LET ME IN (ENHYPEN FF)

14~ aegyo

"Okay applicants, please gather round for an announcement regarding your next test."

The girls and I all piled our way into the lobby and sat down on the chairs in no particular rank order.
We watched as the massive screen in front of us flashed on.

"For your next test, you will be performing in groups of six and evaluated to produce your individual rankings."

Gasps and whispers filled the lobby.

Oh boy
Here we go

The competition is really starting now.

The loud voice paused for a while, as the large screen displayed the already arranged, two groups.
The girls all squealed nervously as they quickly eyed who they would be grouping with.
My eyes landed on my applicant profile as I mentally read the member names.

Park Soojin
Lee Sunhee
Park Haewon
Kim Misun
Kim Chohee
Park Aerum

I grinned beamingly as I turned to face the other applicants who I was placed with.

"Soojin! We have such a good group!" cheered Chohee as she slapped my shoulder.

"Yeah everyone except one." Haewon spoke quietly as she eyed the tall girl opposite us.

You're joking.
Kim Misun?
I'm in the same group as Kim Misun?

This is not going to end well.

I bite my lip in worry as memories of how she treated me came rushing into my mind.
Haewon noticed this and gently caressed my arm.

"Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you."

I smiled lovingly back at her as I felt myself a little more at ease.

She's right.
At least I have the girls to keep things under control.

The screen suddenly changed, as the word 'CONCEPT' suddenly flashed on.

"The concept for this I-LAND test will be..."

I held my breath in suspense as I waited impatiently for the announcement.

"Aegyo."

•••

"Again please girls."

Everyone heaved in exhaustion as we dragged ourselves back to our starting position.

Our mentor for this test, Sunoo, was a lot stricter than I expected.
Despite his cute, innocent charm, Sunoo took the art of aegyo pretty seriously.
This was unlucky for me as mentioned by Hyunsik before that...

I genuinely suck at this sort of shit.

Hearing the loud cheery music echo the room again, I exhaled nervously and tried my best to make a facial expression.
Any facial expression.

To my sheer unluck, the choreo was filled with places of improvisation where we had to appeal our personal aegyo to the viewers.
Unlike hip hop and other girl/boy crush concepts, I couldn't just use my resting bitch face as a facial expression.
Instead I found myself looking half disgusted and half smiling like a sad clown.

The song soon ended and Sunoo gathered us around for some feedback.

"Okay girls. I think the majority of you have gotten your aegyo expressions down pat, however some of you still need to work hard on it."

I hid my head in remorse as I felt his words directly target me.

"That includes you Soojin."

I lifted my head as I met the stern concerned eyes of Sunoo.