stella (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)

at this point, stella had been a trainee for almost a year. she’d found the practice room to be a home away from home, even under constant stress.

she hadn’t become friends with many people and found comfort in being alone most of the time. too many people coming and leaving the company, best to not get attached to anyone, her younger self thought.

of course, making at least one friend was inevitable. she had begun to talk to this one older boy, seungcheol, he was nice, and didn’t care about how shy stella was. she couldn’t understand why he cared so much about her, but she appreciated his presence, as he was the one of the only constants in her life at the time. he reminded her of her brother, whom she hadn’t seen in months, which made her feel more attached to him than anyone else she'd conversed with.

──★

at 14, stella believed she was already growing gray hairs.

her monthly evaluation was coming up, and this one was extremely important. the managers responsible for forming groups would be watching her perform, along with the other trainees.

she would be covering “into the new world” by SNSD with a group of girls she didn’t even know. the classic trainee song. even though it was popular, it was tough. she had the responsibility of singing the high note before the final chorus, although her specialty was dance — of course she was scared.

she wasn’t even sure if she’d have good chemistry with the other girls, or if they would even like her. she’d heard stories of trainees being sabotaged during evaluations by their peers, and she prayed that that wouldn’t be her fate, too.

after main practices had ended for her group, she found a small practice room and began to work on her part for the evaluation. after a few hours of intense dancing and singing, she was resting on the floor and heard a knock on the door.

“jihyun-ah? are you here?” seungcheol peeked his head through the door.

“hi oppa,” she smiled from the floor and sat up to bow her head respectfully. he approached her, worried about how exhausted she looked. “practicing for your eval?” he asked.

she nodded anxiously. he could tell she was nervous — he knew the feeling. he’d done his evaluation with the same managers months before. they’d placed him in a group with 12 other boys, and a part of him wished jihyun could join too.

since he was part of an official group now, he rarely saw her anymore. he knew he was one of if not her only trainee friend and worried her shy antics would get her hurt without him there.

“don’t worry yunnie, i’m sure you will do very well. you’ve practiced hard and that is all that’s necessary,” he said, squatting and ruffling her hair.

‘thank you, oppa,” she smiled, her heart feeling less stressed with his comforting words.

they moved to lean on the wall and just sat for a while, basking in their time together since they both knew they wouldn’t see each other as often anymore. stella was scared to be on her own amongst the older trainees, but she knew she could go to him at any time. she also knew that she had to start being more independent as she was getting older, especially in the industry she was trying to flourish in.

noticing the young girl lost in her thoughts, the 95 liner finally broke the silence minutes later, “should we go get dinner?” he asked.

“as long as you’re paying~”, stella laughed.

──★

my tests are finally over so i should be updating more regularly. please send requests of things you want to see!

5. "if i could debut with the boys still, yes. if not, i think i would just be a back-up dancer and make music on the side while still focusing on school. i think i'll go back to school soon .. "

11. "i think i get along with chan the most. we're close in age so we keep up with the same trends. he's great. i feel like things between vernon and i can be awkward sometimes, but only because i make things so awkward! we've known each other so long, i'm sure he's used to it," stella laughs.

𓂃

stella + wonwoo ౨ৎ

oh no they were not friends at first

were both shy so they thought the other was avoiding them

once the door to the practice room broke and they were trapped inside

they had nothing to do but talk

discovered their shared love of cats while waiting

after, they began to talk without awkwardness after

today they are still close

he is her overprotective brother

makes sure she gets enough sleep

she tries to rap like him but always fails

stella + mingyu ౨ৎ

he thought she was so cute when they met

clung onto her even though she was shy

she slowly opened up to him about how she missed her brother and he promised to never leave her side unless it was against his will

would often go to the playground as trainees after being stuck in a room all day

“we need our vitamin d, come on!” he would laugh as he dragged stella away

today they are just as clingy

always falling asleep on each other while watching a movie

he’ll cook her breakfast to make sure she eats

she’ll go to the gym with him because she knows it gets lonely

they have so much love for each other

stella + vernon ౨ৎ

awkwardd when they met

did not know what to talk about

this continued into debut honestly

they eventually started hanging out more and sharing their interests

vernon would always show her movies but they would never finish because she would always fall asleep

now they own a joint letterboxd account

movie nights whenever they can

they can enjoy each others company without even talking

stella + joshua ౨ৎ

she warmed up to him quickly and they were really close as trainees

he reminds stella of her brother

would help teach her english so she could surprise her brother when he returned home for holidays

now they always communicate in english so she can practice

he think’s she’s really strong and independent

but wants to protect her regardless

one of the ones dragging her out of bed whenever she’s tired

she always ends up appreciating his pushiness after he pays for lunch

stella + jihoon ౨ৎ

did not like her at first

did not want to be near her

he actually hated her

but she did not notice

she would constantly bother him as trainees, always following him around

it would annoy him but he eventually warmed up to her

and realized he was wrong

after debut he would enjoy teaching her things

they turned her poetry into song lyrics

she learns a lot from him and really appreciates him

was so surprised when he told her he originally didn’t like her

like i said girl was clueless

stella + seokmin ౨ৎ

stella loved his personality from the moment they met

they would always play around as trainees

hide and seek warriors

they both want to protect each others happiness

he will literally tag along with everything she does

always makes sure she is comfortable

looking out for her unconsciously

they have a sibling bond that cannot be broken

always hugging each other

she loves his voice and always listens to him sing

stella + seungkwan ౨ৎ

one of the first ones to warm up to her when she was added to the team

she appreciated him so much

she acts like his older sister even though she’s younger

makes sure he’s eating properly and sleeping

he sings her to sleep sometimes

stella wishes she could sing like him

rarely ever get into fights because they talk about unserious things.

stella + hoshi ౨ৎ

she was orginally scared of him

when she joined pledis he was already crazy good and she didn’t want to disappoint

although they were both trainees his criticisms of her dancing was very harsh

he would push her to reach her limits

she hated him because she was sore everyday after practice

she owes him a lot now though because the teaching worked

he still mentors her now because he wants to see her be one of the best

stella thinks she would not have debuted without him

they have a playful relationship but she doesn’t test him when he’s serious

stella + minghao ౨ৎ

like jun, she did not talk much as trainees because of the language barrier

they mainly interacted through their similar music taste

he loved watching her cheerful personality with scoups but was sad when she would get shy when she was near him again because they weren’t close

once they were put on the same team they got closer

she bought mandarin books with her allowance in an attempt to connect with him

they are even closer today

he forces her to mediate because of her anxiety all the time

stella loves his peaceful attitude

he just goes with the flow honestly

minghao still treats her as his baby sister even though they are both grown

he is so proud of her <3

stella + dino ౨ৎ

close since she joined pledis because of their closeness in age

connected at the hip and would do everything

he would sneak out with her to get snacks because of her strict dietary restrictions from the company

they are the hype duo

constantly causing trouble and getting scolded, even now

they were considered to be twins back then and still are now

they’ve been close for so long they basically have the same mannerisms

she’ll make fun of his laugh and he’ll say “you sound the exact same!”