CH 12: March 12, 2013

Everyone applauded as we finished our dance. I could hear yells and wolf whistles, too. My smile never left my face, even as our manager came up on stage, as we got off it, as “Siren” was on repeat, along with “Tempest”, our other song.

Everything felt like a dream. SHINee felt like a sort of hologram as they congratulated us. SNSD seemed surreal. F(x) was a dream, as were the few Super Junior members. 

I knew the rest of the girls were in the same trance as I as Taemin and Jonghyun discussed debuts with us. They tried to give us a grasp of what we would be doing for the next few weeks, maybe even months, but we were so ecstatic, so high on the feeling of our hard work being released, that I don't think we really paid any mind to their advice. 

It was only when Ahra implored me to eat something that I drifted away from my haze. The ache in my stomach and the dryness of my throat were the two factors that woke me from my trance. 

I knew that probably none of what was available at the refreshment table was okay under my diet, but I still made my way there. Water could be fulfilling, as our dietician had taught us. 

Apparently, somebody else had the same idea as me. The eating part, not the water thing. 

“Oh, hi, Chanyeol-sshi!” He twisted around to face me, turning away from the galbi he was piling on his plate. He set it down, bowing to me.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Lani-sshi,” he responded.

“Oh, you can talk to me informally,” I commented, smiling as I walked to the table he stood at. “I’m your hoobae, after all.”

“Oh, okay.” He kept quiet for a few seconds, watching me inspect the food. “Um, congratulations on your debut! I liked the songs, a lot. The mv’s, too.” I looked at him, smiling.

“Thank you! Which did you like better, Tempest or Sirens?” He blinked at me before clearing his throat and answering me.

“Uh, I liked Tempest a lot, the beat was great, and you all really showed off your vocals.” I grinned at his honest answer as I moved to the beverage table. 

“Did you like Hyerin and Emika’s rap? They really like all of yours.” I grabbed a cup from the side of the table and moved to the water jugs.

“Oh, yeah, they’re very talented.” He stayed silent as I picked up the cold jug of water and poured it to fill half of my cup. I set it down and grabbed the jug filled with room water temperature. Chanyeol cleared his throat.

“You know, when you put warm water on cold water, the water molecules move into a state of equilibrium until all the molecules have a constant temperature,” he rambled. I set the jug down, slowly, turning around just as slowly with my eyes narrowe