Constellation

10. Excuses EUNJUNG

December 2014

Eunjung was beginning to feel those nerves again, the type that she had almost drowned in when Polaris had debuted back in July. The comeback was getting closer every single day and even though every member of Polaris had been preparing so much that they felt as though they could dance and sing their new songs in their sleep (Chaerin had even gone so far as to have joked that she could dance it after death), Eunjung was worried. Usually, she was pretty relaxed and had been reliably told many times that she was the dork of the group, but she was the leader of the group, and it showed at times like this.

It was with a heavy heart that she clambered out of the car and into the SM Entertainment building, ready for another day of slaving in the vocals rooms and the practice room. Yet again, Jimin had decided not to come with them for undisclosed reasons, so it was only Eunjung, Seohyeon, Chaerin, Subin and Gayoon who settled on the black sofa that morning, ready to go over their vocals once more.

“Seriously, what is going on with Jimin-ah?” Seohyeon asked, her face betraying no emotion and her words flat. They always joked about what a weird maknae she was, but the dancer paid them no notice. “She barely turns up to our schedules these days. She’s going to end up messing up on stage if she keeps this up.”

“Yes, Seo, we know,” Subin snapped, obvsiouly feeling the strain. Although the wasn’t the leader, she was the oldest member out of the six of them, and she was often called ‘umma Subin’. “Nothing any of us say is getting through to her, so you complaining about her to us isn’t really going to do anything, is it?!”

“Okay, Subin, time to start drinking coffee when you wake up on a morning again,” Chaerin muttered so that only Eunjung could hear her. “Your caffeine withdrawal symptoms are really starting to wind everyone up.”

Stiffling a laugh from Chaerin’s comment, Eunjung synced her phone up to the speakers and scrolled through to find the MR for their title track, which needed to be practiced the most. 

“Shall we get breakfast first, or just start?” Gayoon wondered aloud. “Skipping breakfast is bad for you.”

“Breakfast is our prize for getting through the song three times without screwing up,” Eunjung decided, raising her eyebrows at Chaerin and Seohyeon, daring them to contradict her. “Maknae, write down what everyone wants. We can decide who gets to eat afterwards,”

“Why do I always have to write down the orders?” the dancer complained with a whine as she reached out for the paper and pen on the table with the stereo. 

“Your handwriting is the neatest, so manager-nim can read it properly,” Chaerin began. “Also, you’re the maknae. Pull your weight. You know what we always want anyway, so just jump to it.”

“Yah, Kwon Chaerin, you’re the second youngest,” Seohyeon breathed with a deadly glare in the direction of the lead vocalist. 

“Can we please just start?” Subin grumbled as she took her place. “I want my coffee.”

Eunjung rolled her eyes as she started the music.

*

That morning was a good one, Eunjung decided as the third run-through of their title track finished. It was the first time in weeks that they had all aced their parts. She was made to call for the order because Daeseun, their manager, was nowhere to be seen (he was probably in meetings as Gayoon as said). When she had asked why it had to be her, the other four had ganged up against her and told her firmly that it was her job as the leader to carry out the dirty work that nobody else wanted to do.

It was only after the food (and Subin’s precious coffee) had been delivered that Jimin decided to show up, and it was around nine in the morning by then. She walked in with the grace and attitude of a snobby monarch and immediately narrowed her eyes at the sight of her members eating breakfast in front of her.