And maybe, our debut won't be so bad. and the rough ride was all worth it in the end. I sigh, rubbing my eyes dabbing away at my tears. Only nine days left. World, you better watch out. Because P!nk Fr!day is coming your way. let's shake the world, girls. ~emily.

01

Chapter

29 June 2014

❝ D-9 Chapter 01: In the Practice Room ❤

“And 5, 6, 7 8!”

Let’s shake the world, girls.

The girls in cross-legged on the wooden floor, as Emily was helping herself to the water bottle offered to her by her friend, she steals a quick glance around their studio, unconsciously making a quick headcount of her members. Five. Eunmi and Soojung seemed to be engaged in a banter battle with the two maknaes, Haneul and Qui, chattering softly as they ate quick snacks, occasionally taking sips from their bottles. I nodded in approval before my gaze flicks over to Mihyun, the girl was curled up on couch, completely oblivious to the action around her as she frantically tried to call someone on her phone.

I lean over to see how Diamond was texting before she shifted away, easily dodging my lingering gaze. “What?” I blink innocently, “I was just checking the time.” She purses her lips to switch to the home page, showing me the time before she continuing her furious texting.

“8:57” she murmurs softly, her eyes focused on her device as she turns away from me again. I roll out my wrists, fumbling with my charm bracelet waiting impatiently for Diamond to finish so that we could continue our dance practice.

“Hey,” I lean over casually to steal a glance at her phone’s screen. Immediately the turns black as she turns it off.

“Mhm?”

“Where’s Lily and—”

“Jihyn? They just texted me,” she answers, showing me her phone screen as evidence. “They’re on their way up.”

“You need to stop interrupting me.” I pout, putting my hands on my hips to exaggerate my “anger.” For being trainees together since 2010, our tight relationship came to a point where she loved to finished sentences for me. I drop my face and smile for once, “See, you are the co-leader.”

“Naw, I’m just good at reading your mind.” she giggles, nudging my side. “Oh, and here they are.” Seconds later, the door burst open, revealing the two happy-go-lucky girls. Jihye runs in, only huffing slightly while Lily seems almost out of breath. I tilt my head, seeing the two were still empty-handed.

“I win!” Jihye shouts with glee, punching her fist in the air. Ah, the athletic spirit.

“One moment.” Lily gasps, taking in deep breaths before plopping herself on the couch, “Whew, I’m beat.”

“Literally~!” Jihye says with a sing-song voice, skipping around the maknaes, “And boy, I’m starving!” she grins, dumping herself on the couch beside Lily, sprawling her limbs over her friend.

“Mpft!” Lily attempts to push Jihye off onto her side of the couch, but without much energy she sighs in defeat and lets the other rest in her lap.

“Hey guys,” I perk up, earning the attention from all of my members, “Where’s the food?”

Lily and Jihye exchange knowing glances before sending an equally blinding smile in my direction, “Sorry~” they say in unison.

“Wait, wha?” a chorus of “I’m hungry!” and grumbles of empty stomachs run through the room as we all turned to give the two a pointed look.

“Alright, alright.” Lily jumps up, pushing Jihye unceremoniously off her lap to take up the entire sofa. “Be right back~” she chimes, each step filled with re-charged energy. The moment she returns with the full boxes of our favorite chinese food from the market, she hands out each dinner box carefully to each member. I cautiously eye the white boxes, noting that two were missing.

“There’s only seven boxes.” Diamond points out, finishing the sentence before I could manage to push the thought out of my mouth. She takes the box cautiously, almost as if waiting for come type of surprise to jump out of the box.

“Oh, Lilly and I already ate.” Jihye jumps in, smiling innocently from her comfortable position on the couch.

Diamond and I nod in unison, before exchanging a confused look, opening our food boxes, bracing ourselves for the worse. So many sending out the two hyperactive girls weren’t the best idea, after all, they were known for their infamous tricks and pranks, as we both knew that secretly, behind those innocent masks were sly creatures. Perhaps SME just happened to draw trainees that were mischievous at heart, like the famous line of evil maknaes. Seeing nothing suspicious I shrug, wiping away my meticulous thoughts as I dig in.

The 7 of us start eating our delicious food as Lily and Jihye chat away on the couch, as Diamond becomes physically attaching at the hand with her phone I tear my gaze away from my food box to listen in on the conversation with Eunmi and Soojung.

“I’m not that naive!” Qui protests, pouting as she glances over to give me the kicked puppy look. Dang, the girl was good at tugging at the heart strings.

“Guys, just leave the maknaes alone.” I mumble, giving Eunmi and Soojung a look that would hush them up for the moment.

“Ohmigosh, remember the times when we worked with the SNSD-sunbaes?” Eunmi gushes, tapping away with her chopsticks, “And we-” she points with her chopsticks gesturing in a circle at the four of them, “-were the back-up dancers for Twinkle?” she giggles lightly, bursting into the song. Once she finished the high notes, they all finish in a fit of giggles -Qui meanwhile was snorting, just her special version of laughter.

“Oh, but I didn’t have again pre-debut activities…” Soojung trails off from the side, seconds later she is attacked by hugs from all sides by Eunmi, Haneul, and Qui.

“Sorry unnie~” Haneul jumps in, her lazy persona easily forgotten as she lunges over to tackle her with a hug, “But we all still love you~”

“And talking about pre-debut activities,” Haneul turns, grinning at oblivious Diamond, who was still texting away on her phone. And that was my turn to exit the conversation, as the four girls pounce on the clueless girl, bombarding her with endless questions, as I turned to Mihyun.

“So, who are you calling?” I asked out of curiosity, leaning over to take a peek at her phone. She moves sluggishly, pulling away as a deep red blush comes upon her cheeks.

“Yixing.” she mumbles, a bit too softly for me to hear.

“What’s that?” I lean in closer, a rare smile tugging up on my lips.

Mihyun pouts, “Emily unnie~” she puts her finger to her lips, “Don’t you dare say—”

But just before she could complete her sentence, the lights turn off, cutting her off as the room is suddenly pitch black. For a moment there is stunned silence, before our startled shrieks echo our studio. Blackout.

Instantly, my conversation with Mihyun was forgotten, leaping into action I clamber to me knees, crawling in the direction of my bag as I fumble around for my phone. When my fingers brush pass it’s smooth surface, I grip it tightly, turning it on. Across from me, Diamond managed to act faster, the soft glow from her phone dancing across her p