Once we had put Gongchan's drum kit in his house, which he refused to let anyone in, saying that it was a mess, we sat around in my living room, cups of tea warming our hands, and Misa had managed to get Miri to come over, lying by telling her that B1A4 weren't there and it was just the 3 of us. When she arrived, we hid B1A4 in the bathroom, made her a cup of tea, locked the doors and let them out, so she couldn't leave. Which she was majorly annoyed about.
"Yo, chill, Miri." was repeated over 100 times as she grumbled about being in the same house as them, but after a while, she accepted her fate, stopped complaining and joined in on the conversation.
"So, are you guys ready for your audition for the showcase tomorrow?" CNU asked us. Oh yeah the audition
"Oh, yea! You bet! Are you ready for the Showcase on Wednesday?" Chaeyun said, being her usual bright and challenging self.
"Yep! Just so you know, when we vote, we wont vote for you because we're friends. We will vote purely on you if are the best act, that ok?" Sandeul explained
"Well, what else are you supposed to do?" Miri said coldly
"What she meant to say was, "We never expected you to do so in the first place, don't worry."." Misa corrected, glancing at her twin.
"I said what I ment, and I meant what I said." Miri snapped.
"Do you want a time out?" I asked, but i got no reply, just a bored sigh and a look away.
"Stop being difficult." No responce.
"YAH!" I shouted, causing her to jump. "Don't ignore me!" I said, slightly joking, slightly serious, went over to her and put her in a head lock "Once! Just once! Can't you be nice?"
"F-Fine..." She mumbled
"What? I didn't hear you?" I fibbed
"FINE!" she said forcefully, and I backed off
"Thank you!" I said as i strolled back to my seat, and carried on drinking my tea like nothing happened.
"So... How'd you guys meet?" Misa asked
"Well, Jinyoung and I... our families are close, as are BaDeul's-"
"Yah! We told you not to call us that!"
"Well if you keep talking in unison like that, we wouldn't do it as much! As I was saying, Jinyoung and I knew each other and we've been in the same class from infant school. When we moved up to year 2 in primary school, Sandeul entered our year and Baro entered the year below and we became close, we were 5 and 6 at the time, then in year 6, Gongchan joined the year below, when we were 9 and 10, befriended Baro and we became friends. In year 7 and 8, at the ages of 11 and 12, we decided to make a band. What about you guys?"
"Ours is a bit different to yours actually. We all entered a music competition, Me and Miri were a twin duo, playing the instruments that we play now, and Chaeyun was a solo act playing the drums, but Minji was actually a rapper. We saw each others talents and decided to become friends and make a band, but originally we wanted Minji on vocals, but we needed to find a bassist. Luckily Minji said she had friends that she could learn bass off, and started to learn, and said I should become their vocalist instead of her as she wasn't as confident in her singing skills at all."
"WAAA~ MINJI, YOU'RE A RAPPER LIKE ME! WE SHOULD COLLABORATE!!" Baro shouted
"No thanks." I replied, I didn't really like that stage in my life, I'd like to forget even rapping but, I don't regret a thing, as it lead me to amazing friends and an amazing musical career.

After that we talked until late, when every one needed to catch their buses home. It left me and Gongchan drinking our 5th tea alone together, in silence, watching cartoons.
"Are you OK? After earilier?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Chaeyun apologized, it's all fine."
"Ah, that's good then." And we continued to watch TV in silence for another few minutes.
"It's getting pretty late. I'd better go home and eat." he said.
"We have food if you want some?" I offered
"Nah it's ok... Why? Do you want me to stay longer?" He asked, jokingly, teasing me.
"N-No! It's just... yes. yes I do." I admitted, earning a smirk from him "It's just that, my mum's working the night shift and my dad's overseas... An empty home is really lonely... On second thoughts, it'd be rude of me to keep you, especially saying that, your parents are probably waiting, with an empty home." I rambled
"It's OK, i can stay a bit-"
"Ani. Go home. Now. Good night Oppa, see you tomorrow! Sleep well." I said, practically pushing him out the door. Once it was closed "Why am I so selfish? Why can't I talk to him naturally?" I asked my self. Frustrated, I banged my head on the door, forgetting that Gongchan probably can hear me. God darn it! I shamefully dragged my feet up stair and put myself to bed.
~~~
THE NEXT DAY.
"SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT! I'M LATE! AGAIN! THE GATES SHUT IN... 20 MINUTES!" I woke up early, and thought it would be a good idea to walk to school. Living on the west side of Yongsan-gu and school being on the west side of Mapo-gu, I thought it wasn't a long walk. I have been walking for almost an hour! Why am I such a idiot?
Finally, I started to recognize the neighborhood, and my normal stop for school was to my left! YES! alright! Almost there, ten minutes walking, 3-5 minutes running, I don't wanna be late, I'd better run! I thought and set of at a sprint.
~~~
Reaching the gate, I was huffing with my hands on my knees, just as I was about to walk through, the gates started to roll close. Using my ninja moves, I jumped sideways through them and landed in a crouch, making sure not to break my very expensive new bass that was situated on my back. Feeling proud of my self, I stood up to see the head teacher standing in front of me, her arms crossed, looking annoyed but also in awe. My shoulders slumped as she beckoned me to follow her.
"Why are you late, Minji-sshi?"
"I thought it would be a good idea to walk here today. Not so much." I said, jokingly, and I managed to gain a smile off the head, who is supposedly meant to be an ice queen when it comes to being late.
"For your humor, I will allow you to be late, and also because this is the first time you've been late and you are one of our new students. Don't let it happen again, got it?" She said, as she scribbled on a piece of paper. I nodded furiously, bowed and left for the audition.

"I'm here!" I huffed at Happy crisis who looked stunned and relieved to see me there.
"Thank god! Where have you been?" 
"Head teachers office. Why is this damn campus so bloody huge?"
"Why were you at-"
"I was late.
"Why-" 
"HAPPY CRISIS, PLEASE ENTER THE STAGE! YOU HAVE 5 MINUTE SET UP TIME." Some one shouted from in the auditourium hall.
"Get your bass out and lets rock this!"
"HAPPY CRISIS FIGHTING!" We shouted in unison as I hurriedly unpacked my bass and tuned it. Luckily, Misa knows my amp presettings and set the amp up for me by the time I was ready.
"Proceed." The man ordered

How do you know?

Time seems to have stopped
we have seemed to have been staring 
into each others eyes for a while now
but the hurt doesn't stop

Adrenalin was flowing through me as a played the notes to the song, and I swayed to the music. I was in my happy place...

how do you know?
how do you know
that this is the right thing to do?
can't you tell i'm hurtin'
yet you still do this...

I'm dying, and you're watching
how, how can you?
what is this?
this is more painful than i had first thought


Looking up, I saw Gongchan's face, he was smiling, and confidence flowed through me. He gave me a thumbs up, and I played with even more happiness.

can i just lay here forever?
it'll be better than facing the pain
in my chest
can i be numb for a while?

how do you know?
how do you know
that this is the right thing to do?
can't you tell i'm hurtin'
yet you still do this...

Although the song was a sad one, I felt the complete opposite. My friends were here to support me, and I was doing what I loved. I felt at peace.

after thinking
i've realised,
even though i'm hurting now, 
you were hurting then
so eitherway there would be pain
i'll forget our love, and keep living
even if it hurts

how do you know?
how do you know
that this is the right thing to do?
can't you tell i'm hurtin'
yet you still do this...

Sometimes there aren't words for how people feel, just the genetic 'happy'. What I'm feeling now is happier than happy, it can't be described. In a way, I feel free. With these four strings, I can go anywhere, be anyone. I can make people feel any emotion I want them to feel... Happiness... Sadness.. Love... And that makes me feel the best!

HOW DO YOU KNOW?!

how do you know?
how do you know
that this is the right thing to do?
can't you tell i'm hurtin'
yet you still do this...

I look at the other members as we are finishing the final notes of the song, all of us are smiling, they are feeling what I feel. If I can make people empathize what I feel when I play, I think that as a group we can move people to tears with the friendship we have. It's weird because it was never guaranteed from the beginning we'd have this friendship, a friendship so strong that I think it could take on any kind of test and ace it! A friendship so strong, it's not even a friendship anymore. It's a family.
Finally we had finished, all of B1A4, Block B, and a few other people from other bands stood up. I was jumpy from all the adrenalin that ran through me, I felt so alive, I forgot how good or bad we were. Must have been good, right?
~~~
"OMO! YOU GUYS WERE GREAT!" BaDeul said, bursting in back stage.
"Really, I can't even remember, haha." I said at them, blushing with pride.
"They took in the votes, but we're not allowed to tell you who we voted for, they're tallying up now, so they should be calling you back in a minute." CNU said. Behind B1A4, I saw Block B, P.O-oppa was staring at us like he wanted to come over, our eyes met and he sent me a smile and a thumbs up, whilst mouthing "Well done."
"Ah, One moment." I excused myself and went to talk to P.O.
"Yah! Pyo Jihoon! Where have you been?!"
"I-uh..."
"You used to come round every day and I haven't seen you in days!"
"I thought you'd be with B1A4." He said B1A4 as if he were going to choke on their name.
"You say it as if they live in my house!" I said, with a chuckle
"That Gongchan kid lives right next door, it's practically the same."
"Don't be so dramatic!"
"Anyway," He said, changing the subject "You played well today. I'm really proud of my lil' dongsaeng that could barely pick up a bass a few years back."
"Yah! Shut up or I'll-" I was cut off by the announcer asking all acts to come out on the stage for the results.
"Go on then, Minji-yah. FIGHTING!" He said pumping one of his fists in the air, his other hand pushing my towards Happy Crisis, who were smiling at this Oppa of ours.
"P.O oppa alright?" Miri asked
"Yeah, he's still being a dork." I replied, jokingly.
"We haven't seen him around as much lately." Misa said curiously
"I know." I turned back to see him turning away from me, back to talking to the rest of Block B, and a faint smile played on my lips... That oppa of ours...
~~~
"I shall now announce the winners of today's audition!" The announcer shouted in an exited tone "In 3rd place, with 2 votes is....F(x)!" Leaving cheers booming around the hall, the girls of F(x) were putting up fake smiles to pretend that they were OK with not coming first.
"Second place, with 3 votes, goes tooooo~ CNBLUEEE!" The cheers didn't die down, the tension was high, either we placed first, which would be a dream, or we didn't place at all.
"AND THE MOST AMAZING, PRESTIGIOUS, FABULOUS AMAZING...did I say that already? 1ST PLACE, WITH AN ASTOUNDING 7 VOTES, GOES TO...." and he stopped, to play with his finger nails to drag on the tension for as long as possible, I and many others were leaning forward in anticipation.
"WELL?!" Someone shouted, it sounded like it came from Zico oppa, that made me smile, almost laugh, if it weren't for the feeling of dread that was also building in my stomach, what if we didn't win?
"FINE, FINE! HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" The crazy announcer screamed behind him to the 'unknown' person that shouted at him
"1ST PLACE GOES TO.....HAPPY CRISIS." 
Oh. we didn't win. What a shame... Wait. Why are the others cheering... we didn't win, Happy Crisis won... wait! WE ARE HAPPY CRISIS! OH MY DEAR LORD!! WE WON! WE WON!!! I was so stunned I didn't move for over 5 seconds, even after I realized, then I shouted "YES!" really super loudly and jumped with such force that i could of sworn that the floor shook, tears were pricking in my eyes, we won! We're half way to winning the show case! Oh my gosh!
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some people cheering genuinely, but over all, most people on the stage were smiling, but their eyes were dead. They wanted this just as much as I did.
"Happy Crisis-ssi?" I heard someone call us from the audience "Could you please talk to us when you are done packing away?" It was the Head, and with her was the head of live performances and festivals. I wonder why she's here...
"Ne, ma'am!"
~~~
"We would like to congratulate you on winning, and we need to give you the details on the Show case." The head started
"You need to come in to school early on Wednesday, so please arrive at 7 instead of the normal 8 o'clock, please."
"Why so early?"~
"Well, each band has 5 minutes rehearsal time, then there is a meeting at 9, and you need to sort out what effects, like lighting you want on your set, people arrive at 11, the show starts at midday, you play 5 songs, and then that's you done, judging will be done at 6 PM, half an hour after all the acts have played, if there are any ties, then a "sudden death" like band battle will happen after 6 PM, and will be voted on my the audience and the other bands. Your set will be the 5th one, after Eye Candy, and before Royal Pirates, got it?" The head of the Live and festivals explained... there is so much to do.
"Uhhh...."
"Don't worry, we will refresh you on the day, okay, so don't worry?" The head teacher said with a smile.
"OK, also, tomorrow, bands have the whole day to practice out of the usual curriculum, so don't bring anything, just you instruments, register with your tutor and then leave to your practice room, arrasso?"
"Ne!" wow, it was suddenly so real, we were preforming in front of the whole school, our bigger dream!
"Um, miss? What is the prize for first place?" I asked
"Well, the prize is actually secret until the showcase has been judged, but i can let you know it's a live gig of some sort. Also, you may already know, but there are two 1st places, one for boys and one for girls, as the amount of competition is large, so it's to make it easier to win for the newer students, like you."
"T-Thank you."
"Go back to your lessons now, girls."
"Yes miss."
~~~

"MUUUUMMM~!"
"Yes honey? How was your day? Was your audition today?"
"Yeah! And guess what? WE PLACED FIRST!"
"Oh, my darling baby, well done!" She said excitedly, and smothered me in one of the biggest hugs she could muster.
"Tomorrow we also get time out of the curriculum to practice, we get five songs to play, and on the day, we have to get to school an hour early."
"Well you better get to bed early tomorrow."
"I will! I also want to practice all tonight, I'll come down for dinner, but please don't disturb me. I love you, mummy!"
"You got it darling, I love you too!"


The girls called me that night, asking if we all wanted to go to school early to practice. Practice was going well, and it was finally break time, but because of laziness we stayed in the room. Knock knock
"Come in!" Chaeyun screeched, and the five B1A4 boys tried to push their way in all at the same time, causing them to get stuck. "Ok, Ok, back back back!" Jinyoung ordered, and they all stepped back, but then they all repeated it again. I could have sworn I was this ___  far away from spiting out my juice carton, oh my gosh. They are so dumb.
They finally managed to get through the door. "Wassup?" They tried to say coolly, but it just resulted in everyone laughing to tears.
"So- how's your- hahaha- practice goin'? Hahaha." Misa asked, in between her giggles.
"It's going well, we think... wanna listen?"
"No, we don't have much time." Miri explained, quite civil for her, which is strange "Maybe at lunch."
"We'll be practicing through lunch."
"Isn't that better, get you to practice in front of an audience, to get feedback?" 
"I guess..."
"Right, then it's sorted, we'll see you at lunch!"
"Hey, Miri? Do you want some omelette?" Sandeul asked, as if trying to break a barrier
"Ah? y-ye, I would like some... If that's ok.." A blush was starting to form on her cheeks. I don't think that Miri really hated B1A4, I think it's just she's tsundere. She ate it hesitantly at first, but then started chewing more quickly, and a smile grew on her face.
"This is amazing! Did your mother make it?"
"Haha, no, I made it!"
"Bwo? Really? It's really-uwah! Where'd you learn to cook like this?"
"I like food, so I learnt by trial and error." Sandeul was also starting to blush also as he rubbed the back of his head and looking at the floor.
"That's so cool! I wish I could cook." Miri said with an admiring tone
"Everyone should come over on the weekend, and I'll teach every one that wants to know." Sandeul offered.
"Sounds like a plan, yo." Baro said whilst rapping his arm around Sandeul's neck in a friendly manner "I love Sandeul's eating."
"Don't eat it all, like you normally do!"
"HA! Says you! You eat all of everyone's cooking all the time! Don't eat it all.. hypocrite!"
"Yah, yah~" Sandeul moaned throwing Baro's arm off him in a forceful manner. These two.
"No argument, huh?" Baro teased, again, and Sandeul turned his back on him. Their bickering went on for 5 minutes. After 2, everyone had started up their own conversations, ignoring the bickering couple, Badeul.
Then the bell rang signaling the end of break, and B1A4  left to their practice rooms.  

After listening to B1A4, and practicing until late again, Gongchan and I were walking home. 
"Are you nervous?" I asked
"A little, but you always worry about things you care about. You?"
"Terribly... I've never played live in front of an audience this big. Did you hear about the music label reps? There is so much pressure."
"Yeah I heard. It's gonna be really difficult, like what if you're the one to mess it up for every one."
"I-I didn't even think of that..." I muttered and fell into a silence
"N-Not that you will!" He tried to recover, and it left him flustered "It was more for me, what if I mess up! Not you! Never you!"
"I'm only messing with you." I lied, what if I was the one to mess it up? What if I ruined us?
"Well, we're home, goodnight, see you at 7!" Gongchan said, as he walked away to his home
"Sleep well!"