Chapter Text
———
A soft guitar melody filled the dorm room, then was joined by two voices harmonizing with each other.
"Everybody look to their left."
Four heads whipped to the left, with some giggles.
"Everybody look to their right."
Four heads whipped to the right, with even more giggles.
"Can you feel that? Yeah. We're playing with love tonight..."
It was at that moment while looking right that Lisa noticed the graying sky through the window blinds. Surprised, she looked over at the alarm clock on the dresser in the middle of the room.
5:03 - 05/08
"Oh my God," she thought. "Have we been singing all night??"
Jennie and the new girl continued to sing Jessie J's "Price Tag" while Jisoo hummed along, following the tune. They had been at it for hours (apparently), covering pop songs in Korean and English, sometimes with the guitar and other times just their vocals.
Honestly, even at the late (early?) hour, Lisa didn't feel tired. Because today was an important day... well, yesterday was an important day. Dammit, it was still an important day! She was positive that she was experiencing a moment.
A moment that would change her life.
—————-
That buzz had started that afternoon while she was still in Korean language class; an itch or tingling in her scalp that made the last half of her studies unbearable. The feeling only intensified as Lisa left class and headed to the elevator, intent on heading downstairs for dance training. She actually got a static shock when she pressed the call button for the elevator.
The feeling reached a crescendo as the door opened, revealing an older man and woman with a teenage girl between them. Lisa looked at the girl...
The buzzing in her head stopped.
She stepped into the elevator and was hit with a moment of perfect clarity. Lisa tried not to stare, but her brain was etching in the details into her memory.
This was important. Never forget this moment.
Short dark hair, blue t-shirt, guitar slung over shoulder. And nervous, as Lisa noticed the white-knuckled grip on the shoulder strap.
She wanted to say hello and introduce herself, but before she could say anything the elevator stopped at one of the administrative floors and the trio got out, leaving Lisa to continue to the dance studio alone. The larger group was split up today, so only a few other members were there when she arrived.
"Hey guys, guess what?" Lisa tossed her bag into the corner of the room and walked over to where Euna, Jisoo and Miyeon were sitting and dropped down next to them. "I meet a new trainee on the elevator."
Miyeon looked up, "Really? What's her name? Is she a musician?"
"I dunno," the younger girl admitted. "I was only on the elevator with her for like, a minute. She has a guitar, so she's gotta be a musician."
Euna gave her a flat look. "I think I understood about half of that."
Jisoo smiled at her. "Lisa, we know you're excited, but slowly please. In Korean."
Lisa sighed. She had a bad habit of slipping back-in-forth between Korean and English when talking while excited. "I only saw her for a minute. She had a guitar, so she must be a musician."
Miyeon nodded and smiled at her. "Much better," she looked at Euna. "What do you think unnie?"
The older girl shrugged. "If she's a guitarist she won't be joining a pop group. Probably an independent."
Before anyone could say anything else, their dance instructor walked in and clapped her hands for attention. "Time to sweat," Jisoo sighed ruefully.
—————-
After dance training, Lisa showered and ate dinner. She was well into her studies when her phone buzzed at her with a message stating that there would be an all-group meeting in the dance studio at 8pm. Lisa arrived with a few of the other girls and after spotting Jisoo and Jennie together, made her way over to the pair.
Jennie smiled and leaned close, speaking conspiratorially in English. "We're getting a new roommate."
"Is it the new girl?" Lisa asked excitedly. "The girl with the guitar?"
The smaller girl nodded. "That's not all. She's..."
Whatever Jennie was about to say was cut off as Papa YG himself walked in with the new girl timidly following behind.
"Looks like you're all here. Good, good," he said without any preamble. "This is Park Chaeyoung, she will be a new trainee in your group." Turning to the girl, he gestured for her to step forward. "Go ahead and introduce yourself."
The girl, Chaeyoung, stepped forward and bowed formally. "Hello, my name is Park Chaeyoung. I am just arriving from Australia. I promise to do my most best and train very hard."
Lisa blinked and looked over at Jisoo and Jennie, who looked equally confused. "That was kind of odd," Lisa thought to herself.
Papa YG looked bemused himself. "Ok, very good. I'll turn her over to you girls. You know what to do." With that he walked out of the room, leaving the young girl standing nervously alone.
The girls began to walk up and introduce themselves. Some chatted with Chaeyoung a bit, while others barely said hello before walking out. Jisoo told Jennie and Lisa to hold back. "We'll go last."
Soon the group had dwindled down to just the four of them when Jisoo walked them over. "Hello, my name is Kim Jisoo," she said. Then gesturing at Jennie and Lisa, "We're your roommates."
"Oh, oh wow." The younger girl quickly bowed. "It's so nice to meet you all."
Jennie shook her head, but smiled. "You don't have to do all that. My name is Jennie Kim." She then switched to English. "It's so nice to meet you too, we'll have fun together."
Chaeyoung's face brighten a bit. "You speak English?!?"
"Yes, I lived in New Zealand for five years."
With that the younger girl's mouth dropped open. "I'm a... I was born in New Zealand!" She replied enthusiastically in English. "I moved to Melbourne when I was little."
Lisa decided she loved the girl's Australian accent.
"Hi, I'm Lalisa Manoban," she said with a little wave. "You can call me Lisa." Then she also switched to English, "I uh, can speak some English too. I'm from Thailand."
"Thailand? Ohhhhh, I've always wanted to go there!" Chaeyoung replied. "I'm so happy you can speak English too."
Jisoo cried out in mock despair, "Ahhhhhhh!" She then spoke slowly in broken English, "My three... English... roommate."
Both Jennie and Lisa burst out laughing, with Chaeyoung joining after a moment.
"Unnnieeee!" Jennie laughed and clung to the older girl's arm. "You're always so funny."
"Unnie?" Chaeyoung looked at the two girls, then nodded. "Kim... of course, you're sisters. I should have seen it."
That prompted the other three to start laughing again, but this time the younger girl only watched in confusion.
"Ok, ok, ok..." Jennie said after a moment. "Unnie is... well, wait a minute, when is your birthday?"
"February," was the reply.
"What year?"
"1997. Why?"
At that Lisa gasped and got excited, but Jennie waved her down. "Hang on for a second, Lisa." The older girl looked back at Chaeyoung and continued. "Jisoo and I are not sisters, she's just the oldest girl here right now. So she's Unnie. It's ummm... a culture thing and age is important in Korea, so that makes Jisoo our Unnie."
Jisoo nodded in agreement. "If Euna was here, she would be Unnie because she's older than me."
Chaeyoung let the information sink in for a moment, then looked at the other three girls. "I don't... I don't know anything," she said dejectedly. "I thought I knew things about Korea from my family, but I don't understand anything. I thought I could speak Korean really well, but I probably sound so stupid right now."
Lisa stepped forward and wrapped her arm around the other girl's shoulder. "Ohhhh, no, no, no. Don't worry about it, Chaeyoung. We have our unnies here to explain things and help." Both Jisoo and Jennie nodded.
"When I first came to Korea," Lisa continued, "I couldn't speak the language, I didn't know the culture, and I was very far from home. But I worked hard and had a lot of help, just like we're going to do for you. I think you're going to be just fine."
Chaeyoung looked a little more relieved. "Thank you Lisa. And thank you Jennie." She then smiled at Jisoo. "And thank you... unnie."
Lisa stepped back and got excited again. "And the best part! Miyeon... Chaeyoung... Lalisa! January... February... March! We're all just a month apart!"
"Miyeon, I remember her," Chaeyoung said. "She chatted with me for a little bit."
"The three of us have January birthdays." Jisoo said, then gestured to Jennie. "She's a year older than Miyeon and I'm a year older than Jennie."
Chaeyoung nodded then looked at Jennie and asked, "Is "Jennie" your English name?"
The older girl shook her head. "No, it's just Je-Ni.... Jennie. Do you have an English name?"
"Yes, I do. It's Roseanne, but..." she got a shy expression on her face then smiled. "You guys can call me Rosie. If you want."
"Rosie." Lisa repeated. "I love it!"
"Rosie are you hungry?" Jisoo asked, looking at the girl with concern. "Have you had anything to eat for dinner yet?"
Rosie smiled. "I could probably eat something."
—————-
Lisa was happily surprised how quickly they clicked together.
She and Rosie sat next to each other in the cafeteria while the latter ate a cobbled together dinner. The four of them were soon telling stores and jokes, laughing while the pair bumped shoulders like they had both arrived as trainees together. They texted Miyeon, but one of her roommates wasn't feeling well so she was going to stay in.
Back in the dorm room, they helped their new roomie get unpacked and settled in. Then the four girls sat on the floor and took turns talking about themselves and what had brought them here.
When Rosie spoke it was obvious she had a deep passion for music.
Lisa listened as the other girl talked about a lifelong love of music, about wanting to grow with it and become an artist. There was a need to express herself through song.
Soon enough they were asking Rosie to play the guitar. Embarrassed at first, she finally complied and began to fill the dorm room with a soft melody that the other girls could hum along with. Next it was a couple of pop songs they took turns singing. Then Jennie asked if Rosie would sing her audition song.
"Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth"
Jisoo looked over at them and mouthed "wah" silently. Wow indeed, Lisa thought... Rosie slid from a deep, husky voice to a higher register with ease. Had she really not had any formal training?
Lisa closed her eyes and let the music flow through her, connecting with it and by consequence, Rosie. She could feel... a deep well of talent there. What they were hearing right now was just the tip of the iceberg. With training and practice, this girl was going to shine like the stars.
She remembered Jennie talking about seeing girls come and go. Girls with real talent that just couldn't handle the life of a trainee. They'd last a few months and then go home. Lisa herself doubted she would have lasted very long if it had not been for Jennie befriending her. Then Jisoo arrived and things slowly got better... her two unnies and Miyeon had helped her get through that difficult first year.
Lisa watched Rosie for a moment. The other two girls were now singing while the younger girl was harmonizing to the tune.
She would be there for Rosie. This girl deserved the chance to showcase her voice to the world and Lisa wanted to be there, standing next to her when she did it. More than anything else, she liked the girl and felt an immediate connection with her. It felt a little silly considering the fact that twelve hours ago they were total strangers, but Lisa was positive that she had made a new friend today.
Who was going to make it into "the group" was always on the minds of the trainees. The general consensus was that it would be nine girls with Jennie as the center, but Lisa wasn't so sure about that. Well, Jennie as the center was a lock, but she didn't necessarily think it would be as many as nine members or even seven.
Lisa closed her eyes again and could now see it perfectly: the five of them on stage, singing and dancing to some nameless song. She and Jennie bringing the swag with their rap, Rosie's powerful vocals laying a foundation for Jisoo and Miyeon's rich voices to enhance. Then they stepped into a perfect choreography that she had built for the group.
That was it. That was the group. She was 100% sure if it.
"Lisa!"
The young girl blinked and realized that Rosie was talking to her.
Rosie giggled and repeated herself. "Lisa, I asked if you wanted to sing with me?"
"Yes!" She replied enthusiastically. "More than anything!"
That sent all four girls into a fit of laughter.
"Well I'm glad," said Rosie. "Because I really want to sing with you too."
Lisa smiled and vowed to herself, "And I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen."