The day when Sunny arrives is an awkward one, to say the least. Everyone feels a little bit annoyed, and mostly ashamed to feel so. They've been working their butts off to earn their place in this group and someone being tossed into the mix by chance doesn't feel right. Tiffany, although she feels horrible for it, is worried for herself. With yet another girl added into the already large group, where will her spotlight stand?

Sunny's too shy to say anything. She wants nothing more than to run away right now, with all these eyes staring down at her almost menacingly. None of them are feeling very welcoming. The only thing that keeps her routed to the spot is her dream, which flutters at the front of her mind adamantly.

"I'm Hyoyeon," the first girl to speak is blonde, with the kind of figure that just proves she's a dancer. She even has the hat to prove it. She at least makes the effort to smile at Sunny, feeling sorry that she'll inevitably go through so much hate and competition. Still, she already knew her spotlight will be few and far between. With another member, she has even less chance.

"I'm Seohyun," the next girl has a very innocent and pure face. She, at least, seems neutral about the situation. Truthfully, this is just another reminder that Hwanhee could have been here. She could have been here instead of Sunny.

Next, two girls step forward. One smiles even with her eyes when she greets Sunny, the other having a very cool aura about her - and dammit, she's so much taller than Sunny. Their names are Tiffany and Sooyoung, she finds out, and Tiffany has a very adorable accent to her speech. American, Sunny thinks, because so many trainees are American these days.

Two very similar looking girls stand to the back of the group, hands interlocked tightly. They seem to be whispering to eachother, though they don't seem unfriendly per say. Merely unsure. They've grown up with the other girls, but they know nothing about this 'Sunny' girl.

It takes Sooyoung to introduce the others. "This is Yoona and Yuri. They're just a little... uncertain around new people. This is Taeyeon, our leader, and she's kind of socially impared. Jessica here might seem cold at first, but I promise you she's not really."

Sunny has to welcome the smile that tugs at her lips when she's introduced to Taeyeon. The two of them already share something in common - when it comes to people, they just really don't know what to do.

"Well... I'm Sunny," she says with a nervous laugh. "You already knew that, right?" Her voice trails off.

Everybody feels at least an inch of doubt towards her at that point. For the oncoming weeks she spends her every waking moment singing and dancing, doing anything she can to prove her worth. She spends hours into the night practicing any dance she knows, building her stage presence. She doesn't know how else to make them see that she's here for a reason.

Even Yuri and Yoona, who now share a room with Sunny, see nothing of her. At night, Yuri wakes just long enough to see Sunny clamber into bed before falling back into a deep sleep. Yoona sometimes worries about her - doesn't she get tired or need food? Tiffany thinks of finding her one day, but pushes the idea aside. Maybe Sunny doesn't want to be found.

One night, Hyoyeon can't sleep. She creeps out of bed, checks on Jessica and then does the one thing she knows best. Making her way down to the practice room, she takes a moment to grab a bottle of water from the vending machine. Her ears prick up when she hears music already flowing out of the room, along with a sound of heavy breathing.

She's wary when she steps into the room, curious of who could be in here at such a time. What she sees doesn't surprise her, but saddens her. Sunny's working her way through a powerful, and surely agonizingly tiring, routine. She keeps to the corner, Sunny unaware of her presence, until the music stops and the smaller girl jumps back a few steps at the sight of Hyoyeon beside her in the mirror.

"I-I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep and-"

Sunny shakes her head. "It's fine, honestly. You just startled me." There's beads of sweat dripping from her, but her face is mostly drowned in the water she's been pouring over herself.

"You don't need to spend so much time practising, you know," Hyoyeon furrows her brows. "We know you're here for a reason. Practising is good, but it's not worth practising yourself to your death bed."

Sunny nods, but it's half hearted. She can barely move her head, it feels so heavy. "Hyoyeon, I feel like I'm going to fall."

Hyoyeon understands. She nods and lifts Sunny's weak arm over her shoulder. "Here, let me carry you to bed, okay? Have my water."

There's something very greatful in Sunny's eyes - it's the first time she's really felt a belonging here. Maybe she didn't need to spend so much time trying to impress them, but trying to know them. Yet it just felt so wrong to intrude.

Both Yoona and Yuri awake to see Hyoyeon rolling Sunny into her bed. They sit up instantly, a questioning look upon their faces. Hyoyeon just sighs and presses a cold towel to the sleeping Sunny's forehead, leaving the room silently. Everyone keeps an eye on the small girl after that.

On the night when Lee Soo Man discovers that his niece is in the industry, he almost kills a man. He's come back from a business trip to America, leaving his deputy to watch over the company for a few weeks, when certain decisions have been made. All he knows for the first two days of his return is that there is a 'Lee Sunny' inside the company now. Nobody has ever told him that Soonkyu goes by Sunny these days.

Most of all he's furious at her parents. They give Sunny a worried call one night - the night when her uncle turns up to give her a stern lecture right in the middle of the 'SM's New Girl Group' dorm. Sunny doesn't shed a single tear, because she knows she's fulfilling her dreams and that's all that matters. Even her uncle's anger is worth it.

When he leaves, though, she plops her head against the back of the couch and closes her eyes. A door opens somewhere behind her and a pair of arms wrap around her side. They're comfortable and warm and she doesn't care who it is, because this might be the most loving, genuine hug she has ever received.

"It's all right to cry, if you want to." It's Taeyeon, she realises. At that moment, she finds herself returning the hug. She buries her face in Taeyeon's hair and lets a few tears slip through. Sunny doesn't cry in front of people, really, so it's sort of a sudden breakthrough.

Soon enough, there's another pair of arms around her. Then another, until she can feel the presence of eight girls around her. Yoona curls up beside her; Tiffany rubs her back; Hyoyeon plays with her hair; Yuri kneels beside her and rubs Sunny's arm; Sooyoung rests her chin on her; Seohyun just about fits her arms around her beside Taeyeon's, unsure of what to do and even Jessica joins them - tucking what she can of her arms around Sunny's waist.

This is the most she's ever felt like she belonged anywhere.