February 2015

News of Jimin and Hanni dating was still circling around Polaris, and although each of the girls had tried to push off the unwanted attention, fans and netizens continued to make their lives a misery. Jimin had indeed admitted that she and the Acid Teochii rapper were dating and the CEO wasn’t very happy, to say the least. After speaking with Ace, they had decided to just accept the fact that the rumour would be confirmed and told both groups to brace themselves for the onslaught that was coming their way. 

Acid Teochii’s fans had been a little more accepting, given the terrible time that they had been having, although they weren’t very nice to Jimin; Polaris’ fans had been angry in the extreme, damning Hanni and campaigning for Jimin to leave the group. Some had even gone as far as sending death threats to the singer. As Jimin’s closest friend in the group, Gayoon was devastated for her, even though she had been putting on a brave face. To top it all off, Suji had been stuck in the middle of it as she wasn't exactly a Polaris member, but they all treated her as one anyway; the new girl hadn't known what to do when she had come back from her weekend off to find the dorm quiet and solemn. She had gone to stay in her old trainee dorm while the girls pulled themselves together, giving them some much-needed space.

So as a way to cheer them all up, she had spoken with her older sister about coming to the dorm to meet the group as a whole for the first time. It would have been even better if they had been able to wrangle a day off from their schedules and various practices, but Gayoon’s sister knew that they were in the middle of a comeback and had assured the younger that it was okay and that she had been curious about what their life was like with SM Entertainment anyway. 

The vocalist got up on the morning of the 13th of February with a light heart and a smile on her face, trying her hardest not to wake Eunjung, who was still fast asleep in the bed on the other side of the room; her good mood lasted all the way through the making of a cup of green tea and preparing some rice in the rice cooker - even as she heated up some leftover soup from the night before that Subin had made, the warmth that came from the knowledge that she would be seeing Yura surrounded her like a blanket. 

It wasn’t until she sat down on the sofa with one big bowl of breakfast (she didn’t see the point in separate bowls and she liked to mix the broth with the rice, much to the oldest member’s disgust) and the news that her happiness began to fade. 

“... Storm rolling in over Seoul may be a risk to those who are travelling; the weather office advises residents of the shown areas to remain indoors until it has blown over.” the weather presenter told her, gazing into the camera solemnly. There was a brief moment of numbness, then Gayoon felt bitter disappointment wash over her. 

“Morning Yoonie,” Subin called softly as she entered the sitting room, covering with her hand as she yawned. “You’re up early,” she added suspiciously. “Why are you up first?”

Gayoon sighed. “My sister was meant to be coming over today,” she reminded the rapper, who frowned.

“Yeah, I know! We’re all looking really forward to it. The question is, why do you look so sad?”

“There’s a bad storm coming in, unnie,” Gayoon explained, waving her soup spoon around in the air for added emphasis. “People who are travelling have been told to not go out, so it looks like we won’t be seeing her after all. Aish! And this is her last day off work in months, too.”

Subin plopped down into the seat beside the second oldest Polaris member and gave her a hug. “Cheer up,” she advised. “Maybe she’ll get here before the storm hits! Then we can just hang out with her here and order take away food-”

“There’s no use being so positive about it, unnie, we can’t help the weather and it seems like the weather can’t help us. I don’t want to get disappointed when she doesn’t come, and it looks like she’ll be stuck where she is in Daegu-” 

“Kim Yuri,” Subin cut off the girl’s babbling sharply and the brunette gulped; she knew she was in trouble when Subin or Eunjung called her by her real name. “Stop it right now. You could at least have the decency to call her first, you know. You always do this, you always work yourself up for no reason.” She sighed and stole a spoonful of the rice-soup mixture, grimacing before picking up the phone that Gayoon had left on the coffee table. “Here, call her now while I wake up the others and double check. I’ll be back in a minute... Or twenty. I’ll have to wake up Chaerin, and you know how she is.” 

Subin patted Gayoon on the shoulder one last time before standing and making her way over to the bedrooms, heading for Eunjung first, as she was the easiest and probably the least dangerous to wake up.

Gayoon watched the rapper go for a moment or two before sighing again and unlocking her phone, typing in her sister’s mobile number and pressing call. There were three rings that she counted before Yura picked up.

“Hello, Kim Yura speaking,” 

“Unnie, hi,” Gayoon greeted, deciding not to waste any time. “Are you still coming over today?”

“Um, yes? Why would I not come and visit my favourite sister?” Yura answered, her tone making it clear that she thought Gayoon was stupid for asking. “We’ve had this planned for weeks! I got today off especially! Why, am I not allowed anymore? Do you have a schedule?”

“No, unnie, it’s nothing like that,” the vocalist assured her. “It’s just... Didn’t you watch the news? There’s a bad storm coming over Seoul today and travellers have been told to stay at home,”

“NOTHING is going to stop me from seeing you, Yuri-ah,” she assured the younger girl. “I’m turning on the TV right now... And the weather presenter just said it’s due to hit in the early afternoon, so there’s plenty of time! Plus, you know I booked a room at a hotel so I can just drive home in the morning. Pabo! I can’t believe you would worry over this!”

Gayoon exhaled, smiling again. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I was just wanting to check, you know? I was sure that we were going to have to cancel. Subin-ah told me not to worry so much, but you know me.”

“Pabo,” Yura scolded lightly again. “I’ll be over at ten like we agreed, okay? I’ll grab some food on the way over and we can eat before your practice! See you later, I’m hanging u-”

Gayoon grinned as she pulled her phone away from her ear; as always, her sister had ended the call before she had even finished her sentence.

*

“GAYOON-AH! THERE’S SOMEONE AT THE DOOR!”

“AND?” the vocalist in question yelled back to Chaerin from her and Eunjung’s bedroom. 

“GO ANSWER IT, ! IT’S PROBABLY YOUR SISTER!” 

Grumbling, Gayoon opened the door and glared a hole through Chaerin as she stalked past her towards the front door of the dorm. Sure enough, when she glanced through the spyhole, there was her sister standing holding two bags full of food. She yanked the door open and grinned at Yura.

“Unnie,” she greeted. 

“Yuri-ah! You’ve really changed, you know! You look so different with your dyed hair! Dad nearly had a heart attack when he saw your concept images and trailers, I tell you - it was hilarious to watch-” the older girl babbled as she swept into the dorm. 

“AW! Unnie bought us food! Thank you, unnie!” Chaerin suddenly exclaimed from the sofa, bouncing onto her feet as she hurried towards the sisters; Subin scowled as she was jostled on the sofa. 

“For the last time, Kwon Chaerin, she isn’t your unnie!”

“No, if you girls want to call me ‘unnie’, I’d be honoured!” Yura told the rapper with a smile. “Hello! My name is Kim Yura, Yuri-ah’s older sister by three years. It’s really nice to finally meet all of you,” she introduced herself as the other members gathered in the sitting room, Seohyeon emerging from what they members affectionately called ‘the music room’, where they wold practice vocals and dance when they couldn’t get to the SM building.

“I’m Choi Eunjung, leader of this bunch of freaks,” Eunjung joked as she gestured at the girls who all glared at her. “This is Chaerin, Seohyeon, Subin and Jimin. We’re really happy that you could come today, because Gayoon was freaking out about the storm,” 

“She tends to do that a lot,” Yura told the leader with a sly smile. “Yuri-ah, who do you room with?”

“Eunjung-ah,” Gayoon answered, gesturing towards the Brit. 

“I room with Seohyeon and then Subin and Chaerin share a room,” Jimin put in, nudging said maknae with her elbow. “SeoSeo, make some tea for our guest, Christ, were you raised by animals?”

“I’m not your slave, I’m your lead dancer,” she grumbled but walked towards the kitchen anyway. “I hate you guys.”

Yura raised an eyebrow at the maknae before Subin chuckled. “Eunjung and I are her conscience,” she explained to the older girl. 

“She’s a brat,” Jimin commented idly, examining her fingernails. “But we put up with her because she can dance better than we can.”

“Yah, Lee Jimin!” Eunjung scolded, throwing a pillow at the visual. “Watch your mouth, aish. We love all our members,” she added firmly to Yura.

“I’ll take the food into the kitchen,” Chaerin offered quickly, grabbing the bags that had been left on the floor at Gayoon’s sister’s feet. “I’ll get Seohyeon to help me get dishes and things! Subinnie, you set the table,” she commanded, bustling away into the kitchen. “And Jimin, get up so Yura unnie can sit down, Jesus. I think you were the one raised by animals after all!”

Yura chuckled as she settled onto the sofa and quickly engaged Eunjung in a conversation. Gayoon glanced around the dorm at the five Polaris members and her best friend and sister and thought that maybe, just maybe, things were looking up.

AH GUYS I'M DEAD WORK IS SO EXHAUSTING. NEVER GROW UP. BEING AN ADULT FREAKING . So at least a kind of cheerful chapter aaaand this is my last pre-written chapter. I'm sorry you guys :( I won't have time to write a new chapter for A WHILE, to say the least. My next day off is Monday, which I'll be spending at work (I need to pick up my new phone, even though I won't be working) and Christmas shopping, and then I'm working Tuesday, Christmas eve and then from boxing day more or less all the way through to New Years. , I know, so it may be a while until the next chapter. SORRY GUYS!