January 2015

In the midst of all of the comeback preparations, performances and interviews, Subin could barely find the time to meet up with Sigma when they finally arrived back in Korea for the first time since October; of course, their debut had been a huge success and they had gained a lot of popularity, so they had stayed in the country longer than planned.

The first afternoon that Subin had off, she went to track down Kin, the oldest girl in Sigma, lead dancer and token Chinese member, who she was good friends with. The plan was to pick up some food from their favourite restaurant and then settle in the park and catch up on what had been going on in each other’s lives while they hadn’t been in contact. 

“Are none of the others coming?” Kin asked Subin as the two strolled down the path towards the restaurant that they had chosen to buy from. There were a few fans who recognised them along the way who had waved and smiled, but aside from that, it was turning out to be quite a peaceful day.

“No, they wanted to do some other things today,” Subin informed her friend. “Eunjung is hanging out with Kyungsoo sunbae and Jimin is with her boyfriend.”

“And you didn’t want to be around the others, huh?” Kin asked, half-teasing. “I can understand the feeling.”

Subin frowned at the Chinese girl. “What do you mean, Mei*? Are you having issues with Sigma?”

The older girl hesitated slightly before answering, and when she did, her voice was pitched at a whisper. “I don’t think they really like me. I don’t get many lines in the songs, which is because I’m the lead dancer and I understand that, I really do, but even then, the others don’t really include me. Do you think it’s because I’m... Well... Not Korean or Japanese?” she asked uncertainly.

Subin was angry upon hearing this; she really thought that Sigma were above this, were better than ostracising Meihui just because she was Chinese. Honestly, there was no excuse for their behaviour. 

“If it is, then they’re absolutely stupid,” the rapper raged. “What where you’re from has to do with how they treat you, I do not know. I mean, Eunjung is from England and Chaerin is from America and none of us make them feel left out!”

“I think sometimes they forget that I exist,” Kin admitted. “It’s kind of hurtful .They do it with Minjung-ah too, but I think that is more to do with the fact that she came into the group last. They blame her for us not debuting when you guys did, which is stupid, because Minjung was working really hard. You saw how she was that day that were were told we wouldn't be debuting with you guys - she was absolutely devastated. If it had just been Min letting us down, we still would have debuted, which means that other people must have been not working hard enough,” Kin reasoned. “So I really think my members need to stop putting the blame on us when it’s obvious that this is a team effort.”

“They sure do sound like they’ve changed,” Subin muttered as they entered the restaurant. “I swear, Bokyung never used to be that y.”

“She didn’t,” the dancer agreed. “Since she’s become the leader, she’s really become someone else. Like, you know how she used to be just like Eunjung? She keeps trash talking Polaris and about your popularity while we’ve had to work extra hard for ours - like she doesn’t think that you guys have had to slave away to be liked. All she does is moan about what a hard job being the leader is and it really winds me up.”

“Don’t you ever say anything to her?” Subin questioned, taking a menu and looking through the dishes in an attempt to find something that would jump out at her to buy. “Like, don’t you ever tell her that she’s being a ?”

Kin looked at the rapper as though she had either gone mad or sprouted a second head from her elbow. “No. I think she’d probably kill me if I ever did say anything like that to her.”

“Well, when one of our members are being annoying, we just lay it on them,” Subin explained, deciding on tteok manduguk** for her meal. “Like, it’s usually Seohyeon or Jimin that we have to tell off because they have a tendency to get really y, but in the long run, it stops too many arguments. We’re a pretty open bunch.”

“I’m jealous of that. Sigma barely listens to each other. Akemi and Kiyomi are always off doing stuff together, Hyojin and Bokyung stick together and then there’s Minjung and I. To be quite honest, Minjung is the nicest person in the group. I wish I’d been put into Polaris with you guys!” she finished with a pout, glancing down at the menu to see what she should choose for her meal. 

“That is disgusting,” Subin commented. “Want me to order?” Subin asked as they neared the service station. “I know you’re still nervous about ordering food,” 

“Please, Subinnie,” Kin responded thankfully. I’ll have the toenjangguk***, please.”

After the order had been placed, the two found an empty table to site at while they waited for their food to be ready and Subin thought about what Kin had said.

“I still can’t believe that they’re pushing you and Minjung out,” she insisted. “It’s awful! It didn’t seem like they were against you two being in the group the last time we were all together, but you know. We don’t always know what’s going on in the other group, I guess,”

“It certainly seems that way,” Kin agreed with a nod of her head. “But I’ve had enough of talking about how elitist my members are! What about your comeback? We watched your stages, but I want to hear it from you how you think it’s all going. Your new mini album sounds great!” she praised.

“Thanks! The song that you did with TaeTiSeo was especially good,” Kin gushed. “Did you guys write any of the songs?”

Subin shook her head sadly. “Not yet, but I think we’re going to be able to for the next comeback, though when that is, I don’t know. We’re thinking that it might be a full album, which is going to be nerve-wracking as hell to record, but I actually can’t wait for it.”

“Do any of you want to write for the album?” Kin wondered, fiddling with her purse. 

Subin nodded slowly. “Eunjung wants to work on something, I know that much, and I kind of want to as well, but I have no idea how to start, you know? I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

The two fell into a companionable silence and before too long, the food arrived in the take-away bag. While the waitress bade them a good day, the two idols left the restaurant and made their way towards the park that they had both agreed would be a nice and relaxing place to spend their day off. They had almost made it to where they wanted to sit to eat when they were stopped by two teenage girls.

“Hey, aren’t you from SM Entertainment?” the taller of the two asked curiously, tilting her head to one side.

“They are, Sujung, look!” the more enthusiastic girl enthused. “That’s Subin from Polaris! And you’re Kin from Sigma, right? Oh my god, Sujung!”

“Oh yeah! Oh my gosh! Hello, I’m Im Sujung, it’s nice to meet you! This is my best friend, Nam Songhee! We’re huge fans of your groups,” Sujung gushed, more excited now that she knew who the two girls standing in front of her were. 

“It’s nice to meet you too, I’m Subin, Polaris’ lead rapper, and this is Kin, Sigma’s lead dancer. Thank you so much for your support,” Subin greeted calmly, bowing to the teenagers. 

“What is it like living with the other members?” Songhee asked hurriedly, fishing around in her bag for something. Kin and Subin shared a quick look before Subin spoke. 

“It’s like living with your best friends,” she told them diplomatically; best friends could fall out, right? 

“Your first comeback stage was amazing, Subin unnie,” Sujung complimented. “I’ve had the ‘Dream’ mini album on repeat since it came out! I pre-ordered it online and everything,”

“My sister runs a fansite for your groups,” Songhee added. “Are you really that close to EXO, unnies?”

“Polaris is especially,” Kin explained. “Although we all knew them before they debuted.”

“Are you close to Tao oppa?” Songhee asked, turning to face Kin now, clutching a pen and paper in her hand. 

“We sometimes annoy the others by speaking entirely in Mandarin,” Kin confessed with a shy smile. 

“Songhee-ah, stop pestering them,” Sujung said suddenly, eyeing the bag full of food that Kin was carrying. “They’re going somewhere! You must have time off from your schedules, unnies. Enjoy your free time!”

“Before you go, can you sign this for me?” Songhee asked, holding out the paper and pen. “It would probably make my year,”

Subin grinned and accepted the objects, uncapping the marker and quickly signing her name and a quick message before handing them to Meihui to do the same. 

“It was amazing to meet you two,” Subin told them sincerely. “We’ve never been stopped by fans before, so it was really nice to take the time to talk to you. Thank you for supporting Polaris and Sigma! Please continue to watch our stages and buy our music!” 

Kin handed the paper back to Songhee and they all bowed before the two girls hurried away, chatting excitedly about calling their friends and telling them all about the encounter with SM Entertainment’s latest stars.

“What did you write on that paper, Subin?” Kin asked curiously as the two continued on their way to the park.

“Ah,” Subin answered, eyes twinkling and a smile on her face. “That they were the first fans we’ve met and that we’re grateful for their support. I can’t believe that that just happened, to be honest,” she admitted as they turned the corner and spotted the gates down the street from them. “I know that our sunbaes get it all the time, but I didn’t think that anybody would recognise us, being so new and all.”

“But now we need to get some official fangroup names sorted out,” Kin pointed out. “What are they calling themselves if they like both groups? The ‘Stars’?”

The rapper nodded. “I like the idea of ‘Novas’ - Jimin suggested it the other night. I might bring it up with Daeseun oppa tonight, actually.”

“I like it!” Kin approved with a cheesy thumbs up. “But for now, let’s not talk about work and let’s just enjoy our time off.”

Woo! How are you guys liking this story so far? I have SO MUCH PLOT and because it's less of a beginning-middle-end kind of story and more of a 'fly on the wall' type linear fic, it could, in theory, go on indefinitely. WHICH IS GREAT FOR ME, BECAUSE I LOVE THE CHARACTERS SOOOO MUCH! But I know how annoying it is when you read a story that literally never ends SO I think I've finally picked an ending. I literally just picked it today and I feel like crying, even though it's hundreds of chapters away. I DON'T WANT IT TO END! 

ALSO what do you guys reckon about the fangroup names? I have no idea what to call SIGMA's fanclub, but I'm in love with the idea of the 'Novas' for POLARIS and 'Stars' if they're fans of both. I'd love for the SIGMA fanclub to be constellation-related or something to do with stars, so if anybody has any ideas, SERIOUSLY PLEASE COMMENT THEM BECAUSE I NEED IDEAS!

* - Subin calls Kin 'Mei' because her real name is 'Meihui'. Just in case y'all don't remember it because I don't put SIGMA in very often.
** - tteok manduguk is a dumpling rice cake soup
*** - toenjangguk is a tofu and vegetable stew