October 10th 2014

The practice room was filled with teenagers of various ages. Some huddled together in little friendship groups, other stuck alone in the corners…some chatted animatedly amongst each other while others stayed silent, trembling and stomach churning from nerves.

Because the truth was, every single teenager and young adult in the room was a trainee under Ace Entertainment.

Some of them, like young Hatake, had been training since the very first Ace Entertainment auditions, back in 2008. He had only been 6 years old at the time and had auditioned just by singing his heart out and playing an acoustic guitar. Ace Entertainment had accepted him nearly instantly.

Others, like a pair of fraternal twins who sat alone, with only each other for company, had only been training under the company for a few months, having auditioned for the Ace Entertainment Auditions in 2014, in the August. They’d only been with the company for two short months, and had yet to make any friends other than each other.

Every single trainee in the Ace Dynasty had been called to the largest practice room, the one that Acid Teochii, Ace Entertainment’s first idol group, had met in. The same practice room that Symphon-EE used to practice their instruments and belt along to their tracks, getting ready for their debut that they thought would never come…and when all the trainees were called together, it could only really mean one thing.

A group was going to be announced.

The nervous chattered halted as the doors to the practice room opened, revealing one of the only female managers in the Korean Pop Music industry, Oshiro Hitomo, and the owner of the company, CEO Lee. They walked into the room, large smiles on their faces as they looked over all of the trainees that CEO Lee had accumulated over the years, despite only having one group debuted, which had been debuted less than a year.

When Ace Entertainment Auditions came around each year, they were always well attended. Ace Entertainment looked for the quirky and unnatural, the types of people that the bigger KPop companies would never take due to the scandals it could cause.

CEO Lee stopped in the middle of the room, Oshiro Hitomo stopping beside him. She smiled, looking around the room at everyone, before turning to CEO Lee and waiting for him to speak.

Nobara Meoki sat with three of her friends, some triplets holding the two female’s hands tightly. Liang Fu sat on her left, while Liang Xue sat on her right. The oldest triplet, Liang Jiao-Long, if only by a few minutes, stood behind them, pacing uncomfortably. The Liang Triplets had been in training as long as Meoki had, having met at the auditions together 4 years ago. They were, they believed, all trained up and ready to go, they just had to get out there, had to be given a group and debuted… and now was their chance.

Ace Entertainment hadn’t announced a group debut since they’d put Symphon-EE together, the group filled with Agender members. Tensions were high in the room, everyone wanted to stay with their friends, the people they had gone to school with, shared a chunk of their lives with… but they wanted to debut as well. It was a bittersweet moment whenever someone got announced to be placed in a group; Meoki had learnt that well when her friend Andy had been made the leader of Symphon-EE.

“Alright everyone, I know you must be very excited. Hitomo and I are here to announce the members of a new group. This group will be smaller than Symphon-EE, and definitely much smaller than Acid Teochii are. For this group, we’re thinking of a gentle sound. No heavy rock or jumpy pop music, think… classical music with lyrics. We want soft, gentle sounds. Feel good music with the same sound as a song that could move someone to tears. Because of this, we have chosen the people we feel are most suited to this, including factors of voice, appearance and musical ability. Oshiro Hitomo will be the manager of this group.” CEO Lee looked down at his watch, reading the date. “It is currently October 10th; this group will be moving into a dorm together on January 10th. This gives the members a few months to get some more training in and get to know each other better before having to live together in a dorm.” He looked towards Hitomo, smiling proudly. “Hitomo-ah, if you would do the honours.”

“Of course, Hak-kun-sama.” Hitomo replied, her Japanese accent thick but her Korean perfect. “Firstly, this group is going to debut primarily in Japan. The name of the group will be Bara No Hanabira, or BaraHana for short, which means ‘Rose Petals’.”

Jiao-Long peered over at his sisters and Meoki, before leaning close. “I doubt this’ll be us then.”

Meoki turned a little to face the older male, frowning at his comment. “You don’t know that, it might be you guys…”

He laughed slightly, tucking some black hair behind his ear. “Fu, Xue and I are Chinese, not Japanese. Ace are great, but they wouldn’t debut us in a country where we don’t speak the language.”

Meoki shrugged slightly, turning back to where Hitomo was looking through a list on a sheet of paper. “You never know… if you are chosen, I can help you with your Japanese, it’s not too hard really… the script is difficult compared to Korean, but since you already know Kanji, it should be a breeze for you, just got the Katakana and Hiragana to learn…”

A gentle giggle to Meoki’s right pulled her attention from the male as she then focused on the albino girl, Xue. “Meoki, its okay you know, you don’t have to help us, we won’t get chosen.”

“Please, Xue-chan, don’t be so disheartened! I’m sure you three will be chosen! You’re all amazing vocalists, you deserve to debut soon!”

“That’s beside the point, Meoki.” Fu cut in, pushing her long brown hair behind her ear. She wasn’t looking at her siblings or Meoki, watching where the two senior staff stood. “Let’s just wait and see, okay?”

“Okay, so first thing is first, we’re going to start with the maknae and work our way up to the oldest member of the group, who will be the leader. Alright? So, the maknae of BaraHana will be Hatake Lin.”

The short boy stood, a grin plastered on his face as he ran over to CEO Lee and Hitomo, throwing his arms around the CEO’s waist. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He exclaimed, almost flying with excitement. CEO Lee laughed a little; ruffling the 12 year old’s hair with affection. Hatake was close with all of the staff members due to having started training at such a young age.

“Next,” Hitomo continued, unable to keep the delighted smile from her face at Hatake’s reaction. “Kawaguchi Aiko,” The whole room fell into silence as a weak, trembling boy slowly stood from beside his twin sister. He began his slow walk over to the two staff members, wheezing slightly by the time he finally got over to the pair before bowing low, almost 90% from the waist.

“Thank you so much, Hitomo-sama, Lee-sama.”

“You’re most welcome, Aiko-ah,” CEO Lee smiled. “You’ve worked very hard since auditioning, we’re delighted to give you a spot.”

“Now, Kawaguchi Airi.” The entire room could almost see the tension flood from both twin’s shoulders now that they knew they wouldn’t be separated. Airi quickly stood, hurrying over to where her brother stood and bowing slightly, not as low as her brother however.

“Thank you, Hitomo-san, Lee-san! We won’t let you down! Thank you for not separating us.”

“Of course, Airi-ah.” CEO Lee replied, patting the 14 year old girl on the head fondly. “We couldn’t separate you both, you’d hate me forever.”

Airi grinned in response, hurrying over to stand with her twin.

“Finally, our leader of BaraHana… Nobara Meoki.”

Meoki felt all eyes fall on her as she slowly stood, clinging desperately onto Xue and Fu’s hands. She was dreading her name finally being called for the past few years, she wanted to debut of course… but she wanted to debut with her friends, not a 12 year old (She loved Hatake, really) and a pair of twins who she’s never spoken too.

She slowly walked over to the CEO and her new manager, heart pounding frantically in her chest. She was being made leader of a group, she had to be the responsible one, the one the others looked up to. Only being 16, she was expecting to be Maknae of a group if she debuted any time soon, not the oldest… but this group was apparently all quite young, and she was the oldest.

She wasn’t cut out to be the oldest.

She finally made it to the CEO and Hitomo, bowing as low as she could. “Thank you so much for this opportunity, Lee-sama, Hitomo-sama, I won’t let you down I swear. I’ll do my very best to watch over my group and be the best leader I can be.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second, Meoki.” CEO Lee smiled once she rose from her bow. “Now, if you’ll follow me, I’ll give you all your roles and stage names. Aiko, are you okay to walk or would you like a chair?”

“I’ll be fine for now, thank you Lee-sama…” Hatake hesitated a second before continuing. “I’m feeling alright today, not too weak, but thank you for the concern.” He bowed low again before CEO Lee pulled him up.

“Don’t worry about it; it’s my job to be concerned. Come on, let’s go.” He turned to the remaining trainees in the room. “The rest of you are free to go, I’m sorry you aren’t debuting this time, but don’t fear! We’re going to be working on an Ace Dynasty album very soon with all idols, both trainees and debuted! You have nothing to fear.”

Jiao-Long quickly stood, hurrying over to where the group were beginning to walk out. “Wait!” He called, hurrying over to Meoki. “I want you to have this.” He quickly said, pulling out a long, baby pink ribbon from his pocket. “I had the feeling you’d be getting something today, so Fu, Xue and I got you something just in case it did happen.”

“Jiao-Long…” Meoki started, beginning to tear up as Jiao-Long turned her around, pulling some of her hair back then tying the ribbon around her head until it was a flat band over her hair that tied at the nape of her neck in a bow.

“There, now don’t forget about my sisters and I when you’re a worldwide sensation, okay?”

Meoki couldn’t help but smile a little. “Of course not, Jiao-Long. After all, you’ll be stood there beside me receiving the same fame.”

The tall, black haired boy grinned wide, leaning over and placing a peck on her forehead. “Go get them, show these kids what an amazing leader you can be.”

“Jiao-Long…thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” He turned, walking back to where Fu and Xue sat, sitting where she previously had been.

Meoki smiled a little, touching the ribbon that now held her hair back, and followed CEO Lee, Hitomo, the twins and Hatake to the next room.

-------

“Now, you’ve all been chosen for very specific reasons and you need to spend the next few months getting to know each other. Aiko, Airi, I know you two already know each other considering you’re related, but you need to get to know your maknae and leader too, you need to break out of your shells a little bit.” Hitomo told them, sitting down and motioning to the chairs in front of her. “Meoki, Hatake, you two know each other since you’ve been training together for a long time, but you both need to get to know the twins. If you’re going to be a successful group, you need to be close, almost like a family.”

The four teenagers nodded a little, giving each other a small smile.

CEO Lee continued after Hitomo. “Firstly, stage names. Aiko and Airi, your names are easy enough so neither of you need a stage name, you’ll be sticking with your given names. Meoki, in light of the name of the group, your stage name is going to be Rose. Hatake, you’re going to be sticking with your chosen name anyway. In case people don’t know, Hatake goes by his family name for personal reasons I will not go in to, if you need to know the reason, he will be the one to tell you. His given name is Lin, but he doesn’t use it, so please stick with his wishes and call him Hatake.”

At the sea of nods greeting him, CEO Lee continued. “You’re welcome to call Meoki by her stage name if you want, but it is up to you and what she’s comfortable with. I’d recommend that you at least call her by the stage names sometimes to avoid using her real name in public. Although it wouldn’t be too bad, stage names are there for a reason, so try to use it in interviews and in the public eye, alright?”

“Yes, Lee-sama.” Hatake responded, nodding with a smile.

“Excellent.” CEO Lee smiled, standing up. “I suppose I better explain your roles. Rose, as you know, is the leader. However, she will also be a lead acoustic guitar and a sub vocalist in the group. This means she will mostly be playing music and giving backup vocals. Our dear Airi is our female vocalist and our lyricist. Airi and Aiko are both very good in their fields, and therefore needed very little training before being placed into a group. Airi will be mainly singing and writing your group’s songs. Aiko, however, will be the only member who doesn’t sing at all. He will be the pianist and the composer, this means he’ll be playing piano for you all as well as writing the sheet music to go along with lyrics that Airi has written, or vice versa. Finally, Hatake is the maknae, as you know. He will also be our male vocalist. Hatake also plays acoustic guitar, so he will play that along with Rose. Any questions?”

Hatake raised his hand a little, frowning. “I do, Lee-sama.”

“Go on, Hatake, it’s okay.”

“Why is it that Aiko-sama won’t be singing? Isn’t it normal for all of us to at least sing a little?”

CEO Lee turned to Aiko. “Aiko, do you mind me telling them?” When Aiko gave a small shake of the head, the CEO turned back to the rest of the group. “Aiko has a condition called COPD, which means his lungs don’t work very well. He isn’t very healthy at the best of times and often struggles to breathe; we don’t believe it’s safe to allow him to sing since it could damage his lungs more. However, despite this, he is still a prodigy at the piano. When he auditioned for us, his talent and training were like none other we’ve seen, so we will focus on that aspect of his training. Aiko often needs to use a wheelchair when he has a particularly bad day, so please be aware of this.”

Meoki turned to Aiko, her features soft and concerned. “I hope you’re feeling alright right now, Aiko-kun, I’m sorry you have to go through that.”

Aiko gave her a small smile in return. “Don’t worry about it, Meoki-chan; I’ve lived with it for a long time. I’ll survive.”

“Right,” Hitomo said. “If we’re all ready, let’s get to training.”

-----

Welcome to the first installment of BaraHana! I hope you enjoyed it!

EDIT: Changed the manager's name!