"And 5, 6, 7, 8!"

 

Step...step...step...

 

Clap...annnd...turn!

 

THUD!

 

"Oww...." I muttered in pain and picked myself up off the ground.

 

"Are you okay?" HyunAe asked as she came over to me along with the girls.

 

We were currently in one of the practice rooms at S.M., practicing the dance for our debut song "Brand New Start" when I had accidently tripped doing the moves.

 

"Yup!" I replied and dusted myself off, grinning energetically. Chaeri snickered at me.

 

"Clumsy panda." I just stuck my tongue out at her.

 

"Girls." Our choreographer, Jiyun seonsangnim, said, catching our attention. "I suppose you could all use a break now. I'll be at the lounge. And Miri-sshi." I looked at her.

 

"When turning, don't do it so fast." She advised.

 

"YES MA'AM!" I saluted, smiling at her in a goofy way.

 

She laughed lightly and left.

 

"Alright! BRING OUT THE FOOD!" Chaeri commanded as we all sat down in a circle.

 

"What the- No pocky!?" Hana exclaimed sadly, digging through one of the plastic bags.

 

"We're on a diet, remember?" Jihan said, grabbing a gronola bar.

 

"Who bought this stuff anyways?" J-Kat asked curiously.

 

"Our manager." Sooyun answered.

 

"Stupid Kyung...." I pouted and grabbed one of the yogurt cups. "I want real food..."

 

"This ..." Suye mumbled sadly, poking the plastic bags.

 

"Hey."

 

We all turned our heads to see a group of girls standing by the doorway to our practice room.

 

We just stared.

 

"Heeeey....." HyunAe greeted unsurely.

 

"Who are these people?" She whispered to Suye, who just shrugged in response.

 

"So, you guys are GEMS?" The redhead in the front, who seemed to be the leader, asked. We all stood up and faced them.

 

"That's us." Chaeri confirmed.

 

"We just came here to tell you one thing." We all stared at the redheaded girl.

 

"Don't get so full of yourselves just because you're going to debut."

 

Chaeri immediately narrowed her blue eyes at her.

 

Uh oh.

 

I quickly held her wrist, causing her to look at me.

 

"Don't." I said quietly as she stared at me. Then, she let out a deep sigh and just crossed her arms, but continued to glare at the group of girls.

 

"Exactly who are you?" Jihan questioned in a calm tone.

 

"Im Se Jung." The redhead, Sejung, answered and put a hand on her waist.

 

"Sejung-sshi, let me tell you one thing." Jihan crossed her arms. "You have no right or business telling us that. Now leave. We're busy."

 

I gotta say, I was extremely proud of Jihan right now.

 

Before, she wouldn't even think of talking back to a bully, but look at her now!

 

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" One girl screeched angrily.

 

I winced at the loud sound and glared at her.

 

"Leave. Look, there's the door. Don't hesitate to use it." I said to the girl with irritation.

 

She glared back at me before her eyes widened in realization.

 

"Sejung! That's her! The girl that got Yura and Minji kicked out!" Sejung looked at me with narrowed eyes.

 

"So it's you." She said, taking a step towards me. "You're the one that seduced HyunJ oppa into telling  lies to Lee Soo Man so they could get kicked out."

 

I glanced at her with amusement. "Seduced? That's funny."

 

"You won't be laughing after I mess up that face of yours." Sejung said, sending me a death glare.

 

"OH HELL NO." I then noticed that Chaeri was glaring at her full on, her pupils in slits. "SCREW THIS."

 

Before she could do anything, HyunAe along with Hana and Suye held her back.

 

"Unnie, calm down!" Hana said desperately.

 

"NO. SHE JUST THREATENED MY PANDA. IS GOING DOWN." Chaeri said, still glaring daggers at Sejung.

 

"Unnie! Don't!" Suye said, holding her by the arm.

 

"Yah! Chaeri! Calm yourself! You still want to debut, don't you?" HyunAe said, causing Chaeri to stop.

 

I looked back at Chaeri and smiled. "It's ok unnie! I got this!" I then turned to Sejung, who seemed a bit freaked out by Chaeri.

 

"It would be wise of you to leave now. Unless, you want my leader to tear you apart." They all glanced at Chaeri and shuddered at the dark aura that engulfed her.

 

"I-I'll make you regret messing with us!" Sejung said before taking off with her posse not far behind.

 

"ing es..." Chaeri muttered angrily.

 

"Good thing they left. I was about to seriously lose it..." Sooyun said with a deep sigh.

 

"I was kind of expecting this." Jihan said, making us look at her. "Trainees tend to get jealous about other trainees debuting. It happens."

 

J-Kat put a hand on her chest. "I'm glad it's over. That kind of scared me."

 

"Well, let's just forget about it. We still need to practice for our big day!" Hana said, trying to lighten the mood.

 

"Agreed!" Sooyun said while HyunAe smiled widely.

 

"YEAH, LET'S DO THIS!!"

 

So after a couple more hours of dancing, we were finally done and resting in the lounge.

 

Until, we were called to meet with our manager in our practice room.

 

“Sooooo, what’s this about?” I questioned as we all stood in front of Kyung.

 

“I have something to tell you all.” We all stared curiously.

 

“I bought an apartment room for you all to stay in.”

 

Our eyes widened.

 

“REALLY!?!?!?” Chaeri asked with excitement.

 

He nodded, earning squeals from us all.

 

“OMO!!”

 

“AWESOME!!!”

 

“I’M SOO HAPPY!!!”

 

“WE GET TO LIVE TOGETHER!!”

 

“Hold on.” We all stopped and looked at Kyung.

 

“What, there’s more?” I asked with big eyes.

 

“Yes. Just…don’t get all girly and whatnot.” He sighed. We nodded.

 

“Your room just so happens to be right across from Exo’s own.”

 

I froze.

 

Silence…

 

………….

 

………………….

 

…………………………

 

“BWO?”

 

Kyung sighed.

 

“You heard me. I just wanted to tell you all so that I could warn you. DO NOT BOTHER THEM NOR CREATE ANY SCANDALS. Also, do not let anyone else know about this. It would be a big problem if their fans found out that you all stay near each other. So, don’t screw up. Arasseo?”

 

We all just slowly nodded, still trying to take it all in.

 

We’re staying in the same apartment as Exo….

 

PLUS, RIGHT ACROSS FROM THEM.

 

My eyes widened.

 

Tao…..

 

I mentally slapped myself.

 

NO!

 

HE JUST TOLD US!!

 

DON’T BOTHER THEM.

 

“DAEBAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Chaeri squealed, jumping with joy along with HyunAe and Hana. “Y MEN!!!! LIVING NEAR US!!!!”

 

“GOD DOES LOVE US!!!” HyunAe exclaimed happily.

 

Kyung sighed deeply. “Didn’t I just say not to get all girly?”

 

They just ignored him.

 

I laughed at the scene along with J-Kat.

 

I can’t wait to move there.