March 10, 2020

“We get the rest of the day off!” Hanui cheered, grinning brightly. She laughed as her twin hugged her waist, the two of them hurrying into the dorm.

“What should we do? It’s only one o’clock!” Haru sounded just as excited, feeling surprisingly free.

Although this was only their first evaluation, it seemed like most of the girls were exhausted from stress. Doing both a photoshoot and rehearsal on the same day was barely a taste into a busy schedule, but most girls weren’t prepared for it. Sure, some handled busy schedules well, some had experience already in the industry, but an overwhelming amount of them had never been more than trainees.

“I think we should go out to eat, to celebrate how well we’ve done.” Hanui decided, speaking to a few of the girls that lingered around the twins.

“Are we allowed? We might have to ask permission.” Her sister said with a little pout, feeling a little worried that they would be stuck in the dorms with over twenty other girls.

Soobin pursed her lips, taking a minute to consider the situation. “Let’s ask. We’ll never know if we don’t try, right? What’s the worst they can say?”

“They could say no, and get mad at us.” Haru said, looking worried.

“Shush,” Hanui shook her head, squeezing her twin to her side. “Even if they say no, it doesn’t mean they’re mad. Let’s listen to Soobin and just ask.”

The three girls didn’t hesitate to head downstairs, looking for one of the Label SJ employees. Lucky for them, it didn’t take them long to find Shindong, who was scoping out the kitchen for a midday snack.

“Um, sunbae, we were wondering, since we have the rest of the day off, are we allowed outside?” Soobin asked, lifting her chin in a mature manner, looking like the unnie she was.

“Ah! That’s a great idea. I was thinking Chinese food for lunch, how would you like to join me?” Shindong asked with a wide grin, eyes sparkling. Hanui and Haru quickly nodded, excited at the idea.

“Can we see if anyone else wants to go, too?” Hanui asked, knowing some of the other girls were feeling cooped up. Even though their dorm was spacious, and the building was large enough to wander around in, there was nothing like wandering around outside.

With a simple nod from Shindong, the girls hurried back upstairs and immediately began to spread the news that they could leave. The second Heju heard that, she snapped her fingers and motioned her little friends to follow her. Yumi and Yeonhee didn’t hesitate to follow along, even though they didn’t know where Sori had disappeared off too. She didn’t matter enough for Heju to ask.

Chaejung and Hiroko were the only two that ended up joining the small group for lunch at a Chinese restaurant down the street from the Label building. Yeseung joined them, having been invited by Shindong.

Since it was rare for the girl’s to hang out in a casual manner with any of the Super Junior members, they really took the opportunity to talk to them about their trainee days. To their slight surprise, the two members were more than willing to share horror stories from their time as SM trainees fifteen years prior.

-----

Jieun, Aerin, and Jiae collected on the rooftop garden to enjoy the mild weather and read. Although they were all silently in their own worlds, it was comforting to be around the other girls in a casual manner instead of competing. On the other hand, Aeri, who was going to read with the other three, decided to pull out her camera and take some pictures of the view, including candids of her trainee friends.

It was quite a pleasant moment of downtime. Even though they had only done one official evaluation so far, ever since they had joined the company, they had been working nearly non-stop in classes to improve all sides of their talents. With half a day being spent dancing and the other half in vocal training, it was no surprise when rumors started to spread about Sori being burnt out. They all knew a few people would probably drop out, but it was more shocking that it was happening so soon.

It didn’t take more than thirty minutes for Jieun to get distracted, roped into the basketball game Jiyae was trying to set up on the other half of the rooftop. Minhee, who was also on the roof, refused to play, simply wanting to soak up as much sun as possible in mid-March.

Jieun and Jiyae agreed to a game of Horse, figuring it’d be a fun way to compete outside of their training. Lucky for them, they were both good sports. When Jiyae made a shot that Jieun missed, the teasing was more laughter than words. It was a good thing there was a net set up around the edges of the building, because when Jiyae missed the next shot by a significant margin, it was a miracle it didn’t fly two blocks away, much to Jieun’s amusement.

-----

A few floors below, some girls were using their day off to keep in shape. Minyoung and Jinheo were working on the treadmills while Jimae did aerobics. Despite the soft sounds of breathing from all give girls, they were all surprisingly quiet. It was rare to get away in such a packed environment, so when they had the chance, they kept to themselves. Headphones in, songs playing, they focused on themselves, finding it relaxing to take care of themselves in this situation.

Minyoung was focused, absorbed into her own world, while Jinheo was bobbing her head, jamming to the music that was playing. It seemed that Jimae was listening to a fun girl group song by the way she kept shaking her hips and stepping like she was doing a freestyle dance.

-----

Right above the gym, a small group of girls gathered in the building’s kitchen, firmly planning on using their day off to have fun. Younghee and Eunkyung, two of the better chefs out of the trainees, were teaching Jinah and Minsun how to cook. Hei Chu was watching on, firmly refusing to try her hand at anything with flames involved.

Although they were only making ramen, they were doctoring it up with spices, spam, and eggs. The smell was enticing, and all five girls kept complaining about not getting to eat ramen enough. Minsun was silently grateful that it was the middle of the day so they didn’t have to worry much about their faces getting bloated.

----

Only three girls were left in the dorms. Yeseul, Emmy, and Kyungmi sat on their squishy sofa, quietly talking about Sori’s disappearance.

“I can see where she’s coming from…” Kyungmi murmured, fretting quietly as she hugged a pillow to her chest. “I’m not sure I can make it here. We know nothing about the future group that might happen… On the other hand, Starship Entertainment has made me an offer, I’d be at the top of their list for the group their debuting this year…”



 

I lost my internet for a week, and then I started school. Between school, work, and auditioning for a play, I haven't had time to write. I'll try to get back on schedule, or at the very least prepare some in-between chapter things to keep this more active.

As a special little thing, I made a rough version of the building floorplans (x). It's not exact, but I think it'll help give you guys an idea. I didn't realize until too late that I forgot to add bathrooms, oops.

Pretend this chapter is less lame than it really is pls.

author's note