“Hey, did you hear?” Eunhwa looks up as an excited Solbi flings herself onto the couch. While the dorm had originally been bare of furniture (with only four mattresses for the girls to sleep on), they had recently upgraded to a couch and, despite the fact they didn’t have a TV or anything to watch while sitting on the couch, Solbi and Ina especially loved the new addition to their home very much.

                “Hear what?” Eunhwa responds, knowing Solbi would burst if she didn’t answer. The girl absolutely loved bringing news – whether it was good or bad – and Eunhwa had long ago learned that even if you weren’t interested, Solbi would tell you anyways. It was always easier to just act interested than to let her go off on a ‘why does no one listen to me everyone is so mean’ tangent before telling you whatever was on her mind in the end.

                “New staff members,” Solbi wiggles her fingers in a lame imitation of jazz hands. “And the YRT2016 line up is confirmed. Sora was telling me the other day about how they split the boys and girls into two more groups – some kind of weird Latin names that sound cool but are difficult to pronounce.”

                “Staff members?” Eunhwa asks for confirmation. “That’s interesting,” she continues when Solbi nods. “Do you know what position they have? Perhaps we’re getting another manager or something?”

                “Nah I think Sanghee knows what’s she’s doing,” Solbi replies. “We’re a small group anyways, and not too famous yet. We don’t need another manager for now. I know that one of the girls is from Sweden though – exotic,” Solbi jokes. “And Liqin told me that she spotted twins or something?”

                “But for now we don’t know what they’re going to be doing,” Eunhwa comments, sighing when Solbi doesn’t exactly answer her question. The other girl had a tendency to do that, being easily excitable, and often lost track of her original thoughts. “But what’s this about YRT2016?”

                “They’re having competitions I heard,” Ina speaks up, walking into the room. It was around noontime but the other girl had only just woken up. Now that their 4 Walls promotions were over, Cosmos was allowed to take a break while management finished up the final preparations for their comeback. Usually Eunhwa would have yelled at Ina to get up and be a competent human being, but the other girl had been working her off producing and making final changes to their upcoming song so Eunhwa let her be.

                “Henry told me that the winning teams get to be in our MV,” Solbi nods as Ina forcefully pushes her legs off the couch. Sitting down in the now empty space, the foreign girl smiles victoriously at Solbi before leaning back with a sigh of contentment. “It’ll be the first step to promoting them pre-debut.”

                “Huh,” Eunhwa replies in a non-committed. She had always known that, as the first group to debut from Yunrae, their juniors would get better treatment than they did. And she was happy that she could somehow help them in completing their dreams – after all, success from them meant more money for the company which also possibly meant more opportunities for them – but Eunhwa couldn’t help but wonder whether Cosmos’ debut was rushed. There were little to no teasers for them pre-debut, just a couple dance videos if she remembered correctly. She understood that Yunrae was a small company but Eunhwa still felt slightly miffed at the whole ordeal.

                “Speaking of your wonderful juniors,” a voice speaks up from the hallway. “We’re going to see them. The winning teams talked to Xiuxin about the MV concept so now it’s your turn,” Sanghee orders. “We’re leaving in ten minutes.”

                “I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet,” Ina whines, reluctantly getting off of the couch.

                “That’s probably why you smell,” Solbi wrinkles her nose. Swatting at the older girl, Ina grumbles all the way to the bathroom while Solbi laughs mockingly at the other female. Grinning at their antics, Eunhwa gets up as well and starts preparing. She’d have to leave her thoughts for another time; after all, she’d need all her strength to prepare for the upcoming promotions.

                “Why hello there,” an impish looking girl greets them the minute they walk into the front lobby. She’s perched on Kurami’s desk, although the Japanese woman is nowhere to be found, and is swinging her long legs back and forth. She’s impossibly pretty; almost good enough to be an idol, but the haughty look on her face was a good enough sign that she’d never lower herself to become an object of the public’s fantasy. “And who are you?”

                “Should we be asking that?”Ina counters, crossing her hands over her chest in a defensive stance. The other girl smiles sweetly at Ina, before crossing her legs and leaning back, once again showing off her shapely body line.

                “Yoon Jisol, at your service,” Jisol greets, flipping her hair behind her shoulder in lieu of a greeting. “Now you?”

                “Stop playing around Sol, you know who they are,” a voice scolds, and Eunhwa turns to see yet another beautiful girl walk into the room. In fact, the two newcomers are practically identical in terms of looks, although Jisol was a bit taller than her twin (which is what Eunhwa was assuming they were).

                “You never let me have any fun,” Jisol sticks her tongue out at the other girl before jumping off the desk. “All you do is tell me to do this and do that, I thought Hyeri unnie was my boss, not you unnie.”

                “Then shouldn’t you be off doing what she asks?” the older twin replies, shooing Jisol off with a hand gesture. Pouting slightly, Jisol leaves the room, but not before throwing a wink in Ina’s direction. Confused by the action, Ina scoffs before turning her attention to the remaining twin. “Hello, I’m Yoon Jihyun, Jisol’s older twin by twelve minutes. I’m a new trainee manager here and Jisol’s an intern and Yoo-nim’s stand in secretary.”

                “Nice to meet you,” Liqin bows, causing a ripple effect as the other girls introduce themselves as well.

                “Yes, I know of you,” Jihyun nods. “I was uh, educated about Yunrae’s groups before I started working,” Jihyun winces, thinking back to something before an easy smile makes its way back onto the girl’s face. “Anyways, Xiuxin ssi told me to get you all.”

                “That’s nice, since Sanghee literally left us here after going to park the car,” Solbi shrugs, “lead the way!” Jihyun nods, leading the group up towards the business rooms. They enter one of the rooms and Eunhwa spies Xiuxin in the corner, looking through various files on her computer. Hyeri and another unnamed man are also in the room, conferring quietly at the front of the table. Clearing , Jihyun nods to Hyeri and the others before turning to leave.

                “Thanks Jihyun, you girls can just settle in now,” Hyeri instructs, and the girls find seats for themselves as Xiuxin carries the laptop over to the table. “From what I’ve heard you’ve met two of our new employees, Jihyun and Jisol are twins – which is pretty self explanatory.”

                “They’re something alright,” Ina mumbles, causing Liqin to crack a smile.

                “This here is Song Minho, he’s an intern as well, but more on the marketing side. He’ll be working with Xiuxin in terms of making you guys more like idols I guess,” Hyeri continues, and Minho bows. “So, as you probably know, today we’ll be talking about your upcoming comeback. Ina ssi? How goes the song?”

                “You’ve probably already heard the reports from Jinhyuk, but it’s good,” Ina rolls her eyes. “I finished recording the demo track with his help a couple days ago so we’re all set to record soon. It’s a more fun and poppy song, like you asked for.”

                “Yes, I’ve heard it, very well. Did you decide on a title yet?” Hyeri asks.

                “Colour,” Ina states, “is what Jinhyuk suggested. And I talked it over with the members and they all seem to like it so that’s what we’re going with.”

                “Right, you’ve sent the demo to Henry, Liqin, and Solbi right? They’re already working on the choreography if I remember correctly,” Hyeri continues, looking over at the two choreographers in the room.

                “We’ve finished it actually,” Liqin says quietly, giving Hyeri a small, proud smile. “Finished making the adjustments yesterday and Eunhwa unnie dropped by so we really only have to teach it to Ina and make sure everyone is in sync.”

                “That’s good; Eunhwa wrote the rap part so I don’t even have to ask about that – after all, how can a song be finished if the lyrics aren’t written yet?” Hyeri laughs a bit, causing Ina to roll her eyes while Solbi chuckles along. “Anyways, Xiuxin, you’ve heard the song, would you like to tell them about the concept you have in mind?”

                “Well, it’ll be colourful obviously,” Xiuxin starts. “We’ve decided to play along with the title of the song. Have you guys seen the original Wizard of Oz?”

                “Yeah, it’s a classic,” Eunhwa nods.

                “And what’s special about it?” Xiuxin prompts, watching Eunhwa carefully.

                “Uh, doesn’t it, wasn’t it like, the first movie to have colour?” Eunhwa blinks, thinking back to the movie. She had watched it back in New York along with a couple of friends during a night of bad jokes and popcorn so it was a bit hazy.

                “One of the firsts,” Xiuxin nods. “The movie starts of in black and white, but when Dorothy enters Oz, the colours come to life – it’s a kind of metaphor, about how Oz is a wonderful place filled with magic and what not. The MV will follow the same concept except, instead of you entering a new place; colour will start to form when you four meet the main male lead. As you interact with him, various things will turn from black and white to colour – such as your clothes and environment. Of course, this won’t really affect your acting since it’ll be done through CG and editing, but I want you to keep that in mind.”

                “So should we be like, happier towards the end of the MV?” Solbi asks, thinking carefully. “Maybe be more energetic in the choreography as well?”

                “You don’t have to make it too obvious, but that’s a good idea,” Xiuxin nods. “You’ll also be dyeing your hair and getting new styles, so that’s another thing to add to your list. Oh, and Sanghee will ask you guys to come in and get measured again, to update your profiles and so the styling team knows what kind of clothes to look for.”

                “Sounds simple enough,” Eunhwa nods.

                “Oh yes, and there’ll be a few trainees acting in your video, which I’m sure you know by now,” Xiuxin continues. “Minho ssi over there is actually in charge of that so if you will?”

                “Right,” the male clears his throat, voice velvety and smooth as he takes charge of the conversation. “The winning team will be appearing in the MV, mostly as backup characters. The whole thing is essentially set in a diner, so they’ll be the other customers and what not. The main lead however, has been decided to be Han Dohyun since he’s had previous acting experience.”

                “Oh, yeah, he was in The Lover right?” Eunhwa asks, remembering back to how Minji, one of her good friends, was very much obsessed with the drama when it came out.

                “Yes, so he’ll be the one you four will fawn over per say,” Minho smiles disarmingly, winking in a joking manner. “He’s already been informed of this so you guys can work on your chemistry before the shoot.”

                “Hey, that reminds me, are the trainees going to be in every one of our MV’s until they debut?” Solbi pipes up, directing her question to Hyeri. “I mean, it’s cool and all, exposure I get that, but some MV’s have famous actors or whatever in them so the group – as in us – gets exposure too. It’s not really fair if we give them a bunch of fans and then get left behind when they debut you know?”

                “That’s true but,” Hyeri speaks up when Minho looks at her helplessly. “Look at it this way, I’ve always thought of Yunrae as a family, and Cosmos is the big sister to all the upcoming groups. In an actual family, the oldest sibling goes through hardships for their siblings. They’re the first ones that have to deal with going into high school, university, they’re usually the ones who have to deal with talking with the adults, and everything they do makes things easier for their siblings. They’re the test run for the parents I suppose. But in the end, they’re still a family. The eldest gets rewards as well, they get siblings who admire and respect them, and they’re always known as the first in line. I run things the same way.”

                “Cosmos is the big sister, the first to be tossed to the sharks – sorry for my choice or words – and it’s the eldest child’s job to make sure their siblings are being treated well. That’s why there’ll be collaborations – lots of them – between Cosmos and the next groups that come. But it won’t be completely one sided, you’ll also feature in their things; their fans will be your fans and vice versa. I really want to stress using the family as a model for Yunrae, because even if you fight, at the end of the day, you’re still family, do you understand?” Hyeri explains calmly, managing to ebb the tide of frustration being felt by pretty much all the Cosmos members. Eunhwa nods, glad to know that Hyeri wasn’t throwing them away, and happy that she wasn’t the only one with insecurities about the whole ordeal.

                “Then, as the first step to establishing our family, would you like to go down and check out the trainees?” Hyeri offers. “You don’t have much to do for the rest of today anyways, if I remember correctly.” The members nod, and Eunhwa gets up, leading them in saying goodbye, before the four girls go down to the trainee levels. In a way, the Yunrae building was set up sort of like a hierarchy. The trainee areas were at the very bottom, followed by the idol practice rooms. Next were the business and meeting rooms, and finally, at the very top, were Hyeri and the other head of staff’s offices. A bit simplistic, but it worked.

                “Unnie!” a cheerful voice exclaims, and Eunhwa looks up to see Sora running towards them at full speed. The young girl launches herself onto Liqin, who awkwardly catches her, and the two spin around for a while before Sora’s feet are firmly planted back on the ground. Two other trainees trailed behind her, Daehoon and Mirae (or, as childishly nicknamed by Solbi, Sora’s caretakers). “What are you guys doing here?”

                “Checking up on you of course!” Solbi grins, coddling Sora. “Wouldn’t want you slacking off would we?”

                “I’m not slacking off!” Sora declares indignantly, pushing Solbi’s grabby hands off of her. She takes a couple steps back, striking a somewhat adult-like pose, before waving hello to Ina and Eunhwa. “We were actually just coming back from practice.”

                “Oh, that reminds me, Mirae do you want to check out the track I made?” Ina says suddenly, looking over at the Japanese girl in question. Mirae nods, throwing an unsatisfied look at Solbi, before the two disappear into whatever room Ina had been holing herself up in for the past few days.

                “We were going to meet the trainees who made it into YRT2016,” Eunhwa says afterwards, looking at Daehoon. He nods, thinking about something, before pointing down a hallway.

                “They’re down there, in the biggest room. I think the boys have full command of the main room right now,” Daehoon supplies, before dragging Sora away from Solbi’s grasp. “We still have to practice; we’ll see you guys later!” He waves goodbye before forcing Sora to walk in front of him. The duo walk down the hallway and disappear after a turn, so Eunhwa leads the others towards the room Daehoon had pointed out to them.

                “What are you doing?!” Solbi exclaims as Eunhwa lifts her hand to knock on the door. Sensing the quizzical look Eunhwa sends her, Solbi pushes the other girl backwards gently (so gently that Eunhwa stumbles into Liqin). “We should just enter, catch them by surprise! What if they’re fooling around or something?”

                “Okay but what if they’re half or something?” Eunhwa retorts. “Or doing something questionable, I don’t want my eyes to be tainted.”

                “Why would they even be half ? Aren’t there cameras in there?” Solbi scoffs, throwing Eunhwa a questioning look.

                “I don’t know, maybe they’re sweating a lot, bottom line is we should knock,” Eunhwa shrugs. “And stop looking at me like that!”

                “What do you think Liqin? Should we knock?” Solbi turns on the last unsuspecting member of the group, causing Liqin to squeal in surprise. The tall female looks between Solbi and Eunhwa in confusion before timidly shrugging.

                “Let’s just go,” Eunhwa decides, before pushing the door. As the door swings open, the three girls peek into the room only to have their jaws drop. Inside the room, four trainees were piled on top of each other in the middle of the room; while another two were lying still on top of each other (they were either dead or sleeping). A number of other boys stood off to the side, talking amongst themselves as one last trainee begins to run from the corner of the room. Watching in amazement, Eunhwa feels herself gasp loudly when said running man jumps right in front of the pile of bodies and manages to clear it to the other side. Her gasp however, is soon blocked by the cheering and whoops of the other trainees in the room.

                “What the is going on?” Solbi says finally, her loud voice echoing through the room as all the boys turn to look at the four girls. There are varying reactions, someone on the floor screams; the boy who jumped merely shrugs, while a couple of the boys in the corner burst out laughing.

                “We’re uh, having a bit of fun?” one of the boys offers.

                “I can see that,” Solbi rolls her eyes, “but why are there dead bodies on the floor?”

                “I’m not dead!” one of the two trainees laying on top of each other calls, causing the boy on top of him to shift uncomfortably.

                “What are you doing then,” Eunhwa deadpans, still staring at the situation in shock.

                “Cuddling,” the trainee on top replies.

                “I am so done right now,” Solbi announces, raising her hands in the air in an ‘I’m out’ gesture.

                “Okay, let’s calm down,” Eunhwa tries, stepping forwards and leading the other girls into the room. “How about we introduce ourselves first?”

                “Sounds good,” the boy who had originally spoke nods. “I’m Han Dohyun; the two on the floor ‘cuddling’ are Kim Taeryung and Won Taewoo. The four over there in the pile are Im Taekjin, Yong Bongjoon, Kang San, and Lee Chihu.”

                “I’m Song Seungcheol,” the one who had jumped states. “The no fun dudes over there are Bae Junho, Ok Hyukjin, Bang Jisang, and Park Myunghwan.”

                “Great, now that we’re done with introductions, could you get the off of me?” Chihu screams from the bottom of the pile. He strains, with great effort, and manages to get the three bodies off of him. Scrambling into a sitting position, he glares at the closest boy to him – San – before running his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe you forced me to do that.”

                “Not my fault bro, you lost rock-paper-scissors,” San shrugs.

                “Okay, but, uhm, what were you doing?” Eunhwa tries again, not really sure who she should be addressing. No one in the room particularly stood out as extra mature or leader-ly per say so she just kind of ends up addressing the entire room.

                “Trying to see how high and far we could jump,” Seungcheol responds. “If you failed you had to join the pile.”

                “Aren’t you supposed to be practicing?” Liqin asks quietly. Her soft voice cuts through the room however, as her serious gaze calmly watched every one of the trainees. They all gulped, feeling as if they had been caught by their mom, before Seungcheol steps forwards and waves his hand lazily.

                “That’s what we were doing you know? Keeping fit and all that,” he explains, coolly walking over to the girls and slinging an arm over Liqin’s shoulder. “Wow you’re really tall huh?”

                “Please get your hand off,” Liqin whispers before Solbi is pushing Seungcheol’s hand off and standing in front of the shy member.

                “That is off limits!” Solbi announces. “Liqin unnie is our resident cutie and aegyo expert; I will not have the likes of you soiling her with your dirty hands. When was the last time you washed your hands huh? If it wasn’t within the last ten milliseconds than don’t even think about touching our beautiful, precious Liqinnie again got it?”

                “T-that’s okay, n-no need to be that s-serious,” Liqin stutters. She flushes when everyone in the room turns to look at her with varying levels of amusement and shock.

                “Are you a princess?” Bongjoon asks suddenly, causing Chihu to snort at his question. Jisang runs a comforting hand up and down Bongjoon’s back as the other boy turns to try and throw a glare at Chihu – only to get whiplash in the process.

                “N-no!” Liqin states while throwing her hands in front of her. She sighs before retreating behind Eunhwa and muttering something about embarrassing people and misunderstandings. Eunhwa giggles slightly; poking Liqin’s flushed cheeks gently, before turning around. She looks at the trainees before smiling.

                “Well if you’ve been practicing, show us what you’ve got,” she orders, raising an eyebrow when Seungcheol gives her an offended look. “What? As your senior I’d like to check up on your progress. Any arguments?” Eunhwa crosses her hands over her chest, looking at each and every one of the trainees seriously, before they all eventually crumble under her gaze. Smiling to herself as they walk over to the music player, Liqin drags her to sit down next to Solbi. As the music starts to play and the boys get into formation, Eunhwa finds herself finally understanding Hyeri’s concept of what a family was.

Eyy, I finally got Cosmos a proper layout! Mostly because brother and sister group fics should have the same layouts (I think) so yeah. *winks* I don't really know what I'm trying to say here.

Anyways, sorry for not updating but I had to get things over in Suite prepared for the story line to be accurate. In this time Cosmos has just been preparing for their comeback and lazing around. At least we got some #YunraeFamilyFeels in this chapter!

Oh, I've also updated the staff page so you can go over there and check out the new members of the Yunrae Staff Family. I also added a Cosmos page for the members aha.

Hope you're smiling!

~ Yun