"Going round-and-round and flowing, time is ever-changing

I can’t quite remember what’s happened in the past anymore

But if I try and close my eyes, I can hear somebody call my name

And for some reason now that is, My Most Precious Treasure that I hold..."

Chung Ae gently the last few strings of her guitar as August finished her vocals. Opening her eyes slowly, August allowed for a sad smile to creep across her face. Tilting her head down, she glanced over at the 'camera', which in reality was nothing more than an empty water bottle. A few tears fell onto the hands that held the water bottle, startling August so that she suddenly looked up into the face of their choreographer. Tears ran down his face as he stared at her, his face a mixture of emotions. Blinking in confusion, August glanced back at the other girls and noticed that all three of them were grinning at her. She knew she was good, it was something she wasn't going to shy away from being proud about, but dang. She hadn't know she could be that good.

"That is what I'm looking for, Miss Rivers. That  emotion is why we are debuting you" the choreographer breathed out, his voice barely a whisper as he tried not to break the atmosphere August had built. Slowly she rose to his feet and tossed the 'camera' into the recycling bin.

"Girls Dead Monster is going to kill anyone who listens to their music! We are going to be awesome!" Naomi laughed as she rested her bass against the wall of the practice room. Chung Ae nodded enthusiastically and wrapped an arm around August's shoulders, drawing her into a tight hug. August grunted, but didn't fight against it. Eager to join in, Naomi rushed over and wrapped her arms around both girls, gripping them in a tight bear hug as she lifted them off the ground. Chung Ae yelped in surprise while August struggled to break free of the now breath stealing hold. Still laughing, Naomi gently put down the other two girls, her charming grin plastered onto her face.

"You alright?" Naomi muttered, leaning over to August while Chung Ae whipped out her cellphone so that she could start gushing about the practice to Eun Mi, the fourth member and drummer of Girls Dead Monster, who had left early.

"Yeah. I just... had a bad day" August mumbled, not wanting to discuss this with Naomi for the tenth time that day. It had been a week since her break down, and this was the first time the girls had gotten together for practice since. Obviously it had been the center of attention, with the only break in questioning being when they had to practice.

"Aaaah... PMS. Every girl's worst nightmare" Naomi nodded her head sagely as she tried to get a rise out of August. Forcing a smile onto her face, August patted Naomi on the back none too lightly, sending the taller girl stumbling forward.

"Nice try, Frenchie, but no cigar" August chuckled, winking mockingly at Naomi before turning neatly on her heels and striding across the room. Behind her she could hear Chung Ae get connected to Eun Mi, mostly because of the sudden increase in squealing fangirl volume. Narrowing her eyes, as though it would help block out the high pitched assault on her ears, August crouched down next to the minifridge that had been installed recently. When she opened it she was greeted with the delicious golden juice of the gods, Orange Juice. Which probably should be described as orange, but right now it looked like liquid gold to August.

"Frenchie?" Naomi asked as she came up behind August. Smiling, the shorter girl handed up a Coke before grabbing herself an orange juice. "Frenchie?! That's seriously the best you could come up with?" Naomi continued, trying to scold August while simultaneously gulping down Coke and laughing. August shrugged her shoulders and nudged the minifridge door shut with her foot before sitting on the chilly plastic top. Sighing in mock exasperation, Naomi nudged August aside with her hips before settling down beside her. Together the two girls sat in silence, or at least the kind of silence you can get when someone is having a shouting competition with their phone.

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Naomi suddenly asked, causing August to inhale her orange juice. Coughing, she pounded her chest with her fist while Naomi waited patiently. When she had gotten control of herself, August stared incredulously at Naomi. Glancing over at the girl she had just about killed from shock, Naomi raised her eyebrows questioningly. Apparently she wasn't about to give up on this train of thought easily. Sighing, August rubbed at a stray drop of orange juice with the back of her sleeve and tried to think of how to answer.

"I've never been on an official date with a boy, but I have had some male friends in the past that I would-"

"So no" Naomi interrupted, bluntly putting what August had been hinting at.

"Yeah" August deflated visibly as the truth was manifested about her. She could feel Naomi's eyes burrowing into the back of her head as the girl possibly tried to read August's mind. When she felt the eyes leave her, August straightened up and took another swallow of her juice.

"Have you ever wanted one? Ever found a guy you really, really wanted to go out with?" Naomi asked, gently tapping her heel in time with the music that was now playing. August was prepared this time, though, and managed to not go into another coughing fit. When she heard her own voice begin singing along with the track August realized that it was one of the two songs they would be debuting with, which did throw her off for a second.

"Of course. I am nineteen, plenty old to start thinking about dating seriously" August chided, frowning at Naomi. Of course someone like the French diva would have been on plenty of dates, August was pretty sure the girl was dating someone right now even, so admitting that she had never had a boyfriend was more than a little embarrassing; and with the way things were going August was pretty sure things were just going to get worse. Sighing, she waited for the inevitable to come.

"You sound like you have someone in mind" Naomi prompted, nudging August encouragingly with her shoulder. Inching away, August leaned away from Naomi and frowned. Smiling understandingly the other girl backed off slightly, giving August some personal space. "So? Who is he? Is he another idol?" Naomi insisted, her hands wrapped tightly around her coke can as she waited for an answer.

"An idol?! As if I stood a chance with one of them" August laughed forcibly, which Naomi picked up on instantly. Damn it, why did the French perfectionist have to be so good at reading people?!

"So he is! Chung Ae, get your over here and your phone on speaker! We're about to hear some very interesting tidbits from our wonderful leader!" Naomi burst out, gesturing frantically for Chung Ae to join them. Curiosity sparked, Chung Ae followed orders and was shortly sitting on Naomi's lap, the only free seat at the moment. Her phone was held tightly in her hand, and August could hear Eun Mi breathing on the other end. Panicking, August tried to stand up and run away, but two pairs of hands shot out and wrapped tightly around her wrists, jerking August back into her seat.

"Alright, alright! Can we try to not turn this into a lynching, okay?" August relented, holding up her hands defensively. Naomi laughed, but Chung Ae seemed confused by August's sudden mixture of Korean and English. Once things had been explained to Chung Ae by Naomi, who actually knew the Korean translation for lynching, both pairs of eyes refocused onto August. A cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck as she tried to think of what to say, but nothing was coming to mind. Of course she had someone in mind, she had been following him and his group since they first debuted four years ago. She had repeated his name a million times, but now she couldn't even begin to form the syllables in her mind.

"His name is... his name is..." August's breath caught in as the words created a dam, preventing anything through flowing in or our. Sensing August's distress, Naomi backed off slightly and extended one hand towards August, resting it on her thigh.

"How about you just give us a hint? Maybe a nickname?" Naomi coaxed gently. August nodded slowly and took in a deep breath as the name tumbled down once more.

"He's so handsome that he shines" August declared, smiling hesitantly at the other two girls. All three of them seemed puzzled at first, but then a light bulb flashed over Naomi's head. A slow grin spread over her face as she ignored Chung Ae's pleading for an explanation. Winking in August's direction, Naomi began convincing Chung Ae that she was just as clueless about who the mystery man could be. The young Korean girl was obviously not buying it, but she wasn't nearly as indignant about it as Eun Mi, whose slightly distorted voice could be heard loudly protesting for another hint. Deciding to leave them to it, August stood up and crossed the room to the recycling bin, where she dropped in her empty juice bottle.

"Are you leaving early, Miss Rivers?" August had totally forgotten their choreographer was stil there. Smiling, she turned to face him and clapsed her hands in front of her legs.

"I've been running low on cash these past few days, so I have to cook for myself tonight" August explained, bowing deeply to the man. A very exaggerated look of horror spread across his face as he began to jokingly pray to the gods. Laughing, August turned the handle of the doorknob and pushed the door open an inch before it suddenly came to a stop. Confused, August knit her eyebrows together as she proceeded to swing the door back and forth in an attempt to move aside whatever was in the way. It wasn't until she heard a quiet whimpering from the other side of the door that she stopped her assault.

Gently moving the door open just enough for her to slip through, August peered around the hunk of metal to see someone covering their face in pain. Eyes widening in horro, August practically flew out into the corridor and slammed the door shut behind her, muffling the increasing volume of Chung Ae and Eun Mi.

"I am so sorry! I had no idea that someone was on the other side of the door! Are you alright?! Should I get you some ice?!" August blurted out, frantically turning in circles to try and find something to ease the pain. A muffle response came from the other side of the hands, but August wasn't nearly good enough at Korean to understand someone when they weren't speaking clearly.

"I'm fine. I'm fine" a male voice insisted as he dropped his hands from his face, a painful smile on his face. It was a face that August recognized well, a face that she had watched countless times for the past four years. Her jaw hit the floor as the edges of her vision began to blacken, the stress of the moment becoming too much for her. Apparently the young man understood that she was losing it as he quickly reached out to hold her arms and prevent her from falling over if she really did pass out.

"T-T-T-Taemin! What... I... I really didn't mean to hit you with that door! I am so sorry about what I did. Are you sure you're alright?" August squeaked, lapsing into English when her Korean abandoned ship. Obviously Taemin hadn't understood her frantic, heavily accented English, so after a few calming breaths August managed to repeat herself, this time in Korean.

"I'm fine, really. You didn't hit me that hard" Taemin assured her, smiling a bit more naturally now that the inital pain had subsided. August knew better, though. She had been shoving that door with everything she had, directly into the tender face of the poor guy. Groaning, she wrapped her fingers in her hair and tugged on the strands, a few managing to come loose as she attempted to rip out her hair in frustration. Why were things going so wrong all of a sudden?!

"So... what's up? I thought SHINee was off doing some sort of program" August asked nervously, dropping her hands to her side in order to prevent herself from going bald. It wouldn't do good to show up for her debut with bald spots all over her head.

"It ended a while ago. I just came back to ask you something" Taemin explained, putting a stop to August's casual glancing around the hallway to see if a certain someone had also shown up. According to Taemin this wasn't true, though, and August couldn't help the dissapointment that crossed her face. "Is that okay?" He asked, picking up on August's feelings. Smiling, August nodded her head.

"So what did you need to ask me?" She asked, leaning one shoulder against the wall. Even when standing up straight she was shorter than Taemin, a bit of a sore spot for her. She was already sensitive about her height, but when someone a full year younger than herself was taller it really rubbed August the wrong way. Like rubbing salt into an open wound, and then pounding that freshly salted wound with a sledgehammer.

"I was wondering if you could help me with my English. You see..."

Chapter Two Note: This is the song that the lyrics at the beginning of this chapter come from. I know it's a Japanese song, but I like Girls Dead Monster. This is also how I imagined August's voice, so be prepared to have quite a few of these songs come into play throughout the story :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz1Kn2tSuWo