And with the worst timing ever, the dark window outside lit up with lightning, the clap of thunder trailing seconds after. Diamond and jihye stiffened noticeablely, their eyes widening with fear. ~lily.

03

Chapter

01 July 2014

❝ D-7 Chapter 03: Apprehension is in the Air ❤

“I was bleeding out rainbows in the shower.” Diamond twirls a long strand of blonde hair around in index finger. “Literally.”

“Don’t worry DI,” Jihye jumps in, “It looked like a massacre when I was done.”

“Pink for me,” I chime in, my pink ends, “But the color hasn't faded, so I’m quite surprised.”

“Oh, like P!NK FR!DAY!” Qui squeals, jumping up and down with excitement.

“So,” Emily joins into our conversation, squeezing herself onto the couch between me and Soojung, “Penny for your thoughts? It’s D-7, which means we have a week left.”

“Left for what?” I ask out of curiosity, “It’s just our debut day.”

“But also the day that we’re revealed to the world.” Eunmi rubs her arm, seeming be a bit down -more than her usual happy self. “But what’s wrong with that?” I swung my arm around her shoulders, “It’s our debut! After all these years, and now we’re so close I’m can almost taste it!”

“Nothing.” she mumbles, carefully avoiding my eye contact. The maknaes frown instantly, inching closer towards the golden haired girl. “Eunmi, what’s wrong?” Haneul pokes the girl’s knee with her elbow, while Qui propped her elbows up on the edge of the couch cushion. “You aren’t usually this blue.” Qui comments softly, eyeing the tears that were b on the edges of their power vocals eyes.

“It’s nothing, really. I’m just -really happy that I’m crying.” Lame excuse, I think to myself, and Eunmi was be either a bad actor or a terrible liar, but maybe both. “C’mon,” I urge her, giving her a reassuring squeeze, “Just tell us.” She sniffled softly, dabbing her tears with a tissue that Haneul magically fabricated almost out of nowhere. Wow, the maknaes sure like taking care of her. I note to myself, as I wiped a tear that began to roll down her cheek.

Suddenly the sound of the door opening made us all straighten up, whipping our heads around to face the incoming crowd. My jaw nearly drops when my eyes lock eye contact with a familiar pair of dark brown eyes. “Jongin?” I unconsciously squeeze Eunmi tighter, letting her turn away from the door to bury her tear-streaked face into my shoulder, “What are y—” but Jihye was faster, “Whatcha doing in our territory?” she flashes a bright grin —more like flirtatious but whatever— and jumps up to her feet, making the couch jump from the sudden lost of weight. Dang, this couch really is old —and saggy— wait, is that even a word?

I could only shrug mentally as a flicker of jealous crossed my features. Diamond let out a small snicker and despite her failed attempts of being subtle —all hail the not-so-subtle queen— she covered , making kissing noises at me instead. The rest of EXO pile into the room, I was too focused on Kai chatting quite animatedly with Jihye almost failing to notice how Eunmi stiffened as Baekhyun entered the room, a natural smile curling up his lips. Eunmi turned away, shrugging out of my protective arms as she allows Haneul and Qui to fuss over her condition.

“Alright everybody!” Hyunsik claps his hands to gather our attention, just as our SNSD sunbaes filter into the now crowded practice room, “P!nk Fr!day will be reheasing their debut song, ‘I Got a Boy’, and also perform SNSD’s Dancing Queen for you. This will also be recorded for their debut showcase and debut stage on Inkigayo.” he explains quickly, nodding over at our female manager, Minah, urging for her to continue. “As you know, P!nk Fr!day will be the sister counterpart for EXO, but also the younger generation to continue for SNSD, or Girls’ Generation. “ she nods once in our direction, signalling us to stand up and form a line in front of our seniors, who were now seated into front of the mirror before us. “Let’s get started, shall we? Only a week left girls!”

We nod anxiously, and Jihye beside me hulps noticeably, batting her eyes in Kai’s direction. While the latter picks uninterested at his shirt, I had to smirk at his action. Ha, serves you right, you flirt. Oops, now I just so plain childish. As I scold myself internally I nearly missed our introduction.

“Count the dates and color,” Emily starts off, “Annyeong, we are—” “P!NK FR!DAY!” we chant in unison, putting on dazzling smiles as we bow ninety degrees. Everyone claps politely, as smile unconsciously spread on their faces. I wasn’t sure if they were smiling from our introduction, silently laughing to themselves about how cheesy it seemed, or just reminiscing back to their debut days. But I’m just going to go with the third one for now.

Our two songs went by in a blur, I barely even had a grasp on what I was doing as I just surfed on, dancing in auto-pilot as I put on my brightest smile, putting effort and energy into each of my moves, dancing with full passion. Of course, I couldn’t match up to my fellow dance line members, Master Emily, Queen Diamond, but I knew better than to doubt myself. Come on Lily, I chant to myself, You are the lead dancer, you can do this! With those encouraging words echoing in my head, I pull away from all of my negative thoughts and just let go, letting out all of the sass. World, here I come.

“Whew, well that was tiring.” I commented, nudging Soojung beside me. “So what did you think? Think we’re ready for debut?” my brows raise when I catch the name on the title of the text message that was she sending. “O-oh, Taeminnie again?” I lean in, just as she snatches the phone out of my sight, “No,” she denies immediately, huffing as she blew air out of her nose —only her habit she does when she gets angry— and shields her phone from my hunting gaze. “You’re just in denial.” I giggle, catching for my bag, digging through it as I searched for my phone. “And you’re just in need a a new pair of eyes.”

“Yeesh, fiesty.” I say with the slight roll of my eyes, “I’m sure my vision was a perfect 20/20 last I checked.”

“Mhm, well I was actually texting Taeyeon unnie.” she continues, showing me her phone screen again, which without a doubt had Taeyeon’s smiling face on it as legitimate evidence. “See?” I sigh, “Alright, alright!” I held up my hand in mock surrender, “You win.” a small smile tugs up on her lips as she turns away from me, tucking in her earbuds as an excuse to leave the conversation. I only sigh and shift awkwardly, clearing my throat as I cautiously eye Jihye sitting on my other side. Jeez, I can’t wait to get back to the dorm.

Another long five minutes pass in the same awkward silence, until Minah spoke up from the front, “We’re here. And also, cover up since a few sasaengs decided to follow us. Use sunglasses, hats, anything to cover your hair, just don’t attract attention to yourself.” she steps out first, and Emily turns from the passenger seat to face us. “Alright girls, you heard her, I want you to tuck your hair out of sight, and do anything to cover your face as much as you can, okay?” We all nod silently, complying to her orders with a question, digging through our bags to find necessities.

I finger my pink ends thoughtfully before pull my hair into a high bun, using my beanie hat to cover it easily, I smile unconsciously and add my sunglasses, “Ready.” I announce, preparing my bag for our departure. Soojung however was a bit slower, silently asking me for help as I assisted with tucking her long red streaks under the hood of her jacket. “D.I, are you okay?” Jihye’s voice speaks up as she eyes the sli