Pretty Boy

21

Oh, no. What have we gotten ourselves into?

As I saw the mob of artists I pulled my girls closer to me. I squeezed Chowon's hand and pulled her to my side and she took the hint. Slowly we all moved in until our whole group was shoulder to shoulder. The seniors just smirked at us. Taeyong stepped forward, "Well, given I was called in here I will start. Let us welcome the new debut team," everyone started clapping which should have made us proud if the situation was not so unsettling.

After the clapping stopped Taeyeon stepped forward, "Now if you all would please cooperate, we can do this the hard way or the easy way." Seven of the artists stepped forward with blindfolds while seven others stepped forward with some sort of rope.

Chowon's grip tightened even more. I stepped forward, "Ummm... let's try..." I snapped my fingers behind my back signaling my girls we were going to make a run for it. "No!" With that, we all bolted to the door but we were outnumbered. Between the screaming and kicking (I am proud to say I landed a few good kicks) you would think at least one of us would have gotten away, but no, within 5 minutes all of us were tied up, blindfolded, and being walked to God knows where. Luckily they did not take us up many stairs and instead opted to use the elevators.

We finally stopped walking and were sat down next to each other with the wind blowing on our backs. I scooted to hold onto my girls as tightly as possible. Suddenly, the blindfolds were taken off our eyed and the restraints loosened. I barely saw Taeyong right in front of me smirking as he pulled off the blindfold. I could see the city around us so I knew we were on the rooftop.

"What is going on," Yeji whispered, obviously scared as we all were. We did not have to wait for long to get the answer though because lights turned on all around us, all colorful and beautiful.

"Congratulations!" All of the idols screamed at us. Some of my girls started crying and I held back tears. 7 idols approached us to take off our ties. Of course, Taeyong was taking off mine and as soon as he was done I punched him as hard as I could in the gut. Oof he exhaled as I considered punching him again. "I probably deserved that," he chuckled.

"Oh, you deserve a lot more, be glad I am letting you leave with your face still ready for stage pretty boy," I gritted my teeth as I tried to calm down. All of this could be considered very sweet if I wasn't so angry. Eventually, after checking on my girls and being presented with seven gorgeous cakes, that must have been ordered last minute, I managed to calm down and enjoy myself.

We were sitting down eating cake when all the formalities started. We got so many words of encouragement as well as warnings on what to do and what not to do. What they had done earlier was mean, but I was very glad for the advice they were giving us. For example, some of the sandwiches and albums that other groups will give you will have phone numbers on paper in them. I had already experienced this, but it was more of a reiteration for my teammates to hear.

We were told there were several group chats for artists to get to know each other, especially for idols born in the same year.

Then there were the obvious make sure you lock your door the second you get in your apartment to try to keep out sasaengs and put a chair under the doorknob for extra security.

In addition, there were tips on how to avoid making mistakes on stage and what to do if a mistake does occur as well as so many more little things.

Some joked about how to not get caught dating by dispatch which everyone had a good laugh at.

The night was going well and everyone was having fun mingling. There was music playing in the background and some people were dancing, but most of us just talked. I bumped into Taeyong and started up a conversation because it would be awkward and obvious if I did not.

"So, any advice leader to leader?" I asked him in a joking matter.

"Yeah," he replied matching my tone. Then he said in the most deadpan tone with a serious facial expression, "Count the kiddos so you don't leave any behind." He erupted into laughter seeing the shock at the shift in his voice on my face. I awkwardly tried to giggle along. "No, but seriously, it can cause a huge scandal of a member being mistreated by the company, a member being bullied, yadda yadda yadda. Oh, a buddy system, as elementary as it seems, tends to be pretty effective. One kid missing is easy to forget, two or three kids missing tends to make a difference."

"Good to know," I said as I made a mental note to discuss a buddy system with the team. "Oh, your group always seems really close, even with the subunits and stuff. Is there anything you do to keep the relationships going well?"

"Relationships are hard and very complex. One person can be trying very hard, but if everyone involved is not working together they don't work." As he said this I felt like he was not just talking about the members on his team. It may have just been my guilty conscience, but I felt like he was talking about us. I was aware he liked me, he had told me as much, but no matter how I felt about him I could not pursue him just yet. There were just too many factors in the relationship between us and I was not willing to derail my career, my dreams I had worked so hard for, for a boy. I snapped back to reality as he said, "Together time and team bonding is good, but alone time can also be important for some of the members. Get to know their personalities and find what works. Once you find the balance just work to maintain it. You have some time to figure out things with this group, and you don't even know if this will be your final lineup. If you don't mesh the company will step in to fix things before they debut you and make it final. Just work at it and things tend to turn out. Be sure to make sure the chemistry is there because you can try to fake it for the camera," he said as he leaned in to whisper into my ear, brushing my hair away with his fingertips, "but real feelings will always shine through and the fans will always catch it."

He was so close I could feel his lips on my ear as I felt him smirk. I placed my hands on his chest and pushed him away then looked around to see if anyone saw.

Everyone seemed to be caught up on their own conversations, but I saw Sian look at me and smile. Oh no, how is this one going to go down?

Hi, y'all! Thank you so much for reading this chapter. A special thank you to those who have taken the time to reach out and comment. I know I am late (as always) and will try harder. Hopefully, with the time off I have right now, I can stockpile some chapters to release in a timely matter, but I tend to only write when I feel like it. Otherwise, the chapters turn out to be trash. If you guys like this story feel free to vote, comment, share with your friends, add it to a reading list, or message me. Love Y'all sooooooo much. ~BellaBanana