March 07, 2020

So far, all of the girls under Label SJ had been working as individuals. It had been just over a year since accepting the first trainees, and the members of Super Junior decided that it was time to start cutting down in order to narrow their focus. By this time, they were no longer accepting new girls, deciding they didn’t want to flood their small company with too many people.

Their building spanned four floors, but it wasn’t the largest building around. Floor one was dance studios and a fairly large gym and fitness court. They encouraged the trainees to play sports to help maintain their weight and health. Floor two was focused on recording studios, and individual practice rooms. They even had instruments scattered around for the girl’s who wanted to practice more than singing. On this floor was the dining hall, a nice buffet of healthy foods on one side with tables lining the rest of the space. Floor three was boring- nothing but offices and storage. Each Super Junior member had their own office, there were multiple meeting rooms, and extra office space for the employees they hired. Fourth floor was probably the favorite for the girls- the dorms. They had been custom designed by the Label, making it easier to fit two dozen girls than most trainee dorms.

“Alright ladies, we’ve got some new things to discuss with you all.” Leeteuk spoke up, looking at the girls sitting on the bleachers set to one side of the room. The soccer nets had been pushed to the side of the court to make room for Super Junior to address their trainees.

“As you may know, we’ve stopped accepting trainees,” Shindong began, smiling as the girl’s cheered in excitement. “If you’re here now, you’ve got a pretty good chance of debuting.”

It had already been discussed with the girls- there was very little that they would get kicked out of the company for.

Siwon crossed his arms over his chest, trying not to frown at his next words. “Not all of you will be accepted into this girl group,” Despite reassurances, most of the trainees exchanged worried glances. “And now is the time to start figuring out who’s on that roster.”

“What’s that even mean?” Younghee spoke up, a note of impatience in her tone.

“What that means is,” Heechul spoke up before anyone else could, narrowing his eyes at the girl for a moment. “You’ll no longer be learning choreographies to improve teamwork or personal skills. Vocal training isn’t just to learn technique anymore. From now on, you’ll be getting points on your improvement and skills.”

There was some quiet murmuring in the crowd, voices curious and worried about this point system. The handful of trainees who had been in other companies seemed more tense, knowing what that meant. Would it be worse here, competing with fewer people?

“Hush, hush,” Yesung waved his hands, trying to get the girl’s to quiet down again. “You can ask us things at the end, let us finish explaining first.”

Leeteuk nodded in agreement. “It’ll only take a few minutes. Today we’re separating you into groups. Don’t worry too much, it won’t have a big effect just yet.”

“The groups will be posted on the notice board in the dorm. The points will be both posted in the dorms and in the hallway of the practice rooms.” Shindong told them, loosely motioning towards the other floors.

Glancing between themselves, the handful of Super Junior members silently came to the conclusion that there wasn’t much else to say.

“Well, okay, you’re excused. Go check out your groups, and feel free to find one of us if you have any questions.” Leeteuk smiled, clapping his hands as if applauding a job well done.

Without hesitation, almost every single girl hurried off the bleachers and towards the stairs. The excitement was palpable.

Although it had been easy to get used to the somewhat slow pace of Label SJ’s teachings, it had started to lose any challenge for some of the girls.

Some of them had started to act out. Kang Heju was insisting that she should be spending her time doing covers of songs, promoting pre-debut like SM Rookies. It took a stern talking to in order to remind her that Label SJ was not the same as SM Entertainment. Choi Minyoung had started skipping dance practices, claiming that as a rapper, dance was not her priority.

Yeah, Label SJ wasn’t going to accept those kinds of attitudes.

Heju calmed down after being reprimanded, but Minyoung seemed to still be complaining, just not in front of the Super Junior members.

Hanui was one of the first to reach the lofty dorms, eagerly examining the new papers added to their cork board.

                      GROUP A
                      BYUN SOOBIN - CHOI MINYOUNG - KWON AERI - MIN KYUNGMI - MORIUCHI HIROKO - SONG SORI

                      GROUP B
                      CHOI AERIN - JUNG YESEUL - KANG HEJU - KIM JINHEO - LEE CHAEJUNG - PARK HARU - XU JINAH

                      GROUP C
                      BYUN YOUNGHEE - KIM MINHEE - NAM JIYAE - NAM YUMI - SEO MINSUN - WONG HEI CHU

                      GROUP D
                      KIM JIAE - KIM SEUNGYU - KWON JIEUN - LEE YEONHEE - MOON EMMY - PARK HANUI - SONG JIMAE

The Label SJ staff had debated for a while on these combinations. The members got notes from their employees, wanting a mix of skill level to challenge and encourage the girls.

Haru was a little disappointed to not be in the same grouping as her twin, but it was bound to happen. For all they knew, the both of them wouldn’t be in the final group together, either.

Soobin and Aeri high fived, glad to be in the same group. They had worked well together so far, so it was looking good for their teamwork too. It started once they became roommates, and their hardworking personalities really came out to play when the two were in the same vocal class.

Aerin, upon seeing Heju’s name in the same line as her own, couldn’t help but stomp her foot in frustration. “Dammit!” She grumbled under her breath, glad that only Chaejung was close enough to hear.

“I know what you mean,” The girl sighed in disappointment, crossing her arms. It was hard to resist pouting. “Why did we get stuck with that dead weight? Did you hear the way she talked to Kangin-ssi the other day? I know they said they aren’t kicking anyone out, but she’s so unlikable…”

With a sigh, Aerin shrugged and glanced at the girl in question. She hadn’t even bothered looking at the groups yet, instead choosing to sit on the couch instead. “She’s barely been here a month and she’s acting like this… We’ll see, though, I don’t want to complain to anyone until we see how she does…”

Overall, it seemed like there wasn’t much to complain about. Besides Heju and Minyoung, no one really disliked one another yet. It was likely from the lack of competition within the company as a whole, but that was sure to change, now. Being scored could really have a big effect on them. Just as Jiae was about to ask about the scoreboard, Hei Chu gasped and pointed at a new tv screen in the top corner of the room. It had all of their names in alphabetical order along with their group letter and two blank spaces beside it. “This month” and “Overall” headed those blank spots, likely where their upcoming scores would be.

“So starting today, we’re not friends anymore?” Younghee asked with a soft frown, looking at the girl’s standing beside her.

“Don’t worry, we’ll still be friends. Just not when our groups go against each other.” Teased Haru with a playful smile. The young girl’s refused to be torn apart so easily after making friends with each other. This wouldn’t tear them apart- they’d all be a team until the end.

 

Part of me wants to write the boy's the same way they act during SUJU RETURNS episodes but then this fic would never get anywhere lol.

Please remember - I have 11-15 members of SJ and trainees in this fic, plus a handful of original characters that will be gone soon. Don't worry if your name doesn't get mentioned in a chapter, I'll make sure you're in the next one.

I HOPE YOU HAVE ALL LISTENED TO SUPER JUNIOR'S COMEBACK SONG "BLACK SUIT"! If you haven't, go watch the MV on youtube right now!!!!
 

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