The sun hung low, burning through the window's finger streaked glass and spilling in streaks over the hardwood floor. Eujin's shoes squeeked with quick twists and turns as she repeated each movement over and over. What she could of her hair was up in a ponytail and whatever strands came loose stuck to her face and neck. She already begged the janitor twice to come back later and allow her more time to practice the choreography her team had been learning for an upcoming regional. She wasn't scared of not being chosen by the coach to be part of the team to represent the school, but the dance had a more graceful quality than she was used to. Slower, gentler, more whimsical that let her mind wander and tell more of a story than express power and confidence. It was imagery heavy, full of late night city lights and cold breezes and first experiences. It was a story Euijin wanted to tell, and she needed to perfect how to execute the dance if she wanted to accomplish it.

At least, if the light wasn't blinking and a turn of her head revealing the aged janitor standing by the switch with a sorrowful look wasn't pulling her out of the fantasy.

"Just 20 more minutes!"

"This is the only room on this level I haven't cleaned up. I need to lock up. Sorry kid, but you have tomorrow and the day after and god knows how long until that audition. You're here until after dark every night, give yourself a bit of a break and some sleep so your not exhausted when you come in tomorrow from pulling all nighters doing homework." Euijin dropped her arms from their pleading position to limp at her sides and slowly leaned her head back until she could count the holes in the ceiling. she huffed out a breath and swung her head forward until her chin hit her chest and slowly stalked to the wall length mirrors where her bag and binder lay. Idly, she swung a strap over her shoulder and picked up the binder to secure it in the crook of her arm and against her .

"This is valuable practice time." she sighed out walking by the janitor to the door.

"And this is valuable me-getting-paid-to-clean-after-kids-old-enough-to-pick-up-after-themselves time. I'll see you tomorrow." Euijin raised an arm limp wristed without turning to look back before turning down the muraled halls. Small red lockers stacked on top of each other to make three distinct rows lined the walls, with breaked between classroom doors, bathrooms, and little cut out areas where untouched water fountains and trash cans sat. She made her way to the staircase that lead outdoors between the locker rooms and an abandoned classroom that tends to be reserved for afterschool programs. Voices were coming out in a rush as girls started spilling out from the classroom. A very pretty girl still in a green and white cheerleading uniform was standing outside the door, clapping her hands and yelling after the others inside.

"You're making me late for practice! Let's get going, we don't have all day, yo're gonna get scolded by a teacher for being in here soon enough if you don't get your asses in gear and move on out!" despite her striking and sweet appearance, her voice was slightly deeper than Euijin had expected it to be. She was loud to, projecting enough that anyone on the field would probably hear her clearly. Euijin wouldn't be surprised if she was head cheerleader. A small, short haired girl with black overalls and a white t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up over her shoulders was walking out toward the cheerleader, large bag on her back and struggling to zip up a guitar in its case. Euijin could feel the delay in her head as she stared at the small girl before realization clicked like a lock that had finally been broken into. 

She stood frozen in place unsure of what to do before settling at a green table sitting against the wall and opening her binder, through papers in the folder inside and knitting her brow to appear busy in case any looked her way. The sun sat hot against her neck and heated her back through her black t-shirt.

"Can you help me with this at least?" the girl asked the cheerleader, who huffed and quickly zipped the case up. Euijin looked up as descreetly as she could to catch the small girl scowl and turn as a tough looking blonde in a leather jacket, patched up jeans, and snapback walked out. 

"Hey, Eunae, careful of Nahyun. She has a stick up her today." the cheerleader let out a choked out noise and raised a hand in mock threat to the girl, who flinched but laughed. There was no denying it, they were the same girls from the band Dohee had brought her to see. Euijin almost couldn't believe it, but it did explain how she knew about a show for a music genre she had zero knowledge or interest in. Another voice called out of the room that instantly sparked a flmae of recognition in Euijin's memory and caused constriction in her chest.

"Stop pestering her, Yoonie. She's what's getting us the gigs with her good looks and charming demeanor." Nahyun smiled widely at the short haired girl and swung her long brown ponytail over her shoulder. 

Euijin reached behind her to slip her phone out of her pocket and used her other hand to pull out a week old assignment she hadn't got around to removing to pretend to study. She unlocked her phone and quickly sent a message to Dohee:

You didn't tell me the girls from that concert go here!!! How'd u know???

She lifted the paper slightly and placed a fist over , looking up from the paper to see two girls walk out, arms full of school supplies and equipment, with Nahyun jogging forward to close the door behind them. The first girl was the one who looked like a Sunday school teacher, who's name escaped Euijin (for the most part she didn't really know any of their names), with a button up shirt and navy blue skinny jeans with only the front of her shirt tucked in. Her shoes where pristine white, either new or she was very careful with them. Beside her, the girl that completely captured Euijin's attention, had her hair down and flowing carefully over her shoulder, a large brimmed black hat angled on her head. She had a sleeved dress on, the ends of the sleeves hanging long over her wrists and the skirtcut in an angled fashion so it was longer in the back. Her black shoes were platformed a bit so she was slightly taller than the rest. She had a crate in her arms full of chords and small amps, a smile stretching broadly across her face. 

Euijin could almost swear the second Sumin walked out the door the sun left its place burning into her skin to spotlight the other girl. Time went somewhere between a standstill and fast forward. Air clung to her lungs in refusal to leave and her heart beat like that alone had the energy to fuel a city. As much as she desired to tear her eyes away, especially with the sound of her phone buzzing against the loose leaf paper, but something stirred at the pit of her stomach that feared missing a single moment of the girl before her. Nahyun turned from the door and started shooing the group away.

"Go! Leave and go home, your making me late. Practice same time tomorrow and hopefully I'll have news about that festival, alright?" as the girls started migrating to the side gate off campus, Nahyun turned and grabbed the gentle girl's arm, who was looking down at her phone. "Minjae! Everyone's leaving! Let's go, I'll see you tomorrow!" the gentle girl, Minjae, looked up and started shuffling as quickly as she could to the group as Nahyun her heals just as Euijin quickly looked back down at her paper and faked a studious expression. She could feel the slight breeze of the cheerleader passing by to the field against her arm. Euijin grabbed her phone and opened the message:

lol yeah i take math w/ 1 of the cheerleaders she was running around telling us all to go

ummm...D...SHE  goes here.

the little bubble indicating Dohee was responding popped up within seconds of Euijin sending the message.

there's like 4 from what nh said u need to be more specific pal

Euijin huffed and rolled her eyes. Dohee didn't even join her to watch the show, she beelined for a spot near the bar and was likely blocked from seeing the stage by the audience. Unless she's seen the band together before, there was no way she would know exactly who. She only knew how many there were based on what she was told. It was hopeless.

Only vaguely hopeless.

It hit Euijin like florecent lights flooding a room after being in the dark for an extended period of time, burning her eyes and stinging dully in her skull for a brief moment. She knew when their next practice was, meaning she knew they all attended the school. All she had to do was figure out if she could find a way to talk to at least one of them enough that she can sit in one of the practices and, hopefully, get close to Sumin. It was a stretch, especially considering general reactions to strangers walking up and trying to befriend you at school is typically meant with confused stares and slightly hostile tones to shut the conversation down as quickly as possible. It was a risk Euijin was willing to take, if only she got a little time to practice and maybe find out of any of her friends were already friendly with one of them so maybe she can jump in so a meeting would be less awkward.

For now, though, she was content with a ghost of  white dressed girl wandering her dreams for another night.

A/N: So. Hey. Long time no see. I'm sorry I haven't updated in a very long while, but since I won't be starting university until August I have plenty of time to ease myself back into my chaptered works. I apologize this update is so short, but hopefull the next will be longer as I reimmerse myself back into this AU of mine. I also fixed the formatting of the first chapter so it is easier to read, as I didn't realize it loked like one massive blob of words than a proper reading format. I apologize for that, I should've checked before and I failed to do so. It is a weak excuse I understand, but I can only hope you all can understand and I thank you for the support you have shown this already so early in its stage.

My hope is to also update Mirror Peak by the end of the week, so if you wanna start it before the second installment you may (it is an ot12 exo horror fic w/ appearances of other SMTOWN artists as a warning to those of you who want to know what your getting into).

But again, thank you for the support and kind words so far and I hope this mealy little update is enough for now (and if you have any sonamoo fics to suggest to me, since the lack of fics is what pushed me to start this in the first place, I encourage you share with me and the good people who desire this).

Have a lovely week!

-NLN