D-Tour’s Cha Cha talks about how they used to live in the basement
by AKApop – September 13, 2011 at 1:55 pm                                                                       40598 views            99 comments

During the recording of 'Strong Heart', D-Tour’s Cha Cha surprised those on-set by revealing how they used to live in a basement.

Cha Cha, who is a recurring guest on the show, had come back for the September 13th broadcast. Known to be someone who gives explosive truth on most of the rumors surrounding her group, Cha Cha had confessed on how she was very uncomfortable when they first started out, though not for the reason some netizens might have been thinking.

The D-Tour member revealed that it had been because they started out living in a cramped space in the bottom of a condo during debut days, causing much interest to spread between the guest panels as they found it hard to believe such a group like D-Tour, who had classy members like Jieun and Annie, could live under such circumstances.

“We were still trainees then, and weren’t really close. We only had two bedrooms with only one bed each! We took turns on who would be sleeping on the couch and such with a few games. Annie always lost.” She explained. “It was very hard, and we were usually so cold. We got sick often and bothered the members who could cook well when we didn’t even know each other very well.”

“Looking back on it now…” she paused and nodded seriously, before bringing much laughter on the set when she suddenly commented, “I’m really glad the company earned a lot and managed to give us proper shelter. SM Entertainment, I love you so much!”

Super Junior’s Leeteuk, who is in the same agency as her then commented, “Girls are always so favored. We had to share a dorm with 20 people!” causing the guests to laugh again.

.oOo.

 September o7, 2009

“No, no, no, no, NO.” Jieun repeats like a mantra, crossing both arms over her chest and blocking the doorway for the five other girls in the hall. She turns on her heels and is faced with the permanent, cheery face of their manager, Lee Tae Jun. “This place is uninhabitable. What are you thinking, trying to get us to actually live here? Are you insane?”

He clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth and shakes his head disapprovingly, crossing his arms as a frown mars his pretty face.

“Well, that’s not a pretty sight, either.” Tae Jun comments, making Jieun gawk at his blunt insult. He roughly pushes her into the flat, and makes way so that the other girls would be able to see.

Jieun glares heatedly at him. “I could have you sued, you vile man!”

“And darling, it’s in the contract. Remember, that one you signed when you were to be a trainee?” he reminds her and looks over his shoulder to see the rest of the members sharing a similar expression as to the maknae’s earlier one. He keeps his own very neutral, or as neutral as the sunny Tae Jun can get. “Well, girls; welcome to your new home!”

Jieun has not been exaggerating. The girls stare at the almost bare apartment in horror. The walls’ paint is practically coming undone, and there are stains in the corners were the wall meets the ceiling. There isn’t a lot of furniture outside of the rooms; only a dining table fit for six in the kitchen and a seemingly clean couch in the living room. Not even a television has been provided for the girls. The floorboard is thankfully relatively okay, wooden and sturdy, yet layered with dust.

As far as they can tell however, their biggest problem yet is that they could only see three rooms further inside, and one had to be the bathroom at the very least.

“I hate to agree with the Princess, but seriously Tae Jun oppa; what the hell?” Jaerin questions while pacing inside their supposed new home. She drags a finger over the surface and grimaces when she looks up to see the pad of her index finger coated with a fine layer of grime. She wipes her finger inconspicuously on the back of Ae Cha’s shirt once the girl passes by, and sniggers when the Spanish-bred Korean glares at her in response.

Tae Jun keeps smiling, now rocking on his heels back and forth by the doorway. Never a good sign, they’ve come to realize.

“Well, girls, fame and fortune is to be earned. We can’t give you all of everything on a silver platter you know.” He reminds them thoughtfully before walking over to Jaehwa, the oldest, who is eyeing the rooms suspiciously.

“Jaehwa, you’re the oldest so I’m putting you in charge.” He fishes out his wallet from his jeans and counts a few bills before handing her some money. Jaehwa frowns but accepts the money graciously. She counts the bills quickly and gawks once she realizes how little he is giving her when there are six of them.

“Do you expect us to survive on 100,000 won?” she scoffs, clearly displeased. Tae Jun, on the other hand, keeps smiling. He laughs a little at Jaehwa’s expression. Jaehwa in turn, crosses her arms and shakes her head, trying to keep her voice low as the others explore their new home. “Cleaning expenses alone would cut this in half. That doesn’t even cover re-designing this place to make it at least look inhabitable. And we do also have to eat, you know? Just because SM Entertainment put us on some ty diet does not mean that we do not eat.”

“Well you have to worry about all that by yourselves, honey.” Tae Jun’s smile is still in place and Jaehwa wishes nothing more than to smack it off. If only she could without worrying about the potentiality of debut, she would have done so ten times over. Tae Jun is handsome, definitely one of the most attractive men she has encountered yet, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t as annoying as hell. And right now, she is actually pretty pissed.

They hear screaming in one of the rooms, and hurry to the origin of the voice. Both bite back a laugh once they see Jieun, the so-called “fearless” maknae, clutching on to the quietest of their members, Nara, who looks equally shocked as they both stare at the corner of the room.

“There’s a rat.” Jieun comments while still staring at the same spot where said rodent disappeared a mere few minutes ago. Nara wiggles, uncomfortable of such close proximity with Jieun whom she had only met a few days ago upon the news of a new project group. Jieun quickly lets go and looks embarrassed for a brief moment before she glares heatedly at the only man present in the vicinity. “You can’t make us live with a rat. I’m calling my lawyer!”

Jaerin suddenly appears. Apparently, Jieun’s scream has attracted more attention than she has initially thought of. The rapper snorts and smirks, leaning against the doorway. “Well, didn’t you say you wanted a new pet, princess?” she teases and Tae Jun laughs alongside her. “Suits you just fine as well,” Jaerin adds under her breath, but thankfully only Tae Jun can hear her. Jieun mockingly laughs back before her eyes turn stony again, obviously displeased.

Jaehwa, who is already a veteran with the art of telling Jieun’s exploding point, steps in and ushers the maknae out of the room with mumbles of “don’t listen to them” and other comforting words.

Nara watches them in silence, too timid to interfere but too righteous to just let it go. She excuses herself quietly and squeezes in between the Jae Rin and Tae Jun. Once the girl is out of hearing range, wandering to another room, Tae Jun looks at Jae Rin with a displeased grimace.

“That wasn’t very nice.” He comments, crossing his arms over his chest. “Funny, yes, but not very nice, Jae Rin. You do know you need to learn how to get along with the other members, don’t you Jae Rin?” he scolds lightly, his smile becoming almost fatherly to the young girl. Jae Rin shrugs lightly and a brow at their supposed manager.

“Well, to be fair, she had it coming.” She quickly explains before leaving the older man under the doorframe, continuing her exploring. Tae Jun sighs and walks to the next room where he sees Ae Cha looking at every nook and cranny, as Nara watches from the corner. Such a weird pair, he thinks.

Ae Cha finally stops pacing around the room and walks over to the single bed. “This isn’t so bad.” She comments, and sits down suddenly. The dust from the bed suddenly emerges, making her cough and jump away from the bed as fast as she can. Ae Cha glances at Nara in disbelief. “Dios mio, did you see that? There was practically a mini explosion of dust!”

Ae Cha is exaggerating, if only to lighten the girl’s mood. She has noticed that Nara has been silent during their whole drive here, and even as they started to explore their new home. Of course, she also noted their only Chinese member stay as quiet, if not more, but Ae Cha cannot handle the more intimidating of the two, she admits. Perhaps Jae Rin could, the girl being as fearless as she is. For now though, she should focus on getting Nara to open up a little more. They are officially going to be in a group soon.

Nara senses her effort and nods, though still seems to be awkward. Ae Cha continues chatting animatedly as Tae Jun watches them from the doorway. He cracks a small smile at the sight of the two. At least he wouldn’t be worrying about the girls getting along as he has initially thought.

Jaehwa seems to get along best with everyone, except perhaps Jae Rin, but Tae Jun can tell Jae Rin will like the girl as well soon enough. Jaehwa just has that sort of charisma. Ae Cha and Jae Rin seem close, and so he has no problem about them feeling left out in the group. They’re both quite likeable in their own right anyway, and it seems that no matter how Jieun expresses her distaste on being forced to breath the same air as the two of them, she has enough respect for their talent to not question their presence in the group. The same goes for the 91-liners about Jieun. They may not like her attitude, but he has heard Ae Cha praise the girl’s vocals anyway. And Jaehwa, he notes, is always there to make sure that Jae Rin doesn’t bully the maknae. Nara does not seem to have much presence, but as far as Tae Jun can tell, the girls are trying hard to make her feel welcome.

He pushes away from the wall and walks around the dorm.

There really is only one problem, he notes. And now he can’t even find his sole dilemma.

Tae Jun sighs and steps into the small kitchen, surprised to find said sole dilemma inspecting the stove.

“Is this where you were all this time?” he asks walking over to the younger girl. He spots a bag full of kitchen tools placed neatly on the side, presumably Yuen’s, and a wet rag on top of the counter. Has she brought it here knowing there would be nothing in their new dorm? He frowns in confusion and watches her arrange utensils and sort other tools, noting that the surface is still slightly wet.

Yuen glances at him without much interest and nods without another word. Tae Jun’s lips form into a thin line, but as sudden as it had come, it had gone. He grins again and nods his head in acknowledgment. He turns to the refrigerator and opens the door, completely empty as expected, but it’s fairly cool inside, he notes. At least the electricity is working, he thinks, before closing the fridge and glances to the Chinese again.

“You know I won’t bite you or anything. I’m your manager now, it would be best that we – and the rest of the girls – stay on amiable terms.” He explains as he leans on the wall, watching her every move. Yuen doesn’t seem to be all too intimidated by his stare, Tae Jun notes. Either that or she just doesn’t care. Yuen nods, more or less just to tell him she can hear. “You can talk to me, you know.” She only nods again in response.

He feels his patience wearing thin with this one. It has been around three days already, but Tae Jun hasn’t even heard the girl speak. Ae Cha, who he knows had been in the same cluster as her previously, told him she herself hasn’t heard her say anything more than three words. She doesn’t seem to be an outsider, as Nara sticks close to her during practices, but he never catches anyone else approaching the girl.

At least Jieun, though not exactly liked, seems like she belongs in the group. And Nara seems to be adored by everyone despite her quiet nature. Yuen however…

Maybe it’s because she’s older than the others aside from Jaehwa. Then there is the fact that she is the only foreigner among them. Jieun might have been raised in England, and Ae Cha in Barcelona, however they are still Korean by blood. Tae Jun has handled f(x) once before, and has seen the original awkwardness between the members and Victoria Song and Amber Liu. But at least the two had each other, he grimaces at the thought. Perhaps it wasn’t Lee Soo Man’s best decision to put Yuen away from the Chinese trainees.

Tae Jun shakes his head and pushes away from the wall, wondering where Jaehwa and Jieun were, as he hasn’t seen them since Jaerin’s teasing.

“The stove is working.” He hears her say just as he is about to leave. Tae Jun looks over his shoulder and shines a bright smile her way, nodding her way, though she isn’t looking at him at all. It’s a start he thinks. Yuen has said four words this time, at least.

“Ugh, even the kitchen seems like hell.” Jieun suddenly walks past him, as if he isn’t even there, and looks around the kitchen. She spots Yuen rummaging through the cupboards and scoffs, sitting down on of the wooden chairs around the dining table. Jieun props her elbow on top of the table after checking if it is as layered with dust as the other furniture in the dorm flat, resting her chin on her open palm as she watches the older girl move around the room easily, as if she has lived here all her life.

“There isn’t anything in there, you know.” Jieun says as her eyes follow Yuen standing on her toes as she peers in the cupboards. Yuen nods in agreement and takes the rag from the counter top and starts wiping the inside. Jieun scoffs again and suddenly stands, dragging her chair with her as she walks over to Yuen.

“I know you’re tall and all, but you can’t see that clearly with your standing height – even if you’re standing on your toes.” Jieun explains coolly, and points to the chair. “Stand on the chair instead. You might not be able to see the inside too well if you don’t.”

Tae Jun exits the kitchen and leaves Yuen alone with Jieun after smiling a little bit to himself at the two. Jieun seems to at least be cold enough to not even be fazed by Yuen’s intimidating aura. He doesn’t hear Jieun’s voice chatting as animatedly as he heard her with Jaehwa during practices when the two would be left alone, but he at least is sure that the maknae is still with the Chinese.

Tae Jun walks into the living room where he sees Jaehwa scolding Jaerin who is sitting on the couch, which seems to be the only new thing in the whole dorm, and looks as bored as ever. And slightly irritated as well, it seems.

“…she’s just a kid, Jaerin. She wouldn’t know any better, and as her pseudo-older sisters we should do our best to guide her.”

Jaerin snorts and snaps back, “Who wants to be that girl’s older sister? Listen Jaehwa-ssi, you obviously don’t know her as well as you think. And it seems like you really don’t know how her like I do. Jieun was in my cluster back in 2008, and everyone agreed completely – even the ones who hung out with her – that she was the biggest brat that they’ve ever seen.”

“And that is exactly why we should try to change her. I know that she’s not the most likeable person, but it’s even worse now that she’s our maknae. I don’t want the other girls bullying her like you did back in one of the rooms.” Jaehwa snaps back, growing angrier with every word. She is about to say something else when Jaerin suddenly cuts her off.

“I don’t care about what your problem is with Jieun, Jaehwa-ssi, or any of that crap with your supposed ‘guilt’ on how she acts is your fault, but you better wake up. She has always had that attitude problem, and it doesn’t matter if you were the cause for everyone else to see it, everyone would still have found out eventually.” Jaerin replies coolly, crossing her arms over her chest as she stands. “Stop trying to be her hero, she doesn’t need one, Jaehwa-ssi. Jieun can fight her own battles.”

Tae Jun smiles lightly at Jaerin’s words. At least now he has proof that Jaerin does actually hold a lot of respect for the girl. He steps in just as Jaehwa is about to retort again, smiling brightly and acting as if he has only gotten there.

“Oh, so there you two are! I was wondering where the both of you went.” He says in a sing-song voice. The tension between them seems to have disappeared, and they are now both looking at him weirdly.

“You seem happy?” Jaehwa notes, a hand on her hip.

“Well, I just found out that the stove is working, and that the water runs perfectly well.” Tae Jun tells the two of them. Jaerin snorts and looks away. She is possibly muttering some sort of playful insult again that Jaehwa would disapprove of if she ever heard. He grins even brighter when he realizes Jaerin is trying to stop herself from teasing the others because Jaehwa might not like it.

“Tae Jun oppa, you’re seriously just like a choding. Getting excited over the littlest of things, choding oppa,” Jaerin suddenly says.

Or maybe it’s just his imagination. Whatever.

Tae Jun keeps his smile and shrugs in response. He turns towards Jaehwa and imitates her pose, a hand on his own hip.

“Well, that’s that. You girls will be living here for the time being, make the most of it, alright? The initial money is with you, and I’m leaving you in charge. There’s a convenience store near this building, so you can do some shopping there. You know the usual rules – no late night outs, you have to set a curfew for them, practice starts at 7, meeting up with idol friends – especially guys – is a big no right now, etcetera, etcetera.  I’m entrusting the schedule of the girls with you, it’s just the usual routine. Dance practice for two hours, individual vocal lessons after, and then general lessons – acting, more vocal practice, language, whatever it is, they know it already. And if there’s anything wrong, you have my number on your cellphone, right?”

Jaehwa nods with every word, uncomplaining though she frowns at the thought of not being able to hang out with some of her friends. Tae Jun smiles and pats the top of her head. He gives a pointed look towards Jaerin.

“Be good, you especially!”

Jaerin rolls her eyes, though smirking. “I know, I know.”

“Alright, well, I’ll be going now. I need to fix some things with Soo Man-ssi, so good luck.” He nods and gives the two one last smile before he walks to the door.

“Come on, girls; get your butts over here! We need to talk about a few things, dorm rules and such! ” He hears Jaehwa call out, and a shuffling of feet against the wooden floorboard.

Tae Jun suddenly stops, turns his head, grins and waves at them. “Oh, I forgot to say, good luck, girls. I’ll be back on Saturday. For the meantime, fix this place up will you?” he winks and quickly closes the door behind him again. He hears a chorus of groans from inside the dorm and smiles faintly. “Good luck, girls…” he mumbles, his words as sincere as possible. 

A/N: asdfghjkl. A little late to be last week's update. OTL But consider this as this and last week's update? :'D I have exams this week, so more or less, no update from me. LOL OTL really sorry.

But oooh. At least now we're moving along with the story line. *u*~ hope you guys enjoy. XD