A/N So I forgot last chapter but all encompassing I own nothing except for the members of RI5E. So you're aware Cheshire is always and I mean ALWAYS smiling in one way or another whether its a light grin or a smirk or full blown gummy smile. Also forewarning I don't honestly know much about the judges from no.mercy besides Mad Clown and Giriboy in all honesty and am rewatching No.Mercy as I write from now on because I want this to be as close as possible to what really went down so all of it is going to turn out the same just with personal opinions put into it as judge Cheshire's comments. Please don't be offended if it's not something you agree with I'm trying... (u n u) lol Thanks for readingif there's anything else to add I'll generally put it at the bottom... I promise I'm done rambling now...

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When Cheshire woke up it was already passed noon and she was really thankful that all she had to do was start filming for No.Mercy today. That still meant a trip to see her stylist who was sure to have something ridiculous planned and to have a Coordi style her hair and make up. Not that she really minded either task, she like the ridiculous outfits her stylist gave her and she would always end up asleep in the make up chair so as soon as she could manage to get her third, yup third, cup of coffee in her she went on her way to the company. Ji Eun met her at the elevator when she got to her floor already babbling about whether or not to go pseudo casual or full fierceness. All the babbling just made Cheshire giggle and look at her unnie fondly. Ji Eun had been picked specifically for her since she was supposed to be viewed as exotic and y and every now and then just a bit weird, and Ji Eun had some of the strangest yet completely loveable fashion sense known to man kind.

"Honestly Unnie, I'm kind of nervous so if we could go pseudo casual I'd appreciate it. I don't really want to stand out any more than I already do, ya know?" Chess was very happy to see the calculating look on Ji Eun's face meaning she was going to take her suggestion and make sure she was as comfortable as possible. As they entered the wardrobe room that was filled to the brim with all of Cheshire's stage, tv, and interview clothes (honestly she had a closet filled at the house with a lot of these clothes too but there were so many by now that they would never fit in her dorm let alone her room.) they followed the wall to the end where they kept all her comfy shirts and jeans. Well as comfy as designer clothes could really be at least. After thirty minutes of Ji Eun digging through the clothes she had finally made a decision and it was very much to Cheshire's liking. It was a simple pairing of black ripped skinny jeans with safety pins in some of the holes, a black muscle tank top with a picture of the Cheshire Cat from Alice Madness Returns with "We're all mad here" written in blood red, with a matching red bandeux. Very much comfy and very much Cheshire. Though for most girl groups tried to stay away from anything creepy or strange the company had seen it fit to let Chess have a more tough and badass image considering the style of rap that she generally had and to just kind of give her another level of edge. Plus she ended up appealing to a lot of her gamer fans when she got asked why she wore a lot of Alice Madness Returns merch, it was her favorite game after all.

"I think this will probably be best. I just hope you don't scare off any of the trainees." Ji Eun's laugh rang through the room making Chess giggle again. She really loved everyone she worked with but outside of the girls Ji Eun had to be her favorite. She was very much like the older sister she never had and they actually had a lot more in common than Chess originally thought possible. Ji Eun probably heard more of Chess's worries than anyone else including the girls but it was more so that Ji Eun had almost a sixth sense about when something was bothering Cheshire and a super power to get her to talk about it. Today though Ji Eun was just put simply a mind reader. "Don't you even start thinking about comparing your trainee days to theirs. I will knock you into next week if you do. You deserve everything you have and these young punks need to listen to you too. You know what you're doing. Stop fretting over things you can't change and just get on with it."

"Thanks Unnie. I guess you were just the kick in the  the doctor ordered for me today," Ches giggled again. Ji Eun was rarely ever strict sounding with her but when it came to insecurites that Cheshire didn't need to have she would get really passionate about telling her to get the hell over it.

The rest of their time together, which was just over an hour of Ji Eun making sure none of the safety pins would come loose and that the muscle tank wasn't too open (you'd be surprised at the meticulousness of the woman), went by much too quickly for Chess's liking. So after a swift hug and hwaiting from Ji Eun, Chess made her way to get her hair and make up done. She didn't know the girl that did her hair and make up this time but was thankful for the considerate smiles and small talk that she made. The girl swiftly did her base and contouring followed by light eye make up with a little wing and a dramatic dark matte lip. When she finally moved onto Cheshire's hair she decided to do a light wavy curl that Chess was sure she was going to have to redo at least once during filming. Her hair was too naturally straight and too thick to hold any curl for any amount of time but it was beyond her to try to change a stylists mind once it was set.

Once out of the chair and on her way to the location it finally hit Chess that since Ji Eun had almost scolded her she hadn't even thought about the filming for the first time since she had agreed to be a judge. Sure she had put it to the back of her mind last night while dancing but she hadn't really fully stopped thinking about it and it kept trying to nudge its way to the front of her mind but Ji Eun had stifled any thought of it from coming back up. She really needed to buy the woman a bouquet the next time she went to see her. 

The car ride to the event space was uneventful and she almost fell asleep except as soon as she closed her eyes she was being told that they had arrived. When she got out she realized that they were at the H Art hall. It was fairly familiar to her. RI5E had done a few mock concerts here before they officially debuted. She didn't miss the feeling she used to get stepping onto such a small stage worrying that she wouldn't be good enough for them to move on to debut. But she did miss the excitement everytime that they would praise what RI5E did on stage. Not that they didn't get plenty of praise now, it was just different.

After her reminiscing, she made her way through the front guided by her manager Dae Suk to where the filming would be taking place. When she walked in K. Will, Hyolyn, and Mad Clown were already in their spots. Cheshire was a bit relieved when she saw Mad Clown, they had a rather strange friendship that would never fail. Mad Clown had been one of the people that sajangnim had recruited to help teach her how to rap in her four months as a trainee and she had come to see him as an older brother and her as a little sister which suited them both just fine given their tendancy to bicker and poke fun at each other.

"Well if it isn't Miss Can't-be-on-time-for-anything," Mad Clown deadpanned. 

"For your information, Oppa, I was told that I was on time. Thank you very much," Cheshire walked down the row where Mad Clown had stood up and gave her a quick hug before she sat down in the seat next to him and Hyolyn. Chess had never really been around the two to her right but Hyolyn gave her a huge smile and greeted her while K. Will nodded in her direction before turning back to the papers in front of him.

"I've wanted to actually meet you for a long time! I really love all the work you've done with RI5E!" Hyolyn seemed a lot peppier and nicer than Cheshire thought she would be but was glad to be wrong.

"Kamsamnida. I really love Sistar and the work you do too," To say Chess was nervous might have been a bit of an understatment but Hyolyn just kept on smiling and talking to her and it slowly eased away the tension that had set in.

"Do you mind if I speak informally to you? You're only a few days older than me," Cheshire heard a scoff from Mad Clown at Hyolyn's question and had to hold herself back from smacking him in the arm telling him to shut up.

"Go on ahead. I'm quite used to having people be informal with me. For a long time it used to mess me up to speak formally to people honestly," Chess giggled and this time Mad Clown couldn't help but laugh at her this time which in turn caused Chess to smack his arm playfully. "Don't be mean to me Oppa! You know how hard it was for me when I first got here!"

"Yeah I do. You refused to use honorifics for the first two weeks I knew you and pried into my business every chance you got, brat," Chess pouted and turned back to Hyolyn who looked slightly shocked.

"Wow! Usually he's so shy! How did you get him to act like this?" Hyolyn and Chess shared a laugh at Mad Clown's expense making him sigh and shake his head.

"I don't know I guess he just likes to keep reminding me of my screw ups like the caring Oppa he is," Chess emphasized her sarcasm with a smirk and eye roll before she noticed that two other men had filed in beside K. Will. "See Oppa! I told you I wasn't late!"

Mad Clown just shook his head and patted his dongsaengs head to placate her. Rhymer and Wheesung chuckled a bit from their seats before turning to talk to K. Will.

Before much else could be said the production crew let the judges know that filming would be starting and that the trainees were almost there. The lights went down and all that was left was to wait for the trainees to step onto the stage. Barely two minutes passed before the trainees were lined up on stage and the lights came back on on the judges.

K. Will began his introduction and the judges went through what they were looking for in their performances and before long it came to Cheshire and she had to say her bit. The nervous energy was back but for some reason holding the microphone was giving her just enough of a confidence boost that she didn't jumble her words.

"Anneyong. I'm going to be looking at how you perform in general, mainly if you're prepared and whether or not you capture the audience. I know that seems hard with it just being the six of us but I expect if you've worked hard it will show on the stage," For the first time Chess really looked at the trainees. She had seen most of them around but one stood out. Jooheon was standing on the stage. Behind the number two. Her eyes lingered a little longer than they should have on him but she quickly glossed back over the remaining trainees.

Besides Mad Clown, Jooheon had been the other person to teach her how to rap. She had a hard time believing that he was apart of this show and not already on track for a solo debut. She quickly noted that he seemed to be staring at her, though from this distance she couldn't be entirely certain. All she knew is that now she was really feeling that insecurity. He had been a trainee for years and helped her debut and now she might end up being a vote that killed his career before it started. She was starting to slightly panic when the production team called a five minute break so that the trainees could go to the waiting room.

"I saw him too but trust me he won't be upset with you as long as your honest," Mad Clown must have seen her smile falter for that half a second when she noticed him because he was in full protective oppa mode now.

"I would just feel bad if I say anything negative considering how he TAUGHT me..." Chess looked at her hands hardly able to keep her smile going.

"You'll be fine. He knows how hard you worked remember that. He has no grudge against you," Mad Clown placed his hand on top of her clenched fist and gently squeezed before handing her a bottle of water and motioning for her to drink. The water helped calm the nerves she was feeling and before she knew it the first trainee was on stage. His name was Shownu and according to the card in front of her he was more confident in his dancing than anything else. She was intrigued at least a little. She wanted to see what he could do.

He apparently chose a slow song to sing. An American song she was familiar with at that. Now she was going to be listening extremely hard. She wanted him to be able to actually be able to pronunciate the english correctly. She might have been asking for too much from a trainee but she couldn't help it. It was a pet peeve of hers. If she worked as hard as she did for her Korean to sound perfect she wanted them to work equally as hard to make their english sound perfect.

She listened as the other judges asked him questions about his profile and his trainee life but couldn't think of anything that wouldn't already sound negative to ask so she just kept quiet and listened as he modestly answered. She couldn't help but feel for him. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy or at least that he could act like one really well.

After that small interogation his performance began. Honestly Cheshire was pretty amazed. His english was really well done. A few mistakes here and there but nothing to write him off for and his voice was actually very entrancing. After a few minutes he moved the mic out of the way and started dancing and she instantly knew why he was more confident in his dancing. It was enticing, subtle, vibrant and loud all at the same time. He was really good. It felt like it all ended a bit too quickly for her and honestly she probably could have watched him dance all day but before she knew it the other judges had said their bit and she was given the opportunity to put in her two cents.

"I really liked your stage. It seemed really well practiced and like you put your heart into it. It kept my attention and made me want to see more. Your pronunciation in the song had a couple moments were it was iffy but I don't think I could've asked for more out of you. Overall it was just really well put together," Chess smiled a gummy smile to him and he bowed a few times thanking her for her input before heading off the stage.

Now was the part she was dreading though. It was Jooheon's turn and he was on the stage before she really had the time to prepare herself. All she could hope for now was that he performed so well that she couldn't possibly say anything bad. It was nervewracking to say the least. He stepped onto the stage with a swagger she felt no one else in the room could ever pull off, even with Mad Clown sitting beside her. He just oozed confidence. She almost missed all that was being said she was so stuck in her own thoughts. When Mad Clown started talking about the song he had featured in Chess almost jumped. Unfortunately Jooheon had to have seen this because he was trying to hide a chuckle behind his hand to make it look like he was clearing his throat. Cheshire wanted to crawl into a hole but never let it show on her face. She needed to stay professional about this.

After a short talk about their song together Mad Clown motioned for Jooheon to get ready before incospicuously squeezing Chess's hand one more time before crossing his arms. Shortly after Jooheon started his stage. Chess had always been awed listening to him rap in the practice rooms when he was teaching her but nothing compared to watching him own the stage now. He was in his element no doubt about it. He was so expressive and the way he moved made her want to get up and dance. Her anxiety was gone by the end of his performance. She couldn't possibly be negative. She loved every moment of it.

All of the judges again said their peace and Mad Clown seemed like a proud father the way he praised him. Then they all looked at Chess. She picked up the mic in front of her and took a moment to arrange her thoughts. She had to still be professional and fangirling over a trainee was definitely not professional no matter how weird she was known to be.

"I guess in case you didn't know I should tell you, Jooheon was one of the people who taught me how to rap alongside Mad Clown. I've heard him rap a lot honestly," A chuckle left her and some of the other judges. "I enjoyed watching you own the stage. It feels like that's all you've been doing your entire life. I can't wait to see you perform again."

That was it. That was all she could say without going overboard into the no man's land of fangirl so she set down the mic as Jooheon looked at her and smiled before bowing and saying his thanks. She huffed out a puff of air and smirked to herself. Only ten more trainees to listen to today.

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A/N Well that's it for this chapter I guess... if you like it let me know in the comments please! lol I need confirmation that its good and that I should keep writing it lol