"This is getting out of hand. I will not afford to have you girls bickering like this! I had so much faith in you; just because your fellow family members are caught up in business like this, does it mean you can lose focus of the task at hand? You have a concert tomorrow and you're concerning yourself over Seung-hyun?" Hyun Suk glanced at the seven bowing head before him, eyeing them particularly with a penetrating gaze. "I expected so much more from you; how could you possibly fight with each other during times like these?"
"We apologize, sir," Anna replied frankly. She lowered her gaze respectfully as the head boss shifted his gaze to her. She bowed deeper and glanced back up with an apologetic expression cascading past her picturesque visage. "It won't happen again."
Hyun Suk nodded. "It better not, you understand? I don't care what it takes; you can fight or you can make up. I just want you all to be focused tomorrow on M!Countdown. Take the day off or practice, I don't care. Just don't give yourselves a bad name. You make sure you don't get called back in here, understand? I'm busy, trying to come up with a press conference in regards to Seung-hyun.. so get out."

"Good going," Hannie grumbled, scratching her stomach. "Yall first get into a fight with one another, and now you get Abeoji mad at us."
"It's not like you did much to stop us from fighting either," Kisa snorted, rolling her eyes promiscuously. "All you did was lock yourself up in your room and coop yourself in there to avoid the problem."
"Better than hiding from the problem than being the cause of it," the youngest retorted defiantly. "What?" Hannie challenged Kisa's glare with her own look of rebellious defiance. "Think I'm scared of you?"
Anna scoffed. "Break it up, you two."
"Aish!" Haebyeol scratched her head, glaring at the six collective subordinates walking ahead of her. "Seriously, we couldn't have just been some cutesy group with little schoolgirl fans like SNSD? Why do you guys have to be so badass and rebellious? Can't you just tolerate things for once and keep your arguments to yourself?"

Kyo Jin pouted, nodding slightly. "Choding is right (she ignored Haebyeol's glare humorously). You guys, we're better than this, aren't we?"
"Better my ," Ava growled, glaring at Kisa. "If this one had just kept shut, maybe Vivien wouldn't be so upset."
"And what does Viv being upset have to do with you?" Kisa snapped.
"You mess with one, you mess with all!" Ava contrasted heavily. "Don't you abide by that? You seriously consider yourself a part of our team, when you can't even consider another member's feelings?"
"You both need to stop!" Anna pulled them apart, settling herself in between the bickering couple. "If this continues, I will take both of you out of the show."
"Stop playing leader," Kisa grunted angrily. "It ain't cute."

Kisa shared one last look with the six before storming off. They watched her, silently fuming to themselves with the incredulity pented up in their systems. "Can you believe her?" Kyo Jin sighed.
"Give her time," Anna mumbled dolefully. "She's probably just as upset as we are -- we all know how stubborn she is. Let's just give it a rest. The rest of the day is up to you guys. Do what you want, but don't forget curfew. Araseo?"

The girls nodded briefly. Haebyeol whipped out her phone, and began to walk into the opposite direction. "I'll see you guys later. Eat dinner without me; I'll go with Lu Han and Sunny tonight."
Hannie waved, before shoving her hands into her pockets. "What are you guys doing?"
"Probably going to spend the day practicing," Vivien muttered in a meek voice. Anna shared a sympathetic glimpse at Vivien before huffing. "I'll go practice with you, then," she offered, linking her arms with Vivien. "Be back by ten if you decide to go out, alright?"

Hannie, Kyo Jin, and Ava nodded, watching Anna skip away with the sullen Vivien. "Poor Viv," Kyo Jin murmured pitifully.
"And... there were three," Hannie whistled. The youngest tossled her hair lazily before glancing at her two elders with a bored pair of curious eyes. Kyo Jin blinked naively at her younger before voicing, "What do you wanna do?"
"Let's go have lunch," Ava announced. "It's a nice day for coffee."

Hannie grunted. "Ew, caffeine."
"We'll get you a jug of chocolate milk," Kyo Jin joked humorously. "Let's just go out to the shopping centre and see if we can find anything.. we've got the whole day anyways."
Ava nodded. "And it's not like we've got dates."
Hannie groaned, burying her face into her hands as she folloewd her elders down the long corridor to the entrance. "Can you not remind me?!"
"I thought you have Kevin-oppa," Kyo Jin remarked questionably.
"Stupid cute jerk hasn't called since who knows when."

Ava patted Hannie's back sympathetically. "It's okay, maknae," she chuckled huskily. "There's plenty of other boy-idols out there waiting for ya."

Kisa grumbled relentlessly, tossing the basketball repeatedly into the hoop. Her sweat poured down from her pores, traveling down her moistened form. The people in the gym glanced at her curiously, pointing and whispering, but the young idol paid no mind to them, for she was too engrossed in her individual game of tossing the ball into the hoop. After several successes in making it in, Kisa began to deteriorate, missing the hoop gradually more and more often as she grew more and more fatigued.

"Stupid ball!" she cursed, causing her audience to jump from the sudden outburst. She huffed, ruffling her hands through her long hair. "Stupid hoop." She kicked the ball away from her and slumped her numb frame onto the glossy hardwood floors of the basketball courts. "Stupid girl."

Whispers around her erupted from several mouths.
"Did ELiTE fight?"
"Why does Kisa-noona look so upset?"
"Did something happen with YG?"
"It's probably dealing with Seungri-oppa's scandal!"

Hearing the last bit, Kisa's ears perked up and she sat up furiously, glancing around at the gathering crowd that began to curiously surround her. They eyed her carefully, meticulously examining her actions. Round and round, Kisa stared boredly at the pedestrians and fans; she watched them as they gripped tightly onto their workout materials and towels as she made eye contact with particular individuals. "Do you know anything to be accusing of someone of such a thing?" she voiced finally; her loud voice echoed, bouncing off the walls of the large gym with a reverberating clarity. "To assume something just by looking at me, do you know me well enough to do so?"

Silence.

"Foolish people; seeing idols and getting all flustered. We're human, too." She growled, pushing her way past the large mass of people. The basketball she was playing with earlier, hit her back as she walked past a group of schoolgirls. Kisa scoffed under her breath, her lips slowly before whipping around, an apparent glare pertruding from her dark, feline-like eyes. She rose a brow at the perpetrator, her heart thumping -- half from shock; half from adulation.

He bounced the orange ball around his well-built body, and through his legs, smirking at her cockily. "I hope I didn't hit you too hard," he stated loudly. "But if you don't mind... I'd like to play a decent game of basketball who'd actually focus on the game, and not my body.. do you mind?"
"And who are you to just assume that I wouldn't check out your body?" Kisa asserted humorously.
"I'm Yong Junhyung," he returned, a teasing tone slipping into the bass of his timbre. "And you're Jung Kisa -- I'm sure you have more dignity than that... so how about a game, ah? Loser pays for dinner."
"I'm not going to go easy," Kisa announced.
"I never said I was going to let you. And it's not like I'm going to let you go easy, either -- I'll be a tough match for ya."

Kisa smirked confidently, returning to her spot on the courts. With one brief flick of her wrist, the ball was in her possession. "We'll see 'bout that."

"What are we doing with our lives?"

Ava and Kyo Jin looked over to their maknae, who had leaned back lazily into her chair. "You don't like spending time with us or something?" Ava scoffed, heavily insulted.
Hannie shook her head, "It's not like that." Hannie lifted her arm, swiping it over into the general area to their left. "Look, we've got people staring at us like we're meat or something. If we wear disguises -- which is usually an oversized scarf with sunglasses -- we get stared down and followed; and without disguises, we're still stared down and followed. These people are so delusional. Just because we sing and dance on stage for a living, it doesn't mean we're gods or anything. I don't get why they have to be so delusional and involve themselves into our lives like this -- and if not, they try to dig up our personal life and make it ten times worse than it's supposed to be, compared to how it would be with a regular citizen."
"What are you trying to say?" Kyo Jin inquired worriedly.
"Is it really worth it?" Hannie catechized impatiently. "I know I love to rap and dance and all that; I enjoy the idol life, and love to hear the fans calling my name whenever it's my turn to perform, but.. is it worth it?"

"I can't date. I can't go out without being followed. I can't do anything with my life like how I used to be able to because I've got hawk eyes on me 24/7." Hannie scoffed at her own words as she realized her own words. Her voice was small, but firm; though, it did sound as if she were trying to convince herself something more than trying to convey her message to her elders. "What are we doing? This is ridiculous."
"Why all of a sudden?" Ava questioned.
"With Seungri-hyung, then Haebyeol unnie; and now our conflict with one another -- drama is ten times worse in the industry. If I were with my school friends right now and having this problem, everything would blow away after five minutes and we'd be kicking back again. But what about now? It's going to take Kisa forever to forgive whatever it is she needs to forgive about us; Vivien's not going to just forget Kisa's words; Anna's going to continue to suffer because of how stupid we are -- but what are we doing? Not communicating, but splitting up into sub-groups to gossip about each other... girls are pathetic. Why else do you think girl groups hardly last? Look at T-ara. Look at 5Dolls."

Ava and Kyo Jin pursed their lips with thought, evaluating Hannie's wisdom -- the rarity of her seriousness made it even more critical than how it normally would've been. "So you want to give up on ELiTE?" Kyo Jin whispered, picking at her sandwich.
"It's not like that," Hannie objected obscurely. "I'm just saying... if we can't even commit to each other, how are we going to deal with our future?"

Good point, Hannie.

"You make the best of it as much as you can."

The three females looked up with astonishment; they glanced up to find the owner of the low voice, returning awkwardly the gummy smile he flashed at them. "Sorry if I'm intruding, but I saw a large crowd and wanted to see who they were hovering over this time... it seems this place is a common hangout spot for idols, huh?"
Ava blinked curiously. "Omo... Zinger's Party Guy," she addressed awkwardly. "Annyeong."

Yongguk grinned to himself, nodding as he properly greeted the three, seating himself across from Ava and Hannie, and beside Kyo Jin. "I hope you don't mind me joining; the boys ran off somewhere, and they just texted me they'll meet me back here in about an hour.. it's a nice day for coffee, so I think I'll just join you guys."
Hannie nodded in approval, silently as Ava and Kyo Jin muttered small approvals of agreeement. "Zinger's Party Girl -- my name is Yongguk.. so don't forget; hasn't anyone taught you to address people politely and accurately?"
"I could say that same for you," Ava retorted with a small smile. "I'm Min Hara.. but you can call me Ava."

Yongguk nodded, flashing her a handsome smile. "Min 'Ava' Hara -- Main rap and sub dance of new rookie YG girl group ELiTE.. I know, I'm a fan."
Ava blinked with surprise a couple of times, before she could feel a prideful smile twitching at the corner of her pink lips. "Well.. glad to meet you, Bang Yongguk, leader, main rapper, and songwriter of BAP.. I'm a fan as well, of both ELiTE and BAP."

Hannie and Kyo Jin shared a look, mentally whistling to themselves as the remainder of the group busied themselves in engrossed conversation. Hannie formed a small O with her lips as she heard Ava laugh beside her, totally excluding Kyo Jin and Hannie herself from conversation with Yongguk. Hannie nodded to the door, slipping away with Kyo Jin. The two scoffed, sharing one last look at Ava before exiting the cafe to shop at the boutique across the street.

Ava didn't even notice them leave.

"It's not good to fight with your members," Lu Han scolded.
Haebyeol rolled her eyes as Lu Han, Sunny, and Hyoyeon chided her with their glares. "Whatever," Haebyeol muttered, taking a sip of her hot coffee. "It'll pass; it always does -- we're that close."
Hyoyeon scoffed. "I said that, too, when Taeyeon and Sooyoung got into a fight."
Sunny nodded. "And they're still hostile toward one another!"
Lu Han blinked. "Well, I have nothing to say.." His voice trailed off into a guilty whisper before he beamed at the three girls around him. "I don't fight with my members, so --"
"Shut up." Sunny flicked her younger with her slender fingers across his forehead before smiling at the other two females gathered around the small table.

"It's fine, really," Haebyeol assured them with a gentle smile. "We're a strong group -- I trust them enough to let this go."
Her companions nodded slowly.

"Oh, that's right!" Hyoyeon clapped her hands suddenly. "Suzy is having a small get-together this weekend at her place; she asked us to invite you. Lately, your phone's been off, but we assumed it was practice, so we just told her not to worry and told her that we'd invite you."
Haebyeol nodded with a nonchalant expression. "Okay.. who's going to be there?"

"Us," Lu Han replied hastily.
"And.." Sunny bit her lip.
"And?" Haebyeol urged.

"KARA's Goo Hara is going," Hyoyeon whispered, grimacing as Haebyeol's expression fell.

Haebyeol scoffed at the name, averting her gaze elsewhere for a brief second before locking them with Hyoyeon's frightful optics. "Excuse me?"

"If you see Kisa," Anna replied, "don't take it out on here, okay?"

Vivien nodded, smiling solemnly before draping a dry towel around her sweaty neck. "I know.. it's just --"
"It's okay," Anna interjected with a warm pat on the back. "I don't need excuses. We all have reasons. Just... let's stick together, okay? We're still a rookie group and we've still got lots of years ahead of us as a group. So let's not be weak at the start, okay?"

Vivien nodded enthusiastically. "Ne, unnie."
They bumped their fists playfully together, before exiting the practice room. They halted, though, after bumping in unison into a lone figure. He didn't budge, even after Anna and Vivien both stumbling back a few steps after their impact against his broad chest. Vivien was the first to recover, glancing up at the mysterious stranger that was waiting outside their practice room.

"Omo."
"Hey," he greeted breathlessly. He looked down at Vivien, particularly, after sharing an apologetic glimpse with Anna. "I came back as fast as I could.. I just felt like I had a lot of explaining to do with you for some reason, and I... yeah."
Vivien nodded, dismissing Anna politely before walking into the opposite direction, with him hot on her trail. "Vivien, it's really --"

Vivien turned cold, freezing as she heard him address her by her real name -- never, ever once has this happened. Not even when they first met; he had simply called her Princess and it just stuck; and not once since their several years of knowing each other, had they ever seriously referred to one another by their respective names. She would always be his Princess, and him her Panda-oppa.

She turned to look at him seriously, her lips slowly as her mind raced. The guilt dancing across his sculpted features struck a despearte nervousness into her system, and she soon felt herself blanking out as she continued to meet his eyes.

"Did you.. really sleep with that woman?"