Petals of Success

Ch.6: Another Day

“Okay, sing along with my lead.” Logan instructed towards her newest pupil, Kris. It was Day 3 of his vocal training and he was making progress, though very slowly. It kind of frustrated the Chinese leader but slow progress was better than no progress, right? They were currently in her bedroom as she sat behind her keyboard preparing to play simple keys. "Do~ Re~ Mi~!" she sang perfectly.

"Do~ Re~ M-Mi~..." he sang and it was good up until the 'Mi' part which was straight up out of tune. It was pretty bad; Logan pressed the wrong key on the instrument out of shock.

"Dude..." Logan said.

"I know." Kris sighed.

"It's okay. Let's just try some vocal runs." Logan said, smiling so he won't feel discouraged.

"Kris-oppa, fighting!" Yeonji cheered while sitting at Logan's desk. She was finishing a paper for her art theory class for a final grade, well supposed to. Ever since Kris came for his practice, the college freshman has only had her focus on what they were doing. Though, it was nice to see her not as nervous of the Exo members.

"Umm, shouldn't you be working on assignment, especially since its worth 30% of your grade?" Logan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I'm all good!" Yeonji replied with a cheesy smile and thumbs up. Logan shook her head while Kris chuckled slightly.

"Repeat after me, Fanfan. Ah-ah-ah-ah~!" Logan sang lowly initiating the start of a vocal crescendo. Kris repeated it with no problem. When Logan completed the same sequence in a higher register things went south.

"AH-AH-AHHHH!" he screamed and Kris soon had to shield himself from the onslaught of Minion, anime character, and Hello Kitty plushies. "Hey, hey, hey!"

"Oh, Kris-oppa..." Yeonji said shaking her head out of pity.

"Did you even try?! What was that?!" Logan asked exasperated.

"I did try!" Kris replied, which made Logan cover her eyes. "I see why YG artist don't use you as a vocal coach. Makoto, or Lita since you're American, should never be thrown. She should be handled with care." he added waving Sailor Jupiter around.

"YG people mainly focus on the entertainment and artistry of the performance, not so much the singing technicalities but they can hold a tune. Also the fact that you know that much about Sailor Moon is scary, just like your upper register, or should I say lack thereof." Logan sighed, crossing her arms under her chest. "You have a good chest voice and lower register, even though it's a little shaky but that nonexistent head voice makes me sad. It's like you don't have any control over your soft palate. We most certainly have a lot of work to do but you have promise but even if you don't sound completely polished, I have faith that you can connect with the song on an emotional level." she said ending positively. She had some work to do but that's to be expected since he was a rapper not a main vocalist.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine." Yeonji encouraged.

"Your optimism is such a lovely thing, Yeonji." Logan smiled.

"Thank you. It’s very encouraging." Kris told her and the intern blushed slightly. Logan found it kind of funny how they had that type of effect on her. She's glad she doesn't get that way. Soon a soft knocking was heard on the door and gained the attention of the three. They soon spotted Erika standing in the doorway.

"Hey, people." the designer greeted.

"Hey, Erika-eonni!" Yeonji replied.

"Hey, Rika. What's up?" Logan asked.

"So, you really did forget we made plans to hang out. I thought you were just messing with me by wearing that outfit." Erika sighed. Logan was still rocking her pajama game. It wasn't due to her not showering because she did, it more so due to the fact she was warm and comfy.

"Oh crap! I totally forgot about that!" Logan gasped before she threw her Sailor Moon plush at Yeonji. "Why didn't you remind me?!"

"I forgot myself!" Yeonji defended. "You shouldn't throw Usagi. That's not nice!"

Logan rolled her eyes. "Erika, I'll get ready. Just give me a few minutes." she assured. "Kris, get out!"

Kris looked offended. "Well, I never." he stated before getting off the bed and stomping out of the room leaving the room that soon filled with laughter. He ventured down the stairs and plopped down on the couch. He liked to relax here since it gave him a break from s whom he loved dearly but they annoyed the hell out of him on plenty of occasions. Plus it was cool to be in the presence of females who smelled like fruit, flowers, and all things pleasant. It eased his nose and mental well-being from that of 11 smelly boys, well 10 since Minseok was a neat freak and hated feeling gross. In all his thoughts about how much he loved being in the Cardoso residence, he didn't expect someone to occupy the same couch as him. He turned to see Erika smiling at him.

"I don't think we've met yet. I'm Erika Pratt, resident fashionista and up-and-coming fashion designer of Rampant! Management." she greeted holding out her hand and Kris shook it.

"I'm Wu Yifan, or Kris as everyone calls me, and I'm Exo's resident Van Gogh and in charge of height. It's nice to meet you." Kris smiled. "Logan, Miko and Nadia talk about you all the time."

Erika chuckled. "I hope it's all good."

"Don't worry, it is. I hear you're a wizard with a sewing machine." Kris assured.

"Well I don't mean to brag but my designs get a lot of praise. I wouldn't have been able to successfully start my own fashion company." Erika replied proudly. "Which reminds me, have you ever walked a runway?"

Kris shook his head. "Sadly, no."

"Well, if you're interested holler at me. I'm always looking for more models, especially minorities since diversity is important to me. Plus you are the perfect blend of edgy masculinity and regal femininity and I love your look." Erika informed, handing him a lilac colored business card.

"Wow, thanks!" Kris said taking the card.

"No problem." Erika replied. "I also remember hearing you lived in Canada. Which part if you don't mind my asking?"

"I'm from Vancouver. I moved there when I was 9."

"Really? Wow! I was born in Miami, Florida but we moved to Vancouver when I was in middle school. You probably lived near the Millennium Gate?" Erika inquired and Kris nodded. "What school did you go to?"

"I went to Sir Winston Churchill."

"Ah, I went to Britannia but my older sister went to Sir Winston. You might know her. Her name's Ashleigh Pratt." she informed and Kris froze. "But then again Sir Winston had a pretty big student population so you might not know her."

"Umm...yeah. Right." Kris added looking anywhere but at Erika.

"Yeah but that's okay. She's coming over to Korea in a few days. A lot of our family is coming over to celebrate princess Lolo's 19th year of being in the world and do some work in Korea and other countries. We're also throwing her a surprise party but don't tell big head about it! Maybe then you guys can meet and talk about things only Sir Winston alum would know about." Erika suggested.

"U-Umm, yeah. C-can't wait." Kris replied nervously but Erika didn't catch on. Soon, Logan came rushing down the stairs appropriately dressed with Yeonji trailing behind her.

"Ah, so you're finally ready, Pajama lady." Erika smirked.

"Don't judge. Comfort is always important." Logan said as she pinned her hair back in a way so her curls would frame her face right. Soon a knock on the door was heard.

"I'll get it!" Yeonji announced as she walked over to the door and opened it. Standing before her were Tao, Sehun, Kai, and Luhan. "Annyeonghaseyo!"

"Annyeonghaseyo!" the group responded as they walked in. "We've come to retrieve our leader."

"Good. Kris needs to go, anyway." Logan said, feeling frustrated with her hair.

Kris scoffed. "Don't act like you don't enjoy my presence." he said and Logan laughed before groaning.

"Rika! This isn't working!" she cried pointing to her head and Erika pinched the bridge of her nose. "It’s not doing what it’s supposed to do!" she added completely oblivious to the fact that Tao and Sehun were giving themselves curly mustaches with her tresses. She punched them in the shoulders when she noticed, a small smile on her face.

"Just throw it in a ponytail or a bun and lay them edges. That's what I did." Erika said pointing to her own ponytail. "We aren't going to a high class art gala, we're going to a Korean barbecue restaurant." she announced and Logan laughed. "I can't believe I'm helping out the innovative hairstyle guru."

"Shut up, Pratt." the young producer retorted as she ran back up the stairs.

"Hurry up, will ya?! People are hungry up in this piece." Erika called out.

"Is Nadia-ssi still here? I wanted to ask her for some dancing advice." Jongin asked. If one looked closely, they would see that Luhan was staring at his younger counterpart with a frown before it quickly vanished. The only one who noticed was Yeonji, since she was already dazzled and slightly crushing on him. So to see this moment was really disheartening.

"She's at Jellyfish Entertainment right now. If I knew anything about her, she's probably becoming dancing buddies with Cha Hakyeon. I can totally see those two being a dream team on the dance floor." Erika mused and the two visuals frowned a bit, this time Kris caught onto it.

"Why do both of you look so disappointed? You guys will see her at work tomorrow." Kris clarified innocently, but that just made the atmosphere awkward which made everyone feel kind of weird until Logan ran down the stairs to, unknowingly, break the tension.

"Okay, I look pretty now. Let's go!" she announced as she put on her peacoat.

"Ugh, now I have to deal with a bunch of guys now." Kris sulked as he got up from the sofa and proceeded towards the door like everyone else.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jellyfish Entertainment was blasted with rhythmic music that fit the pace of salsa dancing. Nadia and Hakyeon were in hold as she counted out the steps slowly. The other five Vixx members along with Dana, Milan, Cece, and Miko sat around watching the two.

"And 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, body roll, step out, spin, and return." Nadia instructed as they did each of the steps before coming back to hold. The mini audience clapped for the two. "Excellent!" she exclaimed, patting his back.

"Ah, kamsahamnida!" Hakyeon chuckled with a bow.

"This brings back so many memories. We danced this at my Quinceañera!" Miko exclaimed. "It was probably the only time my dad actually showed his dancing skills. Yun Lang actually has moves." she laughed.

"You probably looked so cute. Did you wear the big poofy dress?" Dana asked.

"Yes, I did. Mine was black and teal and very poofy though it didn't have all those stereotypical ruffles. I was not about that life." Miko clarified. “Tomboy Cece even wore a poofy dress at her Quinceañera and it was the daintiest, pink and white dress. She looked just like a doll!” she exclaimed and Cece rolled her eyes.

“I’m sorry, what’s a ki...ken...se…?” Wonshik asked trying to pronounce the Spanish word and the two native speakers chuckled at his cute attempt.

“It’s Quinceañera, but just think of it as a type of coming of age for Hispanic girls. It’s the Spanish feminine form of “fifteen year old”. Since I’m half Chinese and half Dora the Explorer, I had this type of party when I turned fifteen.” Miko explained and the group chuckled.

“Where’s Boots?” Sanghyuk asked with a smiled.

“He got arrested for public indecency.” the lyricist responded and the group chuckled harder. “Cece, why are you so quiet? You’re never quiet when I say that?”

“If you’re expecting me to argue about whether Dora is Mexican or Puerto Rican then you are sadly mistaken. She’s an alien who teaches Spanish, are you happy? Shut up.” Cece huffed and Miko laughed, thoroughly amused by her blunt annoyance.

“Wait, rewind a little bit. Where are these doll-like Cece-yah pictures?” Hakyeon asked. "All she ever wears is black with some other equally dark color so to hearing she wore pink is something I just can't imagine." he chuckled.

"Oppa!"

"I have them on my laptop. I'll send them to you. What's your number?" Miko asked pulling out her phone."

"No you are not sending them! How did you even get them like seriously?!" Cece cried.

"If you want to see super girly Cece, hands up please." Miko announced, ignoring the senior intern. Everyone's hands went up excluding Nadia who saw them already. She looked beside her to see Taekwoon with his hand raised and felt her face heat up.

"Okay, Miko, you can stop teasing Cece now. If I remember correctly you two are roommates and I wouldn't want to see you wake up bald one day." Nadia inquired. Miko gulped before looking at Cece who smirked her way which made her scream while holding her hat covered hair. "Now, let's finish this before us girls are summoned." Nadia instructed as she and Hakyeon got back into hold. "DJ Bean, drop the beat!" Hongbin then pressed the button on the IPod speaker and the room was filled with Vixx's Superhero.

The moves Nadia instructed Hakyeon on in a traditional Latin song matched perfectly with the beat of the Kpop song. It was vibrant, energetic, and very fun overall. They were in sync throughout the whole routine even when they went through a freestyle dance cut. Their little audience started to clap along with their dancing, showing that they really enjoyed it. Towards the end, Jaehwan took the opportunity to boldly wrap his arm around Milan while she focused on the amazing performance and he soon found himself pushed off the bench and sprawled across the floor once it ended. Everyone was shocked once they noticed.

"What happened?" Wonshik asked.

"He's still breathing so it doesn't matter." Milan brushed off nonchalantly. "That performance was amazing!"

"Yeah, so daebak!" Sanghyuk added.

"I'm going to ask if I can add this to my special stage when we have our concert. Is that's okay with you?" Hakyeon announced.

"Yeah, that's totally fine with me." Nadia smiled.

"That's going to be a really great stage; I need to step up my game." Jaehwan said, picking himself up off of the floor.

"I told you she would bond with Cha Hakyeon." came the voice of Erika, which gained the attention of the group.

"I had absolutely no doubt about that." Logan replied following Erika as Yeonji trailed behind. "Hello, I'm Logan and I'm their co-worker and friend. It’s nice to meet you." she greeted politely to the Vixx members and Erika and Yeonji followed suit. Vixx members greeted themselves as well.

"Logey!" Cece exclaimed going over to hug the girl.

"Uh-uh, back up! This is my bae!" Miko argued wrapping her arms around Logan as well.

"Are we really going to do this every time we're together?" Logan sighed and the girls chuckled. It was kind of customary that Miko and Cece fight (mostly Miko) over the final fluent Spanish speaker in their group of women.

"Come on, let's head out now. My stomach is calling out to some Korean beef!” Milan exclaimed as she got up and walked towards the door. The others bid farewell to the Vixx members and followed the intern’s lead.

~~~~~~~~~~

The women made it to the Korean barbeque restaurant, Gangnam BBQ, and split into groups. Logan, Milan, Yeonji, and Nadia occupied one table while Erika, Miko, Cece, and Dana occupied the other. Dana and Yeonji took over the cooking since they were the youngest but also the most skilled in the art of Korean barbeque. Soon, the food was being cooked and all they had to do was wait a little longer.

"Okay since we're all girls here, I have a confession to make." Nadia announced.

"Spill it." Miko replied.

"I think...I like Jongin." Nadia said quickly with a slight stammer.

"Really?!" Logan and the other interns exclaimed, completely shocked.

"Yeah, I like his vibe, he has the same dancer’s passion that I have, and he's as cute as a button."

"Well, I'm almost certain he feels the same about you." Erika announced, grabbing some lettuce and filling it with some spicy chicken, rice, and kimchi.

"Erika, stop playing! I can't handle that!" Nadia cried.

"I'm not. When we were about to leave, he came and wanted to ask for your advice on dancing but you weren't there. When I told him that you were dancing with Hakyeon and having the time of your life, his look of jealousy was very strong." Erika further explained as she took a bite of her food.

"I can't believe this! Omg, omg, omg!" Nadia exclaimed.

Miko chuckled. "That's so cute! Now who else is catching the winter love bug? I'm excluded since I have a boo." she sighed, dreamily. "And don't none of you lie to me because we're all surrounded by a bunch of beautiful males and females!"

"Well, I don't like Kwon Jiyong." Erika stated.

Miko pouted. "That was not the question, Erika."

"Rika, why not?!" Logan asked shock. "That's GD, GD, baby, baby, baby! You guys always loved to be around each other."

"I know but a lot went on over the past couple years that I'd rather not dwell over but we grew apart."

"You guys were like best friends, though." Nadia stated, sadly. "Jirika was the funny fashion duo. This is worse than watching your ultimate OTP break-up."

"Is there a chance you guys will be good again. I just can't fathom this drift." Logan inquired. Jiyong and Erika were like the best of friends for years and they had a lot in common when it came to interest and career goals.

"As of right now I would say no but I can't see the future so I'll change that to a maybe. So many things were said and done but I'll keep an open mind." Erika said. "But getting back on topic, Dana is a big flirt with the trainees."

Dana gasped. "I am not!"

"She has like three of them wrapped around her fingers as she bats them eyelashes."

"Erika!"

"So Dana has playa, playa swag. I never would've guessed that lol." Miko laughed and Dana hid her face in her hands. Milan pat her younger sister's back comfortingly.

"Well, Cece likes Taekwoon." Milan informed, smiling.

"What?!" the girls exclaimed staring at the Latina, who only ate her beef in peace and was completely nonchalantly about Milan spilling everything.

"Yeah and I'm almost certain he likes her, too."

"I'm already going to have to deal with this when my sister gets here yet you keep bringing it up." Cece sighed. "But I don't know why you're gossiping about my romantic interest when you totally have a thing for Mr. Lee Jaehwan." Cece said once she swallowed her food.

"Lies!" Milan denied.

"But, Cece, is it true? Do you really like Mr. Chic, PokerFace, Jung Taekwoon?" Erika asked. "He is pretty hot, though." she added with a slight shrug.

Cece nodded. "He's really beautiful when he smiles." she sighed. "But I sort of have a dilemma."

"What is it?" Logan asked.

"Okay, Jellyfish is doing a secret Santa type of thing where we draw two names from a bucket and get gifts for our picks. Somehow, out of a staff of 25, my two names were Jihae, one of the management's higher-ups, and...Taekwoon, who's Buddhist. Not just casual Buddhist, or half Buddhist but devout Buddhist! What the hell do I get a Buddhist?!" Cece asked, really freaking out about it.

"Well, since you couldn't ask my dad, I'm your next best choice, I suppose." Nadia smiled.

"Oh, I forgot you were half Buddhist! Help me!" Cece pleaded.

"Okay, okay! I just know that you shouldn't go the traditional route because you will pull out your hair, I promise you, especially since there are so many statues. Just trust me on this.” Nadia warned. “Just get him something you put a lot of thought into like giving him his favorite music, or something his favorite color, or something that reminds him of a moment. Just make sure it comes from the heart.”

"Oh my gosh, thank you! That helps so much." Cece thanked. "Namaste!" she added with a slight bow.

Nadia chuckled. "No problem."

“Well, for starters, he’s a closet freak and likes Trey Songz.” Logan started. “I can help you out on that.”

“Liking Trey Songz doesn’t denote someone as being a closet freak.” Cece responded.

“Oh, oh really? His favorite song of the moment is Wetter. Don’t try to purify his freakiness.” she said and the group laughed.

“...Okay, you got me.” Cece said feeling defeated and Logan chuckled.

“If you decide to get him an album, I can get you one with an autograph. Just give me a heads up.”

“Will do!” Cece nodded.

“Can you also hook me up with something? I got Jaehwan and Hongbin.”

“Oh, those are easy. You should get Binnie a camera since he’s like Logan and loves photography plus he’s The Artwork for a reason.” Cece answered and Logan cheered at her mention. “And for Jaejae, just put yourself under the mistletoe and get your smooch on.”

“Ha. Ha…Ha.” Milan responded blandly.

“No, ho ho ho~!” Cece smiled and everyone snorted.

“Y’all are silly.” Erika giggled. “What about you, Yeonji? You’ve been so quiet.” she asked the girl.

Yeonji shook her head. “Sorry, I-I’ve just been thinking about who I could possibly like. My bias group is Exo and the decision is tough. I mean, have you seen them?!” she admitted, telling a straight up lie but given the hearty laughs and nods of agreement, it was safe to say they didn’t notice.

“Speaking of bias, I just want you all to know that you guys are a bunch of bias stealing heffas!” Logan huffed and everyone was confused so she took it upon herself to explain. “My biases in Vixx have been Leo and Ken from the beginning. Cece, you didn’t even like Taekwoon now he’s your heaven, and Milan has Jaehwan vying for her attention. Then there's Nadia, a supposed huge Yixing fan, stealing my third favorite member. I bet since Erika doesn't like GD anymore, she's gonna go after my Bingu or Taeyang. I swear, chicks ain't loyal these days. I also bet when Ashleigh gets here, she's gonna bond with Kris over mooses and crap. I just can't." she further pouted and the other women chortled. "Y'all some bias stealing heffas...except for Miko. Dana and Yeonji are pending."

"Yay!" Miko cheered. "Bias stealing heffas, shame on you." she snickered, pointing to all of them. The majority rolled their eyes.

"But don't you want your friends and family to be happy?" Nadia asked.

"...whatever." Logan muttered and the group smiled. Erika hugged her with a big grin.

"Well, that just proves you have good taste in guys." Erika complimented. "Besides, you still have your ultimate bias, Tao."

"That might not happen since were just friends but yeah, he is still my bae in spirit." Logan smiled. "But let's move on to more important matters, shall we? Y'all do know the most important day of the year is coming up, right?"

"I thought it was a few more weeks until Christmas?" Nadia asked.

"Haha, no the other important day. My birthday, remember?" Logan emphasized.

"I thought your birthday was last week?" Miko asked with a smirk.

"Oh, y'all some comedians now? I'm gonna rant about y'all in my vlog and don't even think about asking me what I got y'all for Christmas because the answer is polluted air and sewer water." Princess Lolo huffed sipping from her soda. "Heffas." she mumbled and their whole group burst into laughter. She was legit upset and it was pretty amusing.

Oh, if only she knew what they had planned...

<3