“Hi, my name’s Sooyoung. I’ll be in your training group. Let me introduce you to the rest of our group mates!” The tall, bright-eyed girl waved enthusiastically to the new trainee. She was a sociable teen who loved making new friends, and this new girl looked really friendly.

Hyoyeon allowed herself to be led to a group of giggling girls. “Hi, I’m Yuri and this is Taeyeon, Tiffany, Jessica, Yoona, Seohyun and Sunny.”

“Tiffany, Jessica and Sunny? Are you guys foreign? Where are you from?” asked Hyoyeon curiously. She loved meeting new friends and visiting new places. Different scenery from all parts of the world amaze her and she would go on rest-stop vacations just to enjoy the beautiful views Mother Nature presented her.

“My given name was Lee Sun Kyu, but everyone around here just calls me Sunny. I mean, it’s such an old name – makes me sound like I’m in my forties – and I would be grateful if you would just use my nickname.”

“Everybody calls her that. Even President Lee,” quipped Yoona.

“Even President Lee?!” Hyoyeon couldn’t believe her ears. The strict, grave man calling a trainee by her nickname?

“Don’t be so surprised. President Lee’s really nice, despite the first impressions he gives. We were all afraid of him at one point or another, but I think we can safely say that we treat him like family now. Not really close, but not that distant either. Sunny’s his niece, by the way. So don’t expect him to call you by a nickname. He wouldn’t,” Sooyoung said.

“Wow, he’s your uncle? I guess I’ll have to treat you nicely then. What about you?” Hyoyeon said jokingly to Sunny before turning to the other two “foreign” girls.

 “We’re Korean, but lived for some time in America!” chorused Tiffany and Jessica.

“They aren’t very good at Korean though. It’s fun to trick them into believing that certain things were said a certain way in Korean when they actually aren’t. Come ask me abOut it whenever you want. Between Yuri and I, I think we can write a whole series of books on their terrible language bloopers,” Sooyoung informed Hyoyeon.

“Hey! That’s because we trust you! And you betray that delicate trust again and again,” retorted Tiffany, hitting Sooyoung’s arm playfully.

Hyoyeon laughed. This seemed like great company. She could see herself having fun with this group.

*****************

“Hyung. HYUNG. HYUNG!”

“Wh-What?!"

“Goodness, Onew hyung. What were you thinking about?” Hyoyeon. “That must have been the tenth time Taemin tried to get your attention.”

“Uh. Nothing. I just space out for a moment there. But it’s over now, and I’m back!” Onew replied, dragging out the “I” for dramatic effect.

In fact, over-dramatically. The others looked at him knowingly. There was something going on; he was hiding something. And they knew that if they kept quiet and looked at him long enough, Onew would succumb and tell them what it was. It was just a matter of time before they find out.

“Eh. Uh. So, Taemin, what was it you were calling me for?” Onew asked, feeling uncomfortable with the creepy looks s were shooting him with.

Silence.

“Hey, guys. Please.” Awkward pause. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you. I… thinkImightlikesomeone.”

“What’s it that you said? I didn’t catch that. Can you repeat it, please, please, PLEASE?” Key hopped around and stuck his face in Onew’s line of sight.

“Uh.” They didn’t hear me? “Nothing.”

“You THINK you might like someone? Onew hyung, We KNOW you like someone and, in fact, we can guess who!” Minho sang.

What! Am I that transparent? Onew clamped his mouth shut, suspecting that this was a trick to make him say Hyoyeon’s name.

Jonghyun chuckled,“Hyung, go for it. As far as I know, she doesn’t have a boyfriend now. But do something quick! I heard she has many guy friends. Be careful not to let her slip away into the hands of someone else. I won’t be here to comfort you and watch you cry.”

*****************

“Hey, Wookie! Don’t you think that Heechul is acting really strangely today?” Kyuhyun whispered to his close buddy.

“Yeah, he even threw away a chance to go chat up a girl. I wonder what happened,” replied Ryeowook.

“He must’ve had a bad Experience with that Hyoyeon kid. I mean, I’m pretty sure that he was fine before that,” Kyuhyun deduced. “She must be trouble. Let’s observe her, shan’t we?”

“Leave the surveillance to us,” said a voice from behind.

Kyuhyun turned around and saw that both Leeteuk and Heechul were there.

“But we want to help too!” insisted the duo.

“No, the two of you would just goof off and make things worse.” Heechul glanced over his shoulders to make sure no one else was listening in. The other boys huddled closer to listen to what he had to say. “Honestly, I can’t bear to see Heechul like this. It’s just not him. And I will do anything to fix it.”

Both Ryeowook and Kyuhyun turned to Leeteuk and opened their mouths, about to protest, when their leader waved his hand to dismiss their complaints. “No will do. I won’t have you creeping around trying to dig up dirt on the new girl. However, I’m sure you can…” He whispered his plans into the three boys’ ears.

A grin spread on Kyuhyun’s face as he listened closely. This was going to be fun.

Author's Note: Okay, I know I haven't been updating, have been pretty busy lately *raises both hands in defeat*. I'll try to come up with one more chapter today to make up for it.