It was around 7am and we had just left our dorm, in our stage outfits I might add. I’m not even sure why though, today we were filming Running Man! Shouldn’t we be in regular or maybe even athletic clothing? Oh well, I couldn’t be more excited either way. For one it was my first time being on the show. It always looked like it was so much fun too. All the members were hilarious and I was just so excited to be able to be on it. At the same time however, I am very, very tired. The past three days have been nothing but music show, after music show. Not to say I’m mad about that or anything I mean we did win on all three shows for the second time in a row. Winning just one was our original hope, but now having won six times, I repeat six, was crazy. Lee Sooman was so happy with us I swear he could have cried. Okay maybe I was getting a little ahead of myself, but he was extremely pleased with us.

I was definitely beginning to feel our success, and it couldn’t have felt better.

Tiffany and the rest of the SNSD members were also proud of us, which brings me to my second reason of being so excited to be here. Today’s show was an Idol Special, and that means that Tiffany was going to be here too! Along with Sunny, who I was also glad to see, I don’t think I’ve seen either of them in person for almost two weeks. Other groups were here too, but they clearly weren’t as important to me.

It was almost 7:30 when we arrived. Because I slept most of the way here I wasn’t really sure where we were exactly, but as soon as we stepped out of the van there were people in our faces. Thankfully it was staff members.

“Follow me.” We did so. Our manager was close behind with a back pack and Yuri’s stage outfit in hand. I was pretty bummed we all couldn’t be here today, but thankfully Yuri had a final call back audition today for some drama. So he couldn’t have come even if he wanted, which made me feel a little better for leaving him out. I really hoped he got the part though.

It was just Sooyoung and I today and we were determined to win. “We will be pairing all the Running Man members up with an idol group, so please pick a number out of the hat and go to the designated room.”

“Uhm, okay.” I reached my hand inside and could only feel a few pieces of paper left. Ah some of the groups must already be here. I opened the piece I had pulled out and it had a big number ‘3’ on it. The staff member thanked us and wished us luck and then left.

“I wonder what this is all about,” I asked aloud.

“I know, they’re not even filming yet,” hyung spoke up.

“Who do you hope we get,” Sooyoung asked as we started walking to the room marked ‘3.’ That was a good question.

“Hmm hopefully we get Jihyo-ssi, she’s my favorite,” I announced. I wasn’t lying either, I thought she was the best. She was very funny and clever and pretty, and okay, I might be a huge fan of hers. It would be awesome to have her. “Oh! Or Jongkook-ssi. If we get anything sports related we’d automatically win?”

“Oooh yeah you’re right. Haha-ssi or Jaesuk-ssi would be good too, pretty much anyone but Sukjin-ssi, right?” I hummed in agreement as we reached the door.

Sooyoung opened it slowly to reveal that we were paired up with Jihyo-ssi! Woo! This was going to be the amazing!

“Wah~ We are so going to win today,” she cheered as she saw us.

We greeted ourselves in idol format as she then greeted us.

“Ne, hello, hello, It’s nice to meet you guys. Please feel free to call me Noona, since it might get a little fast pace out there it’s easier to call then my name.”

We nodded and agreed. “Do-Do you know why we’re in here?”

“Ah right! You both have to teach me the dance to your latest song. This is how were going to start the show. All the teams will be revealed and we’ll show off all the dances and everything.” I nodded. Ahh so that was why it’s all kept a secret.  “I believe you have an outfit for me?”

“Oh, of course,” our manager had taken a few steps near her to hand off Yuri’s outfit.

“Ah since I’m already wearing black pants I’ll just put this hoodie over top of the tank top I have under this shirt. Unnie come here for a second.”  

A lady then came to her with a blanket and then held it up, so she could change really quickly. A minute or so later she was done and we began.

Thankfully our dance wasn’t too complicated this time around. She got it down pretty quick to be honest. I was surprised. I mean we only did a little section of it, but still. She even wanted to lip sync Yuri’s part, it was so funny and surprisingly well done at the same time. We practiced it one more time before we decide to take a rest as we waited for the next set of instructions.

“This song is pretty adorable, didn’t you write it too right?”

“Ah, yeah I did,” I said shyly. Wow Song Jihyo knew about me writing it? Omo. We really were bigger than I thought.

“Oh, jinjja?” I nodded. “Whoever it’s about is really lucky, you seem really nice. I just hope you can be competitive too! We have to beat all the other teams!”

“Don’t worry noona,” Sooyoung said. “Taeyeon is super competitive. Once he sets his mind, it’s done.”

“Ah good. There are going to be a few tough teams today I figure.”

“Oh really? Who else is going to be here? We know about SNSD, but no one after that.”

“Well SNSD was one that I knew, and then 2PM is here, and of course you two. There were a couple newly debuted groups too but I forget who exactly.” Jeesh, 2PM was always there.

“2PM is literately all made of muscle, so they’ll be the team to beat right,” Sooyoung asked.

“Yeah, it might depend on who they get paired up with too.”

“You’re right,” I started. “I hope-“

“We’re ready for your team, please follow me,” a man said after opening our door. No one was around. Strange. “You’ll be getting in your van and then exiting the van in the order in which we arrange you. You should be fourth in line. Okay?”

“Alright, I understand,” my manager replied before leading us to the van. Once inside he spoke again. “Are you guys ready?”

“Yeah,” Sooyoung cheered.

As we waited in the van we began to make some small talk.

“Who did you guys really want to be paired with?” I looked at Sooyoung. “Ani, its fine, just tell me,” she laughed.

“My top choice would have probably been Jongkook, since he’s so strong, he’d be a real force you know?” Sooyoung explained. “Taeyeon-ah really wanted to be with you though.” Omo!

“Oh jinjja?” I nodded and looked away. Gah, why was this so embarrassing? “I haven’t been this lucky in teams in I don’t know how long,” she said making us all laugh. “Oh, in case we have to drive today, can either of you drive,” she asked, thankfully changing the subject.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve driven though,” I explained. While Sooyoung shook his head no. “I haven’t driven in probably three years.” Which wasn’t a lie either. When I was still a trainee I got my license so I could drive home when I got time off, but that rarely happened.

“Oh jinjja? How old are you guys?”

“I’m 22 and he’s 21.”

“How old are you noona?” I just looked at Soo. Weren’t you supposed to not ask a lady’s age? Aish, this kid…

“I’m about 9 years older than you,” she replied.

“Wait, you’re not in your twenties?” I was shocked too. She didn’t look that old at all. I thought she was closer to our age.

“Nope. I’m 30 this year.”

“Wow,” I said. ”I really thought you were like, mid-twenties.”

She then laughed. “You know, I think we’re going to get along great today.”

It was about ten minutes later when it was finally our turn. As our van pulled around I could begin to make out who the first three groups were. One of them was the newly debuted group called Infinite. I recognized the one kid, I’m pretty sure I ran in to him at a music show last week. Then I wasn’t sure who the group next to them was, not by looks at least, once they said a name I would surely know. The third team however was SISTAR. I knew that for a fact because one of the two girls that were there was named Hyorin? I’m not exactly sure, it was Hyo something. Regardless, she had an amazing voice. I was definitely a fan. I’m pretty sure they debuted at around the same time we did.

“I hope we don’t have a foot race today,” Sooyoung spoke from in front of me. Jihyo noona and I both looked at him. “The short girl in gold there,” he pointed to the girl beside Hyorin. “Is Bora, she is the quickest girl I’ve ever seen.” Now that he mentions it I think I have seen her run on a few programs. She really was no joke.

“Oh they have Jongkook too,” Jihyo pointed out. Just great. “It’s fine don’t worry. We’ll still pull through.”

The director gave our manager the go ahead and then Sooyoung opened the door.

“Ahhh TYS!” “What is she doing there,” the other Running Man members called out as we walked to the platform that we were supposed to be preforming our dance on. Just as we stepped on, Gary-ssi called out to her.

“You’re looking happier than I’ve seen you in a while Jihyo-yah!” Everyone started to laugh. We all knew about their ‘Monday Couple’ status.

“Yeah, I’m happy,” she replied with a smile after she looked at Soo and then me.

Our music started and we waited a few seconds until the part we practiced came on. Once it did however, she nailed all the moves correctly. The guys behind us seemed really surprised as well.

“Good job! You looked really good Jihyo,” Gary called again.

“Yes, we have TYS and Jihyo as a team. It’s good to meet you two,” Jaesuk-ssi spoke. “I’m going to be the host today; please talk amongst yourself while we make sure the next car is in position.”

I nodded just as I heard Gary-ssi talk yet again. “Jihyo-yah did you hear mine and Jongkook’s teams when you guys all came out?”

“Ani, what’d they say? Were they trash talking,” she asked as she put her fists up. We laughed with her. Yeah I was glad we were on her team. Even if we lost it would still be fun!

“No, nothing like that. They both got so excited,” Jongkook explained.

“Yeah I heard one of them behind me saying ‘oh my god TYS oppas’,” he quoted in a high pitched voice.

“Ah jinjja, which one of them do you like the most?” Oh goodness. Thank god Tiffany wasn’t out here. The last thing we needed today was an angry Fany.

“Taeyeon oppa,” the shorter of the two spoke. Man, and I didn’t even know who they were off the top of my head. I felt so bad.

“What are you doing Taeyeon-ah, introduce yourself,” Jihyo ordered.

“Oh ne, I am TYS’s leader Taeyeon. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Waah~ I’m Eunji of Apink, it’s nice to meet you too.” Oh! I knew of Apink! They had this one really catchy song that always got stuck in my head.

“Ahh Bubibu right?”

“Ne! Omo, daebak!”

“Ahh she’s so cute, who is your favorite from TYS,” Jihyo then asked the taller of the two.

“Oh uhm, Yuri oppa.”

“Aish, never mind you then. It’s okay Sooyoung-ah, we’ll find someone for you,” noona teased.

“Oh the next car is arriving!” We all stopped and waited for the next group to pull up. It had to be either SNSD or 2PM, but I figured they were saving SNSD for last. Omo, I wonder who they had from Running Man. Looking around at the others I narrowed it down to either be Haha-ssi or Sukjin-ssi. For their benefits I really hoped it wasn’t the latter. He almost never won. Anything…

The car pulled up and out of it stepped Chansung, Sukjin-ssi, and the Nichkhun. Great. My girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend. We at least had to beat them. Everyone cheered as they walked up and then started to perform their newest song. The two girl groups here loved it, but Infinite and Soo and I just kind of stood there.

“Alright and to start off our veteran groups we have 2PM… and Sukjin,” Jaesuk-ssi announced. “Oh the next car is already here, someone’s driver is a little impatient. Please welcome our last group.”

The door opened and Haha-ssi stepped out causing everyone to groan, that was until Sunny stepped out. Everyone then went in to fan mode for a second. You could hear Kwangsoo-ssi going crazy. Gary-ssi was also a little shocked. Then when Tiffany stepped out I swear Kwangsoo-ssi was about to die.

They made their way to the mini stage and preformed their song ‘Run Devil Run’ with Haha. He wasn’t doing too bad, until he started to improvise a little and mix in his own moves. It was pretty funny though. I’m just glad they didn’t get Sukjin-ssi.  When it was done they introduced themselves to the camera and then took their place in line. Tiffany didn’t look at me once. Ugh, how rude…

“Today we will be holding the King of the Idol competition!” He paused for applause. “The race you will all be participating in will be to celebrate the beginning of summer and they are all missions that can be done in the summer heat.” Good thing it’s pretty hot this week. Seoul has been having a mini heat wave the past few days. “The title of today’s race is ‘Hello Summer Vacation!’” We all cheered again.

“I will now announce the rules. At the end of each mission you will be given a certain number of points based on the rank at which you place. Those points will then play a factor in the last mission. Also the total amount of points at the very end of today’s competition will determine the King of the Idols, so please try your hardest!”

“Ah so if we win we have a better chance at an advantage and winning,” Sukjin-ssi asked.

“Ne, that’s correct.”

A wave of ‘ooh’s went around.

“Are these our teams,” Jongkook-ssi asked next. “We’ll be playing against everyone?”

“Yes, the Idols that you are standing with right now are your teams…But,” he paused. Oh my god but what? What twist could they throw in with teams? “But since it has been brought to our attention that the game may end up unfair since some of the teams are all male, the production team has made a slight change this morning,” he paused again.  “You’ll all be pairing together.”

I could’ve done a backflip I was so excited. I looked at Tiffany who was now totally looking at me. Her eyes were lit up just as I knew mine were. I looked back to Jaesuk-ssi to listen to the rest of the instructions before I got too ahead of myself.

“Ne, since we planned this just recently we didn’t have a way planned to pick who chooses their partners first, so we want a member from each of the girl groups to come up and play rock, paper, and scissors.” I heard some laughter and then I saw Sunny, Bora, and the girl from Apink whose name I didn’t know all step up to the center. Sunny fighting, I mentally cheered.

The first round the played ended in a draw. Oh my god this was so nerve wracking and the games haven’t even begun yet. The second round I couldn’t see all that well, but it looks like the girl from Apink won. Damnit! I really hope they don’t pick us. The third round played and Sunny beat Bora.

“Naeun-ssi wins first pick and then Sunny-ssi and finally Bora-ssi,” Jaesuk-ssi cheered. “Naeun-ssi, you get first choice…but,” he paused again.  Here we go with the buts again. Butts, I chuckled to myself a few times before snapping back out of it. “The chosen team can then say no to your decision. If they do deny the choice they themselves have to immediately choose the team they want to be with, and so on and so on. Does that all make sense?”  Everyone agreed. “Okay, we’ll give you a minute or so to talk strategy.”

Thank goodness. We really had to be with SNSD today and it looks like we will now. I was really worried there for a second.

“So who do you guys want,” Jihyo quickly asked after he was done speaking.

“SNSD,” I replied.

“That’s what I figured. Will they choose you?”

“Of course they will,” Sooyoung stated.

She laughed. “Aren’t they good friends with 2PM though?”

“Aniyo, noona. It’ll be fine.”

“Alright, I’ll believe in you two for now. But if we don’t get SNSD let’s go with Jongkook and the fast girl.”

We went back to our positions on the line where we once we standing. As soon as all the other groups finished Jaesuk-ssi started talking again. “Okay Apink and Gary, have you made your decision?”

“Ne, we want TYS.” Oh no, this is what I didn’t want.

“Ooh reuniting the Monday couple? TYS do you accept or deny this pairing?”

I looked at Sooyoung who gave me the look I knew meant that he wanted me to do the talking. Ugh. “We deny. Sorry!”

“Omo, we didn’t expect the first decision to be denied, but alright,” he said with a laugh. “TYS since you denied you must now choose. Who is your pick?”

“SNSD,” I said without a second’s hesitation. I looked to them after I spoke waiting for their answer when I saw Nichkhun and Chansung both smirking and sort of laughing at us. Did they think they would choose them? Omo, they must have.

“Ooh, I bet everyone wants to be paired with SNSD. Sunny-ssi, Tiffany-ssi, let’s hear it. Do you accept or deny?”

I saw the two of them look at each other. “Accept.” Whew, I let the breath out that I had been holding in. I think I was slightly nervous. Omo, could you imagine if they denied us, I would have probably killed whoever they paired up with.

“And there we have our first group, please enter the van marked number one and head to the next location.”

We did as he ordered, but once we got out of the cameras view the production crew stopped us so we could change outfits. They gave us all matching shirts, which were pink after Tiffany was given the decision. After quickly changing our outfits we saw the other teams walking in our direction. It looked like SISTAR and Infinite were together and then 2PM and Apink.

“Hurry let’s go! Hurry, hurry, hurry,” Haha called. I then scurried in to the van we were given for today where I was sure I felt a hand on my rear as I got inside. I heard a giggle escape Tiffany’s lips as I finally took my seat in the back row. I swear this girl was going to be the death of me.

A couple of minutes later someone finally broke the silence. “Oh I forgot. I’m Haha. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh yeah, we know,” Sooyoung laughed. “I’m Sooyoung, TYS’s maknae.”

“And I’m Taeyeon TYS’s leader.”

“Oh daebak. I thought it was the other way around,” he laughed. “I feel your pain though kid. I’m not the most vertically gifted. Oh why I’m thinking of it, is it okay to talk comfortably with you all?”

“Ne,” Tiffany said. “You can, we’ll call you Oppa and Unnie too is that okay?”

“Of course,” Jihyo said from beside her.

“Oh you two can call me hyung, or just Haha, it’s up to you.”

It was about fifteen minutes later and we were all getting along very well.

“So it’s really true that you are close?”

“Isn’t it obvious Haha? They aren’t awkward with each other like other idols are with each other,” Jihyo said sassily.

“Yeah, actually were best friends with TYS,” Sunny said. “They-“

“We’re here,” the driver announced. “The mission is to find a place inside and wait for further instructions.”

We thanked him and hurried out of the car.

“Go, go,go,” Haha said as he rushed us out of the car. I didn’t understand why, no one else was even here.

“Sports Center,” Tiffany said in her perfect English. She switched back to Korean, “What do you think we’re doing here?”

I didn’t answer, no one did. We were all too concentrated on going inside to find out. Since we had quite a bit of a lead on the other teams I was in no hurry.

Once we stepped inside I knew exactly what we were about to do. The room we were in had a large pool inside it. That wasn’t the best part though, inside said swimming pool was an island. It was clear that we were all going to have to duke it out to stay on top. I obviously don’t know all the details, but that had to be somewhat right. Right?

On the far side of the pool were three large mats. “The driver said to find our place right? Let’s go to the middle mat so were closest to the island.”

“Taeyeon-ah, do you know what we’re doing here?” Jihyo was looking at me with a very confused look.

“Aniyo noona. It’s just were probably going to have to fight to try to get on there or something don’t you think?”

“Ah, yeah that is a good guess. Quick, let’s think of a strategy.”

With that we began to discuss on what we should do a few minutes later everyone had agreed to go with the plan that Sooyoung thought up. Even though he was a bit crazy at times, he sure was a genius the rest of the time.

We didn’t have to wait much longer until the other teams began to arrive. The 2PM and Apink team were the next ones inside. They took the mat closest to the door and the other team took the mat to the left of us.

“Alright. Everyone get lined up, we’ll be starting soon,” the director announced from across the pool where all the cameras had already been set up.. All of us did as ordered and soon Jaesuk-ssi began speaking.

“Today your first mission will be here at this Sports Facility. This mission is called ‘Swimming Pool Island.’” I knew it. “All 18 of you will start off at the same time and you have to pull yourself up on to this float you see in the middle here.”

“Ah good call Taeyeon-ah,” Haha praised quietly. We didn’t want to interrupt.

He continued. “But this is on a first come first serve basis.” I could hear people groaning in frustration all around me. “At the end of each three minute round the people left on top of the island will pass. The team to get all of its members through first will be the winner, okay?”

Omo, that wasn’t what we had planned for. Instead we had come up with a plan for something completely different. Okay, this was going to be a problem.

“Guys, new plan,” Sooyoung said sneakily from behind me. We couldn’t let the other teams know we already had a strategy. “Taeyeon and I will get on the island first and then help all of you up.”

“What if we don’t make it through,” Sunny asked softly. Crap. That was going to be a problem too.

“Uhh, then we’ll just jump off and try again next round?” He seemed unsure, but that was a genius plan. I just hope it worked out.

“That’s brilliant,” Jihyo complimented. “Yah, I knew I liked you guys.”

“Alright, we’ll start on the count of three, 1,2,3!” Wah! That was a quick start.

I quickly leaped in the water and made my way to the island. As predicted Sooyoung was the first there. He easily pulled himself up and then helped me the rest of the way up. Everyone else then started to climb up. Oh god what do I do, what do I do?! Quick Taeyeon think.

“Soo you help and I’ll protect.”

“Sounds good.”

As soon as I said that I could see that Chansung was already on the platform. Nope. I pushed his back and he went sliding back in to the water. It looked like he was trying to pull one of his teammates up. Woo, two down, too many more to go. A kid in green tried to get up next, I think his name was Sungkyu? I don’t know, but since I already had the upper hand I was able to quickly push him off. I felt someone approaching me from behind.  Oh crap I missed one! I quickly grabbed an arm. As I turned to see who it was, I finally realized that it was Jihyo.

“Oh mianhae noona, I thought you were another team. Help me push people down.”

I could hear some of what Jaesuk-ssi was saying but not all of it, it was hard to hear with everyone yelling and splashing about. I did hear however that someone had a hold on Sunny. Crap, crap, crap. We weren’t going through this round.

“We have a minute left in this round,” Sooyoung announced. Just as he spoke someone tried to get up right in front of me. Wow, what an idiot, I thought. I went to push his shoulders but then realized they were wearing pink.

“Ahh, hyung!” I tried to pull him up, but something was holding him back, well someone I should say. I looked to see Nichkhun and Chansung holding on to his legs. Damn! All this adrenaline must have kicked my brain into think mode because before I knew it I already had a plan. “Yah, Soo, Noona, help pull him up.” They stopped what they were doing and helped me hold on to Haha. I looked at the timer and saw we had 30 seconds left. Here goes nothing.  I jumped off the island right beside Nichkhun.

“What? What is this? He voluntarily jumped off? Wow, daebak. This is what I like to see,” Jaesuk-ssi announced over the speakers.

Quickly I was able to free one of Hyung’s legs from their grasp. Thankfully it was enough and he was then pulled up on top. Just as he reached the top I saw Sooyoung jump off and then heard the buzzer ring.

Yes! I was cheering so loudly in my head. Our plan actually worked.

Jihyo and Haha were cheering loudly from the top as well! I saw someone else on top though. Damn, while we were getting Haha up it looks like Bora made it to the top as well. Gah, at least we got two of them.

The staff then told us all to line up on the side of the pool once again. As we were getting out I found Tiffany.

“Fany-ah, what happened,” I asked softly as I got closer to her.

“Stupid Gary oppa and Jongkook oppa grabbed us.”

“What? Are you okay? Are you hurt,” I asked franticly. I swear if they left one mark on my-

“Ani, Tae, they just didn’t let us get to the float. I’m fine,” she said with a small smile. Today was another blessing and curse. I was so happy to be able to do all this with her, but at the same time if I made one slip up with her the cameras would see. There were so many here today, we both would have to be on our best behavior.

Once we were out of the water I found Soo. “Hey we need to somehow get them up too,” I said. “They blocked them last round.”

“I know, I saw it.” He looked deep in thought. “Ahha! We’ll just pull them with us as we jump in. You get up first and I’ll stay on the bottom making sure they got up. Would that work?”

“It works for me,” Tiffany stated as I thought about it for a second.

“Yeah that seems like it would, and if you can’t make it up I’ll jump off again.”

“Right! Sounds go-.”

“Alright we only had three pass the first round, it was an amazing turn of events. Bora-ssi, Haha-ssi, and Jihyo-ssi are through! Who thought those two would be two of the first…” He paused and everyone started to laugh. “Will TYS dominate the island again this round? Let’s find out! 1, 2, 3!”

The four of us jumped in. I grabbed on to Tiffany’s hand and pulled her with me as I quickly made my way to the island again. It was me who arrived first this time. I pulled myself to the top and quickly turned around and pulled Tiffany up. Naeun-ssi tried to pull her back down, but Soo finally got there and put an end to that.

It was Tiffany and I now at the top. “Ah Tae, what do I do, he’s coming up!” I looked to where she was looking and saw the other member of Infinite almost all the way up. Crap!

“Fany, pull Sunny up.” I left where I was and slid across the island. It was too late though he was up. I tried to push him off but then he grabbed on to me. Oh no, this isn’t good. As I was wrestling with him for what was probably 20 seconds, I saw a couple of other people start to get up as well. Shoot!

Our plan was backfiring, and it was backfiring hard. I finally got an arm loose and was able to get a little better advantage on him, but he really would not let go though.

Just then I saw a pink savior in the form of Sooyoung push down the two others that were trying to come up. After that, he came upon my side, helping me peel the green shirted guy off and push him in to the water.

“Ah thanks Soo!”

“No problem Taeye-“

“Taeyeon!” Crap, Tiffany!

I looked to her only to notice that someone had gotten up enough to grab a hold of her leg. I grabbed on to her and attempted to keep her up on top of the little island. “Soo, get that girl off of her.”

I then heard a loud ‘assa!’ from behind me followed by a splash. Jesus Sunny, why are you so good at everything? I shook my head.

“I can’t, she’s not budging!” Oh no what should we do?

“Then pull her up! We’re all up here, just get her off our backs!”

“Yah,” was all I heard until I heard a girl’s voice squealing. Sooyoung had literally just yanked her clean out of the water. Jesus Christ Soo, I couldn’t focus for too long however. Tiffany was safe now though, and so were the rest of our teammates, along with Eunji of Apink. After a few more blocks and splashes the buzzer finally went off.

I let out a huge breath, or maybe I was just a little out of breath. Regardless, our team was all the way through! We won the first round. Wow that was amazing to even think about. We won!

“Wow,” Jaesuk-ssi marveled. “The SNSD TYS team really isn’t messing around today! After the results of round two Taeyeon-ssi, Sooyoung-ssi, Tiffany-ssi, Sunny-ssi, and Eunji-ssi have all passed. Also, all of the Pink Team members have made it through! Congratulations. Let’s prepare for the next round shall we?”

We were welcomed with many cheers as we came to the sideline with the other two from our team.

“Yah that was awesome Sooyoung-ah!” “I almost had a heart attack, I thought Tiffany was a goner for sure.”

“Congratulations oppa.” I turned behind me and saw Eunji smiling at me. Oh no.

“Oh, uh thanks. You did well too,” I said back. I could feel Tiffany’s eyes glaring at me and my face start to heat up because of it. Omo.

“Ahh so cute,” Jihyo almost squealed. Please don’t make this worse. “Eunji-yah is Taeyeon-ah your ideal type?” Too late…

As I pulled myself up to sit on the edge of the pool beside Tiffany I heard a faint ‘yes.’

 “Oooh, Sunny-ah, Tiffany-ah, who are your ideal types?”

“Taeyeon-ah,” Tiffany answered back immediately sounding very confident in her answer.

“Ooh, omo! Sunny-ah?”

“My ideal has sorta changed recently,” she said curiously. Hmm? “Ne, I think it’s more like someone like Sooyoung-ah here these days.”

“Wow does everyone love TYS these days,” Haha asked with a hint of jealousy.

“Bora-yah what about you? Is someone in TYS your ideal?”

“Aniyo. All their members are very attractive though.”

“Ahh, well then forget you,” Jihyo teased again. It really was starting to feel like having an older sister. I smiled to myself and then thanked Bora for the compliment. Turning my attention back to the other teams I watched them getting ready to start.

The next round started and ended before I even knew. Wow, it totally felt way longer when I was up there. Jongkook-ssi, Hyorin, L, and Chansung all made it through the third round. All that was left of the Infinite and SISTAR team was Sungkyu-ssi and Kwangsoo-ssi. The 2PM and Apink team still had four members left.

“Who do you think will take second?”

“I don’t know hyung,” I responded. “Probably the 2PM and Apink team, right? Since it will be four vs two this round don’t you think they have a better advantage?”

“That’s what I was thinking too,” Sunny chimed in. As I looked to her I saw Tiffany smiling at me from beside me, which caused me to start smiling. I quickly nudged her with my elbow, but then the sound went off to signal the next round.

It went just like I predicted too. The four members from team 2PM/Apink ended up on top. The crew had everyone get out of the water and line up in the order that we won by teams. I wasn’t even sure when they were filming anymore. There were cameras everywhere. It seemed like every team had at least two personal camera men on top of all the other cameras already here. I shook my head and continued in to position.

“The points will all be different based on what place you came in. Please come and see the board.” He then revealed a large score board kind of thing. I looked at the points for our team. It read ‘Pink Team – 10 points.’ It looked like the green team, which was Infinite and SISTAR received 5 points for third place and the blue team, that was Apink and 2PM had received 7 points.

After some cheering and small talk between all the teams we were giving new clothes to change in to. Sooyoung, hyung and I all took our pink colored polo shirts and went in to the changing rooms. Our manager quickly found us and gave us a new pair of swimming trunks as well. Thank god. I would rather not sit in wet shorts for the next who knows how long.

I was half way changed when the 2PM team guys and Kwangsoo-ssi all came in. the Infinite members were already almost done.

“Yah you guys are so lucky to be with SNSD,” Kwangsoo-ssi called to us.

“No kidding.” I heard another voice say. “Who is everyone’s ideal out of the people here today?” It was Jaesuk-ssi.

“Bora.” “Tiffany.” “Sunny.” “Naeun.” “Definitely Tiffany.” That one got my attention. I turned around to see that it was Nichkhun who had said that and he was looking directly at me. Sorry fool she is MINE, I really wanted to say in his face, but I decided against it. I then quickly put my dry shirt on and left the room.

“Taeyeon-ah.” I turned to smile at the voice I knew all too well.

“Tiffany-ah. Are you ready for the next round,” I asked nervously. I couldn’t figure out why I was so nervous around her today. I quickly blamed it on all the cameras that were around. I guess I was just afraid I would screw up and get caught.

“Mhm,” she voiced. “Hey, calm down.” She took a step closer to me. I was really hoping that she wouldn’t have picked up on that. “Don’t worry about it. Relax. Other idols act all giddy and cute around their ideals all the time on other shows too.” I didn’t quite understand. I guess the look on my face said that as well. “Look Tae, if we act all cautious people might suspect something. Just act normal and be cute with me okay,” She asked as she did that cute little pouty thing with her face that I could never say no to. Oh god she was adorable.

“Okay, I’ll try.” She did have a point. I guess there were never any huge scandals after two idols were especially friendly on variety shows. Usually just small articles saying ‘Oh this idol hugged this one, or he said this to her, blah blah.’ I don’t recall anything too major coming from one. Even the fact that we had been inside SNSD’s dorm had been sort of brushed aside due to it being brought out on a variety show like setting.

At least on the news sites. On the more social sites however, they were always huge topics, especially amongst the fans that were diehard fans of certain pairings.

“No, Tae. Don’t try. Just do. Act like people already know about us,” she said firmly. “Just no touching or kissing.” I smiled at her.