They had been on a break for nearly two and a half weeks, and all five of them were getting antsy. They weren't scheduled for another comeback until around November, with a repackage in December, and they didn't know what to do with themselves.

Even Shin had stopped making the practice every day all day - for ghosts, they sure were exhausted.

"Lunch time~!" Minkya called from the kitchen, bringing a tray with six bowls of stew on it into the living room.

"There's only four of us here, maknae-ah," Haana said, raising an eyebrow.

"Ani. Shin-oppa went to get Mia-unnie." Minkya smiled in response as she sat down on the floor in front of the table. She laughed as Eol-Eum hopped into her lap. "Aish, puppy~ you can't have any of this; this is human food." She poked the dog's nose and smiled, kissing the top of her head.

The four girls sitting around the living room looked up as the door opened. Shin held the door open for Mia and then shut and locked it after stepping in.

"Welcome home," Rin Na chuckled. "Mia-unnie, you might as well just leave some of your clothes here as much as you stay over unexpectantly."

Mia laughed. "How do you even know I'm staying tonight? It's only lunch time. Plus, if I brought my own, I couldn't steal Shin's." She smiled, winking playfully as she sat on the couch between Haana and Seulhyo. She rolled her eyes and took the books out of their hands. "Eat now. Read later."

Both Haana and Seulhyo made noises of objection, but opted just to listen to their manager and eat.

As they were nearing the end of their meal, the phone rang.

"I'll get it." Mia smiled, jumping to her feet and walking over to the phone. "GHOST residence, may I ask who's speaking?" Her eyes widened. "Ah! Soo Man-nim! How are you today? Neh, It's Yoon Mi Ah - their manager- A collaboration? Oh, yes! We'd be very interested. Have you spoke to YG-nim? Oh, you have? That's wonderful news!" There was a pause. "Three-thirty sounds like a plan. See you then. Yes, thank you!"

"What did he want?" Shin asked, her voice flat. She looked at Mia, eyeing her carefully.

Mia bit her lip and then smiled. "Lee Soo Man wants GHOST to do collaborations with SM artists. It will get us popularity as well as his artists." She clasped her hands together. "At least now you won't be bored until your comeback." She smiled.

Shin shrugged and stood up, wiping her hands on the back of her pants. "What do you say girls?"

The other four looked at each other, mixed feelings written on their faces.

"It... It could help us reach our dreams quicker..." Seulhyo said softly.

Rin Na nodded. "It could do that... Or it could just bring up bad memories..."

Haana sighed. "I say why not. We'll never know until we try, hmm?" She smiled, even though it didn't reach her eyes.

Nodding, Minkya bit her lip. "We can do this." She said with determination.

"So... you'll do the collaborations?" Mia said, hope clear in her voice. When the five idols nodded, she jumped and clapped. "Ok, good. Now go get ready. We have two hours before our meeting."

---

As they filed into his office, he felt as if he were looking in a mirror to the past. In person, the five girls looked even more like his once promising group from almost 17 years ago. It took all he had not to come from behind his desk and hug the leader of the group; she looked so much like his daughter, who he wished every day that he had spent more time with before the incident. Clearing his throat, he spoke.

"Welcome ladies, to SM Entertainment." Soo Man half-forced a smile. It took his entire focus not to lose sight of the topic at hand. "Please introduce yourselves and then take a seat."

"Annyeonghaseyo, Prodigy Prince Shin imnida."

"Motherly Cinderella Nani imnida."

"Shining Sun Elizabeth imnida."

"The Brains Jisun imnida."

"Cutie-Pie Princess Kya-Kya imnida."

The five girls sat down in the five chairs lined up in front of Soo Man.

-

The five trainees sat down in the office of Lee Soo Man; there were only three chars so Seulhyo stood and Minkya sat in Shin's lap. They all had smiles plastered on their faces.

"I'm revealing your debut date today," Soo Man said. His tone was all business, but underneath there was true and genuine joy coming through. His daughter and four of his most talented trainees were about to take the world by storm. "Your music video will be filmed tomorrow and will be released two days later, arasso?"

"Neh, seongsangnim!" The five girls chorused. All their years of training were about to pay off.

"Go home and rest; I'll see you here bright and early tomorrow morning." Soo Man said, nodding to dismiss the girls. As the last of the five was about to walk out of the door, he spoke. "Shin Mae."

"Appa..."

"I know you don't like it, but it's the name I gave you, so it's the one I'm going to call you." Soo Man sighed, standing and walking from around his desk. He pulled the 25 year old into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Here. It's the photo we took the other day."

Shin took the photo and sighed, chuckling. "Appa, what is that face?" She laughed, smiling at her father. She kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly. "Thank you. For everything. This means the world to us." She took a step back and wiped her eyes - Lee Shin Mae did not cry, specially in front of her father.

Soo Man smiled - and looking back on it, he probably should have listened to his gut that something bad was going to happen - and watched as his daughter left the office, calling after and running to catch up with her younger members.

-

Soo Man was brought back to reality by sudden conversation.

"What is it we're discussing today, seongsangnim?" Shin asked, looking at the man that was all too familiar to her. "You told Mia-ah that you wanted to see us about collaborations?"

"Oh, y-yes. I have four collab songs prepared for you and members of my groups," Soo Man said, opening up a file. "Elizabeth-ssi, you will be put in a group with Seohyun of SNSD, Krystal of f(x), Chanyeol of Exo, and Minho of SHINee; here is your sheet music and the instrumental track for your song."

"Painkiller?" Seulhyo tilted her head after looking at the music. She hummed a few bars of the music to herself. "Sounds sad..."

"Yes, well, this is going to be called the Ballad Collection," Soo Man said, forcing another half-smile. "Next... Shin-ssi and Jisun-ssi, you will be doing a song called "We Were in Love" with SNSD's Hyoyeon and Jessica and f(x)'s Amber and Victoria." He handed them each sheet music as well before continuing. "Nani-ssi, you will be doing a duet called "Beautiful Day" with Super Junior's Donghae." He handed her the music.

Rin Na took the sheet music, trying to hide the fact that she was slightly blushing. She liked his music - and him in particular - but hadn't really ever thought that she'd get to record a song or perform with him. Too say she was beaming would probably have been and understatement.

"And finally, Kya-Kya-ssi, you will be doing a song called "Miserable" with f(x)'s Luna and Sulli." Soo Man finished, handing Minkya some music.

"Isn't f(x) busy with promoting "Rum Pum Pum Pum" at the moment?" Haana asked after she finished flipping through the music where her parts were highlighted.

Soo Man nodded. "It's true they just had their comeback, but their schedules will slow down in a couple weeks and that's when we'll begin to put you all together to practice and record. There will also be music videos for at least three of the songs; we aren't too sure about the duet having a video yet."

At that moment, Mia came into the office. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have to get my girls home. They have a radio broadcast tomorrow." She smiled politely and bowed.

"Of course, Miss Yoon." Soo Man said, standing. He bowed to the girls as they stood and did the same. He watched as they filed out of his office, and it felt so familiar. "Shin Mae..." It was barely above a whisper, but how the last girl - the tallest one - froze for a moment and almost turned around made him realize he had said it out loud.

Shin turned her head slightly, her eyes watery as she looked at Soo Man before leaving the office, the gold pocket watch clutched tightly in her hand.

~*~*~*~*~

Urm, so it's just a short update. Sorry there's not much interaction with the past except for Soo Man and a glimpse of the girls' past at SM. >__<' I lost my inspiration after not having internet for so long, so I hope this is good for now. I'm hoping to work in order and have people have interactions, like next chapter maybe Rin Na has an interaction or something. And then Seulhyo, then Haana, and then Minkya, but idk yet if it'll go in age order or in order of when I get ideas. ^^'
I hope you guys liked this chapter, and for those that follow "Password," I know I've already used Painkiller in that story, BUT I'M OBSSESSED WITH THAT SONG OKAAAAAY~!??? *shot*
Anywho...
<3
Jae