I.

“ALL THOSE AUDITIONING FOR THE POSITION OF FEMALE DANCE CAPTAIN PLEASE COME FORWARD!!!” announces the coach. Several girls from the Dance Department line up, hoping for a shot at the highest possible position. They all cram, stretch, practice and Yuri is no exemption. Yuri is nervous as hell because she has so many ideas that she came up with in the summer and she wants this more than anything in the world. Yuri feels that the Dance Department needs a little, no, a lot of improvement since Gahee, the ex-leader, left it in shambles. Now that she’s gone and Yuri has a chance, she doesn’t want all her ideas to go to waste.

Several girls have come and gone and finally, it’s Yuri’s turn to perform. The basketball court is wide open and usage of materials (e.g. chairs, poles) is allowed. But Yuri doesn’t need those! Yuri’s only dance material is her body.

[song: “I’m Good” by Blaque]

Yuri’s track comes on and the judges anticipate her dance. They have heard about Yuri and they know a lot about her and judging by what they have heard, they conclude that Yuri is a terrific dancer. She prances around at first and when the first verse comes on, Yuri shows her explosive dance moves, wowing the audience with her talent. Her friends cheer her on from the crowd and seeing this only energizes her. Of course, if you have lovers, you have to have haters. Soo Young, Minzy, and Hyunah eye her evilly.

“You can so do better than that!” Minzy tells Soo Young. The ever hungry Food Goddess pulls out a chocolate bar from her pocket, rips the wrapper off and eats it, devouring the entire thing in two chomps.

Yuri’s performance ends beautifully and you can see the very impressed look on the judges’ faces. Yuri bows politely and gets off the stage. Her friends welcome her back with hugs and words of encouragement. Yuri is all smiles and tells her friends about how the judges were smiling all throughout the entire routine.

“Well if they were smiling, then there’s no question about the clear winner!”

“Get ready to be crowned as the Dance Captain!!!” HyoYeon hollered. Soo Young and her crew walk up to them and eye them down.

“Wishful thinking as it is!” Soo Young smirks. “Think your “leader’s” performance was good? Wait til you es see what I’ve come up with!” Minzy and Hyunah look at them with smug faces. Yuri pushes her girls back and steps up to Soo Young. Yuri has always been fearless and tough without being a bully.

“Well if you deserve it, they’ll give it to you. But I think you’re nothing more than a bully tyrant! If you got game, bring it don‘t spit it!” Yuri says and runs a hand through her hair. Soo Young smirks and smiles. Yuri her head and smiles in return. “May the best woman win.” She sticks out her hand in good sport, pissing Soo Young off. Yuri realizes that Soo Young’s not one to play fair and clean. The thing with Soo Young is she’s so tall and tough that she’s always game for some misunderstanding or argument. A last minute attempt to shame Soo Young without being very mean, Yuri stares at her and glints her eyes. “Oh and one more thing, don’t forget to clean your teeth before you go on stage. Too much of a sweet tooth, I assume?” Yuri smiles once more and walks away. Her friends walk with her and laugh, having overheard the conversation. Soo Young grumpily and hurriedly walks to the bathroom and cleans her teeth before going up on stage to dance.

After Soo Young’s dance, along with several other contestants, the auditions have ended and the judges are ready to count the points as well as the votes cast by the other students. The votes will be tallied tomorrow and the new Dance Captain will be revealed the following day as well. The dance students are dismissed and Soo Young and Yuri run into each other again.

“Great dance!” Yuri says sincerely.

“Blow off, you cliché little !” Soo Young shoves Yuri but Yuri avoids her touch and laughs at Soo Young’s patheticness.

“No need to feel bitter, Soo Young!” Min says. “You’ll always be a part of the dance team!” Hyunah gets annoyed with Min and lunges at hear, nearly pulling on her hair. Nicole pushes her.

“Hey! Hey! stop it!” Yuri tries to break her friends and Soo Young’s friends apart to stop the fight. “No fighting! Girls, let’s go.” Yuri and her friends walk away from Soo Young’s group, with the latter shooting dirty looks at the former.

“Not worth your time, Yuri.” Nicole tells her. Yuri nods her head and runs another hand through her hair and walked back to the dance studio to gather her things.

II.
Park Bom is as nervous as hell on the first day of lessons. She has never been to an arts institution before and the feeling she is feeling right now is anything but good. She was shy earlier during her introduction and up to now, Bom is still in her own little bubble, refusing to strike a conversation with any of the students. Though few have come to her, they don’t really find her interesting enough to talk to. She’s just a pretty face to stare at. Bom’s talent is remarkable but her personality is not.

“Hey there!” Bom swiftly turns to her left and looks at the boy seated next to her. Kang Daesung, a music student.

“Uhm…hi.” Bom is quite unsure how to reciprocate or start the conversation so she ends up sitting prettily beside Daesung.

“You must be Bom! I’m Kang Daesung. You can call me D-Lite but if you’re uncomfortable with that, as I see you’re a very quiet girl, you can call me Daesung.” Bom looks at him and smiles fraily.

“Hello, Daesung.”

“Hahaha. You’re a very shy girl! Pretty silent, too! Have you made any friends here?” Bom shakes her head and looks at her knees. Daesung turns his attention to her knees and back to her face. “So where are you from?”

“Pusan.” she manages to somewhat increase the volume of her voice.

“You know what, you’re a powerhouse! When you sang there on the platform earlier, you blew us away! You should continue singing! Who knows you might become famous one day!” Daesung encourages her.

“I hope so.” Bom awkwardly replies. Daesung is starting to notice the growing awkwardness and silence between them so he decides to get her to speak more. “So what are your hobbies and what do you like doing?”

“I’m into songwriting and playing the piano.” she answers. “How about you?”

“Eh. Pretty much the same thing you’re into!” Daesung says. “How about friends? Got any of them?”

“Well, I left a few of them in Pusan. I’ve not made any friends here yet.”

“You’re in luck because you have just chatted with the friendliest little mushroom in the batch! I’m your friend!” Daesung cheerfully tells her. He sees a small laugh escape Bom’s lips and he takes her right hand in his and shakes it. Daesung is a very friendly and cheerful guy who loves to hang out with everyone. There’s not a bad thing anyone can say about him. “Welcome to the school, Park Bom Lee!”

“Wow! You remember my name!?” she asks with astonishment.
“Why ever not?! Do you think you’re forgettable?” Daesung asks.

“Yeah. I’m not really used to people remembering my name, the things I say, and what I look like.” Bom confesses.

“Oh. That means you need to be more out there.” Daesung says. “People will remember you more if you try to be friends with them. So just go out there and smile at each person you see, alright? But don’t you worry. I’m here!”

“Thanks for offering company, Daesung.”

“Making friends is my mission! Say, how would you like to have lunch with me later?”

“Sure.” Bom feels special. Despite her pretty face, she has never been asked out by a guy before. “I’d love to!”

“Great! I’ll see you at lunch time then…oh wait! How’s about we go to the piano room and hear those piano playing skills of yours?” Bom smiles and stands up. Daesung stands up too and the both of them head to the piano room. In there is a black grand piano. Bom sits on the bench and scoots to the left to give Daesung some room.

“I’m dying to hear you play! I’m sure you play very well!” Daesung says.

“Thanks. But I beg to differ. I think I !” she sticks her tongue out.

“Naw! Don’t say that! You’re a good player, I’m sure. And if you so much, I’d like to hear your awful playing and be the judge!” Bom shakes her head at his persistence. He is just so friendly! Bom starts playing the piano.

[song: “Haru-Haru” by Big Bang]

Dorabojimalgo tteonagara
Tto nareul chatjimalgo sarangara
Neoreul saranghaetgie huhoeeopgie
Johatdeon gieongman gajyeogara
Geureokjeoreok chamabolmanhae
Geureokgjeoreok gyeondyeonaelmanhae
Neon geureulseoreok haengbokhaeyadwae
Haru haru mudyeojyeogane

Bom plays and sings with all clarity. Daesung is once again blown away with Bom’s talent.

“GODDAMMIT! YOU ARE GOOD!” Daesung says.

“Haha. Thank you.” For the first time Bom flashes a smile. Daesung now realizes how pretty Bom is when smiling.

“You should smile often, Bom! You look so…”Daesung tries to think of an appropriate adjective. “…pleasant.” Bom nods and accepts his compliment.

“Thanks. I will take your advice.”

“You better! Say, would you like to hear me sing?” Daesung offers.

“Sure! Why would I not!” Bom suddenly turns spontaneous and takes Daesung by surpsise.

“Wow! You can be really spontaneous! Keep that attitude up!”

“I can be spontaneous! Who says I can’t? I can be whatever!” Bom laughs from behind the piano. Daesung laughs along with her. “Hey I know! Why don’t we do a duet?” Daesung raises his eyebrows and nods. Bom plays the piano and together they sing “Haru Haru” with perfect blending.

III.

The most irritating part of the day? Hearing Onew’s blasted voice from the speakers. He talks and talks about his love life and his life and if it wasn’t for the existing right to free speech, I would barge in the radio station and yank the earphones off his head, smash his with the microphone and shove the microphone stand up his . That’s how irritated I am right now.

“And I was with this girl once and we had for 2 hours and man was it amazing! Then I decided some few weeks later to dump her because she was getting all emotional. All I wanted was basically to get in her pants. Now I’m not encouraging you guys to play with girls but what I’m trying to say is girls, be careful with guys because guys…guys are real creatures…” and he goes on. Finally, I can’t stand his talking any longer. I knock on the door, almost banging. Onew removes his headset and scoots away from the microphone to open the door for me.

“No need to open wide, Jin Ki. I just have a short comment, if you’re open to that.”
“Sure! I’d do anything to guarantee my listener’s satisfaction!” he says with a proud smile. him, I ain’t no listener of his! I can’t stand his incessant ranting about and whatnot! If I could only tell him that everybody hates his DJ-ing skills and that he is a pathetic -up!

“Yes.” I sigh. “As a concerned “listener” of yours, might I suggest less obscene topics. Things that have nothing to do with your business behind closed bedroom doors.”

“Tiffany, if you were given the right to talk about whatever you want to talk about, I’m sure you would abuse that right as much as I am abusing this.”

“Onew, we’re at an educational institution! You better start changing your topics or you’re gonna get killed!”

“By?”

“By the teachers! The faculty! The ing dean! Onew, where’s your brain!? Please try thinking about the consequences of this reporting! You have no idea how big an impact you have made!”

“Beats me! At least I’ve made waves!”

“Bad waves, my friend, bad waves! Who wants bad waves?!” Onew glints his eyes and shakes his head.

“You know what, Tiffany Hwang? You’re wasting my time! If I were you I’d just go back there and mind my own business because for your information, I may have a lot of haters but I definitely have solid listeners! At least I’m not an underappreciated writer like you whose articles are read by nobody!”

HOW DARE HE INSULT MY WRITING! IT’S NOT LIKE HE CAN WRITE WELL!

Not wanting to cause any more trouble, I shake my head and slam the door shut. Onew shrugs and puts his headset back on to give ‘advice’ to those scorned lovers. What a pity he truly is.

IV.

In the Acting Department, things are starting to get busy. With an upcoming play for the Board of Talent Education Trustees coming this month, you can tell that the Acting Department is scrambling for a lead actor in their romance/drama play. And fingers are already pointing at Nichkhun. Nichkhun’s popularity however cannot convince the teacher that he is deserving of the role of Ji-sook, the lead character dying of cancer.

“Your speculations aren’t enough.” says the stern acting teacher. “We are going to have to undergo a series of auditions to see who fits the bill.” The teacher makes all the boys line up and ask them to act out a series of dramatic scenes. He hands out their scripts and asks them to select a line from any act to portray. Each boy does well, some even make the teacher get all emotional but as soon as Nichkhun comes up front, all men lose hope.

“Nichkhun Horvejkul!” calls the teacher. “It’s time for you to display your acting talent here for us once again.” Nichkhun confidently puts the script down on the stool and stands on the platform. The girls all flutter their eyes while the boys look at him with pokerfaces, masking emotions of jealousy and anger. Nichkhun goes up front and acts out his chosen scene. Tears start to well up in the girls’ eyes, as well as the teacher’s eyes. After around 15 minutes of acting, Nichkhun bows down and the entire class applauds him. Chansung and Jo Kwon, two of the best actors in the department who now fall in second and third to Nichkhun, glare it him evilly.

“I hate it when people come before me.” Jo Kwon. “Especially new students who are unaware of the system here.”

“Exactly. If he thinks he can get in here and make a name for himself easily, he’s ing mistaken.” Chansung agrees.

“Say, how’s about we talk to the guy.”

“Sounds a like a plan. Looks like he has no friends.” Chansung smirks. He eyes Nichkhun and tells Jo Kwon to meet him outside. The two step out of the classroom and talk.

“He’s here for what? A day or so? And I hate him already! It’s clear he’s bragging about his acting roots and .” Jo Kwon spits.

“I hate him already!” Chansung says. He peers through the glass window of the door and sees Nichkhun socializing with the girls. Since no girl has ever come to Chansung, he starts to feel a pinch of bitter jealousy.

“Look at him!” he tells Jo Kwon with a frown that’s plunging deep. Jo Kwon smirks and nods his head. “Surrounded by girls! I bet he’s gay!” The two sneer.

“Say, he doesn’t have any ‘real’ friends yet, right?” Chansung asks.

“Yeah. I mean, not that I know of.”
“Perfect.” Chansung grins evilly. “Talk to him later lunch. Call the other boys, too.” Jo Kwon smirks at his plan.

“Ah! I know what you’re thinking!”

“Yes! Exactly!” Chansung says.

“Meet up at the Dun-cheon?” Jo Kwon asks.

“Definitely!” the two fist bump and enter the classroom again. Sure enough, Nichkhun is there socializing with the girls, not in a playboy manner but in a friendly manner. With the intention of making them his friends. Chansung and Jo Kwon approach him and tap his shoulder.

“Hey! You’re Nichkhun, right?” asks Chansung.

“Yes. That is right. Nichkhun Hor-”

“We know your name.” Jo Kwon cuts him off with an annoyed face and an even more annoyed voice.

“Okay. What quick pick up! People usually don’t remember-” Chansung rolls his eyes and says,

“Look, I don’t give a if people remember your name or not if they mispronounce it or whatever bull. What we’re here for is you. You and you alone.”

“Me?” Nichkhun asks surprised. Chansung and Jo Kwon look at him with dead serious faces. The even unmovable Nichkhun looks back with a happy and friendly look on his face.

“Yes, you.” Jo Kwon sneers. “How’s about meeting up with us later at lunchtime?”

“Oh? Great! I haven’t been invited yet! Thanks for-”

“Shut the up, you sound gay!” Chansung says. “Just wait for us, we’ll pick you up.”
“Okay.” Despite of the insults, Nichkhun manages to stay optimistic and happy. “Looking forward to it.”

“Oh you will. It’ll be fun!” Chansung says.

 

 

V.

Aside from Nichkhun, one of the most popular new students right now is Kim Yubin. The very first girl to get into the Rap Department. Though she may be cold and may not have that many friends yet, many people talk about her because of her rapping skills. On this particular day, Yubin is starting to live the life of the rap students here. She is walking with a sheet of paper in her hands, trying to come up with a good flow to match the lyrics she has written.

GD and TOP are still in disbelief. As well as the entire rap group. They are all talking about her when Yubin enters, not taking her eyes off the sheet of paper. TOP walks to her and snatches the paper from her.

“What the was that for?” she angrily asks.

“Just want to read your rap.” TOP says. He scans the sheet of paper and sees that what she has written is good. “You’re pretty talented for a girl. Let’s see how far you can go.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Battle rap. Heard of it?”

“Yeah. I’ve joined so many of those.”

“Really? Did you win any?”

“Lost once. And that was because of a sore throat and a bad cold.” the guys are all shocked by this. Yubin looks at them and shrugs. “Why? Never heard a girl rapper before? You guys always look so surprised.”

“This rap?” TOP shows her the sheet of paper one more time before tearing it to shreds and crumpling it in his two hands. Yubin’s eyes grow in bewildrement. “Is bull and will always be that way until you prove yourself worthy of a spot here!”

“Worthy of a spot?” Finally, Yubin speaks up. “ it I already did an on-the-spot freestyle and you still want me to prove myself worthy? Next thing I know you guys would want me to rap standing on my head?!”

“Rules. I’m the leader here. If you want to keep your memebership, then do as I say. Otherwise, you have just let your chance of becoming the best female rapper slip away. You got lots of potential, you know! All you have to do is hone that.” TOP says. Yubin nods her head and rolls her eyes, finally giving in to his demands.

“Fine. But after this, I want you to start respecting me and treating me as your equal.” Yubin says. TOP nods and agrees with her.

[song: “Hey!” by E.Via]

(a/n: Imagine Yubin rapping that fast!)

The boys’ ears open and they all stand up, towering above the 5’3” mini MC. Her hand gestures and points are very much intimidating, as intimidating as the speed of her rap. G-Dragon grins and shakes his head.

“ this girl is wicked!” G-Dragon tells Tablo. Tablo nods his head in affirmation. What they heard from Yubin at first was calm rapping but they didn’t know that this girl could speed rap! At the end of the rap, Yubin receives an even greater amount of cheers and praise from her classmates. She once again walks away from them and before she could even leave the room, TOP rushes to her side and grabs her arm. The ever tough Yubin spins around and yanks her arm from his grasp.

“What the is wrong with you?! First it was my paper now my arm?!”

“I just want to let you know that what you did was badass.”

“Thanks but I think pulling my arm was absolutely unnecessary.” Yubin turns a slight shade of red. TOP notices this and grabs her arm once more, pulling her closer.

“Listen to me, , we may all look tough here but I don’t want no primadonna in my club, you understand? And I pulled your arm because I have, actually, we have one question for you.” TOP whispers. Yubin pulls away from him and gawks at him.

“What do you want to know?”

“We don’t even know your name yet.” GD butts in. “We’ve been talking about you and we call you Rap Girl.”

“My name’s Yubin. I’m from Daegu. I’m 18 years old and I’m a rapper who’s only 5’3”. There you go! What else do you want? My other vital stats?” Yubin answers sarcastically. The guys howl at her feistiness.

“You gotta stop acting like me, Daegu girl.” TOP says. “Find your own identity because that, see, that attitude is mine.”

“Do you think, for one second, Mr. TOP that I am imitating you? Ha! If you think this sarcastic attitude’s inspiration is you then what a ing conceited douchebag you are!” Yubin rolls her eyes and waits for TOP or any of the other guys to hit her. Magically, they don’t. Yubin’s used to being hit by guys as she grew up with brothers and had male friends and always got into fights during her underground battle rapper days. Looking around, she starts to appreciate the company that she has. She smiles and shakes her head.

I ooze with sarcasm
My beats give you a spasm
I bet you can’t fathom
The fact that I’m a madam.

Yubin randomly flows in front of them. The boys smile and shake their heads, laughing at her, not to ridicule her but because of awe. Yubin in turns flashes a small smile and walks away from them.

“Where you going?” Key calls out.

“I don’t know. Out?” Yubin says, reaching for the door knob.

“Stay for a while. Let’s have a freestyle rap battle.” TOP suggests. “We’d love to hear what you’ve got!” Yubin shakes her head and lets go of the door knob, stays for a while and gives the boys a taste of Daegu girl power. She listens up as they give them their best raps and reciprocates with her own.

“Choose dudes, chill rapping or speed rapping?” they go for the speed rapping and the versatile little rapper shows them what she’s made of.

VI.

“What the is it that you want me to do?” Ji Yeon asks angrily. Her emotion is a mix of anger and sadness.

“I just want you to work with me on this.” I tell her. “Please. I don’t think I can do it without you.”

“Please. You’ve done so many things without me. And besides, I think that thing, as your friend, will be great without me. You don’t need my help there.” Ji Yeon asserts. “You’re a good writer, Tiffany. If you think that you should write this thing, then by all means do it! I’m behind you but I’m not doing it with you.”

“Would it help if I told you it was gonna require a little bit more action than you think?” I start to invite her. Ji Yeon suddenly pays more attention. Ji Yeon is still a bit innocent and is into experimenting, exploring, and discovering new things.

“What are you talking about?”
“Oh I don’t know.” I roll my eyes. “What if I told you spying and teachers were involved?”

“ it.” Ji Yeon curses under her breath. Even she denies it I know she just cursed. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, some teachers have been really bad and I was thinking of some kind of awakening.” I say. I start to sound like some maniac walking down the street screaming the 2012 prophecy to the world. “Ji Yeon, remember when we first met and you told me how sick you were of this school and how you couldn’t stand anyone, teachers and students alike?”

“What about it?”

“I know this sounds crazy but too many anomalies have been occuring in this beautiful school of ours. And it’s high time that we underdogs take a stand.”

“I knew it.” she sneers.

“Knew what?”

“I knew this was another one of your take over the school underdogs plans whatever.”

“Yeah. It is. It has always been. And I know deep in your heart that you want it too, Ji Yeon.” Ji Yeon looks at me. I start to see change in her eyes.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that we’re gonna do some spying on them. We’re gonna create a novel that’s gonna wake them up. Students here are becoming more and more oblivious to what’s happening around them. It’s time they see the reality that only we know. With my writing talent and your remarkable drawing, we’ll gain attention and followers and everyone will bow down before us. How’d you like that glory?”

“I like just fine.” Ji Yeon suddenly smiles. “So when are we gonna start?”

“If you want we can start now.”

“So what do we write about first?”

“Woah easy there!” I tell her. “We can’t start writing without a plan. We need a good and definite plan. First off, we have to do a little spying. We have to observe our surroundings. Second, we list down all the bad things we see.”

“Teachers or students?”

“Both. Next, you draw them. However you want to but conceal their identities as much as possible. You can use animals or objects but most preferrably animals, like the ones in George Orwells’ “Animal Farm” but it’s really up to you, Jee.”

“Count me in.” Ji Yeon says, changing her facial expression from sullen to slightly relieved. I smirk and put an arm around her shoulder.

“Think of how much we could change this school with that novel. We don’t need the others’ help. All we need is our knowledge, skill, and anger. With that, we can accomplish this novel in no time!” I tell her. Though she doesn’t answer, I can see agreement in her eyes.

“Let’s start!” Ji Yeon says excitedly.

“Oh? When? Now?” I ask.

“Well when do you want to start? When this school is corrupted to the core and when students don’t know right from wrong anymore?”

I look at Ji Yeon and see the seriousness in her face. She takes her drawing pad and her art materials, cradles them in her right arm. I nod my head, signaling for her to come with me. We walk out of the room and head to the writing room where we are to do our business.

When we spy something extraordinary…