Fourth Chapter: Oops!

Seo Eun rolled her eyes as the girls made one more lap. Staring at the girls face, she could definitely see some improvement from a week before, when the training at all started. At least, now, nobody was fainting. Minseok came running in from a meeting and took place next to her.

They’d always been friends – even though she once had suspected him to befriend her so that he could go out with her sister – and she’d always been comfortable around the Crew.  That’s why, when Minseok announced Hwang Jimin wanted to see the group, Seo Eun was quite delighted to see her older friend. Okay, maybe they weren’t exactly friends since Jimin was way older, but they got along quite well. She ended the jogging session, to Jihye’s pleasure, and sent them to the showers.

Minutes later, they were fresh and excited to meet with Jimin. On the way to the head stylist’s office, Jaelyn and Yeonjoo couldn’t stop babbling about all the wonderful clothes members of the House of Frost got to wear.

                  As they got in front of the door, Seo Eun politely knocked and opened the door. The young looking woman stared at them for a second, seemed to remember why they were there and stood up, removing her reading glasses.

“Girls,” Jimin said while walking to them. “I’m here to talk to you about something you probably won’t like.

The fashion-inclined trio, consisting of Jaelyn, Chaeseo and Yeonjoo, looked at her with a look of disbelief. What Jimin created was always pretty. Chaeseo remembered the dress Jun has wore during her first solo stage… She just wanted to extend her hand through the TV and rip it off for her to have.

Biting her lip, the stylist finally dropped the bomb: “Diets.”

The group exchanged looks of disgust at the thought. They had heard everything about idols diets. There were about as many types as there were musical styles… Deep inside, Yeonjoo prayed not to get the one-meal a day diet. That seemed really hard to maintain, especially with the way Minseok was leading them deeper into hell everyday.

Jimin took out her favorite pad and went through her notes with a glare indicating she was concentrating. When she raised her head back to look at them, all the members of Gold were apprehensive, especially Jaelyn who didn’t want to be separated from her favorite Swedish princess cakes.

“Okay, I have it here. I took your weight from the audition and your body measurement and I determined what would be best for you. Now. Who wants to go first?”

Jimin eyes skimmed through the group, falling on Jihye. “You don’t need to lose any weight. If you were skinnier, you’d disappear. I’d like it if you could put on some muscles, thought. You’ll have to train a little, sorry.”

But she wasn’t really sorry. In fact, she patted the girl’s head with a smile before continuing. “Baekhyeon, would it be possible for you to actually gain weight? I wouldn’t want you to faint on us during a show.”

Baekhui swallowed her hate for her name, as she just couldn’t correct Jimin. Not Jimin! She nodded slowly as she knew she couldn’t promise anything. It wasn’t like she wasn’t trying. Food was just not metabolized well and she had a hard time just maintaining her weight and keeping it from going all over the place. She blamed it all on her sickness… Well, her BMI was higher than Jihye’s but her fat percentage was getting dangerously low. All her weight was muscle she gained from dancing so much.

“Jaelyn, I see no problem. Keep that weight and since you shouldn’t grow anymore, you should be good.”

As she saw Jaelyn’s smile, Jimin added: “But, I know about the pastries. It wouldn’t hurt to slack a little.” The girl’s smile turned to a grimace.

“Chaeseo, Yeonjoo, Naeun, I’m grouping you three together because you have about the same body type. You could lose a kilo or two, but not more. More would be dangerous and I don’t want dangerous here. Now, the thing you’ll have to worry about is the fact the muscles weight more than fat. You are not fat at all, but since you’ll keep training, your weight is going to go up. We don’t want it to be any higher than it already is because the general public thinks a high weight means fat. General public is ignorant, but I don’t want you to get criticized.”

The girls exchanged looks at the stylist’s comment about the public. Seo Eun refrained a smile as she knew it was Jimin’s way of saying how much she cared for her artists and how  she didn’t want them to be brought down by ignorant people who knew nothing of the difficulties of being an idol.

The group stayed for a little while as Jimin still had some tips on how to eat healthily.

★     ☆     ★ ★     ☆     ★ ★     ☆     ★

As their managers gave them the rest of the day to do “whatever tickled their fancy”, to quote Minseok, Yeonjoo suggested that they stayed inside to watch some drama episodes. Chaeseo and Naeun were quick to agree. Jaelyn excused herself, saying she was going shopping and Baekhui suddenly announced, after looking at her phone, that she was going to take some time to see her brother. Jihye said she was going to see Jina, another one of the trainees.

“Bring me an autograph back,” Yeonjoo asked of Baekhui. The latter just nodded her head as she was already walking through the door. With a smile, the rapper turned her head to the TV screen where shows were being zapped by an annoyed Chaeseo.

“I don’t see anything interesting… I miss the old dramas like Boys Over Flower…”

“Old dramas?” Yeonjoo snickered, “What are you, 60 years old?”

Chaeseo rolled her eyes. “Maybe it’s not an old drama, but it’s very interesting.”

“I have the DVDs, if you want to watch it,” suggested Naeun, earning herself the surprised look of both oldest girls.

“Sure…”

“Should we, maybe, get some snacks?” Naeun asked after having fetched the DVDs from her room and giving them to Chaeseo.

Yeonjoo lifted her eyes from the TV with a grin. “I feel bad because we’ve just been talked into dieting…”

“But it wouldn’t be a full experience without snacks?” guessed Naeun.

“Exactly!” Yeonjoo exclaimed.

“Beside, I’ll just treadmill the extra calories out, later…” Chaeseo stated while installing the DVDs.

With a smile, Naeun slipped into the kitchen to bring back some food.

★     ☆     ★ ★     ☆     ★ ★     ☆     ★

“Debuting? You will?” Jihye asked, her eyes widening because of the surprise. The red-haired laughed at her friend.

“Yes, we will, but not now. In fact, I think they don’t want Woobin and I to follow the same steps you will.”

“That’s awesome,” the youngest plainly stated with admiration flashing through her big eyes. “Who would have thought we would debut!”

“Well, we still have some way to go… Speaking of way to go, how’s you-know-who?”

Jina leaned forward with a smile and scooted over, patting the space next to her, on her dorm’s bed. Jihye instead chose to sit on her friend’s fluffy carpet. She looked up to her friend with a blush spreading across her cheeks.

“It’s good, I think…”

Jina raised an eyebrow, inviting the younger girl to develop on the matter.

“Well,” Jihye continued, “I got his phone number and we text, sometimes…”

Few rooms across the hall, Woobin turned her head, hearing someone scream in joy.

“What?” she asked in disbelief, recognizing her new debut partner’s voice.

Knock-knock. Chansung looked at Nickhun with a stare that asked if he was waiting for someone. The Thai shrugged before getting up to get the door.

“Hello?” he said while he unhooked the door’s chain and proceeded to unlock the door.

“Hi,” stated a girl’s voice. “I’m Jang Baekhui and I’m here to meet with Woowoo.”

On the outside, Baekhyeon could here a stifled laugher and a loud bang. Finally, the door opened.

“Woowoo~!” Chansung yelled, “Someone is here for you!”

“Yah! What are you calling me?” Wooyoung retorted, coming out of his room with his earphones in his hands. With a look at the door, he saw Baekhyeon who gave a short wave.

“Cookie!” he exclaimed, running toward her and sweeping her in an embrace. Eyes widening, Baekhyeon lightly patted his back, just waiting for the hug to end. Finally, he put her down, glanced at s who were still holding their laughter and grabbed a jacket and sunglasses before leading his sister outside.

“There, we shouldn’t stay with these loud people… So, what are you here for?”

“I just missed you and I was hoping we could hangout? I have so much things to tell you!”

The older brother checked his phone and then looked back at his sister with a grin.

“Sure, I can spare some time for you, Cookie. How about that café we used to go to?”

Baekhyeon smiled and nodded, happily skipping in front of him to their favorite place.

★     ☆     ★ ★     ☆     ★ ★     ☆     ★

After the day, the girls had gone to sleep early, in preparation for the next day where they were going to be busy. However, the creaking of the door woke Naeun up and she rubbed her eyes as she felt someone entering the room. With the pale glow of the nightlight – Chaeseo and herself had come to a compromise – she saw the figure climb in Chaeseo’s bunk bed and heard her roommate’s muffled scream. Within a second, Naeun had jumped out of her bed and switch the lights on, grabbing on to whatever she could, in this case her pillow, to use as a weapon. She felt the glare of Yeonjoo fall upon her and Naeun’s eyes widened.

“What are you doing, Song?” Chaeseo said, calling her friend by her last name.

Yeonjoo sat on the bed with a side smile, happy that she managed to scare them. Calmly, she started to explain herself.

“You know how Jaelyn went shopping but never actually brought any bags back? Don’t you find it strange?”

“Maybe she just didn’t find anything she wanted?” suggested Naeun, slightly interested by the conversation.

“I find that hard to believe,” retorted Yeonjoo earning herself an eye roll from Chaeseo. Shopping was her favorite activity after all... “Anyway, I thought maybe she didn’t go shopping.”

“And?” Chaseo said between yawns, urging her friend to get to the point.

“And… For what reason would an idol sneak out of her dorm without telling her members? Why lie to us?”

“Oh!!” Naeun exclaimed, starting to understand where Yeonjoo was going with all that.

“Exactly! And you know how I’m a light sleeper? Well it’s the second time that Jaelyn wakes me by sneaking out of the room in the middle of the night. She said she was going to the bathroom, but I checked and she’s not there!”

“Oh!” Chaeseo finally seemed to understand.

“Jaelyn’s got a boyfriend!” all three of them said at the same time.

★     ☆     ★ ★     ☆     ★ ★     ☆     ★

Baekhyeon was also woken up by the girls who had decided to go and look for the older member. With a raised brow and squinty eyes, due to sleepiness, she watched them go out of the dorm, laughing like little girls. Not knowing why they were gone but having caught glimpse of their conversation that included “Jaelyn” and “boyfriend”, Baekhui went down the ladder – she had the upper bunk bed – and went to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. Passing in front of the dressing room, she heard weird noise coming from the inside. Now completely awaken by the fear, Beakhui went back in her room to shake Jihye awake. The younger girl watched her friend, wondering if it was all worth it, since she had the hardest time falling asleep.

“What is happening?” Jihye said, half-asleep.

“There is something, of someone in the dressing room!” Baekhui whispered. “And I think we are alone!”

“What? Everyone is gone? In the middle of the night?” Jihye asked, bemused.

“Yes! And I need you to go check out the dressing room with me!”

With a sigh, Jihye got up and both girl grabbed, just like Naeun had done earlier, their pillows. Leading the way, Baekhyeon was silently praying that the noise had been her imagination and that it was gone, but no! A weird sound that looked like something being crinkled was heard. Baekhyeon shivered, but the calm Jihye pushed open the twin doors. In the corner of the room, between Yeonjoo’s heaps of clothes, lie a carton box and wrapping papers. Few inches away, Jaelyn was looking at them with eyes wide open, a fork in her hand, ready to dive into her favorite cake. 

“You want me to what?” Lee Seo Eun exclaimed.

“You will co-manager Gold with Minseok until I find a replacement,” her sister calmly stated.

Seo Eun’s eyes widened. “Why?”

“I think it will force you not to practice in secret. You actually need rest. I believe those boys can also beneficiate from your experience. And, it’ll show you how hard it is to manage, maybe you’ll gain something from it.”

“Don’t I have a say in all this?” Seo Eun whined. “I don’t even know these boys or like them that much!”

“Kiddo, trust me. I know what’s good for you,” the older Lee replied. “Now, you said you don’t know them, shouldn’t you go meet with them, then?”

Seo Eun’s brows furrowed and she got up. “Managing a group isn’t hard at all. It’ll be easy breezy!”

Okay, maybe things where not exactly breezy. That was what Seo Eun was thinking as she watched Gold run in front of her. Nothing was exactly quite as satisfying as seeing beautiful men exercise because she told them to. Grinning like an idiot, she barely noticed Minseok arriving. With a stare, he was able to connect the dot and what he understood didn’t exactly please him. Grumbling, he took out a whistle from his pocket and blew so that the guys could hear him. Going toward them, he made them a sign to stop.

“What’s happening?” he yelled. “I haven’t seen weak running like that since a long time! You better work out! I want you to do 50 push-ups. Now!”

And he blew again, making everybody jump. The guys, tired looked at each other, particularly at Jiyong who never quite liked sport. Baekyeol gave him a light pat on the shoulder as the maknae grimaced.

“Hyung,” whined Yongjoo. “We’ve been running for the past 20 minutes.”

“That’s nothing! When I was your age, I was able to run twice as long. You won’t stand on the stage if you keep being like this!” Minseok turned to Seo Eun to see if she heard him and she nodded slowly.

Did she have to remind him that he was their age barely 1 year ago and that Jaebum was actually older? Well, as the boys grumbled and got to do their push-ups, she could at least thank him for the show…

“Easy for him to say, he’s injured,” muttered Chaeho under his breath, careful that no one would hear him.

Minseok came back to sit next to Seo Eun on the wooden bench of the gymnasium and she raised a brow at him.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“They were just being lazy kids,” he shrugged nonchalantly.

Again, Seo Eun thought that he really wasn’t that old. In fact, he was only three years older than she was. It was not that much… But, she let it slide, as usual, and her gaze fell on Gold again. Her smile reappearing, she ogled at the men, mouth open.

Minseok was annoyed by the way she looked at the guys. First Jae Sung, now them too? How many rivals would he have to face. Sulking, he ensconced himself in his seat.