"You have nine days until your debut, and this is what you have to show for yourselves?" J.O growled, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had just popped in during one of the girls' practices to see their progress, and it wasn't looking too good. Though they were all talented, they couldn't work together. The leader wasn't leading, the dancers weren't dancing; no one was doing what they were contracted to do. "Either get your together, little girls, or get out." He glared at each and every one of the eight young women before he left - slamming the door behind him.

Noella covered her ears and slid to the ground, sitting against the nearest wall. She had her eyes squeezed shut as she sat perfectly still, as if trying to disappear entirely.

Hye Sun shook her head at the manager's choice of words. His use of profanity. She let out an exasperated sigh and shoved her hands into her pants' pockets.

Flinching at the loud slam of the door, Mai turned away and looked at herself in the mirror. She began stretching as if to begin practicing again even though she knew no one was up to practicing now.

If her first impression wasn't enough, Ae Sook had definitely found more reasons to not like J.O over the past few weeks. All of the yelling he did and all the degrading he did to the girls; it was any wonder any of them even came to practice anymore. They stayed for long hours and received nothing but how much they failed in return.

JaeHwa and KiHyo looked at one another and shared a silent dislike for their manager. J.O rubbed JaeHwa the wrong way and pushed her buttons, and to KiHyo, J.O was a bit of a bully. All he ever did was pick out the girls' flaws; he never had anything nice to say.

Shouhui was about done with J.O's condescending remarks and the horrible way he treated them. It was as if he wanted them to fail, as if he would enjoy them not making it in the entertainment industry.

Hyera simply sat in the background, annoying at the negative energy in the room. She looked at Shouhui, who nodded to her and the two got together for a moment, whispering to each other.

"Unnies~!" Hyera suddenly exclaimed, looking at everyone.

"Hyera and I have come to a conclusion," Shouhui smiled brightly. "There is only one way to get J.O to take us seriously."

"And what's that?" Hye Sun asked, raising an eyebrow, her hands on her hips.

"Prank him." The youngest two of the group smirked together.

"That's not a good idea," KiHyo said, biting her bottom lip. "That could get us in serious trouble and ruin our chances of debuting. We're already so close..."

JaeHwa nodded. "It's all in all a stupid idea." She said. It was a bit harsh to shoot them down like that, but it was true. "You could get us all kicked out. He is very close to the CEO, and for most us - we never thought we'd debut, so we have to lay low until debut."

Hyera pouted, folding her arms. "Umma and Appa are no fun." She muttered under her breath.

Shouhui's smile dimmed just slightly. "Then, we'll prank him after debut and claim it's a thank you." She said.

Noella simply stayed against the wall, silent. Ae Sook and Mai exchanged glances, agreeing with JaeHwa.

"...Still don't like him," Ae Sook muttered as she went to stretch to go through the dance once more.

"No one does," Hye Sun said simply. "Alright everyone, time to get back to practicing. We film for the music video in just a few hours." She walked over to Noella and held her hand out. "Come on, Bookworm, time to get those muscles moving." She smiled encouragingly at the oldest of the group.

Noella nodded slowly and took Hye Sun's hand. She stood and got into position with the others.

---

"At least we don't have to worry about heels," JaeHwa laughed slightly, attempting in her own way to lighten the mood in the dressing room. She couldn't tell if it was the walls or the mood that made everything look gray.

"I quite like these suits, actually," Hye Sun smiled, running her fingers over the material. "Not revealing at all."

"Hell to dance in, though," Mai grinned with a shrug.

"So, at the end, JaeHwa-unnie is doing the weird dance?"  KiHyo questioned. They had both practiced it, just in case.

Hye Sun nodded. "Neh. She is, no need to worry, Kiki." The leader smiled.

They all walked out of the dressing room in their suits, ready to film for their music video that would be released just one day before their debut.

---

Back at the dorm that night, the girls were all lounging in the living room - gathered because of Hye Sun.

"I think we should get to know each other better before we debut," Hye Sun said. She tapped her foot, trying to think of what to say. "I know that the company has put us together for some reason, but I want to know what that reason is..."

"Maybe we all have dramatic pasts that could wreck our careers if revealed and the company really just wants to create a scandal in the industry because everything's been a bit quiet lately," Ae Sook said, her voice full of boredom and slight sarcasm. "Look, we don't have to get along, we just have to make it in a cut-throat industry. Let's leave it at that."

Noella sighed and walked to the kitchen, grabbing her newest bottle of wine and a wine glass. She filled it all the way full instead of halfway like she was supposed to. She walked back into the living room and sat back down, ignoring the glances from a couple members.

Hye Sun shook her head. "No. I don't want to 'leave it at that'. We need to get to know each other," she said.

"Maybe some of us don't want our pasts to be known," Shouhui said. Her voice was almost loud and snappy, and her smile was gone. "Maybe some of us want to keep ourselves closed off so we don't ever get hurt again."

"I'm with her," Mai said, shrugging.

JaeHwa and KiHyo nodded.

Hyera was making a rather interesting face while listening to the conversation around her.

"Fine." Hye Sun sighed. She completely understood, really; she was the same way. "It will come naturally in time." She said quietly. "How about we all go lay down and get some rest... We have more practice tomorrow..."

~*~*~*~*~

Well, here's a short chapter.
The school year is over for me, which means... SUMMER VACATION!!
I'm looking for a job, but hopefully I can keep regular updates coming.
Anyone notice the foreshadowing in this chapter? I'm so excited about this story!
Well, anyway... Off to do a lyric breakdown of their debut song. ^_^
<3
Jae