7/04/2013 - Pulsar's Dorm

One would expect a lot more nerves in Pulsar's dormitory than there were. It was, after all, about 11:39 PM on the night before their official debut - and isn't that nerve-wracking?

The answer, of course, is yes; however, the girls had grouped up in the room shared by Kerry and Rosalie for no real reason at all, and they didn't seem scared in any sense of the word - although something was being felt, if the room's eerie quiet was any indication. Aside from Baifeng, who was absently strumming her guitar, and the occasional squeaks from Charles the chinchilla, the room stayed quiet.

Naturally, Hyomi broke the silence. "It's seriously tomorrow," she mused, barely noticing that Charles had scurried far away and onto Eunji's lap. "I mean, we've trained for all this time and now it's here. We're going to debut and be on shows and stuff. What if all the fanboys don't like us? Or if we can't make friends with other groups, or if our debut album ends up flopping?" The maknae didn't even seem to pause for breath as she spoke, eyes wide.

"I can't believe it either," Eunjoo agreed with a slight nod. "We've worked so hard to get here, though." Eunjoo seemed to be in slight disbelief as well.

"But it's worth it, isn't it?" Eunji asked kindly. Pulsar had been dorming together since 2011, and a bit into that year, the spark in Eunji's eyes had faded. (Kerry had asked why, but she didn't get a real answer - just a "yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it.") Eunji had seemed a bit happier lately, though, and that was always a good thing.

"We'll be huge," Lea added, moving from her spot on Kerry's bed and next to Hyomi, who was sitting on the floor. She wrapped an arm around the other girl with a small smile.

"Maybe. I just hope we don't end up totally hated for coming on to Phantom, or something," Baifeng added with a slight frown.  "But even if that happens, at least it means we can get some," she added as an afterthough, pushing up her glasses and nodding. The room burst out into nervous laughter, which quickly turned into full giggles.

"Either way, tomorrow's the debut stage. No nerves here," commented Rosalie, leaning back on her bed and nodding. "I just hope they like us."

"Don't we all?" agreed Kerry. "But they will. We have the best leader in the industry right now, after all." In response to that, Baifeng playfully threw a pillow at the older girl, causing the room to return to full giggles. (And for that matter, whatever nerves Hyomi had disappeared completely.)

7/05/2013 - Inkigayo's Waiting Area

To their credit, the girls did get some sleep the night before; however, the night had quickly turned into a pillow fight when Baifeng threw that pillow at Kerry. Getting up in the morning was a bit of a job for most of the girls, though. Eunji and Lea in particular were tough jobs for Kerry, who put herself in charge of waking the rest of the members. Hyomi, Eunjoo and Baifeng were prepared, though; they woke up around 5 minutes early in order to get ready.

The girls piled into the van and had a fairly uneventful ride to Inkigayo. (Eunji and Lea had quickly went back to sleep as they drove, and other than Hyomi complaining about the song having to be cut for length, the ride was almost completely silent.)

The van pulled up to Inkigayo right on schedule. The parking lot had overflowed with fangirls of the boy bands that were promoting at the time - B.A.P. and Exo, specifically. "The vans always go in the other way, though," Baifeng said with a slight frown.

"Otherwise the boys would be attacked," agreed Kerry absently, checking to see if the rest of her group had left the van before slamming the door shut. Eunji and Eunjoo exchanged a look that seemed to say, "I have no clue how those two know that, but I guess it's useful advice?"

In the waiting area, the girls got their hair and makeup done with time to spare. Kerry had gone over to chat with B.A.P.; Yongguk in particular was laughing at her jokes. The rest of the group stayed mostly quiet, aside from Himchan's occasional snarky comment. 

"You're performing today, sis?" asked a voice from behind Baifeng, making her jump.

"Yixing, don't scare me like that," she scolded, switching effortlessly to Chinese and earning an eyeroll from her twin brother. "So are you, clearly. I saw your fans out there." 

"They always wait at the wrong place," he said with a frown. 

"It's for the best. Otherwise - well, you remember what happened with Jongin, right?"

"We all do," Yixing replied, quickly changing the subject. (Baifeng was eternally curious about the airport incident. However, it seemed like none of her brother's bandmates would talk about it at all. Ever.) "Oh - there's somebody that I want you to meet, come on," he added, like he had just remembered. (Knowing him, Baifeng thought, he probably has.)

"You set me up," she mumbled as she followed her brother to where the rest of EXO was standing.

"Everyone, this is my sister, Baifeng!" Yixing announced with a smile, to which Baifeng waved sheepishly.

"I know them already. I met them at the teaser shoot, remember?"

"Oh." Pause. "Just Luhan and Jongin, though. So this is Xiumin, Zitao..."

For the rest of her forced introduction to Exo by her brothers, Baifeng tuned out, instead going over her parts in her head. She was rudely awakened from her trance by Yixing shaking her and saying, "Come on, shake his hand."

"Oh." The guy in front of her was smiling curiously, eyebrows raised. "I'm Suho," he said when Baifeng finally took it, his grin going from curious to kind in a matter of milliseconds. "And you're Baifeng?"

"If we're going by stage names, I'm Baekin," she replied. "But Baifeng's fine."

Suho was about to reply something about Baekhyun and rhyming, but he was cut short by the stage manager yelled, "Exo, you're on in five. B.A.P., you're on deck."

"I guess I have to go. Let's talk later," Suho promised. Baifeng noticed he hadn't let go of her hand until he rushed off to join the rest of Exo backstage. 

"He did set me up," muttered Baifeng again, crossing her arms.

"Wait, Zitao!" Eunjoo called. The tall boy stopped for a second, a smirk playing at his lips, as his girlfriend ran to hug him. "Good luck," she whispered into his chest, leaning up to kiss his cheek before she let go.

"Same to you," he replied, running to join his boys and leaving Eunjoo smiling widely.

"I can't believe you have a boyfriend," commented Hyomi, pouting slightly and shaking her head.

Meanwhile, Lea was texting somebody; Eunji, who was standing next to her, had no idea as to who, but it was enough to send a giant smile on the other girl's face. (It was a feeling Eunji remembered all too well; she shook it off and tried her best to ignore it, though a sad look did cross her face at the memory.)

To: BoA

It's our debut stage ;; 

From: BoA

Don't be nervous, you'll be fine ^^ mine was scary, i remember that ehe. but then I got better.

To: BoA

of course you did, that's why they call you "the queen", isn't it? and in any case i'm not the nervous one. 

From: BoA

well then go talk to her instead of talking to me. we can catch up later. love you.

To: BoA

love you too, i'll tell you how it goes when it's done with.

With that last message, she put her phone on the makeup table. Curiously, Eunji asked, "Who are you texting?"

"Ah, nobody in particular," Lea replied, noticing the sad look on the other girl's face. "Are you alright?" she asked, putting a hand on Eunji's arm, concerned. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "Don't worry about it." With that, she took out her own cell phone and began to play a game - anything to get her mind off of things.

"You nervous, Hyomi?" Rosalie asked, concerned at the maknae. Unlike her usual talkative, bouncy and hyper self, she had been sitting at the makeup table, completely spaced out.

"Oh! What? No, that's not it. I'm just really shocked since Joo unnie has a boyfriend, and since it's somebody famous like Tao. I mean - my brother, he met Exo once, and their fans went insane. What if Joo gets found out and we all get hated on?" Hyomi replied, eyes widening as she spoke. (Once again, she failed to pause for breath while saying that.)

"It'll be fine. If they're real fans they'll support the relationship," Rosalie replied with a nod. "If they're not, they don't deserve to be called Exo fans."

"If that's what you think it's probably true, but it's still weird,"  Hyomi said.

Once again, any potential reply was interrupted by the stage manager once again. "B.A.P., you're on in five. Pulsar, you guys might as well get backstage too," he added as an afterthought. The two groups rushed backstage, Hyomi almost jumping up and down and tripping in her excitement. Kerry and Yongguk, however, had stuck around a little bit once the waiting area had emptied - they had about one minute to talk, and they fully intended to use it. (Kerry decided to not say anything about the fact that she was going to be late for a performance, which was always irritating.)

Yongguk wrapped his arms around Kerry's waist, smiling slightly. "You excited?"

"Of course I am. You think I wouldn't be?" she replied with a smirk. "30 seconds," she added, thanking god the stage outfits allowed her to wear her watch.

"You'll be amazing," Yongguk whispered in her ear quickly, causing Kerry to blush. "Now let's go. 15 seconds?"

"16. You were close," Kerry said with a chuckle, heading to join her group backstage.

7/05/2013 - Inkigayo's Backstage

EXO's fans, after what seemed like eons, died down. B.A.P. took the stage afterwards. (Kerry had mouthed a "good luck" to Yongguk, who took it with a wide grin before settling into a more serious performance mood.)

As B.A.P. filed onstage, Hyomi felt a bump on her shoulder. She'd been brushed by a guy in B.A.P. that she didn't know, but she figured it best to ignore it, but the guy mouthed an apology anyways. In respones, Hyomi shrugged and leaned back against some boxes, checking first to make sure they wouldn't fall down. (The guy was pretty cute, if Hyomi was to say anything about it. She didn't want to ruin her newly-debuting girl group coolness by doing something embarassing in front of as-of-yet-unnamed cute boy.)

Meanwhile, Rosalie's eyes were glued to her phone; she'd been texting Soohyun throughout the course of the day.

From: Soohyun

ahhhhh are you backstage? stop texting me the

To: Soohyun

if you don't reply to me I'll stop

From: Soohyun

you don't want me to stop, you know it aha

To: Soohyun

...

Rosalie didn't reply after that message, though if she had a choice she would've sent something longer (not like she would have admitted that, however); Pulsar had been given the signal that there was one minute before showtime. Kerry huddled the girls in a circle. 

"Remember last night?" she began, raising her eyebrows. "We're going to be amazing out there. Just remember that and we'll be fine. No nerves, no stress. Got it, ladies?" Within the circle, there was a general murmur of agreement. 

And with those words on their minds, and nothing else - no relationships or worries or cares - they took the stage.

a/n: hey, guys! so pulsar's wild ride in the kpoposphere starts here...buahaha.

i'm really disappointed about how this chapter turned out; i tried to include every member and relationship well but it didn't work out as i planned. i hope you enjoy it, though; next chapter in maybe 2 weeks max?