Second Chapter: Attention

The music stopped and SeoEun held the pose for another second before breathing out and letting her body fall to the ground. Panting, she crawled to her water bottle and took a sip before lying on the wooden floor, facing the ceiling. Her comeback was next week and she still didn’t feel like she was perfect enough. She wanted everything to go well. If possible, she wanted her sister to understand that she was the best here and that if someone was to help Jaesung with his debut, it should be her. She didn’t get it. Why Gold? What did they have that she didn’t…

“Taking a break?” said a voice coming from the room’s threshold. SeoEun didn’t even need to turn her head to recognize Minseok. That’s how long they had worked together…

“Hey there, what are you doing?” she asked, avoiding his question.

“I was just passing by. And I can’t help but notice how you are on the floor… Usually, that happens when your muscles are aching from too much dance.”

She lifted a brow at the way he demonstrated how well he knew her. It was amazing, in a way… She didn’t answer, in fact, he was right and there was nothing to say.

“I was hoping you were taking a break, maybe wrapping things up for the day… If you’re not careful, you are going to end up like me. “

“Getting hit by a car?” she bluntly asked. He shook his head.

“I mean getting hurt. Be careful.”

While he left, SeoEun thought it would be the best moment to get up and continue. She walked to the CD player and pushed the backward button to start the song again. She then arranged for it to be put on replay. Quickly, she went to her right spot and began dancing again. How come it was so difficult? She just had to be more fluid and gracious. Interiorly raging, she attempted an outward spin. She usually had to have a partner to lean on for that move as her whole body had to rotate and it was easier for balance. But right now, she was alone. As she turned, she suddenly lost stability due to tiredness and fell. She heard a cracking sound and next thing she knew was that she was on the ground, whimpering in pain.

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“Jaelyn! Get out, I need to take a shower!” Yeonjoo screamed while banging on the door. Outside the bathroom, the sound of the running shower could be heard, but not loud enough to cover Yeonjoo’s cries.

“Look at the schedule, I called dibs!” Jaelyn’s voice could be heard through the thin wooden door, calm and collected despite the fact that she was most likely screaming. That was expected from someone who had trained vocally more than six years…

Yeonjoo lowered her eyes on the sheet that the older girl had taped on the door. Right, there was a schedule. And Jaelyn had written her name on it every day at 6:30. Yeonjoo went to get a marker and wrote her name, scheduling half an hour each day. A half-sleeping Baekhui strutted past the prankster and noticed what she was doing.

“Why don’t you just go to the other bathroom?” the blonde asked while patting her bed hair to make it presentable.

“I can’t. Chaeseo went in before I could and she’s in a super bad mood. One should not mess with her.” Yeonjoo shrugged and went to the kitchen counter, few feet away, placing the marker back. She took a seat. “I think she had a bad night… She said something about lights?”

Baekhui yawned, causing her eyes to water. Wiping her tears with the back of her hands, she went to the fridge. She took out eggs and milk before closing the fridge’s door with a hip motion. Yeonjoo looked at her with a raised brow.

“Be careful, Baekhyeon, you might drop something.”

Baekhui settled the food on the counter before spinning on her heels to face the older girl.

“How many times did I tell you to call me Baekhui!” she said with a slightly raised voice and a micro smile, tentative to look nice despite the fact that the matter made her angry.

Yeonjoo just rolled her eyes and apologized. She just couldn’t understand how a name could have so much impact on someone’s life…

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Jihye was wide-awake in her bed, reading one of her favorite manga. It may have been the zillionth time she went through it all. Why were manga so easy to read? She could buy a thousand and be done in a day. She would even have a few hours to spare… Jihye sighed before putting the book on her night table and dropping on her back. She took a starfish position, staring at the ceiling. She could tell somehow she was going to have a hard day. She was so sure that Minseok, who was currently serving as their manager before the company hired a real one, would make her run or exercise. And there was nothing she despised more than sport… She shuddered at the thought. Just imagining the scene was enough to make her want to stay in bed.

Suddenly, she felt her phone playing few notes. Siting up, she took her phone from under her manga pile and looked at the screen.

“Congratulation on your upcoming debut,” said the white square. Jihye’s eyes widened when she saw who had sent it.

“Suho?” she mumbled to herself. Quickly, she unlocked her phone to text him back.

“How do you know about it? The new hasn’t been made public yet…”

“I know people who know people,” his text soon came in, few seconds later. She blinked and started mumbling, trying to make a list of ways he could have heard the new.

“Don’t sweat! I just wanted to wish you good luck. I know you can do it Kang. Hwaiting!”

She smiled. She could feel his smile in his writing. Has he been here, with her, he would have patted her hair and messed it up a little, just like an older brother… Jihye was urged with the need to pout at the thought. He would never see her as anything other than a little girl, would he?

She was about to answer when the door opened on Jaelyn, hair still damp from her shower, hidden under a thick layer of what could have been called a sweatshirt has it been three sizes smaller.

“You should eat,” the older girl said. We are supposed to be leaving for the company in about an hour. I think you’ll want to take a shower?” Jaelyn asked slowly, unsure of the younger girl’s preferences.

Jihye nodded quietly and pocketed her phone in her jeans. She rose on her feet before pulling on her sweater and letting out a yawn. By then, Jaelyn’s figure had already gone back inside the kitchen.

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Soon, everyone was ready and they headed on to Frost Entertainment, for their first practice as a group. Somehow, tension could be felt on their way. It was such a beautiful day that they had decided to walk. It was winter, but the sun shone brightly and its warmth could be felt even at that temperature. Naeun, who loved warmth, was happy enough, as opposed to Jaelyn who constantly inspected the sky for a hint of a cloud. But she wasn’t so lucky…

Yeonjoo smirked thinking that it was probably one of the last times they could all walk like that, without manager or bodyguard, without anyone telling them what to do. It was of their last moment of freedom. Well, in fact, the company had already started making decision for them long ago, at the start of their trainee days, but it wasn’t going to be the same anymore. They would be busy, crazy busy. Given that they would be popular, of course.

As they entered the offices, she felt weird. It was the first time out of eight years that she had entered through Frost’s doors as a debuting artist. She could already feel the excitement.

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Minseok took a few minutes to arrive, coming from god know where. He gave them all a smile that wanted to be reassuring, but it didn’t calm Jihye who anxiously waited for the next thing to do.

“I thought it would be fun to get to know each other first,” he declared with an even wider grin.  “I get that you introduced yourselves yesterday?” It was a question, but the undertone could be heard clearly. He would be disappointed if they hadn’t at least tried to talk together and mingle. Nothing was scarier than a disappointed Minseok, except maybe the training he would then put them through.

“So, sleep well? Ate well? I hope you’re in good shape, because I have a lot of things coming for you…”

Chaeseo just grunted quietly. She hadn’t been able to get a good nigh sleep because her roommate had decided to sleep with the lights open. Which normal person did that? She was downright pissed and it could be seen at least a little with the way her brows were closely knitted together. Even Yeonjoo had stayed away that morning. Yes, she admitted she could have gotten up to close the lights herself, but it was such a bother, right? She had nothing against Naeun, but sometimes she would just get pissed. Even her closest friends would receive their fair share of anger.

“I think the best way to get to know someone in our field is to know what they are able to do,” The small group began moving as Minseok kept talking about his schedule. He was visibly quite proud of it. Was that a good or bad sign? “I will have you undergo various tests so that everyone can assess your skills.” He smiled and opened the door of the gymnasium.

Aside from interviews, announcements or auditioned, the gymnasium could be used as special class for some trainees if a teacher deemed it necessary. The gymnasium therefore could be booked for these particular occasions.

When Naeun entered the room, she saw yoga mats disposed in circle. In the middle of the circle, weights could be seen. There was the king that you lift with your hands, but also the kind that you tie to your ankles, for example. Naeun also saw hoops, a skipping rope, some steps as well as some yoga balls. She shuddered. She wasn’t as keen on sport as the average girl, but that wasn’t sport. That was going to be an awkward competition to see who was the best between all of them… What if she lost in every category? Would the other girls look down on her?

The other members in question all had varied expression. Baekhyeon was overjoyed to do sports while Jaelyn would have wished for a good game of volleyball or dance training instead. Jihye was scarred and on the verge of fainting, even thought she didn’t say anything, Chaeseo was excited because she liked sports but annoyed because she wasn’t at her best, and Yeonjoo just say it as a challenge she had to overcome, her pride flowing through her veins like a more efficient version of adrenalin.

“So, should we get started?” Minseok questioned before walking to the middle of the mat’s circle. “We will start with running to help you get warmed up. Everyone do five laps.

While five laps around the gymnasium was not that demanding, the rest of the program, which included putting a lot of effort to really force oneself to do his best, was quite tiring. Soon enough, the girls dropped on the floor, panting hard, feeling pain in places they never thought existed. Only Jaelyn and Baekhyeon could still somehow move. Jihye, though, was on the verge of fainting. Eyes closed, she sat to the ground to catch her breath. She felt a nudge as Baekhui was poking her with her water bottle in a way that asked if she wanted some. Jihye gladly accepted gulping down almost three quarters of the remaining water. Once she was done, she noticed the amount she has took and gave Baekhui an apologetic smile. The blonde laughed it up assuring the smaller girl that it was all okay.

Chaeseo, not as good at this as she would have thought was also on the ground, breathing hard. Minseok walked up to her to ask if se was okay and she answered with a strain smile. Of course she wasn’t okay after what he put them through. Minseok’s eyes shrunk as he inspected Chaeseo’s face, noticing her dark circle.

“Not enough sleep?” he asked the trainee.

“I was stuck with a roommate who sleeps with the light open,” Chaeseo answered, matter-of-factly.

Her voice made Naeun turn around, as she knew she was to be involved in this. She blinked when Chaeseo confided her lack of sleep and that it was her fault. She walked to Chaeseo once Minseok left and apologized. However, the rapper was too pissed to accept the apology.

“Please don’t do that anymore,” Chaeseo snapped coldly, as opposed to her usually more cheerful tone.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it…” Naeun whispered. “It’s a phobia. It’s supposed to be irrational and strong.”

“So what are you saying?” Chaeseo said while raising a brow. “That I’ll never sleep with the lights off again because you don’t want to?”

“I can’t sleep when they’re on!” Naeun exclaimed, trying to prove her point.

“Meaning it’s my sleep or yours… What about the couch?” Chaeseo gave a grin that fully showed how angry she was at the matter.

At this point, Yeonjoo and Baekhyeon both felt like it was the time to act, while Minseok just stayed still, staring at them without a word. They had to learn to fix their group’s conflicts by themselves.

“Come on, Jeon,” tried Yeonjoo, calling her friend by her last name. “I think you don’t mean what you are saying…”

“Stop nagging!” Chaeseo told her friend. “Gosh, why are girls so annoying?”

Yeonjoo accommodating expression turned into a frown in a matter of seconds. “What are you saying?”

“Girls,” Baekhui said while getting in between everyone, trying to stop the upcoming fight.

But it was no help. It soon turned into an all-out verbal battle royal with no distinct sides. The fight worsened when Jaelyn tried calmly to stop everything but only got dragged into it as Chaeseo deplored her cold attitude. You could hear Baekhui trying to make Yeonjoo understand how she really really hated her name supported by Naeun who preferred to be called Ai, after all, Jaelyn and Yeonjoo about the shower schedule where the former took all the early spot, Naeun and Chaeseo still arguing about the lights; Jaelyn and Chaeseo about their mutual arrogance and Baekhui still trying to put an end to it, somehow, even thought she was also fighting.

Jihye, stepped back until she was practically in a corner. She hated fights and noises. So, while trying to block the sounds, she drew out her notebook and pen and began writing.

Minseok was still staring at the girls and sighed. Maybe it was the time he did something. Quietly, he left the gymnasium, which went unnoticed from the girls. Walking at a fast pace he arrived in front of Lee Seoyoung office and entered. Inside, he noticed there was already SeoEun, looking angry. At his arrival, she turned her head to glare at him and he couldn’t help think that with the strength he felt in her eyes, she was really pretty…

“Is something the matter?” asked Frost’s CEO with a raised eyebrow.

Minseok snapped out of his contemplation and explain what was currently happening in the gym. “I feel these girls need some kind of guidance as to how to act as a group,” he added afterwards.

“I’ll go and see…” Lee Seoyoung rose and exited her office, walking in direction of the gym.

Minseok only had a chance to catch a glimpse of something white around SeoEun ankle before he had to follow his boss.

“We’ll talk about that later, Goldilocks,” he said while pointing her leg.

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“I have to admit I am a little bit disappointed.”

Lee Seoyoung’s voice echoed through the gym and Yeonjoo couldn’t help but think that their boss was just that cool. She had that aura, that prestige… She was the kind of woman Yeonjoo wanted to become: powerful, in control and confident. As it been any other woman, speaking the exact same words, they wouldn’t have had the same effect. Maybe there wouldn’t even have been an echo…

“It’s perfectly normal to have disagreements in a group, especially since I ask you to live together. However, I thought you would handle things a little bit differently. I ask you to be mature and make the right decisions. In this industry, mistakes aren’t easily forgiven. If you don’t feel up for the task, tell me and I’ll find you a replacement!”

The gym couldn’t be any quieter. Inside the girls head was only one thought: “Please don’t take away our debut!”

Seoyoung’s serious expression softened and she gave a hint of a smile. “I choose you because I think you can do it. I know you’ll figure this out. You have my trust.” Her smile widened and she turned to Minseok. “I think you’ll be okay.”

He sent her an ‘okay’ hand sign before stepping in front of them again. They all watched her leave before he began speaking. “Amazing woman, right?”

The girls nodded, still shocked by her presence. Naeun felt like the Seoyoung she had seen today would have make an excellent artist.

“She was trained to become a lawyer. It shows,” he added with a smile.

And just like that, the heavy air was lifted. “So, how about we get back to the training? I worked really hard to make it happen.”

Jihye pouted. She thought the only good point of all this would be that the physical training would be ended, but it didn’t worked that way…

Suddenly, the gym door opened again revealing Lee SeoEun. The shocking thing about it was that she was wearing an ankle tape and was walking with crutches.

“My sister sends me to act as a second manager to you girls. She think I might me better to have someone who can teach you about the real world from experience.”

Jaelyn, who highly respected Minseok ever since he was schedule to debut, frowned. Were they saying that her favorite member of the House of Frost didn’t have any real world experience?

“Beside, it’s not like I have anything to do in that state…” SeoEun added before siting on a nearby bench.

Baekhui gulped down. How exactly was sending SeoEun here going to help? She admired the girl really much, but the feeling didn’t seem to be mutual. She felt quite an overwhelming anger coming from SeoEun and part of it seemed aimed at Naeun, for a reason she did not know of.  Curious, she wondered. Why would SeoEun, a debuted artist ever feel threatened or pissed of by the calm Naeun, a trainee?

Author's note

Finally done with that chapter. I hope you'll like it. :)

I changed the title of the last chapter. Aside from the fact that it reminded me of a TV serie, I thought it would be nice if every chapter's name was inspired by a song. You can play the guessing game if you want to... XD

Now, don't worry Zee about the texts, I still remember what we talked about *wink* but I think I'll be interesting if I go this way and then make a turn... If you get what I mean. ^^

Sorry if in this chapter, your character seems like an angry mess, I think everyone is quite strained from the stress and that it just blew up at their training. Don't worry, it's a temporary situation and soon they'll be all friendly friends who will do sleepovers and paint each other's toenails... XD

What else... Ah, if you were looking for the spoiler on the website, here it is: on the SeoEun page, I say that she hurt her leg during practice for her new song and that her activities had been postponed... Yes, not that big of a spoiler... XD

Now, I know it's been long since I last updated, so here a bonus scene. It comes from an idea I had when talking with Katie, maybe you'll recognize the scene... XD

Bonus Scene

What if... 

What if saesang fans infiltrated Frost through the air vent?

SeoEun stared at her cup of tea wondering how she was going to get through the next day. She placed a hand on her ankle and sighed. How could it have happened at such an awful moment?

The door opened on Hyunsik and Jun, both smiling. They entered and noticed her. Suddenly, their happy face dropped.

“Come on, you can show happiness,” said SeoEun. “I hope I am not a black hole who away the light.”

“Oh, no!” exclaimed Jun. “I didn’t meant to…”

She was interrupted as a loud banging noise was heard. Suddenly, metal shrieked as the air vent grille fell on the floor and a girl dropped down from the ceiling.

“I got in!” she exclaimed happily, with her nosy and high pitched voice.

Jun and SeoEun both cried as they jumped on the couch, holding arms together.

Hyunsik heart skipped a beat as he unconsciously charged the girl with a spinning kick. He quickly followed with a right jab but stopped himself at the last second. He had realized that the person he had taken for a thief or a murderer (of one’s choosing) was in fact a girl with a camera.

“Sae-saesang!” stuttered Jun, surprised.

That remark made SeoEun realized she had been holding her rival for some time now and she quickly let her go. As Jun fell on her back, on the couch, SeoEun stepped down to open the door and screamed for a security guard to come.

Soon enough, the unconscious fangirl was escorted out.

Few seconds later, Jaesung and Lali entered the break room to find Jun still head over heels on the couch, Hyunsik staring at his right hand, traumatized by the fact he had hit a girl but happy his kicks still had some effect, and SeoEun fuming even more than her cup of tea having hurt her ankle even more in the heat of the moment.

“What just happened?” Jaesung wondered in a whisper.

“I think we missed out on something fun,” Lali answered him.