.

"Hmmm, thats a very long advice but it seems pretty useless.." Yoo Seyoon said and everyone burst laughing.

"How about BEAST? Have you watched 'I Can See Your Voice'?" Kim Bumsoo asked as the video camera focused on Yoseob and Gikwang.

"Of course! We really loved watching 'I Can See Your Voice' and we almost never missed an episode," Yoseob replied as he looked at Gikwang.

"We've always guessed along as we watched but almost half the time we got it wrong," Gikwang added, causing everyone to burst into laughters as he then continued to say, "But we'll do our best to help your guests tonight."

"Ooh, thats good! Now, before we start the show, let's called out our special guest for tonight," Leeteuk said as he swiftly changed his cue cards.

"Yes.. Our guest today is very handsome and y and they always top the chart whenever they have a comeback," Kim Bumsoo said.

"Male idols who never fail to catch our attention, give it up for GOT7!" Yoo Seyoon enthusiastically introduced and the group of boys entered the stage with the same amount of excitement, or probably more. 

"1, 2, 3, Come and get it! We are GOT7!" the group of boys introduced themselves and they greet the audience.

"Wahhh.. Our stage is filled with male scents today.. From BEAST to BtoB and now GOT7, I bet the female audience are going crazy here," Kim Bumsoo said and the ladies in the audience cheered loudly.

"This is the first time for us to have such a large group of guest. Have you guys watched the show before?" Leeteuk asked.

"We do! We really enjoy watching this show! We love it so much that sometimes we watched the re-runs of it," GOT7's Park Jinyoung answered as he looked at the MCs.

"Have you tried guessing along before?" Kim Bumsoo asked and the attention panned to GOT7's leader, Im Jaebum or better known as JB. 

"Ahh yes.. Our members always have different opinion but most of the time we got it correct," Jaebum replied as he flashed his signature smile.

"Wooo.. But usually, guest who says this kind of comment confidently will have a hard time and ends up with an unexpected twist of event," Yoo Seyoon commented and everyone burst out laughing.

"Yes.. Let's start the show and see how well our GOT7 do today," Kim Bumsoo said and the 7 boys proceed to sit down on the chairs prepared for them by the side of the stage.

As the cameras focused on the contestants on stage and then back to the 3 MCs, Leeteuk said, "Let's now reveal the visuals of the 7 mystery contestants!" 

Upon hearing the cue and as the studio lights began flashing, the contestants turned around and posed in their own desired ways. Despite their cool and calm facade, ATH3NA is very nervous. Standing at number 1, Jooeun had a basic rapper kind of pose while Eunhee, standing at number 4, had an immense pulled back pose as though she was singing a very high note. Haneul, standing at number 7, had a relax pose as she stood straight but had a very emotional look as she hold the microphone with both hands. A total of 5 ladies and 3 guys, including ATH3NA, there's a total of 8 person on stage as one of them is a duo.

"Woahhh! Today's slightly different! We have our first duo contestant and majority of the contestants are female!" Kim Bumsoo commented. 

"Hmmm, those 3 girls.. Number 1, 4 and 7... They seems different. I don't know why but they seemed to exude a different aura," Shin Bora said as her eyes are glued on the 3 girls she mentioned.

"GOT7, looking at just the visuals of the cotestants, what do you feel? What are your impressions?" Leeteuk asked as the camera zoomed onto the 7 boys' surprised faces. Silence from the group of boys caused everyone in the studio, including the boys, to laugh.

"Urh... It's really different from watching on television," Jinyoung said, laughing nervously and the rest of the members nodded their heads. 

"Wahhh, I really cannot tell! This is so difficult!" GOT7's rapper Jackson Wang exclaimed as he looked and studied each of the contestants. 

"We are supposed to choose from just looking at them? I have no idea who can sing and who can't!" Jaebum said, laughing.

"I'm supposed to help but I have no idea too," Yoseob said and everyone laughed.

"How are we supposed to tell from just their appearances?" Sungjae commented. 

"Well, let us introduce the contestants first and get to know them a little better," Yoo Seyoon said.

The MCs began to introduce the contestants one by one. Starting from Jooeun, they played a video that shows Jooeun singing with a number of people standing and clapping by the side. It was actually recorded during one of their break time and the people were none other than their dance crews. After the short clip revealed a little bit of her voice, everyone starts to question her ability to sing. 

"Her voice.. Hmmm.. She doesn't sound like how I imagined her voice to be.. I don't know..." Minhyuk commented as he shrugged.

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