It was three days before their project group debut stage and the girls were to start practicing using handheld mics. The girls were handed one each as they entered the rehearsal studio, and given a mic test once they had assumed their positions. These studios were different - definitely larger, with stage lighting and a soundstage. There was a tinted one-way mirror at the front, and speakers mounted at the corners for the techies to communicate with the girls. The entire place ressembled an actual stage, and tried to emulate the difficulty of the real performance by removing the full-length mirror they had unconciously relied on thus far. The girls glanced at one another nervously while HyeJin flitted between sudios as she made sure that all of them were accounted for. Unlike previous trainings, the SNSD sunbaes were absent. 

JaeEun motioned for the girls to mark through their choreography with the mics to familiarize themselves with the foreign addition, and the others nodded solemnly. MinAh immediately launched into the dance with zest, and the rest had to keep themselves from giggling. YooMi fiddled with the mic and quietly mimed her parts. Behind the one-way mirror, shadowy figures streamed into the control room. As the door closed, through the dim lighting, the camera adjusted its exposure to reveal - the members of super junior. The sunbaes waved excitedly to the camera, pointing towards the oblivious girls in the studio and whispering amongst themselves. "We're going to take a look at our new rookie project group - they don't know we're here..." DongHae stuck up two fingers in a twist and waved playfully. SungMin leaned into the frame and shushed the former, dragging him by the elbow to the screen separating them from the girls. HeeChul had positioned himself at the front, doing a maniacal dance and murmuring to the cameras that they couldn't see him. The cameras pressed up close to the idols as they nodded at them with widened and interest-filled eyes. The techies gestured for silence as they spoke through the intercom.

"Alright girls... Let's take this once through from the top so we can do the proper adjustments." The girls nodded and moved to their positions as the lights dimmed. The music flowed through the speakers and the lights were brought up again as SooJin prepared herself to lead the intro. A loud static buzz rang through the soundstage as SooJin's voice overpowered the mic and the techies instantly reduced the volume on her mic; the super junior members gasped as they shot incredulous looks at the cameras. She's tiny but her voice is so full! Henry and KyuHyun grinned as they removed their hands from their ears - they were prepared for it. That's their SooJin! A sheepish SooJin continued her routine, casting apologetic looks at her teammates while maneuvering to her positions.

EunMi was up next, and in trying to remember to relax, started swaying to the music. Unfortunately, the tension in her shoulders was obvious as she hunched over and adopted a closed-in form. Her swaying affected the quality of sound captured by the mic as well, and she halted midway, focusing on steadying her hand and centralizing her voice instead. "Aigoo... that kid is so tense!" LeeTeuk mouthed as a worried expression plastered itself on his face. "Her voice is good though..." YeSung popped his head over the leader's shoulder to take a closer look.

YoonKi aced hers, exhibiting perfect mic control and keeping up with ease. She grinned as she secretly marvelled at her own performance. She had wanted to do this for so long - seven years - that's how long it took for her to get here. Finally. She was always prepared, though she had purposely toned down and kept it out of sight after she had been extracted from the initial line-up of SNSD, for fear of having her hopes crushed again. No matter the outcome now, she thought, this was definitely worth it. DongHae bobbed his head and shot a thumbs-up at the camera.

Back on set, SuJin missed a beat and flailed as she tried to synchronize her moves with the others. Her mistake was obvious, but she managed to salvage it and come in at the right time, though her starting note wavered quite a bit. She winced in embarrassment as the super junior members gave her silent claps of encouragement behind the screen. She gripped the mic tight and positioned it directly in front of , albeit at an awkward ninety-degree angle. Her voice came through clearly, but her mic-holding was less than desirable. DongHae mimicked her and pointed at EunHyuk. He's the same. "It's different! I rap!" EunHyuk retorted as he tilted his chin defiantly.

JaeEun patted SuJin's hand discreetly as she walked past the distressed younger trainee. The lanky figure behind the screen smiled as he noticed, his eyes riveted on JaeEun while she belted out her notes confidently, as she had practiced countless times before. It was evident that she had handled a microphone before, as she skilfully moved the mic from one hand to another without compromising the quality of sound. The super junior members started whispering amongst themselves again. She must be the leader, right? Is she? So much charisma! ZhouMi beamed proudly, before swatting at them to quieten them down. 

KyMin took the stage next, but though her lips moved, no sound came through. Confusion flooded into everyody's faces as she moved back to her position. HeeChul slapped his forehead as he exclaimed in surprise. "Isn't that KyMin?" SungMin shot him a dirty look. "YAH. she's your sister - how could you not have noticed her!" Heechul gave a nonchalent flick of his wrist as he continued. "I can already tell that she's the blackhole - aish this girl." "Aniya~ it's just that she didn't sing into the mic..." SungMin mused, "we're trying to promote them - don't sabotage them instead!"

They were interrupted by MinAh's singing as both the members turned to identify the owner of the melodious voice. She looks so happy. A few of the members playfully copied her dance moves as they bobbed along with the music. Her voice peaked and faltered as the microphone bounced around in her hand. She seemed to realize it as well, moving the microphone closer to her lips as she tried her hardest to keep it steady. However, her lines came out muffled due to the close proximity. Undeterred though, she finished with the same amount of bubbliness she started off with, though her more attentive groupmates could capture a hint of distress as she turned back around.

YooMi took her place next and sung her line. The techies had to increase the volume to for it to match her counterparts. Nonetheless, YooMi displayed as much nonchalance as she could muster, quickly retreating to her spot as MinHee took her turn. She didn't like this at all. She cursed quietly under her breath, but as luck would have it, it got caught by the microphone. The super junior members doubled over in laughter as the techies frowned. A few of the girls shot one another amused looks. "She's the female version of KangIn." SungMin mouthed to the camera between chuckles. Their tempers... ah...

MinHee was the last of the girls to sing, and although she hadn't had much practice, the choreography flowed off her in graceful waves. Her artistry was on point and she performed the piece in its entirety. Her mic control was not as skilful as JaeEun or YoonKi, but it was relatively good for a rookie, given that she had only had nine months of training and no experience with mic-use in any of her trainings. The super junior members looked at one another as they acknowledged her prowess. None of them could have done this well at this stage. She certainly is a natural. 

As the music died down, and the girls finished their first run-through, the techies had HyeJin discuss the group's problems with them while the super junior members conversed amongst themselves. They had to identify the best performer and most improved in either groups and even though it was only JaeEun's group's first run-through, they had an idea of who would come out as the best performer for this group. The most improved would have to wait till the day was done. HyeJin sent them on their second run-through after finalizing the mic volumes for each of them - SooJin and MinAh were to have their mics on low, and MinAh was told to hold the microphone away from , though she would have to find another way to keep her mic steady. JaeEun, YoonKi, and MinHee's mics were a-okay. SuJin and EunMi had their mic levels upped, and were given a crash-course on mic-handling. HyeJin had YooMi and KyMin join in too, having them repeat their lines to determine their mic levels, since the test run before was relatively inconclusive. YooMi managed better this time around, and HyeJin had her mic level stay the same, while KyMin still had trouble with the positioning of the mic, and HyeJin had hers upped just in case.

the fifteen members watched on thoughtfully as the girls prepared for their next run-through..  

author's note:     I'm so sorry for the long wait again orz. I flew back home to find out that my family sold the house & I now live in temporary housing... these few chapters leading up to their debut-day may be a little dry [I tried too much to drag out eliminations /sighs]