Everyone was in high spirits as the program went on. It was very obvious that the upper classmen really put their all in preparing for the Opening Showcase. The Japanese students were astounded at the level of performance the Korean students gave. Freshmen couldn’t help but cheer for their seniors. The Opening Showcase itself was huge event. It was one of the few activities that allowed visitors to watch. Different press, media, and photographers came to cover the event. Several people from big companies came to watch, and probably scout for potential talents. There were several booths for each department set outside of the venue and complimentary seats for the visitors were reserved at the upper deck. The lower deck on the other hand were reserved for the students and the faculty.

A young freshman was totally feeling the excitement, much like the others did. Not a single performance disappointed her. She was used to this type of set-up; bright lights, loud music, heightened atmosphere. Although the stage was not hers, she still felt ecstatic. She was in the audience section, enjoying each performance, and in a few years, she would be the one to claim the stage. She liked that thought.

“Wow. Sihyun-sunbae and Yireon-sunbae are no joke! Total performers, ugh step on me please.” The girl with the bob hair exclaimed.

“Ahn Yujin, did you not see Eunyoung-sunbae and Yujin-sunbae!!? Everyone was on fire, especially Hyunah-sunbae.”  Said the girl with wispy bangs.

“Gahyeon, Yujin, I can’t believe you guys. Eunbi-sunbae is probably the best there! Am I right, Hitomi-chan, Nako-chan?” Wonyoung exclaimed.

 “Intellectuals only.” The two small Japanese girls replied, giving Wonyoung a thumbs up, making Wonyoung run in between the two shorties.

“Stop right there.” Nako pulled her hand out and pushed Wonyoung away. “I swear if you stand next to me I will snap.”

“Nako means to say stop being tall, Wonyoungie. You’re blocking her view.” Hitomi calmly replied.

“You mean OUR view.” Nako coughed.

“Why is she even so feisty?” Yujin squatted to meet Nako’s eye level, poking the shorter girl to her annoyance.

“Because, I can’t see a damn thing, you fool!” Nako gave Yujin a death glare which made Yujin’s pokes stop.

“Whoa there, tiger. If you want to see the stage I can carry you on my back.” Yujin offered.

“No. That’s rude to other people watching and what about Hiichan?” Nako declined, pouting her lips.

“Wonyoung can carry her.” Yujin pointed at Wonyoung’s direction and the girl immediately shook her head.

“Still no. It’s not proper concert behavior, insensitive bafoons.” Nako commented.

“This isn’t even a concert.” Yujin commented.

“The chairs here are useless, everyone is ing standing.” Nako hissed.

“Yujin-chan, other people might not see it if we got on your backs. It would be rude.” Hitomi calmly explained.

“Hitomi is such an angel.” Wonyoung commented and pinched her cheeks. The shorter girl could only give a forced smile.

“Alright kids, you’ve been arguing over the smallest things, let’s just push Hitomi and Nako to the front rows, where the other shorter kids are then let’s meet up after the showcase for the PARTEYYY.” Gahyeon suggested, earning a glare from Nako and she faintly saw Hitomi roll her eyes at the suggestion. But the girls had no other choice than to agree. They didn’t want Nako to snap at them.

“Awe look at those kids. It’s only been a week but they’re now off making short friends.” Gahyeon looked at the two like a mom and commented.

“Earth to Gahyeon, you’re only a few centimeters taller than Hitomi!” Yujin pointed out.

“It’s 4 centimeters, Yujin. But I’m really proud of those two babies.” Gahyeon replied wiping a teardrop from her eyes. Wonyoung laughed at the two’s banters. She makes a mental note of picking Hitomi and Nako out from the crowd to make sure they don’t get lost. Gahyeon and Yujin are the people she considers her new-found friends. They’ve been stuck since the first day of classes. Now, they’re totally inseparable. Nako and Hitomi made their way inside the clique since the two of them were seated besides Yujin and Wonyoung respectively. Nako picked a fight with Yujin since she couldn’t see the teacher and the white board.

The program resumed and Yena made her way to the stage pumping the entire audience’s energy. It was amazing how that short girl made everyone so hyped for the next performance. Everyone was begging for more.

“This is our last act for tonight.” Yena mentioned which was followed by a disappointed “awwweee” by the audience. “But rest assured that this is not gonna be the end of our night!” Yena shouted, making the audience scream. “Because, LATER, TONIGHT, ROOF TOP, PARTY!!!” and the audience went wild.

“But before that, up next is this newly anticipated band from the Music Department which was formed only for this occasion! Are you ready!!!” Yena shouted and a roar from the audience was heard.

“I said ARE YOU READY?!” She repeated the question and the crowd was louder than before.

“LOUDER, I SAID ARE YOU READY?!” and the audience gave what she wanted.

“GIVE YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FORRR….. PUPPIES!” Yena introduced the band. A mixture of applause and laughter from the audience emerged but before they could absorb the silly band name, a girl’s voice was heard screaming at the top of her lungs.

“I WANNA HEAR YA’LL SCREAM!!!!”

The lights suddenly went dark and the drum beats orchestrated the lights’ movement. The wild guitar solo opened the entire scene and its sound immediately hyped the audience, a spotlight shone on a stone-faced girl, her appearance made them cheer louder. Her face was blank but you could see her fingers moving so fast as if it had a mind of its own. She bit her lip and made her guitar scream, making the audience go crazy.

“KANG HYEWON!”

After her entrance, the set suddenly turned mellow and the drum beats were a less wild than earlier, still it kept the audience’s energy at high, a pretty girl appeared on stage, completely in the zone with her bass solo. Each note kept everyone’s body grooving with the sound. Everyone was in a trance. They were in awe, seeing the girl move her body to the rhythm of the bass.

“KIM MINJU!”

Then came total silence. The lights went out, the pause took longer than the audience expected it to be. They were wondering if there was technical difficulty in the middle of the performance. then came a shocking drum solo out of nowhere. The spotlight made its way to the puppy-eyed girl who was gritting her teeth, pounding the drums hard. Everyone squealed, screamed and went crazy over the sight. She donned black tank top which showed off her toned arms and fair skin. At this point, everyone at school was losing it.

“JANG GYURI!”

At this point the final member who was hidden from the audience came running towards stage. Carrying her guitar with her, the short girl was ecstatic. The three girls who were introduced played together, building up the hype and momentum with the audience until the short girl was finally on stage.

“JO YURI! AND WE ARE PUPPIES!” The girl went wild on her guitar and the band started playing. Everyone didn’t really expect that they’d be this excited over a performance before. The Music department usually gave the most relaxed stages out of the three departments. This came as a total surprise. A lot of people, including those who performed earlier ran as close as possible to the stage. Even Yujin and Gahyeon joined the crowd. They wanted Wonyoung to join them but she said she didn’t like the mob and declined. The two made their way to the mosh pit, meeting Hitomi and Nako, leaving Wonyoung behind.

Everyone looked like having fun. She couldn’t take her eyes off the stage. The performers sounded really good. But for some reason, she wasn’t really feeling it. She was surprised to see her sister doing better than she expected to be. The stage was Gyuri’s to claim. Her older sister still has the same face she used to make back when they were kids whenever she was heavily focusing on something, except only this time she was more smiley, she grinned a lot and showed a lot of expressions she’s never seen before. She’s really a genius. She never knew when she started the drums but, she was slaying it. She thought to herself, she has a lot of training to do to catch up with her sister.

Out of nowhere, a familiar face distracts the girl from her thoughts. In an instant, a short girl with intense brown orbs were beside the young freshman.

“Are you not enjoying?”

“I am. And you, why aren’t you in the mosh pit?” Wonyoung asked.

“I’m not a fan of huge crowds and I saw you alone. You don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine. I’m waiting for my friends to finish, Miru-sunbae.” The two stayed in place, quietly enjoying the music being played. A short pause was shared by the two girls, until Miru decided to talk to her more.

“They’re really good. Especially your sister.” Miru commented, slightly rotating her head to get a better view of Wonyoung’s face.

“Yea. She is. Whatever.” Wonyoung answered as she clenched her jaw. Miru let out a soft chuckle which changed the younger girl’s expression. The girl tiptoed and looked at Wonyoung in the eyes. The younger girl could feel the blood immediately rushing to her cheeks. Miru flashed her a smirk. It was a good thing that almost everyone was preoccupied with the performance or else they’d catch all the other girls’ attention.

“Hey. You’re lucky to have a sister like her.” Miru said, flicking the taller girl’s forehead as she bid good bye and walked away. The Japanese girl skipped her way outside of the auditorium. Wonyoung hissed and touched her forehead, while she rolled her eyes due to Miru’s sudden action.

What do you mean lucky? What does she know, anyways? Wonyoung thought.

++

The Opening Showcase ended with a bang. Sihyun gave her thanks to everyone who attended and after the program finished, everyone was dismissed. The girls hurried their way back to the dormitories and the press were accompanied by the security to the exit. The last ones to leave were Sihyun with Yireon and Gyuri.

“Pres, everything seems to be clear.” Gyuri, still in her performance clothes, checked the area.

“Wow, Gyuri, you went wild over there! I didn’t know you play the drums.” Yireon commented.

“I just started a year ago and kept it a secret. Heh. But you and the pres totally went off with your perf.” Gyuri commented.

“I can see that you’ve been practicing hard. Your arms look totally hot.” Yireon approached Gyuri and clung on to her biceps, startling the girl. Yireon laughed at the girl’s reaction.

“Yireon, stop messing around and check if things