━━❝WHAT THE FUCK is this.❞

what she had just said out loud, she was sure everyone else was thinking. jae turned back, trying to catch bang pd's eye but he merely ignored her and stepped in.

"i apologize, my dear hyunjae here has quite the foul tongue." he spoke to the seven boys lined up in the cramped living room. "i wouldn't hold it against her, she's quite the talented individual."

"that's hyunjae?" the boy at the farthest end of the line spoke, his wide eyes focusing on jae as though she hadn't been what they were expecting, which she was certain was the case.

"i think," jae spoke through gritted teeth, trying to be as respectful towards her boss without blowing a fuse, "you owe everyone an explanation."

at that, bang pd nodded. "i suppose now would be a good time to explain and clear up the situation. well, introductions first!"

sighing, jae said nothing. the boys in front of her stayed silent as well.

"hyunjae, newcomers introduce themselves first." bang pd muttered under his breath, his words kind. though, all that did was fuel jae's anger further.

"my name is kwon hyunjae, 17, born on february 14, 1995. my position is vocalist and lead dancer. i can also write and produce songs." she answered, mustering everything in her to not glare daggers into her boss's back.

bang pd smiled and nodded again. "yea, hyunjae is quite good at writing and producing songs. in fact, a few lyrics that she wrote went into your debut song."

"what? you said you were saving those for S-DOVE" jae gaped at the short man in front of her, who smiled apologetically.

"they didn't quite fit the...concept, for S-DOVE. moving on! please introduce yourselves!" bang pd changed the topic, gesturing towards the seven boys awkwardly watching jae.

"i'm kim namjoon, or 'rap monster', 18, born september 16, 1994. my positions are leader and main rapper." the first boy introduced himself. he looked serious, as though wondering what was running through his boss's head when he decided to add on a female member to an all male group.

"my name is kim seokjin, stage name 'jin'. 20, born on december 4, 1992. my positions are sub vocalist and visual." and a good visual he was. he had a nice face, jae had to admit, and he was tall as well.

"min yoongi, stage name 'suga'. 20, born on march 9, 1993. my position is lead rapper." he was sharp eyed and seemed to calculate every move jae made since she entered the door. his voice was low and hung with what sounded like sleepiness.

"my name is jung hoseok, and my stage name is 'j-hope'. i'm 19, born february 18, 1994. my positions are main dancer, sub rapper, and sub vocalist." a boy with round cheekbones introduced himself. he looked like someone who smiled a lot, but he surely wasn't smiling now, not that jae blamed him.

"my name is park jimin, 17, born october 13, 1995. my positions are main dancer and lead vocalist." a boy with nice lips and curious eyes introduced himself.

"i'm kim taehyung, my stage name is 'v'. i'm 17, born december 30, 1995. my positions are sub vocalist and lead dancer." this 'v' boy had a very nice voice. it flew flawlessly and sounded very pleasing to jae's ears.

"jeon jungkook, stage name 'jungkook'. 15 years old, born on september 1, 1997. my positions are main vocalist, lead dancer, sub rapper, center, and maknae." the last boy with the wide eyes squeaked out, looking at everything but jae.

"alright, now that we're through with introductions, on to honorifics!" bang pd clapped his hands lightly, bringing all attention back to him. "i'd like you all to get to know each other and be comfortable around hyunjae, so please no formalities. besides that, jimin, taehyung, and jungkook will have to refer to her as 'noona', since she is older."

si-hyuk looked around before continuing. "this next piece of information is very important if we don't want any rumors of dating or anything of the sort to break out while you are all in the earliest stages of debuting. that could be fatal to your career, and it's directed to hyunjae."

if all eyes hadn't been on jae already, heads turned and she was hounded by flickering gazes, as though an attraction at a public zoo.

"you will address your older members as 'hyung' and not 'oppa'. most people only know that this group has only males, and you will be a hidden member until debut. it is essential that you do not let them make any romantic connection between you and your new groupmates this early. please keep that in mind. it also helps you fit in, and not draw any unnecessary attention from the media."

jae nodded slowly, her face neutral. "i understand."

"i hope so." bang pd said quietly.

"now, mind explaining this?" jae pointed to herself then gestured to the boys in front of her.

they all stood quietly, as though wondering why jae hadn't been scolded for being rude to her boss yet.

"in a minute, no need to be impatient dear hyunjae." he hummed.

"don't 'dear' me, you always do that when you don't want to answer something." she replied angrily, making her new 'groupmates' look at her in surprise.

"oh, very well. there was nothing to hide anyway, impatient child." he sighed and waved her off. "i wanted to experiment and try out a co-ed group, and thought you'd be a perfect fit, that's all."

"that's...it?" jae looked surprised, and he shrugged and nodded.

"yes, that's it. now boys, we already made a fan chant, but it seems we'll have to change it." bang pd looked thoughtful. "yes, hyunjae will go before jimin, and after hoseok. write that down, dear." bang pd tossed jae a notepad and pencil, which she caught effortlessly.

"kim namjoon, kim seokjin, min yoongi, jung hoseok, kwon hyunjae, park jimin, kim taehyung, jeon jungkook, bts. did you get all that?" jae nodded as she wrote down what her boss was saying before handing the notepad and pen back the him.

"what's bts?" jae asked.

and the attention was back on her at once. the boys gaped at her as though she'd said that most offensive thing to them.

"it's the name of your new group, hyunjae." si-hyuk explained kindly.

"oh, makes sense."

"speaking of your new group, you need a stage name. 'RAVEN' won't work anymore. well, it might, but i think a new one might be a better choice to get rid of all those S-DOVE memories. it's time to detach and move on." bang pd brought up.

"jae is fine." an arrow pierced her heart at the mention of the stage name she was supposed be be debuting under, along with the group she was supposed to be leading. she didn't want to detach, didn't want to move on.

"very well. jae, simple and easy to remember. good choice." her boss nodded. "next issue; incorporating jae into the group naturally. i'm sure it will take some time for everyone to be comfortable with the fact this group has a new member, and a female one, but i really hope you all come to care and rely on each other."

these words seemed to be directed to the odd one out, jae. obviously the others were already close; she was just some random person that had been added to their group while they had some time to become friends. she didn't expect them to welcome her with open arms because she knew good and well that wasn't going to happen. she was already becoming a burden, and she hated it. still, an opportunity was an opportunity, and she wasn't about to throw away her chance because of what others wanted.

it was her dream, and she was going to make sure she was going to live it to the fullest.

"does everyone understand everything i said?" si-hyuk asked, glancing around. everyone nodded, albeit hesitantly or with no energy. "any questions?"

"i have one." jae spoke up.

"what is it?" he turned to look at her.

"what does bts stand for?"

bang pd blinked, once. then again, as though processing jae's words.

"ah, it would be better for your new groupmates to tell you that." jae raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but didn't object.

she looked around, as though waiting for someone to tell her what exactly bts stood for. all of a sudden, it was like the roof and floor were the most interesting things in the room.

"namjoon, please tell hyunjae the meaning of your group name." bang pd finally spoke up, clearing his throat and looking at the leader expectantly.

said boy nodded meekly and finally directed his gaze back on jae. "it stands for...bulletproof boy scouts."

everything went silent.

jae blinked.

"say what now."

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NOW PLAYING

second chapter completed! right now, things are running pretty smoothly, and i'm even able to plan the basics of each chapter beforehand instead of writing everything down on a whim lol. i know some things aren't accurate or don't make sense already, because i had to change and clear up some things (the fan chant and the dorm setup for example), so threre wont be much confusion in the future! the dorms will be a bit bigger (ik they only had one room but for plot convenience they will also have a small kitchen combined with a living room; the members will still all sleep in the one room tho to make it a little accurate)

for those wondering what S-DOVE is, its the group jae was supposed to debut with, and her stage name was set to be RAVEN (as stated in the FACTS prechapter) none of these groups or stage names exist, and if they do they are irrelevant to the plot and were just made up randomly to give jae a backstory. another thing, jae is pretty unprofessional towards her boss, but thats because she has been working closely with him(reviewing lyrics, overseeing trainee practices, etc) so they have like a sort of like an uncle/niece relashionship.

i really hope everyone who's reading is enjoying the story so far, i know the chapters are short right now but that's because i'm building up to make longer chapters with importance. i think there might be a few filler chapters as well depending if i have time (like holiday fillers or bonus chapters that don't apply to the actual storyline) so yeah:)) please let me know if there are any mistakes in my writing, feedback is strongly encouraged! feel free to comment and vote, i love interactive readers!!

thank you,

( annie ).