Seven: Hyunjin - Cerulean's Voice
 

Friday, June 21st 2013 -- Jellyfish Entertainment Trainee Dorm
Seoul, South Korea
 

The female trainee's dorm living room was crowded as everyone had decided to come out and socialize after practice, which had graciously been ended two hours early. All of the instructors seemed pleased with the girls' progress and had felt that a night off was in order, especially since their finally evaluations were just around the corner. Not all of the trainees for the group stayed in the dorm - mostly just the international ones and the ones who came from other cities in South Korea that were too far from Seoul.

Joo Hyunjin's family was in Amsterdam, so she was one of the trainees who called the dorm home. And she had to admit, not a night went by when she didn't miss her bed back home. Being raised in Amsterdam, she missed having a legitimate bed to sleep in. The trainee dorm was far from extravagant and to save on cost and keep with Asian culture (so CEO Hwang Saejun says), they slept on thick pads on the floor. Most of the girls liked the pads because they could be easily be rolled up and pushed aside for impromptu dance practices and it was easy to pick up and sleep somewhere else if they weren't particularly getting along with another trainee.

But Hyunjin definitely missed having a bed.

"I'm hungry!" Kyungah whined for the umpteenth time, reclining against the wall. She was situated between Taeksoo and Soohyo, all huddled around a laptop and watching MBLAQ's Smoky Girl performance on Music Bank.

"When are you ever not hungry?" Jiwon grinned and Kyungah stuck her tongue out at the slightly shorter girl.

"We should get some food," Chaebin suggested. "Break our diets for a night. But we have to keep it a secret." Chaebin didn't live at the dorm, but she liked hanging out with most of the other trainees a lot and only lived a thirty minute bus ride away in nearby Anyang.

Kyungah sighed. "I want to eat food, not walk out and buy it."

"Let's kai bai bo for it," Hyunjin suggested, holding out a balled-up fist in order to challenge the rest of the girls to the friendly game. "Loser has to go get food for the group."

The group of girls scooted in, hands ready. "Kai bai bo!" They all shouted and held out in their hands, showing off their weapons of choice.

Hyunjin frowned. Everyone else had thrown scissors while she threw paper.

"Well, that didn't turn out as well as I hoped," Hyunjin mumbled, disappointed.

Jiwon gave the younger girl a sympathetic look and handed her a few bills - 25,000 won. "Dinner's on me, everyone. There's a chicken shop right down the street. Does that sound good?"

"I knew you were my favorite unnie for a reason," Taeksoo commented with a shy smile.

"Chicken..." Kyungah was practically drooling already. "Well come on now, Hyunjin. Don't just sit there. We want chicken!"

The other girls cheered, agreeing with the shikshin dancer.

"Don't rush me, unnie," Hyunjin snapped, playfully. "Aish, you guys."

"I'll come with you," Chaebin offered. "So I can help you carry everything back."

And with that, the two girls exited the dorm and made their way to the bottom floor of the apartment building it was housed in and out into the hot Seoul summer night. The chicken shop was only a block away, so they simply enjoyed the five minute walk in companionable silence.

A small bell clanged at they opened the door to the shop, heat and the smell of cooking meat, sauce, and seasonings hitting them instantly.

"Well, hello, girls!"

The store owner hurriedly rushed from the kitchen in the back to the front counter, showing off a bright, customer-friendly eye smile. He wiped his hands on his apron.

"What can I get for you?"

Despite the cordial vibe the man gave off, Hyunjin felt nervous. suddenly became dry and her mind began racing a mile a second about all the things that could go wrong from the little social interaction. In reality not much could go wrong, but she couldn't convince herself of that no matter how hard she tried..

Rather helplessly she gave Chaebin a very pointed look.

Chaebin sighed and leaned in so she could talk without being heard. "Unnie, how can you be one of the best vocalists, if not the best vocalist, in our trainee group but still be so nervous talking to stangers?" She whispered.

"I don't know!" Hyunjin hissed back. "I just am, okay?"

"Can we get two orders of the sweet garlic chicken and two of the spicy chicken?" Chaebin asked sweetly, immediate turning her attention back to the store owner, the conversation immediately dropped for the time being.

Hyunjin happily stood back and waited, letting Chaebin do all of the talking until they finally received their boxes of chicken and left the store.

Author's Note

Congratulations to Hyunjin/mudkipislegit and her awesome character, Blue's main vocalist Joo Hyunjin!