MAY 26 2015

“Nayeon! There’s a new boy group that just debuted. Here, watch their music video”

Jungyeon plugs an earbud into Nayeons ear and shoves a phone in her face. Great, another rookie group that I’ll be battling this year.

Akkinda. Akkinda. Adore you? They were handsome to her as many boy groups were. They just didn’t stand out. She preferred cute boys. Catchy tune though. And an addicting choreography. How many members again? THIRTEEN. Why thirteen if the name is seventeen? She ought to find one attractive in 13 boys. Nayeon opened her eyes to a low voice sing/rapping a verse. Nice voice. He could totally be a vocalist. Not to mention he was also kinda cute. Big eyes. Long eyelashes.

“Jungyeon, replay that part” she asked Jungyeon to make sure she saw what she saw. Lo and behold, it was him. He’s cute.

“You got an eye for s.coups? “

“He is cute” Nayeon was at an age where the word cute was to define practically any  boy she found attractive. Not seriously though. Just cute.Like the other members.  But he stood out.

“You see that one?”Jungyeon frowned after finishing the video. She pointed to the long haired dude

“Who?”

“Jeonghan. He’s got longer hair than me and is more feminine than I am. I’m just so jealous. He has so many things and styles he can try and I can’t do anything seriously without looking like a fool.”

“It’ll be alright. You’ll grow your hair out and show him what’s good. He’ll probably think the same about himself when he sees you. Besides, you look fine.”

“Do you think our debut will be okay? What if they beat us?” It was one worry after the other. But Nayeon was the oldest wasn’t she?

“Everything will be fine and if they beat us, we’ll take them down like real men. Man to Man, not that I consider Jeonghan as one.”

The two both burst out laughing but behind her bunny smile, Nayeon was secretly afraid too. What if seventeen does beat them?

“Let’s go practice then. If they were gonna beat us, lets first put up a fight”

***

SOMETIME IN SEPTEMBER OF 2015

Mansae was a hit. They had some fans and grew famous but it took an awful lot of work. It was a good thing SEVENTEEN was hardworking and determined.

Seungcheol was on stage, in the middle of a performance and they were almost done with the song. He knew all the steps and all the words. What he didn’t know was that Nayeon was in the small crowd cheering him on. Jungyeon promised that she wouldn’t tell their manager that she snuck out to watch them.

Nayeon and the other members of Twice grew fond of SEVENTEEN. They liked them as fans liked their idols, but she couldn’t let the public know if they were to become idols themselves. She tried to prevent herself from liking them too much because she was also to debut in a month. Despite her mind telling her it wasn’t a good idea to go to their performance, she still went and carried on by waving her lightstick among the carats. But it was a terrible idea to sit in the front.

sosimhaedo sesimhangeol ijebuteo nareul bwajwo my lady

MANSAE MANSAE MANSAE YEAH

Then she swore she saw him glance over to their section and lock eyes with her.

Seungcheol looked into the screen where the cameras were focusing on fans. They were watching their performance after it had been recorded. One girl was among the crowd and the camera was zoomed in on her. She was pretty. Pretty enough to be an idol. Big eyes, bunny teeth. She happily waved her light stick around and softly moved to the lyrics

Nayeon’s jaw dropped. She was also watching their performance in a video after seeing it live. What if he recognizes her when she debuts? No chance, they won’t remember her. She’s just one fan. One in a million. Plus she wasn’t even supposed to be there. She had a reason to worry. Her manager would kill her if he found out.

OCTOBER 10 2015

“Seungcheol! Twice just debuted. Watch the MV with me. They are gonna be SO popular”

Great. Just great. Another rookie group I have to face this year. They better be pretty.

Jeonghan handed him an earbud and played the MV. The first one that popped up.

“Wait. Replay that. From the beginning.” He told Jeonghan. Was he hallucinating? It can’t be.

“But we just starte-”

“Just do it”

She was pretty and cute. The others were also okay to him but she just stood out. Yes, the big eyes and bunny teeth.

“Her. What’s her name?” He pointed to her on the screen.

“Nayeon. You like her?

“Nah.”

It was unacceptable if a guy described a girl with compliments such as cute, beautiful, funny, pretty, etc. Society made it that way that guys were emotionless bricks who had nothing better to do than to stand in a corner and look good. And that’s why Seungcheol didn’t say what he wanted to.

“I’m jealous of Jungyeon. She’s the one with the short hair. I kinda wish I had short hair too. She pulls it off so well and looks good in anything. I can’t go anywhere without being mistaken for a girl” Jeonghan sighed.

“Look, Jeonghan. You got tons of fans and they all think you look GREAT. If you don’t like your hair, chop it off and rub it in her face. She probably feels the same way too”

“I think they are gonna be really popular. What if they beat us. It’ll be a shame. We can’t be beaten by -ugh- girls” He wasn’t the mom of the group for no reason. Worry this. Worry that. Nothing is okay.

“Chill. If they beat us just take it. They probably deserved it anyway. Next time we’ll try harder and knock them down to 2nd.”

“But-”

“No buts. There is literally nothing to be afraid of. Let’s go practice. We’re gonna need it if we wanna be first”