~Butterfly Daily Life: After Practice~          

{July, 2014}
- Seoul, South Korea -
- YG Entertainment -

“You were pretty quiet at dinner last night, is everything alright?” asked a voice, male one, through Jinkyong’s phone. She had it positioned between her ear and shoulder as she tied her shoelace. She was in the practice room by herself after calling for a half hour break for the rest of her group. While she was thinking things over, her older brother, Kangdae, decided to call her out of the blue.

Jinkyong sighed. “You honestly worry too much. It’s not a big deal and really isn’t something I can’t handle myself." she assured her worrisome brother.

"Are you sure?" Kangdae continued to question. "Is this about-"

"Hyung, what are you doing? We have to leave!" chastised someone in the background. Jinkyong heard her older brother sigh in slight annoyance.

“Jackson, relax. We’ll leave in a little bit.” Kangdae responded to the “wild&y” member of got7. Her brother was the manager of the rookie JYP boy group.

“But, Hyung~! We’ll get caught in traffic!” Jackson continued to whine and Jinkyong knew Kangdae .0634 seconds away from turning the group from being called got7 to got6 with the heavy groan he released.

Jinkyong chuckled lightly. “You should go on ahead. You don’t want to keep the young ones waiting.” she inquired.

“Okay, but are you sure you’re okay?” he asked one more time.

“I am. Now you get back to work and have a nice day. I love you.” the girl smiled before she ended the call releasing a hefty sigh. She then rubbed her face with her hands before pushing her hair back and out of the way.

“You sure have been sighing a lot.” said another voice that entered the room. Jinkyong looked up to see Jiyong in the doorway walking towards her.

“It’s just that I’ve been thinking about a lot of things.” she explained. “I’m actually really shocked that you’re here, oppa. You’ve been so busy with Crystal preparations.” she added as the Big Bang leader squatted down in front of her.

“It’s true that I am but I always have time for my friends.” he smiled. “So what have you been sighing on about?” he asked and Jinkyong looked down and away from him not answering his question, hesitating. Jiyong frowned a bit, surprised by the hesitation before he gripped her chin making her look up into his eyes. “You know you can talk to me, Jinkyong. So what’s wrong?” he said softly, calling and she just...couldn’t hold back. Jiyong was taken aback by the tears that softly streamed down her cheeks as she tried not to sob.

“I just...I just feel like a...disappointment. I’m happy that the EQSOL members are debuting because they worked so hard to get to where they are but at the same time...Butterfly did the same exact thing day-in-day-out and we don’t get the same opportunity. We’re just that group pushed off to the side who don’t get to relish in the spotlight.” she admitted in a sob heavy voice as her tears continued to flow but aside from gently caressing her bent knee, Jiyong stayed silent patiently waiting for her to finish. “We already lost Moa a few weeks ago, which is a huge blow to our dynamic and . And I...hate how Yerin, Nayeon and Eunhwa who are the youngest try to keep up a strong front but feel like burdens who let everyone down...Seulhee is the same even though she’s better at keeping up the “I’m fine, I’m okay” act. Then there’s Youngjin who everyone had this high expectation for with being a former dance prodigy but now she feels that she didn’t live up to it...which leaves me...the leader who couldn’t. I’m supposed to be the one who leads them to victory and I couldn’t even do that. Everyone, Butterfly and s-sajangnim…” she choked slightly biting her lip. “I...I feel like I let everyone down.” she ended while still tearing up. Jiyong really sympathized with her, she had always been a gentle soul even when she was at her strongest. Jiyong then grabbed her arms to pull her up knowing what to tell her but first thing first, he would offer her some comfort as he pulled her into a hug, one that shocked her.

“Oppa…” she said slowly into his shoulder, all the while clutching the fabric of his clothing as he rubbed soothing circles into her back.

“I understand how you feel, that frustration, the blame, that hopeless sinking in your gut, I get it. Trust me. So as someone who understands, I’m going to tell you to stop being so hard on yourself.” Jiyong said. “When Big Bang first debuted, we didn’t have the success that matched the expectation people held for us and that was rough for me to accept, I felt like as the leader, I was supposed to make things go smoothly. But soon, things turned around and we had “Lies” gain us recognition.” he explained to the girl pulling away so he could stare into her eyes. “What I’m saying is that there are going to be frustrations and this business is going to get to you but you can’t doubt yourself. You can’t control everything whether it be good or bad but just stay focused. The Butterfly members don’t blame you, they probably feel like they let you down but just know you aren’t to blame, no one is. It’s just a matter of timing and your time will come.” he smiled assuringly which really did bring her comfort.

“Thank you.” Jinkyong said, wiping her tears. “I probably look like such a mess.” she said.

“Yeah, you are an ugly crier.” he admitted which earned him a punch in the arm by the younger leader.

“Are we interrupting something?” a voice asked and the older two looked over to see Nayeon, followed by Seulhee.

“I was just leaving so no worries. I have to bust these songs out or else the old man will be upset.” Jiyong said as he walked pass the two, ruffling Seulhee’s hair because she’s short, and rounded the corner.

“So, what’s up?” Jinkyong asked but the two were silent which is really surprising since they were the most talkative duo.

“Unnie…” Seulhee trailed off. “Why are your eyes so red and puffy?”

“Were you crying?” Nayeon asked, pretty shocked since that rarely happens.

Jinkyong waved her hands and shook her head. “It’s no big deal, I was just having a moment but I’m good now." the girl assured but the younger two still seemed pretty unconvinced. "Really I'm fine now. GD told me what I needed to hear so don't worry now tell me what's up?"

"We can't find Yerin." answered Seulhee.

"We literally looked everywhere for her and we're kind of at a lost." Nayeon added.

Jinkyong looked thought. "Hmm, where could she be?" the girl asked. "It can't be that hard to find her, she's not exactly the shortest member of our group."

"That would be Seulhee." Nayeon chimed.

"Guys, I know you are all jealous of the fact that you aren't my height but please don't be haters. It’s not cute. No es bueno." Seulhee retorted as the others chortled bringing some joy to the kind of saddened atmosphere.

~~~~~~~~~~

Knock...Knock...Knock~

"Come on Eunhwa-yah. Come out." said Youngjin as she knocked on the door. They continued practicing even though Jinkyong called for a break. Eunhwa had asked the girl since she was such a naturally gifted dancer and it seemed like a really good choice. Youngjin tried to go as slow yet equally precise as possible but it was too much for Eunhwa to handle but instead of just huffing and being down about it for a second like usual, the girl went and locked herself in one of the closets and refused to come out. Youngjin’s never seen this level of frustration from the girl and it was quite alarming. Youngjin has been banging on the door for about 10 minutes now but the girl didn’t budge.

“Go away, please.” came the girl’s muffled response.

“Come on, Eunhwa. It’s not that bad, you’re actually doing really great! Better than yesterday.” Youngjin added trying to be encouraging.

“Just give me a moment.”

“But-”

“Please, unnie.” Eunhwa borderline begged and the older girl stopped, sighing in defeat.

“What’s going on here?” asked a voice and Youngjin turned around to see Bom walking towards her.

“Unnie? It’s just that…” Youngjin started before she paused for a second. “Eunhwa’s being a little extra emotional today.” she admitted and Bom looked thoughtful.

“Hmm, is that so?” Bom began before she offered the dancer a warm smile. “I can handle this, Jinnie-yah! I think I saw Jinkyong and the other Butterflies searching for something down the hall maybe you can catch up with them.”

Youngjin, initially not wanting to agree, nodded towards the woman before leaving. Bom then walked towards the door and rapped the door slightly. “Eunhwa-yah, it’s Bom. Can you let me in please?”

“I want to be left alone. I’m sorry, unnie.” she heard the girl say softly from behind the door. Bom sighed but that didn’t mean she was giving up. Rubbing her fingers through her long black hair, the 2NE1 main vocal pulled out a pink bobby pin. Bom then proceeded to pick the lock. This was what she did back at the apartment when Dara stole her food and she had to confront her. She, Park Bom, was a pro lock picker despite what people believe and soon she heard the door click it’s way open. The shocked look on Eunhwa’s face was very amusing to say the least.

“How did you…?” Eunhwa asked.

“There are many things you don't know about me, my dear.” Bom said as she pushed a mop out of the way so she could sit down across from the vocalist. “Sooo...what brings you to this small and less desireable closet space?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, unnie.” Eunhwa said looking off to the side. Bom pursed her lips together before she made a pout.

“Well, I’m going to sit here and stare at you until you tell me what’s up.” Bom proclaimed. Eunhwa sighed before turning to the women, seeing that she was completely serious about staring a hole into her being.

“Unnie.”

Stare.

“Bommie-unnie.”

Stare.

“Unnie!”

Stare.

“Fine, okay. You win.” the young girl sighed and Bom smirked in triumph. Eunhwa took a few moments to say something else, which Bom was patient about, before she finally spoke up. “Don’t you ever get frustrated with yourself over something?”

Bom raised an eyebrow, thinking it was a pretty obvious question given human nature and cut throat the industry they worked in. “I’m going to need you to elaborate on this a little more, Eunhwannie.”

“I mean, like...in my group, I think I’m a pretty good singer and rapper but I feel like such a weak link when I’m dancing. I feel like that’s what holds Butterfly back in a performance, where everyone is so graceful with their movements while I lack the ability to do the same.” the young girl admitted. "What if I'm the reason why Butterfly is being held back from debuting with the others?"

"Oh, Eunhwa, I'm pretty sure that's not the case. Actually, I'm sure that's not the case." Bom assured to the girl. "That's quite the burden you're trying to carry but I get where you're coming from. I mean, I'm no Michael Jackson myself nor am I Nicki Minaj for that matter but I still got to debut." she added honestly which made Eunhwa laugh.

“Ugh, I’m so sorry. You had to hear me ramble on about pitying myself.” Eunhwa apologized and Bom shook her head.

“It’s fine. I’m glad you told me how you’re feeling. What type of YG family member would I be if I didn’t help out a younger.” Bom smiled. “I go through my fair share of struggles and frustrations that get me down, some days are much easier than others if I’m quite honest.” the older woman admitted and Eunhwa felt a pang of sadness. Bom was her favorite unnie and it hurt to see how much pain she went through at times and how much she felt down, judged and scrutinized. Eunhwa soon felt even sillier for having her meltdown when this woman, her mentor and idol, dealt with so much. Bom then looked at her with a raised eyebrow before she made a face at her. “What is that face for? I’m totally fine so stop worrying about, we’re talking about you.” she said before pinching the younger vocalist’s cheek.

“Okay, okay!” Eunhwa cried before Bom let go and she was able to cradle her cheek. She glared lightly but Bom just grinned innocently.

“Now, listen to me, Eunhwa. This decision that YG and Hiro probably has more meaning behind it besides who dances and sings well. Maybe they have something much bigger in mind for you guys or maybe you’re slightly less developed compared to the other EQSOL members, but that does not mean you aren’t talented. Not by a long shot! These things just take time and trust me in no time maybe a couple years or less, Butterfly will make their own debut. Count on it!” she added confidently and Eunhwa giggled in agreement. Bom then stretched out her arms to the girl. “Now give me hug.” she ordered and Eunhwa obliged.

“Thanks for everything, unnie.”

“Yeah, you owe me food, honey nugget. Fantastic advice comes at a fee." Bom sighed as she hugged the girl tighter as Eunhwa burst into added laughter.

~~~~~~~~~~

 “Hey, this is Yeojin! When the beep comes you know what to do!” soon the phone cut off as Yerin put the cellphone back in her pocket. She knew her sister was off filming for her role in an upcoming drama but she just hoped...she would have someone to talk to. Everyone was off in their own thoughts and had their own issues to deal with and she didn't want to bother anyone else. But at the same time she felt irrationally disappointed in herself since she was quite the perfectionist. She did everything precisely, her moves clean, her voice stable, her dedication above and beyond yet nothing...it was so upsetting. She just needed that pep talk to put everything into perspective. Her older sister was one of the only people to truly understand her.

"Ah, what do you know? We actually found her." the young girl heard a familiar voice chuckle out. Yerin turned around and saw Yuna, Gigi, and Roza walking down the hall towards her.

“Yay, my Monkey!" Gigi cheered. Yeah, the 12 EQSOL members weren't the only ones to have codenames, Butterfly was blessed as well.

"What are you doing here, Yerinnie?" Roza asked with a smile.

"Umm, I was just thinking... about things." Yerin answered in a mumbling fashion.

"Thinking about things, you say?" Yuna repeated with an arched eyebrow and Yerin nodded robotically. The emotional vocal shared a look with the y and lyrical dancers before she smiled at the youngest. "Oh come here, my child~!" she said in a singsong tone.

"Huh?" Yerin asked but in no time she was embraced by the older and slightly taller Chinese female, cheek to cheek. Soon her happy unnie and weird unnie joined in on the hug, making the girl feel pretty short even though she wasn't. "Why am I being squished?" she asked honestly.

"Shhh, accept our love." Roza said and Yerin sighed. She knew these unnies were weird and this was to be expected. But she didn't expect for Roza to whisper in her ear. "It's okay to express your feelings to others from time to time.” said the Russian female and Yerin’s eyes widened slightly.

“It’s okay to talk to your Butterfly members once in while. You can even talk to us, if you need to.” Yuna added whispering in her other ear. “You don’t have to feel alone.” the girl added, being one of the few to truly be able to read the young dancer since they were alike in many aspects. Yerin then felt two fingers poke her cheeks, knowing it was Gigi’s doing.

“Monkeys are supposed to be cute and happy not mopey.” the eldest girl assessed which, oddly enough, made Yerin snort. Roza and Yuna pulled away from hugging the girl and smiled at her.

“Thank you.” Yerin grinned.

“No problem. We aren’t part of the EQSOL Sorority for nothing.” Roza smiled. Yuna then started to push her forward.

“Now move along, Rinnie. YG and Hiro called a meeting for Butterfly and all the others are waiting for you.” she said.

“Oh! I should get going then.” Yerin gasped before running down the hall, halting for a second to turn around and give the older girls a bright smile. “Thanks again!” she said. The trio smiled before waving her off as she continued on her way. Yuna then turned towards her mega unit members.

“Now we need to find twin. She is cutting into my eating time!” whined the emotional main as she talked about Eunkyung which made the other two chuckle. All twelve of the girls were heading out to eat something since they’ve been separated for about a month before they prepared to move into their new dorm.

“Well, where there is ty fanfiction there is Eunkyung.” Roza deduced. “She isn’t Gigi-unnie’s Ecchi Princess for no reason.” she added and the lyrical dancer nodded vigorously in confirmation.

“She’s in one of these rooms, though. We’re getting closer, I can feel it.” Gigi said confidently as she led the way, the others shrugging before following after her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yerin ventured up to the third floor of the building and saw her fellow Butterflies sitting in the lounge area. Jinkyong was the first to spot her, quickly speed walking over to her.

“Yerin! There you are!” the leader said as she grabbed the girls shoulders. “Where have you been?!”

“We were looking all over for you!” Seulhee huffed slightly.

Yerin grinned sheepishly. “I’m sorry guys.” she apologized while scratching her cheek. “I just needed some alone time. I tried to talk to my sister but she was busy.”

“Well, you’re here now and that’s all that matters.”Youngjin announced. “The bosses are waiting for us so we should move it along.”

“Right.” the girls said in unison. The group then walked towards YG’s office before Jinkyong knocked a few times.

“Come in.” they heard a deeper toned voice. Soon the group cautiously entered the room, bowing respectfully when they saw the Japanese and Korean CEOs sitting beside each other. “Please have a seat.” said Hyunsuk and the Butterflies sat on the couch across from them, nervously.

“Why do you girls look like we’re about to kill you?” Hiro asked before turning to his business partner. “Fix your face, Hyunsuk. You’re scaring them.” he ordered and Hyunsuk rolled his eyes in mild annoyance but the “Mama and Papa” teasing did ease the tension from the girls.

“Ignoring that, you all are probably wondering why we’ve called this meeting.” YG began and the girls nodded in unison. “Well first of all, we wanted to discuss the group’s dynamics.”

“Is it due to my leadership skills?” Jinkyong asked.

“Or my lack of dancing abilities? I can get better!” Eunhwa reasoned.

“Or my lack of trainee experience?” Yerin added in askance.

“We’ll work harder!” Nayeon assured and both men were surprised by the outbursts.

“Is that what...Those aren’t the reasons we pushed back your debut.” Hyunsuk informed them slowly and they blinked.

“...They aren’t?” Seulhee asked.

Hiro shook his head. “No, they aren’t. Everyone has their strengths that they play by and weaknesses that are hard to overcome. That’s part of being human.” he said calmly. Hiro was the softer of the two men, knowing how to say things without being impulsively blunt like YG. “Your dynamic is the main reason why you aren’t debuting. As of right now, you guys don’t really mesh up like a group should and that’s really important to us. Moa was kind of the glue that held everyone together but since she had an amazing opportunity working as a choreographer for the “48” groups, the dynamic dwindled. With her gone, it kind of leaves a void. When I look at the EQSOL members, they all know each other, understand each other, confide in each other and work well as a team while also having the vast potential of working as solo artists. We don’t quite see that in you girls but the potential is there, it just needs to be pulled out.” Hiro explained.

“Which is why we’re sending you to do workshops in New York as well as take private classes at the EXPG division situated there.” Hyunsuk informed.

“Yes!” Jinkyong exclaimed, surprising everyone. “I’m sorry but I haven’t been to my hometown in years. I’m excited.” she said a big smile on her face.

Seulhee pouted. “Really? Is Mexico not good enough for you? No es bueno!” she asked.

“What about Hawaii? Who ignores Hawaii?!” Yerin chimed in.

“Umm, Australia anyone?” Eunhwa added.

“Boseong!” Nayeon exclaimed and everyone stared at her silently. “What? Everyone else named their hometowns. I felt left out!” she reasoned and the others chuckled.

“Well there aren’t any EXPG facilities in Mexico, Australia, or Boseong and our New York branch is the best outside of the Japan based ones.” Hiro informed and the group members sighed, excluding Jinkyong who just pat their knees as she relished in the circumstances.

“But hey its still an awesome trip! I haven’t been outside of Korea much aside from the trips to Japan and that one time I was a back dancer for a London concert for 2NE1.” Youngjin said with optimism and excitement. “I’m stoked about going to the Big Apple!”

Nayeon smiled with a nod. “Unnie does have a point.” she added and the others nodded in agreement.

“Great now we’re on the same wavelength.” Hyunsuk said. “After your workshops in New York, you’ll have more opportunities next year to be included in EQSOL Sorority projects to gain more experience, especially in Japan. Mega-units are more of Hiro’s specialty.” the Korean male admitted while Hiro didn’t deny this fact.

“All in all don’t think of this as a setback, think of it more as greatness in the making.” Hiro clarified. “We have as much faith in you as we do with the EQSOL girls. Your time in the spotlight will come in the future, I promise.” he added. “Are we clear on everything?” he asked. The six girls looked at one another before they smiled.

“All clear!” Jinkyong answered for them and thus the beginning of their journey and growth commenced.  

Author's Note
Hey there guys! Finally the Butterfly chapter is up (and let me just add that every single faceclaim had a flower crown picture, can you say squad goals haha XD).

On a serious note, I feel bad that I left you guys hanging for so long. These last few weeks have been pretty crazy. About 3 weeks ago, right after the last update, I was in a pretty bad car accident with my mom and grandma thanks to some drunk idiot, luckily no one was severely hurt which is a true blessing above anything else. Though, I did end up with the worst of it - a sprained wrist and 2 broken ribs. To make matters even more "awesome", I had an allergic reaction to the pain medication they gave me which was so "fun" dealing with. All in all, I just remember being mad and aggravated so I couldn't be bothered to write and just stayed off the internet for almost two week. When I wasn't in a lot of pain I started working on a lot of stuff I wanted to finish up, like applications, and brainstormed for this chapter so here it is. I'm so happy I completed part one of my goal. /fist pump/

But, I must add, that school is coming up next week for me and I won't be updating a new chapter for a little bit. I transferred to a different university and want to focus and feel more comfortable in the new environment. So the next update, which will be a Soompi article, will be up sometime in September, the absolute latest being the beginning of October. But I will be adding little things to the Aurora Blog section since that isn't completely time consuming. I would also appreciate if everyone commented on this update so I can see who's still with me and who'll be removed before I start the next part of the story (I already know where two people stand on this). Also in the mean time, can you guys help a sista out and throw out some ideas that you want to possibly see included in the documentary chapters, it's still up in the air for how I'm going to write it out. Your opinions and ideas will be immensely appreciated. So, yeah, good luck to my fellow students currently attending or going to attend school and I hope everyone has a nice day. See you soon! =^_^=