A/N: Sorry, for the long wait without an update and the bad formatting (indent isn't for some reason). And I know I promised Darahae to make an appearance, but I felt that establishing her close friendship with Hye-sun early on was really important, and I really like the scenes I used to establish how quickly they became such good friends. So please hold any tomatoes, cabbage, or kimbap you may be planning on throwing at me. . .On second thought, kimbap is fine. Thanks to everyone who is showing interest in this story (your views, comments, and subscriptions keep me motivated. Read on :)

      Sandara was sleeping soundly when the noise of clashing pots and pans filtered through the thin wall the sleeping girl was lying next to and pricked at the edge of her consciousness. The awakened beauty stretched her fatigued body under the covers. Her Halmeoni and Umma must be up preparing breakfast, the tired girl thought with a yawn. Sandara turned over and threw her arm over. Sandara blinked in confusion; instead of collapsing onto the soft waist of her sister, her arm flopped over the edge of the mattress meeting nothing but air. She frowned. Her sister always slept in between her and Sanghyun. Being the only sibling without sleep paralysis, her caring Durami would always want to be able to watch over and comfort them in case one their episodes are of the frightening kind.

      Sandara rubbed at her blurry eyes and looked around the room. She was all alone; her siblings weren’t there with her. Sandara began to grow uneasy as another thought occurred to her; this room was different from her grandparent’s guestroom. This room was much tinier, barely managing to hold the twin bed she was resting on, a small chest, and an empty rack to hang clothes on. 'If this isn’t my grandparents’ house, then where am I?', the confused girl briefly wondered.

ten the previous day flashed back to her. She now remembered after finishing her first day of workshops, she—along with Hye-Sun—took the subway to what was to be her temporary place of residence for the duration of her stay. Once they reached her fifth-floor walkup, Hye-Sun let her borrow a pair of pajamas, and they said their awkward goodnights. It was surreal to think Sandara had just met the woman that day, and now she was going to be living with her.

The savory smell of sautéed onions reminded Sandara that Hye-Sun was currently in the next room apparently whipping up breakfast. The blue glow peeking through the cracks of the blinds—and the fact that her phone has yet to go off—signaled it wasn’t even six o’clock.

Although Sandara knew she had to get up and start getting ready to take off for the day, she was stuck underneath the covers uneasy at the thought of having awkward conversation with someone she barely knows. Approaching someone always made Sandara uncomfortable because she always felt like she was disturbing them.

'How should I approach her? What should I say?', the socially awkward girl burrowed further into the unfamiliar covers, 'Should I just wait here ‘til she leaves for training?' Sandara shook away the thought: 'Of course that wouldn’t work. We have to be there at the same time, and I don’t even know how to get there. Plus, it would be rude to purposely ignore the person who has been so kind to you. Remember your manners, Sandara', she chastised herself.

 Sandara repeatedly thumped her forehead with her palm, 'Ottoke? What do I do?' Waking up in the home of a stranger with nothing but the clothes from the previous night was completely new to the introverted girl. A random memory of some girls from her old high school quietly gossiping in the bathroom flitted through her mind.  'Maybe this is what one of those "one-night stands" they whispered about felt like. . .  minus the , shame, and massive hangover. . .' Sandara shook the weird thoughts away. Okay, maybe they weren't so similar, besides the feelings of awkwardness with an acquaintance and a lack of clothes. Speaking of which, Sandara remembered she still needs a change of clothes for the day.

She sighs as she realizes she might as well get up and ask Hye-Sun for some new ones soon if she wants to make it to training in time. The socially awkward girl reluctantly dragged herself out of bed. 'Come on, it won’t be so bad.' The girl straightened out the blankets while she tried to reassure herself. 'Just say ‘good morning’, say your thanks, and ask her for a pair of clothes. Simple.'  Once the last wrinkle in the covers was brushed out making it appear she was never there, Sandara headed for the door.

She loosened up her shoulders to try to relieve the anxiety that was building up. She clasped the door knob: 'No need to postpone the inevitable.'  Just as she was about to crack the door open, her ears perked up at the sound of slippers shuffling closer to her door. 'Ack! I’m not ready! '

In a panic, Sandara dove for the mattress and flung the covers on top of her. She quickly rolled over, shut her eyes, and pretended to be fast asleep. There was a soft knock at her door.

“Sandara-ssii, are you up?” a voice gently called.

After receiving no response from Sandara, Hye-sun cracked the door open. Sandara could feel eyes on her, so she tried to maintain an expressionless face while she slowed her breathing.

She must have been convincing because she could hear the door quietly close. Sandara waited a few seconds until she thought the coast was clear before sitting up. 'Ah, Coward! What was the point of hiding?!' Sandara berated herself, 'Geez, sometimes I really make things so awkward for myself. Really like th—'

Her train of thought was quickly cut off by her door snapping open to reveal a smug bob-haired girl hanging off the door frame. Hye-sun pointed at the startled newcomer. “Ah-hah! I knew you were faking it! I’m an actress, remember.”

                   Sandara blinked her shock away and felt a blush creep up her face. Sandara concealed her face with her hand in embarrassment. “Ah mianhamnida,” she then went on to finish off the mumbled apology with a formal greeting, “Annyeong hasimnikka” and ended it with a shy wave.

                   Hye-sun chuckled at the girls weird actions. “You’re super shy, aren’t you?” At the other girl’s quiet agreement, Hye-Sun went on in a friendly voice, “We’ll need to become more comfortable with each other. But trust me, we’ll be good friends by the time you leave.” She smiled and nodded her head towards the kitchen. “Come on. I made breakfast for us.”

                   And with that, they both headed to the low sitting coffee table in the living room where Hye-sun had set up their plates. After Sandara thanked her for the meal and lodging, they quickly ate in relative silence with a few friendly inquiries Hye-sun posed to Sandara. When they both ate all their breakfast, they washed up the dishes. Sandara was setting the last plate on the rack to dry when she finally worked up her nerve to ask Hye-sun about a change of clothes. While Hye-sun went off to find her something to wear, Sandara headed to the bathroom to freshen up. Sandara was just finishing up tying her hair into a high ponytail when Hye-sun came back with the clothes.

When Sandara stepped out fully dressed in the borrowed clothes, Hye-sun’s cheeks puffed out as she tried to hold her chuckle in; although the two girls’ seemed to be close to the same size and height, looking at Sandara now, Hye-sun could clearly see how much more petite the other girl is compared to her. The red, long-sleeved shirt Hye-sun gave her hung loose on her frame, while the jeans Sandara was wearing sagged off her hips. The bob-haired girl looked at the new girl critically: “It looks hip-hop. Dressed like that, you actually look like you belong at YG.” And with that approval, the girls quickly finished getting ready and headed out to start another day as a trainee.

It has been over two weeks since that awkward morning.  Sandara was surprisingly becoming well-adjusted to the life as an ‘honorary’ trainee. Since YGE had limited space with limited coaching staff, all the trainees were put into groups on rotation. The groups were often subject to change depending on the situation—whether President YG saw a potential group in making or an individual displayed a talent set that would be better focused somewhere else. Sandara’s group seemed to compose of other people participating in workshops or low-level trainees. It appeared that all their activities were split up equally, whereas someone like Hye-sun—who was primarily an actress—would spend most of the day on activities focusing on that scope. 

Being in a group with others slightly brought out the self-conscious, introverted girl in her—which if she was honest with herself, it was not hard to do. Having to sing and dance in front of others, whom Sandara knew were mostly more talented than her, was extremely uncomfortable for her. It was difficult for Sandara to project her voice while singing—even at the coach’s insistence, because she was worried about others judging the way she sings. There were a couple instances where her frustration would get to her and she would have to fight to hold in her tears.

Yet over these past two weeks, Sandara has found Hye-sun to be a very comforting presence. After their training was completed for