*The characters (WINNER and Red Velvet) are still idols in their respective groups, though I changed the timeline around a bit!

Chapter 1: Hit or Miss

Present-day

On most mornings—on normal ones—the dorm would've been cleared by now, and the members off to their tight schedule. There would be no such sight as this: a group of grown- men sprawled against each other like extended limbs, in a sea of Soju bottles and scattered take-out boxes—perhaps there was also a recently-used first-aid kid shoved underneath a sofa somewhere, but that was not for us (or the manager) to know.

As Seungyoon laid on his back in the center of the mess, he thought it was surprising that they haven't been busted by now. Where was the manager, he wondered: surely they must have some schedule? Surely their debut was not so bad of a miss? Surely? Of course, there were all kinds of possibilities. What was he even thinking about at this time of day anyway? They've already debuted a year ago, and the increasing number of their fan-café members was only the more glaring evidence that they haven't flopped. Not yet, anyway. 

"What are you lying there staring at the ceiling for?" quipped Minho from the kitchen area just as he appeared in a frilly apron (a gift from a Japanese fan, sure) and a plate in one hand, though he showed not the faintest idea of the phrase sharing is caring.

"To pursue the meaning of life, I'm sure," interrupted Seunghoon, who had just woken up, and in turn, gave Taehyun a light kick in the ribs to continue the process. When Taehyun woke up, naturally the curses (that could've probably dotted Gordon Ramsay's cheeks pink) bubbling up from the hangover did a job to rouse Jinwoo from his beauty slumber. 

And then all of a sudden, the room woke up like a bear out of hibernation, rumbling and growling for their meals. 

Minho huffed, shoved another spoonful of kimchi rice into his mouth, and ignored them. Seunghoon did a show of aegyo. Jinwoo blinked sadly. Taehyun cursed some more.

And Seungyoon simply rolled off the seat onto the floor, found a TV remote, and switched it on.

At the moment, nobody was really paying any attention to the channel that was airing the national sensation: Hit or Miss. It was a variety show that attracted a long waiting list of idol groups, especially recently-debuted ones, from companies big and small. Basically you go there, perform your songs, show your talents, answer some questions, play some games, and hopefully by the end of the live broadcast, you would become a hit. It was naturally, and usually, any idol group's first broadcast appearance other than that on music shows.

Of course, they as WINNER had also appeared on the show almost right away after their debut showcase, thanks to YG's influences. 

And just like WINNER, this new girl group from SM whom Seungyoon hadn't bothered knowing about before, was live today on National Television at the most ratings-attracting time of the day. That too, was thanks to the shadow of SM. But whether they become a Hit or a Miss—that was another story altogether.

Hello! We are Red Velvet!

Year 1408. Joseon Dynasty.

The year Sooyoung turned twenty was most definitely the worst year of her existence, and probably the last of the life as she knew it, too. When the Ming embassy arrived and demanded for silk, clothes, luxuries, but very certainly s, she was ashamed to taste regret at the memories of seven years ago.

If I'd been a Joseon princess, if only mother... But that was enough. From the grave paleness of her mother's skin these days, she knew that both ends of the path were still the ends to something. If she was picked and selected to be delivered to Ming, life in a Ming palace would no doubt be much grander than the Joseon's in all aspects: splendor, riches, misery. If, however, she was to crawl back to the palace in Hanyang and beg at the King's feet, she would also have to spend the rest of her life the feet of his consorts, concubines, eunuchs, princes, princesses, officials. His Empress. Perhaps she didn't even have to. Perhaps they would have her head rolling on the floor without so much so as a glance. 

The embassy was slowly moving from provinces to provinces, city to city, raking the country like a dying men for his last breath. In the old city of Kaesong, young girls between the age of thirteen and twenty-five stood in lines by height. They were dressed in simple clothes and hair-dos, for some did not wish to be picked, some could not afford the luxury, and then there was the minority who could not bother to be anything but comfortable.

Park Sooyoung was all and none of it.

"Turn over your hands," one eunuch ordered as he walked through the rows. "Open your mouth. Wide!" he inspected their teeth. "Her, her, her, and her. Too short, too smelly, too thin, and that one is simply inauspicious! Out!" From dawn to dusk, from a thousand to three hundred to barely ten, from standing to sitting to posing, from smiling to crying to unmoving, time crawled by as if it was in no such hurry to go anywhere. 

Sooyoung watched as the eunuch started again from the start of the current, much more noticeably smaller line of ten girls. His eyes squinted observingly at them, but she stood perfectly still. She made no noise, produced no tears—very much a blatant contrast to the ones preceding her. It might've gained her extra attentions, though they weren't guaranteed good or bad. 

"You..." The Ming Eunuch shook his finger as he closed in on her. "Big, bright eyes—pale, fair skin—" he smiled, and it sickened her. When his hands began to move over the hanbok, patting and shaping her waist and hips with his hands, she felt a desire to kill with an indescribable thirst for blood. Her face darkened with fury, but she casted her vacant gazes ahead. Believe that you have no weakness until you have none.

"Good, good!" he clapped his hands with a boisterous laugh, "this one—she's the one! Take her away and get her prepared, we're leaving tomorrow to gather up with the others in Hanyang!"

"Ha... Hah... Haha..." and then Sooyoung broke out into a wild hysterics. "Hahhahaha... Hah..." 

But that was only in her mind, of course.

Because Park Sooyoung was not allowed to be weak.

Not even the illegitimate princess of Joseon.

The next time she was conscious again, she was in an unfamilar room with her mother by her side.

"I heard you're leaving tomorrow," she whispered. "To Hanyang."

Sooyoung hadn't bothered to ask where she was or how her mother got here. Instead, she observed the dark ceiling where the candle light couldn't quite reach, "Mm."

"Mm? Mm?" exclaimed Park Sukwon. "You're leaving, for ever, and all you've got to say—are you even listening to me?!" 

This time, Sooyoung casted a glance at the older woman. She pulled back slightly at her daughter's cold gaze, though was quick to protest. "Why are you staring at me like that?" 

Sooyoung smiled icily. "I've always listened to you, mother." And look where it got me. 

"You—are you by any chance blaming me..." Sukwon twisted her lips, "...for your decision 7 years ago?" 

"Oh, mother, of course not," she turned back towards the ceiling, "do not be so dour." 

"But you clearly are! Y-" her mother breathed, "You, you ungrateful brat! You're clearly blaming me, in your ugly heart and twisted mind, that I have not allowed you to enter the palace seven years ago! Do you mean that I'm at fault for trying to protect you from the royal schemes? Do you not know how dangerous—"

"Well, aren't we just escaping one tiger's den to enter another?" Sooyoung dry-chuckled. "But mother, I do not blame you. So please, give me some peace, and stop putting words in my mouth. I could not swallow any more, for my heart is already heavy as it is."

"You bitc-" her mother closed and huffed. "Fine. Do as you wish. If you hate me so much, daughter, then this shall be the last farewell for good."

"And you live well, mother."

Then Sooyung turned towards the wall, closed her eyes, and let her last sight of her mother burn away in the darkness. 

innerwriter: I know, I know. And I'm sorry that Sooyoung is still stuck in Joseon, but homework is catching me by the heels, so I had to churn out all I've got at the moment. Hopefully I get to update the second part to Chapter 1 soon, but bear with me a little. I'm kind of a turtle. t_t

P.S: The reason why being a princess could've made a difference was because if her mother had allowed her to accept The King's (her father) proposal to enter the palace, then she could've most likely escaped the edict since she's a part of royalty.