"Six days until debut and you're all sick? How does that even work!?" J.O ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm about to explode. This is ing ridiculous."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't use such words in my presence," Hye Sun scowled, narrowing her eyes at their manager. She wasn't normally one to get angry, but  J.O's constant berrating and belittling of the group was starting to irk her.

"And I would appreciate it if the eight of you got off of your asses and actually did what you're supposed to do!" J.O snapped.

Despite the pain in her abdomen - and everywhere else in her body - Noella stood up. She walked over to J.O and looked him straight in the eyes. "Listen here, oppa." She almost spat. "We have been in the practice room every single day since we were put together from four in the morning until eleven at night with maybe an hour break all day. We haven't eaten a proper meal in weeks, and it's because of you. You will allow us this one day to get over what is ailling us, or I will be sure that you are fired and/or put in jail for reckless endangerment of another human being. Hyera and Shouhui are minors; that's child abuse. So either leave now, or I will force you to leave."

The room was in silence at having heard Noella actually speak more than two words.

"Leave." JaeHwa said, emphasizing the seriousness of Noella's words. JaeHwa and Noella had an understanding of one another; neither of them spoke much, but they knew to listen when they did speak - and the other members knew it as well.

J.O opened his mouth as if to let out a retort, but instead just turned to leave.

Hye Sun let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding in. "Where did that come from, unnie?"

Noella picked up her glass of wine and finished off the last half in one gulp. She shrugged, grabbed her journal and pen, and sat back down on the couch.

"Unnie, what happened?" Shouhui asked, nodding toward the rather large scar on Noella's rarely exposed shoulder.

Noella shrugged once more. "Accident when I was little."

Shouhui raised an eyebrow, shaking her head with a sneaky smile. "Unnie's lying."

Hyera nodded. "Yup! Yup!"

KiHyo sighed, "Maybe unnie doesn't want to talk about it." She said, using her motherly tone she envoked more often than not lately. "I'm going to go make dinner." She smiled.

Mai had been quiet through the entire exchange with J.O. He just wanted perfection from the group, at least, that's how she understood it. She completely agreed with him mostly; the girls had to be perfect to make it. She did, however, think he was pushing them too hard. She came back into the conversation once KiHyo walked to the kitchen.

"I'll help," Mai said, smiling slightly as she got up and followed the group's Umma.

Ae Sook sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I'll make a desert." She offered, following the other two.

JaeHwa chuckled slightly as she watched the three of them go into the kitchen. She looked at Noella. "Seriously, though, unnie. That doesn't look like an accident scar."

"That's because it isn't." Noella grit her teeth together. She sighed and set her pen down. "It's not an accident; I just don't want to talk about it."

"We all have our secrets and our pasts, JaeHwa," Hye Sun said, a slight warning tone in her voice. She was in leader mode suddenly without realizing it. "We agreed on that the other day..."

JaeHwa nodded. "Fine then." She shrugged. "One day, one of us will have to open up - then the rest will follow."

---

Dinner was silent. Even Shouhui and Hyera were quiet - which never happened.

"My bio dad held me against a fire when I was five until the burns formed," Noella said softly, playing with her food. "It was only one of the ways he abused me and my bio mom... They didn't love me to begin with, but they kept me because of my grandparents... I was locked away without food for days. I stopped talking - it's why I don't talk now. There was no point." She realized that everyone was looking at her, but she kept going. "When... When I was seven..." Her hand shook slightly and she set down the utensil in her hand. "He pulled a gun on me... but he killed my mom and himself instead... No one knew until my grandparents came over about a week later." She shrugged. "Then I was adopted. Kevin was always sweet and kind and loving; he was the first person to ever make me laugh or smile - then came Heechul a few years ago." She smiled softly.

"Holy ." Mai muttered. She looked at Hye Sun. "Sorry unnie, but holy... What the ?"

Noella shrugged. "Since I was eight, I've had a pretty good life though." She sighed; it wasn't a complete lie. She had a few tasteless jobs during trainee days to take care of her and Kevin, but that wasn't important.

Hye Sun shook her head. One story was out in the open, and by order of age and maturity - her own should be next. There was no way she was letting her members know about that. There was no point. Subconsciously, her hand went to her stomach and she bit her lip. She shook her head once more and looked at Noella. "Now you're here. With us." She smiled, grabbing the older girl's hand and squeezing it softly.

"Desert~!" Ae Sook said, hopping up from her seat and grabbing the tres leches cake she had made while dinner was being made.

Shouhui and Hyera laughed at Ae Sook's spaz in personality, but shook it off.

KiHyo hugged Noella and smiled. "Everything is okay now, unnie." She chuckled before sitting back down to eat desert.

~*~*~*~*~

So, um... There's that chapter...
I'm thinking of having a past be revealed throughout the next few chapters. Some of them before debut and some of them during or after. Just... Sporadically. 
Yeaaaah...
So here's Noella's backstory... Well, most of it... ^^'
<3
Jae