** (pbs announcer voice) this episode was brought to you by (g)i-dle **

〔 SCENE : FANMEET! 〕
nine days until debut

"1, 2, 3!" counts off hazel, then all of the girls smile and chorus, "annyeong everyone! wish-ibnida!"

"hello! this is hazelly hazel here!" introduces hazel, then passes the microphone to honnie before the audience has a chance to scream at her.

a loud cheer rises up from the honniebuns, honnie's devoted fan club. "hey guys!" she says with a bright smile. "it's honnie here!"

sara takes the mic and barely has time to smile before all of the fans go crazy. she waits until they quiet down to introduce herself. "hey guys! it's your luv, sara!" she passes the mic to bae, who looks a bit pale.

i'm not used to crowds, bae had admitted in a previous livestream, so please don't get mad if i'm a bit shy! "1, 2, 3! hello, this is bae!" she cheers, a bit nervous but still forcing a smile.

"hi, my name is yuka..." introduces yuka with a modest smile and a small wave, still not used to speaking korean. she grins wider when everyone cheers for her.

"one, two, three!" shouts jia, practically filling the room with her energy. "hello, i am jia!" the fans cheer loudly, her enthusiasm is infectious.

"hiya, lin hachi here!" says xiao, smiling brightly. she scrunches up her nose to make a cute face and the fans go wild.

"...and we're here to get you hyped for our debut!" say the girls all together after some wild gesturing from hazel.

"since we haven't released any songs yet, we're going to perform a few covers first, if that's alright with you guys?" announces hazel as the fans cheer their support. "first up we have fake love by bts!"

https://youtu.be/OaSlTs6ZahY

in order of appearance:
• shuhua - honnie
• soyeon - hazel
• soojin - xiao
• minnie - yuka
• yuqi - bae (rap), sara (vocal)
• miyeon - jia

"annyeong everyone, sara-ibnida! honnie and i have prepared a cover of 'scared to be lonely' by dua lipa and... martin garrix for you!" says sara excitedly, struggling to pronounce martin garrix.

honnie chimes in with, "my english is very bad but please overlook that fact! i hope you guys enjoy our duet!"

https://youtu.be/4K63mHV3PJs

• minnie - honnie
• yuqi - sara

"bae still looks like she's going to be sick," says sara, getting ready to do another performance, having wanted to join literally everything for the fanmeet. "but we're going to have a dance-off! you guys vote for the winner!"

bae does, in fact, look like she was mildly nauseous, but smiles as best she can and walks up to the performance stage. "hi guys..." she says, sounding unsure. although bae is charismatic on-camera, she's very shy in real life.

https://youtu.be/6khVv5kqE7k

• soojin - bae
• soyeon - sara

"what did you guys think?" asks sara, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. she's met with resounding applause. "please submit your opinions for voting!"

one fan raises her hand. "i don't really think it's comparable," she answers confidently, pushing her glasses up her nose like a nerd in an anime. "i mean, sara has more energy but bae is smoother with her moves. sara's more like a street dancer kind of style and bae's more contemporary. both of you guys have different styles so it's not really comparable."

"aw, kamsahamnida!" says sara, basically taking over the mock-interview because bae looks like she might vomit if she opens her mouth. "anyways, i'm going to pass the mic to jia now because she and yuka have prepared another duet for you guys!"

jia is all too happy to receive the mic. "hello everyone! this is jia speaking!" she practically screams, even though there's no need to yell into the microphone as it's literally right in front of her face. "yuka and i, your dependable vocalists, are performing a duet of missing you by btob! please enjoy!"

https://youtu.be/jodS1WFyGDk

• miyeon - jia
• minnie - yuka

although the duet gets slightly off-key at points, they make up for it with enthusiasm. one audience member shouts, "we love you yuka!" yuka grins outright at that, happy that not everyone is an anti.

when they finish, jia takes the microphone again and shouts, "so who's ready for our final cover? give it up for xiao, our lovely maknae!"

sheepishly and not wanting all of the attention, xiao makes her way up to the performance stage. "hi everyone~" she cheers, then jumps back in shock when her fans practically break the sound barrier. "i'm here to perform a solo cover of 'who you' by g-dragon!"

she can barely get the words out before the audience starts screaming again. "um, thank you!" she says, a bit flustered.

https://youtu.be/CwTnX4LY84o

• soyeon - xiao
• backup dancers - honnie, sara

hazel, the only member who didn't do a performance, steps onto the stage and takes the microphone. "wow, okay," she says in shock as everyone starts screaming again. "hold your horses, everyone, i haven't even said anything yet! right now we're going to answer some of your questions, so please raise your hands!"

the first question comes from a short girl towards the front. "if you could, would you change anything about wish?" she asks. all of the members glance at each other, unsure of what they're allowed to say.

hazel decides to take the lead for the question, answering, "um, no! i think we're all in agreement that we're pretty good where we are! so i don't think i'd change anything, no. right guys?" she asks, looking at her members for backup.

"actually..." says jia, thoughtful. "if i could change one thing, i'd probably change..." all of the members exchange worried looks, not sure what she's going to say. "the dessert menu! manager-nim, you need to get us better sweets! i don't care about diet, i want cake for a midnight snack!"

"jia likes to get up at odd hours," says xiao with a grin. "once i found her at three in the morning in the kitchen, and i was like, 'it's three a.m., why are you awake,' and you know what she said?"

jia interrupts her loudly, obviously not wanting whatever she said to be known. "so as i was saying, we should get more desserts. end of story."

"...okay," said hazel after an awkward pause. "i don't think that was really related to the question, but yes. i agree. more dessert. next question?" she asks, desperately trying to get the q&a back on track.

"do you enjoy your role in the group, or would you want to change it?" asks another fan, a guy this time.

"wow, a lot of questions about change..." says sara, laughing nervously. "um, i'd say i'm pretty comfortable where i am! i mean, being the center is stressful, but i love dancing so we're good!"

"if i may," says jia, ready to yet again derail the interview. "i took some philosophy classes in high school. i think that the reason everyone is asking about change is that they themselves want their lives to change and they want to be able to control an aspect of their lives, so they're asking about our lives to learn how we manage our lives so they will find the confidence to change," she says, all in one breath. "wow! i should be a rapper."

"i think we're all grateful that you're not a rapper," mumbles hazel under her breath, remembering jia's enthusiastic but terrible rendition of 'i am the best.' "okay, so since we're a bit behind schedule, we can only take one more question!"

they pick on a girl holding a huge sign covered in flashing lights. "um, first i just wanted to say that i love you guys and i'm so excited for your debut!" she cheers. "and, my question is, who takes the longest to get ready in the mornings?"

all of the members giggle at her question. "i think we can all answer that," says hazel. "on three, everyone point to your answer! one, two, three!" everyone points at bae, who smiles nervously and forces a laugh.

"bae, do you want to say anything...?" prompts hazel, trying to get her to loosen up.

"um, thanks!" says bae. "i'll try to wake up faster in the mornings!" she promises, looking a bit more relaxed.

hazel laughs. "thank you all for coming! we really enjoyed talking with you guys! annyeonghi kyeseyo!" the members all leave the stage, waving at the fans.

mae, who couldn't participate in the fanmeet, waits behind the stage for the girls. "you guys were great!" she whispers, hugging yuka. "you killed it out there! wow! i just wish i could participate..."

yuka smiles reassuringly at her. "we missed you on stage! i'm sure mina sunbae will reveal you soon!"

end scene

** writing scenes are hard... i like articles more, but that only shows the idol side of them, so i'm trying to show the real side... this wasn't a traditional scene, there will be more casual stuff later! **