The details of a Contract

1 R = N o t h i n g      i s     w h a t      i t      l o o k s      l i k e 

Chapter Two

When the door to the dorm opens, there is no need to say Jung Heiryung is way beyond disappointed. Nevertheless, it’s not like she didn’t see it coming. The block of apartments was on a rather cheaper part of town, not far from the building which basement the company used to harbor the many practice rooms. At least the commuting part of the deal was resolved that way.

“Is this a joke?” Heiryung cries. She immediately reaches for her phone, perfectly placed in her handbag for instant access. Her delicate fingers tap the screen of her Samsung furiously, writing a message on a group chat.

“This dorm is a flunk! How can I stay in a place like this?! I’m beyond pissed off… Wish you girls were here~~~”

“No, scratch that. I wish we were together. Someplace else. Not here. SO not here.”

She drags herself to the living room, grabbing her suitcase and rolling it back to that thing she is supposed to call ‘room’ from now on. Sprawling her suitcase on the floor, Heiryung pulls out a couple of neatly folded, perfume-smelling sheets. She quickly tugs on the simple sheet that covers the bottom bed of the bunk on the left of the room, folding it quickly and leaving it over someone else’s suitcase. She grabs onto the handbag that is dangling from one of the screws of the header of the bed: no way she is going to let people hang things on her resting place. Dropping the ped bag over the folded old sheet, she turns to complete her work.

Only a moment later, the new set is perfectly tugged in and Heiryung prepares to immerse herself in some more texting when she hears one of her ‘group mates’ speaking.

“Yah, ‘Princess’, I hope our dongsaeng’s bed is good enough for you.” Moon Kangri sits on the opposite bed, along with Seoyeon. She is staring holes with a cocked eyebrow at Heiryung, but the self-appointed royal member doesn’t notice, not even bothering to spare the fiery girl a look.

“Yes, thank you. As good as this gets, I guess…” Heiryung waves her off, her voice remaining neutral without a speck of importance in it, her eyes staring blankly into the screen of her Samsung, causing the other girl to snort in disbelieve, a lopsided smirk on her lips.

“So I’m guessing we, as your house keepers, should pick up everything you throw to the floor” Kangri retorts, unable to let the topic drop. Heiryung finally looks away from the bright screen and to the floor of the room. On the floor lie a couple of notebooks and several personal items, streaming from an ped handbag. She blinks several times before looking at Kangri once again and uttering.

“You should really pick your things up; this place is already bad enough without your personal mess” Just as she finishes her phrase her attention returns to the phone. Feeling disregarded, Kangri stands up from the bed on a swift movement and makes her way to Heiryung; Seoyeon tries to reach for her unnie’s hand, but the eldest moves too quickly. Haneul looks with wide eyes from her top bed, while Soomin just scolds at them from a corner of the room.

“Yah, look at me when we are speaking.” Kangri speaks, her voice showing contained anger, like the calm before the storm. A storm that breaks through the moment Heiryung waves her away for the second time in the past five minutes. “Can you stop being such a Diva?” she pronounces with an annoyed tone.

“Can you stop meddling in other people’s business?” Heiryung fires back, showing obvious irritation. Kangri’s hand grabs a hold of Heiryung’s bag, ping it, causing the girl to jump out of her bed, quickly angered. “Yah! Take your dirty hands off my things!” She stands, towering over Kangri, however her hands don’t move and she doesn’t advance forward.

“Why? Are you going to call your super-friends on me?” Even lacking a few inches, Kangri is not intimidated, her ironic tone and her face still boring the same smirk.

“You didn't say that! I guess someone really wants to know who Jung Heiryung is!” Heiryung’s face grows red and she stomps the floor with her left foot, but Kangri only an eyebrow, finally turning the bag over and hearing as the content of it hits the floor. The color draws from Heiryung’s face as she hears her bag hitting that nasty surface as well, her eyes staring directly at the shortest of her group mates. Chunhwa and Jangmi enter the room just in time to hear Kangri’s answer.

“Bring it on, I’m waiting!”

“Nobody is bringing on anything.” Chunhwa’s voice breaks the staring contest, all eyes falling on her and the second oldest member of Diamonds. Her stare, however, falls only on Kangri, before she firmly says. “Kangri, ‘leggo’”.

The Tigress looks at her, her anger, stopped in the middle of its release, clouds her reaction. However, after a couple of blinks, she turns her body towards the door and walks out of it, quickly followed by the eldest without saying another word. The room stays in an unexpected calm as Jangmi just stands in front of the door awkwardly, quizzically looking at Heiryung.

"Unnie, you should ask why they were fighting" Haneul pops up, eager for someone to speak again.

"Ah, yeah. That." Jangmi looks from Haneul's innocent face to Heiryung, who has retreated back to her bed, like a dragon that returns to its lair. "Why were you-?"

"This is my bed and that's it." She cuts the question, a pout on her lips and her eyes glued to her phone once again. Jangmi looks at the bed and at Soomin, who hasn’t moved since Heiryung entered the room and starting redecorating the place she was supposed to sleep on: a fact Jangmi, unlike another of the elder girls, was aware of.

"Okay then." Noticing the inflexibility of the statement, Jangmi speaks in a neutral tone, turning to the younger girl. "Soomin you can take my bed, I'll take the mattress"

"I don't want that bed, that one is yours. Your things are there, I don't want to sleep there." Her voice is emotionless, almost like she is pointing obvious facts to Jangmi.

"I can-" The dancer tries to continue, not comfortable with the current arrangement of the situation.

"I said no, I will sleep on the mattress" Soomin stubbornly declares, picking up her things and walking into the bathroom, ending the conversation for good.  Heiryung looks at her leave from the corner of her eye, before turning to her side and face the wall.

The sense of defeat follows Jangmi as she brushes her teeth, puts on her pajamas and lies down on her bed. To think she thought the only rough part of this deal was the diet. W o r  d s    c u t    d e e p e r 

Chunhwa and Kangri are laying down in the sofa-bed, completely exhausted after a day.

"Yah, don't leave your stuff on my side of the bed" Chunhwa chuckles, throwing a black snapback to Kangri, who grabs it and puts it on, winking at her best friend. "Another one of your prizes?" She teases, taking a sip of her yakult.

"You could say so..." Answers Kangri in a flirty manner, before bursting out laughing. "He has a reason to call me now, I guess."

"Pfft. Like he wasn't going to call you before." 

"Maybe I won't answer." Kangri answers with a wink, but her friend only rolls her eyes and smirks.

"You, always searching for boy-trouble."

"That's why I have you with me. You and your 'leggos', eternally getting me out of problems."

"You have a neck for this, you know. Back there in the room..." Chunhwa bites into a cookie and offers a bite to Kangri but she refuses. The eldest shrugs her shoulders, continuing to chow down.

“I know, but I couldn't avoid it! I swear she think she’s some kind of goddess or something,” Kangri mumbles as she looks at the ground. Chunhwa looks at her then sighs. “I mean, who does she think she is?” she says louder, looking at Chunhwa in the eyes.

“Yeah, she’s a diva . Nothing can save her and her friends from the spell of eternal stupidity and shallowness.” Kangri chuckles a bit. Like always, Chunhwa is the best bet for making her feel better. “But you’re not Wonder Woman; you don’t have to be helping everybody.” Chunhwa said with a serious tone. Kangri looks at her then laughs.

“You can’t be serious?” Kangri looks in her best friend's eyes then; when she realizes that she was serious, she laughs even harder. “They’re babies! You can’t leave those babies to fend for themselves, especially when they’re up against adults.” Chunhwa smiles as she admits defeat.

“But I ain’t fighting for anybody,” she states before finishing the cookie that she has in her hand.

“Chun, I’m hungry now,” Kangri whines, “let’s order something.”

“Have more cookies.” Chunhwa passes the packet to her. “We don’t have enough money to order.”

Kangri wrinkles her nose and opens it, defeated; her mind keeps wandering to some actual food. “The final race is in front of us,” she says, completely changing the atmosphere, "we won't be able to sleep properly anymore."

The eldest sips on some yakult before firmly answering. “Let’s make it to the final line: let's debut together.”

“We have to pinky promise on that,” Kangri grins in response, joking.

“Let’s do that tomorrow, I ain't getting up to do anything now.”

"Sure sure, I'm so tired." Kangri yawns and stretches her arms, rolling over Chunhwa and hugging her with her legs.

"Yah! Back off, skinship monster! You are going to make me spill my stuff."

"But you are so fluffy, honey." The Tigress nuzzles into the older girl in a mocking way and even if she looks so uncomfortable, they laugh like two old ladies. Just then, the door of the room opens and Haneul and Seoyeon enter the living room, with the youngest making silly dances and chatting happily. When the girls see the position their 'superiors' are, Seoyeong immediatly lowers her head and grabs Haneul's skinny arm.

"Sorry, we will get our water and... good night." She mumbles, bowing and running towards the fridge, retrieving a bottle of the precious liquid and fumbling her way back to the room.

"Nighty night!" Haneul smiles and waves her hand, almost in a child-like manner before the door closes. Kangri and Chunhwa look at the now closed door, like they didn't have time to register everything but burst out laughing a second later.

"They are going to think weirdly of us." Chunhwa shakes her face side to side.

"Talk for yourself, I just got a message from 'Cute-hat-guy'" Kangri teases, checking her phone and biting her lower lip.

"Blah, I'm not looking forward to get any message from some 'swag-wannabe'" The eldest rolls her eyes, resuming her quest to get herself from under the world's clingiest roommate.

"Not even the cute bartender?" Kangri's tone is flirty, as it always is when it comes to teasing and attractive boys. "Come on, he always fills your drink more... Or wait, maybe you..."

"No, I'm not interested. This future kpop idol is tired. Good night." Chunhwa, on the other hand, cuts the conversation short; in a way that indicates the inappropriateness of the topic. The hidden 'leggo' of the tone gets to Kangri, who lies back on the sofa-bed, turning her back to her best friend.

Not another word is crossed until the next day comes.

Knock, knock

The clock is about to hit the big black "7" mark when the sound of knocking on wood disrupts the seemly passiveness of a girl-filled dorm. Im Seoyeon cautiously approaches the door. 

"Who is it?" Her soft voice asks. She waits for a response but doesn't hear anything. Looking through the peephole in the door, it isn't hard for her to observe a familiar suit. She opens the door to let Minho in, but it's not their manager the one who comes strutting into the room first. The man is slightly shorter than Minho, with longer hair carefully styled to look disheveled and a pair of big sunglasses covering his eyes.

She looks him up and down when he turns his back to her. As the guy looks around at the apartment, she comes to a conclusion: there is no angle of his appearance that doesn't look perfectly crafted. Seoyeon only stays in her stupor for a moment, as both Kangri and Chunhwa stand up like the sofa is on fire, clearly shocked by the presence of the stranger. The tension in the room is palpable when Do Minho finally steps into the dorm, closing the door behind him. His usual suit is in place, just like his hairstyle and his suitcase, the only difference is he is now holding a big travel bag with the same hand. He turns to Seoyeon and speaks in a polite manner.

"Gather the rest of your group mates." He looks at her, waiting for the girl to bow. After a couple of confused blinks, she does, smiling shyly and skips into the room, returning with a poker-faced Heiryung, a nervous yet excited Soomin, an eager but tense Jangmi and a cheerful Haneul, linking her arms with the last one.

During the minute it takes for them to get out of the room, the stylish stranger seems to have made himself at home. He opens the fridge, under the puzzled stares of the 'Fierce line' of Diamond. Both girls make confused faces at Minho, but he simply shakes his head and sighs as the guy opens a soda and takes a sip from it. He scrunches his nose and shakes his head, leaving the can on the counter. The disconcert expression spreads to the faces of the remaining members as they look at the snoopy newcomer.

"Taewoo-ssi, would you mind?" Minho sighs again, making the other man turn and quickly go to stand next to him "Good morning, girls. I hope you had a great first night at your dorm." He can clearly see some of the girls roll their eyes at his statement, he would do so too if he could, but he clears his throat and moves on. "Today, I'm going to introduce you to..." But Taewoo butts in before he can finish his sentence, probably bored by Minho's monotone voice.

"Yoon Taewoo, Immortal King of Fashion, hairdresser, stylist magnifique, Instagram addict and, oh, right, your personal fashion coordinator from now on." He says, making emphasis on each of his 'titles', taking his sunglasses off in a swift movement, letting the girls see his 'ulzzang'-like face in all his glory.

"So... Fabulous..." Says Haneul, as drops slightly open.

Soomin looks at herself, staring at the mess she calls clothing, and feels self-conscious, hunching her shoulders. Jangmi keeps a tense smile on her lips, reminding herself that fashion was also part of the contract: she just didn't expect it to be brought up so soon. Seoyeon puts a hand over , to muffle her soft giggles, as she pulls Haneul closer to her, making the youngest mirror her reaction.

"Can I keep him in my pocket?" Whispers Kangri to Chunhwa, a cheeky grin on her face.

"I want him to 'Brian Joo' me" Says Chunhwa in the same tone, and they both have to fight to suppress a laugh.

Taewoo claps, bringing silence again to the room.

"Okay, well, now we are going to get to know each other. So please, line up in here, so I can take a look at you." He says cheerfully, drawing an imaginary line in front of himself and looking at all of them with the same sweet expression. The girls fumble but, soon, line up according to age, as Minho recommends.

Taewoo approaches Chunhwa first, grabbing her chin and making her face turn softly.

"Eh... Excuse me?" She asks, not really comfortable with all of this.

"You have some resemblance to some famous people don't you? I like it. So... Soohee.  Beautiful skin too, interesting eyes, I can see." He speaks sweetly, letting go of her. Chunhwa awkwardly smiles and nods, but he is not paying that much attention to her anymore as he is repeating the process with the other girls, making statements that seem more like notes to himself than anything else, but that do rip some awkward smiles from each of them.

Once he finishes, he stands again next to an annoyed Minho and claps his hands once more, making the girls smile.

"Okay, now that we know each other-"

"But Taewoo-ssi, sir, we didn't tell you our names." Soomin points out.

"I'm Haneul, the maknae!" The youngest jumps in with enthusiasm, raising her hand.

"And I'm Seoyeon, the Eyesmile princess!" She says a second after, doing a 'V' sign over her right eye and smiling in a way that her eyes turn into crescent moons over her cheeks.

"More like Chubby bunny" says Kangri, reaching for one of her cheeks and giving it a soft squeeze, making everyone in the room chuckle. Everyone but Minho, who clears his throat once again.

"Oh, right. Now go to your... only room, and bring me all of the products you use for your face. Creams, soaps, make-up, everything; I want to see all that cute stuff!" Taewoo claps once again and all the girls go running into the room and bathroom and bring their things.

"Oppa, where should we put our stuff?" Asks Kangri, with her arms full of beauty products.

"Just line them up on the table: make up in the front, products in the back. All nice and neat, okay?" Taewoo answers, going through the travel bag Minho is carrying before stuffing something in the pocket of his jacket. He makes his way to the table and starts looking at everything.

"Oh, very nice! MAC, so fancy." He says grabbing some of the eye-shadows and turning to the girls, making Heiryung smile and bow softly. However, just as he gets to the end of the table, he pulls a black plastic bag from his jacket's pocket and swiftly throws all the make-up into it. The girls' expressions harden and the bicker erupts in an instant.

"Now, now, pretty babies, calm down. I know you hate 'oppa'. Yes, yes, oppa is a- Oh sweetheart, what a colorful mouth!" He giggles in a cute manner than generalizes the notion: Yes, surely, punching him is the right choice. However, Taewoo continues, a thin layer of ice coating his gaze and tone. "You all signed a contract that very clearly said..." His right hand moves in an arabesque towards Minho, who doubtfully starts speaking.

"Oh, yes. The Clau-" He starts, being cut by Taewoo only a second after.

"Cut to the chase, please, we are losing daylight... and our will to live here." He basically sings.

"The employer can enforce any hygiene or personal care or nutrition program it considers necessary to the completion of-" Even under Minho's boring tone of voice, his disagreement is evident, but he continues, before being interrupted for the second time.

"That's enough, thank you very much, 'manny'" The ulzzang-like character says, turning back to the girls again with a warm smile. "Now darlings, I'll give you some products that, judging by your skin-types, will go well with you. You must all promise to me you will apply sunscreen every morning, stay barefaced and wear sunglasses when you are outside. Stylish sunglasses, please." He moves towards the kitchen, as swiftly as before. The girls just bite their lips, their hands turning to fists: they can't do anything else, they DID signed. "I'll be taking all these 'yummy-yummy' candies you have stored. When you come back, Manny here would have brought you all the deliciously healthy things you can actually have, so don't panic!"

Minho just looks, pulling whatever Taewoo asks from the bagging and handing it. The girls dress in their comfortable training attires and grab their backpacks, moodily making their way towards the door.

"Oh, before we make our way to the first day of booty-melting physical training," Taewoo's bright voice seems to clash against the overall sourness of the room. "Minho-ssi and I need you to give your phones over to us" He continues before another wave of complaints can hit. "Yes, yes, I know, but-"

"I will carry them personally at all times and give them back to you every night, weekend or holiday you have." Minho's voice is firm and strong, something that makes even Taewoo look at him. The manager pulls a soft looking, velvety bag of deep green color from the now empty travel bag.

As Diamonds forms a line to leave the dorm, Minho waits by the door, each of the girls dropping their phones in the small bag.

"I'm sorry..." Minho whispers softly just as Soomin passes by, earning a small nod but no eye contact.

"I hope you know what you are doing with that" Taewoo says as he walks next to Minho, sometime after the last one of the trainees has left the room. He gives a last glimpse around and sips from the can, scrunching his face once again at the taste.

The manager takes a last glance at the dorm before closing the door and locking it.

"I don't think it could be that bad." Hajin muses more to herself than anything else, checking the messages on the chat group of her 'Kakao talk' app. She twirls the right earbud of her iPod with her hand, unable to stop listening to her favorite track of the moment but still feeling obliged to pay attention to her best friend.

"She is probably not used to it, she'll come around, you'll see." Genevieve's plump lips sip on her favorite macchiato, savoring the sweet candy like taste of it before continuing. "Anyway, our Dragon is not one to throw this kind of opportunities away."

"But still-" Hajin tries to continue discussing the matter but her argument gets cut before she can even articulate it.

"Hush, I just want to dance today, okay? Come on, we are already late enough!" Genevieve speed-walks towards the door and goes to open the door that leads to the main room of the basement.

The atmosphere of the practice room has transformed during the past two weeks. The training had certainly reached a peak of intensity, as a means to prepare the chosen girls, but also had the pressure: of the original group of girls, only seven would show up for practice that clouded morning.

Like the monsoon season, the news of the selection had watered down the strength of every single trainee. Many ended their trainee contracts, seeking new agencies while others left to pursue a normal life. A few succumbed to injuries from over-rehearsing, trying to out-perform the 'Diamond girls' during every single practice: Bang Chaeyi barely escaped from being listed in this last group.

The sharp pain shoots through her leg as she finishes a turn, but she wills herself to continue the choreography they were taught last week, sure that there is hope her effort will get the teachers to give her a shot at being in the 'main team'. Keeping a small smile on her lips, not to worry any of the young ladies around, she stumbles at times but nobody seems to notice: it's not like the person who cares the most will come today, anyway. Regular trainees and special trainees have different schedules and rooms.

She braves through the dance break but the next step makes it feel like an ice blade just passed through her skin and she halts every movement. In that moment, a towel comes over her sweaty face, hiding every trace of the frown and pain she is feeling with its untouched whiteness. Even her whimper is hidden perfectly by the intromission of the soft fabric, masqueraded as a surprised one.

"Chaeyi, dry your sweat! I'm not slipping in your puddle this time!" Yoona's voice rings in her ears clear as crystal, followed by a soft and childish laugh. The small girl's eyes peak from under the towel and stare at her companion. The muscles of her face suddenly feel like twitching and in a moment, her lips tug into a smile.

Jolita's delicate hands make their way to her heart, her chest heaving up and down as she lets out a relieved sigh watching Yoona and Chaeyi sit down to drink some water. Nevertheless, the feeling is shortly lived, as some shouting is heard in the room.

"This is a joke. Do you think they will put out two girl groups, one after the other? I'm... I'm done! Keep thinking you are talented, they don't care!" An elder trainee barks at Yumi, who seems unfazed by this. She huffs in annoyance and walks away, opening the door of the dance studio with one swift movement; the sound of it smashing against the wall brings a total silence to the almost empty place.

"Sarang!" Jolita immediatly runs after her, almost crashing into a surprised Hajin. Genevieve's hand is still stretched towards the empty space where the door-knob used to be.

"Well, I see there is a lot of energy boiling here today." The shortest one says, entering the enclosed space, getting ready to drop her things and start stretching.

Hajin stands by the door, still startled by the sudden noise. When she sees Min Yumi sit harshly on the floor, the feeling of awkwardness starts expanding through her body, like a poison. She shakes her head, continuing to torture the cable of the earbud as she twirls it on her finger, Hajin walks towards the clearly pissed off girl, standing by her side.

"You know, I also tried that, I didn't bounce back either. The perks of being flat..." She chuckles anxiously, feeling Yumi's cold stare over her. Her nervous gaze directing to the side until she hears a soft laugh, it lasts just a second but it's enough to make her look back.

"I'm... not sure of what we are doing here anymore, but thanks, I guess being flat won't hurt anymore." The smile on Yumi's face is sad, her chuckle mixed with disdain. Nevertheless, even in anger and certainly crestfallen, she retained a sort of majesty and charisma.

"Well... We are..." Hajin searches for words, cursing herself mentally for never seeming to find the right ones. "We are doing this because doing this is what we love, right? And, what's better than doing what you love?"

"But in the end we are not..." Yumi tries to continue, her mood, which was mostly positive that morning, had taken a drastic turn.

"I ride my bike every day, even if no one will ever give me a medal for that." Yoona joins the conversation, her voice unsure at first but it grows in intensity as she goes on. Her eyes look at the side and a sweet expression adorns her adorable pale face. "I do it because it feels right. I do it because I love cycling."

"Dancing is like breathing to me, if I couldn't do it I would just... Go crazy!" Chaeyi opens her arms widely, showing an immense emotion. An emotion so big, it makes her loose her balance and fall on her back, chuckling.

"See? I bet you love singing! Y-you are great at it! So..." Hajin's eyes move from one side to the other, not really looking at what's in front of her, but more like searching for the proper terms in her mind. "Maybe a ballad duo or a... A Co-ed group! Or perhaps a soloist!"

"That's true. Not everybody in the music industry is in a dance group, anyway" Genevieve chimes in as she stretches, an amused grin directed at her friend.

"So, what do you say? Should we... practice a bit more?" Hajin tentatively offers her right hand, so the other girl can get up from the floor. A moment passes, making her gulp. Yumi takes some time but nods slowly, before letting her lips curl into a half-smile, but that is enough for Hajin. The hand is taken and soon both girls are on her feet.

As Hajin goes to leave her things to a side, Genevieve wraps an arm around her shoulder, slightly leaning into her.

"Never took you for a motivational speaker, Jin." Her voice almost a teasing whisper, which causes the younger to scold and blush.

Standing just outside the door, Junho spares an amused, almost sentimental smile at the scene. He looks at the floor and shakes his head, his long black hair following the movement of it, cleaning his thoughts. A sharp intake of air and his trademark smirk is back on his face; his lean body making its way into the training room with a new found energy.

The class is on.

When Junho enters the dance room once again, later that evening, he realizes that someone is still there. Her short hair moves with a bit of delay, as she dances, looking at every detail in the big wall mirror.

“Care if I dance with you?” asks Junho, with a cocked eyebrow.

He doesn’t wait for an answer as he stands next to Jangmi and they go head to head in one of their choreography duels: One will make a move and the other had to replicate it and add of move of hers or his own. This goes on for about an hour, before they both fall to the floor, tired of a long day of practice and teaching.

“Seo Jangmi” Junho’s voice sounds serious and assured although he hasn’t caught his breath yet. His body is propped up by his elbows and he is staring with a sharp gaze at Jangmi.

She feels a chill run through her body, but she limits herself to only turn her head and stare at him.

“Are you sure this is what you want? Debuting in a girl group?” The honesty in Junho’s voice is palpable, but there is also this uneasy edge to it that irritates Jangmi, making the girl turn her head away from him and take a deep breath. “I know you love your creative control, but going this way… You are going to lose it. Besides, you have to be at the same level with the other girls: I can’t let you dance whatever you want to anymore.”

Jangmi acts as she is not hearing him: she is tired and she doesn’t want to talk about it, can’t he see that?

“, it’s so hot in here” Jangmi breaths, relieved, once Junho gets up and opens the door of the practice room. She stands up, getting ready to cross the room and grab her water and towel, when she is pulled back.

“Yah, Jangmi-yah! Listen to oppa” Junho’s hands are grabbing her shoulders; he has bended enough for his face to be at the same level as hers. Although he is bigger and older that Jangmi, his voice is more of a whine, the same a kid would use when he gets ignored. “I have been given very strict orders: I cannot look the other way like I usually do” He pauses for a moment, becoming serious all of the sudden. “Is this what you really want? Just tell me: 'Yes' or 'No', and I will leave you alone”

“Yes, Junho, this is what I want.” Jangmi stares straight at him, and there must be something in her eyes, because the tension in his face seems to dissipate, only to be replaced by his trademark half-smirk.

“From what I heard, only four girls are going to be chosen for the final line-up. So work hard, I know you will make it” His voice sounds at ease and the grip of his hands on her shoulders has lessened to the point in which his hands are barely poised on her. “And it’s oppa, I already told you: you can call me oppa when it’s just the two of us” His right hand goes up to her head and tousles her short hair.

When Junho walks to grab his things, Jangmi smiles widely, her gummy grin showing: she is proud, her dance teacher just told her she has what it takes to make it.   E v e n    w h e n   a   b o d y   h e a l s  

“So that’s how things are…” Heiryung's voice repeats over and over inside of her head as she opens up her umbrella and walks away from the building where the practice room is located. The raindrops hit hard against the pavement, splashing her shoes and socks as well, but her mind is too removed to care about her footwear getting dirty.

Hah. To think she believed this was all a fair game. A   m e m o r y   r e m a i n s

Author Rin reporting for duty :

I feel so guilty... we promised to post this chapter a couple Mondays ago but didn't fulfill our promise, please forgive us. *bows apologetically* But no worries, DiCypher will be here until the end! And that's a promise we will definitely keep. Thank you for staying with us and coping with our tardiness. 

Ayo, Author Ellie here:

Ugh, it took so long. Too long for my taste but here it is! We are planning to keep this story, girls, don't think we are not. But real life is real life. Thank you to the ones that commented during our "hiatus", you made me want to finish the chapter as soon as I could and I hope you enjoyed it, though it was long as hell xD