● Leader nim!! ~ ●

"Hyemi, wake up!!"

I groaned, trying to shield myself from the sunlight streaming in.

"Nooooo mom, let me sleep awhile longer."

"Hyemi, time to practice! And I'm not your mom!!"

I jolted upright, peeking through one eye at the figure casting the shadow over me. KoEun, a fellow trainee who lived in the same dorm as you was standing beside, hands on hips.

"Good morning. Rise and shine. Time to practice!"

I stuck my hand out sleepily and she heaved me up onto my feet, patting my butt cheekily.

"I'm so tired. I only slept for 3 hours.." Yawning, I tried to cover my mouth but then gave up, stretching and letting the bad morning breath out.

"Gross! Go brush your teeth and go to the practice room." Koeun ordered, pinching her nose and pushing me in the direction of the bathroom.

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10 minutes later I joined the other members in the practice room. They all looked so energized, ready to practice and sweat buckets, and then there was me...

"What have you been doing all night? Talking to Hanbin ssi?" Lami teased.

I shook my head in desperation, settling onto the floor infront of them.

I haven't even told the members about the relationship between me and Hanbin, yet they all seemed to know. "The way he looks at you just gives it all away." They had told me when I had asked them why they were so sure of it.

"What way?" I had asked, confused.

"You know, that intense stare.. like you're the only girl in his eyes and in the room.. which is actually kind of insulting to us."

We had all laughed at that, and inside I was blooming with joy and pride. Intense stare...only girl in his eyes... I liked the sound of that.

But I still wasn't open enough to discuss about my relationship with Hanbin, afraid that it'll fly to outsiders' ears and cause a huge drama.

I stretched my aching body and clapped my hands together, trying to hype myself up. "Okay, let's start! Show me what you got!" The girls got into position and started their dance, while I watched on from the corner, eyes sharp and looking for any mistakes or areas of improvement.

I was similiar to Hanbin in this way, as we were both leaders, always knowing excactly what was wrong with the members and how to improve.

He had taught me how to be more strict and precise in giving instructions so that they would listen, and I had taught him how to be more patient and less harsh with his remarks.

We had the same personality, but not quite exactly the same. Some good qualities of his I didn't have, and vise versa. However, one thing was for sure, we were able to mold each other, constantly learning something from one another to better ourselves.

After they have finished dancing, I gathered them round infront of me and gave my remarks, trying not to sound too bossy.

"Try to have a little more fun guys. And Lami, practice on your vocals more. Koeun, keep it up, your dance was good, but your vocals too trembly. Hina too, and more fun please, you look too stiff. Okay guys, let's go again."

I clapped my hands unenthusiastically and pushed myself off onto my feet, joining them.

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"Damn, I am SO tired." Collapsing onto the floor, I watched as the other members too lay down beside me and tried to catch their breaths.

"I always wonder, is this all worth it? What if we don't debut?" Hina asked, her voice a whisper.

I've thought the same too, but as the leader, I just couldn't participate in this kind of negativity.

Truthfully,  I've always been the negative kind, the lazy kind, the lie in bed all day kind of person, but now that debuting was at stake and my dream was so close to being fulfilled, I've been working my ass off, and simply can't afford to be negative.

"I think about that too. But I guess as long as we work hard, we'll debut. We're good. We have to believe in ourselves."

Those words were like a dash of rainbow across the dark night sky, and out of the corner of my eye I could see the members smiling at the thought of debuting.

"It's not the debuting that matters. We just have to continue doing this, what we love, to the best we can. Leave no regrets. We're not just idols, we're artistes."

Closing my eyes, I let my words sink in and linger on their minds for awhile. The silence was comfortable, and I embraced it gladly, taking the time to have a few winks.

But a minute gone is a minute wasted. Relunctantly, I got back up, gesturing to the others to get up too.

"Come on, let's do one last round and then start on vocal practice."

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Yayyyy i love you so much if you've read till here!!! sorry this part didn't involve hanbin, but more of a lead up to the next chapter, where you finally reunite w hanbin!!!

Thank you for reading ^_^