Languages read as English Korean Mandarin so far (More may be added in the future)

Sorry, school's been crazy. However, I do have many chapters written. Just. For. YOU. ;D
---

Sundae bit back a yawn as she walked through the company doors at a leisurely pace. A few months ago, she would have attracted some confused stares because of the time of day but now, the few stares she got were amused and usually had a wave or greeting to follow.

 

It wasn't because she didn't want to be with her dorm mates, it was because they didn't want to be with her. She released a sigh at the thought of this. It was understandable though – she was one of the few trainees who weren't Korean – rather, she was Chinese Canadian, having been scouted through an audition in Toronto. Even though she had been living in Korea for the past few months, her Korean was still lacking and she while she could hold her own in conversations, it was pitiful at best.

 

But her poor conversational skills were not the reason for her room mates' lack of kinship towards her. Rather, it was because her personality towards them was a bit... stupid.

 

Or something along the lines of. If they couldn't be bothered by her, she couldn't be bothered by them.

 

She had been a trainee at JYP Entertainment for the past five months, repeating the same schedule week by week.

 

She was nothing particularly exceptional. Her singing talent was the factor that got her in because her dancing was not impressive at all.

 

However, the employees in the company knew her well because every morning, at around 8 in the morning, half an hour before her training started, she would arrive and after saying hello to everyone in sight, she would just sit in the lobby. Sometimes she would have an open sketchbook in front of her, or a novel that she was reading but usually, she just sat there, leaning against the wall, doing nothing.

 

When asked what she was doing, Sundae would smile at them and tell them that she was just thinking of new ideas.

 

An employee once said, “That girl just can't shut her brain off.”

 

And then she would go to training.

To the other trainees, she was well known as a riot of laughter. Her strange personality and her cute quirks and her crazy ideas made her a lovable mass to her peers.

 

To the employees she was just as dedicated as she was strange but that made her all the more endearing.

 

And to her roommates, she was just boring and slow.

 

“Sundae! I absolutely love what you've done with your hair! Who's your stylist?”

 

She looked up, her large eyes courtesy of circle lenses, to see her fellow trainee, Kim Hanae peering down at her. Hanae, three years older than Sundae, had been with JYP for three years.

 

She ran a finger through her wavy chocolate brown hair thoughtfully, “I just braided it. I can't afford a perm and I couldn't be bothered to get one anyways.” She tilted her head so she could compare Hanae's straight auburn hair with her own, “Besides – your hair must take so much effort to maintain. I don't think I could ever live with my hair past my shoulders like you do.”

 

“Aiiiiish – you're too cute!” She pinched Sunday's nose and tugged at it and while her dongsaeng whined at her to stop, she paused thoughtfully, “Oh yes! Do you want to go out to the cafe for lunch today? The barista there is...” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively at Sundae.

 

“Please let go of my nose so I can yawn?”

 

“Stop complaining – I'm just doing what's best for you - “ Hanae let out a little shriek as she pulled out her phone to check the time, “We're going to be LATE, come on Sundae – let your short little legs lead you to practice!”

 

“5'4 ISN'T SHORT. HANJUMMAH!”

 

Hanae stopped short to stare at Sundae. “What did you just say?”

 

“Saranghaeyo Hanjummah!” Shrieking with laughter, Sundae fled up the stairs far before her Hanjummah started to chase her.

 

---

 

Park Jungyo had one hand in his pocket, about to turn off his music on his MP4 player, the other hand scratching at his forehead. As soon as the silence from the lack of music appeared, so did the playful mocking of a familiar peer of his.

 

“Am I too fast for Hanjummah? You can't catch me – I'm the ginger bread man!” He saw Sundae streak past the corridor , jumping around. “Are your joints too sore to play with me, Hanjummah? Should I come back to massage them? SARANGHAEYO~” Jungyo gave a snort at her horrible sentence structure. Only Sundae would be able to make a mistake like that.

 

Minutes later he saw a fuming Hanae striding after the hyperactive girl. “I'll give you something to massage alright! Your face to my fist!”

 

“Yo, Hanae.” Jungyo waved a greeting at the woman. They were the same age but Jungyo treated her as a younger sibling. “What did you do to get her so lively this early in the morning?”

 

Hanae gave an exasperated sigh as she slowed down so Jungyo could catch up with her. “If only I knew. AISH – this girl! I swear, she just disrespects me on purpose!” She threw her hands up in defeat, “I don't care if she isn't from around here, she shouldn't be able to treat me like this!”

 

Jungyo laughed. “She does it out of love. You've seen how she treats everyone else – it's no different.”

 

Up ahead they heard Sundae apologize for bumping into someone and then a loud thump followed with “Just in time!”. Hanae and Jungyo looked at each other and laughed.

 

“I don't understand how she can be so cute and shy at one point and then so loud and hyper the next.”

 

Jungyo shook his head with a smile, “How much do you want to bet that she jumped in to the classroom and tried to surf on land?

 

“I'll bet you that she tried to dance to Ring Ding Dong again.”

 

A snort and a smirk that was followed with a shake of the head and an exchanging of hands. “You're on.”

 

---

“From the top – one and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and good, good – keep going! And three and four and – Sundae, swivel your knees more! Go Mae – head up!”

 

As they ran through a dance sequence that they had started practising weeks prior for someone's comeback stage, Sundae spaced out, letting her body do the dance from habit.

 

What was she even doing here? Her speciality wasn't dancing – she wasn't going to become a back up dancer. Ah well, whatever got her through the day.

 

“Alright, alright! Stop! Great job guys! Now, let's go and play a game of Shuffle!” Their instructor laughed as Sundae mock fainted out of exasperation, “Now, Sundae – please contain your excitement.” She chuckled as a ripple of laughter ran through the class.

 

Shuffle was a game that Sundae was notoriously known to make a fool of herself with. The speakers would be put on shuffle and whoever was at the front, would have to improvise a dance until someone said shuffle and the next person would go up.

 

Sundae was not a dancer.

 

No one ever said shuffle.

 

She laughed as the rest of her peers took a seat on the wooden floor as she hopped up, tripped and stumbled up to the front, “Well, I should just get this over with, shouldn't I?”

 

Another round of laughter and then the door opened as the music started. Sundae was too focused on trying to figure out what the song was going to be to notice who had walked through.

 

'Hm... oh! It's... Stay by Mblaq? Yeah. Should be.'

 

“Hey.” She looked up at her audience with mock seriousness. “Stay.” Triggering more laughter as the music started and she just stood there. And then cue the intense club dancing and popping that Hanae had taught her. Suddenly stopping that too so she could do the chorus dance of the song with wide eyes and a straight face, “Oh baby stay with me, ahaha ahaha, lalalala” She raised her eyebrows as she improvised the lyrics. “Gya ha ha – ya ha - “

 

“Shuffle!”

 

The young man who had entered as Sundae's performance started, finally spoke up and when Sundae finally noticed him, her face lit up.

 

“Henry!”

 

Henry Lau, gave a grin as he traded places with her. “That was just painful to watch – my sister can dance better and she doesn't have any of this training.”

 

Sundae huffed, “Well at least my mandarin's better.”

 

He just laughed as the music started to play.

 

When Sundae first came to the company, she had no friends. When Henry had heard of the strange Chinese Canadian girl who's hometown was just an hour away from his own, he had stopped by to meet her. He had helped with her Korean skills and they became fast friends since she was around the same age as his little sister and could speak fluent English.

 

After the class had ended, Henry grabbed her by the shoulders and put her into a headlock. “How've you been, Jackie?”

 

“Don't call me Jackie – if you're going to call me by my English name, call me Jaqueline goddammit. “ Sundae flailed about, trying to escape. “Besides, what do you want? I have plans.” She stared pointedly at her amused friends.

 

“Oh no, don't stop on our account.” Jungyo crossed his arms with a large grin.

 

“You guys look like the cutest couple ever!” Hanae squealed out, “You both have the chubbiest cheeks – it's so cute!”

 

At the mention of this, Henry pushed Sundae away as Sundae, at the same time, wrenched herself out of his grasp with new vigor causing her to stumble.

 

“You're crazy, Hanae! He's like my older brother!”

 

“You forget, Sundae – Korean terms of intimacy are different then ones in Canada.” Henry laughed at her flustered actions as he looked at the other two. “Lunch on me?”

 

“Ah, it's fine – I've got an assignment that I need to finish.” Jungyo nodded his thanks as he gave a wave and left.

 

“What? Jungyo doing an assignment? More like going on date.” Sundae huffed and looked at Hanae, “Well, I know you're free so let's go!”

 

Just as she was about the drag Hanae away, their instructor came out, “Hanae – I need to speak with you in private. You're not doing anything for lunch, are you?”

 

The older girl looked helplessly at her hoobae and shrugged with a face that stated that she would make it up to her. “Of course not – what is it you want to speak to me about?” She waved goodbye to Sundae and Henry as she walked away.

 

Sundae pouted, “But what if I didn't want to hang out with you at lunch?” quickly reverting back to her mother tongue.

 

Henry pinched her cheeks with mock anger, “I haven't seen you in two months and this is how you treat me? I'm hurt!”

 

“My heart is breaking. Honestly.” She laughed as he swatted at her and they left the classroom together.

 

---

 

“I forgot how slow you ate. Don't you have a class soon or something?” Henry leaned back in his seat as he rifled through Sundae's sketchbook. “I like this drawing by the way – give it to me when you're done?”

 

She rolled her eyes as she picked at her soup, “I'm sorry that I like to enjoy my food. And what are you doing with my sketchbook?!” She reached over the table to grab it but he held it out of her reach. She sat back down, giving up, returning to her soup, “And yeah – you can have it if I ever finish it.”

 

“Ah – uhm, I'm sorry to interrupt but - “ Sundae looked up to see two girls who were probably still in highschool stammering above her. One of them had a camera in hand and both of them had very apparent flustered looks.

 

Sundae giggled as she went back to spooning her soup into . It wasn't like she didn't know how famous Henry was – at first, when it first hit her, Sundae actually ran away and locked herself away in a closet out of shock. Placing people on TV with people in real life was not something Sundae was good at – she had always thought that he looked like Henry Lau from Suju M but never actually realized that he was Henry Lau from Suju M until a few days after meeting.

 

“Ah – thank you, oppa!” They both bowed after it over but not without the occasional glance towards Sundae.

 

“She's my little sister who's here to visit,” Henry explained easily to them, Sundae waved hello with a friendly smile, “I don't really want people to know that she's here so please don't tell anyone?” He gave them a smile that would make any fan's heart stop.

 

“Ah, yes yes, oppa! Fighting! Goodbye!”

 

Sundae finished off her soup with a snort, “That was cute. I'm going back to class now.” She got up while grabbing the crackers that she failed to finish now so she could have them later. “Thanks for the meal – will I see you later?”

 

He looked up at her and shook his head, “Sorry, Super Junior M has a few activities in China starting as of next week so I don't think I'll be able to catch time with you until I come back.”

 

Her face fell, “Ah well, just know that I'll miss you until return! Make sure you take care of yourself!” She hugged him and then picked up her sketchbook, turning to leave.

 

“Jaqueline!” Henry called her from across the room, “What are you doing for the talent showcase this week?”

 

She didn't turn back as she waved and strode off, “I'm dancing, of course.”

 

His laughter was audible even as she was through the doors.

 

---

 

The talent showcase occurred every three months, so four times a year – and it was used to, well, show off your talents. You could choose to do it in groups or solo it off but depending on your performance, you may or may not get picked to debut from it.

 

Talent showcase was a big deal.

 

“Are you worried? Are you excited? Are you nervous?!” Hanae paced the corner of the gym that they had occupied.

 

“Hanae – slow down, you're going to start seizing at this rate.” Jungyo leaned on the wall as he stretched out his limbs.

 

“Yah! This is the first time that I'm going to be doing this alone!” She had a manic twinge to her eye as she kept pacing.

 

Jungyo grabbed her by the arm to stop her and gave her a serious look, “If you have this much energy to be worried, then stretch your limbs so you won't tear a muscle. I assume your dancing, right?”

 

“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Lee Hyori.” She tried to make herself take deep breathes as she pulled her arms above her neck. “Where's, Sundae? Aish – if she's late!”, she shook her head. “Whatever, it's not my concern.”

 

“Atta girl.” Jungyo looked away with a smirk, “Besides, she's probably just fooling around as usual.”

 

---

 

“Dashi dorawa, do-ra-wa, do-ra-wa -” Sundae was walking down the stairwell to the gym when suddenly she spun and hit a wall, feeling a startling numbness coming to her face.

 

Sundae felt it before she saw it coming. A stinging blow to the face that was so sudden that she actually fell into the wall. She looked up with wide eyes to see a few trainees from another class facing her. “Ahm... ah... I'm going to go down the stairs now.” she managed to stammer out at the three girls as she tried to inch her way past them.

 

One of them scoffed as they physically blocked her from leaving. “You think you'll get an easy ride because someone from Super Junior M is friends with you?”

 

Sundae opened in protest, “Of course not! If everyone who was friends with him, got an easy ride then we'd have a lot more easy going people!”

 

The leader, Yoori, snickered, “I know that you act cute to get people to like you. You really are a cunning underneath all that. You should hear the teachers sometimes, “ She rolled her eyes as she grabbed a fistful of Sundae's sweater and dragged her closer, causing Sundae to almost trip on the step. “'She's so diverse! She's so talented! She really is well rounded!'”

 

Sundae did not look scared. In fact, she act a look of awe on her face. “They say that about me? Are you sure they're not talking about you, Yoori?” Her eyes narrowed as she gave a vicious grin, “After all, I'm sure someone like you is obviously more talented then a stupid idiot like me?”

 

Silence in the stairwell.

 

And then Yoori let out an angry shriek and started to drag Sundae down the stairs. “If you're so talented then fine! Fine! Let's see how talented you are at the showcase!”

 

At this, Sundae lost her temper as she grabbed Yoori's hand and threw it away from herself. “I'll walk myself down. You're welcome to follow but whatever.” Shoving past her, Sundae blew past the doors and through the hallway like nothing had happened.

 

She wasn't surprised that they called her fake – she was fake. But if fake got her compliments and fake got her places then she would be the cutesy, ditzy fake that she'd have to be. She sacrificed a lot to be here in this place and she wasn't going back with nothing.

 

Entering the gym, Sundae heard her name being called. “Hanae! Sorry I'm late!” She ran over to join her friends as she dropped her stuff off and shed her coat.

 

“I was so worried that you might not make your first showcase! I was going to text you but – what happened to your face?” Hanae grabbed Sundae with concern in her eyes.

 

“My face...?” Sundae rubbed at her cheek thoughtfully. “Ah – I was petting a stray cat on the way here. It scratched me.” She laughed brightly, “I must've forgotten!”

 

Goddamn couldn't cut her nails?

 

“You shouldn't be petting stray animals! They could have diseases!” Hanae gave a sigh of relief, “Well if it's your first time here, then you're going to be performing first with the others who started around the same time as you!”

 

“What song are you singing today?” Sundae looked at Jungyo's direction, these being the first words he had spoken to her today.

 

She looked smug as she imaginary preened herself, “Whose to say that I'm not dancing?”

 

Hanae guffawed and Jungyo just looked away to contain himself. “Alright then. What song are you dancing to?”

 

“Dashi Dorawa!” She clapped her hands excitedly as she started humming the catchy chorus.

 

“Infinite?” Jungyo was coming close to letting loose a smile.

 

“Yep yep! What song are you doing, Jungyo?”

 

He gave a laugh as he pushed the younger one towards the stage, “That's a secret.”

 

“But... isn't Secret a girl group?”

 

Hanae pulled her away, unable to contain herself. “Not that kind of secret! Get yourself ready, we're starting soon.”

 

The lights went dim as all focus went to the stage.

 

The big deal was about to start.

 

Sundae watched with enjoyment and criticism as she did last time. You could watch your first showcase but you couldn't perform. This would be her first performance.

 

Sundae was fifth on the list and she was growing antsy with anticipation.

 

The first performance was a vocal acapella group that started off nicely until two flat notes were hit and very obvious.

 

She had winced visibly when it happened.

 

Next had been a very impressive beatbox which would've been much better if it hadn't consisted of only three sounds. A record scratch and two beats.

 

Thirdly, came a quiet girl, Woobae, who played the piano and sang a very pretty love song. Sundae was bored.

 

Then Joori went up with her group. Sundae watched with unimpressed eyes and they recreated Abracadabra by the Brown Eyed Girls. It would've been easier if it wasn't so impressive.

 

“Yah – they're really good!” Hanae whispered to Jungyo, audible to Sundae because she was sitting in front of them.

 

Sundae climbed onto the stage, and bowed at the crowd. “Hello! Song Sundae reporting! I will be performing for your entertainment today!”

 

The laughter quieted as those in the audience prepared for a gag act.

 

And then the wrong music started to play.

 

“...wasn't she going to dance to Dorawa?” Hanae elbowed Jungyo as they both watch Sundae have a flash of panic reach her face.

 

“This is the music to Irreversible by Gain. Don't worry – they'll probably sort it out and then we'll continue as usual.”

 

Then the panic turned to annoyance as Sundae saw the very visible smug look on Joori's face. She strode up to the mic and grabbed it and opened to silence the murmurs going around the room.

 

“You want to leave -

but I keep holding you leg
I hang on to your arm

that pushes me away
 

You can’t decide what you want,

you just humiliate me”
 

She had to forget about her anger right now, become the act – become the anguish. Thankfully, she knew the song well enough to be able to make up lyrics for it.

 

“Kill me or love me
One of these two!”

She reached up and pulled a powerful hand motion as her voice rang through the gym with this one note.

She forgot it all. Her anger, her excitement, her nervousness – all of it. Right now, right then, it was about the song. It was about the hurt, the pain and the sadness. Most of the people in that room wouldn't understand a word that she was saying – but as long they could feel the fact that she was singing something very sad and not actually about eggs and bacon, she was good.

“Lie, don’t lie, don’t lie
I hear everything as a downright lie.”

As the song was ending, applause rang through the auditorium but suddenly the song skipped and changed to something else. Sundae looked up, startled at the direction of the stereo system and saw a fuming Joori taking over.

 

Sundae jumped off the stage to stride over to Joori and slap her across the face,“Aish, Joori – what do you want me to do? What is it that you want from me?” She gave an exasperated look at the other girl. “You're pretty, you're talented – why does it have to be a competition?” Sundae pushed a button on the system out of irritation to stop the music playing. “You're so... so stupid.”

 

Sundae slapped a hand to . She had forgotten that she still held the mic.

 

“Ah.. just pretend you didn't hear that!” She addressed the audience with a sheepish smile and returned to the stage to put the microphone back. “Now will number six come to the stage and make everyone forget all of this? Thank you!”

 

An awkward laughter came through the room as number six went up and Sundae seated herself back at her old seat.

Hanae snarled at Joori's general direction as she passed them, leaning down to whisper in Sundae's ear. “Forget what I said about her – she's horrible! But anyways – you were great! Aii – you're going to debut before me!” Hanae looked at her wistfully, “Don't forget about me when you're famous, alright?”

 

“I don't understand how you could have such unequal talent in dance as you do in singing.” Jungyo gave her an encouraging smile as he gave her a backhanded compliment.

Sundae went slightly red as she looked away, “Shh – pay attention to group six, already!”

They were a really bad comparison to what they were trying to recreate but her smile was so wide it didn't even matter.

---

Sundae's usual routine in the morning was to drag herself awake at seven, shower, down a glass of milk, grab her things and then leave at seven thirty. She would then walk down her usual path on the main roads, cutting through one park for the scenery and stopping by the grocers to grab a banana. Why? Because apples were overrated.

But something was different today. Something in the routine had changed.

She was dressed and was about to leave the shower when she overheard her two roommates whispering furiously outside. It was strange for her seeing as they weren't awake at this time – she tried to avoid contact with them since they couldn't stand trying to talk to her.

“You tell her.”

“I don't want to tell her – what kind of reason could we possibly give her? I don't know, uh – sorry, we just don't connect with you and you're a weird . Get out.”

“Yes. Exactly!”

“No! What if she gets a gun or something? She's from America, isn't she? All of those people are violent and strange for the most part, right?”

“No, I'm a trainee with her, she's harmless. Just stupid.”

At this point Sundae opened the shower door and toweled out her hair as she walked to the fridge. She looked up brightly at her two roommates as she hung the towel on the chair. “Morning, Soojin! Morning, Jari!”

They were frozen.

She laughed in her head as she grabbed the carton of milk from the fridge. Ooh – almost out, she'd have to pick some up when she got home. Soojin was younger than her and was a trainee at JYP with Sundae – she was actually a sweet girl as far as Sundae could tell. Jari was the corrupt one though. Jari was studying to be... some medical thing – Sundae really couldn't care less and well, she was a . Jari and Soojin had been living together for so long so who knows what they had bonded over but whatever it was, Soojin hated whatever Jari hated and Jari hated her.

Sundae sometimes wished that they'd be hit by a bus. Or something.

Seven twenty. She would be early – but who cared? The atmosphere was awkward already. She'd just finish the carton on the way there.

Grabbing her bag from the side she waved goodbye and walked out.

“Do you think she heard us?”

“Probably didn't understand us if she did.”

“She's so... fake. Honestly – you should see her at the company sometimes. People that clumsy don't exist.”

Sundae laughed, she was leaning against the door – she hadn't left yet.

But now would be a good time to.

---

 

Eight twenty.

She wasn't crying.

No. She couldn't be crying.

Stop. This wasn't her fault.

Stop. Did no one understand? She had no family here, she didn't want to risk what friends she had, and she had no other future but this.

She was not crying.

Eight twenty one.

She'd have to leave for training soon.

She'd have to stop.

She sacrificed everything for a chance. A chance that she would become famous. A chance that she would fail.

A chance.

She couldn't let others see her this way.

If they only saw a cheerful, clumsy idiot and thought that was fake then it was alright. Fake didn't hurt anybody. Fake didn't bring others down. Fake didn't fail.

Eight twenty two.

She was a two faced . She was cruel. She was violent. She was nasty.

But do you understand how hard it is to be clever in a language that wasn't yours?

She let out a broken laugh that was mixed with a sob.

This was why she was sitting in a bathroom stall with her knees to her face and her shoes on the seat.

Because she couldn't think of good enough comebacks.

Because she was pathetic.

Because she was -

“If you want to be famous and your name is Rivera Hyun Ki, Shim Ha Neul, Park Chae Rin, Song Sundae, Kim Soojin, Kim Hyomi, Han Saet Byul, Kim Jin Hee, Park Min Young, or Choi Minjee, get down to room 218 now!”

---

Next chapter, I promise that your characters will be in. Actually, the race for Mat.I.Nee will be cut down in half.

And I must apologize to awesomeskittles12. Your character did get mentioned but... she's a , isn't she? ;A; sorry. It sort of just... happened.

If it makes one feel any better – she will be playing a bigger role? ;D

+ Everyone else, forwarned – your characters' are too nice. Things will be done. Girls are y creatures by nature, no lie. Love you ;D