taesun

Hyeyeon could tell that it was a backhanded compliment. She and Sakura did not get along despite both having high energies. Hyeyeon could tell Sakura was just as fake as she was, maybe even more so and with an edge. Hyeyeon was more transparent to her members by now, she knew this. It didn’t matter, as long as her public appearance stayed in tact. Qinqin was pointing out that Hyeyeon shouldn’t try so hard. 

“We can always have two, Qinqin. The more energy the better, especially with our new dance. It’s very hard and took us a long time to get perfect but now we could do it with our eyes closed I am certain.”

“Hyeyeon, don’t give them any ideas.” Taesun stood up and put an arm around Hyeyeon’s shoulder. She had a cool image to uphold after all. Due to the amount of conflict she always tried to start, Taesun had negative feelings about Hyeyeon. Rina always seemed to round up the older girls as some sort of friend group that included herself, Hyeyeon, Qinqin, Sakura, and Taesun. However, most the them didn’t enjoy Hyeyeon’s company despite the fact that she seemed to be RIna’s best friend. Too many girls disliked each other to make a solid friend group. Besides, such a thing wouldn’t be healthy. 

“Maybe if we practiced really hard then we could do a special like that for the Mused.” Taesun grinned at the camera and gave a wink. She knew they were planning a similar special soon enough anyways.

“Didn’t you tell me once that you were a trouble child? That you’d throw fits like a ten year old when you were fifteen? You know, when you used to smoke with me behind the building?” Qinqin lowered her voice, aware that other groups were in the room. Qinqin was aware of Taesun’s former addiction problems, returning to Korea it was almost nice to see another AriaHex member sneaking cigarettes. They used to have that in common but Taesun had stopped smoking a year ago while Qinqin still did so casually. At least they could still share bottles of spirits together at night. She found it a little rich that Taesun had become the most motherly figure in the group so fast. Rina had that position for years but had slowly detached herself. Qinqin supposed that was what gave room for the second oldest to take the wheel.

“I was pretty damn perfect before that. I knew how to be good, I just didn’t want to be. But if need be I can always talk, alright?” Taesun starting untying her shoes. The girls look as though they weren’t even talking to each other through their body language. She looked up at the sound of her members’ voices. A company representative was standing in the room with a man who held a camera to Hyeyeon and Rina’s faces in the distance. Their company had been pushing video diaries from the members to try and show a behind the scenes friendship. Too bad most of them didn’t have one. Taesun nudged Qinqin in the arm.

“Camera alert.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. That was the exact opposite of Qinqin. She had everything to prove and she didn’t care what her other members did. Their problems were but a distraction.

“Honestly, you might be the only one who thinks that way in the group.” Qinqin kicked off her running shoes, hoping her feet didn’t stink. She found herself avoiding eye contact with Taesun. “Thank you, though. We need it honestly.”

Taesun nodded, not sure what to say next. She tucked her own hair behind her ear. Despite being a navy blue during filming, it’d now settled back to its dark brown. Her natural colour had never been completely black either way.

“I...I know it’s cheesy and not my place but...I am here, Qinqin. Like, if you, any of you, need to talk. I have lots of little siblings, I have more than enough experience in the taking care of people department. I used to be pretty good at it when I was a kid.”

Hiking up her jean shorts, Qinqin let out another sigh nevertheless. She appreciated Taesun trying to make her feel better, unfortunately, it wasn’t working. “Thanks but, honestly, you know it’ll never happen to you, Tae. You’re the main vocalist, it’s impossible for you to fade to the background unless you really try.”

“Well, I’ll keep looking out for my members to let them catch that spotlight. I’m not that remarkable compared to a lot of you anyways. You know I’m watching out for you all, right? Your success is my success and vise versa. I don’t have anything to prove.” Taesun raised her brows. She meant what she said. AriaHex were full of girls who were closed off, rarely showing how they truly felt, but unified in their desire to prove they were worth something. Taesun knew this and she knew the feeling. Maybe they could be an actual family if they figured out how to be real friends. It sure would help them reach success faster than just pretending to be close.

“I’ll pick the first one. Because we’ve always got to strive for number one, right?”

“Hyeyeon, what is the colour you feel best describes your personality and why?”

“Ah, Taesun, I’ll choose the middle square. Number 5.” Rina tapped the tile with her index finger. The other girls chimed in with noises of approval. Rina linked arms with Hyeyeon in anticipation of the question.

Taesun pulled the top off of the board and showed it to the camera. “Rina-unnie. Who are some artists that you look up to and that inspire you?”

“Hi, guys. Fall under our spell!” Remi started her sentence in English before switching back to Korean. “I’m the maknae and my name is Remi. Please, please, support us. We’ve worked really hard and all we want to do is make you all happy.”

“Okay, girls. Our first event today is to help the fans get to know us better. I have a magic little chart here. Behind each flap is a question. Each member will pick a tile and I’ll ask them the question. Since I hold the board, I will go last. Our oldest, Rina, will be the first to pick.” Taesun pulled out a board from behind her that had been prepared for them with nine questions.

“Let’s not get me in a bad mood then, okay?” Gajeong shot a glare back at Hyeyeon. She couldn’t help but respond, unwilling to take such words lightly. But she knew she was outnumbered. Rina liked Hyeyeon while Taesun was never on the side of the person who raises their voice first. The director cued them for one minute and Taesun shuffled back to her spot.

“Time for the greatest performance of our lives, ladies.” Gajeong nudged Remi next to her, hoping that the kid was at least on her side. All she got was a vague smile. 

“You’re under our spell, this is AriaHex!” The girls all spoke in unison as the camera cued them. An assortment of waves and smiles followed.

“Hello, everyone. Welcome to our first live show. We are an upcoming girl group under Galaxy Central Music. The goal of our group is to enchant you, as if hexed, by telling captivating stories, performing hypnotizing dances, and beautiful music.” Taesun spoke professionally with a smile on her face. Her heart moving faster than her mouth as she read from the script in front of her. She looked briefly at the view count, already ten thousand were watching. The promoters were doing their job.

“Now we will introduce our members. I am leader and main vocalist Ahn Taesun.”

The Vlive was minutes away from beginning and the girls sat in their fake living room in their fake clothes awkwardly. After all this time, none of them truly liked each other. Maybe a few pairs of friendships had been formed, but as a whole, their dynamic was tense. At most, a great portion of the girls only tolerated each other. Only Hyeyeon and Rina were speaking to each other at the moment. Taesun shuffled over behind them to join the conversation.

“Hey, you guys excited or...?”

“Please, Fayah.” Kitty almost whispered, looking down at her plate. The awkward clanging of dishes over the silence made Kitty realize that everyone was looking at her. Her stomach rumbled at the vision of the moist and steaming dumpling in front of her but her mind wouldn’t let her arms reach for it. She’d look like a pig, She turned to looked at Faye in the eyes.

“Thank you. But I’m not hungry at all.”

“Kitty-ah.” Taesun spoke up, probably only increasing the awkwardness. She didn’t care what these girls thought of her, she knew what was best for them. “Faye worked hard to make us food, Don’t be rude by not eating it. It’s one dumpling, it won’t kill you.”