CH.4 ♕ 032007
GDS4.COM
03142007 AT 8:30 AM // Lee Minji
"Are you kidding me. Are you kidding me?"
What Yoonkyung unni just said ... well, it was a completely proper way to summarize what we both felt. I mean, I really don't think I was expecting much, but this? This is a joke.
Miyeon unni and Joong-sshi had instructed us that instead of attending vocal practice today, we were going over to check out the dorm because we both had our paperwork done—which was an utter pain, by the way, because I literally had to go to the notary public with mom and dad more than twice since ther always something we missed, which wouldn't have been so difficult if it wasn't for their busy schedules. Anyway, don't get me wrong, I wasn't and still am not at all excited to be living with the group, but I was slightly curious as to how our dorm would actually look like.
And, ugh, how stupid was I to actually expect an extravagant dorm with four bedrooms and two full baths and a balcony and an infinite pool because Joong-sshi said our group would have all of the luxuries?
Looking over the dorm now ... wow, so this is how university kids who dorm feel like. It's basically a room in one of those cheap apartment complexes located in Mokpo, about a mile and a half south from the company. As soon as you walk into room 224 on the second floor, you're greeted by a single bare queen sized mattress pushed off to the left side of the wall, four racks and a cabinet for our clothing, and a small couch. Looking off to the right you've got the kitchen complete with a stove, sink, refrigerator, some cupboards, and a table with chairs that seat four. By then you've already seen about 75% of the dorm, no lie. Beside the refrigerator is a door presumably leading into the bathroom/laundry room. Paradise indeed.
I turned to face our managers. "B-but I seriously thought we were supposed to have luxuries..."
Joong-sshi pursed his lips, and I swear I sense that he was trying to hold back a smile. "You didn't think I actually meant it literally, did you?" I began to nod, but he shook his head an clicked his tongue. "Sajangnim has this rule. He told us to tell you that the only way this group is moving into a much better dorm is if and when you win a Triple Crown and sell more than a total of 100 thousand physical albums altogether. Anyway, how could you not consider this a luxury? Look, at least you have a dining table. And a laundry room and a bathroom! You know, back in my day—"
Yoonkyung blew him off with a flick of her hand toward his direction and glared at the 75% of our dorm. "Yeah, yeah, nobody wants to hear about when you were a kid back in prehistoric times, Joong-sshi." Finally turning around, she fixated her gaze on him and, if looks could kill she's be in court with a death sentence, I couldn't help but cheer her on internally because this is the first I've ever seen her this fierce. "Get me my contract so I could rip it up to pieces, burn it, and flush the ashes down the toilet because there is absolutely no way in hell I'm living here."
"How dare you speak to me like that?" Joong-sshi questioned with a glare that could come up to par with Yoonkyung's. "You may be debuting in a few months, but that does not give you the authority to speak to me so informally. Need I remind you that I am your senior? Speak to me like that again and I promise I will do everything in my power to get you booted out of the debut batch."
Okay, this is my cue to step in because this is getting a bit too out-of-hand and we've got to get along, we've just got to get along, but as soon as Miyeon unni and I made a move to do something about it, Yoonkyung's exterior broke and guilt was all but evident in her eyes and facial expression. "I apologize, Hyunjoong-sshi, and I will make sure that it will never happen again," she uttered clearly, body bent in a 90 degree bow.
In an attempt to save the conversation from going downhill, Miyeon unni cleared and said cheerfully, "Alright! How about you two go do as much exploring as you possibly could do around the dorm while we go down to the van to make sure it hasn't been towed or anything like that. You two just come down when you're done. Sound good?" Without waiting for our reply, Miyeon unni took Joong-sshi by the arm and dragged him out of the room, not before throwing me a set of keys for the dorm, and shutting the door behind them.
Not even a keycard, but a key for the lock. A key. If only you could hear my heart cry.
I let out a big sigh, and Yoonkyung chuckled lightly. "That's a good way to put it." Letting out a sigh of her own, she turned back to face the dorm. Hands on hips, she began, "Alright, we've got to prepare a list of things we'll need because I imagine they're going to ask us to move in when the other two members have their paperwork ready."
"Good call," I said, pocketing the keys—which I assume we're going to have to make copies of ourselves. Feeling the outlines of my cell phone, I grinned, and took it out. "Come on, unni, first dorm visit selca time!" Rolling her eyes, she laughed, but still positioned herself behind me and posed with the classic v-sign. Tilting my head down a bit to outline my jaw, I grinned, and the snap of the camera was heard. Checking it, I smiled. "Looks good to me! Literally cannot wait to show this to Sungjong, even if I know he's gonna laugh at the sight of the dorm in the background."
Yoonkyung scrunched her nose. "I suppose we'll get used to it eventually. We'll have to make-do for now. It's just a shock now, just a phrase." Taking a deep breath in and out, she gathered herself. "Alright!" she began with a smile, "Pull up notes on your phone and let's start that list. First we're definitely going to need some bed sheets and pillows, preferably in pink, but that's just me."
"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that last part, but that's just me," I teased, receiving a playful glare in return.
"Definitely some cleaning items. Rubber gloves, cleaning solution, aprons, and the like."
"Slippers, rice cooker, microwave, towels."
"Pots, pans, bowls, plates, chopsticks, spoons, glasses."
"Curtains, air fresheners, soap, shampoo, toilet paper, and lady items."
I locked up a while later and we went off to explore the building, and that's when it really hit me: this is where we're living until we reach those goals sajangnim set for us. Yoonkyung is right. We just have to make-do with this situation, and make-do we shall.
03152007 AT 10:49 AM
"My mother won't allow it."
Tablo sat there, jaw on the ground. He was just having the time of his life, spinning carelessly on the spinning chair until the young girl all but barged into the conference room with her surprising news, another girl walking in behind her confidently. Beside him sat Lee Minji and Im Yoonkyung, all of their paperwork properly filled out and in a neat stack on the table. The two members stared at the younger girl in disbelief, one because of the words that have just left , and two because, wow, they're supposed to be in the group with us. Their two managers, Hyunjoong and Miyeon, sat in front of the trio along with the another male and female, who have yet to introduce themselves.
"Wait a minute," Hyunjoong began,"so you're telling us that after three years of being a trainee under our label, your parents are not allowing you to debut? Is that what you're telling us, Noh Seoeun?"
Her heart was pumping at an unusually quick pace. Seoeun attempted to calm her breathing, running her dainty fingers along her hair and pursing her lips. "Technically, it's just my mother who's backing off. She," she sighed, her bloodshot eyes rising to meet that of her supposed manager's,"it's a personal reason. One that I'm not particularly comfortable with discussing with so many people in the room."
Park Goonjung gave the girl a long, hard stare. "What do you mean she's backing off? She cannot just 'back off' so abruptly." By now, anger should have been a clear emotion on Goonjung's young face, however, all he showed was concern and uncertainty. Nipping at his bottom lip, he continued, "Does she not know how close you are to debuting? Does she not want you to be happy?"
Seoeun pursed her lips, eyebrows scrunched in concentration. "Look, Park-sshi, I'm doing the best I can to fix this because, believe me, I want this more than anything I've ever wanted before."
Tablo clicked his tongue, drawing everybody's attention. His gaze directed toward Seoeun, he asked, "You do know that if sajangnim hears about any of this you will be replaced without another thoughts? That if you don't straighten things out with your mother, your chance has basically been blown and you are most likely never to receive this chance under this label ever again? We might treat each other like family, but in the end the only reason we're truly doing this is to earn money."
"Money is the anthem of success."
Glancing at the girl behind Seoeun, Tablo slowly nodded in agreement. "Quite harshly put but correct nonetheless. You seem to be very knowledgable on this topic, Jeon Sunyoung."
The Jeon merely shrugged her shoulders. "I do my research." Heaving out a sigh, she began, "Please just confirm this for me, I am a member, correct?"
Min Yejin slightly bobbed her head. "Most definitely. Unless you commit an act that the company deems improper or your parent resists as," she motioned to Seoeun, "well. So, yes, you are a member for as long as you don't do anything wrong." Sunyoung held a steady gaze at the older woman, and Yejin could almost see the gears turning in the girl's head, making the slightest of smiles appear on her otherwise tense face. "Please, take a seat, Jeon Sunyoung," she motioned to the vacant seat across from her, and who was Sunyoung to refuse?
Goonjung cleared his throat. "Alright, since nobody is addressing it, I'll do it myself." Gathering a thick packet of papers that could only be the company contract and putting them away in his open briefcase, he continued, "We do not hand out any papers to those even slightly unsure of this process. The only way you'll get your hands on these is if you come to me in no more than a week's time with your parents or guardians and assure me you are completely committed to this process and will not back out. If you fail to contact me within that set range, your initial position will be given to another candidate." Finally looking up at the girl, he finished, "Understood?"
With a ragged sigh, she nodded a few beats later. "I understand." That said, she took her leave, wishing everyone luck before shutting the door with a click.
Minji puffed her cheeks and rested her elbows on the table, careful not to make a mess of the neatly stacked papers in front of her. "That was a bit harsh, no?"
Goonjung, who finally smiled for the first time, answered, "Not really. That's what you call letting someone down easy. It could've been done more robotically by using even bigger words and such."
"I still felt bad for Seoeun-ah, you know," she replied nonchalantly with a shrug of her shoulders, "She's still so young, yet she's already received what is basically a rejection because of her mother, which makes it even worse. I don't know, maybe I'm just rambling."
"That," Hyunjoong chimed in, "is exactly correct. You sure are rambling, as per usual."
Before the girl could even muster a response, Sunyoung interrupted, "Is there anymore we'll be discussing because I could be spending my time on more useful things."
"Actually," Tablo began, "we were supposed to go over some logistics, but since the final member isn't present, would you guys like to just discuss it some other time?"
The three members gave each other knowing looks, and Yoonkyung nodded. "Can you go over details now? We can just bring Seoeun up to speed when she confirms things."
Looking through his folder of paperwork, Tablo fished out three sheets and laid them out in front of each individual girl, muttering each girl's name as he did so as if to commit both face and name to memory. "Alright, well here they are," he said, clapping his hands together. "Now that I'm sure Yoonkyung and Minji have read the contract and Sunyoung will do so also, we can go over some of the less strict policies, like dorm rules and such." Pointing out the top section of Minji's paper, he continued, "Those are located there. They're all pretty clearly stated and I'm sure you all are competent enough to read through them yourselves, so we can just skip over them.
"The next section discusses your positions in the group. Now, listen here, these are by no means finalized. As always, skills are still to be evaluated before making the final cut. This especially goes for the leader position. We're all hoping that your training periods have helped to develop self-responsibility and such, however, there will still be one person who is to take responsibility over the entire group. The visual will be decided by sajangnim when all four members are confirmed.
"The final section deals with the album and debut showcase, all continued onto the back. As Minji and Yoonkyung are aware of, the first on that track list is the set title song. As you can see there are six songs in total. Lyrics and instrumentals were already finalized two weeks ago and team recordings were supposed to begin as soon as this upcoming Monday, however, the things with Seoeun will be pushing things back. In the meantime we expect you all to be learning and familiarizing yourselves with all of your lines. Jeom Jihae, your vocal coach, will be at the studio to help with the song whenever you need her. Official dance practices will commence when recording for the title song is complete.
"Finally, the debut showcase, set to be held in Jamsil Stadium around late-September or early-October. There will be 3000 exclusive tickets, which will be decided through a lottery. The acts will include, of course, your group, Nell, and Epik High. Ji Sun and I will be hosting. To fill up the hour and a half time slot, all six songs from your mini will be performed and an interview will be held during the interlude, along with performances from the groups under our label.
"That's all for now, however, I'm sure some things will be changed, added, or removed during the course of these next few months. For the time being, please show Sunyoung around your dorm. Then you're all free to go about your personal business."
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