hello, I'm back! i know it's been a while. I'll try to update at a quicker pace from now on.

 

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“Juhyun is cute" Jessica said with a smile, “I love your name.”

 

“But it's not what I— I don't want that to be my stage name!” Ju Hyun cried.

 

They were in Stephanie and Tae Yeon's dorm room discussing the topic of stage names. It had been a week since the official line up had been chosen and now they were getting their stage names patented. Usually, idols just connected both characters into one name, but there was also the option of getting a different name.

 

“I don't get your fixation on getting a stage name, maknae, ” Hyo Yeon said as she continued chewing loudly on a granola bar.

 

“I don't either, Ju Hyun, your name is beautiful as is,” Stephanie said.

 

“But I can't keep it, or else, every time someone looks up my name, they will be redirected to Fin. K. L. I want to make sure that if people look me up, they find out stuff about ME, not someone else and for that I need a stage name!”

 

“She has a point,” Tae Yeon stated.

 

“Are you changing your name, unnie?” Ju Hyun asked.

 

“No, I’m keeping Tae Yeon.” The future leader answered. “Sica on the other hand...”

 

“I've been waiting for this day for the past 7 years, I'm tired of getting confused when someone calls out Soo Young's name. Jessica feels more natural anyway...”

 

“I can't believe we're going have to call her that,” Soo Young groaned.

 

“I'm doing you a favor!” Jessica yelled.

 

“Guys...” Tae Yeon warned.

 

“Making me cringe is never a favor!”

 

“Guys!” Tae Yeon repeated.

 

“But you know what is a favor? Me breaking your nose so the company can finally pay you that plastic surgeon you need so mu—”

 

“Enough!” Soon Kyu —who had been silent since they got there— raised her voice, “Soo Yeon can change her name if she wants to, that's the whole point of us getting together today as for Ju Hyun....”

 

“What about Seohyun? It's still your name, we're just getting rid of the second character instead of the first.”

 

Ju Hyun's face lit up.

 

“I love it! Thank you, unnie!” She hugged Soon Kyu. The other members nodded in agreement, it fit her well and it was anything but flashy, perfect for Ju Hyun.

 

Tae Yeon on the other hand, didn't seem as happy as the others. Annoyed, she leaned in closer to Soon Kyu and whispered,  “I appreciate your help but next time, leave the leader's job to me, thanks.”

 

Soon Kyu's cheeks went bright red and Jessica, who was sitting next to Tae Yeon just sighed.

 

“Soon Kyu, are you changing your name?” Stephanie asked. Soon Kyu nodded.

 

“Soon Kyu’s embarrassing. I haven't decided yet but I like Sunny.”

 

“Sunny's really cute, unnie” Yoon Ah said and the others nodded. “What about me? I'm thinking of making the "A" a capital letter to give it more flair.”

 

“That's perfect, Yoon Ah” Yu Ri said with a laugh.

 

The other girls kept on chatting with Soon Kyu asking her random questions trying to get to know their mysterious new member. All the meanwhile,  Tae Yeon felt like she was the only one that didn't like Soon Kyu.

 

She gulped hard, the truth was that she did like Soon Kyu…a lot, actually. That was the problem, she was too likable. Tae Yeon  wanted to be the realiable leader that broke up fights and helped out the younger ones! To put it simply, Tae Yeon was jealous.

 

 

 

“What are your thoughts on the new girl?” Jessica asked Stephanie in English as they were preparing beverages for the other girls.

 

“I really like her, actually” Stephanie said, “she's really nice and a good listener, I'm glad the other girls are finally giving her a chance. I talked to her the day of the examination results before we got picked and I can understand why she was added to the group. Don’t ever mention this to Tae Yeon but personally, I think she should’ve been the—”

 

“Leader?” Jessica interjected and Stephanie nodded. “Yeah, seeing how she handled the whole situation, the thought came to my mind too... and it did to Tae Yeon too.”

 

“What do you mean by that?” Stephanie stopped pouring and turned to Jessica.

 

“Let's just say, she made sure Soon Kyu doesn't try playing mom anytime soon.”

 

“Why am I not surprised?” Stephanie chuckled.

 

“She'll get over it and Soon Kyu will eventually learn there's nothing about Tae Yeon that's intimidating,” Jessica chuckled along with her. There was a short pause before Stephanie spoke again.

 

“Jess, I've been thinking...”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“I'm changing my name too.”

 

“Really? What caused this sudden change, you told me last week you weren't planning on changing it.”

 

“I don't know if you know this but yesterday was the anniversary of my mother's death...”

 

“I knew, yeah.”

 

“Before I was born, my mom wanted my name to be Tiffany but my dad said it was too flashy, eventually they both decided to compromise and named me Stephanie instead.”

 

“You're changing your name to Tiffany?”

 

“That's the plan.”

 

“Oh, well I like it! It suits you.”

 

“Yeah, I do too,” she said bashfully. “Tiffany Hwang.”

 

 

 

 

Later that night after it was time to go, the other girls bid their farewells and left except for Ju Hyun and Soon Kyu who stayed behind to help Stephanie and Tae Yeon clean up. Both members had decided to help with very similar ulterior motives. Soon Kyu wanted to appeal to Tae Yeon by helping out while Ju Hyun wanted to show her unnies she was mature and helpful; being the youngest she didn't want to be seen as a nuisance.

 

“Here you go unnie,” Ju Hyun said, handing Stephanie all of the plates which she took to Tae Yeon who was washing the dishes.

 

“Thank you, Ju Hyun,” Stephanie chirped with a smile. “And thanks to you too, Soon Kyu, we would've been cleaning up 'till the late hours if it hadn't been for you both.”

 

“Oh I doubt it,” Soon Kyu chuckled. “But i'm glad I could help.”

 

“Me too,” Ju Hyun joined in.

 

A loud crashing noise erupted from the kitchen.

 

“Ppany! I need your help!” Tae Yeon called out frantically.

 

“Excuse me, I gotta help her,” giggled Stephanie before slipping out of the room.

 

Feeling tired from all the cleaning, Soon Kyu and Ju Hyun chose not to go back and help the two elder women clean up whatever mess Tae Yeon made. Instead, Soon Kyu took this chance to converse with the youngest.

 

“Nervous?”

 

“For what? Debut? Very, but mostly, I'm just excited.”

 

“Yeah, it's a shame your friend didn't make the line-up...”

 

“Hwan Hee?”

 

Soon Kyu nodded. The day of the examination results, she had seen Ju Hyun talking to Hwan Hee, both of them crying. She figured they were close friends and felt bad for both of them.

 

“Yeah, you two seemed close.”

 

“We are, but it's okay, we decided I'd be successful for both of us and she'd work hard to debut with the next group.”

 

“She isn't giving up?”

 

“I don't think so, not unless her parents force her to. They're very strict.”

 

“Oh, I hope not.”

 

There was a short silence before Ju Hyun spoke again.

 

“You're very observant, unnie. Even though you haven't been here for long you notice a lot things and you're a great listener.”

 

“You think so?”

 

“We all do! Some of us weren't sure how we felt about you before but I can tell you that you've made a positive impression on them. Even on Soo Young and Hyo Yeon.”

 

“Tae Yeon didn't seem to like me very much,” Soon Kyu muttered.

 

“She'll warm up to you soon enough, don't worry, unnie.”

 

“What about you, maknae? Are you close with any of them? I’ve seen you talking to Yoon Ah sometimes in the practice room.”

 

“We're friends,” Seo Hyun said. “But she's closest to Yuri-unnie.”

 

“I see. What about the others?”

 

“I mostly hung out with Chan Mi and Hwan Hee. I've known most of them for a long time and we get along just fine and I do know the unnies care for me a lot but… I don't think they see me as an actual friend. More like a little sister,” Ju Hyun lamented.

 

“It's only a matter of time,” Soon Kyu assured placing her hand on Ju Hyun's shoulder.

 

In that exact moment, Stephanie and Tae Yeon entered the living room, Tae Yeon's shirt soaking wet.

 

“What's only a matter of time?” Tae Yeon asked.

 

“Us uniting as a group...and as friends,” Soon Kyu responded shyly and she carefully removed her hand from Ju Hyun’s shoulder.

 

Tae Yeon stared at her silently before suddenly cracking a smile.

 

With Soon Kyu’s words, Tae Yeon had a sudden realization about the true meaning of being a leader. it wasn't about making rules or telling others what to do, or even being liked by everyone. It was about uniting all of them, letting Soon Kyu have her time to shine instead of scolding her for helping her out. In that moment she realized Soon Kyu wasn't her rival but her ally, this wasn't a competition after all, not anymore.

 

Soon Kyu was only helping out. Soon Kyu who barely knew the other girls that had known each other for years, this was her way of earning the other girls' trust and she had almost ruined it for her.

 

Tae Yeon suddenly felt bad for getting all worked up about it. She walked over to Soon Kyu and gave her a hug. Soon Kyu was definitely taken aback but awkwardly hugged back.

 

“That's something you definitely don't have to worry about.”

 

After letting go, she realized Stephanie was looking at her wide eyed.

 

“We're already friends aren't we?”

 

Soon Kyu nodded with a shy smile.

 

Tae Yeon didn't know it yet, but she had made a life altering decision she would never regret.

 

 

 

“I'm proud of you, Taengoo,” Stephanie said as the closed the door to their dorm after bidding the others goodbye.

 

“What do you mean?” Tae Yeon let out a nervous laugh.

 

“I know you aren't a big fan of accepting other people's help, but these little gestures that will make you a better leader.”

 

“I know,” Tae Yeon sighed, “I don't know why I got so mad. Soon Kyu seems very nice...she is very nice.”

 

“Definitely!” Stephanie said. “You two should go out for a coffee or something, you'll love her.”

 

“I'm sure I will,” Tae Yeon nodded with a smile.

 

“Out of topic but, what do you think of the name Tiffany?”

 

“I like it… wait, are you planning on changing your name?”

 

“It's the name my mother originally wanted for me,” Stephanie explained.

 

“It fits you,” Tae Yeon assured. “Are you changing your legal name or will it just be a stage name?”

 

“I don't know if I'm changing it legally but I would like it if you called me that.”

 

“From now on?”

 

“Not until debut...but...if you want to...”

 

“Okay, Tipp-ani” Tae Yeon struggled with the pronunciation which made Stephanie laugh.

 

“Or.... you can just stick to Ppany”

 

“But I like Tipp-ani.”

 

They both laughed. It had been a while since Tae Yeon and Stephanie joked around so carelessly. Tae Yeon admits she missed having a carefree environment. Thankfully, the hard part was over right? There was no point in fighting now, they were debuting. Those were Tae Yeon’s thoughts at that moment, but were the hard times really over or just beginning?

 

 

 

 

The next day, the girls all arrived at the SM building at different hours as the girls still haven’t moved into the dorms yet. They went to talk to the department heads and got 11 names got patented, 9 names that would represent the girls as individuals and 2 that would represent them as a group.

 

Taeyeon...

 

Jessica...

 

Sunny...

 

Tiffany...

 

Hyoyeon...

 

Yuri...

 

Sooyoung...

 

YoonA...

 

Seohyun...

 

Seo Nyuh Si Dae, and its international name: Girls' Generation.