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The dorm…

 

As Taeyeon swung open the door, a small corridor was in front of them. The sides were lined with two wooden shoe cabinets. She took off her shoes and dragged her luggage off a little step, temporarily leaving her luggage in the living room and went to check the conditions of the dormitory.

 

The other members followed Taeyeon and placed their shoes neatly on the shoe cabinets. They left their luggage unattended in the living room, and went around themselves.

 

Taeyeon first went over to the kitchen to check the water taps and stove while Sooyoung opened the refridgerator and also the cabinets, hoping to find any food. Sooyoung was devastated when she found none while Taeyeon commented, “Well, we will need some food supplies for the rest of the days here. We can go shopping at the mall nearby later.” Sooyoung shouted, “I’ll come along!”

 

Jessica dragged Yuri along with her and checked the bedrooms. “Do you really have to?” Yuri complained as Jessica went sitting on the mattress on every bed. “Of course! Hey, they are all very comfortable!” Jessica exclaimed. “I wonder how Taeyeon will assign our rooms. We’ll get to see what a leader she is.” Yuri pondered.

 

Sunny then went over to the windows beside the living room to take a view of the scenery. Below them, there were cars speeding in both directions and trees lined along the road act as a barrier between the lanes. Opposite, was the view of shops lined horizontally with a crowd bustling between the streets that separated one block from another.

 

Hyoyeon went to the dining area and spotted Taeyeon and Sooyoung was there. Noting something was amiss, she exclaimed, “Hey, there’s only one table and four chairs. Not fair!” Yoona came over and joined in, “Maybe this area is too small, Hyoyeon.” However, a light bulb went off above Sooyoung’s head and cheered, “We can have a buffet meal everyday!”

 

Seohyun quietly went around the dormitory and checked the toilet. She the taps letting water run for a while, making sure the water is clean. She turned the taps on in the shower room as well and also flushed the toilet bowl. Everything was clean and in perfect condition. However, she realised there are 9 of them and only 1 toilet, she would voice out the problem later.

 

Amidst all the different things the girls were doing, Yoona went to the balcony at the back. The metal railings were painted black and surrounded the area to prevent people from falling down. The clothes line was already there, but it wasn’t that much for 9 girls living in the same house.

 

As they all finally made finish their own inspections of the dormitory, Taeyeon gathered the girls at the living room and they all sat on the floor in a circle. “Ja, there is a room with three beds while the others are double bed rooms. I think we should draw lots so that we can mix a bit and know each other better.” Taeyeon said, looking at the other members’ reaction. They all nodded, agreeing to her choice.

 

She was new to being a leader, and she wanted to make the choices agreeable to everyone. She decided to draw lots for each of the room so that they could mix in with one another and understand each other more, so that their bond will strengthen.

 

She drew out a paper from her backpack which she brought with her and began cutting the paper into strips, then coloured the ends with different colours. There were 2 blue, 2 red, 2 green, and 3 yellow strips. She then decided to shuffle the strips behind her back and covered the ends of the colour with her palms, showing the uncoloured strips to her members.

 

“Yellow represent the room with three beds, blue for that room *points towards door*, red for that room *points towards another door *, and green for that room *points towards the last door*. Now everyone pick one. I will take the last one.” She put her hands in front of her and let every other member pick their lots. Everyone picked their lots and kept it to themselves. “Ok, on the count of three, let’s show our lots! One, two, three!” Taeyeon counted and everyone showed their lots.

 

Sooyoung, Yoona and Taeyeon were holding onto yellow coloured end strips, looking at each other awkwardly. Meanwhile, Jessica and Hyoyeon both had blue coloured end strips. Both of them smiled comfortably to each other.

 

Tiffany was glad that she won’t be in the same room with Taeyeon but with the cute maknae Seohyun as they both drew out their red coloured end strips. Yuri groaned in despair deep inside when she realised she will be in the same room in Sunny. Who doesn’t when she is in the same room as the niece of the founder of their company? Nonetheless, she gave Sunny a smile while Sunny brightly said, “Looking forward to knowing you better!”

 

However, “Now the rooms are decided, shall we unpack our belongings now? Or do you all want to come shopping with me? It seems that the kitchen is lacking food even though the utensils are provided, and we need some daily household items.” Taeyeon looked at the members again, indecisive on what to do next.

 

“Shopping! Food!!” Sooyoung immediately answered. “Shouldn’t we unpack first?” Tiffany said, hinting the amount of things she has to unpack from her luggage. Yoona joined in the discussion with “Food, leader, I need food!” Jessica who was relenting to leave the dormitory once again to get under the hot sun, said, “Unpacking would be nice.”

 

Meanwhile, Yuri, Sunny, Hyoyeon and Seohyun remained silent, claiming neutral between the choices. “Alright, those who want to unpack their things first while those who want to do shopping come with me. Sounds good?” Taeyeon suggested while silently scolding herself in for she didn’t thought that they could split up and do different things.

 

So, Seohyun, Yuri, Jessica and Tiffany stayed behind in the dormitory to unpack their things while the others went out to the mart nearby to buy some food to store. Luckily, the dormitory was already furnished fully and even had some basic electrical appliances like the television, refridgerator, rice cooker and so on. They even provided the girls with cooking utensils, except that they had to get food by themselves.

 

*In the mart nearby…*

“Sooyoung and Yoona! Stop getting so much food! I might not be able to pay at the cashier later! I only have 10.000 won with me!” Taeyeon complained. “Hyoyeon, stop dancing to the music playing here! You are embarrassing me..” Sunny complained too. Both of them being the eldest in the group could only neglect their now embarrassed feelings and move on.

 

*Back in the dorm…*

“Jessica, seriously? Sleeping now?” Yuri asked annoyingly when she knocked on Jessica’s door but found the girl to be lying on her bed instead of unpacking. “I’m not sleeping; I’m just closing my eyes to rest…” Jessica replied lifelessly, unmoved by Yuri’s interruption.

 

“Tiffany unnie, do you need some help?” Seohyun asked Tiffany softly. Since the names Stephanie and Tiffany are still quite similar, the members are quite used to it. “Yes, thank you very much, Juhyun.” Tiffany was glad that someone had decided to help her.

 

*At night…*

“Now everything’s set at last! Did you all enjoyed dinner?” Taeyeon announced as they once again gathered on the floor in the living room. Just then, their doorbell rang. “Who could it be?” Yoona asked as she went to the door.

 

She swung open the door and the manager oppa stepped in. Before the girls could even greet him, he already started talking. “Sorry to interrupt you girls, I am just stopping by to give you girls a briefing then I will attend to other matters.”

 

They went to the living room and sat down on the floor facing the manager. “I hope you all will adjust to the environment quickly as training will start the day after today. There will be housemaids to help to clean up the house every week, and you can place your washings in a laundry basket and they will take care of it since there won’t be much time for you girls to be doing household chores. Around a month before debut, a screening team from MNET will film you girls in a show known as “Girls Go to School”. When that time comes, you girls will pretend to have just moved in to the dormitory and begin your activities from there. I will briefly talk about it when the time comes. For now, I hope you girls know more of each other first. I recommend you girls having a 5 minute honest talk session every day. It might sound ridiculous, but it really helps. Now, are there any questions?” The manager glanced across the room.

 

Everyone remained silent, thinking through about what he said, absorbing the information into their brains. They are going to have a show?! Their own show?! They were more than excited. The honest talk session sounds good too; they can just speak out what they wanted to so that they can solve any problems or misunderstandings in the future.

 

Taeyeon made a mental note to hold this session later at night. Hopefully, she clears up the problem of Tiffany bickering at her. Meanwhile, Sunny wanted to make sure the other members are alright with Mr Lee Soo Man as her uncle.

“If there are no questions or faults with the dormitory, I shall take my leave now. Take a good rest and I will see you again tomorrow.” With that, the manager left, while the girls sent him off.

 

They gathered back at the living room afterwards. Jessica was really sleepy and already started to yawn. It wasn’t very late yet, but Jessica woke up early in the morning and she was already on low energy level.

 

Meanwhile Taeyeon went to the kitchen and lighted two candles, one putting at the center of the circlet of girls while she held another one in her hand. Seohyun helped turned off the lights as they are now in darkness and with their faces barely visible from the faint light of the candles in the living room. They decided to have an honest talk session first before going to sleep.

 

“Ok, since I am holding the candle, I will start first.” Taeyeon wanted to quickly clear up Tiffany’s frustration towards her.

“Tiffany, I am really sorry about last time. Can you please forgive me?” Taeyeon asked and passed the candle to her.

 

“Fine fine, I guess if I don’t, you will probably bug me for the rest of my life. Just be careful next time you are around me. I don’t want to get hit by your dance moves too. Damn, you were strong.” Tiffany reluctantly forgave Taeyeon.

 

“Good! I will make up for you. My treat for lunch tomorrow, alright?” Taeyeon immediately cheered up, not recognizing the reluctance from Tiffany.

 

Hearing that, the other girls wanted a treat too and began to whine. In Tiffany’s heart, she forgave Taeyeon immediately when she heard that. She was childish. Yes, she was. Everything should go her way. It was like that since young. Her parents would always fonder her as she was the youngest child in the family.

 

“Fine! I will treat you all tomorrow but only 9 portions of lunch. Get it? Each for one of us.” Taeyeon glared at Sooyoung, now knowing the amount of food she can eat.

 

After that, the candle was at Taeyeon’s possession again. She pondered what to ask about the members. They know each other, but they were not to the point as best friends, except Jessica, Sooyoung and Yuri. Sometimes, Hyoyeon would be with them too.

“Ja, what is your first impression of me? Be honest.” Taeyeon handed the candle to the girl sitting next to her on her right side who happens to be Sooyoung.

 

“Cute, bubbly, but also tend to be mysterious at times. How about me?” Sooyoung passed the candle to her right who happens to be Jessica.

 

“Noisy, talks a lot.” Jessica coolly said. “Yah!!” Sooyoung yelled at her. Disregarding Sooyoung, Jessica passed Yuri the candle and asked, “Me?”

 

Yuri sadly said, “You were so scary… And cold too. If not for my own efforts to get close to you, you might be always beating up me.” Jessica frowned, and just when she was about to make a comment, Yuri brightened up and said, “I’m glad I get to know you more after and get to see you in a different light.” Jessica smiled gently and nodded.

 

“Hyoyeon, what about me? What about me?” Yuri asked enthusiastically.

 

“You…” Hyoyeon thought and tried to recall the first time she met Yuri. “You were really playful like a boy!” Hyoyeon laughed.

The other girls laughed together as it was their first impression of her too. “Yah!” Yuri pretended to be angry at them.

Hyoyeon then hesitated before asking the quiet girl next to her. “Maknae, what is your first impression of me?”

 

Seohyun contemplated for a while before calmly and seriously said, “My first impression of you was that you were really good in dancing and expressing yourself.”

 

 “WERE? I am! I still am!” Hyoyeon grinned. The rest laughed at her childishness while Seohyun passed the candle to Yoona.

 

Yoona held the candle and immediately spoke before Seohyun could ask her. “You were too quiet, I tried to spoke to you for two weeks!”

 

Seohyun explained sensibly, “It was because I was very shy. I will try to speak more.”

 

Yoona sighed before facing Tiffany. “How about me, unnie?”

 

Tiffany cheerfully said not minding to hide her eye smile, “You were so pretty! My first impression of you was you were pretty and look so innocent! No wonder you the visual of our group now!”

 

Then she faced Sunny and asked, “How about me, Soonkyu?”

 

“I hope you call me Sunny from now on, Miyoung.” Sunny said in a half serious and half joking tone. “My first impression of you was that you were really loud. Do you know that? You greeted everyone on your way to the training sessions and I could hear who was there when you walked along the way.”

 

“Oops… I will try to correct that somehow. Teehee…” Tiffany responded.

 

Finally, the candle was passed back to Taeyeon. “Soonkyu…”

 

“Sunny!” Sunny said to Taeyeon.

 

“Oops, sorry. Sunny… My first impression was… You were really bubbly and cute.” Taeyeon stated. “I see that all of us are tired now. We’ll just end here tonight. Everyone have a good night!” She stood up and was ready to wash up and go to sleep.

The rest followed suit and went back to their rooms and get ready to go to slumber. Jessica quickly grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and rushed to the toilet before anyone noticed it.

 

After that, she directly went to sleep leaving the others to argue about who should use the washroom first. “Alright, stop quarrelling; we should go according by our age, so I should go in now.” Taeyeon said a bit selfishly as she was tired and wanted to use the washroom quickly.

 

 “No! It’s unfair!” The rest objected except Seohyun. Hyoyeon then suggested, “How about we play rock, paper, scissors and decide?” The others nodded in agreement and began the game.

 

And so, everyone got their turn and went to their rooms and slept, oblivious to the day ahead of them.

 

-END-