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The same day...

Sooyoung, Yuri and Jessica became aware of the situation in the room that their maknae of the group is crying. Sooyoung guiltily asked the young girl, Seohyun, “Erm…was it because we argued? The three of us always argue, there’s nothing to be afraid of, Seohyun-ah.” “I’m sorry we made such a noise, did we frighten you?” Yuri continued. However, Seohyun just shook her head and said in between her weeps, “It’s nothing unnie.”

As she said so, she wiped her tears away and smiled. “I’m happy to be selected as part of this group.” After hearing this, the others nodded their heads in agreement and coincidentally chorused, “Me too.” They all then cried together even though Seohyun was crying for a different reason. “From now on, let’s do well together!” Yoona said. Everyone nodded and controlled their emotions until it was stable again.

After moments of silence, Hyoyeon who was a little bit impatient to leave quickly and get back to practice dancing, announced, “I’m leaving now. Glad to meet you all. See you all next week!” With that, she hastily scurried across the room and made her way towards the exit.

Yoona then remembered her meeting with her friends for a final game of Go-stop also excused herself to leave the room. She was quite disappointed as this will be her final game but was also excited and anticipating for her new career to start despite her young age.

Sooyoung’s stomach could be heard grumbling because of hunger and grabbed her two other friends with her to grab their lunch.

As the number of people in the room decreases, the awkward silence in the room began to grow. Taeyeon, who thought that she is now the leader of the group should stay behind and understand Seohyun’s situation.

Tiffany, on the other hand, thinks that she should be the one who cures Seohyun’s dilemma as her position was to cure not just physical problems, but also emotional problems.

Sunny stayed in the room too because she felt that she have the responsibility to know what is going on as Mr Lee Soo Man’s niece.

Finally, Seohyun stood up and seems to make up her mind and pack her belongings to leave.

Nevertheless, Taeyeon speedily grabbed her wrist gently and said, “Are you fine? Do you want me to accompany you back home?” Seohyun shook her hand and choked, “I’m fine, I can go back myself.” After she said so, she quickly left the room leaving the three other girls intrigued about the reason behind her crying.

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Whilst Seohyun was taking the train home, she reminisced of the times when YeonHee and her would take the tram home together when they were still trainees. As she finally reached the train stop towards her home, she reminisced that this very train station was where she was casted and trained hard towards her career, her dream, her goal.

Her dream was to follow Mr Ban Ki Moon’s steps and unite the world such that there will be no wars and people live in a society where everyone stays strong together. Mr Ban Ki Moon was her life mentor. She was glad that Mr Lee Soo Man was also supporting Mr Ban Ki Moon behind the back.

She aimed for this career as she could hit two birds with a stone. Firstly, she could sing and music is a common language for people to communicate and bond. Secondly, she could help a hand in demolishing dark societies which are harming the innocent citizens. As she could not bring her own hands to kill or arrest, she studied hard to be an IT specialist who could even hack into the government’s confidential archive. Nonetheless, she would never break into such a highly classified file unless she has to but there will be no chances for that.

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Back in the meeting room earlier, Sunny was hesitating whether to inform Mr Lee Soo Man about this after Taeyeon and Tiffany each parted their own ways back home. After much consideration, she decided to not disclose the situation to Mr Lee Soo Man as he must be very busy with them debuting and other matters.

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Opening the door into her house, the girl quickly put her belongings in her room and fished out her phone. She pondered on and on whether she could tell her best friend about the matter. If she did, then she would have broken the rule of keeping it confidential until their debut. If she didn’t, her best friend would be mad for not telling her earlier. She lied on her bed for awhile until her mother knocked on the door. “Juhyun-ah, it’s time for lunch.” She sighed and left her bed towards the door. “Yes, umma.”

When she reached the dining table, the table was already set up properly. Her father spoke tenderly, “JuHyun-ah, I received a call from the company today. They said you will debut next year and you will be moving to the dorm next week. Is it true?” Seohyun silently nodded and let her father continue to talk.
“Do you need help packing? Since it’s in such a small time of notice, I can help you with it.” Her mother suggested warmly. “Sure umma.” The girl agreed in a soft voice after swallowing down the food she was chewing.

“Well, is YeonHee the same group as you, Seohyun?” Her father asked caringly but the question pierced through her heart. “No, appa. She won’t be debuting. We worked so hard together! Why wasn’t she with me too?” Finally Seohyun let out her troubles as her eyes were starting to tear up.

“It’s nothing to cry about, Seohyun-ah. Even though she won’t be in the same group as you, you can still keep in touch with her right?” Seohyun’s mother cooed Seohyun. Seohyun’s tears then gradually stopped.

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Three girls were sitting at a round table in a café looking at the menu. “I’ll have the mashed potato, coleslaw, 6 pieces of fried chicken, potato wedges, fish and chips, and a vanilla ice cream please.” Sooyoung said causing the waitress in the Western style café to be taken aback by the amount of food ordered by the slim figure sitting at the table. “And I’ll have the mixed grill, thank you.” Yuri said as the waitress gained back her composure. “Tuna sandwich, no cucumber, thanks.” Jessica ordered curtly as she did not like talking much with strangers. “Drinks?” The waitress asked the three girls politely. “Ice lemon tea.” The three girls looked at each other and giggled as they ordered their drinks at the same time. As it was summer, they ordered a drink to cool themselves down.

“Jessica, when were you allergic to cucumber? Why didn’t we notice it?” Yuri curiously asked out of concern. “Erm…since I was a child? Well, we were always eating Korean food when we were out, so it was mostly rice, meat and vegetables. No cucumbers, except the ones for decoration.” Jessica explained.

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Taeyeon quickly walked towards a newsstand and found her father reading the newspaper. “Appa, we’re done. Let’s go home.” The middle-aged man nodded and both of them walked to the train station side by side. They no longer hold their hands as Taeyeon find it embarrassing as time passed. Sometimes, she would still miss the warmth of her father hands yet she did not know what was holding her back.

Her father loves her dearly and also encouraged her in taking this path of career when Taeyeon told him about it. Even though it was a difficult task to be a celebrity and a secret agent for the country at the same time, he gave his full support nonetheless.

Taeyeon had first won the singing competition in Seoul held by SM entertainment. After she won, the agency had found her talent as a secret agent when they saw the speed of her leaving after she got her prize. As the agency still had her contact details, they decided to cast her in SM entertainment as she has the potential to be both singer and secret agent.

They asked her about her decision and she gladly accepted it. Her father has always taught her to be patriotic towards the country and this was the chance for her to show it. Besides that, she could also live her dream of being a singer. The agency also forbids her to tell others about the double faces of the company and she kept quiet about it.

Sometimes she got hurt from her training in close combat and her parents would ask what had happened worriedly and all she said was that she fell down or knocked something over. The parents slowly reckoned that their daughter is just careless.

However, now that she was selected as part of the group, the parents would have a need to know about it. Mr Lee Soo Man had called all of the girls’ parents and asked for their permission and informed them when the girls were in the meeting room earlier. What Taeyeon did not know was that her parents had now known the truth to her injuries and wounds.

“How was it?” Her father spoke after walking some distance. “It was great! I met my other members but one of them happened to be someone who I bumped into accidentally. She wasn’t that happy about it, she seems to be a person who holds grudge for a long time though because even after I apologized for many times, she still doesn’t forgive me.” Taeyeon told her father about Tiffany.

“Aw, but time will have to cure it. You two are going to be in the same group from now on now.” Her father coaxes Taeyeon. “Yep, I guess she will have to forget about it eventually.” Taeyeon said.

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“Hello, Daddy?” A girl was holding her phone to her ear while walking down the streets back to her dormitory the company rented for overseas trainees. “Steph, I was waiting for your call!” A middle-aged man was speaking enthusiastically to the girl. “How did you know I was going to call?” Tiffany asked curiously. “Erm…Er…Don’t you always call when something good happens?” Her father stuttered as he just let the word slipped out of his mouth.

“How did you know something good did happen?” Tiffany asked curiously. She hadn’t told her father about being selected yet, or about the meeting earlier. “Um…good things always happen to you, doesn’t it?” Her father said nervously. “Oh daddy, just tell me already. How did you know?”

“Fine…I shouldn’t have slipped out I knew anyway. Mr Lee Soo Man called me earlier asking for my consent as letting you join the group. I never knew you were also training as a secret agent. Why didn’t you tell me?” Her father asked. “Well, you wouldn’t let me if I told you. So what did you say? Don’t tell me that you rejected!” Tiffany shockingly said, partly worried that she won’t be able to be part of the group.

“Well, if I didn’t give him consent, you wouldn’t be calling me now right, daughter?” The man teased Tiffany. “Oh, daddy, I love you so much!” Tiffany nearly shouted into the phone out of joy. Onlookers was looking at her and she quickly realised she had nearly shouted but the volume was the same as shouting for an average person.
 

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