Chapter Two:

Red Italics - The captions/questions that appear on the screen which are being asked to the person on camera.

It was finally time for the first episode of the new Sesame Player season to begin. Today, the cast and crew were happy to meet the Mirage members on the set of their new music video for their debut song, News.

The group was glad to greet the Sesame Player crew and happily gave them a warm welcome. "Annyeonghaseyo, we are Mirage!" Synchronized, all six of the girls bowed at the the exact same time. "Sorry, we don't have a unique greeting yet," they admitted, "but we will come up with one soon!"

"Honestly, we were scolded by our CEO-nim last time for not introducing ourselves as a group, ha!" Minjung revealed. “He said that the most important thing that you must learn first about being an idol is that every group needs a special greeting – without the greeting, a group cannot have an proper introduction. It's not that we forgot! We just haven't been able to come up with one yet and we wanted it to be special. By the next episode, we will have one for you. That, we promise!”

Setting aside their mistakes from the last video, Mirage had to split up and gone their separate ways when the director called them out and gave them their own instructions. The Sesame Player crew was able to catch up to Nanie, who was currently waiting for her turn to record her solo scenes. She greeted the viewers with her usual smile, “Hello! It is nice to see you again, how are you?” With both hands waving in front of her, Nanie couldn't help but giggle in happiness. “We're on set for our first music video! I'm really excited to be able to experience this and I'm sure that we will be able to improve from any mistakes that we might make. Right now, our visual, Taeri, is the first one to do her solo shots.” She pointed over to the area which had a fancy pink backdrop set up. There, Taeri stood, singing her lines and making movements for the camera. Nanie laughed, “She doesn't seem nervous at all, huh?” Just then, she was handed a yellow paper that was rolled up scroll-style and tied with a red ribbon. Pulling on the end of the bow, the girl untied the ribbon and spread open the sheet, reading the words to herself. “Bwoyah!? What kind of mission is this?” The girl yelled out in protest. “I will not do it!”

After being persuaded by the director, Nanie finally agreed to do her mission. “I'll wait until it's the right time to do it.” She then looked straight into the camera. “See if you can figure out what my mission is because I'm not going to tell you!” She said, jokingly, before laughing it off and walking away to plan for her mission.

Next, the crew was able to find Hyomi, who was watching Taeri finish up her solo shots. When Hyomi spotted the camera, she politely bowed to the viewers and clapped her hands together. “I feel like such a proud mother while watching one of my babies so such a great job on her first try!” Hyomi had a huge grin on her face, as if she had just seen her favorite band in front of her eyes. “Our “Little Queen” Kieun is up next and I'm confident that she'll do a great job.” Hyomi was then handed a roll of paper, similar to the one that Nanie was given. Without any hesitation, she quickly opened up the yellow sheet and showed it to the camera. “Act like you are five years-old and do not act motherly until the recording is finished,” she read aloud. With wide eyes, she looked up at the camera, “Are you serious? How...?” She looked down at the ground, thinking to herself. “Okay, I can try, but I don't guarantee anything!” She shook her head as if she were shaking all of the motherly instincts away and out of her system. Afterwards, she looked up with a bright, innocent smile. “Do you have any chocolate? I love chocolate! Can I have some?” She blinked rapidly at the camera. “Never mind, I'll go ask Nanie unnie. Unnie ~!” And with that as her final word, Hyomi ran off to find the eldest member.

Walking out of the spotlight, Taeri spotted the camera from the corner of her eye and ran up to it. “Annyeonghaseyo!” She bowed with excitement in her step. “Welcome to our music video shoot!”

[ How has recording been going so far? ]

“Well, I just finished part of my solo shots! There are definitely more to come, but I think that the first one went well! I finished it all in one take and that helps things go a lot quicker! I hope that we will be able to finish them all quickly so that we don't end up having to stay here all day when we really don't need to,” Taeri smiled, satisfied with her work so far. “I don't know how the rest of the recording, with the entire group, will go, but I hope that everyone goes smoothly!” After completing her answer, she was then handed a similar-looking yellow scroll. When she opened it up, she read it quietly to herself before bursting out into laughter. “Really, now? This is my mission?” She turned it around to reveal it to the camera. “Pretend to be an MC for the entire shoot.” She giggled again after reading it out loud. “Okay, it sounds like fun!” She rolled her fist up into a ball and held it up to . “MC Taeri at your service!” She bowed to the camera. “Let's go see how Princess Minjung is doing!” The visual led the camera over to the group's third-youngest member, who was seated at the vanity table, getting her makeup done. “Hello, Minjung-ssi, how are you today?”

“Taeri, what are you doing?” Minjung opened her eyes and gave her a weird look.

“Sorry, but that's MC Taeri to you,” Taeri giggled.

“If you say so,” Minjung shut her eyes, allowing the stylist to finish her makeup. 

“Uwah, just look at our princess! Doesn’t she just have the whole princess aura radiating off of her?” Taeri held her hands out to Minjung like she was the warm fire and her own hands were frozen like ice. “I can feel the princess waves coming off of her right now!”

“I can’t help it that I’m born to be a royal princess, okay?” Minjung flipped her hair, causing the stylist who had been working on her to sigh. “Did you get a mission or something? Is that why you’re doing all this?” Taeri nodded. “Why do you get such a cool mission? You get to be the center of attention! Wait, you’re the visual. That’s why, isn’t it?” Completely clueless, Taeri shrugged. Looking over at the director, Minjung said, “In the future, I want to be the center too! Even if it isn’t permanent… just once would be nice!” Just as she said that, the girl was handed a mission scroll like the others had received.

“Ooh! Our Minjung has gotten a mission. Let’s see what it is!” As soon as Minjung unraveled the paper, she crumpled it up again before anyone else could see it. “Oh? What happened?”

“It’s nothing,” Minjung shot her a grin then turned to the camera and winked. “Piece of cake! I got this!”

“Got what?”

The two `95-line girls turned to see the final `95-line member walking up to them. “My mission!” Minjung grinned. “I am going to succeed with flying colors!”

“You two already got your missions? Am I the last one to receive one or what?” Kieun waited for a response but neither of the other two gave her one. “I’m guessing you two don’t know then… But haven’t they ever heard of the phrase, ‘Queens before everyone else?’”

“I don’t think there exists such a phrase…”

“In my world, there is!” Speaking of receiving a mission, a yellow rolled-up paper was then held up and handed over to Kieun. “Oh, my favorite color!” Kieun unrolled the paper and read the mission to herself. "Making tea? Really? That's supposed to be my super cool mission?"

"What does it say?"

"Turn it around!" Taeri, still focused on her mission, demanded while pointing to the paper in Kieun's hand. The leader happily obliged and turned the paper over, showing it to the camera.

"'Make tea and serve it to five staff members. Have all five of them say that it's good in order to succeed.' But your tea is amazing, Kieun! You'll pass this mission so easily!" Minjung read the paper out loud. Kieun nodded with a look of determination. She told the two that she was going to get started on her mission while Nanie was recording her solo shots. The leader then walked away to find the snack table where she could begin to make her tea.

"Are  you going to start on your mission too?" Minjung replied saying that she would have to wait for the right time. And when her name was called, Minjung bowed to the camera and ran to record her solos.

"Oh Taeri~" Hyomi came skipping up to Taeri. When she caught up to the younger, she began to sway back and forth on her heels. "What are you doing?"

"I'm an MC!" Taeri exclaimed, bringing her rolled up fist to . "Hyomi-ssi, have you received your mission yet?" Hyomi nodded with a smile. "Ah, what is it? Is it something you can share with the viewers?"

"I have to pretend like I am a child! If I do one motherly act, I will fail," Hyomi traced her finger down her cheek, pretending that tears were falling. "Let's go watch our maknae while she finishes her solo shots! Minjung finished quickly, so they're recording Jinhae last. Come on!" Hyomi grabbed onto Taeri's wrist and pulled her over to where they were recording for the final member, Jinhae. "Maknae-yah! Annyeong!"

While Hyomi was busy trying to get Jinhae's attention, Taeri snuck away to go find the group's princess, Kwon Minjung. At that time, Nanie came up to Hyomi, placing a hand on the younger one's shoulder. "Hyomi dongsaeng! The director said we will be recording the group dance scene after Jinhae is done. So get ready, okay?"

"Right after? But don't you think that she'll be tired? Jinhae just recorded her solo scenes! She needs to take a break before continuing onto the dance scenes or else she'll get exhausted too quickly! What if she gets tired?" Just as the words left Hyomi's mouth, a loud buzzer sound was heard from behind the camera. The two eldests turned in surprise, unsure of what it meant.

[ Nam Hyomi, you have failed your mission! ]

"Huh? How!?" It was then that she understood what she had done wrong: she had acted motherly when she began to worry over the maknae's health just a moment ago.

"Oh dongsaeng," Nanie placed her hand on the rapper's shoulder once again. "I'm sure it isn't too bad. I wonder if there is a punishment and if there is, what they'll be able to come up with... Hwaiting dongsaeng!"

As Nanie walked off to prepare for their dance recording, Jinhae finished her solos and met up with Hyomi. "Unnie, what happened?"

"Ah... I just failed my mission," Hyomi explained, feeling a little bit disappointed.

"You failed your mission already? I didn't even receive mine yet," Jinhae paused. "I wonder when they will give me mine then. I think all the unnies got their missions already, right?"

"I think so. Nanie unnie got hers already, but she wouldn't tell anyone what it was. Same with Minjung. Taeri is acting as the MC for today's shoot. I think Kieun got hers too since I saw her receive one," Hyomi stopped to think a little bit. "That's everyone, right?" Yeah, everyone else got their missions already."

"When will I get mine?" Jinhae complained.

"Nanie unnie! Hyomi unnie! Taeri! Minjung! Jinhae! It's time to do the dance recording!" Kieun called out the names of all the members.

"Coming!" Jinhae responded, walking alongside Hyomi. They met up with the rest of the members on the dance set, which had a simple silver backdrop and single strands of silver beads hanging down from the ceiling to spice up the set a little.

"Okay girls! We've practiced this many times before in the studio. I'm sure you will all do great! And remember, we are a group; so if one of us makes a mistake, that means all of us are at fault, not just that one person. Mirage is not a set of six girls but one unit as a whole, right?" Kieun asked them. And in response to their leader, they all nodded. "Good!"

The six girls all got into their practiced positions, which they all knew by heart by now. It started off with Taeri in the center with Nanie and Minjung on the left, Kieun and Jinhae on the right, and Hyomi in the back. During the introduction, all six of them were in perfect sync and they were able to execute the introductory dance perfectly and precisely. However, the moment didn't last too long.

"Lee Nanie!" It was Minjung's voice that cut off the music. "You're supposed to step to the left, why do you keep stepping to the right?" Nanie bowed apologetically. "You're the dancer, aren't you? Aren't you supposed to be good with your feet? You even stepped backwards when we weren't supposed to move our feet at all and you ran into me!"

"Minjung!" Kieun, as the leader, stepped in to try and calm Minjung down. "It must've been an accident. Maybe she was nervous, okay?" On the other side, Nanie simply said that it was an honest mistake and that she wouldn't let it happen again. Minjung let out a sigh and accepted it while also apologizing for yelling at her unnie. "Let's try it again!" Kieun called out to the electrical engineers, who were in charge of playing the music. And once again, the girls got into their positions and ran smoothly through the introduction dance as they had done earlier. Passing the one-minute mark of the song, Mirage had been doing a good job, like they had practiced back in the studio. The chorus began to play and Nanie had, once again, made another mistake. This time, it was Taeri's turn to let out a shriek to stop the music. "Nanie unnie, what's going on? Taeri's our visual and she's in the center during the chorus, don't you remember?"

The visual lifted herself off the ground, straightening out her outfit after she stood up. "Sorry," Nanie hung her head low. "I think I'm just nervous and I keep forgetting my place, that's all. I won't make another mistake, I promise!" Nanie bowed to the staff. "I'm sorry! Thank you for all your hard work! Let's do this one more time and I know that I'll get it right!" The Mirage members couldn't help but forgive their eldest and return to their recording with high hopes that the next run-through would be successful. And as they had hoped, it went perfectly fine. No interruptions. No outbursts. Nothing.

The girls went to the little screen to review the recording that had just taken place. Watching out for any errors, Kieun sat in the front with her eyes practically glued to the screen. Being the perfectionist that she was, Kieun noticed every single step that was slightly out of place. "Nanie unnie... You didn't move your leg here." She signalled to the person in charge of the replay. "Rewind please!" She pointed to Nanie on the screen. "See? All the girls have their left leg crossed over the right leg while yours is still straight." Nanie, feeling disappointed at her mistakes, apologized for the 100th time that day. "Let's run through it again."

Running through the dance routine one final time, the girls went back to review the recording once more. Satisfied with their work, the girls let out a loud cheer. "Nanie," Hyomi called. "You're usually really good under pressure and you're usually able to remember your steps really well. After all, you're the main dancer! But... what happened?" It was then that Nanie began to giggle. She pulled out the mission sheet from her pocket and handed it to Hyomi, who read it aloud. "Purposely make mistakes during the group dance in order to succeed your mission."

"What!?" Kieun jumped to her feet. "So the Sesame Player crew made you make those mistakes on purpose? They made us go through the dance several times when we really could have gotten it done in one shot?" Nanie nodded. "Yah... how troublesome!"

[ Lee Nanie, you have passed your mission! ]

"Yes!" Nanie cheered. "That means I didn't lose this round," she grinned, breaking out into a victory dance. She then turned to the staff who was there to help direct and create their music video. "I'm sorry for all the trouble! Please know that I was required to do this. Thank you all so much for your hard work!" Nanie bowed numerous times to the staff members, genuinely feeling sorry that she made them go through the trouble. Then, she turned to her members, "Sorry girls. You know the feeling of wanting to do anything it takes to pass the mission, right?"

"I haven't even gotten my mission yet..." Jinhae muttered. Right on time, though, she was handed a yellow paper that looked exactly like the ones the others had gotten. She untied the ribbon and spread out the paper, reading the mission out loud. "'Make conversation with at least five staff members. The conversation must last at least three minutes without any long silences. If you engage in a conversation and fail that one, your mission will be void.' What? This is ridiculous!" Jinhae exclaimed, which was the loudest that the viewers have ever heard her speak. "So I'm just supposed to randomly go up to a staff member and start talking to them?"

"No..." Taeri began, "You have to talk to five staff members."

Jinhae gave her older friend a strange look but then shook it off. "Okay... I'll work on my mission while you are all recording your second set of solos, then."

"That's right!" Kieun raised her hand. "We all have one more set of solos today before we can head off for the day. Tomorrow, though, we have another recording day as we will be recording another group dance scene and the last set of solos." Just then, a loud whistling sound came from the direction of the snack table. "My hot water!" Kieun cried out, running over to finish making her tea for her own mission.

"Taeri, you're the first one up for the solos," their manager called her out. The visual nodded before running over to the newly set up area for recording. For Taeri, it was like a room of mirrors. The mirrors were placed in a circular figure around the idol. Taeri stood in the center, lipsyncing her verses and making hand motions when it wasn't her turn.

Nanie, Minjung and Hyomi all went to get their hair fixed and to get changed into their next set of outfits. Jinhae, on the other hand, had decided to try her hand at her given mission. Nervous, she began to look around for a staff member that seemed at the least bit approachable. She raised her hand up to her lips, slightly biting down on her fingernails, which was something she did whenever she was nervous. She decided to go up to her stylist, who seemed friendly - at least she did when she was doing Jinhae's hair and makeup. "Annyeonghaseyo," Jinhae bowed when she walked up to the older woman. The stylist, in return, bowed to the young idol. "Uhm... I think my hair fell out of place here," she pointed to a loose strand that hadn't been affected by the hair spray that had been spritzed all over her head earlier that day. "Can you fix it for me?" The stylist nodded with a smile, directing Jinhae to take a seat in the swiveling chair. The maknae gladly took a seat while getting her hair fixed. "So, have you been a stylist unnie for a long time?" Mentally, Jinhae smacked herself on the forehead - that was, like, the dumbest question you could ever ask, she told herself.

"Hm? No, I actually just got my license recently after I graduated from beauty school," the stylist told her, brushing Jinhae's multi-colored hair. "I started working as a stylist for Starship a couple months ago when CEO Kim Shidae-ssi decided that he wanted to debut a group. I was discovered by him and he said that he wanted me to help out with the new group and here I am now!" The stylist giggled. Jinhae looked up to get a better look at the girl's face, realizing that she couldn't have been any older than 25 years-old.

"I see..." Jinhae nodded. "What made you become interested in the beauty industry?"

"I developed a love for fashion and makeup when I was a young teenager like yourself," the stylist said. "I loved to walk down the aisles of beauty products at the stores. Sometimes that would be how I spent my weekends while my friends went out to watch movies or eat dinner. They said I was strange, but look where I am now!" She giggled again.

"Ooh, you're right. You're here with the idols now, aren't you? How cool is that?" Jinhae cooed. "I don't think I can stand having lots of makeup, if it was me though."

"You don't like makeup?" the stylist looked at her, shocked.

"No! It's not that! It's just that I can't stand too much of it!" Jinhae tried to save the conversation.

"No, no, no," the stylist shook her head. "Your hair is done, Jinhae-ssi." That was all the the stylist was willing to say; she turned away and walked away from the young idol, who was left shocked at the stylist's behavior.

[ Choi Jinhae, you have failed your mission! ]

Jinhae let out a loud sigh after hearing the buzzer that came from the Sesame Player director, who had been watching her closely as she attempted her mission.

[ How do you think you could've improved with your mission? ]

"I shouldn't have said anything about how I don't like too much makeup," Jinhae shook her head. "Either that or I shouldn't have talked to the stylist unnie at all." She shrugged then turned her head over to the new solo set when she heard her name being called. She saw Taeri stepping out of the spotlight and waving her over. "It looks like I have to go now. Annyeong!" She waved goodbye to the camera and ran off to take her turn in the solo recordings.

The camera turned around to see Kieun setting tea cups onto a circular brown tray. She slowly lifted up the tray with both hands and turned away, almost jumping when she saw the camera in front of her. "Oh hello! I'm about to start my mission, would you like to come along?" She smiled then tilted her head in the direction that she was about to walk as if telling the camera to follow. She boldly walked up to the first staff member in sight - the music video director. He was currently monitoring over Jinhae's recording to make sure that it was going smoothly. "Hello!" She greeted him with a half-bow, since she would've dropped the tray if she did a full bow. "I made some tea, would you like to try some?" Gladly, he took one of the five cups from her tray and immediately took a sip. "How is it?"

"Delicious!" He thanked her, wrapping both hands around the warm surface of the tea cup.

"Ah, really? Thank you for your kind words and all of your hard work!" Kieun gave him another half-bow and turned around to find another staff member. She looked into the camera and grinned. "Yes! One down, four more to go!" She walked up to the next staff member she could find - her own stylist. She offered her a cup of tea, which her stylist happily accepted with a smile. After taking one sip, the older girl grinned in satisfaction and gave Kieun a thumbs-up. Grateful, Kieun bowed to her as well and then went on her search for the next staff member. "Only three more!" She cheered to herself. "See that?" The leader asked the viewers. "As Minjung said, my tea is very yummy~" Kieun let out a soft chuckle before she spotted one of the lighting engineers. She quickened her pace, offering him a cup of tea when she reached him. "How is it?" she asked after watching him take the first sip.

"It's good!" He replied with a smile. "You should show my wife how to make tea like this. Can you send her the recipe?"

"Okay!" Kieun laughed. "If you give me her e-mail, I can send it to her!" She joked with him. Pleased with her response, the guy let out a laugh and gave her a quick thumbs-up before returning to his work. "Am I good or what?" She smirked at the camera. Next, she offered her tea to the camera man, who had been focusing on Minjung, who was now taking a break while she did her solo shots. He gave her positive feedback on her tea, just as the others had done. She then turned to her own camera with the widest smile. "Only one more! Oh! Camera man ahjusshi!" She called out to her own camera man, who had been following and recording her around this whole time. "Would you like to try my tea?" The man nodded, taking the cup with one hand. The leader took the large camera from his hands and turned it around to record the man. "How is it?" She asked from behind the bulky camera.

At first, he gave a strange expression, putting an uneasy feeling into Kieun's stomach. Then, he took another sip and resulted in the same expression. After his fourth or fifth sip, Kieun asked him again. The man then let out a laugh. "It's really good! I'm just kidding with you."

"Aiyah," she returned the camera to him. When she appeared in front of the camera again, she stomped her foot like a child. "You almost gave me a heart attack there! What if I failed my mission because of you? Oh wait, that means... I PASSED MY MISSION!" A soft bell sound was heard from the Sesame Player director.

[ Q.yi, you have succeeded in your mission! ]

"Yes!" Kieun jumped up in excitement before running over to Taeri, almost tackling the girl in the process. "Taeri! I passed my mission! I did it!" She shook the older girl's arm until it almost fell off. "Aren't you proud of me?"

"Of course! Good job!" Taeri held up her hand for a high-five, which the younger happily followed through. "I think that means that only Minjung and I are left to complete our missions. I think mine will be over soon when the shoot ends, which should be soon! Minjung hasn't said anything about hers, so I'm not sure yet."

"Hwaiting, Taeri ~" Kieun gave her friend a hug before she was called to record for her solo scenes.

Minjung, who had just finished her recording, decided to start working on her mission. She looked around to make sure a certain person wasn't watching her. Clear, the princess ran over to where the members had all left their bags and belongings. She picked up a specific black bag with plaid lining on the inside. She opened up the bag and began to scramble through it in search of the girl's cell phone. When her fingers grazed over the smooth surface of the device's screen, she knew that she had found it.

She took out the cell phone and quickly typed in a message. Within seconds of sending her text, she received a response. [ You missed me, didn't you, jagiya? ♥ ]

Feeling like she wanted to choke, she typed in a reply. [ Ew, why are you so cheesy? ]

[ Because I know you hate cheese. Aren't you at your MV shoot right now? ]

[ I am. I just thought that I'd send you a text, that's all! ]

[ You said you refused to text me until you finished your recording... ]

[ But I missed you, oppa! ]

[ Who are you and where is Taeri? She never calls me 'oppa.' Nice try. ]

Minjung scoffed. "Who does he think he is to be talking to the princess like this?" In the middle of typing in a reply, Minjung felt someone tap on her shoulder. When she turned around, she jumped right up onto her feet, hiding the phone behind her back. "Hi Taeri!"

"What are you doing?" Taeri leaned to the side, trying to see what Minjung was hiding. "Is that my phone or is it yours?"

"It's mine! We all have the same kind of phone, remember? They all look alike; you must've thought it was yours." The words left Minjung's mouth with ease and with no sign of hesitation at all. "Did you complete your mission yet?" Minjung tried to change the subject.

"No... As an MC, I'm supposed to keep viewers updated on what everyone is doing so I came here to check up on you! But you seem to be hiding something..." Taeri eyed her. "Hey! Can I borrow your phone?" Minjung quickly shook her head. "No? Okay, I'll use mine." She bent down to pick up her black and plaid-lined bag, but Minjung slapped her hand away. "Yah, what are you doing?"

"You can.. borrow mine," Minjung handed Taeri's phone back to her.

"Hm?" Taeri looked at the screen. "Why are you texting Myungsoo and why did he call you 'jagiya?' And wh-" She cut herself off and paused, turning the phone around to look at the case. "This is my phone!" The visual looked to the younger girl for an explanation. "What's going on?

"Before you explode," Minjung put her hands up as defense, "I have an explanation!" She quickly pulled out the crumpled yellow paper from her back pocket and handed it over before Taeri could get violent. "Here, read this."

Taeri opened it up and read it out loud so the viewers could hear of it as well. "Make Taeri jealous or upset using any method you can come up with." Taeri looked up at her with a frown. "Why me?" She looked at the Sesame Player director with a sad look in her eyes. "That wasn't very nice." She turned and walked away, throwing the paper on the ground.

"You see what I put at risk for Sesame Player?" Minjung sighed, picking up the paper from the ground and throwing it into her own bag. "I made Taeri feel upset and I don't know when she'll end up forgiving me." Just then, a soft bell sound was heard.

[ Kwon Minjung, you have successfully completed your mission! ]

"Great," Minjung gave two thumbs-ups to the camera. "Time to go make Taeri forgive me!" The princess ran over to the snack table, throwing several specific things together into a foam cup. Taking a sip to be sure that it was right, Minjung was satisfied. Happy with the taste, she held the cup with both of her hands and walked over to find Taeri, who was sitting off to the side, doing her MC commentations more to herself than to the camera. "Taeri ~" Minjung sing-songed when she approached the sensitive girl.

"What?"

"I made you your favorite!" Minjung held out the small foam cup to her friend. "It's milk tea!" Upon hearing those two words, Taeri gladly took the cup from Minjung and drank it quickly.

"It's good!" Smiling, the visual instantly cheered up. "Did you make it?" The latter nodded. "Thanks," Taeri tackled Minjung in a hug. "Now I should go finish up my mission since the shoot is ending soon." With that, she ran off to find Hyomi, who was completing her recording as the final member. "Wah, isn't our mother so charismatic? She has the face of a baby but she has so much charisma bottled up in that body of hers," Taeri giggled, still holding her hand up to as a microphone.

"Clear!" Mirage's manager shouted out, waving her hands in the air. "Mirage! It's time to head back to the dorm. Thank you everyone for your hard work today! We will work even harder when we return tomorrow!"

[ Lee Taeri, you have completed your mission! ]

"Hooray! I did it!" The girl cheered, running over to grab her bag to get ready to leave. She met up with the rest of the members, who all began to chatter about their experiences with their first music video recording. 

"Taeri," Nanie linked arms with 'said girl.' "How do you think the fans will react when they see the whole 'texting incident' with Minjung and Myungsoo? Don't you think you'll get antis?" She made air quotations with her fingers.

"Probably," Taeri shrugged. "I already went through it when we were still trainees. The netizens learned that he was dating a trainee from another company that wasn't his, remember? If I get more antis just because they find out that it's me, then whatever."

"Plus!" Kieun linked arms with the visual from the other side. "We'll protect you if any antis decide to appear and poke into our business."

"That's right!" Minjung linked arms with Kieun, adding onto the chain and making it four of them now. "Nobody will be able to hurt our resident crybaby, right?"

Before Taeri could snap back, Jinhae hooked onto Minjung and afterwards, Hyomi onto Jinhae. "That's right! Because Mirage will always protect each other, right?" The six girls all piled one hand into the center and looked up to meet eyes with one another. "Mirage, hwaiting ~ !"
 

Preview:

"I look absolutely ridiculous!" The girl tugged on her own tail before pulling down on her ears. "Is this really necessary?"

"I think we should go that way! If we go your way, we'll get lost for sure!"
 

❀ i t ' s    j j a n g !

Presenting... chapter two! This is obviously the first episode, right? Did the previews from the last chapter turn out the way you thought they would? ;)

I did a word count and it turned out to be over 5,000 words! I'm surprised with myself. I'm not sure how I feel about the chapter though. I think some of the scenes felt a little rushed and some weren't transitioned very well. but I'm quite satisfied still. :)

Is it just me or does it still look like I biased some characters? I'm sorry! I can't help but write about some characters more than others, but I will try to make it up to the others later on, I promise!

I wrote about half of this in class during my classwork free time. My friends kept asking me what the colorful paper that I was writing on was for, but I didn't tell them. I just said it was important, keke. On my paper, I color-coded everyone's names and stuff like that; it makes it all the more fun to write! :D

Anyway, I hope school isn't treating you all too horribly! Hopefully you are all doing well. Have a nice day, no? ♥