"JaeEun's team will be working on Girl's Generation, while HyeMi's will be preparing for Etude. Both this practice room and the one opposite can be used for your rehearsals." HyeJin declared, putting a hand up to her ear as she appeared to receive instructions. JaeEun and SooJin's smiles widened. MinJae clapped in glee as she registered the theme of the mission. "Ah - and I almost forgot. Your vocal trainers will be here soon." She gave a knowing grin as she strode towards the exit. "I'l see you all bright and early tomorrow." The girls bowed as the manager took her leave, staring after her in confusion. Silence filled the room as the trainees turned to give one another quizzical looks. Was this all? They had no idea who their instructors were going to be and what they had to do. They had so much more time to prepare when they were merely average trainees and the sudden realization that this project group was no easy feat finally sunk in. They had all been focused on the euphoria of being shortlisted for caSTARs rookie; less than a quarter of the trainees were fully prepared for what was to come.  

Taking the lead once again, JaeEun decided to have her team move over to the other studio as they waited for further instructions. HaRu waved at her roommate forlornly as YoonKi disappeared through the door with a reassuring nod. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, YooMi wandered off to the corner, whipping out her handphone as she started answering her messages. JaeEun looked at the cameras hesitantly before she gave a throaty cough. The trainees looked at her expectantly. YooMi had the decency to put her phone down before moseying her way back into the group. KyMin had slid to the ground, skimming the perimeter of the studio lazily. Aware of the cameras filming the entire process, JaeEun naturally put out her hand and playfully hauled KyMin up to her feet, subtly gesturing for her to stand up. KyMin noticed and obyed, though she gave a bewildered look. YoonKi gave the trainee a side-glance as she was reminded of herself. She would have done the same if she hadn't been selected for the project group but she knew better than to be complacent in caSTARs rookie. Ah, this girl has no sense. YoonKi closed her eyes as she prompted herself to stay focused. MinAh beamed as she caught another trainee's eye; she was absolutely pumped up for their first assignment. SuJin matched MinAh's grin, as she twirled her long brown hair around her fingers nervously, anticipating the arrival of their mysterious instructors. EunMi waited patiently as her gaze travelled between the door and the two inseparable trainees. SooJin had her arm around JaeEun's waist, her eyes twinkling. EunMi couldn't remember a time when SooJin wasn't smiling. Is this girl made of rainbows? 

In the opposite studio, the trainees were all standing in a line according to their ages. They were still not fully acquainted with one another and HyeMi had wanted to have at least some knowledge of each trainee before they started working together. HyeMi paraded in front of the girls. "I'm HyeMi, I'm sure most of you know by now... I'm more of a dancer and rapper, less of a vocalist." She trailed off as she nodded to a girl sporting a bright red derby. "I'm KyunJi, and I'm more of a vocalist!" "I'm YonNi and I'm better at singing too." A girlish trainee offered as she turned to the next person in line. "You look adorable with all those ribbons in your hair!" KyunJi interrupted before the next trainee could take over. YonNi blushed. "Kamsahamnida!" The next trainee, dressed in a similar, slightly more feminine attire, dipped her head as she spoke. "MiYoo imnida. I'm also a more of a vocalist." HyeMi turned to the girls in disbelief. "Our team consists of so many vocalists... Are you sure we are distributed proportionally? We'll have an all-vocal team soon!" HyeMi spun her thumbs together in a circular motion as she deliberated their circumstance. "Never mind, let's just continue..." She gestured for the next trainee to pick up where they left off. "Naneun MinJae imnida. I am well-versed in rap." HyeMi nodded appreciatively. "I'm a vocalist." HyeMi's eyebrows shot up and after a moment's hesitation, JinRa added, "And I'm JinRa." She resumed staring straight ahead of her as the next trainee gave a polite cough. "I'm HyeSun and I'm more of a dancer." She shyly bowed her head as a bubbly trainee piped up. "Nado! And I can rap as well! I'm RuiXian, as you all also probably already know." She gave a cheeky smirk as HyeMi's eyes darted towards her with slightly more than a hint of disapproval at her impertinent demeanour. The last girl shuffled up as she meekly introduced herself. "Naneun HaRu imnida. I'm a dancer too. Please take care of me. Kamsahamnida!" Just as she finished, the studio door swung open.

The trainees stared awestruck as they were met with familiar faces.

HaRu resisted the urge to rush towards the newly-revealed instructors as the trainees bowed. "Annyeonghasaeyo, Tiffany-sunbae... SeoHyun-sunbae!" MiYoo's eyes widened in shock as her sister gave her a mischievious wink. Tiffany hadn't told her that she would be involved! Both SeoHyun and Tiffany bowed back as the trainees arranged themselves around their mentors. "We'll be your vocal trainers for this mission - " Tiffany was interrupted by SeoHyun as she corrected the elder. "For all missions actually." Tiffany brought her left hand to , stifling her gigles when she caught her mistake, reaching out to clutch at the maknae's arm. "Neh neh, joeseonghamnida. We'll be your vocal trainers and don't worry, we're the best!" Tiffany pressed her lips into a straight line as she threatened to erupt into another fit of giggles. The maknae brushed aside her fringe with a sheepish smile, nudging the elder in hopes that she would compose herself. She could never trust Tiffany to be serious for 90% of all things. The maknae decided to take over. She clapped her hands twice, and in the same gentle tone, explained the process of training and recording. YonNi and MiYoo listened attentively as SeoHyun briefed them and Tiffany added comic relief. HaRu and HyeSun seemed delighted at the revelation of trainers; both were afraid that hey would be assigned austere trainers. HyeMi breathed an audible sigh of relief. HyeMi nodded at instructions, a look of disdain plastered on her face as she spotted RuiXian fidgeting about, obviously not paying attention. MinJae had noticed HyeMi trying to keep them in check, and took extra effort to be as polite as possible, keeping her hands firmly clasped in front of her throughout. JinRa had the same spaced-off look on her face, and HyeMi couldn't discern if she was inattentive or actually listening. KyunJi had leaned so far forward in anticipation that a slight breeze would have pushed her into SeoHyun's lap.      

In the other studio, a girl with a smallish frame side-stepped into the room as another taller brunette appeared behind her. The trainees gasped. TaeYeon gave a grin as she addressed the trainees, with Jessica hopping into place beside the kid leader. Once they had identified themselves as the mystery vocal trainers, the trainees burst into applause while EunMi and SuJin shot each other bewildered smiles. "We'll start off by assigning lines to each of y'all, so I'll need you to form groups based on your vocal capability..." TaeYeon began. "...And then we'll do the fun part - the recordings!" Jessica ended off. MinHee and YoonKi both swallowed nervously. Singing was not their strong point. YooMi looked away as she waited for the others to move along. They separated into three teams in a matter of minutes - SooJin, EunMi, Kymin, and MinAh in the advanced group, JaeEun, YoonKi, and SuJin in the average group, and the lastly, MinHee, and YooMi, in the final group. The scores were handed out as their parts were called out one by one. Being lead vocalists, KyMin and MinAh had the most parts, while main vocalists SooJin and EunMi had fewer, but significantly harder parts, mostly the harmonizing sections that deviated from the melody. MinHee and YooMi were given fewer parts as the vocalists broke out the rest of the song equally. SooJin had started to banter with the sunbaes as she unleashed a truckload of questions on the duo, surprising them with her affable personality and motivation. JaeEun had started taking notes as TaeYeon and Jessica answered SooJin's questions. EunMi and SuJin peered at each other's scores as they struggled to catch up with jotting down important points. MinHee merely stared and nodded, occassionally making little markings on her music. With furrowed eyerows, MinAh nervously bit on her lip as she took the information in. YooMi and KyMin remained lunging against the mirrored wall, quickly diverting their gaze when their eyes met. YoonKi had her pencil in , listlessly staring into space, in the direction of the next trainee studio.       

"Alright - today's Sunday, so lets aim to start recording by Tuesday and Wednesday. That leaves us another five days for choreography and slighty less than five days to put it all together. Let's have our lines down by today~" A chorus of voices emnanted from the two studios as the trainees finally began their first practice session.

author's note:     I'm sorry for the delay ahh & there's not much here but it'll be better from the next chapter on! thank you for waiting!