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[04 | 02 | 23 , 9:00am]

"Oh, I'm so nervous," Jiu said as she lightly bounced up and down on her feet. She shook her arms around a couple of times, trying to calm herself down.

"Don't be," Aera rested her hand on Jiu's shoulder. "You'll do great! You've been practicing for this moment since forever."

Jiu's face clouded over, and she looked down at the ground where she was shuffling her feet. "I just kind of feel guilty, you know?"

She looked up, meeting Aera in the eye. "I feel so bad for replacing her like this."

"Oh," Aera gulped. "I-it's ok. You don't need to feel bad."

"Really?"

"Mhmm, if anything Dana would have wanted this. You're perfect for the Diamonds, we're lucky to have you."

Jiu smiled in appreciation, pulling in Aera for a hug. "Thank you so much," she said.

Aera kept a straight face, yet her voice was cheerier than ever. "You're welcome Ji."

[9:30am]

The claps and cheers quieted down as the light dimmed in the auditorium and the curtains of the stage slowly parted.

Kwon Jiu, stood dead center of the platform. She was wearing a fancy designer accoutre, a custom champagne- colored empire line chiffon dress that was cropped to just above her knees. Her hair had been styled into a half up waterfall bun, decorated with little flower accessories.

What caught most people's eyes were her already full lips that were painted a bright shade of blood red.

Eerie silence as the crowd waited for something to happen.

Jiu slowly opened her eyes, blinding lights hitting her pupils almost immediately.

The spotlight was all on her.

"Come on, this is all you ever wanted," she thought to herself. "This is your dream, don't fuck it up now Jiu."

She took one deep breath in and exhaled, bringing her bow to the strings of her beloved violin and placing it down firmly.

One sharp move and a beautiful screeching sound filled the air.

Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto.

That's what she chose to play today.

Not one of the easiest pieces to play, but that was the whole point.

She would impress anyone playing something average, and now that she was a Diamond only the best of the best things will be expected from her.

Everyone listened attentively to her play.

Goosebumps were almost on everyone's arms as their hairs stood up from the ghostly percussion they heard.

Jiu had her eyes closed, giving the performance her absolute attention.

2 minutes in and everything was going perfect.

Just another 3 minutes more.

The time hit 9:35 am and on the dot, she finished.

Months of hard work and dedication for exactly 5 minutes of show.

Jiu swallowed hard when she finished, staring out into the crowd- which remained soundless.

3 seconds felt like an eternity to her.

But that's the amount of time it took for everyone to burst into loud cheers and stand up to give her a standing ovation.

Jiu smiled brightly, bowing to her peers.

She did it.

The school's principal stepped forward from backstage, daintily walking over to where Jiu was standing.

The woman was fairly old, yet her youth still radiated off her somehow.

She took a microphone from the stand nearby, gently clearing her throat into it. "Ahem, students. May I have your attention please."

They hushed themselves and waited for Mrs. Jang to speak again.

"Firstly, I would like to thank Jiu, for giving us such a lovely performance," she rubbed Jiu's back, smiling down at her.

Jiu smiled back at her, feeling proud of herself.

"Second, as many of you already know, Kwon Jiu is our new Diamond! So it's my pleasure to present her with her certificate of achievement and badge."

Another round of applause as one of the juniors walked into the stage, holding a gold tray. Resting on it, was a fancy looking piece of paper and one of the school's fable silver badges in the shape of a diamond.

Mrs. Jang thanked the volunteer, taking the badge and proceeding to pin it onto the dress Jiu was wearing. She would have to clip it to her school blazer later since the badge meant unrestricted access to anywhere in the school and its campus anytime.

She then grabbed the certificate, giving it to Jiu to hold.

One of the photographer's from the media team came forward to snap a picture of this special moment.

Jiu and Mrs. Jang huddled closer together, both smiling into the lens.

Aera watched motionless as Mrs. Jang then officially announced Kwon Jiu as the 12th Diamond.

[3pm]

"Welcome," Ahyeun rushed into the Diamond quarters, "to our common room!!"

Jiu looked around the place. It was ginormous.

Much bigger than the common room of the Gold Division.

"Amazing isn't it?" Ahyeun giggled.

"Heck yeah," Jiu laughed in response.

"Ugh, I swear to God, I want to fucking murder that dumb bitch."

A feminine, yet extremely bitchy voice was coming near them.

Ahyeun groaned, "Here comes the daughter of Hades."

Just then, Hari walked in with Yeram. "Too bad father-"

She stopped, seeing Ahyeun and Jiu standing by the piano. "Oh- what are you two doing here?"

Ahyeun rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Is it a crime for us to be here?"

Hari scowled, "No."

Yeram curtly waved at the two girls before Hari dragged her off to the opposite end of the room.

"Well, there's 2. The rest will be here sooner or later." Ahyeun explained, taking a seat on one of the sofas.

Jiu sat beside her and the two had a little talk about the violin piece Jiu had performed that morning.

Ten minutes later and the last of the pack, Heeseung and Riki walked in and took their usual seats.

Ahyeun gathered them all around the sofas.

"Guys, I was thinking-"

"Stop Ahyeun. This better not be one of those bonding session ideas," Jongseong interrupted her.

"Listen I love you Ahyeun and all, but please not right now," Yeram said.

"I'm with them," Heeseung nonchalantly added.

They all blurted out whatever they thought as if Jiu wasn't sitting right across them.

Ahyeun's shoulders dropped in disappointment. "Aww."

"Oh- so it was that?" Sunoo grimaced looking around at his peers.

"But shouldn't we do something to make Jiu feel welcome into our group?" Ahyeun started to complain.

"Ok, how about this?" Hari exhaled sharply. "Jiu, welcome to the group. I'm Hari. That's Jongseong, next to him is Riki. Then Aera, Heeseung, Jungwon, Jake, Sunoo, Sunghoon and Yeram. You're obviously replacing Dana, nothing much to that except she got killed. And yeah, it's a pleasure having you here and we hope you enjoy your time with us."

"Damn-" Jake muttered in the awkward silence.

"Hari," Jungwon sternly called out. "Don't push it."

Hari simply shrugged, raising a cocky eyebrow "What? She wanted an introduction."

Jungwon sighed, turning to Jiu. "Ignore her, she's a bit of a bitch. But nothing you can't handle."

"Oi, watch it Yang," Hari threatened.

But Jungwon remained unfazed, quickly dismissing her words. "There's nothing much to say about us, I'm afraid Jiu, so you're going to have to learn along the way."

Jiu nodded, "No problem. I'm just glad to be here, I hope you can accept me as one of your own."

Yeram melted at her humble words, "Of course Jiu, you have nothing to worry about."

"I'm glad, but I'm afraid I have to go now. I have an important violin lesson to get to," Jiu explained.

"No problem," Ahyeun said. "Good luck."

Jiu grabbed her handbag, "Thank you."

They all watched as the girl bid adieu and exited the room.

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