February 15th, 2010

Jieun stared cautiously at the people around her, some of them were familiar, others were not. Haena had given her a small, but kind smile when she had come through the door. A fact that warmed Jieun to the core. Jieun had to resist the urge to immediately go over to the older woman, and use her as cover from the intense stares coming from the other members. She tried not to think anything of those stares, they were probably just curious about her. Afterall, she hadn’t been with the company for that long. She really only knew Misaki and Yoonji (and Haena, of course). One of whom wasn’t in the room. The other two members were completely unknown to her. One of them was looking rather relaxed as she leaned back, a small gaming device in her hands. The other unknown was trying to subtly peak over the shoulder of the other, looking board. Both were very pretty, like extremely pretty. Jieun was a little taken a back by that. One of them looked like she could be a model and the other looked like an actress. 

It was a strange feeling, standing there. She hadn’t been expecting the CEO to cave and allow her to join the group. She also hadn’t expected Minho and Misaki to just accept her, without any sort of fight. She knew that they probably weren’t happy, but they didn’t show even a hint of irritation. Her main shock came from the idea that she was going to be debuting before her older sister.

This morning she had left her family’s apartment at the same time as Jaeun, who had started giving her the cold shoulder ever after Jieun had announced the good news over dinner last night. She wondered if her sister was feeling jealous. Jieun could help but feel a little pleased by that thought. She knew that she probably shouldn’t allow herself to feel that way, but somehow she wasn’t sure that she cared. She had spent her whole life feeling jealous of her sister, so Jaeun could keep that ing feeling.

It was then that Minho and Misaki came into the room. Jieun wondered what was going on between the two. They were almost always found joined at the hip. Plus they always came into the company together. She would probably find out soon enough, as they would probably start living together in no time at all.

“Good morning!” Minho said brightly, waving at the members. Misaki’s face didn’t change from it’s neutral resting position, she didn’t wave either. Jieun supposed that it could be because she had an armful of planners of various colors. Jieun perked up when she spotted a pastel pink planner poking out of the stack. She hoped that she would be able to call dibs on that one. Misaki calmly dropped the planners onto the small table that was in the room and collapsed into the chair next to it. Jieun blinked, suddenly a little more aware of the dark circles that were present on Misaki’s pale and makeup-less face. Jieun glanced over at Minho and noticed that he wasn’t looking that great either.

“Okay!” Minho said brightly, “So first off, thanks for showing up on time!” As if he had thought that they wouldn’t show up at all. “Secondly! We have planners for you all, this is just as a way to keep track of what’s going to be happening over the next year or so.” He continued, gesturing at the planners. “At the moment, we only have the main deadlines in there so feel free to pick which ever one suits your fancy. We’ll be adding some more stuff today.”

“Can I have the pink one?” Jieun blurted out, startling even herself with the question. Misaki blinked at her in surprise. 

“Yeah, of course.” Misaki said. Jieun smiled brightly, thrilled that her planner would be her favorite color. Especially since she rarely used planners and would probably need some kind of incentive to use it often. In the mean time, Jieun’s words had caused the other girls move forward and claim their own planner. Sejin had already started flipping through her blue planner.

“Wah! Misaki-unnie! Your handwriting is really pretty!” She said brightly. Jieun wondered if that was some kind of up technique. Maybe she should try that?

“It’s Minho’s.” Misaki said dryly. Sejin looked a little startled and then embarrassed. Minho snorted.

“She’s just teasing you, Sejin-ah.” He said, elbowing Misaki and giving her a mock stern look. Misaki huffed a little looking a more amused than she had a moment before. Her face quickly went back to it’s neutral state.

“Thank you for the compliment, Sejin-ah.” She said, and though her face was still neutral her eyes were a little softer. This might not be so bad if one of the most intense trainees was teasing one of her members. Jaeun had told her stories about the older girl, before their relationship had started falling apart. She told her about the epic screaming matches that Misaki would get into with the trainers and other members of the staff. She had even heard stories about Minho being on the wrong end of one of those. Though it only happened once. 

“So anyways, we also set up at timeline that is included in your planners,” Minho said, “now Misaki’s going to take Sejin, Jieun and Junghwa for some vocal training. Yoonji and Haena,” He continued, “I’d like to go over your training plans real quick.” The members all nodded in understanding and the three youngest members trailed after Misaki as she left the room. It was a little nerve wracking, with the stories she had been told she wouldn’t be surprised if the older girl was extremely strict.

She glanced back at the other two. It seemed like she was the only one out of the them who had any sort of vocal training at all. And suddenly dread overcame her. She probably wouldn’t be getting much training if the other two were so far behind. She needed this, she needed to improve in order to make something of herself. She made a promise to herself, and she wouldn’t be dragged down by the others. If her vocal lessons were neglected too much she’d have to say something to the company. Even if the thought of doing that made her feel ill. She couldn’t accept playing second fiddle. 

The group as a whole stopped in front of one of the more rundown studio rooms. Misaki grumbled a bit when the door jammed. Jieun moved forward to help, but it quickly became apparent that Misaki didn’t need help. Instead the short woman, threw her body at the door, causing it to pop right open. Jieun exchanged a look with Sejin; both a little startled by the show of strength. Misaki then gestured for them to make their way inside. Jieun followed after the others, so she closed the door soundly behind her, before dropping into a chair closest to Misaki. She noticed that Sejin was looking at her with a curious look on her face.

“Ah, what is it Unnie?” Jieun asked a genuinely friendly smile crossing her face. Sejin blinked, but smiled back.

“Sorry, I was just trying to think of something to say.” She said, laughing in an embarrassed way. They sat there silently for a moment as Misaki began to fiddle with some of the settings on the sound board. “I’ve got nothing.” Sejin said, before they both started laughing. 

“Yeah me neither.” Junghwa and Misaki both watched on in silence, allowing the other two to calm down a little.

“Alright, I’m going to be investigating your voices today. Just to see where you are and how much work needs to be done.” Misaki said, “I know you want to focus on rap Sejin, but everyone in the group is going to at least be able to hold a note.” Sejin nodded. “So who wants to start? I know about where Jieun is going by these notes, so I’d rather it’d be one of you two.” She continued pointing at Sejin and Junghwa. Jieun frowned. Sejin cleared awkwardly. 

“I guess I’ll go first?” She said cautiously. Misaki hummed light and then began to describe what she wanted Sejin to do. When Sejin started singing, Jieun was barely able to stop herself from cringing. It wasn’t good, and going by Sejin’s red ears, she was well aware of that. But, Misaki’s face didn’t really change. Jieun was impressed, every other trainer probably would have let at least some of their feelings show, but Misaki kept everything under wraps. 

“Well, that’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard.” Misaki said simply, writing something down in the notebook that was placed next to her. “Don’t worry Sejin-ah, we’ll get you up to snuff.” Sejin smiled hesitantly, glad that Misaki was being at least somewhat kind. And that Misaki didn’t seem to think she was completely past help. “Junghwa-ah, your turn.” Misaki said, quickly moving on, likely trying not to make Sejin any more uncomfortable. Junghwa nodded and followed Misaki’s instructions. It also wasn’t great but, Jieun found it easier to not react. Misaki again, made some notes and said some sort of kind words before turning her attention to Jieun.

“Okay, so Jieun is set to be our lead vocal, so I want you to to listen to her go through the scales and tell me what you notice.” Jieun blinked startled, not expecting to be made into an example. But, she went through the scales without giving it much thought.

When Jieun finished she look towards the others. Misaki was nodding and making notes. Sejin and Junghwa were both staring at her in surprise. Her chest puffed out a little in pride, glad that they were acknowledging her hard work. Misaki then turned her attention away from the notebook.

“So thoughts?” She said. All three girls turned their attention towards her.

“Oh um, it was good?” Junghwa said, unsure if that was what Misaki was looking for. Misaki stared at her for a moment.

“Hm…It was, but how was it different from yours?”

“It was good.” Junghwa said deadpanned. Misaki huffed and shook her head. Sejin giggled a little bit. Jieun bit back a laugh, but her cheeks flushed in happiness.

“Sejin? What are your thoughts?” Misaki asked. Sejin lurched a little bit in surprise. There was a bit of panic in her voice as she answered.

“Uh…Uh, confidence?” She replied. Misaki paused and made a note. The room was silent as she wrote.

“Sort of.” Misaki said, after she had put down her pen. She looked at them for a moment. Jieun wondered if she was waiting for her to answer. But, just as she opened , Misaki began to speak.

“Confidence is important to posture and posture a big part of singing. If you slouch your voice isn’t going to come out correctly.” Misaki said, “Jieun.” Jieun jumped a little startled. “What’s another one?” Jieun paused for a second before saying.

“Dictation!” She said brightly, glad that Misaki hadn’t asked her about something that she didn’t know. Misaki nodded, and turned her attention to Sejin.

“Sejin-ah, you were slurring your words. If you want to dabble in rap, you’ll want to practice that a lot.” Sejin nodded earnestly. “Give me another one, Jieun.”

“Breathing!” Jieun said brightly.

“Junghwa, you were breathing way too much. It’s not something that you would be well versed in, but it helps a lot to pace yourself. That’s something that can be easily fixed through practice.” Misaki said calmly. Jieun was pleased; Misaki seemed like she was a gentle teacher. It was certainly better than some of her previous teachers who yelled at her when she didn’t do something right.

Misaki continued to have them run through the scales and even songs for a little while until Minho, Yoonji and Haena came through the door. Minho collected the girls’ planners and retreated to update their schedules. Misaki decided to take Jieun and Junghwa with her to continue vocal training. Yoonji settled in the chair that Misaki vacated and looked at Haena and Sejin who were sitting dutifully, waiting for her to start her own lessons.

*****

Sejin sat quietly with her hands clutched politely in her lap. It was a little intense to have to share Yoonji’s attention with only one other person. Haena looked less stressed than Sejin would have expected, though that might have been because she had training before? Sejin wasn’t really sure how training worked at an entertainment company. Did they train in everything, or did they have focuses? Sejin was feeling a little overwhelmed, especially since she was faced with the intimidating Yoonji. But, she had decided to do this, so she was going to do it. It wouldn’t be that bad, right?

“Alright,” Yoonji said, staring at the two in front of her. They both perked up and focused their attention on her. “So, do either of you know anything about rapping?” Sejin hesitated, before looking over at Haena.

“Only what Ilsung told me in a couple of lessons that I went to.” Haena said. Yoonji nodded.

“Okay, so nothing?” Yoonji said dryly. Haena frowned, a little confused. “Ilsung doesn’t know jack about what makes a good rapper.” Sejin frowned in confusion. Than why was he a trainer at the company if he didn’t know anything about rapping. Yoonji seemed to sense her confusion and elaborated. 

“Well, he’s not completely useless, but he’s a trainer for idol rappers.” Yoonji said, “For a lot of companies that mean something completely different than what I mean when I say rapping.” Sejin nodded, but she still didn’t really understand. Yoonji just continued on, either not caring about the confusion, or not noticing.

“Now, what about you Sejin?” She asked calmly, going back to the original topic. Sejin frowned briefly, trying