A week has passed since the Welcome Week and now the students were slowly getting used to the pacing of the academy. Several programs were designed in each department and year level to be able to put the students’ well-being and improvement a priority. The two esteemed school always had a reputation for producing top quality performers and artists. Which is why, a lot of students take pride in this institute. These students have always been the treasures of the school. However, achieving this requires a lot of discipline, training, and hard work from all the entities composing this school.

The freshmen have heard of the tough training the school gives to the students but they were never prepared at how difficult it really was. From 8AM to 12NN they would have their academic classes covered and from 1PM to 5PM they would continue with their training. Morning classes usually drained them, since they were expected to maintain a certain grade for them to continue to perform. There are only three major events which allowed students to have big stages, namely, the Opening Showcase, Foundation Week, and the Closing Concert. Of course, all the students want to be able to perform in this huge stage. Students who excelled in both academics and performing arts usually starred the performances. Small stages, however, are prepared during the department weeks and students who do not get to perform on the big stages were usually given the performance slots.

All of the freshmen were given a week-long chance to expose themselves to the three departments in a span of 3 consecutive weeks. This would enable the students to give themselves a grasp on what each department has to offer and to help them make a big decision on which path would they want to pursue. The difference of this 3-week program however, is the professors would only supervise their activities and assess their progress after the week long basic classes. Selected sunbaes were the ones who facilitated the entire process after which, these freshmen would have to give a performance evaluation at the end of each week.

++

Wonyoung was in a daze. Being a daughter of a respected musician was something she was proud of, but of course in a class filled with talented people, she had to be lowkey about it. Only a few people knew about her relations with Gyuri. She wanted to keep it a secret, for her own’s sake. The expectations from her were high, and everyone seemed to expect the young girl to pursue music. However, something at the back of her mind was off.

Wonyoung’s class had the Voice department for her first week. Famous and talented artists such as Lee Hongki and Soyou were introduced as their mentors. Several sunbaes were present to assist the freshmen with their activities. All the girls in Wonyoung’s class proved to be excellent in that field.

All the freshmen gathered in one large room. They were taught one song with different arrangements. Each group were tasked to sing the song in the arrangement given to them. They were able to divide themselves into 5 groups.

“Nako-chan, you have such good vocal control.” Haeyoon, leader of the Voice Department, complimented her. It brought a smile to the young girl’s face. Goeun couldn’t help but pat the younger girl’s head, but to her disappointment, Nako shook her head, shocking Goeun and the other sunbaes present.

“Nako-chan, behave, that’s our senpai.” Hitomi reminded her. Nako rolled her eyes and apologized half assedly. This put Goeun in a foul mood which made the girl stricter and grumpier. Wonyoung wasn’t spared.

“Wonyoung, this is a Korean song, why can’t you even get the pronunciation right? Even Hitomi is doing a better job than you are, and she’s Japanese.” Goeun scolded Wonyoung after her seventh mistake. The younger girl was fighting the tears forming in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Goeun-sunbae. I’ll do it again.” Wonyoung was determined to correct herself. The rest of the girls had their eyes on Wonyoung. The tallest freshman felt small at that moment. Wonyoung tried again, but this time did she not only made a pronunciation mistake but also her voice cracked. Goeun facepalmed at the mistake, while Wonyoung’s teammates felt afraid for their friend.

“You aren’t applying anything that I taught you, that’s why you’re making a mistake. The performance is on Friday and it’s already Wednesday and you are still far from doing a good performance?!” The room fell silent over the loudness of Goeun’s voice. Conveniently, the teachers went away for a little bit and other sunbaes did not stop her. This was how they trained the Voice Department. Strict and very detail oriented. The younger girl could only bow her head out of shame. It was a good thing Haeyoon stepped in.

“Wonyoungie, you can rest for today. It seemed that you’ve been forcing yourself. You might strain your voice at this rate.” Haeyoon patted the girl’s arm, signaling the girl to take her leave. Wonyoung was about to leave when Goeun muttered something, stopping her from exiting the room.

“I can’t believe this girl is the daughter of Jang Woo Hyuk.” Goeun lowered her voice, but it still remained audible enough to be heard by the entire class. The class was shocked. Haeyoon widened her eyes at her vice leader. Wonyoung did not like it when her father’s name was mentioned. She turned away from the door and briskly walked towards the upper classman. The younger girl was pissed, her cheeks were puffed and she was turning red. It was a good thing that Chaewon was in the room, stopping the girl from doing anything bad.

“Goeun-sunbae, that was an unnecessary remark. Please refrain from doing it again. As part of the student council, I will not tolerate that.” Chaewon side eyed her. She was a little feisty for a sophomore but she had a point. Haeyoon got Goeun’s attention and took her outside. Soyou and Hongki came back, quite shocked to see the status of the class.

“Please resume your activities, class.” Soyou clapped her hands and signaled everyone to continue what they were doing. “Where are the two leaders? Chaewon, take over and please do not let anyone leave the room without our knowledge.” Soyou added.

“Yes, Coach. The two are probably preparing for the next activity.” Chaewon answered the mentors. She turned back to Wonyoung. “You should at least stay inside the room. But you can sit down. I’ll tell them you’re about to strain your voice.” She shot the younger girl a thumbs up. She felt grateful towards her.

The first week shocked the freshmen the most. They underestimated their upperclassmen. Freshmen thought that their seniors would go easy on them. But it was the exact opposite. The sunbaes’ dedication was seen through the amount of discipline they put in their craft. The Voice department were strict, direct to the point, and did not baby the freshmen at all. They were harsh to the point that Wonyoung just wanted to fast forward to next week’s activity. However, the results were good and deemed effective as to even the most tone-deaf students could sing their parts well.

“UGH. I am so glad that was over.” A loud thud came from Wonyoung as she sat down on the couch at the common room.

“The sunbaes here are harsher than our mentors back in japan.” Hitomi added, sitting next to Nako.

“I hate that Goeun-sunbae what-ever-her-name-is. She’s so full of herself.” Nako added while rubbing Hitomi’s back.

“Hey, but now that it’s over we only have the Music department and Dance department left. I am so stoked.” Yujin tried to lift the mood.

“Don’t forget about the homework. We still have to finish that .” Nako ruined the mood. Everyone let out a sigh.

Wonyoung was not satisfied with her performance and still couldn’t forget the shame and insults that was thrown at her. She promised herself that she would do better next week.

++

The weekend came by quickly and it was a new week. The freshmen found themselves in the gymnasium. Different equipment and musical instruments were scattered in the area. The girls were greeted by their sunbae’s smiles as they made their way to their seats. The feel was a whole lot different than the Voice department’s approach. The freshmen took their seats and several figures were seen walking towards the room.

“Good Morning freshmen, I’m Jo Yuri, leader of the Music department and here our mentor would be Sir Henry and Miss LE.” Yuri introduced them and the two proceeded to their seats.

“They’re really just letting the teachers supervise everything huh?” Gahyeon whispered.

“The Sunbaes are also graded by this, I’ve heard.” Yujin answered. A shush came from behind the two and was surprised because it came from the emcee of the Opening Ceremony.

“Shhh. The Leader is talking. You should listen.” The girl put her fingers on and shushed them quiet.

“Yena-sunbae, aren’t you in the dance department?” Yujin asked the older girl.

“Doesn’t matter, You guys should listen you know. She was so nervous to meet you all.” Yena told them to pay attention at the girl talking. The group decides to follow their sunbae.

“So, as you see, the music department despite its lax image, we actually handle a lot of stuff. The usual trope would be we would study one instrument and focus on it till we graduate, but it’s actually way different.” Yuri began to stomp her feet and clap her hands. She made a beat that was relatively easy to follow. Yena copied what she did and soon enough the entire audience were doing the same thing. Yena caught Yuri’s eye and gave her a wink. The smaller girl smiled.

“See. In the music department we start from the basics. Then whether we like it or not, we have to master it. Now I want you all to copy me.” Yuri started changing the tempo and the beat to something more complicated than the first one. There were people who could keep up but some were off beat already.

“Okay, lets pick up the pace shall we?” Yuri did a series of beats using her body. She stomped, clapped, snapped and did a difficult beat to follow. And soon enough only a handful of students could keep up. “Coordination is necessary here in our department.” Yuri continued.

“We go from production to composition to actual playing of the instrument. We explore music from genre to genre and incorporate them to our own styles.” Then on cue music started playing from behind. It was the band Yuri formed with Gyuri, Minju and Hyewon, The Puppies. It was a simple instrumental track, allowing the students to enjoy the music and at the same time still had their focus on the talking girl. The students were amazed at how the way the music department handled their orientation. The girls were all smiles.

It was evident that ever since the Opening Showcase, Gyuri was a popular sunbae to the freshmen. Wonyoung could hear her classmates fangirling over her sister. Unlike most younger sisters, she was annoyed by how popular her sister was to her peers.

“Wah, Gyuri-sunbae is no joke.” Yujin couldn’t close in awe of the older Jang’s talent. Wonyoung couldn’t help but push Yujin’s mouth shut and rolled her eyes, causing the girl to raise a brow at her sudden action.

“You’re drooling, it’s gross.” Wonyoung hissed. She had to make an excuse. People were already talking about her relationship with Gyuri. It was only a matter of time before people start comparing them again. The girls resumed to listen.

The audience cheered and was surprised with how well Yuri was handling the orientation. The track continued playing and Yuri was still talking.

 “But what makes this department more fun is most of the times we do it together, mixing with other people’s synergy. Creating masterpieces. Improving with them. Sometimes we even mashup different styles to create a new sound.” Suddenly the music stopped, a cool beat starts the track, suddenly a piano tune with a jazzy vibe came waltzing in, which was accompanied by a brass instrument, much to the pleasure of the freshmen. Then they were surprised with the addition of a synth sound making the piece more interesting. What made things more enjoyable was the Japanese transfer students were the one performing this. Familiar figures such as Takahashi Juri, Takeuchi Miyu, and Asai Nanami were leading the piece. The three Japanese girls were all smiles as the freshmen went crazy over how cool these girls were. They all had cute figures but the sound they managed to make was so mature.

“But of course, sometimes, we want to do it alone in our own pace, which is perfectly fine.” The music cut off and Yuri put on her guitar. She started with a few plucks and strums and fidgeted on the board beneath her feet. Then the riff’s sound repeated by itself.

“Sometimes we use instruments. Or sometimes we make the sound.” Yuri started to make different tunes using and repeated what she did with the board. Now, the sound that has been looping is starting to form something. She then added another layer of guitar riffs in her loop. The audience were starting to dig the sound.

“And sometimes, we make the audience create sound with us. Now use the beat that I taught you earlier. It goes like this.” Yuri was good at engaging with her audience. In no time (and with a little help from Yena), everyone was following her. Then Yuri started singing an acoustic rendition of the song Energetic and the audience was blown away by how angelic yet sultry her voice sounds. They were amazed by how at first it didn’t seem like Energetic was the song she was about to perform but when the words were coming out of the freshmen were all ecstatic