⋆ ☄︎. · ̊ * 🔭
chapter one

I don't know what I'm doing here.

That mantra has been stitched to her brain ever since she arrived. Her leg bounces up and down, up and down. She keeps on looking at the clock that is hanging on the wall, but time simply seems to not pass by any further.

Around a month ago, she saw an advertisement of a small company. It was about becoming an idol. Out of pure boredom and for the fun of it, she auditioned and sent some videos.

To say that she was surprised about her acceptance would be an understatement. There she is now, sitting on a chair, in a city where she has no knowledge nor orientation of.

Some people are risky-loving—enjoying the feeling of adrenaline and adventure. And so is Ahri. Although she does exaggerate it from time to time a tad bit, considering that she has no such thing as money with her.

I mean, what could go wrong?

Those words are one of her favorites. Yet she does use it a bit too much.

Countless of thoughts swirl in her head like a whirlpool. What if they want me to name all the cities of Korea? Or to use Phytagoras? What about a surprise test on how koalas communicate? They could—

Yet any of those overflowing thoughts are washed out as someone calls out, "Kim Ahri..." He stops himself, blinking excessively while examining the piece of paper again. There is another name written on it, and it turns him rather perplexed. "Yona?"

Jumping up from the chair, the said girl bows instantly. "Yes, that's me."

"Follow me, please," says the man while leading the way to his small office.

He motions for her to sit down as he notices her awkwardly standing around in the air. And she does. "Nice to meet you, Kim Ahri Yona." A light yet tired smile is on his face, fixing his round glasses. "My name is Bang Si-Hyuk, and I am the CEO of Big Hit."

"Nice." Ahri fidgets with her fingers.

"I watched your audition video with joy. Your rapping skills are quite well, even without any training. Or did you train before? What was your occupation before wanting to become an idol?" He bombards her with countless more questions.

Ahri sweats, blinking. "Uh..." Scratching the back of her head, she coughs a few times. "I, um. I didn't really rap before..." She clenches her fists. "I was just doing it as a hobby. Like..."

Words leave her. She's evidently struggling with forming more complex sentences in her native language. Si-Hyuk notices it, eyes squinting slightly.

"Are you not Korean...?" asks the middle-aged man after a slight pause.

"No! I am!" She's quick to say. "It's just that I grew up in Germany. I started living in Korea a few years ago. I'm fully Korean."

Thus, he nods his head. "I honestly think that you're the perfect choice for the team I have in mind. It's a hip-hop themed concept, and the group will consist of eight people."

"Eight girls? Wow, a lot..." She blinks.

"Yeah..." He nods his head slightly, clearing his throat. "Anyway, all you have to do is sign this contract, and then you'll be a trainee at my company. Since your legal guardians aren't present, they'll have to sign it as well in the span of a week."

At the word legal guardian, her eyes rip open. "Uh, about that—"

"Right after that, I will lead you to your dorms, so that you can get to know all of the other members!" His excitement is so heart-warming and genuine. Something in her is unable to crush his precious dreams, so Yona smiles weakly; stopping her words while nodding along to his.

Si-Hyuk hands many papers over to her, and she stares down at it with widened eyes.

Chill, a-ha-ha. It's not gonna change my life that much... Ahri pauses, blinking. Right...?

Though she shrugs not only a second later. Well, here goes nothing. Thoroughly, Yona reads the papers out, and then signs it.

"Congratulations on becoming a trainee, Kim Ahri." He smiles widely, standing up from his seat. "If you would follow me, please."

Yona obeys. While Si-Hyuk leads the way, the girl glances around the building and its many rooms. She sneezes a few times because of some dusty objects.

Soon on, they have exited the building. The morning sun greets them gleefully, casting many rays of sunlight. A chorus of birds break the drone of the noisy city traffic. The nascent leaves have that soft green, and the ground is scattered with vivid blooms, whose petals dance in the breeze playfully.

Being absent-minded because of the inspiring nature, Yona doesn't notice them arriving at her new house. That is until Si-Hyuk states, "This is your home, and these are your keys." He hands them over to her. "I will introduce you to your other members in an hour. Until then, I want you to wait in this room, all right?"

All she does is nod. After giving her the keys, he leaves, and Yona opens the door to her brand-new life.

"Well, guess my life sucks, because this apartment most definitely does," remarks the girl in English.

The walls' green paint is mostly peeled off, leaving a mixture of white and beige behind. As soon as she takes a few steps inside, she notices how dusty the entirety of the apartment is. Ahri sneezes. She then covers her nose to prevent any more allergic reactions.

"Nice..." Ahri frowns slightly. Next to a tiny bathroom is a small kitchen, consisting of three counters and a mini-fridge. A plastic stool with its matching table is right beside it. The last room is the living room, which has a small sofa, a low table, and a mattress beside. "I think..."

Swift to open the windows, she's immediately hit by a strong and familiar scent. "Tteokkbokki..." breathes the girl, who then gasps in realization. "Oh, no..."

She hardly hits her head against the wall. "Grandma's gonna kill me..."

In order to know where the train stations are to return home as soon as possible, Ahri goes against her boss' orders about staying at home and carelessly exits her new house.

"Okay, all I need to do is find a nice train station, and then search someone who deals with cheap cards..." She begins talking to herself pensively, fingers tracing her chin. "It's not like I've never done it." Ahri scratches her head.

Once her sight is met with the outside world, though, her eyes widen.

It's a city of wide avenues and small places to sit and eat, to relax as folk go about their day. There are the sky towers in the centre, what was once thousands of homes now took up less ground space than an old shopping mall. The rest are parks and wild spaces, a chance to walk among nature or enjoy the trails on bicycles.

The leaves dance from branch to ground, each a colourful flag without strings or pole, free to roam. Yona feels the breeze, rich with the aroma of the earth, the keeper of the seeds for the springtime to come.

There is a calmness, as if all the gold, berry-reds and browns that flutter about are a cozy quilt, bringing us the same peace as the nighttime. A soft tranquility settles within her chest, and she exhales an elongated sigh in relief.

Though that relaxing session is interfered as her stomach growls blatantly. Clutching her tummy, she looks around with a saddened pout.

At the end of the street is a café that shines out all the other ones. Not by its color, but by the atmosphere she senses around it. It's like a sore thumb. A good one. Something is telling her to go there, though she can't quite recognize how or why.

But she follows that sweet voice in her head, completely occupied with the feeling of hunger and an absent, hypnotized mind.

Her feet have reached the destination. Yona's eyes brim apart widely. The view of many chocolate cakes make her drool. All types of sweets and candy are displayed in front of her, and all she can do is gawk at it as if it's the most mesmerizing sight to be seen.

Inside of the café is an employee that observes her peculiar sight with a weirded-out state. He blinks while watching her, wondering what the hell she is doing staring at that chocolate cake like a revolting pervert.

Yet those eyes of his soften as he notices the girl reaching for her pocket to find no sorts of money inside of it. He watches while she pouts; glancing at the delicious-looking chocolate cake, and then back into her void pocket.

Just before she's able to leave, he rapidly creates a sign and slaps it onto the window that divides both of them thunderingly.

Loud noises is something she feels uneasy about; distressing her. And so she jumps in fear, widened eyes staring back at the sign.

All of a sudden, her eyes light up at the sign that says 'All chocolate cakes are free!'

A huge beam spreads across her face. Color finds its way to her again, and all she can do is smile widely while cheering inside of her head. With big steps, she enters the colorful café.

"Good morning," the worker mirrors her dimpled smile, wiping away the sweat that has formed on his forehead because of the swift actions of before—which she is completely oblivious of. "What would you like?"

"A chocolate cake, please!" Yona exclaims, trying to compose her giddy state.

He exhales a relieved sigh in secrecy, quickly nodding at her order. After packing it up, he hands it over to Ahri. "Here you go."

One is reminded of a little kid getting a piece of candy when observing her wide smile and big eyes. "Thank you so much!" She looks down at the cake with joy and a huge appetite.

"I hope you enjoy it." The young employee softly smiles at her, his eyes warm and cordial.

His eyes are glazed onto her as she leaves; not able to keep them off of her.

Meanwhile, Yona is gleefully eating her cake. She can't think of anything else. It's just her and her cake. Nothing else matters to her at the moment.

Well, that is before someone harshly bumps into her.

Much to her dismay, the cake falls to the ground, and all of her dreams are shattered just as well. Yona gasps, looking down at the smashed cake with longing and sad eyes.

"Hey, can't you look where you're going?!"

Irritation builds within her at the rude voice. Ahri locates her gaze upward, staring at the boy who has the audacity to speak such abrasive tones after he has bumped into her.

"You killed my cake!" Unfortunately, she's only able to form that sentence due to her poor language skills. But in that short sentence is so much anger; so much sizzling fire.

"I don't care about your damn cake." He rolls his eyes, walking away nonchalantly. "Just watch where you're going next time."

Anger boils deep in her system, as hot as lava. It churns within, hungry for destruction. And she knows that it's too much to handle for her.

It's a cake... It's just a cake... Just a cake... Yona tries reassuring herself, yet the annoying noises of her hungry stomach do her no justice.

Nonetheless, she's aware that there is nothing else she can do. Going back to the café would be embarrassing. Ahri also doesn't want to take away any food for people that may be struggling financially.

So, she sighs and goes back to her apartment.

"Why were you outside? I strictly told you to stay at home," are the first words she hears once she arrives. Ahri clenches her fists.

Si-Hyuk simply exhales thoroughly as no response is muttered out of her mouth, massaging his temples. "You know what? It's fine. Just don't do it again." At that, she nods. "Anyway, you will be meeting the other members now. If you'd follow me, please."

Now, that's something she can obey on. Ahri fidgets with her fingers nervously, breath turning heavy.

Not even a minute later, they've arrived. The apartment is right next to hers. Loud voices and laughter already echoes from the closed door, and Ahri's niggling thoughts deepen.

Girls don't like me. She panics within. And they won't like me either. We'll fight everyday. They'll tell me to—

It takes only a few knocks of Si-Hyuk to shut their noises selves down instantly. Ahri can hear some rustling and a few steps. A fairly young teenager opens the door; bowing immediately.

The sight makes her frown. Since when did managers look so... Ahri blinks. Young...?

Many more thoughts enter her mind and create question marks. She can't hear anything that the two are talking about because of that. Yona just stands there, pensive and confused.

Suddenly, she's inside the room. What her eyes witness makes her heart drop. It leaves her skin tingling, sight widening immensely.

Three boys are squished on an old and uncomfortable-looking couch, meanwhile the other three are seated on the floor. Yet all of them stand up to bow at the authority, while also staring at Ahri in utter and complete curiosity.

All of them are male.

They stare at her in confusion. She returns that look gladly.

"I already told you boys that you'll be having another member." Si-Hyuk beckons to the girl beside him. "Well, this is your newest member: Kim Ahri Yona."

Silence fills the room. Ahri swears that there are cricket noises coming from somewhere.

"We're a boy-group. As much as I know, boy-groups don't have girls."

Ahri's lethal eyes clash towards the familiar face, who's already staring at her with ridiculous disgust in his fiery eyes. I know this boy...

He's the killer of my cake.

( AUTHOR'S NOTE ! )
hola! :p
welcome back to the rewritten version of wings.
the next chapters will be longer and mostly put together (like: two chapters mingling into a single one to elongate them).

if you may be wondering where
the scenario chapters are, they're
still in the drafts. some of them will
be included in the actual chapters
because they're way too short
(around 600-1000 words).
if you have specific scenarios that i
should re-publish, please do tell me.