6 Weeks Later

“SO, this group-work thing seems to be working pretty well… “, Tablo said. Universe was sitting in the dance practice room, wiping off sweat and gulping down water. “I’m very impressed with how you took my advice… and I can see the results of your hard work… But there’s one thing I would like to do, if I may…”

Eun Suk eyed him warily, but the others nodded their approval.

“In preparation for variety shows, I would like to create the pairs that work with each other this week. I feel certain people could make some more happy memories with each other… And for variety shows, that’s what you need. Stories. So… Is it okay if I pick the groups this week?”, Tablo asked them.

“Well, are they reasonable?”, Eun Suk murmured, avoiding Chan Hee’s eyes.

“Go ahead”, JiHyun said.

“Eun Suk and Chan Hee”, Tablo said.

Eun Suk and Chan Hee both internally groaned.

“I knew it.”, Eun Suk muttered.

Shim Jang, who was sitting next to her, elbowed her, “Stop mumbling. You sound like you’re psycho!” 

 Eun Suk sulked.

“Soori and Soo Ri”, Tablo chose next.

“Which ones?’, Soo Ri said, and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, the two of you, talk about some stage names while you’re at it”, Tablo said.

Soori nodded.

“Skyler and Gongchan”, Tablo said.

Neither of them reacted… Neither of them had hung out together unless they were in a group… and Sky was forever imprinted into Gongchan’s mind as “the -grabber”.

…

“Kyuhyun and Jae Sun.”

“What?”, Kyuhyun said in disbelief. He looked at Jae Sun with wary eyes.

“Yup”, Tablo said, confidently, “Oh, and Shim Jang and JiHyun, you two stay with me for a bit.”

No one moved. Tablo had just succeeded in creating the most awkward groups ever, the pairs were more uncomfortable with each other than before, because now they’d officially been labeled as the “awkward pair”.

“well, get to”, Tablo said, making a shooing motion with his hands.

Reluctantly, each pair got up and headed their own separate ways…

“Think I succeeded in creating groups?”, Tablo asked JiHyun and Shim Jang.

“I’d say you just about nailed it”, JiHyun said, smiling slightly.

“I’m kind-of worried about the unnies”, Shim Jang said, with a nervous laugh.

“So am I”, Tablo said, “but I was also too curious to see what would happen to not put them together…”

“Fair enough”, JiHyun said, and then he winked at Tablo and said, “Say, what do you want us two to do?”

“Well, Hyunseung has a couple new popping moves he wants you to learn, Shim Jang, so why don’t you head over there… “

Shim Jang nodded, excited at the aspect of learning more dance. She jogged over to the practice room eagerly.

When she was out of the room, Tablo turned to JiHyun, “You know, I didn’t expect you to be the cheesy type of guy, but I guess your voice isn’t the only thing sweet about you.”

“Well, ever since I had to change my voice to ‘manly and y’, I’ve had to find new ways to express my ‘pretty boy’ side”, JiHyun said, grinning.

“Anyhow, sweet of you to remember it’s Shim Jang’s birthday”, Tablo said. “Where should we go first?”

“Well, the other girls made a list of things she likes, so…”, JiHyun said, pulling out a list with four different handwritings on it.

First on the list: “Strawberries”, Soori had written in elegant cursive.

Second: “Cake”, Chan Hee had written in all capitals.

Third: “Cake!”, Chan Hee had put an exclamation mark…

 Fourth: “More cake!!!” Soo Ri had written. She’d probably been laughing as she wrote that.

 Fifth: “Bubble tea…” Eun Suk’s scrawl was barely readable… It looked more like “y tea”…

JiHyun read these out loud…

“Guess we’re going to the supermarket then”, Tablo said, grabbing his car keys.

“And by the amount of stuff they’re asking for”, JiHyun said, flipping the paper over, “we won’t come back out for a long time…”

Kyuhyun has been walking down the main street for about five minutes and Jae Sun had just been following along, without a word.

Kyuhyun sighed, stopped walking, and turned around to face Jae SUn. “Where do we start?”, Kyuhyun asked Jae Sun, looking at the ground.

“Um… well, since you’ve taken us to the café… you could start by buying me a cup of hot chocolate?”, Jae Sun said, pointing at the café.

Kyuhyun was in disbelief… this kid was asking him to buy him hot chocolate , expecting him to pay?… But Jae Sun was wearing his “well, you asked “ face.

Kyuhyun groaned. “Well, c’mon then.” 

“So…”, Sky said, “what do you want to do?”

“Sky hyung…I’ve been wanting to do this forever, but I kept getting paired up with girls and I didn’t want to make it seem like a date…But you’re a guy, so let’s go to the amusement park together!”, Gongchan said, excitedly.

“What?”, Sky said, totally caught off guard.

“Yeah, yeah, hyung, let’s go!”, Gongchan said, starting to dance around. The kid was clearly out of his element. Suddenly, his foot caught on the sidewalk edge, and all 182 cm of him went sprawling. Sky instinctively leapt forward and grabbed Gongchan by the waist. Looking back, Sky thought he acted out of a “save-the-maknae” instinct. Anyhow, Sky was taken aback when Gongchan, instead of thanking him, shoved Sky away and said, “Hyung! Don’t grab my waist like that! I just told you, it’s not a date!” And he raced ahead.

Sky just stood there, in shock until Gongchan raced back and pulled Sky (the -grabber/hip-snatcher) with him.

Soori and Soo Ri were riding a subway together, and playing Idol World Cup on Soori’s phone.

“Hm.. Him or him?”, Soori asked.

“Oh god, that’s so difficult to pick!”, Soo Ri said.

“I’m going with him”, Soori said.

Then the next picture came up.

Soori picked the boy on the left in a matter of a millisecond.

Soo Ri didn’t say anything, but when that boy became the victor, Soo Ri asked, “Soori, do you know Lee Junho of2pm?”

Soori blushed and flipped her phone off.

“Soori, do you like Lee Junho?”, Soo Ri pressed.

Soori looked out the window,” Hot in here, isn’t it?”

“Where are you going?”, Chan Hee hissed at Eun Suk. Eun Suk was angrily walking down the sidewalk, ignoring Chan Hee.

“Eun Suk!”, Chan Hee whisper-shouted. She didn’t want to attract attention, especially when they were so close to the YG building. Tablo would throw a fit…

“Eun Suk”, Chan Hee said, and reached out and grabbed Eun Suk’s wrist.

Eun Suk snatched her hand away immediately. “I’m going to the dorm, so you can do whatever the hell you want.”

Chan Hee rolled her eyes. What she wouldn’t give to do exactly what she wanted: which was give Eun Suk a good beating. But she was the leader, so she had to grit her teeth and hold it in. Instead of making Eun Suk angrier and possibly making her run away- and Chan Hee was not in the mood to chase- Chan Hee quietly followed Eun Suk all the way to the dorm. And when Eun Suk threw off her shoes and flung herself on the bed, Chan Hee also quietly laid down on her own bed.

A few minutes passed in silence.

“Eun Suk, are you asleep?”, Chan Hee asked.

No response. She must be asleep, then. Eun Suk never missed a chance to respond sarcastically to Chan Hee.

“Eun Suk, I’m lonely”, Chan Hee whispered, more to herself. “I’m lonely and I’m scared. I haven’t seen my friends for so long… what if they replace me? What I come back, and there’s this slender, gorgeous, and smart girl that I can’t possibly compete with? What if I end up losing the only family I have to someone far more beautiful than me? Someone even I will look at and think, “Yeah, I lose.” ”

Suddenly, Chan Hee shrieked.

Eun Suk had rolled out of her bed, blankets and all, and with a thump! Landed on the floor.

She then proceeded to continue rolling until she came to the line in the middle of the floor where she came to a stop.

“Eun Suk, are you okay?”, Chan Hee said, getting up from her bed and walking towards Eun Suk.

“Stop!”, Eun Suk yelled. Chan Hee stuttered to a stop. She was right on the line, as close as she had ever come to passing it.

“Sit”, Eun Suk ordered, and Chan Hee was so bewildered, she just sat upon command.

“Now what’s this crap about you and your friends?”, Eun Suk asked.

Chan Hee’s instinct was to get angry, Why did Eun Suk call it crap? Eun Suk had no idea…! But then she saw Eun Suk’s expression. It wasn’t scowling… this was the first time she wasn’t scowling since she’d come back from street dancing… Her expression now was honest, open,… almost caring.

So Chan Hee decided to take a chance.

“I’m afraid they might replace me…”

Eun Suk snorted and said, “That’s bull.”

Chan Hee sighed deeply to control her anger, she should’ve known Eun Suk was going to-

“You can’t replace someone, no matter who or what they are to you. My parents absolutely hate me, and they’ve disowned me, but try as they might I know they sure as hell won’t, and can’t, forget me. They won’t be able to”, Eun Suk was looking beyond Chan Hee, but suddenly her eyes landed on Chan Hee.

“I don’t like you, Chan Hee, but it’s not like I can erase you from my life. You are, to anyone, to a passerby, and, heaven forbid, even to me, an irreplaceable person. So don’t you ever think like that. It makes you weak. And God knows, Korea’s best group can’t have a damn weakling as a leader!”, Eun Suk scoffed.

Chan Hee’s mind was spinning. Eun Suk was disowned by her parents? She was irreplaceable to a passerby, even to Eun Suk?

  Her confusion must have shown on her face, because Eun Suk suddenly sat up, and while looking Chan Hee straight in the eyes, said, “You’re undeniably precious and you are irreplaceable in every way, shape, or form.”

Chan Hee couldn’t look away, couldn’t blink.

“Got that?”, Eun Suk asked, scowling again.

Chan Hee nodded, mute.

Eun Suk slipped back into the cavern of blankets she’d created for herself.

A few minutes passed by until Chan Hee found her voice, and unexpectedly, she found herself saying, “But Eun Suk… you’re not weak, either.”

She saw Eun Suk stiffen under her pile of blankets.

Chan Hee felt like this was one of the only chances she would get, so she continued to speak, “Eun Suk, you don’t need to drink… or smoke… to be you. You don’t need to keep losing yourself in dark thoughts, over and over again… you don’t need to keep… acting so tough. I don’t know what it was like for you when you grew up, but you don’t need to do everything on your own… Not anymore…” 

A sudden, heart-wrenching sob interrupted Chan Hee. The mound of blankets was shaking. Chan Hee suddenly felt so lonely herself, so far away from everything she’d ever know. She thought about her own parents, and how they were never home… how they were always so busy… If that much had hurt her and her brother so much, what would it feel like to actually be disowned? Were you even allowed to miss your parents after that? Tears formed in Chan Hee’s eyes as she instinctively reached out to touch the shivering bundle that was Eun Suk.

Under her touch, Eun Suk pulled herself together and stopped crying.

Suddenly, Eun Suk’s muffled and shaky voice said, “You idiot, you crossed the line.”

Chan Hee had a strong desire to stop patting her and punch her in the face when suddenly, Eun Suk emerged from under the covers and said, “But thank you for doing so.”

This cannot get any more awkward than it already is, Kyuhyun thought, and ironically, there was some comfort in that. If he was already living the worst, he was bound to survive, right? Right, he told himself.

He looked over at Jae Sun, who by now was finishing off his hot chocolate. Jae Sun finished the hot chocolate with a large sound that made Kyuhyun wince, and when Jae Sun put the cup back now, he was sporting a fantastic whipped cream mustache.

That’s right, folks, Jae Sun downed his hot chocolate so fast, the whipped cream didn’t even have time to melt.

Kyuhyun wanted nothing more than to face palm himself

And that feeling only grew when Jae Sun suddenly asked, “You’ve got the hots for my sister Krystal, don’t you?”

Did Kyuhyun say it couldn’t get any more awkward? Welp, look who was wrong.

“Uh, we’re just friends…”, Kyuhyun muttered.

“As if! Dude, you at lying. Just admit it!”, Jae Sun said.

A couple sitting at the table next to them curiously looked at Kyuhyun, who was starting to blush. Kyuhyun sat there, his tongue pressed against his cheek to keep from saying something rash, but then he suddenly said, “Let’s continue this conversation outside, Jae Sun.” Before the younger had a chance to protest, Kyuhyun grabbed his arm and dragged him outside.

When they were safely out of earshot, Kyuhyun said, “Yeah, all right, I like your sister. So what?”

“What do you mean ‘so what’?!  I have to do a background check on you”, Jae Sun said, striking a serious pose.

Kyuhyun groaned.

“How many girlfriends have you had in the past?”, Jae Sun asked.

“Seven.”

Jae Sun’s eyes bulged. “Seven!?”

“Yeah”, Kyuhyun said, sighing. 

“You’re a playboy!?”

“No, no, I’m not. I’ve never cheated and I don’t plan to.”

“Yeah, but isn’t that what they all say?”, Jae Sun muttered.

“Look, Jae Sun. It’s not that I cheat… I just get bored easily. That’s all. And I haven’t dated since I was a trainee. I’m clean.”, Kyuhyun said, trying to explain to Jae Sun without scarring him for life.

Jae Sun nodded seriously. “Okay, I won’t tell my sister that you’re a playboy, then. I’ll just tell her-“

“Don’t tell her anything. Please. I’d rather just tell her myself”, Kyuhyun said seriously.

“Okay, but whatever happens, my sister better get fair warning about what she’s getting herself into”, Jae Sun said, seriously.

“What is she getting herself into? What do you see me as?”, Kyuhyun asked Jae Sun, suddenly curious.

“A big, scary, impressive, playboy hyung”, Jae Sun answered.

Kyuhyun sighed.

“That’s what everyone seems to see me as. That’s probably what your sister sees me as…”, Kyuhyun said, feeling slightly bitter.

“She likes you, you know”, Jae Sun said matter-of-factly.

“What?”, Kyuhyun asked, taken aback.

“Krystal. She’s got a thing for you. Sort-of.”

“She does?”

Jae Sun grinned. “You didn’t hear it from me.”

Kyuhyun shook his head, but he felt a little better. Maybe Jae Sun wasn’t so annoying after all.

“Hyung, you sure you aren’t scared? I mean, this is the highest roller coaster in Korea… You can just start screaming if you’re scared…”, Gongchan said, amused at how tightly Sky hyung was gripping the side handles.

“I’m not going to scream, Gongchan. I’m completely fine. I’m not afraid”, Sky said, try to sound nonchalant by scoffing.

Gongchan was trying really hard not to smile, but as he saw the man start the countdown, he couldn’t resist but say, “Sky hyung, you sure you’re okay? Once this thing starts, you can’t get off…”

“Obviously”, Sky hyung said. His knuckles were turning white.  “Gongchan, (4) I keep (3) telling you (2) that I’m (1) not (0) scccccccccccccccccAAAAREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Gongchan was laughing his head off, sounding like a total maniac. The people sitting in front of them were probably more scared of Gongchan and Sky than the roller coaster itself.

But Gongchan had to give it to Sky hyung; his scream blew through three octaves like it was nothing. Quite an impressive vocal range.

The wind was rushing by and Sky’s screams and Gongchan’s laughter went up and down as the roller coaster also went up, down, upside-down, and around.

And then the ride was over.

Sky was so dazed, his eyes glazed over. He swayed as he climbed out unsteadily. Gongchan grabbed his arm and pulled him in the right direction, laughing again. Sky’s hair was hilariously pushed back and standing on end. As Sky regained his senses, he said to the maknae in a serious tone, “Gongchan. This never happened, okay?”

Gongchan just grinned, his eyes innocent and wide, and then he slowly pointed to a nearby stall, which featured a poster that said, “Buy your captured video for everlasting memories today!”

Sky just closed his eyes in defeat and shambled along as Gongchan dragged him towards the stall.   

Soori and Soo Ri had arrived at the biggest shopping center in Seoul. Automatically, Soori ran up to the window of a Miniatures Store, where little statues of everything were sold.

        “Look, it’s a little camera!”, Soori said. She loved collecting toy cameras; she had about fifty in a box under her bed back in the dorm.

        “Are you into photography?”, Soo Ri asked her.

        “Hm… not so much. I just like toy cameras a lot.”, Soori answered. She blushed, it sounded so childish. “Why, do you like photography?”

        “Yeah, I just really like the idea of capturing interesting and meaningful moments”, Soo Ri explained. They continued walking until they came to a little cartoon/character shop.

        “I really want to go in. Mickey Mouse… is my bias”, Soo Ri said. Soori laughed.

        “What?”, Soo Ri said, defensively. “He makes me smile more than any good-looking jerk I’ve met.”

        “Point taken. Besides, I really like Hello Kitty”, Soori said.

         “More than Lee Junho?”, Soo Ri asked, slyly.

        Soori blushed. “Are you going to keep bringing him up?”, she asked.

        “You know it” Soo Ri laughed and pushed Soori into the store, and followed.

        They made several more stops, Soo Ri must have tried on about a hundred pieces of clothing, but in the end, only bought a Mickey Mouse sweater. They stopped for sushi on the way back. Soo Ri stared at Soori in amazement, wide-eyed, as Soori ate four different rolls and had room for tempura ice cream.

        “You’re not going to bloat?”, Soo Ri asked her.

        Soori shrugged. “I usually don’t.”

        Well, you are one lucky duck, Soo Ri thought.

        Their last stop happened to be, by pure chance, the photo booth. Soo Ri dragged Soori in, and they proceeded to take four of the silliest photos ever taken. If someone had been standing outside, it would have sounded like:

        “Wait, why isn’t it taking my money?” (Soo Ri)

        “Um… cause you’re putting it in backwards?” (Soori)

        “Oh, right. Haha.”

        “You’re so weird.”

        “Weird? Me? Never!”

        “HA!”

FLASH!

        “Oh my god, No way! Did it catch me laughing? No…!” (Soori)

        “Hahaha, your mouth is wide open. Ahahahah!” (Soo Ri)

FLASH!

        “Oh crap, I think it got me this time. Oh my god, will you look at that?” (Soo Ri)

        “Ewwww…!” (Soori)

FLASH!

        “What!? Why doesn’t this thing give us any warning? Is the button broken?” (Soo Ri)

        “Be quiet and pose! Hurr-“ (Soori)

FLASH!

        “Thank you for taking pictures with the Picture Booth. Please decorate as desired and collect your photos in the pink slip outside.”

And then all four pictures came up on screen.

        “Wow, couldn’t have captured our true natures any better”, Soo Ri said sarcastically. Soori was helpless with laughter.

        “C’mon, we have to label these with something!”, Soo Ri poked her in the side.

        “Oh! Our stage names! Let’s pick out our names and put them on these!”, Soori said.

        “Oh… um… How… How do you choose a stage name?”, Soo Ri asked her.

        “Well… I guess, just think of what you want to be on stage… Like… I want to be Laiqa”, Soori said.

        “Laiqa?” Soo Ri asked.

        “Yeah. My full name is Laiqa Jung Soori. And I want people to see not just the normal, plain, studious, sister-of-famous-people Jung Soori, but also the more spontaneous me. The me that no one ever really recognizes … just like no one ever knows my full name.  I want the world to see the unique me: Laiqa.”

        “Oh. Wow, that’s deep”, Soo Ri said. She watched Soori write the name Laiqa on the title part of their photo, and then she wrote an “&”. Soori turned to her, “Can you think of one?”

        “Um… I think, An?”

        “An? Why?”, Soori asked curiosly.

        “That’s what they called me in England. And that’s where I grew up… That’s a part of me no one really knows, but it’s me to the core.”

        “Sounds perfect”, Soori said, and wrote “Laiqa & AN”, on the top of the picture.

        And then she clicked “Begin Printing”.   

        “So, how was the bonding sessions?”, Tablo said, when everyone from Universe and Beast had taken a seat. “Did I pair you up correctly?”

        Kyuhyun mumbled something incoherent, Sky closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and Gongchan burst into laughter.

        “All right, I think that’s a good enough answer”, Tablo said.

        “It was daebak! Hyunseung sunbaenim is an amazing dancer”, Shim Jang said, with a double thumbs up. Beast burst into laughter. Hyunseung almost, almost blushed. It probably would have been the first time in his life.

        “Well, today is a very important day for two reasons. One. It is Shim Jang’s seventeenth birthday.”

        Everyone whooped. Shim Jang seemed shocked, and then she said softly, “Wow. I completely forgot. It’s my birthday.”

        “Yes. And you’ll feel even more shocked at this news”, Tablo said.

        “Can I say it? Can I say it? I want to be the one to tell them!”, Yoseob yelled suddenly.

        “Go ahead”, Tablo had barely gotten the words out of mouth, when Yoseob shouted, “YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO BE PROMOTED! YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO START RELEASING TEASERS AND EVERYTHING AND PREPARING FOR DEBUT!”

        It became pandemonium. So many emotions came pouring out: Relief that the group wasn’t going to be scrapped, Shock that only six weeks into training, they were chosen to be promoted, Worry, because they didn’t feel ready to live up to the name of Korea’s best, Happiness, because this was a dream come true, but mostly, just raw Excitement.

        Someone, probably Jae Sun, started singing Happy Birthday in the midst of all this. Everyone joined in, more yelling than singing. Except Gongchan, who was harmonizing magnificently, to everyone’s surprise but Soori’s. It made for the greatest “Happy Birthday” ever sung in this world. And when Shim Jang blew out the candles; it was with the force of rapper, enough to send frosting flying right into Tablo’s face. Eun Suk laughed, actually laughed. Everyone stopped for a moment, in complete shock, but then Eun Suk said, slightly sheepishly, “Well, the least you can do is join in”, and they did.

        All in all, it was a pretty glorious day.