Chapter 2 - Cast & Crew

 

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After a bit more talking, Haneul ends the group chat. “Okay, now we’ll be going to meet and greet the idol groups who will be starring with us on our program.” she states. Nodding, the group stands up from their seats. As they follow Haneul to the door, Keya looks at Stacy. “Were you picked up by an idol member too?” she asks.

Stacy nods. “Yeah, we all were.” she states. Carine moves up to the other side of Stacy. “But we can’t tell each other who yet. It’s a surprise for everyone else to see who the other idols are.” she states. Keya nods. “Ah okay.” she says. “Well, how many groups are there? Can we know that?” she asks.

“There are six different idol groups.” Haneul informs. Xiong looks at her. “So two of the groups will have two cast members?” he asks. Haneul nods. “Yep, once everyone is introduced, you’ll find out who each others’ groups are.” she states. The group nods as they follow her down the hall. Stopping in front of two auditorium doors, Haneul turns to the group.

“Okay, the stage for M Countdown is just behind these doors.” Haneul states. “Once we’re inside, you all will officially be part of the K-pop world. From this point forward, you will become somewhat like a special member to the groups you will be filming with.” she says. “The main point of this whole adventure is to have fun and learn new things about the K-pop world and the idols in it.”

“Now shall we go in?” Haneul asks. As the group lets out a round of applauses, Haneul smiles. “Okay.” she says before pushing open one of the doors. Stepping into the room, Haneul holds open the door. “Welcome friends, to the world of K-pop.” she says motioning for them to enter the room.

Filing into the dimly light room, the group spots a large group of people on the stage. Some stood together looking like they were going over dance moves, another set were together huddled in a circle, looking at some papers, and the rest stood to the side, motioning to different spots of the stage.  “Oh my god.” Yasmin whispers. “They’re all part of the show?” she asks looking at Haneul. The others also look at Haneul with wide eyes. Haneul nods. “That’s right.” she says. “Our six groups are 2PM, A-Pink, Super Junior, B.A.P, Boyfriend, and Mamamoo.”

Walking toward the stage, she motions for the cast to follow. “This way so everyone can be introduced.” Haneul says. Hesitating, the eight look at each other before following. Linking arms with Keya, Stacy points toward a certain person. “Keya, look.” she says. Following the notion, Keya turns her head before gasping. “Oh holy hell, it’s Leader Leeteuk. Oh, there’s Ryeowook too.” she whispers. She then looks at Stacy with wide eyes. “I finally get to meet them face to face.” she says.

“But all of them aren’t here though.” Stacy states. Keya nods. “The others maybe had schedules. I see a member or two of 2PM and A-Pink missing too.” she states. Stacy looks at her. “You’re not paired with Super Junior are you?” she asks. Keya shakes her head. “Nope. Not me.” she says before smiling. “But I still get to meet them. So it’s good.”

The group stops behind Haneul who stood in front of the stage. “Hello, all.” she greets. At the sound of her voice, everyone on stage stops what they are doing and turns their attention to her as they greet her back. “I’ve finally bought you all the cast for the show.” she states. “Sorry if I took too long.” she states.

Haneul turns to the cast members. “There are some members who weren’t able to make it because of other schedules, but these are our official groups for our season. How about everyone introduce themselves?” she suggests. Lining up, the cast members introduce themselves as they did earlier. Once done, the idol groups also introduced themselves. The cast members couldn’t help smiling at the fact that even though the members of the group were scattered across the stage, they perfectly introduced themselves in unison.

“Now that everyone is introduced, how about we all get into our groups?” Haneul suggests next. With that said the idols move, repositioning themselves into their respective groups on stage. Mamamoo groups together on the left end of the stage. Next to them stood B.A.P. followed by 2PM, Super Junior, A-Pink, and then Boyfriend taking the right end of the stage.

Once finished, Haneul turns to the cast. “And now can you all please go join your groups on stage.” she says. Arms still linked, Keya and Stacy moves to the staircase on the left side of the stage. “Moment of truth now. We reveal who’s with whom.” Stacy says as they walk up the stairs. The two greet the girls of Mamamoo as they walk past them.

Unlinking arms with Stacy, Keya stops in front of the boys of B.A.P. “And this is my group.” she states. Stacy nods and smiles as she waves to the boys. “Okay, to my own group then. I’ll be back when they let us move around.” she says. As she walks away, Keya turns to the boys. “Hello, I’m Keya Rose.” she greets.

The other five members introduce themselves, each shaking her hand. When she gets to Daehyun, he smiles brightly. “Keya is it?” he asks. “Thank you.” he says. Blinking, Keya looks at him, confused. But before she could ask him what he meant, Yongguk calls out to her.

“See, you were worried about the other cast members and you already made a friend.” Yongguk says, motioning for her to stand in the middle, between him and Himchan. Keya looks at him. “Oh, that’s because she’s my best friend.” she states. Zelo looks at her. “Already? Didn’t you all just meet like an hour ago?” he asks.

Keya shakes her head. “No, I mean she’s literally my best friend. I’ve known her for a very long time. Almost half my life.” she says. “I have no clue why or how they got her onto the show but she’s here.” she explains. She then rubs her chin. “I think she’s plotting something. But a few things don’t add up with the show too. There were only supposed to be six cast members. But there’s eight of us.” she states.

“Oh yeah, who’s with who?” Keya asks herself. Lending forward she looks to her right, looking over the groups until she spots Stacy. She stood with the members of Super Junior. Stacy leans forward and gives her the peace sign. “Oh, that monkey.” She didn’t realize she whispered that out loud until she hears a laugh from Himchan next to her.

Keya bares her teeth and shakes her fist at Stacy. She then straightens herself and looks around to see the members looking at her. “Please, don’t mind me, just sending hate waves to a friend.” she says with a straight face. The members let out snickers. “See, I told you she was weird.” Yongguk states.

Placing a hand to her cheek, Keya nudges Yongguk with her free arm. “Aw, we just became friends and you’re already boasting about me to others, how sweet of you.” she says with smile before laughing. Yongguk shakes his head. “Very weird indeed.” Youngjae says as he laughs with the others.

“Okay, everyone is with their groups.” Haneul says. “Yasmin is joining Mamamoo; Keya is joining B.A.P.; Charles is joining 2PM; Stacy and Victor are joining Super Junior; Xiong and Carine are joining A-Pink; and Sai is joining Boyfriend. For the next six months, you will be spending majority of your time with these groups.” Haneul states.

“During these months, I hope you all become close friends. That is our program’s purpose.” Haneul says. “A lot will be happening. So is there any questions?” she asks. At this Keya immediately raises her hand. Haneul looks at her and nods. “Yes, Keya? What’s your question?” she asks.

“Okay, I’m pretty sure the other cast members might be wondering this too, but why are there eight of us?” Keya asks. Sai leans forward. “Oh yeah, the contest said that six people would be chosen. But then two more people came in while we were waiting for everyone to arrive.” he states. “Did they just decide to add more?”

Haneul smiles. “Excellent question. I’ve actually been waiting for someone to ask this. Glad it’s asked now with everyone here. There’s a very special and meaningful reason as to why we have eight cast members.” she states. Charles is the one to ask the next question on everyone’s mind. “Special and meaningful? How so?” he asks.

“Okay, you all are correct. When we announced the contest, only six contestants were to be chosen.” Haneul starts. “As the videos started coming in, the production crew, as a whole, watched the videos. Everyone giving comments if they believe that that contestant should be on the show or not.

“You all, of course were on our final list. The rules of the contest were simple: Tell us what K-Pop means to you in life. You eight standing here gave us amazing answers. And amongst you all there was one that stood out more than the others. This person’s video was actually one of the last videos we watched as it was one of the videos entered right before the deadline.

“This person actually didn’t enter the contest for themselves. Their video was about someone close to them whose life has been affected by K-pop; and how it affected them in turn. They didn’t know if that person submitted a video or not, so they did one themselves just in case. The first thing they stated is that they, themselves, didn’t know much about and was not in the K-Pop world, one of the reasons their video was one of the last to be entered. They then proceeded to tell about how they met this friend, who was, at that time, going through a very hard time in their life, on the first day of high school. And about how music, k-pop in general, helped that person get through it all.” Haneul explains.

Keya eyes widen at the last two sentences. “Wait, no… You don’t mean…” she stops. Haneul smile grows bigger as she turns to her. “Yes, you’re thinking correct. The person who submitted the video was Stacy. And the friend she talked about was you, Keya.” she states as Stacy steps forward. “She asked us to consider the video seriously even if it wasn’t submitted by you personally. We went back to search for your video and you submitted one already and was actually already part of our finals list.”

“It’s amazing to be chosen out of all the contestations.” Taecyeon speaks up. “Stacy, what were you going to do if Keya wasn’t picked?” he asks. Stacy smiles. “I was going to bring her here myself.” she states. “I moved back to Canada after high school. Because of our busy lives we only really spoke over the phone like once every two weeks. And with both of us trying to move up in our jobs, we couldn’t really afford to take time off to go see each other.”

Keya nods in agreement. “So, what I did was that every time I got paid, part of my checks went into a savings account.” Stacy states. “As of now, in that account is enough money for two round trip tickets to Seoul, food, hotel, and other expenses. If Keya wasn’t picked for this, I was going to present the tickets to her as a gift to celebrate ten year of us knowing each other.”

Hearing this, Keya lets in a shaky breath as she rapidly blinks her eyes. “Oh my god.” she whispers, her hand rises to cover her eyes, raising her glasses in the process. Stacy smiles. “As I said earlier, who better to explore with than your best friend.” she states. Feeling a hand press against her back, Keya feels herself being genteelly pushed forward.

Wiping her eyes, Keya walks toward Stacy, who holds out her hand. Taking Stacy’s hand, Keya pulls her forward into a hug. As the other lets out a collection of aww’s, Haneul smiles. “In the end we decided to cast both of them. Like this not only can we show how a pair of friends enjoy K-pop but we can also show two different viewpoints. One of someone very experienced with the K-Pop world and one with very little knowledge of the K-Pop world.”

“I would just like to state for the record, that in our ten years of friendship, I believe this is only like the seventh time that she has initiated a hug. She doesn’t do it a lot. So this moment is super special. I’m glad it’s on camera.” Stacy states. Letting go of Stacy, Keya lightly hits her on the arm as she wipes her eyes. “Yah, don’t say that. You’ll ruin the moment.” she states.

“But it’s true.” Stacy says.

“So what? Stop ruining the moment and just be happy.” Keya replies.

“Or what you’ll ‘Take me down’?” Stacy asks mockingly.

“I can take you down.”

“Oh, to funky town? I love that place.”

“No, to the place under it.”

“Oh, sorry, I’m not allowed there anymore.”

 

Keya opens to say something back but stops when she hears laugher around her. Shaking her head, Keya sighs. “I can’t believe you got me doing this again. And in Korean this time.” she says. Stacy smiles. “Would it surprise you if I told you that that was one of the first conversations I taught myself to learn?” she asks.

“I’m so done with you.” Keya says laughing. “Go back to your spot now.” she says. She then pushes Stacy back toward the members of Super Junior. “But you love me.” Stacy shouts after her, holding out a hand as Keya walks back toward her own group. Smile on her face, Keya moves to stand back in place between Yongguk and Himchan. “She’s weirder than you, isn’t she?” Zelo asks. Keya nods. “Oh, yeah. By a long shot. I know for sure she’s going to fit in with the boys of Super Junior.” she states with a small laugh.

“Now, everyone please use this time to introduce yourselves to the other groups. You’ll never know when you might have to work with others during a mission for the show.” Haneul says. “We have about an hour or so until the bus to the dorms arrives. I’ll inform you all when they do.” she states.

With that the groups begin to talk amongst themselves. “So…” Keya starts looking at Yongguk before looking at the other members. “Do you all have schedules after this?” she asks. Yongguk nods. “Yeah, while you eight are going to the dorms, we’ll be heading toward our next schedule.” he states.

“So then I wouldn’t be joining you guys for schedules today.” Keya says. Youngjae shakes his head. “The main filming won’t start until tomorrow. That way you all will have time to settle down into your dorm rooms.” he states. “Most of you had long flights so I’m sure you want to just finally sit down without worrying about having to move again.” he states.

“Hey Keya.” Stacy’s voice calls, stopping her from asking her next question. Keya shakes her head as she turns around. “Yes, Monk-” Keya immediately stops as her eyes land on Leeteuk who stood in front of her with Stacy. Stacy smiles. “Leeteuk-shi, this is Keya Rose. The #1 US ELF, I was telling you guys about earlier.” she states.

“Nice to meet you, Keya.” Leeteuk says holding out his hand. Keya looks at his hand before looking back at his face. “Ahhh… Nice to m-meet you t-too.” she says hesitantly as she shakes his hand with a little bow. Leeteuk smiles. “Your friend said you’ll react this way.” he says. “She betted on you passing out.” he states.

Keya puffs out her cheeks. “How rude, I would not.” she says looking at Stacy. Stacy raises a brow. “Oh, but what if…” she starts giving a small signal to Leeteuk. “You meet him.” she finishes as Leeteuk steps to the side to reveal Kyuhyun walking up. With widen eyes; Keya unconsciously takes a step back.

“I shouldn’t feel offended by that right.” Kyuhyun asks making the others laugh. Smiling, Stacy moves behind Keya. “Come on, say ‘Hello’ to your forever top bias in SJ.” she says pushing her forward until she was standing in front of Kyuhyun. Smiling, Kyuhyun holds out his hand toward her.

“Nice to meet you Keya Rose, I’m Cho Kyuhyun.” he states. Keya blinks a few times. “N-nice t-to m-meet y-you.” she says shaking his hand. A second later, someone pops up behind Kyuhyun. “Oh, me too. Nice to meet you.” Yesung says as he moves to stand next to Kyuhyun along with Ryeowook.

Unable to hold back her smile, Keya raises a hand to cover . “Oh my, I’m so glad to finally be able to meet some of you members, face-to-face.” she states. “Thank you so much.” she says bowing to them.

“We haven’t done anything. Why are you thanking us?” Leeteuk asks with a small laugh. Keya shakes her head. “You’ve chose to be part of Super Junior. That’s enough reason.” she says. Stacy tilts her head. “Ah, you’re such an ELF.” she says shaking her head. Keya looks at her. “Yah, you just make sure you don’t mix them up.”

At the look that crosses Stacy’s face, Keya narrows her eyes. “Okay, who did you mix up?” she asks. Stacy shrugs. “Eunhae. I got to video chat with each of them when Leeteuk picked me up. ” she states. “In most things you show me, they’re always together so I got a bit confused when I seen them. And I couldn’t remember Leader’s name. Well, I remembered the Teukkie part.”

Keya sighs. “I guess.” she states. Stacy turns. “Oh, but I know and remember your name.” she says. Keya and others turn to see who she was talking to. Yongguk raises a brow. “Who me?” he asks. Stacy nods. “Yeah, you’re Bang Yongguk, right?” she asks. Yongguk nods. Keya looks at Stacy. “How do you remember him?” she asks.

Stacy looks at Keya before turning to Yongguk. “I remember you because you’re her bias in B.A.P. She had a few ‘moments’ after seeing you guys perform live, twice. She explained the concerts to me in great detail.” she states. “She has the hots for you, just so you know. Also because of all the ‘feels’ she wr-” Stacy is cut off by Keya covering with one hand.

“Sorry, sometimes she just talks too much and don’t know when to stop.” Keya says with a small laugh. Stacy grabs onto Keya’s hand and pulls it down. “I’m not lying though. All her ultimate biases are part of her background on her phone. Get a hold of her phone. It’s you, Kyuhyun, Henry, Turtle… I mean, Yesung, and Max from DBXQ or something.” she reveals.

“Yah, first, it’s DSBK OR TVXQ. Second, you know I know like a thousand ways to kill you, right?” Keya asks pulling a pen out her pocket and pointing it at her. Stacy smiles and looks at the members of B.A.P. “Oh yeah, just so you know, she may be nice sometimes, but the longer she knows you, the ruder she gets.” she states. “I’m pretty sure I get a death threat every time I talk to her. And why do you have a pen?”

“Come on, you know I always have a pen or pencil on me at all times. And that’s because you’re always telling too much stuff. And you’re annoying sometimes.” Keya says. Stacy smiles again before throwing her arms around Keya. “Yeah, but you love me. We’re Bestest friends forever.” she says. Keya sighs and pats Stacy on the head. “I know we are.” she states before looking at the boys of Super Junior. “She’ll get annoying sometimes but in general she’s great to have around.”

“See, she’s nice sometime.” Stacy says. Jongup tilts his head. “But she just called you annoying.” he states. Stacy shrugs. “Yeah, but I am. I know I am. Oh also, she’s quiet sometimes. But don’t let that fool you. She’s really evil. She might be plotting something.” she states.  Zelo looks at them. “Do you do pranks?” he asks. Keya shakes her head. “No, I don’t. But this one does.” she says motioning to Stacy. “That why I think she’s in the right group.”

“I’m just glad they paired me up with a group that I do know.” Stacy says. Yesung looks at her. “Exactly how many groups do you know?” he asks. Stacy tilts her head to the side. “Ahh… Like four.” she states. The idols with them all turn and look at her with widen eyes. “Only four? Really?” Leeteuk asks.

Stacy nods. “Yeah, I know you two groups. Then I also know 2NE1 and Girls Generation.” she states. “Oh, I also know BoA too. So I guess five.” she adds. “I’ve heard of other groups but only heard about them. When Haneul said little experience, she means little. And from the groups I know only like two songs from each. But of course I know a few more of Super Junior’s because of Keya and I know a little bit more of BoA’s too because she did a few Anime OSTs.”

“Wow. You’re a newbie, newbie K-popper.” Daehyun says. Stacy nods. “Yes, yes I am.” she says looking around. “So, explain who’s who here to me.” she states. Keya holds up a hand just as someone was about to say something. “I’ll have to explain in terms of past conversations to get her to realize who’s who.” she says.

“Okay, the girl groups.” Keya starts, turning Stacy toward the spot where the members of Mamamoo and A-Pink were talking. “You see the four in matching outfits? That’s Mamamoo. Remember that ‘Peppermint’ song I had you listen to?” she asks to which Stacy nods. “That’s one of their past songs.” she states. “The other four standing with them are majority of A-Pink. You’re missing two members. They’re the ‘Hush’ song you’ve heard a few times before.”

Keya then turns Stacy toward the next group. “Boyfriend.  Trust me, you know them.” she says. “Remember, they’re the first concert I went to. The one with the weird charades and the twins.” she states and Stacy made an ‘oh’ face. “Then 2PM, that’s the ones who concert I went to and one of the members signed his shirt before taking it off and throwing it out to the audience.”

Stacy nods. “Wait who was the group what used the middle post to walk into the audience then?” she asks. Keya tilts her head. “That’s B1A4.” she says. Stacy nods. “What about the wenches and horse heads?” she asks next. Keya points toward the B.A.P boys. “That was one of their concert.” she states and Stacy nods again.

“You guys had wenches and horse heads at a concert?” Ryeowook asks. Himchan looks at him. “Horse heads? Yes, it was part of learning how to do the dance to our ‘Check On’ song. Wenches? I don’t remember having those. And I’m sure we would have remembered that.” he says making the others laugh.

“Oh, that’s just the nice word that we used for how some came dressed to the concert.” Keya says. “Not the clothes you wear for a concert. They were clothes that someone would wear to go to a nightclub.” she adds. Zelo raises a brow. “Who wears club clothes to a concert?” he asks. Keya shrugs. “That’s what I wanted to know when I seen them.”

“Umm, excuse me.” The group stops their conversation and turn toward the new voice. The group is met with Minwoo from Boyfriend. With all eyes now on him, Minwoo scratches the back of his head as he clears his throat. “You are too cute. You know that right?” Stacy says. “Can I keep you?” she asks making the others laugh.

Minwoo gives her a small smile. “Thank you. You’re pretty yourself.” he says. Stacy blinks. “And you sure are very smooth. I believe you shall become my bias.” she states. Kyuhyun looks at her. “Wow, that easy huh?” he asks. Stacy shrugs. “Hey he’s cute now, but give him like five more years, he’s going to be a handsome lady’s man.” she states.

Keya shakes her head before looking at Minwoo. “Okay, we’re getting sidetracked. You had a question right?” she asks. Minwoo nods. “Yeah, I just wanted to know if you’ve ever meet a member of our group in person before.” he asks. Keya tilts her head. “Yeah I have. I met you all when you guys came to the US for the first fan meet.”

“The very first one in Chicago, right? Vic Theater?” Minwoo asks. Keya’s eyes widen. “Yeah, that’s right.” she says. Minwoo smiles. “He was right. You were grouped that had the girl that talked with Youngmin and the two that knew how to write in Korean.” he states and Keya nods. He then looks at the others. “Is it okay if I borrow her for a second?” he asks.

“Wait, you guys remember me?” Keya asks. Minwoo nods. “Well Donghyun did. He said you two had a ‘moment’ during the encore performance.” he states. Keya slowly turns and looks at Stacy. “Ha! See, I told you.” she says. “And you thought I was crazy.” she adds. Stacy shrugs. “Yeah, but come on it’s like a one and a million chance.”

Keya looks to the boys of B.A.P. “I’ll be right back.” she states. She then moves to follow Minwoo toward his own group. “Wait, I still don’t believe this.” Stacy says following after him too. Keya looks at her. “What’s not to believe? This is now proof.”

“And the leader is right once again.” Minwoo says as they stop in front of the group. Donghyun smiles. “Of course.” he says before stepping forward. “It’s nice to see you again. Even better to actually know your name now.” he states. “It’s great to re-see a face from one of our overseas concert.” he states.

 

~~~

After meeting and talking with the other idols, Haneul announces that the bus to the dorms has finally arrived. “Is there a certain time tomorrow that I’ll be meeting up with you guys?” Keya asks turning to the boys of B.A.P. The group shrugs. “Tomorrow is a day off for us.” Jongup states. Keya nods. “Okay then we can meet in the afternoon so that you guys can get a bit more sleep in.”

“Can I see your phone?” Yongguk asks. Keya nods before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone. “The password is 1106.” she states handing it to him. Himchan looks at her with a raised brow. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone hand over their phone that easily. And give the password.” he states.

Keya shrugs. “Hey, I got nothing to hide.” she states. “Plus this phone is my backup phone. I’m only using it now because my main one doesn’t do international calls and I can take pictures with this one.” she adds. “But all and all, both phones have the same password. So it doesn’t matter.”

A second later, Yongguk holds the phone back out to her. “I just added my number.” he states. “That way we have contact. I’ll call you tomorrow when we’re all ready.” he adds. Keya nods taking back the phone. “Okay, thanks.” she says putting the phone back in her pocket. Daehyun looks at her. “Also contact us if you have any questions or problems. We’ll try our best to help.”

Keya nods. “Okay, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” she says before turning and walking to where Stacy stood, waiting. The two walk down the stage’s stairs and joins the others in front of Haneul. “Okay, we’re off for today. Tomorrow will be the first day of group activities. Thank you all.” she says and the group bows to those left on stage.

Haneul then turns to the eight standing with her. “Okay come on to get your stuff.” she says. With that, the group follows her out the auditorium. Making their way back upstairs, they go to Room 2 to get their things. “Of course your stuff is plaid.” Stacy says as Keya begins to pick up her bags. Keya looks at her and smiles. “But plaid is like my life in color form.”

Once everyone has their things, they follow Haneul back out the room and down the hall. They walked the same way Keya came when entering the building. Walking outside, the group finds a silver and red coach bus. Walking up to the bus, Haneul opens the luggage compartment. “You can sit your suitcases in here before getting on the bus.”

Lining up, the group packs their luggage into the space before getting onto the bus and finding seats. Once everything was put away, Haneul closes the compartment back before getting onto the bus herself. After everyone finds a seat, Haneul motions to the driver and the bus pulls off. “So what type of dorms are we staying in?” Charles asks. Sai looks around at the other members. “How many in a room? And are the rooms already predetermined?” he asks.

“Yes they are.” Haneul says. Turning in her seat, Haneul kneels on it to face the group. “Okay so the building you all will be staying in is an apartment building. There are five floors. The bottom floor is the lobby. The other four floors all have apartments on them; one each floor. In each apartment there are four rooms.” she states.

“During the course of the show, you all will have your own personal VJ.” Haneul states. “Because of how late some of the idol’s schedules are, we decided that the VJs will be staying in the apartments with you throughout the show. So in each apartment there will be two cast members and two VJs. They are actually at the building already so you’ll meet them when you get to your apartments.”

Haneul then pulls a piece of paper out her pocket. “Okay, now, the rooms.” she states. “Floor Two is Sai and Charles. Floor Three is Carine and Yasmin. Floor Four is Stacy and Keya. And Floor Five is Victor and Xiong.” she informs. “For tonight, the only things you have to do are: meet your VJs, choose your rooms and then relax. Tomorrow most of you will start off with the busy lives of idols. And on this show, you don’t just watch, you participate too.”

After about another fifteen minutes, the bus comes to a stop. As they file off the bus, Carine lets out a whistle. “This is way bigger than I expected.” she says as she taking in the sight of the building and the others nods in agreement. Grabbing their things out the luggage compartment, the group follows Haneul to the building. “To get into the building, you are required to have a Pass Card.” she states pulling an envelope out her pocket, she takes a card out. Sliding it into the pad next to the door, a small beep sounds and she pulls open the door. Holding it open, she motions for the group to enter into the building.

“Okay, this place is on it.” Keya says as they look around the lounge. Haneul smiles. “The apartments are beautiful too.” she states. “Now, you all will receive a Pass Card into the building. The apartments, however, has a Pass Code to get into.” she says. “The Pass Code to your apartment is on the back of the Card I will give you. If you want to change the code, that’s fine, just make sure everyone in the same apartment knows the new one.”

With that said Haneul moves to each of them and hand them all a card. “Make sure you remember to take it with you when you leave the building because most of the time there will not be another cast member here to let you in.” she says. “Also make sure you get each other’s phone numbers. It’ll help you out sometime in the future.”

“And with that, this is all for now.” Haneul says. “You are all done for today. There are two elevators so you all don’t have to try to pile into one.” she states pointing to the other side of the room. “Go and get yourselves settled in and I will see you all tomorrow.” she states.

Saying their byes to Haneul, the group moves to the elevators. Splitting up, the boys move to one as the girls move to the other. “Agh, do I have to?” Keya asks as she watches the other girls pile into theirs. Yasmin looks at her. “Don’t like elevators?” she asks. Keya straightens her glasses. “No, I do not.” she says unconsciously taking a step back.

“It’s okay, I’ll take your suitcases with me and you can take the stairs.” Stacy says. “You know I’m going to be lazy right now, otherwise I would walk with you.” she states. Keya lets out a small laugh. “That’s fine. Thank you.” she says. “I’ll meet you up there.” she says pushing her luggage into the elevator.

As the doors to the elevator closes, Keya waves to the girls. Once they’re shut fully, Keya turns and walks to the staircase she spotted to the left of the elevators. Walking through the clear door, Keya begins making her way up the stairs.

After a few minutes, she finally reaches another door with the number four on it. “Glad you just have to walk up four floor right?” Stacy voice calls as Keya walks through the door. Looking down the hall, Keya spots her standing in front of the only door in the hall, the luggage sitting next to her against the wall. Keya nods as she walks over to Stacy.

“Thanks.” Keya says. “Now…” Looking down at the card in her hands, Keya enters the six digit number code that was written on it. As a green light flashes, a lock click it heard. Pushing open the door, Keya knocks on it. “Hello.” she calls as they walk in, taking off their shoes and sitting them next to the pairs that were already there. A second later a girl with long light brown hair comes into view.

“Oh, hello. You two must be Stacy and Keya. Suyun, they’re here.” she calls back to someone. “Let me help you two.” she adds walking to them. Just then another girl appears. She looked similar to the first girl except with long black hair. “Hello.” she greets. Helping with the luggage, they move them to the living room. “Haneul was right. This place is amazing.” Stacy says as she looks around.

She then turns to the two other girls. “Oh yeah. Hi, I’m Stacy Richardson.” she greets. Keya also turns to them. “And I’m Keya Rose.” she greets. The two girls smile. “I’m Suyun Choi.” the second girl introduces. The girl next to her tilts her head. “And I’m Lina Choi. Nice to meet you two.”

“I’m not trying to be rude or anything, but are you two sisters?” Stacy asks. Lina nods. “Yes, Suyun’s my little sister.” she informs. Keya nods. “I hope we have a great time filming together.” she says. The other four nods. “Have you two picked out which room you wanted?” Keya asks. The two sisters shake their heads. “No, we wanted to see what you two chose first.” Suyun states. “This way and we can show you them.”

Following the two, Stacy and Keya are lead down the hall. On each side, there were two doors. Looking into each of the rooms, Stacy lets out a breath. “You know, I think I should just move here for a while after the show. This place is gorgeous.” she says and Keya nods in agreement. “All the rooms are beautiful so I wouldn’t mind staying in any of them.” she states.

“Then shall we go Rock-Paper-Scissors to choose the order of choosing?” Lina asks. Stacy lets out a small laugh. “I’ll just take the room not chosen.” Keya says stepping back. With that the three remaining girls all hold out a hand.

Suyun who wins the first round choose the first door on the left. She is then followed by Stacy who chooses the first room on the right across from her. Lina then chooses the back right room, next to Stacy’s leaving Keya with the back left room, next to Suyun.

With the rooms settled the group moves about, taking their luggage to their own rooms and unpacking. After about an hour, the four girls sit down in the living room. “Oh hey, camera.” Stacy says pointing to a spot in the counter. Suyun looks at the camera before looking at her. “Yeah, so that we won’t have to carry the cameras the whole time when in the apartments, they installed some.” she explains.

“There’s that one, and there’s another one over in that corner.” Lina says pointing to the other side of the room. Then there’s one near the door, one in the kitchen then one at the beginning of the hall. They’re also in the halls outside and in the lobby.” she informs. “Our rooms has to be filmed by us personally.” she adds. Stacy and Keya nods. “I’m okay with that.” Stacy says and Keya agrees.

After talking a bit more and getting to know each other, the four calls it a night before moving to their own rooms. Closing her door, Keya flops down onto the bed that was now hers for the next six months. Letting out a sigh, she pulls her phone out her pocket. She presses a few buttons before putting the phone up to her ear. “Hey Mom.” she greets as the other line answers.