“Very impressive shot cadet, you'll be ready to be paired up in no time”, their trainer Baekho says with a wide grin and a light clap on her shoulder. He was a warm and patient trainer, and yet sometimes Siyeon wondered why he was never promoted beyond being a simple trainer, having to deal with brats all day. His skills seemed sufficient to join the special forces, but whenever she would so much as open and ask “Trainer Kang why don't...” “Why don't you work on that posture that I've been asking you to work on for the past few hours” he would reply with a twinkling wink of an eye.

Siyeon finally let's a satisfied grin alight her lips as she beams over at her dependable team leader Nayoung, who gives her an adorable quick thumbs up behind their trainer's back. “That was really cool” says a beaming Yewon as she quickly wipes away some sweat from the younger girl's forehead, before they turned their attention back to their trainers for the rest of the hour.

Today there would be new cadets being sworn in, so the girls were let out early to freshen up and prepare for the ceremony. Jieqiong was quick to reach out and smooth out Nayoung's already spotless uniform, paying attention to the tall girl's shoulder flaps and the two sewn in lines that indicated her designation as team leader. The oldest girl blushes a little at the attention and this does not go unnoticed by Sungyeon who does the same to Yewon with a cheesy wink. The girl can only shake her head and chuckles at her best friend's joke, “Be nice” she says.

To be perfectly honest, Jieqiong could be so affectionate that sometimes her actions could cause your heart to flutter, but then she would turn around and do the same to all her classmates. What really made Sungyeon roll her eyes though, would be the way the girl who flirts so shamelessly with anyone with a pulse would come to her sighing about how Nayoung always seemed to miss her deep meaningful glances.

Sungyeon can only shake her head and sigh at the two who while both older than her, still manage to act like middle schoolers with an awkward crush. For every time that Jieqiong stares admiringly like a puppy at Nayoung while she manages to look everywhere but at the chinese girl, there's the times Nayoung swings her long graceful fingers haphazardly near the younger girl in an obviously awkward attempt at holding hands.

It's really so frustrating, and Sungyeon would sometimes exasperatedly vent her case to Yewon and Siyeon who seemed to be the only ones who could see their obvious actions. They're funny duo, and Siyeon giggles at her friend's exasperation, while looking a little, wistfully(?) at the duo.

“Let's sit in the front so that we can mess with the new kids” Eunwoo says shooting Siyeon a wink, while Nayoung's tall figure emerges from a room down the hall with slightly disapproving eyes, although they're not sure if she actually heard them because she simply turns around and goes back into her room.

“Yeah bro, let's make funny faces and make them snort, these ceremonies are too serious anyways” Siyeon agrees giving her friend a high five.

“We're in!” Sungyeon pipes in dragging a confused looking Kyla with her.

“ “You know that's not really nice, don't you want to make a good first impression so that we can all be friends? And stop being a bad influence to Kyla, she's just a kid!” Yewon says emerging from the shower. “Eyyy check check, Yewon on the deck” an embarrassing Sungyeon shouts as she wraps her friend in a hug, her nose buried in the girl's neck. “Mmmm, so you did try the shampoo I got after all, green apple smells so good” Sungyeon says with her mischievious grin as Yewon gives the girl a quick smack on the forehead, although her eyes unconsciously crinkle a bit at the compliment.

To be honest, Yewon was hands down an angel, but even angels seem to have their kryptonite (sorry, Superman references out of nowhere >.<), and Sungyeon was the only one who could crack Yewon's sweet exterior. When she teased the girl one too many times she'd be treated with the girl's angelic pout and light smacks.

Watching their interactions, Siyeon wonders what it means to have a soulmate, someone who not only gets you and makes you happy, but one who knows you so well they also know how to annoy the crap out of you because they know you will love them anyway. Seems a bit dramatic for her, and Siyeon is happy to just snuggle up with her friends without having to worry about all the emotions that come from opening her heart too much.

As a long time cadet, she has seen many cadets come and go. Some disillusioned with their own glorious expectations of cadet life, while others watching their dreams of becoming an officer slip through their fingers due to infractions or various reasons out of their control. Through this Siyeon has learned that some people, when faced with challenges will not fight, will not persevere to the end, instead they give up and choose the easier paths in life. She doesn't look down on such people, but she'd be lying if she didn't admit that she'd let her heart out too easily towards such people in the past, only to realize that that person's dreams and hers no longer matched and she was left alone on her path.

Thankfully their current class, after being wittled down to 7 had formed a tight bond through their years of training, and were determined to graduate together at all costs, if they don't kill each other along the way.

–-----

Rushing towards the front, Siyeon and Eunwoo slow their steps and try to calm their breath so that it won't look to obvious that they've run all the way to the stadium to snatch the front seats. Their trainers raise an eyebrow at them suspiciously. The class's two trouble makers wanting to sit first row? You don't need to be a detective to smell something fishy there.

The trainers give one more backwards glance filled with meaning, before turning back to the master of ceremonies, to run through last minute preparations.

Although she may like to joke around with her friends, her 8 years of training alone was a testimony to Siyeon's patience and strong intentions to finally graduate into the ranks. She had already spent most of her life on this goal and she didn't really care who the new cadets would be as long as they didn't stand in her one minded goal. At least that's what she thought, but her youthful hormones would beg to differ.

Three girl's filed onto the stage and Siyeon's gaze wandered from the rip in the carpet that she was intently staring at. The first girl was a bit shorter and had dark hair and large intense eyes. She walked with a confidence that demanded attention, and when her gaze swept steadily into the audience, for a moment her gaze fell upon Siyeon. They held each other's gaze for a moment. Siyeon doesn't know why, but when her eyes meet light brown chocolate eyes, her heart does a thing and she has to look away.

The other two candidates were tall, long limbs gracefully treading towards their seats. The girl with shorter hair and tanned skin looked a bit intimidating with her enigmatic expressions and sharp facial features. To be honest, she looked a bit cool, with a devil may care attitude that Siyeon admired in others. However, when she was almost at her seat, her long legs lurched forward tripping on literally nothing and a small bright orange wrapper flew out of her pen pocket rolling across the stage onto the ground. So much for the cool aura, Siyeon holds in a giggle.The tallest girl with the mesmerizing eyes reached out instinctively and cooly grabs onto the girl's upper arm to prevent her from making the grand entrance that she would have had she literally flopped onto the stage. Her piercing eyes curved into crescents as a warm smile touched her lips. She looked to be the oldest of the three, and seemed to exude a comforting aura that Siyeon could only describe as motherly.

The ceremony went without any further hitches or near nose jobs due to awkward long limbs and the girls crowd in on the new additions to their crew of misfits. While everyone else is busy sniffing each other out Nayoung silently leads Siyeon to the side.

“Siyeon, how are you feeling?” It's a simple question but Siyeon understands that the question conveys her leaders concern for her and her reluctance at letting new people through her walls. When she doesn't say anything right away Nayoung continues “I'm not expecting you to open up your heart to them right away, but as a team, we will need to trust our lives into each others hands.” Siyeon nods at her leader's logic and gives her a bright smile “I'm feeling good” Siyeon says finally answering Nayoung's question “Thank you, I understand, I'll treat them how I treat that dork, Eunwoo” Siyeon finishes with a mischievous smile . Nayoung returns the smile and gives Siyeon a soft pat on the head mumbling a soft “good” in her cute voice that she uses when she's happy.

“EMCEE MORNING, I'm starving can we please go Leader Im?” Eunwoo's voice sounds out above the conversation and Siyeon finally allows herself to feel at ease. Nothing has changed, right?

----–

Authors Note: Sorry this is such a mess! I'm trying to introduce everyone and it turned out a bit choppy and I can't say I'm totally happy with how it sounds. Never fear, I'll do my best to make the chapters better from now on. Please forgive this and trust that things will get better from here on out, I promise xD

P.S. Isn't it obvious who my Pristin bias is, lol!!! She is BAE <3