“Can you bring that rack of clothes over here please?” the stylist calls over Ina’s shoulder, causing the girl to wince slightly. The bustle of workers moving behind her and the screeching of equipment settling into place hurt her sensitive ears. Combined with the fact that it was hilariously early in the morning, Ina was not feeling very happy. Yet there was an underlying sense of excitement to it all. Today was the day they were going to shoot the music video and teaser and Ina couldn’t help but squirm in excitement.

          She looks into the wide mirror in front of her and watches as a couple interns scuttle across the set, bringing clothes here and taking make up supplies somewhere else. There were two locations where they were going to film – if Ina remembered correctly. One was the shots inside, this is what they were preparing for now, while the other was in a different place. Somewhere outside, in a forest maybe? Ina wasn’t really paying attention at that point.

          It wasn’t really her fault to be honest. Sanghee had come knocking on her door quite early in the morning, and Ina was forced out of her warm bed and into the car – something the Vietnamese girl wasn’t exactly happy about. Especially since she was the first one to be picked up. You’d think since they were debuting soon they’d have their own dorm but apparently something went wrong with the rental. Hyeri and Sanghee were talking it out with the contractors but for now, Ina was still stuck living in the trainee dorms. As such, Ina had to wait in the car while Sanghee went to the other dorms to awaken the other members.

          “Ina ssi? Can you tilt your head a little to the left please?” the stylist working on Ina’s hair asked, startling the girl out of her thoughts. Nodding (and then quickly stopping when she realized that the stylist was holding a curling iron near her neck), Ina shifts her head so the hairdresser can continue tousling her hair. Ina looks through the mirror at the seat beside her, where Eunhwa is getting her hair fixed, and smiles slightly when the older girl gives her a tired grin.

          “Excited?” Eunhwa asks as another stylist steps up to apply her makeup. The older girl closes her eyes temporarily while the man curls her eyelashes before opening them again and blinking. “I’m not used to this aha.”

          “Nor am I,” Ina confesses, wrinkling her nose as she feels – once again – how heavy her eyelashes were. “Why do I have to wear fake eyelashes? I can barely keep my eyes open.”

          “You look nice though,” Eunhwa compliments before she is whisked away by another staff member to put on her first outfit. Getting up, Ina is also guided to a change room to put on her clothes. After dressing in the simple attire, Ina leaves the room and walks up to the other members who were changed and styled.

          “Hey,” Solbi greets, smiling brightly despite the fact that the sun was just starting to rise. Ina nods at her coolly, still slightly miffed at the whole recording session incident. Ina didn’t really know why Mirae had treated the other girl the way she did but she knew Mirae had her reasons. And the fact that Solbi had bitten back wasn’t the best decision. Mirae was kind of spiteful after all, not one to back down. Ina shivers, feeling like this tension between Solbi and Mirae wouldn’t be going away any time soon.

          “Hey guys, let’s greet the director,” Eunhwa nudges Liqin and gives Ina and Solbi a pointed look before she turns around to face the director (who had just arrived). “Ready? Past the stars!”

          “We are Cosmos! Annyeonghaseyo, uri Cosmos imnida!” Ina and the others chorused as they planned. The director nodded at them as they bowed politely before smiling in amusement.

          “Hi girls, I understand this is your first recording?” The woman pauses as Ina and the others nods in reply. “Don’t worry, I’ll take it slowly and explain everything. Don’t be afraid to ask questions okay? Anyways, we’ll be starting with the first scene okay? You’ve been briefed right?”

          “Yes, our manager talked it over with us when we first got here,” Eunhwa answers.

          “Alright great, let’s get going then,” the woman nods and directs the rest of the crew.

          An hour or so later, Ina yawns tiredly as she watches Eunhwa film her part. She’s standing off to the side, as her part is right after, and stares lazily at the cup in Eunhwa’s hands. The other members, Liqin and Solbi, are sitting on the ground somewhere off set, waiting for their own personal shots. The filming was going pretty smoothly, all of them had been quite awkward at the start but they were slowly getting used to it. In fact, Ina was actually having a little bit of fun. It was amazing, she thought at least, to act out a motion and then see how it was filmed. Although it was slightly frustrating as well, acting was a lot harder than Ina thought. While she could think she portrayed an emotion properly, it could come off in a totally different manner on the screen. Plus, Ina could have never imagined the amount of footage they had to film. A simple 5 second shot could take up to an hour to film and Ina’s head was hurting at the thought of how much more they had to film.

          “What if I drop it badly? Do you have another cup?” Eunhwa asks, blinking in confusion as the director tells her what to do.

          “How can you drop a cup badly?” Ina mutters under her breath. Not quietly enough it seems, as the set bursts into laughter.

          “It’s fine Eunhwa ssi, we have extras. I’m sure you’ll do fine,” the cameraman gives Eunhwa a thumbs up before signalling the start of filming. The set quieted down as everyone watches Eunhwa. The tall girl puts on a dreamy face, before slowly looking down at the cup in her hand. Examining it, Eunhwa loosens her fingers and allows the cup to fall and shatter to pieces on the floor in front of her. The camera pans down in order to catch the aftermath and after a couple seconds of no movement, the cameraman closes the scene. “That was good, now it’s Ina ssi’s turn.”

          “Good luck,” Eunhwa whispers as her and Ina switch places. Ina waits as a staff member cleans up the shattered cup before another employee hands Ina a teapot. Listening intently, Ina raises an eyebrow as the worker tells her to merely pour the tea out like she was filling up a cup.

          “What if it splashes over my feet?” Ina asks, staring at the apparently cold tea skeptically.

          “Its fine, I’m sure you won’t pour the tea badly,” Eunhwa pipes up from the side of the set, causing another round of laughter. Smiling slightly while rolling her eyes, Ina nods and the staff member retreats behind the camera. Holding her breath and trying to hold a straight face, Ina waits as the camera turns on. The director signals her to start and the Vietnamese girl begins to pour the tea out slowly. It falls onto the table, pooling up slightly, before continuing on its path to the ground. The minute a small puddle is formed on the ground, the director calls for her and the camera to stop. Ina holds the teapot upright again and hands it to another employee before daintily stepping off the set.

          She is replaced by Solbi, who lets out a large, “What?!” after she’s told to slip in the tea. Holding her laughter, Ina and Liqin make eye contact and grin at each other impulsively. Ina continues to chuckle silently as Solbi complains that she got the hardest part before both Ina and Eunhwa chorus, “It’s okay, there’s no way you can slip badly.”

          “Is this going to be a thing now?” Liqin asks after the laughter calms down.

          “Probably,” Eunhwa winks at the quiet girl. Quirking an eyebrow at her antics, Liqin sighs softly and turns away with a ghost of a smile on her lips. Ina smirks, before turning her attention back towards Solbi, who was preparing to take the fall of her life. Watching the other girl glare at the puddle distastefully, Ina relaxes and lets her worries about the music video leave her mind.

          “That was fun,” Liqin comments as the girls climb into their van. They had successfully finished all the indoor scenes today and were apparently going to film the outdoor scenes on a later date. “It went well I think.”

          “Better than I thought it would honestly,” Eunhwa admits, yawning slightly from the front seat (something she had taken because ‘I’m the leader’). She turns in her seat and looks at the other girls before pointing at Ina distastefully. “Seatbelts please.”

          “Okay mom,” Ina rolls her eyes, buckling in, before moving her hands away. “Are you happy now?”

          “Very, I am overjoyed. This is the happiest I could ever be. Nothing in this world could match the absolute delight I am feeling at this very moment in time,” Eunhwa replies, blowing Ina a kiss when the other girl raises an eyebrow. Solbi grins as Sanghee starts up the car and pulls the van out of the parking lot. As the vehicle moves onto the highway, Eunhwa turns around again. “Actually, I’ve thought of something else that would make me happier. Winning the rookie award.”

          “That would be amazing,” Solbi says wistfully, a dreamy look appearing on her face. “You think we could do it?”

          “Probably not,” Ina shrugs. “Statistically speaking, a group from a larger company will most possibly get it.”

          “Not with that attitude we won’t,” Eunhwa comments. “But I’d love to win at least a music show if not the rookie award. We are from a small company after all, it’ll probably take a while before we get more well-known.”

          “We’ll just have to show that we’re absolutely amazing,” Solbi states. “Which won’t be hard, I mean, I’m so awesome that we’ll probably gain a thousand fans just because of my face.”

          “Well I bet we’ll get two thousand fans because of my voice,” Ina boasts, enjoying the annoyed look on Solbi’s face.

          “Three thousand fans because of my rap,” Eunhwa pipes up.

          “A million fans if you all would just be quiet,” Sanghee snaps from the driver’s seat. Solbi and Eunhwa exchange guilty looks before the girls settle down again. They exit the highway and return to the street roads in relative silence.

          “Two million fans because of my dance,” Liqin speaks, breaking the silence. Solbi turns quickly, glancing at the normally reserved girl, before bursting out in laughter.

          “Okay, fine, whatever, I give up,” Sanghee rolls her eyes, but not before smiling at Liqin through the mirror in the car. “I do hope you girls go far though.”

          “So you can get a bigger paycheck right?” Ina sasses from the backseat.

          “Ah, look at you, just mooching off of us,” Solbi adds on.

          “I hate you girls,” Sanghee sighs, causing the four girls to break out into laughter again.

          “But we’re your source of income,” Eunhwa reminds, causing Sanghee to grumble good naturedly. Grinning, Ina leans back and stretches her legs horizontally. The car was a van, with Sanghee and Eunhwa in the front seat, Solbi and Liqin in the next row, and Ina, as maknae, taking over the last three back seats of the car. She was sitting crookedly, so her legs could rest on the unoccupied seats, and although the seatbelt was digging uncomfortably into the crook of her neck, she was quite content with the arrangement. It gave her the seclusion she preferred, but still allowed her to join the conversation if she wanted to.

          Yawning slightly, Ina watches as Eunhwa turns her attention to Sanghee – talking to their manager about the day’s events – while Liqin plugs her earphones in and stares at the window. Solbi on the other hand, was looking down at her phone, smiling and grinning animatedly even though there was no one around. Narrowing her eyes, Ina sighs slightly as she thinks about the older girl.

          Solbi was an interesting character, that’s for sure. Ina had thought she was the typical, ditzy, happy-go-lucky girl at first – but after training with her and observing her interactions with others, it seems like that isn’t the case. Solbi, in a way, reminded Ina of herself. Now Ina wasn’t one to self-reflect and brood over her actions in any way, but she knew, at least to an extent, about herself. She had to, after all the she went through. How could she go around living if she didn’t even know what components combined together to make herself? Anyways, Ina realized recently that they had a lot in common. They were stubborn, independent, impulsive, reckless, and defiant. Although they came from two entirely different walks of life, Ina felt a certain kinship. As if even though they travelled different paths, they ended up in the same place.

          Which is why she was at a loss. Normally, Ina was a feisty spirit. Not one to think twice before speaking and always spoke her mind. But now, Ina wasn’t really sure what to do. On one hand there was Solbi. Out of all the Cosmos members, Solbi would probably be the one she would become closest to. She could see herself matching with the shorter girl quite well, and from the practices and filming they had together; Ina knew they were already hitting it off. But then there was Mirae – her first, and probably only, friend at Yunrae. Mirae and she were alike as well – just in different aspects. While the Japanese trainee wasn’t as outspoken or reckless as Ina was, they still matched in other ways. Mirae didn’t like most people. It took a while for her to warm up to people and as such, she was often viewed as cold and stoic. But then again, Ina didn’t really like people either. Not because she was shy or whatever, it was mostly because every relationship she’s ever had was extremely strained.

          Ina was opinionated and self-righteous. You go against her morals and you lose your head. As such, not many people could deal with her over bearing ways. But Mirae did, so they grew close. Mirae understood Ina’s strong will and recognized her inner insecurities. Mirae became the only senior Ina could look up to without feeling a strong sense of jealousy. Solbi was the same way – in a sense. Ina viewed her more as a friend than Mirae. Not that Mirae and her had a bad relationship, no, it was because Solbi matched her more. While Mirae was something like a mother or older sister, Solbi was the neighbourly friend.

          In a perfect world, maybe, just maybe, Solbi and Mirae could have gotten along and Ina’s situation would have been perfect. But of course, fate loves to screw around and for some reason; Ina was one of its favourites. So for reasons unknown to even Ina, Mirae disliked Solbi. It was evident, pretty much anyone at the recording session could tell. And that confused Ina. Mirae wasn’t one to be emotional or hot-headed. She thought things through and made decisions logically. But Mirae had been anything but rational in the studio. While she disliked certain decisions, Mirae would always make the best choice. Back there though? Nothing she did had been very reasonable. Then again, Solbi hadn’t been very accepting in return. The two had clashed like water against the shore – and Ina felt as if she was caught in between. She wanted to defend her friend, yet at the same time, she was confused by Mirae’s actions and didn’t think she should’ve have treated Solbi that way.

          It had been a long time since this happened, Ina sighs and closes her eyes, leaning her temple on the cool window of the van, but it seems as if Ina couldn’t form an opinion. She couldn’t tell whose side she wanted to be on, and, as such, she was hilariously confused. Everything, every action, every word, every fibre of her being depended on Ina knowing where she stood. Did she dislike you? Like you? Not care at all? Without an opinion, humans were worthless – and Ina stood by this mentality. But now, now Ina was clueless. She was in the middle of a struggle, not sure where her loyalties lied, and, as such, was pretty much powerless. She couldn’t do anything without feeling like she was betraying someone and that pissed her off to no end. Yet, once again, she couldn’t do anything. It was an endless cycle, Ina grits her teeth together, and she only hoped it would end soon.

          “Where are we?” Liqin suddenly pipes up, causing the three other girls to look out the window. “This isn’t where our dorms are.”

          “Weren’t we supposed to turn left before?” Solbi adds, stretching. “Did you make a mistake Sanghee ssi? Too tired to drive? I can drive if you want me to,” Solbi smirks, tapping her fingers on the window as the car continues to drive into unknown territory.

          “I didn’t mess up,” Sanghee comments, smiling mysteriously. Ina furrows her eyebrows as she watches Sanghee make another right turn before pulling up to an apartment complex. “Here we are.”

          “And where is here?” Ina asks, unbuckling her seatbelt when Sanghee merely gets out of the car. Following Liqin out of the van, the four girls stare up at the building. It was medium sized, not too tall, but not short at all. The building was made out of a reddish-brown brick, with a small lawn at the front and a couple balconies scattered above. It looked pretty nice, a lot better than the trainee dorm if you asked Ina. But that might also be because she was forced to share that with like, twenty other girls.

          “Your new dorm,” Sanghee states, causing the other girls to whirl around and stare at her. “We finally signed the contract, you guys can move in now. In fact, I think Henry ssi is coming over later with most of your stuff. Obviously you’ll be able to go back and grab anything else you think is important, but for now and in the future, you’ll be staying here.” 

          “Seriously? We have a dorm now? Our own?” Eunhwa gasps in excitement, bouncing on the soles of her feet. “I don’t have to deal with screaming little pre-teens anymore?”

          “Nope,” Sanghee grins. “Want to see inside?” She takes a set of keys out of her pocket and throws them at Eunhwa – who luckily catches them. “5C, you guys can check it out. I’ll wait here for Henry ssi.”

          “I call dibs on the room closest to the door,” Eunhwa calls before running into the building. Liqin and Ina share a perplexed look before Solbi pushes them forward and they follow after their leader in frenzy. Too keyed up to take the elevator, the three girls race after Eunhwa up the stairs and arrive at the fifth floor slightly out of breath but mostly smiling in happiness. “Alrighty then,” Eunhwa fits the key in the lock, staring at the door intently. “Let’s see this place.”

          Ina pushes her way inside the minute Eunhwa opens the door. She enters the dorm to see a short hallway which leads into a main living room area. To her left are a bedroom and a bathroom; on the right is a small kitchen. Ina walks farther into the dorm and stands in the middle of the living room. There is room for a couch in the corner and they even have access to a small balcony. Solbi and the others trail in afterwards, Eunhwa immediately disappearing into the first bedroom while Liqin looks into the kitchen.

          “Are those more bedrooms?” Solbi asks, pointing at another hallway which was around the right corner from the first one. Shrugging, Ina and Solbi approach the doorway and look through. The hallway led straight into another bathroom, with two other bedrooms to the left and right. “How do you think sleeping arrangements will be?”

          “I don’t know,” Ina shrugs. “But if everyone has a roommate then no one has to sleep with Sanghee ssi right?”

          “Guys!” Eunhwa calls from the living room, causing Solbi and Ina to return. Liqin is sitting cross legged on the floor while Eunhwa is twirling the keys around her finger. “Let’s talk room arrangements and roommates.”

          “Do we have to have a roommate?” Liqin asks, biting her lip.

          “Unfortunately, yes,” Eunhwa sighs. “I thought moving out of the dorm meant getting away from roommates but I guess not. Sanghee ssi just told me that her room is the one near the door so we have the room down that hallway,” Eunhwa points at the place where Ina and Solbi had just been. “Two to a room.”

          “I don’t mind who I share a room with,” Solbi volunteers. “I’m fine with anyone as long as they don’t snore.”

          “One of the trainees told me you snore a lot though,” Liqin whispers. Ina smiles at that comment, causing Liqin’s eyes to widen. “I didn’t think anyone heard me.”

          “Heard what?” Eunhwa blinks in confusion, looking from the grinning Ina to the slightly flustered Liqin.

          “Nothing,” Liqin shakes her head furiously, eyes darting from side to side as Solbi gives her a weird look. “Should we just play rock-paper-scissors or something to figure out roommates? We can always switch later right?”

          “True, let’s do that then,” Eunhwa sits down next to Liqin, motioning for the others to do the same. “Alright, you can throw either rock or paper; those that throw the same signs are roommates. We’ll keep doing it until its two-two okay?” Eunhwa looks up for confirmation, smiling when everyone else nods at her. “Mmkay, rock, paper, scissors!”

          Ina stares down at the four hands in front of her. Her own, was opened wide and proud in a show of ‘paper’. In front of her, Eunhwa’s hand was closed in a fist, indicating ‘rock’. To her left, Solbi was shaking her fist at Eunhwa, having also chosen ‘rock’. That left Liqin, whose hand was opened slightly in her attempt at ‘paper’. “Looks like we’re roomies then,” Ina puts her hand down and looks over at the Chinese girl. “It’s okay; I don’t snore like Solbi does.”

          “I don’t snore!” Solbi shouts, standing up indigently. “Who did you hear that from?”

          “A little bird told me,” Ina replies while Liqin scoffs.

          “Hey guys,” Eunhwa pokes Solbi with her foot to stop the girl from getting too riled up. “Our stuff is downstairs, let’s move in okay?” Nodding, the four girls leave the apartment (although Eunhwa goes back after they climb down a level because they realized that they forgot to lock the door). Ina reaches the car first, nodding in greeting to Henry, before grabbing whatever bags she could see. It takes a total of six trips, but soon enough, all of their belongings are inside the living room. Sanghee is setting up her own things in her bedroom (she had moved in before the rest of them) and Henry was helping Solbi put away utensils in the kitchen. Grabbing her things, Ina moves towards the bedroom area of the dorm and peeks into the bedroom on the right side.

          “You guys have the left side,” Eunhwa points across the hall when Ina looks through the door. “Liqin said something about wanting to wake up with the sunlight on her face.”

          “Alright,” Ina nods before pushing open the left side bedroom door. She steps into the room and looks around. Liqin was sitting on the bed closest to the window, her suitcase open and things already spilling onto the floor. There was a bed across the room, snuggling against the wall, and this is where Ina throws her things. She closes the door behind her and sits down on the bed. Near the window and across from Liqin’s bed is a closet, although there are cabinets beside it, and Liqin has already marked the left side of the closet as her own.

          “Sorry, I didn’t know which side you wanted,” Liqin apologizes when she sees Ina.

          “It’s okay, I don’t mind,” Ina flops down on the mattress and stares up at the ceiling. “I like this place.”

          “It’s nice,” Liqin comments politely, rummaging through her bags.

          “Yeah, nice,” Ina smiles.

I wasn’t originally going to have the dorm portion of this chapter but then I realized that I never specified where they were staying and the chapter seemed a bit short after I finished the filming portion so yeah. BaBOOM. There it is. I’m getting more excited about debut but also nervous because then the real is going to start happening.

Also do you see me low key shipping the Liqin X Ina because I am low key shipping it. Set sail LiNa! Is that a good name. InIn. InLi. InQi. LiIn. QiNa. QiLi. I don't know but you guys know what I'm talking about right? By the way Eunhwa wants the room closest to the door so she can sneak out and go drinking but Sanghee forsaw this lolol.

Hope you're smiling!

~ Yun