EUNMI/ SUHAN’S POV

-Time Skip. 4 Days. Day of Competition-

-KRING!!- 6:00AM

Our alarms rang loudly in our ears. The whole team decided to sleep together in the living room on our floor the night before. We knew that none of us would be able to sleep, and so we could talk to each other until we fell asleep. Everyone fell asleep instantly that night at 9:00PM so we would get lots of sleep for today. Tiffany was the first up and shook us all awake.

“Guys wake up, its time to get ready.” she groaned groggily.

“Mmmmk.” We all groaned.

Slowly one by one, we all got up and took our turns getting ready in the bathroom. By the time everyone did their morning routine and finished breakfast, it was only 7:30AM, but we had stylist appointments at 8. So, we all hopped in Mr. Choi’s van and Tiffany drove us off to the salon.

30 minutes later, we arrived at the salon, and we were sitting next to each other with stylists asking how we would like to look. Tiffany went to go pick up our costumes. I was consulting my stylist, and she introduced herself.

“My name is Stephanie. Nice to meet you!” she beamed at me. She only looked like she was in her early to mid twenties.

“I’m Eunmi, but my nickname is Suhan. You can call me whichever you like.” I smiled back at her.

“So Eunmi, what kind of style would you like today? Or would you like for me to take over?”

“I think I’ll let you take over, because I’m not so sure how I want to look myself.”

She took a moment to look at my thick black hair. I styled my fringe back into a clip, so it was out of my face, but she took it out and brushed it out, letting it run down my face.

“I think I know just the right look for you.” my stylist smiled eagerly at me.

I was hoping she wouldn’t cut my hair, but sadly she did. She started with the back, t off my dead ends, and layering it, so it was thinner and lighter. She ended with the last layer short on top so it wouldn’t look too plain if she decided to straighten it afterwards. Then, she started t my fringe, down to bangs that ended above my eyes. After finishing the hair cut, I took a look at myself, and I kind of looked like when I was little and had this hairstyle, except for the short layer in the back. I smiled at my new image as Stephanie pulled a cart from the storage room. I looked over and saw it was filled with different hair dyes. I panicked and looked over to everyone else, also dying their hair. I calmed down a bit and she started sectioning my hair and putting hair dye on it. I fell asleep during the process and was woken up by Stephanie when I had to go wash the it out. I was getting up out of my seat, everyone else doing the same, and it looked like they took a short nap too. I laid down on the chair and let her massage my sensitive scalp. When she finished, she wrapped my hair in a towel and guided me back to my seat. She took out a blowdryer and I felt the hot air blast on my head, drying my hair. I waited for my hair to dry, and it wasn’t turning black, but a medium brown when it was completely dry. She brushed it out, and my hair was still the same length, almost past my hips. I saw that she had dyed my ends too. The bottom third was blonde and the middle third of my hair was a fire red, and finally the last third was medium brown all the way to the roots on my head. My bangs were also a new color, and it was a platinum blonde. I smiled at my new look, and I always wanted to dye my hair, but this was so much more than I expected. Stephanie also grinned at my reaction as she started curling my hair into princess curls. I dozed off a little as she finished up my look. When she woke me up, I looked into the mirror to see that my hair was nicely curled and ended at my stomach, and my bangs were swayed to the left. Each curl looked like an individual flame, and when you look at it from the back, it looked similar to fire. I grinned like an idiot and got up and bear hugged Stephanie.

“Thank you so much! This is so much more than I would’ve asked for.” I hugged her tightly and she hugged me back.

“Thank you for this experience Eunmi-ah. I had so much fun doing this style, because this was my own design. I’m so glad you liked it!”

I let go of her,” Remember to watch out competition on TV later!” I beamed at her.

She smiled back at me, “I wouldn’t miss it!”

I walked out into the lobby to see everyone else already done. We all gasped at each other’s new looks.

Angel’s long brown hair was now jet black, and the middle a deep grey, and tips were dyed to a snow white ombre, then straightened.

Kyomin’s dark brown hair was now blonde, with sleek black tips at the end, and was in deep waves.

Taekyung’s full head of black hair was now shaved down on both sides, leaving the middle untouched, but it was dyed a yellow blonde, and the sides were left brown.

Minjoon’s dark brown hair was now shaved down on one side, and dyed to a medium brown, and the front was also dyed a platinum blonde.

Lastly, my jet black hair was now trimmed down into layers and bangs, dyed to a light brown with a fire ombre (brown → red → then blonde) and my bangs were platinum blonde.

All of our hairstyles resembled each other, except for the hair colors. I looked at my phone, and it was already noon. We all sat outside and waited for Tiffany, looking like a bunch of teenagers that just dumped paint on themselves.

As we were waiting, we were admiring each others different hair styles, and a familiar van stopped in front of us. Out came Tiffany from the driver’s seat also with a new look. Her light brown hair was now dyed to a fire red and straightened. She had her bangs pinned into a bump above her head. She flashed an eye smile as us as we were also admiring her new hair color.

“Guys lets go! We only have 4 more hours until the competition, and you guys still have to change and we have to register!” she grinned at us. We all smiled and ran to the car, filling the back. We saw our costumes zipped up and hanging on the window. The six of us were giddy with excitement.

“Love everyone’s new hairstyles by the way!” Tiffany looked through the rearview mirror.

“Noona’s is smoking hot too!” Minjoon winked at Tiffany. We all broke into laughter at his corny joke as we pulled up to the venue for the competition. Stepping into the building holding hands with one another, the stage was being set up. Our jaws dropped to how big the stage was, and that was where we were going to be performing. After Tiffany checked us in, we got our costumes and changed into them quickly, not bothering to look at how the printing on the clothes turned out. The 5 of us took our seats in front of mirrors, as makeup stylists were starting our makeup. Losing no time introducing herself, she started right away, not asking me what look I wanted. I guess Tiffany already told her what looks to give us, because everyone else was already putting makeup on. She patted on a base and foundation, covering up my acne and oily skin. Then she applied a grey eyeshadow with black at the end of my eyes. Next was the eyeliner, simply outlining my eyes. Lastly she put on fake eyelashes and mascara. Finishing off my makeup, she applied some blush around my cheeks to give my face life, and a bit of bronzer around my face to set the foundation.

I looked into the mirror, and I seemed like I transformed into a new person. My stylist came back up to me with a pair of red contacts. I looked over to Tiffany and she gave me a thumbs up, signaling that this was her doing. I hesitated a little before taking out my clear contacts and replacing them with the one’s she prepared. I looked into the mirror one last time before leaving the chair. My dark brown orbs were now rimmed with a blood red contact, making it seem as my eyes were trying to change color. I smiled one last time before getting up and walking backstage to find everyone else. Angel and Kyomin had the same type of makeup as me, and the boys had simple foundation and eyeliner. The 5 of us had the same type of contacts in. We were standing backstage when Tiffany came up to us and checked out the results of her sketches. She handed us our hats and beanies and we carefully put them on, not wanting to ruin our hair before going on stage.

“This is it guys. All your hard work, sweat, and dreams are depending on this last push.” she told us.

We were holding each other’s sweaty hands, shaking from nervousness.

“Remember whatever happens out there, do your best, and keep going no matter any faults you make. No matter what happens after this, we will all be together no matter what.” she encouraged us one last time before a voice boomed on the stage. Every group looked over to the spotlight on the stage, and saw Mr. Lee Soo Man walk up.

“Welcome ladies and gentleman, to the 2014 SM Global Competition! We have very special judges today for this audition! Please welcome EXO!”

Our jaws dropped, as every other group were screaming their lungs out. Angel was first to snap out of it. She grabbed our shoulders and shook us back to reality.

“DUDE. EXO IS REALLY HERE! LOOK!”

We all finally looked over to the stage. Sure enough there was EXO standing, waving to the audience, while the groups backstage were dying to see them. Soon, our group started fangirling also, as the 6 of us were also EXOtics. Tiffany shut us up to prevent us from straining our voice too much before performing. The first group went up as EXO took their left the stage and took their seats at the judging table, in front of the raging fans that were held back by security fences. The crowed roared as the first group performed and then died down until the end of the dance. The process repeated until it was our turn. The crew backstage were attaching our mics, and other groups were giving us worried stares, because we were the only group that required mics.

“Now I bring you our final group, Generation of Aces!”

We ran up to stage after Tiffany made one last checks with our costumes and appearances. She held me back as everyone ran on stage, taking their places. She whispered something in my ear.

“Good luck, I believe in you!” She smiled at me before pushing me out on stage, and I took my place on stage. The music started, blaring my mashup song as we started dancing, and I took the first line of the song. The crowd roared as I sang, and the cheering didn’t stop throughout the performance. The 5 of us danced our hearts and and sang and rapped our best. The song ended as the 5 spot lights went out and we got off stage. The crowd roared even louder after we left, shouting for an encore. EXO was judging while everyone was fiddling with their fingers, and hold each others hands, waiting for the results of who won, and would get contracted.

“Generation of Aces, would you please step back out on stage.”

We glanced at each other before going back out on stage, standing in a line in front of the judging panel.

“As surprised, you blew us away with your performance, and EXO has a couple questions for you guys.” Mr. Lee spoke as he passed the mic onto the person next to him, Suho.

“This song is very interesting, and I like it a lot. Did you make this song yourself?”

Tiffany came on stage, because she knew we wouldn’t be able to answer all these questions well without stuttering and such.

“Hello, my name is Tiffany. I will be answering their questions for them.”

Suho smiled at her, “That’s perfectly fine. Please continue.”

“This song was indeed created by us, and it was put together by our maknae, Suhan. It was a mashup of the original songs ‘Rose’ by Leehi, and ‘Missing You’ by G-Dragon, with the rap by CL from a live performance.”

“Very nice. Thank you.” Suho smiled again before passing the mic on to the next person, Kris.

“Since you’re all up here now, why don’t you introduce yourselves with your real name, and then your stage name?” We all nodded as Tiffany handed the mic to Taekyung first.

He bowed, “Hello my name is Choi Taekyung, and I just go by Taekyung.”

Minjoon was next, and he bowed before speaking, “Hello, my name is Kim Minjoon, and I just go by Minjoon.”

Kyomin bowed next, “My name is Kim Kyomin, and I just also go by my first name, Kyomin.”

Angel went next, bowing, “My name is Yang Soonmi, but I go by Angel.”

It was finally my turn, and I bowed before looking at the judges, “Hello, my name is Lee Eunmi, but I go by Suhan.” My eyes stopped at Luhan, making eye contact. I felt a spark of electricity and butterflies in my stomach. Why am I feeling like this?

“Thank you for introducing yourselves.” Kris ended passing the mic to the next person, Luhan, with his poker face still intact.

Luhan smiled politely before asking his question, “I saw you guys had something written on the shirts and hats. Would you mind telling me what they are and what they mean?”

I passed the mic back to Tiffany and she began speaking, “First off, on the back on their shirts, they have their group ‘spirits’ in small writing, and then their birth year in bigger letters below it. On their hats, again just say the same thing, but instead of the numbers, it says ‘Generation of Aces’ instead.”

She pushed Taekyung to stand forward first. “Taekyung’s spirit is a Tiger. He is the main protector of our family, and can be very mean or very sweet.” I saw him hang his head down, probably blushing, and the fangirls squealing before stepping back into line. Minjoon then stepped out.

“Minjoon’s spirit is a Lion. He is right behind the Tiger in protecting our family. His personality is just as bipolar as Mr. Tiger here.” Tiffany chuckled before Minjoon stepped back into line embarrassed and Kyomin stepped out.

“Kyomin’s spirit is a Rabbit.She may be small, but she’s fast, resembling how fast of a thinker she is.” Next, Angel stepped out.

“Angel’s spirit is Dolphin. She has sensitive hearing, but a tough heart, resembling how she has a sensitive self, but tough personality.” She smiled as she stepped back into line as it was finally my turn.

I stepped forward as Tiffany started talking, “I actually printed two different things on Suhan’s shirt and hat.” I looked at everyone else, surprised, but they smiled at me, probably because they already knew that Tiffany did this.

“On her jersey, I printed her spirit, Deer.” I saw Luhan look up at me, smiling. I felt the urge to smile back, and I did, feeling the butterfly in my stomach again.

“Being the youngest of this group, she is the most sensitive inside, and is the weakest on the outside, just like a deer. On her hat I printed Guardian Angel. Just because she’s the most sensitive and is the weakest, she’s never afraid to stand up for her family and protect them with her own life, just like a Guardian Angel.” I was on the verge of tears, but I held them in, stepping back into line with a smile.

The questions kept on coming, and Tiffany answered them all smoothly with a smile. Then we went backstage as the judges made their final decisions. We felt the glares of the other groups, and their stares were filled with envy. A couple minutes later, we stepped back out on stage. We held each other’s hand, some closing their eyes, and some looking at the ceiling. The 6 of us were holding hands we they were announcing the results.

Mr. Lee stepped back on stage in front of us, holding the card that held the results.

“We had a very interesting competition this year, and it was quite the show. I bring you the results by our judges.” There was a drum roll.

“AND THE WINNERS OF THE 2014 SM GLOBAL COMPETITION ARE...”

To be continued...