𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 ˢᵛᵗ

two ♬

Around 15 minutes passed before a man wearing a black shirt saying "STAFF" on it approached us. He asked us to follow him and led us further down the corridor before arriving between two doors.

"Here's where you will be staying. Please leave your bags in your respective rooms and then proceed to the dance room by 5 pm. There are two rooms available, meaning two of you must share and the other will stay alone." His monotone voice rang out, "Make your decision and don't be late." And with that, he walked off.

"So who's sharing?" Bo-ri questioned.

"I don't mind," I lied. Personally, I wanted to have the solo room but I couldn't just out right say that. As much as I love talking to others and making friends, it gets so draining. If I'm going to spend the next year here, there is bound to be some drama that will take place. With that in mind, a room to myself seems ideal if any situations were to arise.

"Alright I'll tak-"

"Me and Bo-ri will share. You can take the other one Chae-ri."

Bo-ri had began to claim the room for herself before JJ swooped in and answered for her. A wave of relief washed over me and JJ seemed to notice. She gave me a small smile before dragging Bo-ri and their luggage into the room next to them.

I opened the door to my new room. It was fairly small, the walls painted in a plain white shade. Several grey pillows and a futon lay neatly rolled on the floor to the far side of the room. A single black chair and desk with a lamp were placed opposite the sleeping area. This was probably for schoolwork or other written assignments that I will be given. Next to the desk was a closet, not too big but enough.

After unpacking and sprucing the place up a bit, I turned to see how it looks. The wall was now decorated with pictures of me and my mum from when we went to Jeju three years back and a small tapestry I got given as a gift. My desk was graced with the presence of an alarm clock, which read 4:06; meaning I had just less than an hour before I have to be at the dance room. At first, I was going to stay in my room and listen to music to pass the time however I decided to visit the other girls to try get to know them better.

When I knocked on their door, it swung open to reveal a very interesting room. Half was covered in pink, sparkly cute things whilst the other half was dark and minimalistic. It was like somebody had cut two different rooms in half and put them together. I couldn't tell what the overall vibe was. Something like sweet but psycho or cute but could kill you.

JJ had been the one to open the door and was already in the process of welcoming me inside. Bo-ri was silently placing folded clothes away into her closet on the left side of the room.

"We are almost finished unpacking. Don't mind the mess," JJ said whilst moving some stuffed animals away from my path. She took me to her side of the room where we sat down.

"So who was that total hottie that was talking to you earlier?" JJ probed. She gave me a suggestive look, hinting that me and Jeonghan are more than what we actually are.

"Who, Yoon Jeonghan?"

"Ooh so that's his name," she gushed, "He your boyfriend?"

"Me and Jeonghan? No. Friends." I responded.

Jeonghan had been my best friend since forever. If anything, he's more of a brother to me. Talks of us dating or getting together have always lingered around us but it's something that would never happen. Of course, we discussed the topic of it and agreed that friends would be the furthest we'd go. The reason for it all was really simple.

We knew too much about each other.

If something were to go wrong, we had too much to lose.

"What's your speciality?" JJ suddenly inquired, shifting the topic.

"My what?" I was confused. Speciality?

"You know," she signalled her hands as if I should know what she's talking about, "Like what are you? A singer? Dancer?"

So that's what that means.

"I'm a singer," I answered.

JJ clapped her hands together enthusiastically, the noise startling the nearby Bo-ri who had just began to make her way over to us.

"That's so cool!" She exclaimed. "I'm a dancer!"

"I'm a rapper..." Bo-ri chimed in quietly. This evidently made JJ even more thrilled as she beamed happily at us both.

For the next half hour of so, the three of us talked about ourselves. I found out that JJ and Bo-ri had attended the same elementary school which is how they knew each other. I mentioned that I was from Hwaseong in Gyeonggi and surprisingly enough, it turns out that JJ had lived there during her middle school years with her grandmother. It was shocking to me how we never met at the market or some other public place before, however JJ explained that her grandmother insisted that she come straight home everyday after school. This led to her having no social life out with her family. I also learned that Bo-ri can play three instruments. The violin, cello and guitar. Turns out her family run an instrument shop down in Busan, where they sell all sorts of things; from flutes to banjos.

It's fun talking to these guys. Although our personalities are all mismatched, we fit.

It feels nice.

I peer at the clock on Bo-ri's side of the room which now reads 4:51. I notify the other two that it's time for us to go and we all stand up. JJ puts on a red hoodie atop her black tee as Bo-ri and I put on our shoes. The three of us make our way down the various winding corridors before reaching some double doors. At the top it read "TRAINEE AREA".

"I assume we go through here," Bo-ri said and pushed open the doors.

I followed behind and saw that it was another corridor, though this time all the doors were labelled. The first door on the right had "PRACTICE ROOM 1" scrawled on it whereas the second door said "VOCALIST TRAINING". Vocalist training? Seems like a room that I will be in a lot. A few doors down, we finally see the room that says "DANCE ROOM".

JJ reached for the door handle and paused. She spun to face us and asked us the unforgettable question.

"Are you ready?"

To which I responded,

"Ready as I'll ever be."

She pushed open the door, revealing a green room.