0.III

per aspera ad astra
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

March 20th, 2010

Yoonji wasn’t sure why she was allowing herself to be involved in this nonsense. Some days she almost wished she hadn’t allowed Minho to talk her into joining this ing train wreck. But, it was way too late for her to back out of her decision, and she definitely couldn’t leave these two in charge of rap. She sighed tiredly and turned her attention to the other two members; Jieun and June. They were leaning over the sheet music that Misaki had left them before heading off to a meeting. It seemed like all the higher ups wanted to do was hold their producer and leader hostage in meeting after meeting. This was the forth one so far and they still hadn’t gotten back to them about the dorm situation.

So she had been left in charge. While she hadn’t been surprised by this as she was the eldest member. But, she was surprised by how well the younger members listened to her. She had expected them to talk back, though she wasn’t sure why she had thought that. The kids had never acted out before, and it didn’t seem like that was going to change any time soon.

She turned her focus back to her charges. They were both waiting for her to give them instructions. She sighed tiredly. The next step from her was to have them run through the same verses until their rapping became somewhat acceptable. When she told them this, Haena looked slightly uncomfortable about completely the step in front of the other members. Yoonji couldn’t bring herself to give a . The girl could dance in front of large groups, so she could learn to rap in front of small groups. 

“Look,” Yoonji said, looking at Haena sternly, “You’re going to have to do this eventually, you might as well start now.” Yoonji said dryly. She wouldn’t get anywhere if she couldn’t move herself out of her wallflower mentality. Sejin immediately became obedient, attempting to portray herself as ready and willing to do anything. Yoonji was a little relived that she as at least an eager pupil. Now all she had to do was drive the techniques into her brain. Yoonji sighed again and cleared pointedly both of the members immediately snapped to attention. God, it was going to be a long day. But, now was not the time to focus on that, so she stared Haena down until she gave in and started going through the verse that Yoonji had given her.

Her voice was shaking a bit, and only continued to shake more as time passed. Yoonji covered her face in frustration. Haena grimaced, likely frustrated as well.

“Okay,” Yoonji said, taking a moment to gather her thoughts, “You’re not putting any passion behind it.” Despite her, admittedly minimal, efforts the frustration was leaking out of her voice. “Put your chest behind it, like you do with dance.” 

“Sorry.” Haena mumbled, ducking her head slightly. Yoonji sighed and waved her off. Haena dropped back into her chair in defeat. Yoonji immediately turned her attention to Sejin, who looked a little more intimidating than before.

“Your turn.” Yoonji said. Sejin immediately jumped in. She was mainly just talking quickly, but her words were also being forced out in a weird way. Yoonji squinted at her in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on.

Firstly, Sejin was struggling with her breathing, a lot. She seemed to be trying to use a technique that she didn’t fully understand. Secondly, Sejin’s dictation was horrific. Her words were slurred and difficult to understand.

Yoonji waved her hand, cutting Sejin off mid sentence. Sejin immediately fell silent, looking quite cowed. Yoonji just stared at her for a moment.

“Focus on the basic techniques before you try anything fancy.” She snapped, glowering at the girl. Sejin immediately nodded. But, before Yoonji got a chance to rip into her some more, the door of the room slammed open. Everyone in the room flinched. Yoonji swore angrily out of shock. Misaki walked through the door with a look of pure fury on her face. Minho followed closely behind also looking pissed off.

“What happened!” Jieun demanded, clutching at her chest out of shock. She had been the closest to the door. Misaki swore furiously, but said nothing. Minho sighed tiredly and dropped down onto the couch, dragging Misaki down next to him. She huffed and covered her face. Her whole body language read exhaustion. Minho frowned and leaned forward drawing their attention to him. Yoonji also leaned forward, now very confused.

“The company gave us our final budget for the next year. There’s no money for a dorm.” He said. Yoonji stared at him in disbelief.

“So…what? We pay for it ourselves?” Jieun demanded, “With what money?” Minho shook his head.

“God only knows.” He said dryly. “They want to try to add Park Mina into the group.” Misaki said, ruffling her hair in frustration. June stared at them in disbelief.

“Why1?” She said sounding panicked. Yoonji couldn’t blame her, the girl’s roommates were getting even worse as the days went on she couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be forced into a group with one of her tormentors. 

“If we do that, they’ll give us money for a dorm?” Sejin asked carefully. Minho nodded.

“That’s what it seems like.” He said tiredly, running his fingers through his hair.

“No thanks,” Yoonji said coolly, “I’d rather just get a job.” The other members nodded in agreement. Misaki groaned tiredly.

“We’ve agreed on a trial week.” Minho said, continuing through the protests. “If she still doesn’t work out then we can kick her out, easily.” 

“It won’t be too hard.” Misaki said dryly, “She’s only kind of good at dancing and her vocals are nothing impressive. We don’t really need her, and she’s not likely to do well within the group.” She said, her words comforting despite everyone’s reluctance.

“So all we have to do is make it through a week?” Haena asked tiredly. Minho nodded. “Well I suppose we should try?” She asked cautiously. “They might be more likely to give us dorm money.” Of course, that was the last thing that anyone in the room wanted to do, but they also didn’t want to have to split their attention just to afford a place to live together. The group grumbled as a whole, but didn’t protest. If Minho thought that they could do it, than they could. Simple as that

*****

Yoonji couldn’t do this. That little brat (she refused to call her anything else) was ruining everything. She had forced herself into the vocal lesson, tormented June to the point of tears and sent Sejin running to her (her!) for shelter. It was ridiculous. It was offensive that the higher ups thought that the little was ready to be debut. She couldn’t even behave herself for five minutes.

Yoonji leaned back against the mirror in the dance room and watched as Haena attempted to corral the brat. Sejin was still sticking close to her. Not exactly touching, which Yoonji was grateful for, but close enough to feel more comfortable. June was clinging onto Misaki like a limpet and their leader was her back and speaking quietly to her. Yoonji grimaced as she watched Jieun go head on against the brat explosively. Apparently, the brat had said something to Haena that Jieun had found offensive, and Jieun was attempting to defend her honor.

Yoonji was a little proud in all honesty. 

But, that wasn’t going to stop her head from throbbing in time with the angry screeching. Nothing that Haena was doing was working. She was trying to pacify Jieun, it was obvious that Jieun was taking offense to the brat’s very presence. Yoonji was almost to the point of ripping into the brat herself when Misaki stood up.

“Enough!” She bellowed, scaring everyone in the room into silence. Yoonji was stunned. She had never heard the girl speak that loud in all the time that she had known her. “Get the out Mina!” She yelled, quickly advancing on the brat. Startled the brat stumbled back. Unfortunately, it seemed that the brat was as stupid as she was mean, as instead of leaving, she opened and fought back.

“You can’t make me leave!” She yelled angrily. Misaki’s face twisted in furious rage.

“Yes I ing can! I’m the leader of this group and when I tell you to do something you do it!” She snarled. The brat took another step back, but opened again. Jesus, this brat really didn’t know when to stop did she? Yoonji made to stand up, knowing that Minho would want her to interfere with this if it got physical.

“Minho said-” The brat started. Oh good! Now she was trying to use Minho against Misaki. 

That’ll work really well. That would never in a million years backfire.

“Minho-shi!” Misaki snarled, emphasizing the formality. She was now very close to the brat. Yoonji quickly walked over to the duo, passing by the frozen Haena and the fuming Jieun. She quickly wrapped an arm around Misaki, preparing to hold her back if necessary. The brat went pale. Misaki took several breaths, Yoonji’s presence calming her slightly. “When Minho’s gone, I’m in charge.” She said, looking deathly serious. “Not that he’d be any more impressed by his behavior.” She finished, staring the brat down.

“I’ll tell the CEO about this!” The brat snapped. Yoonji scoffed, pulling Misaki a little closer to her. And by extension further away from the brat.

“Yeah? Then we’ll just have to tell him all about how you made one of your groupmates cry, and started a fight with another. I’m sure he’d love that.” She said dryly. She was surprised by how calm she was feeling. Maybe it was because Misaki, who was normally very calm, was so upset. Maybe it was because the little was hardly worth her time. The brat fell silent in the face of Yoonji’s words.

“Leave.” Misaki said, “If you still have this attitude tomorrow, you won’t be working with this group anymore.” Mina snarled in response, but whirled around and scooped up her things. She shoulder checked Sejin on her way out, causing Misaki to in a furious breath.

“Unreal.” Jieun said quietly. “She’s not actually going to debut with us right?” She asked in concern. Yoonji snorted.

“Not ing lightly.” She said, as Misaki wrenched herself out of Yoonji’s loose hold. The members watched as she headed to the door.

“Where are you going Unnie?” Sejin asked, looking nervous. Misaki grunted, but didn’t respond, instead choosing to tug gently on a lock of June’s hair. 

“How about we pack your things tonight?” She said softly. June lurched a little close and gave her a watery smile. 

“Yeah,” She said, “But, where will I go?”

“You can stay with Minho and I for now.” She said gently. June was almost in tears at the response. Yoonji watched as their giant maknae lurched at Misaki and hugged her tightly. Misaki looked startled but hugged the girl back. It was a little difficult not to laugh at the awkward scene. June had to bend over a lot to comfortably clutch onto Misaki. Misaki was also  having to stand on her toes to reach the girl. The offer wasn’t surprising, as she had heard Minho and Misaki discussing moving June in with them to get her out of the dorms. She was sure that they would offer the same to anyone of them who wanted it. But, it was obvious that June was the one who needed it the most. 

“You guys up to help?” Misaki asked carefully. Glancing over at the other members. They all nodded, including Yoonji. It was hard to resist Misaki when she was being a leader.

“Great, I’ll go find Minho and tell him what’s going on. And then we’ll go.” Misaki

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
pastelroad
「ASTRAL」 check updates!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
stormatsea
#1
Chapter 3: Wow the drama is real with this chapter! With Mina being a complete jerk and making people cry to almost getting knocked out by Misaki, granted she totally would have had it coming. Also the way you portrayed Yoonji is perfect complete with the attitude and barely holding back to her being a bit awkward when Sejin was next to her and the subtle proudness for Jieun for defending Haena's honor. This was an amazing chapter and totally made my day when I saw the update! Cant wait for the next one!
StainGlass #2
Chapter 3: Oh wow, the drama certainly escalated with Mina's brief trial with the rest of the girls. Poor June, taking the brunt of it. At least, the aftermath of it led to greater team bonding lol and the members are slowly but surely getting closer (hail friendship!) and the dynamics are starting to fall into place. And with each chapter is a closer step toward their debut, which will definitely be exciting. Looking forward to the next update!
stormatsea
#3
Chapter 2: This was such a great chapter! Its interesting to see how everyone comes in and interacts with one another especially since they're all so different than the other. Also that mini cameo at the end with Mina really shows that shes going end up causing trouble later.
Yoonji was just perfect in this chapter too. All cool business.
TheLandofBrownSugar #4
Chapter 2: Ahhh, I am liking this! Such different personalities coming together as one! :D
StainGlass #5
Chapter 2: The interactions between the members are my everything and Sejin's pov is so accurate. I'm absolutely loving her blooming friendship with June! And the tensions with the other trainees, oof. I can't wait for the members to move in together and for the shenanigans that'll come with it all. A really great chapter!
stormatsea
#6
Chapter 14: Sorry about that. I'll be making the changes tomorrow for you. I started up a new job over the last week and transitioning so it slipped my mind.
StainGlass #7
Chapter 18: Oml I have been gone for so long and missed the first chapter! This chapter was wonderful. It gives the foundation for what follows after and I can't wait to see the "construction" ^^
TheLandofBrownSugar #8
Chapter 18: I am glad to see the first chapter of this! :D There are a few places with random capitalizations, but other than that, it's a good chapter.
diamond-breaker
#9
Chapter 18: AAAHH IM SORRY FOR SUDDENLY DISAPPEARING TT___TT
I PROMISE ILL DO TH E INTERACTIONS AS SOON AS POSIBLE
stormatsea
#10
Chapter 10: Congrats to everyone! I'm really liking this new layout!
I should have my interactions done soon!