"And so then I asked him, 'Do you think prison guards use Proactive to prevent breakouts?', and he just stared at me for like, ten seconds before just walking off! I mean, come on, it was a little bit funny, right?"

Silence filled the air, save for the van's engine and tires as they clawed down the highway. 

"I take it no one's listening. Is anyone listening? Anyone?" Out of the corner of Haejin's eye, she saw Eunhwa turn around in her seat to look behind her.

"No, Jina. It's not funny, now go to sleep!" Haejin silently thanked her friend, and was sure that the other girls that were in the car thanked her as well. 

"Well alrighty then." She could hear a sigh coming from Jina in the backseat. "Just trying to lighten the mood," she paused. "As always."

"Yayyy..." Three of the girls waved their hands around lazily. Haejin and Minji gave a sarcastic thumbs up. A low rumble of laughter erupted between them, before silence ensued.

Twenty minutes seemed to pass in a blink. Haejin felt as if she had only just closed her eyes before the car came to a stop, and the door next to her opened. Bright sunlight flooded in, causing Haejin to squint fiercely and cover her eyes with her arm, but she unbuckled her seatbelt and stumbled out of the van nonetheless. The summer heat hit her like a tidal wave, and she could already feel her skin beginning to melt under the scorching Seoul sun. She let out a sigh as her eyes began to adjust to the light, and she stood away from the van, watching the other members get out.

Her manager was busy opening up other doors. He was a tall man, young and with dark brown hair. He was a kind man, but was firm with discipline. Luckily, Haejin was on his good side, and they had a relationship of manager and trainee, as well as a friendship. They had known each other for about a year.

He opened the last door, and strode over to stand next to Haejin. He watched the girls pile out of the van, giving Haejin a tight, one-armed hug. Haejin grinned.

"At least you didn't scream and sing to us like Minji-unnie did," she giggled. Her manager laughed.

"Yeah right; I can't sing. I'd embarrass myself more than anything."

Haejin laughed once again, before focusing her eyes on the girl who was first to venture out of the van. It was Eunhwa, and she looked much better than earlier this morning. She had slapped on some makeup to conceal her dark circles and blemishes, and applied a kiss of mascara. Her hair was tied back into a slick bun, and she was wearing slacks and a tank top. Eunhwa stepped out of the van, and trotted over to Haejin, giving her a fist-bump before standing next to her. Haejin glanced at her, again noting that they were the exact same height, though Eunhwa was a bit stockier than her. She was very pretty, Haejin concluded, and she smiled, turning her gaze back to the van.

Minji stepped out next. Her shoulder-length hair was down, and her fringe covered her eyes as she looked at the ground to know where to step down and out of the van. She was dressed in simple street clothing, and her face was made up. She stepped out of the van, and looked up at the three standing in front of her. Minji smiled at them, showing them her perfectly white teeth, before approaching them and standing next to them. Minji was tall; she stood at 5'9".

Jina practically fell out of the van. She was unbelieveably short, and was stocky. She, too, had shoulder length hair, but it was dyed a dark red. She had rather large, oval-shaped eyes, and a small pair of dimples. She was wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, despite the summer heat. Jina spitefully glared at Eunhwa for earlier, who made a face at her as she did so. 

The next three girls tried to climb out all at once. One of them was Yejin. Her long, highlighted dark hair was down, and it was styled in waves. She had on full makeup today, but wore a white T-shirt and black shorts. She pushed the other girls aside with a grunt as she was shoved out of the van. The next girl was named Hyori, who, with very tired, droopy eyes, stepped out of the car. She shook her head, allowing her short, boyish hair to fall into her face.

The final girl to clamber out of the vehicle had a name that sang with irony. Her name was Sora, and as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, she looked up into the sky. It reflected in her blue eyes, and she smiled. The ironic thing about her name was that "Sora" meant "sky" in Japanese, as was her origin, partially. She was also of English descent. She joined the other girls and smiled at them.

Haejin's eyes left the final girl to look at where they were. She let out a bittersweet sigh. It was a sigh half-full in content, half-lifeless in fatigue. This building was responsible for it all; rather, the people inside of it were.

SM Entertainment stood strong and tall as always, with its large pink banner that hung from its roof and cascaded down the building's front. The sun kissed its outer structure, painting the many windows a bright white. Haejin smiled. Nothing had changed about the place in her two years that she had been there, structure-wise. However, those who entered the building, the ones who didn't leave; they changed. Boy, did they change, Haejin included. 

Their manager looked over them, doing a mental head-count. "Five, six, seven-- Okay! That's everyone. You guys know where to go and what to do..." He paused to look at Minji expectantly, and Minji nodded. He then clapped his hands.

"Alright! I'll pick you up when you're all done," he said. Haejin nodded, and began to follow Minji, who was beginning to walk toward the building.

"Alrighty, I'll see you later. Boss Man," Eunhwa gave the manager a high-five.

He gave her a look, before sighing. "Well, at least it's not 'Soul Man', anymore."

Eunhwa grinned. "I'm a soul~ man," she sang. "Dun dun da da da da dun dun~."

The manager then spun on his heel and quickly walked over to the van, hurriedly shutting its doors and getting in.

"I'm a SOUL MAN~ I'm a soul~ maaaa and he's gone." Eunhwa watched him speed off down the road. She pivoted on her foot, shook her head with a chuckle, before sprinting to catch up with the other girls.

"Okay! Yejin, Sora, you guys are going to a photoshoot; that's on the SECOND floor, not the third. Jina! You, Hyori and I will be at the recording studio down the hall, third door on the left. Haejin, you and Eunhwa will be in the practice room on the east side of the building, second door on the right." Minji paused to take a breath, as they entered the bulding of SM Entertainment. As they stepped into the lobby, they bowed at the receptionist.

"Annyeonghaseyo," they said in unison. The receptionist, an older woman, greeted them back.

"Okay," Minji breathed in, and she turned to the girls. "Good luck today; Hwaiting! Go go go!" 

They began to disperse. Haejin turned and began to walk down the hall, with Eunhwa following behind.

"Minji-unnie's going to make a great leader," Haejin commented. Eunhwa hummed in agreement.

"I'll say! I just hope she's the leader of our group, and not some other one," she replied. Haejin nodded, but said nothing as they walked past two other trainees.

Debuting was a touchy subject amongst the trainees in SM Entertainment. Everyone wanted to debut, and everyone worked so hard to get into the next group. But out of the hundreds of trainees that were made in SM, only a handful were transformed into idols. SM would even let trainees go if they hadn't debuted after training for several years. Some trainees just gave up, thinking they would never debut to begin with, even when they had so much potential... Several of Haejin's friends ended up leaving out of discouragement. Therefore, the "debut" talk was kept low, in order to keep trainees from being at each other's throats.

Haejin nodded in greeting at the fellow trainees, before stopping at the door to their practice room. She twisted the handle, and the door opened, revealing a dark room.

"Eh?" Haejin peeked inside. Eunhwa did, as well, and she fumbled for a light switch.

"Our coach isn't here yet?" Haejin's question echoed into the room as the lights flickered on. The room revealed a typical cloud background and wooden floor, with a couch and chairs, but nobody was inside

"Well, if that's the case then I guess we can go hooooo-- oh hi, songsaengnim!" Haejin let out a laugh as she heard what was going on behind her; Eunhwa had turned to leave, but was stopped by their dance instructor.

"Annyeong," she greeted. Haejin pulled away from the door, and she turned around to look at her instructor. The dance coach was a short, lithe woman in her late twenties. Her jet-black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and she wore a black jogging suit. She eyed Eunhwa suspiciously. Eunhwa laughed nervously.

"Yes, well, uh... We were just... Come on Haejin, let's go!" Haejin suddenly felt a tug on her arm as Eunhwa dragged her into the room, followed by a laugh from their coach. Haejin then set down her bag, which contained two water bottles and an extra pair of clothes, on the chair next to the door. Eunhwa did the same, and they looked to where their instructor was. She was in the middle of the room, preparing to warm up. Haejin then paced over to her, and stood behind and to the left of her. Eunhwa was to Haejin's right. They were equally and evenly spaced out; they could tell by looking into the long row of gigantic mirrors in front of them. The three dancers were silent.

"Alrighty," the dance coach instructed. "Ready for warmups?"

"Ne," Haejin and Eunhwa answered in unison. They looked at each other, and smiled.

"Okay," was the reply. "Five, six, seven, eight."

~*~Author's Note~*~

Oh goodness >< I hope this was okay. Don't worry; Haejin's dance skills will be presented very soon I want to present them with Kai ><. I can promise you that. :) My main concern was to get the identities of the other girls out of the way, and their positions, as well as a foreshadowing of what they might be when they debut, if they debut ^_^ Lots of description here; my mind is wiped out x.x

BUT HOLY CRUD YOU GUYS.

OVER THIRTY SUBS ALREADY???!?!?!?!? ASDFGHJKL!!??!?!?

Is... is this real life... Q.Q *dies* 

You guys are amazing <3 However I do have bad news.... I can't exactly gif spam at the moment T___T 

I know I used to do that like crazy for every milestone imaginable (10 subs! 1000 views!! 50 VIEWS HOLY CR----) Yeah. But it's because of my dumb internet connection... It's even slower than dial-up here. :( So when I get to a place with better connection, EXPECT GIFS. FUNNY ONES (EXO ONES because our fandom is on drugs XD)

I will see you soon, my lovelies! Phew, one more fic to update today. Hwaiting!