CHP 01

‹ JULY 2019: "GATHER IN THE STUDIO, GIRLS. WE HAVE NEWS FROM THE CEO." ›

   MOoDY TV
SEASON ONE FINALE:
PART ONE

 THE usual tone of things was no where to be found as the camera crew began filming suddenly, busting into the room without warning while the girls of the MHD training roster looked on with varying looks of confusion. 

"What's going on?" asked Aria, furrowing her brows and standing up. The oldest of the bunch as it were, she often ended up taking the lead in these scenarios, if only because some deep slated, inner urge to protect the younger girls often kicked in.

"I've recieved news from the higher ups, is what is 'up', Miss Aria." Said a familiar voice, rounding into the room from the hallway. Lim Minji, or Miss Lim, as the girls knew her bore an intense look in her eyes and immediately set the tension to it's maximum level of charge. 

Miss Lim acted as the director of the girl's program and so for her to make a visit suddenly, and with cameras no less, meant something big sat on the horizon. With a steady gaze, she stood with an immaculate posture and centered herself in the middle of the room, motioning the girls to then crowd around her. 

Like clockwork, the girls all gathered in a loosely organzied half circle, some muttering softly while others looked like they were in the various stages of breaking down for all the anxiety suddenly upon them. 

"There is to be an evaluation in three days. It'll be uniquely built with a heavy emphasis on personal skills." Began Miss Lim, eyeing the trainees with sharp intention. 

"There are fifteen of you now, that will not be the case after the evaluation." She continued after a calculated pause. 

The blood in every trainee's veins ran cold at the announcement, even the more level-headed sorts seemingly shaken by the news. The camera crew, a quiet, mostly unnoticed entity at this point turned and panned around the room, no doubt banking on the emotionally charged moment before them. 

Miss Lim noted the trainees expressions and fought the urge to comfort them. She knew well each and everyone one of the young girls standing before her with wide eyes but she also knew it best to stand firm and remind them to work harder than ever for the sweet prize at the end of the shortening tunnel. 

"I'm sure that needs little explanation and I expect all of you to look to each other not only as friends and comrades but also as rivals. you've grown to respect one another by now and that should continue to be the case, even now as you all face an extremely important turning point in your path to debuting." Miss Lim said in a collected, cool tone, furrowing her brows as she looked to each of the girls.

"This is important and you all owe it to one another as friends and rivals to do your best and give everyone a healthy dose of competition. If it's to be a battle, make sure it's well fought." She cooed, her expression softening just a touch. 

"I'll have your training program manager come by momentarily to further explain and answer questions." She continued then, giving the girls another look over. 

She studied the trainees for a moment more before nodding quaintly and clearing . The girls, though reeling still from it all, managed to muscle-memory their way into a formal greeting and half-watched, half-blankly stared as Miss Lim made her way to the door and took her leave. Half the camera crew followed suit, likely to film something else but the other half remained, a tale-tell sign of the expectation upon the girls for the next three days. 

Once alone, or rather, as a lone as a group can be in a group surrounded by cameras, the girls began to cast looks to one another. There was a silence that befell the room, a somber one that laid a heavy weight onto everyone's shoulders suddenly. 

For two years at most and perhaps a few months for others, the fifteen girls in the room managed to spend most of the their waking hours together, bickering, laughing and trying to help those enrolled in school do their homework-- all trying to manage what meager bit of a "normal" life they had left in any free time they dared to take away from training. To be told they would be finally face the music, so to speak, was heart wrenching and felt as though a cold, ice-filled bucket of water had been thrown upon them suddenly. 

Thankfully, however, their manager soon found their way inside, hustling, seemingly, in order to not waste much of the precious time the girls had. 

"Girls, hey-- listen, whatever happens, you're all very talented and you'll all do an amazing job." said Chanwoo, this project's manager. He was a tall man, intimidating in build but the girls knew him to be nothing more than a large golden retriever of a man. Infectious as he normally was, even his demeanor and familiar aura couldn't ease the tension in the room. 

"It'll be divided into two halves- i'll not beat around the bush, you girls need all the time you can get. The first half will be the two main skill set performances and you will be teamed into each skill based on your strength." He began, frowning and trying to resist the urge to dote on them too much, as per instructions. 

"The second half will be personal skills and it's completely up to you to decide what you'll showcase. There aren't any wrong answers, perse, but whatever answer you show will have the most weight in the evaluation." 

His voice sounded almost grave, worried, naturally, as the younger girls, some only just fifteen or sixteen, looked on the verge of tears. Silent and clearly trying to take it all in, the trainees looked to their manager with twinkling desperation in their eyes. 

"I'll be here for you girls, promise. Don't let the worry bog you down, all right?!" He began suddenly, air into his cheeks in a comical fashion. 

"Everyone, look at the girl next to you and make your best war face and then give them a cool sort of phrase like 'tsk, i've seen your mismatched socks before and there's a hole in one of them' or something!" He half shouted, earning him odd but amused looks from the girls. 

"Aye, see? There we go, now, lets get down to business. Dancers, Rappers and Vocalists, lets get you separated and then you need to put a performance together."
 

•---------• •---------• •---------•
 

"For DANCE 01 the trainees will be as follows: Hana, Minkyung, Xiuying, Huiyeon, Sumire(NPC; plot based) and Yura(NPC; Plot based).You six are more than capable, so I expect a good performance." Chanwoo said, tutting as he eyed his various pages of notes. 

"VOCAL 01 will consist of the usual: Shizuka, Minju, Minseo and Sora." He carried on, now looking to the rest of the girls. 

The remaining names were those that were often the bottom of the skill chain, either average in all or perhaps geared towards more variety centric routes or acting. All perfectly capable in their own way but often given the harshest of critiques. 

"UNDERDOGS, you know the drill, gotta remind the staff that you're totally awesome- pft, I think they do it on purpose just to see you perform more." Chanwoo cooed, nudging Fern who snorted at the thought. 

"Heiran, Fern, Aria, Momoka and Luna(NPC; Plot based), you five are allowed to showcase whatever need be, as per usual, but you aren't allowed to ask the others for help- a pretty standard evaluation set up save for that last bit, right?" Chanwoo said with a shake of his head. 

The five girls exchanged looks and Aria even threw her arm over Heiran and Fern, giving the two a gentle squeeze. They were used to this by now, of course, and the familiar faces of the five endearingly earned them the 'underdog' team moniker after so many evaluations. 

Chanwoo smiled at the teams and then immediately cleared his throat, attempting to look serious once again after faltering. 

"This leads into the usual team MIXUP evaluation groups-" He stopped and squinted at his notes before snorting. 

"The first half is just a modified regular evaluation I guess, for what comfort that might offer. Anyways, the MIX UP teams will be expected to perform as a unit and will showcase a concept moreso than skills- you know, the usual." 

The girls seemed more at ease the more Chanwoo rambled, stopping himself to make what he thought were clever quips while reading over his directions. They might have been about to lose their places in the program but at least Chanwoo still had the gumption of a good natured dog. 

"Chanwoo, should we do it dramatically?" Said Shizuka half-jokingly, nodding to the camera crew nearby. 

"That might give Minkyung flashbacks." Minseo light teased, striking up a light, well needed giggle as the trainee in question feigned a look of horror. 

"I'll look at Hana with a funny expression, wouldn't that be fun to edit?" Minkyung cooed, playing along as she crossed her eyes and furrowed her brows at the shorter girl across the way.

Hana, after getting a nudge from Shizuka, looked up and belated acted shocked, making even the camera crew snort while Chanwoo shook his head in amusement. 

"Hana, since you were listening so well-" He began, though Hana quickly nodded and shifted her weight in a near comically-timed fashioned. 

"-I'd like to apologize to my fans thus far. I know I said frogs were cute in my legally distinctive 25 second introduction but I didn't even think about how toads might have felt-" She humorously deadpanned, tiredly making a half nod to the closest camera and gesturing as though she were wiping at tears. 

The room broke into snorts and snickers again and Chanwoo immediately realized it was out of his hands now, watching as the trainees quickly regained what strength was from them only moments ago. 

"That was the worst, no wonder you dropped a few ranks after that." Minju lightly added, while Momoka flagged a camera down. The gesture caught the now amused but bewildered camera man off guard. 

"I'll raise my hand for the part Sora wants later, be sure to film that, it'll look dramatic." She very cooly cooed. 

"Xiuying, you should go for the main dancer position and have your voice crack." Said Huiyeon, laughing at the confusion that suddenly befell Xiuying nearby. The dancer furrowed her brows, chortling in a bewildered way while attempting to piece together a voice crack to a dance center.

Heiran, one of the youngest girls, clung to Fern's arm and giggled quietly, whispering something to Minseo who gawked and whispered it to Fern. Wide-eyed, Fern gasped and looked at the two girls before looking up to the camera crew with a proper look of awe plastered on her face. 

"I can't even carry myself somedays, let alone try to carry a high note." She said in a funny, half broken pass of korean, making the room fill with laughter. 

The room then filled with chatter while jokes and anecdotes filled the air in an attempt at easing the tension that wafted about. The studio felt lighter, at least, Chanwoo noted but he quickly remembered his job.

Amused by the girls sudden KBS drama worthy plot being schemed but aware of how much Miss Lim scared him, Chanwoo cleared his throat loudly after several moments and tapped the papers. 

"Save your bad acting for later, let me tell you the teams and you lot need to be off and getting to work." He reminded, eyeing the girls before taking to his notes again. 

"MIX01 will consist of: Luna, Sumire(NPCS; Plot based), Minseo, Sora and Minju and you've been assigned a 'bright' concept to portray. Take that as you will and run with it." Chanwoo said, snickering when Sora's expression fell at the thought.

Rememberig the cameras and side-eyeing them in horror, she caught herself in time and cleared , eyes widening amusingly as she pretended to suddenly not notice the very same camera. A sheepish grin followed before she turned and laughed quietly, turning to hide her face behind Momoka.

"MIX02 will consist of: Minkyung, Hana, Shizuka, Huiyeon, Momoka, Fern, Heiran, Xiuying and Yura(NPC; Plot based) and the concept assigned to you is 'experimental/chic" so, again, make of that what you will." 

The girls of MIX02 oogled one another while Aria cleared and looked at Chanwoo with a mix of confusion and expectation. Chanwoo, cluelessly staring her down, wore an equally confused look until he realized the situation and scurried through his notes. 

"Oh, right, Aria! You have a special task, you're to present the staff with a sample of-" He squinted and re-read the words a few times, "-a sample that you were told to work on by REDD the producer? Does that mean anything to you? Hopefully it does." Chanwoo trailed off, reading the instructions back over. 

Aria, however, quickly understood and waved Chanwoo's attention away from his deep scanning of his pages of notes. 

"I got it, no worries. REDD mentioned it a while back, it makes sense now." She assured the now far more at ease Chanwoo. 

"Great, well, with that being said, you girls have staff to impress so hop on it!" He exclaimed then, clapping his hands together loudly and bearing a grand smile. 

"I'll check in on you in a few hours, drink some water between now and then, all right?" He half joked, half warned, taking to the door and waving. 

Perfectly sure that the girls would do well, he gave them all a quick look over once again before taking his leave. In truth, he hated to see any of them go but even he knew that fifteen girls in a group sounded ridiculous by marketing standards. Sighing to himself, he stopped walking and tapped his foot anxiously. 

"I should treat them to dinner tonight. Between Hana and Aria zoning into whatever they're doing  and forgetting to eat and Minseo, Fern and Heiran being so young, they'd all accidentally starve before realizing what time it was or how long it's been since they ate last."