Evie and Mark awkwardly sat in the meeting room, waiting. They were in the SM building, where the others would be gathering.
Prior to the beginning of the show, the producers wanted to feature a performance on MAMA, Mnet Asian Music Awards. It was decided that they would meet in SM's building, so the two were waiting for the others to arrive.
Evie glanced over at Mark, who was fiddling with his phone. The two were actually quite close, both hailing from Canada. They arrived in Korea around the same time, and naturally became close. To her, Mark was like an older brother she never had, one that constantly gave her advice on both being an idol and leader.
The two also had sibling-like habits, Evie leaning over to see why Mark was so focused. She smirked once she realized he was texting his girlfriend, Julianne.
Before Evie could make a snarky comment though, Mark noticed, slamming his phone down on the table. "Yah, what are you doing?"
"Nothing." Evie replied, but the grin on her face made it obvious that she was lying.
"Yeah, right." Mark rolled his eyes, chuckling. "You saw didn't you?"
"You suck at hiding it." Evie teased. "But Markie in love is cute."
"Don't call me that."
"Markie. Markiepoo~"
"Yah!"
Evie threw her head back, laughing as Mark pretended to throw a punch at her. As much as she liked to tease him, she knew that Mark would never lash out, no matter how far it got. That only made it more fun for her though.
A knock sounded, quickly grabbing their attention. They both stood up as the producers, writers, and guests entered, the group quickly greeting each other and going through some quick introductions.
Evie found it hard not to react as they got settled, recognizing some of the others there. She could tell Mark felt the same as his body stiffened, nodding his head before taking his place beside her.
"We want to do a stage featuring the leaders for each group participating." The head writer explained, his hands laced in front of him. "That's why we asked all of you to be a part of it."
Ten of them, the ten leaders of each group that will be competing in "Rule It All." Mark of NCT Dream, Sangyeon of The Boyz, Bang Chan of Stray Kids, Serim of Cravity, Jungwon from Enhypen, Minji of Bermuda, Evie of Gaia, Julianne of Amare, Hyera of FaeZe, and Chaeri of Cappuccino.The tension was thick, knowing that soon, they would all be preparing performances to compete against each other, trying to win the votes of fans.
"We have some ideas, but we also want to hear feedback from you." The writer continued. "We know each of you have your own skills to bring to the table, so we want to showcase them to the best of our abilities."
Evie nodded her head with the others. This was similar to how their other performances are put together, so they were familiar with the procedure.
"There will be three parts, rap, vocal, and dance, the three big idol skills." The writer told them. "We'd like to stick to these skills individually but if there's something you have in mind, let us know. It's supposed to be a battle of skills, then in the end, we'll have a final dance where you'll all fight to be on the throne."
The writer played the songs for each of the parts. He started with rap, which was a song with traditional music and strong beats. The writer told them that there were no lyrics since they would probably be more comfortable writing their own lyrics.
Evie noticed Mark tapping his fingers to the beat, Bang Chan nodding his head. She had a feeling that the two would be rapping, unless the other two songs called out to them more.
The vocal song was Playing With Fire by Blackpink, a rock version. Evie's eyes widened as she realized how high the notes were, the group exchanging looks.
"Wah, that's. Something." Sangyeon joked, voicing their thoughts out loud. They all laughed, understanding where the male was coming from.
"We can make adjustments too, don't worry." The writer reassured them, chuckling. "Let's hear the two dance songs."
The dance unit song was a remix of This is What You Came For by Calvin Harris. Evie was happy to hear an English song, and knew that Mark was as well. The writer told them that the members of the dance unit would each get a solo part before coming together for a unit dance.
The last song would be the one where they would tell the story of fighting for the throne. It was also a remix, this time of Bring Life to Me by Evanescence. The music was intense and dark, meaning that their facials would be important in portraying their struggle.
"So these are the songs." The writer said, clapping his hands together. "We actually assigned you all to a unit but we're flexible. If you want to switch, just let us know."
They pulled up a list on the screen, giving them a few seconds to read it. Mark, Bang Chan, and Serim were in the rap unit, Sangyeon, Julianne, and Chaeri in the vocal unit, and Minji, Evie, Jungwon, and Hyera in the dance unit.
"The dance unit is a little unbalanced so I wouldn't mind switching it around." The writer told them. "Anyone have any suggestions?"
Evie watched as Serim slowly raised his hand, a nervous smile on his face. "If it's alright, I'd actually prefer to dance."
The writer nodded his head, noting the adjustment. "Certainly, I think that helps the balance. Is five too big of a group for that unit though?"
"Actually, I have a pitch if that's alright." Mark said, putting up his hand. The staff seemed surprised but allowed him to speak regardless, eager to hear what he had to say. "For the beginning of the rap unit song, it reminded me of traditional Chinese dance, like what Winwin hyung did. Evie, I know you used to study Chinese dance in Canada, how do you feel about showcasing this?"
Evie froze, taking a moment to absorb what Mark had suggested. She did indeed love traditional Chinese dance, her mom ensuring that she studied it so she could go back to her roots. She had mentioned it a few times when she had initially debuted and performed for a few variety shows but nothing official yet. Her fans we're definitely waiting for a performance and she was going to leave it for a concert. Seeing the opportunity though, Evie didn't want to lose it.
"I would love to, if that's alright." Evie said, taking a deep breath. "It can be before the rap performances."
"I think it would make a good opening too." The writer said, smiling at the group. "And helps balance the units. That's for the suggestion, Mark, and being willing to do this Evie. I think this will make a great stage."
The writer told them a few more details, including their rehearsal schedule for their performance. Evie knows that her manager had already been hard at work, making sure that she could fit in time for this performance.
Luckily, they only had a couple of rehearsals as a group, most of the learning to be done on their own. They were to regroup in a few days, to go over the group dance parts.
With that, the meeting concluded. Many of them needed to head back to their own schedules, so they made quick goodbyes before all exiting the meeting room. Being on her homeground, Evie kindly walked their guests out of the meeting room, bringing some interactions with the others.
"See you in a few days." Chaeri smiled at her, giving Evie a quick bow before heading off with her manager. Hyera and Jungwon acted similarly, showing Evie respect before heading out.
Mark was talking to Julianne, Sangyeon, and Bangchan, so Evie decided not to interrupt, waiting for him instead. This left one more person, one that she wasn't particularly excited to talk to.
"Hey Evie, long time no see." Serim said, hands in the pockets of his jacket. He had a kind smile on his face as much as Evie wanted to stay cold and distant, she couldn't. "How have you been?"
"I've been doing well, how about you?" Evie politely responded. Serim's smile widened, the male smoothing his hair.
"Ah, just been practicing and promoting, the usual." Serim said before a pout formed on his lips. "You haven't been replying to my messages."
"I had to change my number, sorry." Evie told him. "Were you looking for me for something?"
"Just thought that we should hang out sometime." Serim responded.
The moment was awkward, neither of them knowing what to say. Luckily, Serim's manager had found him, reminding Serim of his schedule.
"I'll see you around then?" Serim asked, eyes on Evie.
"Yep, at rehearsal."
They exchanged quick goodbyes before Serim and his manager went to the elevators. Evie took a deep breath, ready to head to practice when a male who had witnessed the whole scene surprised her, making her jump.
"Mark, don't do that." Evie hissed, glaring at her friend. Mark giggled, entertained by her reaction. "I'm guessing Julianne left?"
"Yeah, she has to go to a music show since they're promoting. Not like you missed me though, you seemed pretty busy. Remind me how you two know each other again." Mark said with a smile, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Evie rolled her eyes, knowing that Mark probably remembered the story. "Serim and I did a collaboration performance last year, remember."
"Mhmm, you two were close. Really close."
"Mark, I had a freaking crush on him." Evie muttered, shaking her head. This made Mark tense up, stopping and turning towards her.
"You did? What happened then? I thought it was going well." Mark asked, the questions flying out of his mouth.
Evie sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "It was going well, he's a nice guy and we were kind of seeing each other. After our performance though, there were dating rumors so our companies had to put out a statement denying it. Our managers told us it would be best if we stayed apart for a while as well."
Mark took a moment, letting that all sink in. He took a deep breath, patting her back as they started walking again.
"I'm sorry, Evie. That sucks. I hope you two can still stay friends." Mark said softly, hoping to reassure her.
Evie nodded her head, walking alongside Mark with her head hung low. "I hope so too."
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And so it begins hehe