Ah, the Daegu doll. Strangely, a big burden to carry being in Seoul by herself in a cut throat business as it was the entertainment industry.

Well, she had not been able to experience the cut throat part of it yet since she was still training to perfect her skills for debut. Instead, she experienced the good people in the business.

Granted, people gawking at her with eyes wide open and jaws dropping was not something good. She was embarrassed to cause this effect in Seoul, it was a larger scale reiteration of what happened in Daegu, just that her family wasn’t there to protect her and keep people at bay.

For someone who barely spoke at all, she caused a big commotion and people who only wanted to approach her for her looks was NOT the good kind of people.

No, you see, the good people of the business were people who did not stand there looking like supreme idiots upon being faced by her beauty. The younger trainees treated her with respect and she treated them back with the same respect and the care of an unnie. She thought she wouldn’t meet people close to her age (well, not people younger than thirteen years of age) whom she would connect to and she was accepting that fate.

But thankfully for her, she was wrong on that one.

“We hope you have an amazing birthday, sweetie!”

Her parents voice echoed in her brain as she stared at the cell phone blankly, reading the date on her phone over and over. March 29th, her birthday. She had just gotten done talking to them yet that emptiness in her heart came over to her again, replacing the fresh memory of their sweet voices, the familiar accent...

She missed them dearly, she missed all of her family members, her friends in Daegu--Oh, how much she missed celebrating her birthday and it being a town festival of some sort.

It was strange, she missed the attention somehow. No, she missed her family’s attention, how everyone was so happy to celebrate with her, as she transitioned into womanhood; being pampered with hugs and kisses, given gifts, coursing through life with a big smile. Now, she was scared and alone, but facing her dream head on.

People who gawked at her beauty usually did not give a damn to become friends other than the obvious reason and she preferred not to spend her time with those people, no matter how much she craved some friendship. She declined thousands of friendship requests, thousands of dates and proposals, and not one of those people have even given her a happy birthday gift that was heartfelt and endearing.

Not one.

The attention she was given was always superficial, always one sided, with an intention that was selfish or perhaps cruel.

With a sigh, she put her phone away and stared at the practice room’s mirror, watching herself as she sat in the middle of the room, by herself at night. In the distance she could hear the people walking by her door, laughing or talking loudly.

There was a sad feeling within her, she almost had half a mind of dancing until exhaustion instead of resting early as she planned initially. She needed to let those emotions go in the only way she could let them out instead of tears. It’s not like she had plans to spend the night doing something.

Until the door slowly opened, a head shyly peeking in. She instantly stared at the person’s head from the window, finally turning to see her.

That girl. She knew that face. It was a familiar, young face that she had warmed up to a little bit recently during practice.

Kang Seulgi, a powerful dancer and an equally powerful vocalist. To top it off, she was supremely sweet! Perhaps a bit naive from time to time, a little slow to catch things, but she was all in all a great person to work with.

Seulgi and Joohyun had not talked all that much, but they have practiced together. Joohyun could not deny that there was an immediate spark to their dancing, an undeniable chemistry. While Seulgi was more powerful and hard hitting at times (nothing like a ballerina, in fact), Joohyun was a more delicate and slow dancer that made a perfect contrast.

When they coached each other, they were dynamite.

But, Joohyun’s shyness had gotten into the way of socializing with the girl. Her accent was also strong, people were often afraid of hearing her, she also looked intimidating to boot. So to try not scare people away, she refrained from speaking.

However, she would have to speak now.

“Unnie?” Seulgi softly said as she got in, keeping her hands behind her back. Naturally, a bow was given, which Joohyun returned. "I'm not disturbing you, right?"

Joohyun could only shyly smile and shake her head, promptly getting up.

"I heard it was your birthday, so..."

Now this was different.

"Yes," Joohyun softly replied, nodding her head.

Seulgi's cheek were a little red, but her smile grew wider when she finally showed a nice looking cupcake with rainbow sprinkles on it and a small birthday candle. "Happy birthday!"

Joohyun looked at the cupcake, then up at Seulgi's proud smile. Honestly, she had not expected anything for her birthday, if anything she expected a hug and non-sincere greetings. But there was something about Seulgi.

She was only fifteen, shining with a bright smile and a no make-up face. Her attitude was so positive, so endearing, and the fact that she went out of her way to waste her free evening to come to the practice room with a cupcake just to give it to Joohyun?

"Wow," Joohyun said softly while grabbing the cupcake. A sincere and honest smile coming to her features. "You did this?" She questioned, her accent carrying her words through and through.

Seulgi laughed and shyly rubbed the back of her neck. "No, no. I bought it."

Joohyun looked up and tilted her head. "Really?"

The slim, bear looking girl nodded eagerly. "Yes! My parents gave me allowance to go shopping today. I figured I could give you a gift."

Oh dear. This girl just wasted some of her money to buy Joohyun a gift? She felt a little guilty for it. "Oh, you didn't have to."

"No, no, it's on me, unnie!" Seulgi replied, with that cheerful disposition.

Joohyun looked at the cupcake in her hands, smiling still. The candle was not lit on! It was just one cupcake, too. But there was something heartwarming with the gesture, no matter how small it was. It was something Joohyun hasn't experienced in a while.

She felt at home again.

"Oh, I didn't... light it up."

"No! It's OK." Joohyun laughed, shaking her head. "Thank you, Seulgi. I really appreciate it."

Seulgi giggled. "Ah, it's nothing. Are you going to be busy later?"

The pale girl looked up again and shook her head, poking the sprinkles and tasting them, "I actually don't have my family here, so my plans for the evening are… very grim?”

Seulgi pouted a little, frowning a little sadly. “Grim like… what?”

“Staying here? Maybe practicing?” Joohyun laughed a little, perhaps out of sadness, to avoid it sounding sadder than it was already.
 

Seulgi shook her head. “No, no. I’m free, so let’s do something together, no?”

For a moment, Joohyun thought Seulgi was asking her out on a date. She was so used to being asked out that she could not think of it in any other way. She was already expecting the typical dates that she did not enjoy, she was getting ready to decline Seulgi.

She didn’t want to decline Seulgi, but she did not want to say ‘No.’

It was perhaps rude to ask this, but it just jumped out of Joohyun’s mouth and came out clear as day.

“To do what?”

Seulgi, rather than being taken aback, smiled and shrugged her shoulder. “Ah, I--.”

Joohyun heard that nothing was coming out, so she got confused. “You…?”

“Ah, this is a little embarrassing. I was thinking that maybe we could watch a few movies in your dorm and maybe have a few snacks?” Seulgi blushed, rubbing the back of her neck again and swaying a little. “We could cook something or order something if you want?”

Now, this was different. She was expecting to eat out at some place, maybe drink, go on a romantic walk or the likes, but she was pleasantly surprised by everything BUT that. It was a friendly request to relax, just to spend some time together, to have a good time in the comfort of what was going to be her home for a long time. As a homebody that did not like to go out often, this was a sudden relief, but still she was dumbfounded.

Joohyun literally stared at the girl for a while, shaking her head a little bit as if to wake up. “Wait, really?”

“Yes, if you want to!” Seulgi nodded enthusiastically, with her big grin. “Or maybe we could plan something better?”

“No, no!” Joohyun quickly stopped Seulgi, laughing and looking at her cupcake again. “I would love to.”

Seulgi beamed and jumped in her spot a little bit. It was adorable to watch and for a moment Joohyun remembered that the girl was only fifteen.

Fifteen! Already a trainee for two years. Maybe she understood the sentiment that was being alone by herself in a place like this. Hey, at least she was above thirteen years of age.

Maybe Seulgi would become a great friend eventually, maybe people in the industry were not always bad?

Walking through the building’s hallway and towards the exit, Joohyun bit into her cupcake while linking arms with Seulgi, who was a little stiff but still smiled warmly.

When they both made it out of the building with the night before them, they both felt that there was a friendship forming.