Inspired by: Overwhelming OT9 feelings lately. Trying to complete this 'August 5' series before the 7th year anniversary. Uploaded these stories before but i edited them because apparently, I was damn bad at writing back then lol.

Characters: OT9

“Alright, good job girls. That’s the end for today, go home and take some rest. It’s a big day tomorrow.”  The practice session came to an end after eleven gruesome hours and Jaewon oppa dismissed us after that.

All of us then gathered in the middle of the practice room and sat down in a circle. Silence engulfed us while only heavy breathings were heard. It was probably the longest practice that we have had so far, going through the choreography over and over again, making sure that every angle, every kick and every finger movement matched with each other.

Usually, everyone would start complaining when practice sessions dragged on for more than five hours. Jessica would be clinging on to the air condition, saying how she would carry it on her back if she could because she swear she was melting. Sooyoung would probably faint because her stomach was crying for her attention. And the pranksters who barely had any attention span would be running around by the third hour.

However, it was not the same today. Everyone was eerily quiet and dead serious.  By now, those kids should be rushing out of the practice room, but all the members were us sitting together, cooling down from practice.

“Is it really happening? Are we really debuting?”

“Yeah. Apparently.”

“What’s our group name again?”

“Girls’ Generation, they said.”

Girls’ Generation. We cried a lot when we first heard of the name. The girls were expecting some cool English names, seeing how our idol mates had cool names like KARA, Wonder Girls, Big Bang, or even Super Junior. English group names were in the trend back then, and is still is currently. But of all names, we had ourselves an old-fashioned Korean name which was the same as the hit song that senior Lee Seung Chul sang.

But after a while, we got over it. It was still way better compared to the ‘Girls’ Team’ that the company had been calling us since trainee years.  At least it guaranteed us that we would be debuting soon. After all the trainings, all the scolding and practice, we were finally going to show ourselves to the public. Our years of enduring and hardships, all the blood, sweat and tears had finally paid off. We were going to make a name for ourselves. We are the Girls’ Generation.

“Seven years. It has finally paid off.” Jessica whispered, eyes b with tears.

Out of all the girls, Jessica came trained the longest for more than seven years, followed by Sooyoung. Both of them entered the company at a young age of 10, when they were only in elementary school. Back then, Sooyoung was shorter that Jessica. But she turned out to be the one with the longest legs now.

Next was Hyoyeon. That girl had been the dancing queen even before she stepped in as a trainee. She was known for her powerful popping and locking moves despite being so young back then, and she stood out the most every time during assessment period at the end of the month.

Yuri was the forth to enter. Maybe because she had tanned skin, but Yuri would always have that bright smile she wore on her face every time. But as playful and fun as she was, she was also probably one of the most innocent girls. The last time when we had assessment, she misunderstood talent showcase as performing special talents. When it was her turned, she came up on stage imitating a dinosaur instead of singing or dancing like the other trainees.

After that were Yoona and Seohyun, the two youngest members. Yoona has been beautiful since trainee days, which created a buzz when she entered the company. Everyone was talking about this beautiful girl whenever and wherever. Seohyun was scouted in public and she would always be remembered as the girl who sang a nursery rhyme for her auditions, our youngest.

Tiffany and I entered around the same time, and we stayed in the dorm together even until now. Tiffany was one brave girl, coming over to a foreign country by herself to chase her dreams. And she was always optimistic, showing her bright eye smiles every single time. Maybe because we stayed together prior to bunking in with the other girls, we understood each other well. I was so glad when Tiffany was going to debut in the same group as me because she was a friend that I cherished a lot, together with the other girls.

Sunny was the last to enter. Back then, we did not know that she was the founder’s niece. We only knew that she was a trainee that was transferred from another company. At first, we were worried about having to bond together with her, since she joined barely a year before we were supposed to debut. But we clicked well together than expected. As her name suggested, Sunny was bright and easy going. The group felt complete together with each and every one of us.

“Remember the day when they announced us as a group? We all cried badly.” Hyoyeon chuckled while reminiscing.

We cried so hard on that day. Partly because we were finally going to debut and show everyone that our training had paid off with all the skills that we had acquired. But the main reason was because we were all thankful that we were going to debut together in the same group.

Throughout the trainee period, all we did was to train in order to survive through each round of assessments, making sure that we make it through, so that we would be able to chase our dreams.  Each time, we would witness trainees being disqualified, having to leave halfway through. Some were close friends that had been through training together with us, while some here kind seniors giving advices and helping us whenever possible. We trained with an uncertainty, not knowing if we would make it through or not. Watching those trainees close to us leaving one by one, we learnt to cherish each other more. And when we were told that we were going to be in the same group, we could not help but cry, knowing that we would have great friends accompanying us on this journey together to chase the same dream.

“We were so excited when we received our first song. We even camped in the practice room just to practice our butts off.” Yuri laughed.

When we first received our song, we were so excited that we did not even leave the practice room at all. All the members even brought sleeping bags over just so that we can practice till late at night, perfecting our choreography to get ready for debut as soon as possible. That was probably the first and only time that we did not complain a single thing about practice.

Today was the same, except that everyone was feeling more nervous than ever. We wanted to camp in the practice room at first, but the company forbid us to do so, saying that we needed to have ample rest.

“Let’s go girls, we have a busy day ahead tomorrow.” I announced, and the rest of the girls started packing up before finally leaving.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow is what all of us had been waiting for. It is finally coming. It was what all of us have been dreaming ever since we were young. We were the few lucky ones that could have our childhood dream coming alive. Tomorrow, we would be debuting. We would no longer be called the ‘Girls Team’. Tomorrow, we will be Girls’ Generation.

---

It would be a lie if we said we had ample rest. Despite ending practice earlier yesterday, all of us were too excited and nervous to sleep. We ended up practicing and go through the choreography again in the living room of our dorm.

From the start of the journey to the studio, we have been practicing our moves even when we were in the bus, playing the song over and over again, making sure that every line rolls off our tongue naturally. Even until now in the waiting room, with all our families’ members were here to support us, we still could not help but feel all jittery. While making sure that everything is in place, the producer came in and called for us.

“Girls’ Generation, you’re up next!”

Giving one last hug to my parents, I took a deep breathe to calm myself down before gathering all the girls together to do our cheer.

I looked at every one of them in the eyes and said, “This is what we’ve been waiting for. It doesn’t matter if there’s no one cheering for us. Go up on stage, and do as how we have practiced. Let’s do this.”

All of us put our hands in the middle and cheered together, “Right now, it’s Girls’ Generation!”

We got into position and before we know it, bright lights shone on us with our group’s name being decorated on the stage. There was a crowd cheering for us. The music cued and it marked the start of our first ever public performance. We finally debuted as Girls’ Generation.