Six: Jiwon - Royal Pains
 

Monday, May 13th 2013 -- Jellyfish Entertainment Vocal Practice Room
Seoul, South Korea
 

Jung Taeksoo strummed a few chords on her guitar before pausing to retune her instrument, the strings having loosened in the warm May heat. The practice room wasn't air conditioned. When she was done tuning, she plucked a few strings before smiling and looking up, quite pleased with herself, at the room's other occupant who was standing right in front of her.

"Alright, unnie. Are you ready?" Taeksoo asked.

Cha Jiwon, two years Taeksoo's senior, nodded and Taeksoo began playing while Jiwon sang, the two doing an acoustic cover of Bruno Mars' "Marry You". Jiwon stood nice and tall, her shoulders back and head tilted back slightly so she could open up a bit more - good singing posture. Not that she would have it while she was busy dancing around while singing, anyway, but it was always good to practice it.

The two always met in the practice room before their long, arduous dance rehearsals. Jiwon was always a stickler about being early for practices (and she can't remember how many times she had scolded Chaebin for being late) and Taeksoo just always found herself hovering around the Jellyfish building between practicing and spending time with her brother and boyfriend anyway.

Jiwon was glad to have found a friend in the slowly dwindling pull of trainees. One of the girls had just quit, leaving Jellyfish altogether for unknown personal reasons. They had gone from 14 to 12 to 11 in just a few short months and there were surely still cuts to be made. Jiwon felt pretty close to the other girls she was training with, which was a nice change of pace compared to her life at her former company, Cube Entertainment, and did feel a little saddened that all 11 remaining couldn't end up in the group, but at the end of the day her focus was on herself. She knew a lot of the other girls were of the same mindset.

Taeksoo let out a sigh after playing the last chord of the song. "I wish I could sing like you."

"You could with more vocal training," Jiwon replied.

"Thanks but no thanks," said Taeksoo. "I like dancing more anyway, so I'll just keep playing to my strengths. That's what Leo told me to do anyway."

"If you say so," Jiwon ruffled the younger girls' hair but pulled her hair away, laughing, at Taeksoo swatted at her. "Thanks for the little jam session, but we should probably head to the dance studio. Practice starts in 15."

"I suppose..." Taeksoo groaned a bit, not particularly looking forward to another evening with their stern dance instructor and choreographer. She busied herself with the task of putting her guitar back in its case. "Don't wait up. I'll be right there. Don't forget your inhaler!"

"You'd better be right behind me," Jiwon teased as she picked up her inhaler that she had placed beside Taeksoo's guitar case; due to her bad asthma, she would be screwed during dance practice without it. She waved and left the room, headed down the long, fluorescent-lit hallway to the dance studio.

She was probably halfway there when she felt an arm on her shoulder that almost made her jump, but the voice accompanying it calmed her down instantly.

"Cha Jiwon, just the girl I was looking for!" Hwang Saejun, the CEO of Jellyfish Entertainment, announced loudly, giving her shoulder a slight squeeze before letting go. "I was hoping to catch you before your started practice. I need to have a small word with you."

Jiwon stopped walking and regarded her slightly-chubby, middle-aged boss, nervously. She wasn't getting cut, was she?

"Saeyeon has been telling me wonderful things about you," said Saejun. "I just wanted to thank you for your hard work and dedication. I know it wasn't easy making the switch from Cube to Jellyfish, but I just think you've been such an inspiration to the rest of the trainees. As such, I just wanted to let you know, personally, based on Saeyeon's recommendation, that you are a confirmed member for the group and, being that you are one of the oldest in the group and have more trainee years than most of your peers, I'd like for you to consider yourself to be the leader of the group."

"Leader?" Jiwon frowned. Most days she didn't even know if she truly wanted to be an idol. Now she was slated to debut and be in charge of the entire group.

"Of course," Saejun answered. "Saeyeon tells me you really know how to crack the whip on the group. You're stern about punctuality and always encouraging the girls to work harder. Certainly makes of a true leader... unless you'd rather not be?"

"Uh... I mean... It would be an honor to be the leader of the group," Jiwon bowed to the CEO, respectfully.

Saejun smiled. "Good. Thank you, Jiwon-ah."

"Do you know who else is going to be in the group?" Jiwon asked.

Saejun shrugged. "We have an idea of who we'd like in the group, but we're still monitoring until we can come to a clear decision on members. I wouldn't tell you anyway. Wouldn't want you start showing bias towards any of the girls, now would we?"

Jiwon shook her head, silently agreeing with the man.

"But if you want, I will let you know one thing," said Saejun. "Instead of a six or seven member group, we're thinking of going a bit bigger. Nine."

Jiwon's eyes widened in shock a bit. Nine was definitely a lot of girls, but that would also mean that less of her newfound friends would get cut from the group, which was certainly a nice thing to think about.

"Nine," Saejun repeated. "It seems to be a powerful number in Korean pop music world, especially for girl groups. There's So Nyeo Shi Dae and Nine Muses, reaching the top with nine members. After School had nine members at one point in time. Then there's T-ara who damn near fell apart in their attempt at having nine members. Now, a big piece of our group's success with the number nine rests with you. As the leader, it's up to you to help keep the group together and focused, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Jiwon answered quietly, her head still realing from the new information and her new leadership position.

"Wonderful," Saejun squeezed her shoulder once more. "On that note, have a good rehearsal. Work hard and I'll see you girls later."

With a smile, he walked off down the hall and around the corner, leaving Jiwon alone.

Author's Note

Congratulations to Rainy/bypass and Cha Jiwon, Blue's main vocalist and leader!