Chapter One

Standing behind the curtain I pace back and forth, this is it, what I have fought so hard for. I tried to pretend it wasn’t a big deal to everyone up until this point but now that I am here I’m so nervous my legs are just moving on their own leading me back and forth.  

“She” is also here, and as she approaches she seems just as disgruntled to see me as I am to see her.

“Hello” She says with a wry smile, which I return.

After a moment of awkwardness, I manage to blurt out a coherent sentence.

“Well, best of luck”

She lets out of a smug laugh but before she can add in an equally condescending comment our conversation is cut short by the sound of the speaker on stage. Our ears immediately perk up and we make our way closer to the entrance.

I can barely make out the speaker’s voice as I peak through the curtain and look around in the sea of people all dressed up and looking joyful at the special evening meant to showcase their children’s achievements. My eyes dart around scanning the masses until I manage to find what I am looking for, my family gathered in the third row gleefully looking forward onto the stage, even my father seems to be the happiest I’ve seen  him in years.

It brings a smile to my face immediately and a warm sensation that quells my nerves, until I feel a light push in my back which makes me stumble forward.

“Move over!” She says struggling to also stick her head out.

We spend the next few moments jockeying for position and manage to catch a few less than flattering glances from the people seated closest until our conflict is quickly brought to a standstill by the echoing announcement from the person in front of the podium.

 “-and with that we are honored to announce the winner. Please welcome the first-place finisher Baek Ji-“

Jiheon

“Jiheonah!”

“Jiheonah!!”

“JIHEONAHH!”

I get shocked out of my dazed state by the screams of the girl standing at my bedside.

Groggily I look up at the person who had just stomped on my perfect dream without any consideration. Living here it’s become a fact of life that you will be woken up frequently and abruptly, but even for this group it’s odd for it to happen so early in the morning.

“You have school, don’t you?” Jiwon asks and shoots me a quizzical look.

I grab my phone and look at the time, 6 am.

 Ahh, I really do have to get up.

“Yeah...but why are you awake so early, Unnie?” I ask slowly getting out of bed and rubbing my eyes.

“Oh, haha, I haven’t gone to sleep yet, me and Hanyang were up all-night playing guitar” Jiwon says proudly as she plops down into the bed that I had just been laying in and begins to peel a banana she must have grabbed earlier.

I doubt the rest of the girls on the first floor appreciated that much. As much as we have had our own disagreements up here, it’s undoubtably been better than the chaos that can occur down in the “depths of hell” as Romsae Unnie jokingly calls it.

I would have liked more time to get ready, but I was already late as it was, and the school wasn’t very close by. After I washed my face and brushed my teeth I exited the bathroom to be greeted by the once energetic girl known as Megan, now drooling on my pillow in a deep sleep with the half-eaten banana by her side.

“Unnie...why does it have to be my bed...” I say with a grimace across my face.

Sadly I can’t afford the time or effort to be worried about it right now though as I grab my bag and the rest of my stuff, taking just one last look back to get the confirmation that yes, I will most certainly need to wash my pillow case when I get back home.

School:

As I walk into the classroom, I’m a bit surprised to see a rare face sitting in the seat next to mine, a giant golden retriever, or what our teacher would refer to as an “Ahn Yujin”. When she turns her head and see’s me a giant smile comes across her face and my heart drops.

Before I can manage to get even an awkward greeting out of my mouth I am mauled in the same way you do when your dog see’s you for the first time after returning home from a long vacation.

“Ahhhh!! Jiheon, I wasn’t sure where you were, others were worried you might not show up today, but I said that’s definitely not like my Jiheon haha”  She says while winking at me and with a tone that could easily come off as mocking or loving depending on your perspective. However, in that moment I was less concerned about which way to take it and more wondering when she would allow me to breathe again, as her arms were still tightly latched around my upper torso.

Luckily as more students walked in I was able to escape her grasp and slowly usher us back to our seats in the process.

“S-sorry I somehow overslept and had to rush over here, uh..but what about you, you haven’t been here for at least a month, have your guys’ promotions ended?” I inquire not just out of courtesy but also wanting to know if the rest of the 12 members of IZ*ONE had returned home from Japan.

“Yep, we got back last Friday but I couldn’t come into school that day, I had to get settled first right?? I mean what’s the point of being young if we are always just working or studying?!?” She says with a both a childish innocence and a devilish smile looking up at me as she sits at her desk.

“Umm....well..I guess...I don’t really mind working and studying though” I said with the back half of my sentence slowly turning into a whisper.

Yujin looked puzzled for a split second then burst into