chapter 002.   Episode 1 of Making Mystique (Part 2)

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Group A

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Group A, after much discussion, decided on covering an English song, called ‘Lady Marmalade’, famous from the film ‘Moulin Rouge’. As the majority of the trainees in this group were heavily trained in singing, they opted to sing a song that would not only showcase their powerful vocals, but also their English skills. Especially Miyoung, who had a limited knowledge of the language, wanted to take up the challenge to show that singing in foreign languages wouldn't make her stumble her ground.

Practicing in one of the many soundproof rooms provided within Cube Entertainment’s building, they allocated the high notes and lyrics amongst themselves before working on their harmonising.

Miyoung who had a few tricks up her sleeve, for she was well acquainted with the art of singing since young, was able to adapt well to her other two teammates’ vocals. Greatly experienced, she offered some advice to her other two teammates to further empower and strengthen their would-be performance. In return, the experienced often asked the two in her company to assist her in the area of pronunciation, to which they obliged happily.

“Hit that note a little higher, Seorin-ah,” Miyoung instructed carefully, as the mentioned girl tried to deliver as told. Seorin gulped down a lump in and lightly pressed a hand down on her flat stomach, humming a soft tune to herself in preparation, before singing the line at the note instructed. 

Satisfied, Miyoung gave an assuring nod and a thumbs-up. Seorin grinned, returning two thumbs-up’s in response.

“Hey, what do you think if I did this for the rap?” Iris cleared before she rapped a few lines, ending with a bit of a sassy and edgy feel. Although singing was more of her forte, rapping is also one of her strengths and so, she knew some tricks to spice up any rap. Since she also lived in the United States in the past, singing and rapping in English was a piece of cake.

Seorin smiled and gave a confirming nod, “Sounds amazing, unnie!”

“Yep, that sounds good!” Miyoung confirmed with a smile, “I know you’re skilled in rapping so I’ll leave you to it.”

Seorin nodded at her teammate’s words, sending another smile towards Iris’ way to show her approval and support.

“Okay, let’s practice the whole song this time. Let’s see what we got!” Miyoung exclaimed as she clapped her hands. Before she could even press play on the music player for the instrumental, Seorin cleared nervously.

“Umm, unnie? Iris unnie has something to say,” she half-murmured, turning towards Iris and speaking in English, “Tell her.”

“Well,” Iris started, scratching the back of her head, “Maybe we could do a few dance moves or something while singing. Just to shake off the nerves while performing? Or maybe we could figure out positionings in every verse and chorus, so we don’t just stand there like statues.”

Miyoung looked to be considering the suggestion, biting the inside of her cheek as she thought. Finally, she smiled and nodded at the idea, earning bright smiles from the other two.

“Alright, sounds good,” and the girls proceeded to work out positions and the like for their performance.

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Group B

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Consisting mainly of active dancers, the girls of Group B agreed to perform a dance cover. 2PM’s recent release was a hit, even amongst the trainees in Cube Entertainment, and the dance routine was sophisticated enough to demonstrate their skill in the field of dancing; the song was perfect for this group.

Dominating an empty dance studio, the girls practiced hard. They continued to go on and on, not seemingly interested in stopping for even a minute of rest.

Soomin was particularly in her own comfortable zone, as the style of dancing seemed to perfectly sit well with her. Despite sweat visibly trickling down her forehead and temples, her moves were sharp wherever needed but also graceful.

Yeonhee and SuAh were no different.

Yeonhee showed a lot of charisma even though they were only practicing. She looked as though she was treating each practice as the real performance, even though she stumbled occasionally. She strongly showed off a completely different aura to her playful nature, which she instantly displays after each practice.

Similar to Yeonhee, SuAh liked to play around as well. She looked to be the prankster, as she would sometimes strut a move too vigorously but also in a silly manner, that it could pass as kkap dancing, earning laughs from her other two teammates. Regardless, she never failed to keep focused and concentrated on the task at hand.

“SuAh, that was too funny!” Yeonhee bellowed after a certain practice round was over, bending over to hold her stomach as she laughed heartily along with her teammates. SuAh appeared victorious as she held her hands to her hips, laughing as well.

Soomin shook her head but chuckled nonetheless, the kkap move that SuAh belted out a few minutes earlier forever etched into her mind until something else SuAh, or someone else, would do to overshadow that.

After another round of laughs, the girls finally calmed themselves down. Yeonhee straightened up and tied up her hair into a ponytail.

“Alright, girls, one last practice then we’ll be off for the day!” she announced then started the music, once again instantly changing her attitude to suit the performance. The rest of the girls followed suit, walking into their respective positions.

Authors' note:

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the love you've given to the previous chapter -- we received a number of responses and we're happy to know that you're enjoying the intro! As always, please give the same love to this chapter as well, despite the fact that not all participants are mentioned in this chapter ^^ We hope you've enjoyed this and we'll see you again in the next update! -the-badguy-or-hero-

Hi! Here's the next part of the episode, featuring half of our girls in the training rooms. I guess you can probably figure out what the next chapter will be! As my fellow co-author already said, thank you once again for the support! We hope that you'll stay with us during this journey with our girls, because we're really enjoying it so far. Until next time o/  Forever-Beast