Practice Day 6

~Krystal~

“These turned out so good!” Yoona squealed as they opened the package with the photos from yesterday.

“Yesterday Mr. Sooman released the statement about the concert with three different groups competing and released the photos.” Luhan said cautiously as he walked in. “Hey Yoona can I talk to you since yesterday I didn’t have a chance?”

“After practice.” Krystal shot back as they spread the photos along the table.

“Dang even though the photo shoot was extra-long and everyone just fell asleep after I think we did a good job.” Kai said with a smile at Yoona.

“Why are yours and ours exactly the same?” Seohyun hissed at Krystal.

“I don’t know the director told us to pose like that.” Krystal said innocently. She could see the wheels turning in Seohyun’s head and the plans she was making, but for once Kyrstal didn’t care. Krystal didn’t like Seohyun, but really wanted the group to work. To make the group work they needed teamwork, something they would need later on.

“Look at the other groups pictures!” Minho said while typing on the laptop. “Oh wait I accidentally closed the page.”

“Why are you so clumsy?” She smirked.

“I think it’s cute.” Seohyun shot back.

“I got the tab open again!” Yoona said awkwardly trying to diffuse the tension. They crowded around the laptop and saw Taeyeon, Oneu, Tao, Siwon, Amber, Tamine, and Jessica’s group dressed in different colored angels. Their group name was on the top and said StArZ.

“Weird concept and name.” Luhan mumbled. “What are they singing?”

“It says Gee.” Minho replied while squinting at the screen.

“Good song.” Luhan said winking at Yoona.

“It’s a cheesy song about never getting a guy.” Seohyun hissed back. “They won’t win.”

“I am the only angle here so I should have been in that group.” Kyuhyun smirked.

“Of course my sister would be the white angel and the face.” Krystal mumbled as she saw Jessica in the center of the group and looked back at their photo with Yoona and Minho in the center. She looked at her sisters smiling face and quickly looked up the other group’s picture.

“They look pretty, but I don’t know what angles have to do with Gee or stars.” Minho said scratching his head.

“I don’t know either.” Kai said as she clicked on the next group.

“Wow.” Was all that they could say when they saw the other groups look for Lucifer. They were all headshots with black makeup that made them look evil. Dark black makeup and black ninja looking outfits completed the look. Victoria, Key, Leetuck, Yuri, Yesung, Hyoyeon, and Kris looked like they came straight from Hell to kill them.

“Creepy.”

“It looks like Yuri wants to stab me for eating the last cookie yesterday.” Yoona said peeking out behind Kai.

“Wow. Their name is even H3LL.”

“Ours is better.” She managed to choke out.

“They look so cool!” Kai said.

“Yeah? We aren’t angels in ours, nor devils. We are just… ourselves.” Luhan said back.

“That’s what makes us special.” She shot back. “We have variety and different personalities.”

“She’s right.” Kyuhyun said nodding to her.

“You always think she’s right now.” Seohyun sniffed with her arms around Minho.

“Because she is.” Kyuhyun said back. Krystal felt herself blush. The short time they had been part of this new group she began liking Seohyun less and less and Kyuhyun more and more.

“I think we can win this!” Yoona said happily trying to prevent yet another fight.

“She’s right.” Krystal said with a nod. “If we practice, which we should start right now.”

“Krystal!” Kai whined.

“I want more Seo time.” Minho mumbled.
“Stuff it. You already missed one practice for your Seobaby.” Krystal said rolling her eyes.

“So?” Minho said.

“So we got to practice! Do you want to lose?” She said.

“No!” Minho shot back.

“YAY practice!” Yoona and Luhan shouted as they started up the music to avoid more arguing. Krystal rolled her eyes as they got into their first position. She shot a glare at Minho to get it right. She needed him to get it right. So she could finally be someone.

~Luhan~

He needed to talk to Yoona. Now. He finally made sense of the sweatshirts, converted glances, and emotional breakdowns. She needed help. Badly. He wanted to talk to her. He needed to. He prided himself for being observant, but he couldn’t believe he missed this! He closed his eyes and reimaged the jagged scars underneath piles of makeup. She was a good actress.

He wondered what else he had missed while he was blinded by his love for Yoona. He glanced over and saw Seohyun and Minho stretching together. He tried to look into their actions and words. Minho was a childish clumsy boy. His thoughts and reactions predictable and readable. He obviously cared for Seohyun, but what about her? He directed his action to Seohyun while stretching his leg. One. Two. Three? Three almost discreet glances to Kyuhyun in the last minute. Forced skinship with Minho. Did she still like Kyuhyun or was that a rumor by the SNSD girls? Seohyun could just be worried for Kyuhyun who was being forced into a split position by Krystal. He would need to look into that later.

“The weather is nice today and our photo shoot went great.” Minho babbled on to Seohyun.

“Mmmhmm.” Seohyun said back without any emotion.

“Yeah so if we get a break…. Could we… um…” Minho stuttered as he stretched his arm.

“Yeah?” Seohyun said lifelessly. Interesting.

“Go on a date?” Minho managed to croak out.

“Sure.” Seohyun said while sitting on the floor doing a backbend.

“Really? Where do you want to go?” Minho said excitedly. Luhan smiled at his happiness.

“Don’t care.” Seohyun muttered back trying to get her back higher. Luhan saw her unhappiness and she was clearly uninterested. Then he saw Kyuhyun glance over. Seohyun’s head shot up and she jumped up and hug Minho.

“Let’s go to the beach! I love the beach! Wouldn’t it be a great place to go an a date honey?” She squealed loud enough for the whole room to hear.

“Yah! No dating today!” Krystal yelled while Luhan saw a flicker of something in Kyuhyun’s eye that was quickly masked by a smirk.

“Ew. I hate the beach.” Kyuhyun said before going over to help Krystal stretch.

Did Seohyun like Kyuhyun? What were Kyuhyuns feelings? Luhan shook his head as he inched away from Seohyun and Minho and started moving toward Krysal and Kyuhyun across the room.

“Lower!” He heard Krystal say as Kyuhyun groaned. He silently laughed as he looked toward them. Kyuhyun seemed impatient and snarky as ever, but Luhan felt as though he was hiding his feelings. Or hiding something. Kyuhyun never glanced at a person. Just the shiny polished floor. Maybe thinking about StarCraft?

Krystal was still trying to get Kyuhyun into a perfect split position. He saw no unnecessary skinship. No caring glances. Krystal was just Krystal. Working on something she wanted. Luhan admired her for that, but could see there was another reason for wanting them to win. Was it her sister? He remembered Yoona saying something about that once. But he saw no sadness or anger, just pure determination. She didn’t need his help at this time.

Kai was looking at Yoona’s legs. Luhan rolled his eyes. Kai would be Kai. Kai would never need his help.

Yoona was still stretching never rolling up her sleeves and glancing down sadly from time to time. She needed help, but it would have to come later. First Seohyun would need help, because he knew he would talk to Yoona later. He saw the glances of anger and hate directed to Krystal and Kyuhyun, but what surprised him was that some of them were toward Yoona. Weren’t they best friends? He glanced back at her and saw her clench her teeth as Krystal poked Kyuhyun’s head and telling him how inflexible he was. He knew Seohyun was smart. She would have a plan and that plan would be executed. Because he wanted to diffuse some of Seohyun’s anger and because Yoona really wanted to make the team work he would try and help her. He slowly shifted closer toward Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun would need to help him. He needed to tell Kyuhyun the crazy idea he came up with.

Did Seohyun date Minho to try and make Kyuhyun jealous?

It was crazy. Was it? All the evidence pointed to it, but he couldn’t believe Seohyun would be as heartless to do that. Would she? What would she do for love? He stood next to Kyuhyun and whispered his thoughts into the snarky boy’s ear watching as his expression went form board too nervous too… anger?

He made a mental note he would need to have a serious talk with Yoona later after he talked to Kyuhyun.

~Seohyun~

Seohyun realized it was going to be a bad day. Krystal was bent on working them to death, Luhan kept trying to talk to Yoona alone, Yoona seemed to be starting that again, Kai was flirting with Yoona for the hundredth time, Kyuhyun was asleep on the floor, and Minho wouldn’t leave her alone.

“Wow practice has gone by fast. Break time right?” She mumbled as she tried escaping out the door.

“We aren’t done yet!” She heard Krystal yell.

“Don’t worry just getting water.” She mumbled back as she pushed out of the room and headed to the cafeteria. She needed to breathe. She felt as if for the last couple of days she had lost more and more of her. Her jealousy was begun coloring her vision until all she saw was green. She used to not mind being in the back and sometimes even enjoyed it, but that was a while ago.

Her plan had to work.

She walked up to the soda machine and put a quarter in and pressed a button for water. Nothing came out.

“Stupid machine.” She muttered as she pressed the button again. “Ahhh!”

She hit the machine a couple of times out of frustration before giving up and sitting on the floor. Stupid machine. Stupid completion. Stupid Kyuhyun and Krystal. Were they together? They seemed closer and it was all her fault for going out with Minho.

“You were never the type to give up.” A voice said from behind her. She got up and looked around. “Hey. We haven’t talked alone in a while.”

“Kyuhyun.” She whispered as the cheeky unkempt boy walked out from behind the machine. Did her heart just skip a beat? She composed herself and gave him a glare.

“How long have you been there?” She snapped.

“Long enough.” He smirked back while smacking the side of the machine which made a popping noise and shooting out a water bottle.

“I don’t need that.” She sniffed and turned away. What is he doing here? Why is he talking to me? He never talks to me!

“Sure. I guess I can drink it.” Kyuhyun said with a small smile as he unscrewed the cap and took a drink.  

“So what are you doing here?” She said. She tried to compose her look and demeanor. This could be a chance to show him how much she matured from her WGM days.

“Getting water. Luhan told Kyrstal we all get a ten minute break or else we would pass out.” He said between sips. Krystal? Again? Why was she everywhere. She was almost getting on her nerves more than Yoona. Yoona and her stupid breakdown. Why did Kyuhyun have to help her so much? Seohyun felt guilty she was glad that Yoona broke down. Why would a friend feel good that their best friend broke down? Was she human anymore? Were her evil thoughts and plans going to fade? No. She must finish what she started.

“Oh. That’s good. She is so competitive and a little scary.” She said in a fake innocent voice.

“Not if you get to know her.” Kyuhyun pointed out.

“You know her?” She rebutted back. Seriously? Kyuhyun hadn’t even talked to Krystal before their new ‘group’.

“I feel like I do now. What about you Seo? Do you know her?” Kyuhyun said tauntingly purposely emphasizing her old nickname. She paused remembering all those times he called her that.

“Yeah. She is a stubborn girl who probably throws herself at guy.” She said rolling her eyes heading back to the machine with more money. Kyuhyun needed to wake up and see who Krystal was.

“What you call stubborn I call determined and perseverance. She doesn’t throw herself at guys either. She probably doesn’t even know her own feelings.” Kyuhyun said with a nod to himself. She put in another quarter and pulled out a water bottle out of the machine. Determined? Feelings? What did Kyuhyun know about that?

“Whatever. Stop trying to be Luhan who is observant and can change people with his words or Yoona who is kind to everyone. You are evil Kyuhyun. Remember that.” She hissed back.

“I know I don’t read people as well as Luhan and will never be as nice as Yoona, but you are forgetting one thing. I am the King of evil schemes. So don’t try and pull one on me. Don’t hurt anyone else with your plan either. Not Minho, not Krystal. Luhan told me you are dating Minho to make me jealous and you are planning something else. ” He hissed in her ear.

“W-What are you talking about?” She stuttered. Another alteration in her plan. She mentally cursed herself. She never factored in Luhan’s observant Dr. Phil skills. “Why would I hurt my boyfriend or Krystal?”

“Do you really like Minho?” Kyuhyun said staring into Seohyun’s eyes. Seohyun took a deep breath and calmed herself.

“Yes.” She snapped back. Kyuhyun couldn’t know she was dating someone to make him jealous. He would never respect her.

“Okay then. I guess Luhan was wrong. He was just worried for you.” Kyuhyun said with a small frown. “Supposedly you glare a lot at Seohyun and Yoona.”

“I just had something stuck in my eye.” She said sharply. Did he know? Did Luhan know how much she was envious of Yoona and Krystal? For just being perfectly happy being themselves. “What about you and Krystal? You look at her a lot too.”

“Krystal? I look at her because I care for her.” Kyuhyun said leaning back against the machine looking like a model. He cares for her?

“So you like her?” She spat out glaring up at him. He never looked at her. Not anymore.

“I don’t know. Don’t be too mad at Luhan he was just worried.” Kyuhyun said walking away.

“Wait! Why did you confront me? Do you like me?” She said as Kyuhyun turned slowly around and walked back to her. Her heart beat faster. Say yes. Say yes. Please don’t make my planning and longing a waste.

“Well, you like Minho so why do you care?” Kyuhyun said cocking his head to the side. Does that mean if I didn’t like Minho would he like me?

“I care alright.” She mumbled looking up at him. She said it. Well sort of, but she said she cared for him, just Kyuhyun didn’t know how much she cared.

“Well I don’t. So remember don’t hurt Krystal or Minho.” Kyuhyun said staring into her eyes. A knife through her heart. He doesn’t care. He probably never did. Everything turned green, but she calmed herself enough to answer calmly back.

“I won’t. I got to go. Minho’s probably waiting for me.” She announced, but didn’t move an inch. She waited for Kyuhyun to leave first. She needed time to think. Another bump in her path, but it was okay because she knew she could get around it. First she would need to prove her ‘love’ for Minho. Second get rid of Krystal. Third… well she would get to third later.

She watched as Kyuhyun stalked off and looked down to realize she had crushed her water bottle.