"The result has already been out since the morning! Stop being such a chicken!"

It was a fine Monday afternoon when Amber literally dragged Min Ra through the school hallway. Min Ra had been avoiding the school bulletin board all day; she even took a detour when going to the canteen. To say she was scared of the possible result from the audition was an understatement. Min Ra was officially freaking out because she realized that she wasn't really doing her best that day. She made the decision on the last minute, for God sake! Of course it wouldn't be perfect. However, the thought of failing the audition haunted her badly.

When the two girls finally arrived in front of the school bulletin board, Min Ra felt her heart raced as her eyes searched for the result of the audition. The bulletin board was located in the intersection between classes, laboratoriums, and the canteen. The board itself was a huge black board with many announcements attached on it using colorful pins. Various news was posted on it, from academic to extracurricular activites. The Board was splitted to half, with the left half filled with clubs announcements, and the other half was about academic news.

Min Ra scanned the bulletin board nervously.

Newspaper club announcement... Cheerleader announcement...

Min Ra read the titles of the announcements mindlessly; she continued to search for the news she needed.

Judo club announcement... Basketball club announcement.. Computer club announcement... Theater club announcement...

Wait, Min Ra halted her reading. Min Ra applied to the computer club as well, so an announcement from it took her interest.

Computer Club Announcement

Result of Entrance Test (Ranked by Total Score)

1. Park Min Ra (875 points)

2. Kim Hyoon Joo (745 points)

3....

Min Ra smiled proudly as she saw the ranking. Her father was a well-known programmer, so he had taught her a lot about computer since she was a toddler. It also helped that she had developed the same passion with him. Min Ra was still reading the ranking when Amber grabbed her by , making her looked at a huge yellow-colored announcement placed in the upper left corner of the bulletin board.

The School Band Audition Result, the title said.

Min Ra heart skipped a beat when she read it.

The School Band Audition Result

The names listed below are accepted as trainees in the school band and required to report to the Club Room at Thursday (4.30 pm):

Kim Jong In: Guitar

Amber Liu: Drum

The name listed below is to have a callback at Thursday (4.00 pm):

Park Min Ra

Beside her, Amber was celebrating her acceptance as the apprentice drummer of the school band. Amber had wanted it really badly so she was elated after reading the news.

"A callback?" Min Ra read unthinkingly.

"That means they want you to re-audition for them." Amber explained briefly.

"I know what a callback means," Min Ra shook her head. "I just... forget it."

As much as she knew that she didn't do well at the audition, Min Ra couldn't help but feeling disappointed that she wasn't accepted as a trainee. She realized that she should be grateful at the second chance she was given, but another part of her already thought of the callback as a rejection. Another failure.

"At least they give you a callback, and no one else is listed on the callback list," Amber cheered her friend, "That means they think you're good enough for them, but they want to show them your best." Amber shook Min Ra's shoulders in a supportive manner.

"Maybe," Min Ra nodded in agreement, but her heart didn't.

Or maybe I'm just simply failing it.

When she was waiting for train in the train station, she met Chanyeol and Taeyeon. How convenience, she thought, as she saw the two sunbaes were approaching her. Members of the school band are the last people she wanted to see at the moment. However, she bowed respectfully and greeted them.

Chanyeol were grinning widely and waving at her excitedly, resembling his nickname, "The Happy Virus". Taeyeon, however, was looking unsure but was smiling nonetheless.

"It's nice to see you again." Chanyeol said after replying to Min Ra's greeting. Taeyeon nodded at his statement. An awkward silence blanketed them for a while.

"You were good, but we think you should've preppared more, I'm so sorry, " Taeyeon suddenly blurted  apologetically.

Min Ra froze and Chanyeol looked at Taeyeon disapprovingly; his eyebrows were raised.

"I thought we agreed on not talking about the callback if we meet her." He said at the short sunbae.

"But she looked so depressed! And I really like her, she is so cute, I want her in the band." Taeyeon pouted, her eyes were huge like those of a puppy. It was difficult to see that she was actually a sunbae of Min Ra and not an underclassman. Chanyeol sighed.

Min Ra was surprised; she didn't thought that she was that depressed about not being accepted in the band that it showed through her face.

"I think you're good," Taeyeon pulled Min Ra in a bear hug, "but apparently, someone think you didn't show your best."

Min Ra blushed at her sunbae compliment. She was pleased that the petite sunbae still thought that her performance was fine although she hadn’t had any practice before the audition.

Chanyeol shook his head and sighed. "For this once, I agree with Baekhyun. I also think you can do better than that. And we want to see it." Chanyeol said to Min Ra while shrugging his shoulders and grinning awkwardly. "I'm sorry," he added.

"You're always agreeing with him!" Taeyeon spat angrily at the tall guy.

"You will show up in the callback, right? I will be very sad if you don't." Tayeon looked at Min Ra, giving the said hoobae her best-shot of puppy eyes. Min Ra couldn't fight those eyes that she could only nod weakly.

"Yes!" Taeyeon hugged her closer; making it hard for Min Ra to breath.

"You're choking her!" Chanyeol warned her, his eyes went wider, if it was possible.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm just really excited." Taeyeon released her.

"It's okay, sunbaenim," Min Ra answered while rubbing her neck.

"Unnie. Just call me Unnie. We'll be spending a lot of time together anyway." Taeyeon, no, Taeyeon, patted Min Ra's shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Ne, Unnie." Min Ra tried it on her tongue, pink color rose on her cheeks.

"Aww, you're blushing~~ so cuteee~~~" Taeyeon pinched Min Ra's cheeks. The helpless Min Ra eyed Chanyeol for help, but he only sighed and smiled apologetically.

The train was as crammed as usual that Chanyeol set himself as a barrier separating the two midgets--Min Ra and Taeyeon--and the rest of the train. Min Ra spent most of the ride quietly, listening to the two sunbaes talking. Sometimes they will make her join the conversation by asking her view about the topics they were bantering about. The two sunbaes seemed to be very close that they could tease each other comfortably. "We are childhoood friends," Chanyeol explained when Min Ra voiced out her opinion. "Before his family moved out earlier this year, Baekhyun, Taeng, and I were living in the same neighbourhood. We had always gone to the same schools and our parents know each other well." He added.

"Are jealous, probably? Don't worry, he is not taken." Taeyeon teased Min Ra, her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were sparkling.

Min Ra shook her head hurriedly as color started to creep on her cheeks.

"It's too easy to make you blush. You're so cuuuteee~~" Taeyeon pinched her cheeks again.

The rest of the trip was filled with laughter and chuckles. Compared with her previous walk with Chanyeol, Min Ra felt more comfortable when Taeyeon was around. Although she was constantly pinching Min Ra's cheek now and then, the wavy haired unnie was a great conversationalist who could erase all the awkwardness Min Ra had. It seemed that Chanyeol realized it too, and being a competitive guy he was, he started to show off his closeness with Min Ra by blurting out the facts about her he learnt from the other day.

"Yeah, so you know her a bit better because you went home with her the other day," Taeyeon rolled her eyes," but I will definitely be closer to her than you could ever be." She grabbed Min Ra by the shoulder and did a merong pose, mocking Chanyeol.

"We'll see." Chanyeol said hastily. Min Ra giggled at the two sunbaes childish act.

She was sad when she had to bid them goodbye.

"This is my leave. It was really fun, thank you." Min Ra bowed courteously.

"Yes, see you again soon!" Chanyeol waved at her.

"We'll meet again in the club room on Thursday! Pick a good song to play!" Taeyeon shouted cheerily when Min Ra was already halfway on her way home. She turned back and nodded while waving at the two sunbaes.

After dinner, Min Ra flipped her old remaining partitures while sitting near the piano.

Should she come to the callback?

For all that she knew it might just end with another letdown; the band might not like her performance in the callback and decided to kick her out for good. However, she remembered Taeyeon and a smile formed at the edge of her lips. The cheerful sunbae—no, unnie—liked her not so perfect performance and supported her to come back for the callback. She was also reminded of Amber cheering her and promising to support her in the callback. A voice from a few days ago resounded on her head.

"Things like 'limits' are just excuses you made for yourself when you're just too lazy to work harder. If you really like it, you should fight for it, even when it means fighting your own thoughts and ego. Your biggest enemy is yourself, right?"

She inhaled deeply and put a partiture of her choice on the piano. She knew it would be different, since keyboard had automatic electronic music accompaniment while piano didn't, but she didn't have a keyboard so she had to practice with what she had.

"You're playing the piano again?"

Min Ra looked up and saw her mother watched her worriedly. Min Ra smiled.

"Yes, I decided to join the school band." Min Ra answered with assurance.

"A school band?” her brows knitted; her daughter had never been in a band before. However, she decided to ignore the fact and supported her. “Well, if you like it, then it's okay."

"But don't let it disturb your study. Your father will be angry if your grades drop." She added warningly.

Min Ra nodded knowingly. "Sure."

Her mother smiled and left her to practice.

When Thursday came, Min Ra was both nervous and excited. She had practiced "The Greatest Love of All" many times but adrenaline was still rushing massively through her veins. Amber was accompanying her to the club room to support her, she held Min Ra's hand tightly. Min Ra hands was cold as a result of her nervousness and the chilling weather caused by the heavy rain.

"It will be alright." She whispered to Min Ra as they knocked on the club room door.

Min Ra knocked at the door twice before Taeyeon opened it.

"Come in!" she called joyfully, letting Min Ra and Amber into the club room. The room was quite small, with honey colored sofas was set around a keyboard. At the side of the room stood a glass cupboard containing some trophies and certificates. Sitting on the sofas were Kris, Suho, Seohyun, and Chanyeol. Baekhyun, as usual, was missing from the group. 

Min Ra and Amber bowed and greeted the sunbaes. They waved and nodded back at them.

"Welcome to our humble room!" Taeyeon welcomed the girls. "Oh, and in case you're wondering, our practice room is back there," she pointed at two doors behind the couches,"it's soundproofed. This is only where we usually hang around." She gestured at the room they're all in. The pair of new students nodded at the explanation.

"Oh, we all have met in the audition, but it will be best if we re-introduce ourselves, so, my name is Taeyeon, I'm the guitarist, and this is Kris-oppa, the drummer. Suho-oppa, the leader and also a guitarist. The pretty lady is Seohyun-unnie, our beloved keyboardist, and that idiotic looking guy is Chanyeol, the bassist." When their name was called by Taeyeon, the sunbaes waved at Min Ra and Amber. Chanyeol protested as he was called an idiot but Taeyeon shrugged his complaint off.

Min Ra and Amber then proceeded to introduce themselves, earning appreciative applauses from the sunbaes.

"Ah, and our vocalist Baekhyun is still out practicing Judo because the championship is coming up soon. We'll wait for him though, since he was the one who requested for your callback." The pretty unnie added annoyedly.

"We have specially prepared this for you." Taeyeon the keyboard and asked Min Ra to come closer to her. "Amber-ssi, you can sit here." Chanyeol gestured at the seat next to him. Amber nodded and scooted toward him.

"Joonmyun, it seems that Taeng is already well-prepared to take over your place." Kris commented out of blue.

Taeyeon blushed and denied zealously, "No, no, no, it's not like that Oppa..."

"It's more like a coup d'etat, Kris. I don't even get to say anything to our new members." Suho grinned while teasing her.

Taeyeon's hands flew everywhere as she kept refusing desperately.

"Aaah~~ we've just started the new semester and it's already like this~~" Seohyun added lightheartedly, a smile was on her angelic face.

"Unnie!" Taeyeon nagged, her cheeks were as scarlet as her hairband.

"Suho-hyung, anyone but her, please. She'll be a tyrant, a tyrant! I feel bad for the new members, then." Chanyeol-sunbaenim added.

The group broke into laughter as Taeyeon beat her friend with a murderous intention.

After a few minutes or so, the door flew open, revealling a messy Baekhyun in his Judo attire. His hair and uniform was soaked in what seemed to be a combination of sweat and rain. It was raining cats and dogs outside the club room.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He said, out of breath. It seemed that he was running all the way to the club room. He glanced briefly at Min Ra before slumping on the couch next to Amber. He closed his eyes and leaned to the front, managing his rough breathing.  "Wait." He added.

"Take your time, Baekhyun." Suho spoke, "but not too long."

Baekhyun nodded. His breathing has evened a bit. After a while, he straightened up his back. "I'm good."

Suho cleared his throat. "Park Min Ra-ssi, let's start this callback."

Min Ra gulped.

This is it.

"Please play a song of your choice."

Min Ra took a deep breath and started hitting the keys. The sparks and excitements from before returned as her finger glided through the keys. Min Ra impressed her audience with her smooth play. Her fingers moved fluidly from a key to another; the pressure they gave to the keys was in the perfect amount. Her practice really paid off. When she ended the song with broken chords, Amber and all the sunbaes applauded her.

"Really nice. I like it." Suho commented. "Okay. Min Ra-ssi, I don’t think you need to take another reading test because we all knew from the audition that you can read well; today’s performance had assured me that you have a decent skill needed to be the keyboardist for our band. You still need a lot of studying and practicing, of course, but I think our Seohyun here will be able to help you polish your ability well.” He explained to her.

Min Ra could felt happiness burst in her chest that a smile almost escaped from her thin lips.

“However, I’d also like to listen to what the others want to say about this. Baekhyun, do we let her in?" He asked the brown haired sunbae who had been watching her performance intensely.

Baekhyun stared at Min Ra; she couldn't decipher what was the emotion his eyes gave.

"Quite impressive. Yes, let her." He finally answered.

"Taeng?"

"I already said that I want her in the band since the audition. So, of course!" Taeyeon said elatedly.

"Chanyeol?"

"That was awesome," Chanyeol grinned his creepy smile and gave two thumbs up, "welcome to the team."

"Seo?"

The called sunbae nodded her pretty head, a gentle smile was on her lips.

"Kris?"

"Sure."

Suho looked around one more time and nodded.

"Okay then. Congratulatulation, Min Ra-ssi, we all accept you as our trainee. Please continue to do your best."

Min Ra bowed eagerly; a wide smile made it way to her face, a surge of unexplainable glee filled her heart. It had been a long time since she last felt so contended like this.

"Thank you. Please guide me well."

And with that, Min Ra's days as a part of the school band were started.

TBC

AN: I've revised this chapter as well ^^

The general idea is still the same, but I'm adding some more words here and there ^^