Twelve pairs of eyes stared intently at each other. There was a little too much tension in the room and no one was sure of how to break it. Six men and six women stared intently at the opposite , confusion and surprise fluttering in their eyes. It was their first meeting and probably not the best way for the two groups to meet. But it was honestly a fluke that the two met. Both groups had been given the clear to practice that day, none of the staff catching the mistake until it was too late.

 

“Well this is awkward.” The soft voice that normally could barely be heard sounded like a rushing waterfall in the silent room.

 

“Yes it is.” Silence fell once more before one of the young ladies cleared . “Um hi. We didn’t know someone else was scheduled to have the practice room.”

 

“Yeah, same here. Who are you?”

 

“Oh! My name is Cho Sunmin.” the young lady said and flashed them a charming smile. “And these are my friends Lee Yuri, Park Yuna, Kang Minah, Hwang Ahsa and Shin Soohee. We’re are known as Sapphire.” she introduced them, the other girls waving.

 

“Sapphire? I don’t think I’ve heard of you before.” Biting his lip, the young male turned and looked at the other five before turning back. “My name is Cha Hakyeon and we’re VIXX. These are my members, Jung Taekwoon, Lee Jaehwan, Kim Wonshik, Lee Hongbin and Han Sanghyuk.”

 

“Oh VIXX!” the blond in the group, Yuna, suddenly spoke. “I’ve heard of them. They’re pretty popular back in Japan.” she said, the other girls muttering softly in surprise.

 

“Japan? You’re from Japan?” Wonshik asked confused.

 

“Yes. We debuted about...three years ago in Japan.” Sunmin said. “We were formed here and we’re all Korean, but the company was doing this experiment and sent us straight to Japan to see how things would work out. It went really well for us there. So the company brought us back over to start Korean promotions.”

 

“Wow.” Hakyeon said with wide eyes.

 

“This company is weird.” Sanghyuk commented.

 

“Obviously, they let us both have the practice room at the same time by mistake.” Hongbin agreed. But the idea of it not being a mistake crossed several minds.

 

“Well we can’t do anything about it now can we?” Sunmin asked. “I suppose we can just practice around each other? Would that be okay?” she asked.

 

“I don’t see why not. It’s not like we own the practice studio.” Hakyeon said and laughed some. His laughter seemed to break the tension in the room and everyone visibly relaxed. “We could split it up. We can use the main floor first and you can use the individual practice rooms.” he suggested.

 

“Oh, well we don’t have to go first. Even though you don’t own it, you’ve practiced here more than we have.” Sunmin said.

 

“Oh my god why is this so hard?” Ken asked and frowned. “Do you want to practice first?” he asked.

 

“Ah, well…” Sunmin said, thinking.

 

“We can do individual practices first.” Soohee, the youngest suddenly spoke up from the end of the line. “Unni, you promised to help me with my pitches.” she said, nudging Yuna next to her. The older female nodded and then looked to Sunmin.

 

“Can we do that first Unni?” she asked.

 

“Sure.” Sunmin said rather quickly and looked to the boys. “Enjoy your practice. When you’re ready to switch, just come and get us.” she said.

 

“Ah, sure.” Hakyeon said. They exchanged bows and the girl group headed to the back, leaving VIXX to stand there, confusion still lingering in the air.

 

“Seriously, I’ve never heard of Sapphire before.” Hakyeon said, turning to the other with a deep frown.

 

“I have.” Taekwoon said softly, looking at the others. “At one of the concerts we did. They performed before we did. I didn’t know they were under our label.” he commented.

 

“Huh. I don’t remember.” Hakyeon said. “I suppose though, maybe we were sent together for a reason.” Glancing around, he noticed how empty the studio was. It was them and Sapphire.

 

“It is very odd that all the staff members have suddenly disappeared.” Hongbin agreed.

 

“I don’t like this.” Wonshik suddenly said. “They’re up to no good. Why can’t they just tell us they want us to meet our sister group?”

 

“Like I said, this company is weird.” Sanghyuk said once more.

 

“Either way, let’s just practice for now, and later we can question motives.” Hakyeon said and headed for the sound system to start their practice time.

~*~

“That was so awkward.”  Yuri said as she took a seat in the largest practice room. “I didn’t think we’d be meeting them so soon.”

 

“I know.” Ahsa spoke, flipping her brow hair over her shoulder. “But they are kind of cute.” she said, smirking slightly. Yuri had her own smirk and nodded in agreement.  “I can totally get behind working with them. But it seems that no one told them that the company wants us to do a collab together.”

 

“Oh well, they’ll find out eventually.” Yuri said with a shrug.

 

~*~

“How is your throat?” Yuna asked, looking over Soohee. Their youngest member had just gotten over a throat infection. She had spent five months recovering and now she had to go through training once more to get her vocals back on par. Soohee, though young, was their main vocals and they needed her to be able to perform once more so they could make their debut.

 

“Much better unni.” she said and smiled sweetly. “I think with maybe a week more of practice I’ll be back to normal.” she said.

 

“Good, alright, so then let’s practice. I’m not sure how much time we’ll have before VIXX will want to do individual practice.” Yuna plugged in her phone to the speakers before taking a seat in front of Soohee, who stood before her.

 

“Mmm, they seemed shocked to meet us.” she said.

 

“Well we were too.” Yuna pointed.

 

“Yeah, but we knew we were eventually going to meet them. Apparently they’ve never heard of us.” Soohee said with a small frown.

 

“Don’t take it personally.” Yuna said. “Now, let’s practice and worry about why the staff didn’t tell them about us later okay? Your performance is more important.”

 

“Yes unni.” Soohee nodded, eyes locked on the other woman as Yuna counted down and motioned for her to start her training.

 

~*~

Hours went by and after switching off, the two groups finally congregated together into the large practice room. VIXX stayed to themselves on the couch, watching as Sapphire finished up their dance routine. The boys were all eyes, no ears and blank minds as they watched the female forms move. No one could blame them really. They were men after all and young men at that. They were idols who were forbidden to date and had only seen females perform on stage prior to their performance or on variety shows. And even then they couldn’t get good looks. They had to remain appropriate, act shy and stay away from the opposite .

 

This was the first time they could openly watch without fear of being caught by cameras or fans and without fear of the consequences if they showed a remote interest in a girl. Maybe having a sister girl group wouldn’t be so bad. When the music ended, Ken jumped up and clapped, cheering loudly, followed by Hyuk, who always seemed to follow the ‘leader’, the leader being whoever was being funny at the time.

 

“That was wonderful.”

 

The girls turned, chests heaving slightly as they looked to the boys, smiling. “Thanks.” Sunmin said, blushing some. “We didn’t realize you were watching.”

 

“We thought we would come out and watch.” N said and stood then, smiling. “I feel like we didn’t get off on the right foot.”

 

“Oh no, it’s understandable...I think.” Sunmin said and laughed. “So I take it you weren’t warned about us?”

 

“No. Should we have been?” N asked.

 

“Yes. Our manager said that we were going to be meeting you.” Ahsa said. “And that the company wanted us to get together and do a collaboration together. We didn’t expect to meet you today though. But apparently…”

 

“So that’s why.” N said and nodded. “We wondered why the staff was missing.” he shook his head. “Well we’re happy to meet you.”

 

“Same here.” Sunmin said and look to the others. “How about we get to know each other then?” she suggested.

 

“Alright.” N agreed.

 

“We’ll get chairs!” Hyuk said happily and pulled at Hongbin’s arm, pulling him up. They disappeared to the practice rooms and came back out shortly afterwards with six fold up chairs and set them up.

 

“Thanks.” Yuri said and took a seat, the other’s following. “So then, what should we talk about?”

 

“Well let’s all do an introduction.” Sunmin said. “State our positions in the group, things like that.”

“Okay, would you like to start?” Ken offered, motioning to them.

 

“Sure. My name is Sunmin. My stage name is Jessica and I’m the leader of the group, but I’m not the oldest. I actually start our dongsae line.” she said happily before looking to Yuna who was next to her.

 

“Oh, my name is Yuna and my stage name is Brie. I’m the visual of the group.” she said and flipped her blond hair and flashed a smile at them. “And I’m also the oldest in the group. I’m 24.” she said. They boys greeted her and looked to who was next.

 

“My name is Minah and my stage name is Ai.” she bowed to them, red bangs covering her eyes for a moment before she sat back. “I’m responsible for our dances. I come up with most of our choreography.” she said happily.

 

“Oh wow.” N reacted happily, since his position in VIXX was dance as well.

 

“Hi!” Ahsa greeted happily. “My name  is Ahsa and I don’t have a stage name.” she said and laughed. “I’m in charge of just being here.” she said, making the others laugh. “Oh, and being funny.”

 

“Yes, Ahsa is our personal entertainment.” Yuna said and gave her a thumbs up. “Oh, and I am the second youngest in the group.”  Ahsa added.

 

“My name is Yuri, but I go by Natalie.” Yuri introduced herself.

 

“Natalie? That’s a nice name.” Hongbin commented and smiled at her, making her blush.

 

“Thank you. I am the second oldest in the group and I am the rapper.” All eyes turned to the last member, who blushed some.

 

“Hi there. My name is Soohee. My stage name is Aki and I’m the maknae.” she introduced herself. “I am the main vocal in the group, though at the moment I’m not at my best. Please forgive me if my voice suddenly goes.” she said.

 

“Oh, are you sick?” Ken asked worriedly.

 

“I actually am recovering from a throat infection. I got it about five months ago and it did a lot of damage. I’ve been recovering since. It’s mostly healed and I’m almost back to normal. But obviously we can’t do much if the main vocal can’t sing.” she said and sighed softly.

 

“Soohee, we told you it’s fine.” Yuri said and rubbed her back gently. “As long as you’re healthy, we can put promotions on hold. Besides, since you got sick, everything got reworked and we’ve been brought back to work with VIXX.” Yuri said happily, pointing out the positive.

 

“I know unni.” she said and nodded.

 

“Ah, well continue to rest and don’t push yourself.” N said and Soohee smiled at him, thanking him.

 

“Well then, let’s hear your introductions.” Sunmin said.

 

“Oh wait, wait!” Yuna said, bouncing slightly in her seat. “I want to see if I can get this.” she said and looked at them, pointing to N. “You are N and you are the leader. And this is Leo, he’s the quiet one, but has the voice of an angel.” she said, giggling as Leo blushed and lowered his head to hide his embarrassment. She looked at the other and pointed to Ken.

 

“Kenjumma.” Yuna said and they all laughed happily. “Ken, he is the clown of the group and the other main vocal. I really love your voice.” she siad.

 

“Oh thank you!” Ken said happily.

 

“Mmm, and this is Ravi.” Yuna said, motioning to the male as she looked at the others. “He is the rapper like our Yuri. And Hongbin here is the visual.” she said and moved to the smiling male.

 

“Oh, I can see why.” Minah said and smiled. “You have such a beautiful smile. Oh, any mother would want you as a son-in-law.” she said and laughed as Hongbin blushed and covered his face.

 

“Mm and lastly we have Hyuk who is the youngest and is trying to replace Ravi as the rapper.” she said. “He just graduated from high school right?” she asked.

 

“Yes!” Hyuk said and chuckled. “You know a lot about us.” he said.

 

“Oh, well I’ve had free time for five months. When we found out we were coming back to korea and working with a brother group, I looked you up and watched all of VIXX TV and MTV diary, Plan V and anything else I could watch as well.”

 

“Are you stalking us?” Hongbin asked.

 

“No. I was doing research.” Yuna said.

 

“She was being a fangirl is more like it.” Sunmin teased. “Well, now that we’re all introduced, what else should we talk about?” she asked.

 

“Ah well, is this your first time performing as a group in South Korea?” N asked.

 

“Yes. And we’re eager to debut.” Sunmin said. “And more eager to work with you all.”

 

“Oh yeah, about that, did they mention what they wanted to do exactly?” N asked, still not to sure about this whole thing. Why weren’t they told? Something just didn’t seem right about it.

 

“Mmm, not that we know of.” Sunmin said. “I think they wanted to leave it up to us. But we’re supposed to do a special stage.” she said.

 

Ah, there it was. A special stage.  A special stage didn’t mean just singing a duet together. Not when there were equal amount of members from both groups. N was almost sure he knew what they were planning now.

 

“Oh.” was all he managed to say.

 

“Well gee, don’t sound too enthusiastic about it.” Sunmin joked.

 

“No it’s not that.” N said and sighed. “Don’t worry about it. Anyway, a special stage sounds like fun.”

 

“Yeah, what song would you want to do?” Hyuk asked as he shifted on the couch, squatting instead as he look at the girls sitting in the horseshoe formation.

 

“I don’t know. I saw that you guys already did a special stage with Girls Day.” Yuna said.

 

“Oh, I like Girls Day.” Minah said and smiled. “We could do the same thing. I mean there is no exclusions on what songs we can do.” she said.

 

“Right. Since it’s going to be all of us, I think they’ll want us to pick a song that’s coed.” Yuri said. “So why not do Now, or Trouble Maker?” she suggested.

 

“Let’s do Now, since we know the steps to that already.” Ken said, looking to N then. “It’ll be easy to practice then.”

 

“We could do that.” N said and nodded.

 

“You know what song I want to do?” Soohee suddenly spoke, catching everyone’s attention.

 

“Which song? You’re like an iPod on shuffle. Which song is your favorite now.” Ahsa and she stuck her tongue out at them.

 

“Well, there are two songs. The first is this song called Secret Night. And I really like that one.” she said and giggled. “And then there’s another called Light Me Up.” she said.

 

“Oh. I think we might know these songs.” Ravi said suddenly, leaning in. Hearing that one member wanted to do a special stage of the song he wrote had this overwhelming feeling course through. It probably wasn’t something good for his ego, but nothing could be done now.

 

Soohee laughed and nodded. “Ah, I get it.” Yuri said then and nodded. “Are those the songs you’ve been practicing to?” she asked.

 

“You’ve been practicing to our songs?” Ken asked, cocking his head.

 

“Yes.” Soohee nodded and stood up straight. “I’ve watched your live performance of Light me up and it was great. But I wanted to add more movement to it. So with Minah’s help, we’ve come up with more dance moves.” she said.

 

“Soohee kills it during Ravi’s rap. I don’t know what it is, but it’s like she just goes hood on it.” Minah said and laughed.

 

“Peace out baby.” Soohee joked, making the other’s laugh. “And then Secret Night doesn’t have one as far as I know.” she said.

 

“Not yet. We haven’t worked on a dance for that one.” N said.

 

“So Minah and I also came up with steps to that song. It’s still under construction, but the basic movements are there.” Soohee said.

 

“Can we see?” Ravi asked. Soohee nodded and stood.

 

“Sure.” she agreed. Minah stood after her and moved to the stereo and got the song queued up for her.

 

“Ready?” Minah called.

 

“Ready!” Soohee called. Nodding, Minah started the song and jogged off and got into position. The boys sat on the edge of their seat, watching intently as the song started and moves they had never seen were danced and the song came even more alive to them than before. They were in awe as the two girls danced around to the song, doing the original choreography for the chorus still. When they got to Ravi’s rap, they understand why  Minah said Soohee killed it during the rap. Her body moved in ways that they have never seen a female idol dance. And if they hadn’t had the introductions before, they would have been sure Soohee was in charge of rap, not Yuri.

 

They continued dancing until the song ended and Minah jogged over to turn the stereo off. VIXX gave a large standing ovation and as if possessed (and he probably was with such amazement) Ravi ran over and threw his arm around Soohee, grinning happily. Shocked, Soohee stared up at the other. Ravi didn’t seem to understand what he was doing was sort of ‘wrong’ since they had just met. Soohee couldn’t bring herself to be upset or push the other away though. Ravi was happy and his happiness was infectious. Soohee returned the hug after a moment and chuckled.

 

“That was amazing!” he said.

 

“Thank you.” she said and pulled back some.

 

“You’ll teach us right?”

 

“You’ll pay me right?” Soohee asked and Ravi blanched, staring at her with wide eyes. Soohee laughed and pushed him lightly, shaking her head.

 

“I’m joking. Of course. Minah and I will teach you the dance, but we get credit for creating it alright?” she asked.

 

“Sounds fair.” N called from his spot on the couch still.

 

“And you’ll teach us the dance for Secret Night?” Ravi asked.

 

“Oh, we haven’t finished it, but yes. Maybe you all can help complete it too.” she said. Stepping away from Ravi then, she pulled her shirt down a bit and looked at the others.

 

“I think we should do a special stage with these songs.” N said then.

 

“I second that motion!” Ravi said eagerly, pulling chuckles from the others.

 

“Okay.” Sunmin said and stood. “And I think I know exactly how to work it so that the fans are given that closeness that they want to see between two groups.” she said.

 

‘Unni.” Soohee said in slight warning, but she doubted the other would listen. Honestly, the members in her group could be horrible fangirls sometimes. She could only hope things would turn out alright.