042020

"I have worked in the industry directly at a few agencies, so I know exactly what it's like in the real world," our instructor continued, "This class will undoubtedly prepare you for it. Now, I see you all have your practice attire. The locker rooms are down the hall and through that door." He pointed to a door on the opposite end of the room we'd entered. "We will be starting with some practices today, so you can all go get dressed. The girls and boys rooms are separated. I'm sure you'll find them."

The students stood and I followed through the door and down a short amount of hallways. Conversations started again and started to wish I had someone to talk to.

The locker room was a small room with rows of lockers about half the size of our normal ones. As soon as we entered, girls started changing in the open and shoving their clothes into a random, unlocked locker, which made me uncomfortable. I had never undressed in front of anyone else, even at the orphanage and especially not at the boy's dorms, so I was suddenly very self-conscious.

I noticed that at one end of the room, there were three bathroom stalls, so I went over to one and locked myself in, hoping to change quickly, as to not let anyone question why I wasn't changing like the others. I had a pair of black leggings and a cropped, rose-colored T-shirt that would help keep me from getting too hot if we were going to work out enough to break a sweat.

As soon as I exited, I was scanning the room to find a locker I could put my school uniform and clothes into without having to worry about the possibility of it being visible enough for someone to want to steal it, when something hard and plastic-like smacked the side of my head. I watched as a mini deodorant fell to the floor before looking up confused. A chorus of laughter rang out from one side of the room, and I noticed a group of girls doubled over, looking at the discarded deodorant at my feet. One of the girls wasn't laughing, though. She ran over and grabbed it before looking at me.

"Oh, fudge, I'm so sorry, we didn't mean- I mean, we kinda got a little crazy there." She had long black hair that fell past her shoulders, but was perfectly straight and shiny. Her eyes were beautiful, brown, and glowing. Her soft, pale lips were slightly parted, and her face structure was strong.

I realized I'd been staring at her the whole time she'd been talking to me. Not wanting to be rude, I tried to give her a smile. "It's alright, really."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "No problem."

"I'm really sorry." She turned around and headed back to her friends with her head hung low. I watched as she gave one of them a punch before whisper-shouting, "Darn, you guys. She's new here and I thought I'd actually get to make a new friend."

Her friend's laughter faded. "New friends? You mean you're sick of us?"

"No, no," she shook her head. "I mean, I just-"

Before I could even wonder how she knew I was new here, a knock on the locker room door came before we heard Mr. Hyebin's voice call, "One minute left, I need you back out here so we can start!"

I averted my eyes from the group of girls and decided to shove my uniform into the closest open locker that wasn't locked. With that, I headed out and back into the dance room. Mr. Hyebin walked us through daily exercise we'd be doing for the rest of the year, showing us the proper form and walking us through the process. They were mostly things like push-ups, line stretching, and such. I was happy to know a lot of the exercises were ones the boys learned and had taught me from Bighit's training course. After that, he gave us a short lesson with a song that taught us about fifteen common dance moves, and the lesson was over.

[talk about the rest of her day, we'll get back to Mini later]

After texting Jungkook asking where he wanted to meet me outside of the school, a voice called my name, making me look up. "Sujin!"

"Ah, Jiho," I said as he approached me.

"How was your first day?"

"Pretty smooth, you?"

"It was awesome! I'm so glad I get to see you at lunch." He gave me a bright smile, and I noticed he was clutching a small, black leather journal in his right hand.

"Me too. What's that?" I asked, nodding towards his book. His grip tightened on it, and his smile faded lightly.

"Just a book from the library."

"Oh? What's it called?" I prodded.

"I doubt you'd enjoy it." He stuffed his other hand in his pocket before glancing around.

"I'm curious."

"Well, if you must know," he leaned in, closer to me. "It's something I write in every day."

"A diary?"

"No, no," he shook his head. "More of a... journal."

"Ah." I gave him an approving smile.

"But don't tell anyone that, you know. Think about what my friends would say if they knew." He closed his eyes. "Embarrassing."

"There's nothing wrong about it that I can see."

"Well, you're kind, Sujin. Anyways, my ride's here. Gotta go." He gave me a wave before turning and leaving.

I chuckled to myself before Jungkook came running up beside me.

"Hey sis, found ya."

"Yeah," I replied, but my eyes were still following Jiho. As he got into a car, a familiar looking girl followed him inside. She was wearing a mask and a bucket hat, so I couldn't tell the face, but I made a mental note to ask Jiho later if I knew her by any chance. It was smart of her to be wearing a mask, as I realized she might not have been wanting everyone to notice who she was with. Jiho was a kpop-idol in training, and if she was related to him, I knew what type of life she was dealing with.

"Not even a hello?" Jungkook asked, but I didn't move. "What are you looking at?"

"Sorry," I turned to him. "Is Jin coming?"

"Yep." He got out his phone and sat down on the bench behind us. I joined him, deciding his short answer was an indicator that Jin wasn't coming very fast.

"JK?" I asked. He laughed at his new nickname.

"SJ?"

"Okay, but it doesn't sound as good with my name. I've heard fans call you JK before and it sounds fine. Don't call me SJ."

Jungkook laughed. "Okay, alright. Anyways, what's up?"

"Do you guys have any extra masks laying around?"

"You'd have to ask the hyungs. I think Hoseok or Yoongi have a few, maybe Jimin."

"Okay," I sighed. "No offense to you, but I think I want to wear a mask when I'm hanging around you at school."

"Sure, but what gave you that idea?"

"Eh, a friend suggested it."

"I don't see a problem with that, if it makes you more comfortable. I bet Sejin would support it too."

"Mhm."

I glanced around the school grounds. There were students everywhere, some getting picked up by their parents and some talking with friends. The thought made me feel gloomy. I had neither parents nor friends.

I was getting settled on the bench when a car honked twice, and I looked up to see Jin in the company van in front of the school, waiting for us.

"Oh, JK,'" I said, tapping his arm. "Jin's here."

"Ah." We both stood and headed towards the car.

"I don't know if Jungkook told you but I decided I'd pick you up today since we're still cautious over what happened a few days ago," Jin said as soon as I got into the car. "Next week you can walk home with 'Kook."

"Yeah," I said as I got into my seat. "I understand. Thanks for coming."

"No prob. So how was your big day?"

"I rolled my eyes at the cheesy line. "It wasn't my 'big day', but it went well. It was actually fun. I missed being in a classroom environment."

"Well it didn't go terribly wrong?"

"Nah."

"That's certainly good to hear."

Jungkook sighed from the back. "Hyung, I found out I have to take English again. They didn't accept my grade."

"I thought you passed!"

"I did too. It said so on my report card. But apparently, the system is having me marked as needing to retake the course. So I'm into it again."

"That sucks. Well, you should talk to Sejin about it. He might be able to do something."

"Why not your parents?" I asked him. It was then that I suddenly realized how weird it was for Jin to be mentioning their manager, when every single boy really had parents. It was a weird realization I hadn't had before.

"To be fair, they don't really live too close. They've given me up to Sejin," he laughed.

"Mm," I nodded, but my mind was suddenly distracted. All the boys and I were so tight-knit, and sometimes it was really hard to remember they all had parents, and even families. Real ones, at that. It made me wonder if I was a part of every single one of them, especially those of Yoongi and Jin, who'd taken me legally as guardians. "Jin?"

"Sujin?"

"When's the last time you saw your parents?"

"Oh," he laughed. "I think at Chuseok last year. Manager let us all go home for the holiday."

"Hm. You all have parents. And families." My words started to get caught in my throat. I hadn't been expecting to cry.

"Yeah, we don't see them often, though."

"Yeah, I know. But.." I sighed. The people I'd been living with all had families of their own. No matter how much the boys were a family to me, they weren't actually related to each other. They had their own families that they should have been putting first. It was something that was seemingly hard for me to grasp and accept. I knew I was important to them, but in reality, they all had another family to go home to at the end of the day.

"Ah, I see where you're going with that."

I shrugged. "Next time you guys go home I'll stay with Sejin. That's all I was getting at.." Jungkook eyed me, but I continued. "So, I don't have homework, yet. What's the plan for tonight?"

"Uh," Jin sighed as we pulled up to the house. "I think Yoongi wanted some production time at the studio. He's still there. And Namjoon's working from home. We'll get dinner ready in a little."

"Sounds like a plan. Oh, and I know it's kinda random, but I have a list of things I need to get from the store, I can pay you but I don't know if I'll find time to get there myself."

"Things?" Jin asked.

"Uh, best not to say it while Jungkook's in the car."

Jungkook looked shocked, "Ouch?"

"I don't think you want to hear."

"Oh. That- oh okay." His face went red.

"Uh, actually no, but, just things trust me."

"Uh, I'm out." As soon as the car was parked in front of the house, Jungkook exited, leaving Jin and I in the car.

"Lady things?"

"No!" I laughed, going red myself. "Things for Jungkook and Namjoon's birthday. They're next month, am I wrong?"

"Oh!" Jin exclaimed, finally getting it. "Sure, give me the list and your stuff can be hidden in your closet until you work on it, to keep it a surprise."

"Thanks." I hopped out of the car and headed to the door. I couldn't wait to tell the rest of the members about my day, as well as get out of my uniform.

As soon as I got inside, I threw my shoes into the cubby to the right of the door before putting my backpack in another beside it. By then, Namjoon had called my name from the kitchen.

"Kid, you're alive, I assume that's a good thing?" he asked, as I entered the dining room.

"Very good thing, it went better than I thought."

"Oh," he smiled. He was fixing a peanut butter sandwich on the counter next to the bars, where I took a seat on a stool. "Really?"

"Yep, I mean this year is a lot different then last."

"Well, you think it's going to be better?" He asked as he smothered a piece of bread with thick peanut butter.

"I do."

"That's a huge relief." He put his hand over his heart before laughing. "We really wanted you to be comfortable with school this time."

"Yeah, and there's not even another 'Meori' there. I found Jiho and Suho, and Daehyun, so I think I might even have a few friends already."

"Already? Kid, I knew you'd be popular." He smashed the two pieces of bread before taking a large bite out of the sandwich.

I laughed. "This is a different kind, Namjoon. I'm not really going to tell everyone who I am."

"Sure, sure," he covered his mouth full of bread with his hand for a second, "but still. If you've got people you can be comfortable around, that's good enough."

"Yep, and no one is suspicious. I think it will be okay."

"And the classes? You think they will be hard?"

"I'm not sure. It's been a while since I've taken an actual class, anyways. We'll see how it goes."

"Indeed. Well, it's good to have you home."

"Same, but we all know I'll be gone again tomorrow. That's the tiring thing about school. It just keeps going."

"So does our job. And life."

I laughed, "The deep conversations I can have with you, Namjoon, it's kinda funny."

He smiled before grabbing the jar of peanut butter and turning to put it back in the cupboard.

"Oh, dongsaeng's home," I heard Hoseok say from behind me as he and Jimin trailed into the room from the stairs.

"Sujinie!" Taehyung said, running down the stairs after the two other boys. I noticed he was speaking in his dialect tickly. He smiled, before continuing in his charming voice, "Tell me one thing you learned today!" He said it as if he were a music show announcer, which made me giggle.

"Let's see, Taehyung-ie." I put a finger to my chin and pretended to think. "I learned that I don't have to sit next to Jungkook at lunch because I already have friends, I learned that girls like to throw deodorant in the locker rooms, and classes shoudn't be too bad this year."

"Wow," his eyes got wide and he nodded slowly. "What wonderful life lessons."

"Right?"

Jimin and Yoongi trailed downstairs after that, and Jimin's face lit up when he saw me. Yoongi acted as if he cared less, but I knew he was curious as to how my day went too.

"Please tell me it will be better than last year?" Jimin asked, coming to give me a hug.

"Much. From what I can see." As I pulled out of the hug, Jungkook entered the room behind me,

"So no one's going to ask how my day went?" he mumbled. "Alright, that's new."

"Sorry, Kook," Namjoon said before swallowing another bit of his sandwich. "How do you feel about your year?"

"Eh, normal." He shrugged, andiI could tell he had more to say but was now too hurt to say it.

"Sorry Jungkook, didn't mean to take all the attention."

He shrugged again and before turning to the stairs. "I have homework."

"You have vocal lessons tonight, don't you?" Jimin asked. "With me?"

"Yeah," he replied with annoyance in his tone. "That's why I need to go get my homework done." He strutted up the stairs, leaving us in silence.

"Oops," Hoseok said.

"Well, next time-" I started to say, but then Hoseok's huge eyes stopped me as he stared past me and near the front door. "What, Hobi?"

"Uhhh-" He pointed a finger behind me and I turned around to see what he was exclaiming about. I gasped when I saw through the frosted window, the silhouette of a figure. Not a figure that was supposed to be there.

Hi! Hope all is well. 

Just wanted to check in and make sure I let you know of all the changes going on with my profile and this story. 

Kai and I were thinking of rewriting the beginning of this story but thought better of it. But, in the future, we might do some changes (maybe once this book and the one after is done being updated). I also redid all the covers and I've been doing some things to my profile to make it more aesthetic lol. It's all the same content, at least as of now. 

Also, Kai wanted to let you know that she's open to talking about anime with any of you, any anime references are thanks to her lol. I personally don't watch anime but she'd love to chat with you about it if you're passionate about it.  Her profile is  NonexistantPotato