It was the end of the first week and the trainees have managed to memorize most of the choreography by heart, with minimal disruption due to the ever-changing positions. They still had to work on the dance in the event that they had were assigned handheld mics. It was troublesome, really. And they still weren't in stage attire yet. They were racing against time. However, Sunday was their appointed cool-off day, and the trainees were void of schedules.  

JaeEun's dorm - "Does it not bother you that we have exctly five days left till the big day and some of us still can't remember parts of the choreograhy?" MinJae sighed, rolling over on the couch to face her other dorm mates positioned around the room. "You've got that problem too?" MinAh sat up at the dining table. JaeEun and SooJin exchanged worried frowns. It didn't seem that their performances were up to standards at all. The girls stared at KyunJi as she strode out of the room with a bright red scarf. "Should we use today to practice?"

HyeMi's dorm - "Ah - but today's supposed to be our cool-off period - we're not supposed to work on the pieces..." MiYoo piped up softly, biting her lips in consternaion. "I mean, it's mandatory cool-off for a reason, right?" She shrugged, crossing her right arm across her torso. YonNi wrapped an arm around the younger's shoulders and shook her gently. "Don't worry, we're not going to break the rules." She looked at the rest. "But... we really do need that extra practice... should we do a run-through? Just a run-through." She glanced pointedly at MiYoo. The latter gulped uneasily but nodded. 

The group agreed to meet at one of the two trainee studios reserved for them. They settled down as they discussed their different choreographies in thrilled voices. They had never all been in the same room before since their first day at practice. JaeEun clapped for attention. "I've cleared it with our manager... we're allowed two hours of practice today... just this time!" There were loud cheers from SooJin and a few others. MinAh and MinJae high-fived. The girls got up from their seated positions and began stretching. JaeEun offered to go first, and HyeMi's group sat down contentedly at he front of the studio, clapping for their counterparts. HyeMi handled the radioplayer.  

The music started up and the girls got into formation with their arms akimbo. They fanned out perfectly as HyeMi's group bobbed their heads along with the song. MinAh gave a slightly more enthusiastic kick than the rest at some point, elliciting giggles from the audience. It was JaeEun's turn to sing, and both MinAh and KyMin stood on both sides of her, planting a kiss on their leader as she belted her notes. KyunJi squealed and buried her head into HyeSun's shoulders. The girls grinned. HyeMi looked confused at the proceeding messy jumps of the girls and all of them cracked up at their obvious lack of synchronization. YooMi continued on to her dance break with her eyes trained on the floor. When it was YooMi's turn to sing, JaeEun and MinHee waddled forward and formed a heart above the girl, turning to kiss her as she ended her solo. There was a brief section where the members could freestyle and there were guffaws as EunMi let loose with a ridiculously large movement that overshadowed the rest. There were many obvious mistakes - SuJin always bending her knees only one beat after the rest, MiYoo always sticking her back leg out instead of her front leg forward, SooJin forgetting the turns, MinAh being overly-excited and exaggerating every dance move, KyMin missing the intermediate steps, and many others. YoonKi was voted as having the best artistry at the end of the session, while MinHee was the only one to complete the entire performance without any mistakes. The girls marked through the problematic phases without music and managed to get a half-decent result.   

The girls switched groups and it was JaeEun's turn to man the stereo. They settled down comfortably as they awaited the next group's performance. From the starting, they could see that HyeMi's team was much more organized than theirs, with each of the girls nodding their heads with the beat. Almost every movement was perfectly in sync. JinRa got the little wiggle correct and beamed. There were hushed whispers in the audience as they watched on, enthralled. HyeSun and HaRu exchanged a glance and looked away promptly, stifling their giggles as they continued the choreography. SuJin turned to EunMi. "The song is so sweet I'm starting to wish that I was in their group." The latter chuckled and lightly smacked the elder on the arm. "Yah, ours is good too!" There was a yelp from MinAh as she seemed to catch something important. "They don't know the words to the song - the lyrics RuiXian mouths are different from the rest!" The girls stared, and sure enough, RuiXian blushed as she retorted, "I mixed up the different stanzas!" The girls chortled, and as the performacne drew to a close with no other prominent mistakes, JaeEun's team stood up and gave a standing ovation. HyeMi bowed and the rest followed suit. She straightened up and pinched the bridge of her nose to prevent herself from breaking into laughter. "Actually," she confessed, "half the song was wrong..." The girls collasped in embarrassed heaps as they nodded with tears streaming down their faces. "KyunJi-unnie was at the wrong side of the stage!" HaRu choked, her laughing fit igniting coughs. "And MinJae sang YonNi-unnie's part!" MiYoo joined in, chortling as a look of bewilderment crossed the elder's face. "No wonder!" She slapped her forehead, finally realizing why she had so few lines. JinRa took all this in with agape. "...and I thought we were all doing well!" HyeMi scrunched her eyes up and clutched at her head in bafflement. "You mean you didn't know that so many things were out of place?!" The girl looked at her leader forlornly. "I was doing well..." The grils erupted into laughter yet again, lying exhausted on the floor.   

The girls went through the choreography a couple more times before they decided that they were sure of their positions and roughly aware of parts they had to be more careful of. HyeMi had called for takeaway while the girls cooled down in the air-conditioned room. It was the first time that they had seen the entire dance of the opposing group. It made everything seem less surreal. The girls had broken into groups by now - SooJin and HaRu had joined JaeEun and HyeMi in picking up the lunchboxes, leaving the other fourteen girls to their own devices. KyunJi, MinAh, and MinJae were trying to learn one another's choregraphy while SuJin and EunMi watched on gleefully. YonNi, MiYoo, and HyeSun were trying to recap their own positions and choregraphy, but had gotten distracted by the boisterious trio. They stood by the sides, doubled over in laughter as MinAh copied the steps, less successfully than most. YooMi, YoonKi, and KyMin were lying spread-eagled, looking on with amusement. RuiXian had retired to the corner, tapping furiously on her mobile phone yet again. Having just returned from the washroom, JinRa weaved past the noisy trainees and sat quietly next to MinHee. The former turned towards her absent-mindedly. "MinAh is such a talented dancer..." She blinked as she realized that she had spoken those word out loud, but before MinHee could reply, they were interrupted by a commotion at the door.

"We're back!" SooJin hollered as they trooped in with their lunches. 

author's note:     finals start tomorrow but yayy we're moving forward - slowly I know oops. & I have decided to add VIXX into the equation so let me know if you want your love interest changed /winks imgettingtaekwoonieeeeee