December 20, 2011

"We're really moving..." Angela sighed as she glanced around the team's practice room where she had spent most of her trainee days in. She was known to be sentimental, and she already had an attachment to the practice room. The team's debut had been confirmed a week ago, and they were going to have a meeting to discuss their debut and group details that afternoon, after which they would move to a new practice room which was assigned to them.

"Maknae, get the broom and sweep the place before we leave," Jaemi told Lee Xian. Jaemi had warmed up bit by bit to the newcomers, and although she still wasn't very close to them, she had become reasonably nicer.

Lee Xian grabbed the broom, and without questioning, immediately started sweeping the floor. She had accustomed herself to the role of the team's maknae quite quickly, always offering to the house chores or things the older members were reluctant to do.

"Unnies, I'm done~" Lee Xian said as she threw the dirt into the dustbin. It hadn't been long since they were together as a team, but Lee Xian has started calling the other girls 'unnies' and none of them seemed to mind.

"Should we leave now? We might be late if we don't," their minders stood at the side of the room, one of them looking at his watch and the other tapping his foot impatiently with his arms crossed.

The members nodded as they picked their bags up, one by one filing out of the room. Angela looked into the room until the very last moment when their minder closed the door and locked it.

"You girls know where to go, right? We need to clear up some admin matters in the office first, so we'll meet you at the meeting room," one of their minders said.

"Okay," the girls said, and the two minders jogged off.

"I can't believe we're really going to debut!" Myunhong squealed in delight, jumping up and down as soon as the two adults were out of sight. The other girls just laughed as they started to make their way towards the stairs with Soojin leading them and Jaemi and Haera behind. Although there were lifts in the building, the seven girls had made it a habit to take the stairs as a form of exercise and body conditioning.

The group was near the stairwell when they suddenly heard a hoarse voice screaming, and all seven of them stopped outside the practice room the voice seemed to be coming from.

"Is he rapping....?" Angela asked in confusion, making a face as though she was wondering why he was still screaming away with that hoarse voice of his. The voice stopped for a while before starting again. Jaemi, being the rapper of the group, almost broke into a fit of giggles but quickly controlled herself.

"He may be a senior with a sore throat," she said, fumbling into her bag and taking out a packet of Strepsils. "Should we offer him this...?" She asked as she held the packet up. The other girls shrugged.

"Why is he still screaming at the top of his lungs if he's having a sore throat?" Angela mumbled.

Soojin looked at her watch. "Go ahead if you want to, Jae, since you're the longest trainee here and you've probably seen him around before.... but we're running late so we'll meet for you downstairs, okay?"

Jaemi contemplated for a moment, and being the kind of girl who cared for her peers, she decided to offer her fellow trainee the Strepsils.

"I'll catch up with you," she said, as she knocked on the door of the practice room.

Kai held the sheet of lyrics in his left hand and touched his neck with his right. His throat was starting to get a little painful, but he knew he had to perfect this by the end of the day for the performance less than two weeks away. Making a face, he walked towards the water dispenser in the practice room and got a cup of water for himself, still processing the lyrics in his head. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Thinking that it was one of his managers, he immediately said, "come in," just to be reminded of his painful throat again.

The door creaked open, and a young girl poked her head around the door frame. "Annyeonghasaeyo," the girl said. She was wearing a peach-coloured sweater with sweatpants and high cut sneakers. Kai peered curiously at her.

"Oh, aren't you Jong In-sshi?" The girl asked as soon as she saw him. Kai cocked his head to the right in confusion. Who was this girl and how did she know his name?

"I was wondering if you needed this." The girl stepped into the practice room, holding her hand out like she was offering Kai something. Kai stepped forward and looked at what was in her hand. Strepsils?

With a confused look, Kai tentatively took the packet from the girl, not quite understanding what it was for. "Thanks?"

Just then, the girl started looking confused too.

"Don't you have a sore throat?" She asked, and Kai widened his eyes. Seeing that he was confused, the girl added, "I mean, your voice sounds very hoarse from all that screaming."

Kai burst out laughing. So that was what she was referring to! The girl just stood there, staring at Kai, not understanding on why he was laughing. Kai calmed himself down and tried to explain.

"That was a practice for my performance next week," he said, still laughing. "it strained my vocals a little, but i don't have a sore throat."

"Oh," the girl said, looking down as she started to blush heavily. "I'm so sorry for that assumption."

Kai chuckled. "It's okay, I'll be sure to use this a lot, thanks," he said with a smile. "By the way, what's your name? I haven't seen you around yet you know who I am...."

"Oh, I'm Ahn Jaemi, nice to meet you," she said, bowing. "You're about to debut, aren't you? In the group called Exo?"

Kai nodded. "You bowed once already, there's no need to bow anymore," he said, smiling even wider when he saw Jaemi starting to blush more. "You can call me Kai, by the way. That's my stage name." Jaemi nodded.

"I'll go now then," Jaemi said, bowing once again as she said goodbye. Kai nodded, waving her off. Jaemi ran out of the room, and Kai clutched the packet of Strepsils in his hand, going back to his practice.

That girl was interesting.

Jaemi ran down the stairs, feeling her face heat up. She had recognized Kai because he was her trainee junior, yet she knew Kai was older. Jaemi always felt awkward in those cases, so she was actually quite glad that Kai would be debuting before them because that way, he would be her senior.

She spotted her team walking a few metres in front of her, and she quickly ran up to them, stopping them right outside the door of the meeting room.

"What took you so long?" Soojin asked.

"It was so embarrassing, don't ask," she said, only panting a little because of her good stamina.

The girls giggled while Ji Eun carefully knocked on the door and opened it. They saw some company officials already seated around the meeting table, and the girls gulped.

"Annyeonghasaeyo~" They greeted politely with their 90-degree bows. The company officials acknowledged them and beckoned them into the room.

While the girls were deciding on where to sit, one of the officials were confirming their identities.

"Song Soojin, Shin Ji Eun, Ahn Jaemi, Choi Haera, Choi Myunhong, Park Angela and Siow Lee Xian?" The seven girls nodded. Minutes later, the team's minders came into the room, accompanied by the company's president himself, Lee Soo Man.

"Annyeonghasaeyo~" The girls immediately jumped up and greeted them with their 90-degree bows again. Mr Lee greeted them with a grandfatherly smile and gestured for them to sit down.

"So these are our newest trainees who will debut, congratulations," Mr Lee said as he sat at the head of the table. Sitting down, the girls still bowed slightly as a form of thanks.

"So, we'll discuss your group details today?" He said, looking through a stack of papers, and the girls looked at him intently, no doubt nervous yet excited as well.

"Your group will be called Ayise," Mr Lee announced. "Spelt A-y-i-s-e in English, and pronounced as 'Ah-yise'. When ice receives warmth, it will melt into water, and you too, when you receive warmth and love form your fans, should be as versatile as water." The seven girls smiled and nodded, contented with their group name and the explanation behind it. "Your fanclub name will be decided at a later date," Mr Lee continued. "Mr Shim, Mr Kang and Miss Song will be your official managers," he said, gesturing to the three adult sitting directly opposite the girls. They smiled as a form of greeting, and the girls bowed again. "Now, Mr Kang will give you your officials postions in the group and for those of who applied for stage names, your official stage names." Mr Lee stood up from his seat and Mr Kang took over.

"Song Soojin," Mr Kang called out, and Soojin said a soft 'neh' as acknowledgement. "Stage name Aimi, which means beautiful love in Japanese, since you're half Japanese. Lead vocalist and lead dancer." Soojin nodded, while Angela quietly clapped her hands.

"Shin Ji Eun," their new manager continued, "stage name Ji Eun since you didn't apply for one, and you'll be the group's main vocalist and sub dancer. Ahn Jaemi, stage name Jae, main rapper, sub vocalist and sub dancer. Choi Haera, stage name Haeli, lead vocalist and sub dancer. Choi Myunhong," he said, continuing to look through the stack of papers he was holding," Choi Myunhong, stage name Moon. Visual, lead dancer, lead vocalist."

The other six girls turned to Myunhong, and the latter just smiled and blushed. She knew that she was going to be her group's face and representative from then on.

Mr Kang cleared his throat before continuing, "Park Angela, stage name Angelle. Lead dancer, lead rapper and sub vocalist. Or triple threat, as the netizens would call it," he said, smiling at Angela. "Siow Lee Xian, stage name Hope, main dancer and sub vocalist." With that, he put the papers in his hands down and looked at the girls. "Those of you unhappy with your stage names can ask for a change, but other than that, I- we," he quickly corrected himself, "hope to see you getting used to your stage names, so try to call one another or introduce yourself using them."

The girls nodded in understanding, and Mr Kang whispered something to the other manager next to him, looking like he was asking if there was anything else needed to be discussed.

"Ah yes, your leader," Mr Kang said. "Who do you want to be your leader? It will be either-" he looked down at his papers again, still not sure about the girls' stage names. "Either Aimi or Ji Eun, since they're the eldest in the team."

"Sooj- I mean Aimi unnie," Jaemi immediately said, and the other girls just nodded.

"Yeah, she's very motherly, so i think she'd make a better one than I will," Ji Eun said, smiling.

"Okay, so Song Soojin Aimi will be the leader of the group," the manager confirmed, looking at Mr Lee. Mr Lee nodded and stood up.

"Work hard, and congratulations once again," he said with his grandfatherly smile once again before leaving the room with the other company officials present.

"Kamsahamnida!" This time, the girls stood up to bow once again. Their sight then landed on their minders when they were trainees. All of a sudden, the girls found themselves quite attached to them, not sure if they really wanted to be transferred to other managers.

The two minders gave them smiles and thumbs up, proud that they were finally going to debut as a group.

"Well, it's been nice taking care of you girls, even if you were mischievous at times," one of them laughed. "Be good to your new managers while we take care of other trainees, alright? And take care of yourselves. Most importantly, work hard! We'll see you around," the two of them smiled, waving bye to the girls as they exited the room. All seven girls took the chance to give 90-degree bows to their minders for the last time, saying "kamsahamnida!" in the voice they always thanked them in, before waving to them until the door was closed fully. After that, they turned to their three new managers.

"Don't worry, we're strict, but we don't bite," Miss Song said, smiling and allowing an eye smile to surface. "Should we move to your new dorm now?" She asked, and the seven girls all nodded eagerly.

Their new life was starting.

Having cleaned up and tidied own dorms after their minders had announced the their debut, the seven girls didn't take very long to grab their things from their old dorms before moving. They had packed most of their belongings already, and only had to pack their daily neccessities such as their toothbrushes, tooth paste, bath towels and alarm clocks.

Because they were all staying in different rooms with some of the other trainees, they each separated to their own rooms.

"Jae, I thought I told you to pack the snacks from the mini fridge yesterday," Aimi said, while in the room she shared with Jae.

Jae was frantically throwing her clothes into her suitcase. "Omo, I'm so sorry I forgot!"

Aimi shook her head, giggling. "It's fine, hurry pack your stuff."

In the next room, Haeri had all her belongings already packed, and she gave her roommate a last hug before leaving. Ji Eun and Hope also quickly got their belongings packed, and the five girls met at the Level 1 lobby.

"Where's Angelle and Moon?" Miss Song asked. Moments later, Angelle and Moon bounced out of the lift.

"Sorry," Angelle said, gasping. "I realised that i still had a lot unpacked, and Moon unnie had to help me."

Miss Song chuckled. "Your new dorm building, or the dorm building for idols, is of walking distance, but because you have all these baggage, we'll go by car."

Miss Song had two mini vans prepared, drove by Mr Kang and Mr Shim, because all seven luggages wouldn't fit into just one car. The girls separated into the two groups they went down by earlier, and Miss Song went with the first group.

"Do you think we'll be in the same building with the boys?" Moon asked Haeli as the two of them entered the black van, shuddering.

Miss Song seemed to overhear her. "Don't be crazy. Of course the male idols would be in another building," she said, as Mr Kang started driving. "Now, just because we stopped with the dating ban, I don't want you going around meeting guys and entering a relationship too quickly," she warned. "After all, your debut era will be the toughest one of your career."

"Neh~" The three girls at the back replied obediently.

In the other car, the girls were all in awe of the van.

"Wow, now that we're sitting in a black van with tinted windows, I feel like a real star," Angelle breathed, looking out of the window.

"Yeah, I always see idols ride in this type of van," Ji Eun agreed, also looking around.

"In that case, make sure that you guys work very hard then," Mr Shim said with a smile, amused by the way the girls were reacting about the van.

Both vans soon pulled up in front of the dorm building, which Ayise would stay in. The girls excitedly hopped out of the vans and pulled their luggages out, personally wheeling them up instead of getting their managers to.

They stood in front of the door next to the lift on the fifth floor, murmuring excitedly among themselves as Miss Song punched in the password for their lock. Once the door was unlocked, Miss Song held it open for the girls to enter.

"Woah~" All seven girls exclaimed as soon as they caught sight of their new dorm. Because it was an apartment with four rooms, it was much bigger than their previous dorm rooms. It was also beautifully decorated, with paper snowflakes all over the place.

"Wah, did the sunbaes do this for us?" Moon asked when she looked at the nearest snowflake closely. "This one says, "Ayise, work hard!"." Upon hearing that, the other girls also rushed to the snowflakes, seeing who they were from. "Oh, there's one from Luna unnie!" Moon exclaimed again.

"Omo, there's one from Taemin!!" Hope exclaimed, suddenly jumping around. She looked around excitedly. "Can I keep this??" Her members chuckled as they mumbled 'go ahead's.

"There are some from Exo too....... You know the group who will debut before us?" Jae murmured, thinking about that afternoon's incident again.

"Oh, there's one from Changmin Oppa too! And another from Leeteuk Oppa!" Angelle said, plucking two paper snowflakes from the dining table. Their three managers stood by the door, smiling as they watched the girls go excited over their seniors' encouragement notes.

"Gel, there's one from Minho Sunbae," Haeli said, holding on to a paper snowflake. "Catch!" She said, as she attempted to throw the paper snowflake from one end of the living room to the kitchen.

"Haeli........." Ji Eun trailed off, shaking her head, "you know that's not going to work...." Haeli gave her a sheepish smile.

Angelle ran forward to pick the paper snowflake up. "Oh yeah, I should text Minho Oppa to tell him we moved in," she said thoughtfully as she whipped her phone out. Hope squatted down next to her.

"You know Minho? You even sound like you're quite close to him."

"Duh, he's my cousin," Angelle said as a -matter-of-factly. "Everyone here knows that."

"Everyone except us!" Ji Eun said.

"I thought you knew!" Angelle exclaimed. "Rumours or gossip go around here very quickly..."

"If we did, we won't be so surprised now, would we, Unnie? Wah, I never knew that he had a cousin in Singapore...." Hope replied with a thoughtful look. "Oh, does that mean you know all the members of SHINee? Unnie, I'm totally their fan!"

While looking at the remaining paper snowflakes on the wall, Moon burst into laughter, and Hope saw the other members excluding Ji Eun starting to giggle as well.

"Why, what's wrong?" Hope asked curiously, worried that she had said something wrong.

"Gel doesn't bother about her cousin's group, AT ALL," Moon emphasized, still laughing. "She only knows their names, but not how they look like!"

Hope made a face. "That doesn't sound very possible," she asserted. "Don't you and Minho.... sunbae meet up?"

Angelle shrugged. "For one, the trainees and the idols who already debuted don't have much interaction. Second, Minho Oppa is way too busy. I only see him once or twice a year even if we're in the same company! Plus, the Hallyu wave didn't get to me much, so I didn't bother remembering s' faces. If I did bump into them before, I certainly wouldn't have recognized them!"

"Are you sure he's busy, or does he just not want to see you?" Moon questioned. "With that stoned face of his all the time, I won't be surprised if he's a jerk. He NEVER says hi to the trainees! But anyway, you should show some care, since he's your cousin," she shrugged.

Moon always told her that, and although he was her cousin, Angelle was never affected much by it, because she knew that Minho wasn't a jerk. She narrowed her eyes at Moon for the sake of it. "Yeah, maybe I'll get Minho Oppa to introduce them to me when they're free," she said, as she turned back to her phone to send a text to her cousin, with Hope watching over her shoulder excitedly.

"Naekkeo haja, naega neol saranghae, eo? Naega neol geokjeonghae, eo? Naege neol kkeut kkaji, chaekim jil ge~" The chorus of Infinite's Be Mine played throughout the dorm. 

"Yah, maknae! Keep it down!" Jae complained from the living room. Hope immediately paused the song. She knew how much Jae hated noisy places. 

"Why aren't you listening to it through your earphones? And why are you not sitting down?" Ji Eun asked as she walked into the room the two of them shared.

"I'm trying to learn the dance," Hope sighed. "Looks like I can't learn it today... I really wanted to!" she whined. 

"Why don't you just go to the practice room? Since we're so free today," Ji Eun suggested, sitting on her bed. Hope's face lit up.

"Thanks Unnie!" but her smile faltered. "Can you help me ask Miss Song for the keys though? All our new managers still scare me... A little," Ji Eun chuckled, nodding. 

After informing Aimi that they would be heading out, they quickly made their way to Miss Song's apartment. 

"Unnie, you knock," Hope requested, pushing Ji Eun infront of her. 

"Yah! I'm already asking for you! You knock!" Ji Eun replied, bringing Hope's hand up to the door. 

"Who is it?" Miss Song asked from inside. 

"Ji Eun and Hope," the older girl replied. Soon, the door opened, revealing Miss Song in a plain black t-shirt and sweatpants. 

"Oh, hi girls, what are you doing here?" Miss Song asked, noticing how Hope was playing with her fingers. 

"Annyeonghasaeyo Miss Song," they bowed.

"Um... Can we get the keys to our practice room?" Ji Eun started. "Hope wants to learn a dance, but she can't do it in the dorm, since Jae doesn't tolerate any noise." 

Miss Song chuckled. "Sure. I would've expected you to be resting at home, though. Hold on a second," Miss Song turned to grab a bronze key and passed it to Ji Eun. "Don't lose it. And I suggest the two of you go together."

"Kamsahamnida!" They chimed, bowing once again before making their way to their practice room.

Because the training building was of walking distance from their dorms, Ji Eun and Hope went by foot and didn't have to call for their managers to drive them over.

"You know, it's funny how the name you tell people to call you by became your stage name," Ji Eun said, breaking the comfortable silence. 

"True~ At least I won't have to get used to a whole new name~" Hope laughed, gently pushing open a door to what she thought was Ayise's practice room.

"Is this it?" Hope asked, looking around the room. The parquet floors shown brightly, reflecting the light, looking like it was just recently polished. And there were blinds with clouds on them hanging on the windows. "Hm, seems like it. It's empty. But why is it not locked?" 

Ji Eun shrugged. "Maybe they forgot to lock it?" Even though this was not really possible, Hope wasn't thinking straight. She had seen the dance for Be Mine a few weeks ago and had really wanted to learn the dance, so she didn't really care where she was learning it. 

Hurriedly making her way into the room, she took out her tablet before playing the familiar song, closely observing their dance moves. 

"Unnie," Hope called.

"Huh?" Ji Eun looked up, confused. She had been playing the famous Tap Sonic on her phone. About five seconds later, a 'game over' was heard, resulting in Jieun to groan. "I was on a winning streak!" She whined. "Anyway, what did you want?" 

"Can you help me press play?" Hope pointed to her tablet. Ji Eun sighed, but did it anyway, before going back to her game. 

As soon as the song started, Hope tried to dance out most of the parts she knew, mostly the chorus. When she song had ended, Hope shook her head while sighing. 

"What happened?" Ji Eun asked. 

"Nothing," Hope replied, replaying the video, staring intently at the dance. 

"Is it just me or do I hear Inifinte's Be Mine coming from our practice room?" Jonghyun asked as the SHINee members stood outside their room, the door slightly ajar. 

"Infinite?" Key pushed from the back. "Is Woohyun here?" 

"Omo, did they come to give us a surprise?" Taemin asked. "Is it a hidden camera? Hyung, go check it out!" He pushed Onew towards the door. Onew looked at s in confusion. Kids, he thought.

He carefully pushed the door open, and In the room were two girls, one wearing a golden yellow shirt with matching pants, the other wearing purple hoodie and matching pants. The one in purple was lying on the floor, staring intently at what he presumed was her tablet, which was playing Be Mine. The other was playing a game on her phone, with earphones plugged in.

"Annyeonghasaeyo," he greeted them uncertainly.

At the sound of Onew's voice, the girl in purple snapped her head towards the door.

"Omo, annyeonghasaeyo" the girl gasped as she scrambled up to greet him. Onew noted that she didn't really look Korean. The other girl still hadn't noticed his presence. 

"Unnie," the girl in purple shook the other girl. 

"What now?" The other girl replied, still not looking up from her phone. "If you need me to press play on your tablet again, give me a minute." 

"Aniyo! Onew sunbae is here!" she replied. 

"What?!" she immediately looked up from her phone, scrambling up. 

"Annyeonghasaeyo," she gave Onew a ninety-degree bow. 

"Neh, annyeonghasaeyo," Onew replied. "Um, not to be rude, but what are you doing here? This is SHINee's practice room." 

Their eyes widened. "Omo! Joesonghamnida!" they hastily bowed, before continuing, "We'll leave now!" 

Onew chuckled. "Don't you know that all practice rooms will be locked? Although I think the last to use it," Onew paused, glaring at the forgetful maknae outside the door who hid himself behind Minho, "forgot to lock it." 

Ji Eun felt her cheeks heat up. How could I have not thought of that? "Joesonghamnida again sunbae, we'll leave now. Sorry for disturbing," she bowed again, before grabbing Hope's wrist. "Yah, let's find our practice room." Hope nodded, allowing herself to be dragged by Ji Eun. 

"Oh, annyeonghasaeyo!" They bowed to the rest of SHINee outside the practice room. 

"Neh, nnyeonghasaeyo," They replied. 

"Wow! You're tall!" Jonghyun gasped, pointing to Hope. "How tall are you?" 

"173cm," Hope replied, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. Jonghyun's jaw dropped, while the other members, especially Minho, snickered behind him. 

"You're the same height as me! This is unfair!" Jonghyun whined. 

"Anyway......" Key said, pushing Jonghyun away. "You're new here, aren't you? Are just the two of you debuting?" Key asked. 

"Aniyo. We're a new band, Ayise. There're seven members," Ji Eun answered. 

"Oh, chukkahaeyo," Taemin mumbled, looking at the ground.

"Oh, they're the group we wrote encouragment messages for," Key said, nudging Minho. "Your cousin's group."

It's true, Hope thought, still surprised.

Onew smiled widely. "Work hard!" he said, doing the 'fighting' sign.

"Kamsahamnida," the two embarrassed girls bowed again, before Ji Eun continued to pull Hope to look for their practice room. 

"Waaahhh, Taemin looks much cuter in real life~" Hope gushed when the had finally found their practice room and Ji Eun was trying to unlock the door. 

"Yah, we have to call him Taemin-sshi or Taemin sunbae. Unless he lets us call him Taemin Oppa," Ji Eun reminded, opening the door to their new practice room.

A/N: If you have any scene request, eg. how your lover confesses to you or vice versa, feel free to PM either or both of us :) Merry belated Christmas!