1 |one|
|NaHee POV|
"Let's do a head count. JuHee. Aera. JiSu. SunMi. Me." I smile as I point at each of the girls before landing on myself. It feels like it was just yesterday when I managed to get into a company to train and now we're so close to debuting.
"I still don't think I'm ready—I didn't train like you guys." SunMi mumbles as she tugs at her sleeves.
"Relax, we've practiced this for weeks. You'll all do fine. I promise." I reassure the others as they fiddle with their costumes.
"What if weeks aren't enough? You heard what people were saying about me—I'm not ready yet." JuHee frowns as she chews on her chapped lips.
"Hey, look at me Ju. You've got this. You, too, Sun. Just because you didn't train as long as the rest of us doesn't mean you aren't ready." I pull both girls in for a hug.
"The rumors—" SunMi starts, but I quickly hush her.
"That's exactly what they are, rumors. We know they aren't true. Isn't that all that matters? If we know it, we can make everyone else see it, too." I stand in the middle of the circle of girls and meet each one of their eyes.
"We can't make them unsee things—can we? Because I really don't like this color." JiSu sighs as she takes the sheer fabric of her skirt in between her fingers.
"It's black, JiSu. You have to get used to it. We'll be wearing black a lot—especially for this albums promotions." I shake my head in amusement as she drops the fabric and groans.
"Why can't we perform Honey Kiss? I like those costumes more." JiSu recalls her pink tutu from her other costume.
"Because Honey Kiss isn't our title track. Black Licorice is." I remind her for what feels like the millionth time.
"I like these outfits. It makes our baby stand out." Aera makes her way behind JuHee and wraps her arms around her waist.
"Remind me again why I'm the one wearing white." JuHee mumbles as she stares down at her lace gown.
"Because you're the innocent one." Aera chuckles as she plays with the youngest's hair.
"You're on in five." A tall man in black mumbles as he slips passed us.
"Okay, breathe. Does everyone remember their lines? What about positions? We've got to do this in one take. Everyone out there thinks we're going to bomb—we have to prove that we deserve this." I stand before the others and look each one of them in the eyes.
"I don't know—can't we just call it off and practice for another week?" SunMi asks as she lowers her head and swallows hard.
"No, SunMi, we can't. We can't call it off. You can do this, Sun. You all can." I walk toward them and pull them all in for a group hug.
"Candi—you're on next." The man comes back and ushers us toward the side of the stage.
"Next up we have a new group, Candi. They officially debut next week, but their company was more than willing to give us a first look at them. So, please put your hands together for Candi." The MC motions toward us as we hesitantly make our way out onto the stage.
We stop in the center and turn toward the audience. We take each other's hands and bow our heads.
"Hello, we are Candi!" We all lean forward then stand upright.
The crowd is nearly silent as we make our way closer to the MC. Not a soul claps for us. In their eyes, we won't even make it our debut.
"So who do we have here?" The MC holds the microphone out for me.
"Hello everyone, I'm the leader of Candi, YeSeul." I offer them a smile and a casual wave before handing the microphone onto Aera.
"Hi! It's your girl, Cherry! I'm in charge of performance. Please support us!" Aera chirps joyously, earning her some cheers and claps.
"Hello, I'm Sun. I'm in charge of rap." SunMi mumbles into the microphone and quickly passes it off to Jia.
"Hi, I'm Jia! I'm in charge of vocals and visuals." JiSu flashes the crowd a finger heart and a genuine smile.
"Loser!" Someone calls out from the audience. JiSu's face falls, but she passes the microphone on without a word.
"Hello! I'm the baby of the group MinHee!" JuHee does her best to keep her energy and spirit up, but after the comment about JiSu, everyone is on edge.
"Are you five?" Someone in the front row mumbles under their breath as they laugh.
"It's great to finally get to see the faces of Unknown's first girl group. How long did you all train for? Have you been together long?" The MC leads us toward a row of chairs and motions for us to sit down. We each pick up the blanket off of the chair and sit down.
"Most of us have been together for at least a year, but our Sun only joined us ten months ago." I explain as I turn toward SunMi. I feel bad putting attention on her, but I can't lie. We have to show them our true colors.
