"The recording will start now"
The room erupted with claps despite the earliness. In the studio was all of the NCT members except the newcomer, aka the one running down the never ending hallway with her personal assistant behind her.
"Hana-ah, I can't go any further" Alice panted heavily "Save yourself"
Park Hana grabbed ahold of the idol's hands and pulled her along. This would be the moment she would laugh it off or roll her eyes, but she didn't have the time for that as the pair was already late.
"You should've picked up the phone when I called you" The PA replies, turning around the corner.
"Ha-Joon is going to kill us when he finds out that we're late again."
"I did" Alice argued
"At the fifth call"
Some often wonder why the female artist carries around a phone when she never picks up a call from anyone. But one thing is for sure, people knows to NEVER call Alice when they are having an emergency.
"That's not true" She mumbles "It was the fourth call"
Without hesitation Hana did last minute adjustments on Alice and urges her inside the room as she followed behind.
"Today so many people are here. Last time, there was an issue when NCT was here. Hyeong-Don couldn't understand the concept and got confused a lot."
Hyeong-Don looked at his co-host in confusion "To be honest, I still don't understand" He released a slightly awkward laugh "NCT, NCT127, NCT Dream, NCT U. What else?"
"NCT 2018?" Coni responses unsure himself and both host became even more confused when the staff tried to explain.
"What? 018?" Their bewildered reaction displayed on their faces made Alice roll her eyes. To put it simply she doesn't like the hosts, never has and never will. You might think she was being judgmental but she has her reasons.
"2018? NCT 2049? Their onto their own vision"
"It's only possible since the world has interest on them" Coni spoke, making all members clap at his praise "Today we'll take our time to learn everything about NCT World. NCT2018, so everyone who is using the name NCT is here".
"Let's welcome NCT"
All members walked into the space, taking up everything and leaving the small leftovers for the two MCs. They were all mixed up and Alice managed to stand behind some of the members.
"1,2,3. To the world, Here's NCT. Hello we are NCT"
Alice was trying to downplay it but she will admit that she messed up the greeting. All she can hope for was that no one caught her as she sat down on the floor. Some members who were still unaware of her presence were surprised to see Alice squatting down with boredom displayed on her face.
After what felt like a good twenty minutes of explanation, Doni finally seemed to have got the hang of the NCT world and their concept.
"Wait, there's someone who debuted three times?"
All members responded in union "Mark"
"Mark keeps debuting" Taeyong replied
"That's why his nickname is pro-debuted" Jaehyun adds
"It must be like that so it means that he debuted three times" Coni comments "So NCT can be formed flexibly according to the song"
"Yes"
"NCT-C. NCT Cry project. You'll keep crying while singing" Doni joked, making a fit of laugher echo through the room.
"Wait a moment. I heard something" Doni spoke "There's a new member?"
"Alice" Everyone spoke in union. The female idol was caught by surprise. She was too zoned out to understand what was all the commotion was about however it seemed that she had been summoned.
She stood up and shimmied forward just in time before the camera caught her.
"Alice?" The host with the sunglasses looked as if he was hallucinating "What are you doing here?"
"Hello" The idol spoke, making the host anticipate for her bow that she never gave. And she never did as she locked eyes with them, trying to hide her smirk.
"I did hear that you were added with NCT but I think that it would be true. I though it was a prank"
The statement made everyone laugh
"My daughter cried for days when the news broke out saying that you were leaving RV. She didn't eat either. She just kept crying and saying 'Unnie was the best one out of them. Why does she have to leave the group"
'Awe. That's sweet' Alice thought to herself. 'But I didn't ask'.
"Why did you leave?"
"I didn't leave. I'm still part of Red Velevt. I'm just taking a hiatus from the group because of my addition to NCT" Alice replied with a nervous laugh.
"Why?"
She tilted her head to the right for a brief second and then repositioned it. Like hell would she know, one minute she was practicing with her Red Velvet members, going over their new choreography because their comeback was less than a week away on January 29th. But then S.M's director barged in the room and blurted out the news about Alice having to put the brakes on RV's schedule for awhile and join NCT with no explanation whatsoever.
"So this is your official debut with NCT?"
"Yes"
Alice did her best to quickly wrap up the conversation and shimmied back to take a spot between Ten and Jeno.
"In Hyeongdon's case, it's alright up to Super Junior" Coni watched as his cohost struggled grasping the informations about the present kpop group
"Do all members live in a dorm?"
"No. We divide it"
"How do you divide it?" Doni asked
"Separated by 127, Dream and U"
"What about Alice?"
"I dorm with Red Velvet" Alice lied. In truth, the youngster has her own place but no outsider needs to know that. "With Irene"
"Did they say that you aren't allowed to stay with the boys?" The MC teased. Alice had the urge to roll her eyes yet again however she stopped herself as she nibbled on her bottom lip.
"I never been to their dorms before"
"Why?"
"Because it's not my place to be"
The MCs continued to throw questions at other members as Alice watched silently when they twist up the members words to see their reactions.
"Is Taeyong the oldest?"
"No. It's Taeil"
"Why is the oldest so quiet?"
The camera faced Taeil as he looked a bit shy and uncomfortable.
"Who's the youngest?"
"Jisung-ah" Everyone responded in sync
"Jisung, How old are you?"
"I was born in 2002" He replied with beam, bringing a smile on Alice's face. "World Cup 2002"
"Don't shock him" Coni nudged his partners arms
"Do you feel a generation's gap with the hyungs?"
"I don't understand his jokes sometimes" Jisung honesty answered "He only does dad jokes"
"Like what?"
"Jokes that drop the atmosphere"
Alice nodded in agreement. There would be times where Taeil's outdated jokes makes the members annoyed rather than laugh.
"Do you know teen slangs?" Coni asked Taeil but he faced displayed a bit of uneasiness since he was not too confident on the topic.
"Try this teen slang. What is that?"
Most of the members lacked confidence, especially the foreigners. They all looked toward the camera crew when one of the staff held up white board with 'Daengdaengie' written on it.
"The frick?" Alice lowly mumbled making her surrounding members burst out laughing. She didn't even know how to pronounce let along understand that phrase.
Jisung being the youngster that he was understood quickly, leaving his other members in confusion.
"I know this one" Taeil confidently spoke, grabbing everyone's attention.
"What is it?"
"Like saying something is cute" He replied
That doesn't sound right. Aren't teen slang usually something negative. Alice watched patiently as the host stared in disbelief.
"It's dog. Dog" Doni explained making the NCT member fluster.
"Woah. Cool." Just like Doyoung, all of members understood the meaning of the term for the first time. Well, half of the members did. There were still those who had to re-read it to understand. But no matter how many times Alice read it she just couldn't comprehend it.
"Please raise your hand if you laughed without understanding"
Everyone looked at the foreigners. Winwin, Yuta, Kun, Lucas, and Chenle all rose their hands honestly.
"Then from NCT 2018, who will introduce the album?"
"How about Alice?" Coni volunteers and all eyes fell on her
"I'm not good in Korean" She said. No offense but she was started to get irritated at the hosts for always bringing her up in conversation. There were 18 other members they can call on.
"It's okay. Just try"
"Chenle" Alice grins "Why don't you give it a go?"
"In NCT 2018's album, there is a lot of songs" Chenle stumbled over some words nevertheless he was somewhat victorious. His cuteness melted the hearts of the members along with the MCs and their crew as he listed out all of the subunit's songs.
"Then what's the genre?"
Once again the members fell silence. Mark decided to break the ice by yelling out "Dance"
"Dance? Because you're sick of it, you want to keep yelling out 'Dance. Dance'!" Coni joked to break the silence.
"When you hear it, you think of dance" The Canadian idol explained his response.
"Let's see it"
All of the members lined up in formation as the waited for their song to play. Alice knew everyone was anticipating her role in the performance and she didn't disappoint. She got all the moves correct and successfully led the dance-break in sync.
To tell you the truth, Alice is not a fan of the choreography. She had watched these boys practice endlessly and it annoys her that more than half of the members were treated as backup dancers rather than showing off their potential. That wasn't the worst part. No. The worst part is seeing Jaemin getting stepped on even though he just came back from a back injury hiatus. The entire dance should've and could've been better.
"It has the feeling of the Olympic closing ceremony" The MC praised
"This time, we'll play NCT random dance"
The members clapped for excitement but the French idol knew that it was to cover up their rough breathing.
"So when you hear the music, whoever's in the song need to come out." The host explained "Mark just needs to stay in"
When the camera was finally off of her, Alice turned around and let Winwin tie her hair into a ponytail. She gave me a soft smile as thanks and both regained their posture as the camera returned back to their area.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes"
"Cue music"
NCT U's 'Boss' blasted through the speakers and after taking positions, the members followed the beat of the song in sync. As soon as 'Cheery Bomb' starting playing, Alice shifted toward the back and observed NCT127 work their magic. She was overrun with awe when the Dreamies danced to 'Chewing Gum'.
Hearing for the song for the first time, the hosts was confused. Everyone watched as Taeyong, Alice and Ten dancing to the chorus of 'Baby Don't Stop', everyone got hooked. Alice seductive voice rang through the room and they were amazed at how quickly she changed her aura. No matter how many times the members had seen them practice the choreography before, they can't stop watching. The trio showed off their sexy charisma and while dancing, a smile came up on Alice's face when she saw Jisung dancing along behind them.
After, Alice move toward the back when NCT127's "Limitless" started playing. She laughed as she saw Doyoung and Taeil dancing their way toward the other side. Nevertheless she cheered on for the group and watched the youngest member running up for 'My First and Last'.
Once again 'Black On Black' starting playing and the MC's watched in horror as members stumbled to get to their positions. However, they were quickly able to fix it and regained formation.
The host signals their crew to stop as soon as NCT U's 'Without You' began. Their faces displayed their toward the formation of NCT's songs. Why did some songs have numerous members while others had three or four?
"To be honest, I don't know if you're wrong" Doni confessed "I was getting dizzy so I wanted to end it quickly"
"But Mark was amazing" Coni adds "He danced to all of the songs"
Alice nods in agreement. It was really incredible to see the Canadian idol switch from one group to another.
"Rather it was Taeil who was getting it wrong" He points at the oldest member, caught into him off guard "And his clothes stands out the most so it was easy to see"
"Who dances the best?"
"Ten"
Doni disagreed ".... isn't Alice a main dancer though?"
What the heck, it's like they're trying to pick a fight.
With eyes on her once again, she shook her head no before commenting on the situation. "He dances way better than me" In all honesty, they were equal. Both have their own flows and prefer different styles.
So Alice decided to give it to Ten because she knows he has more experience than her. And because she didn't wanna take any more spotlight.
"Ok, then...." The hosts then proceed to summon Ten and Taeil out to have a semi dance battle. The rest of the group cheered on. "Ten should dance something and then call Taeil out like a battle gun"
The crowd roared with excitement. This would be one for the books.
It still amazes Alice whenever she sees one of her closest friend in the group, Ten, dance. The way he was able to move along the fast-paced beats and pass it on was unbelievable.
Taeil sadly couldn't be as fast as his competitor nevertheless, Alice cheered them both on.
"Ten dances really well" The praised him "Just like his name, I'll give him ten points"
Rushing back to his spot next to the female idol, Ten was greeted with a thumbs up and a huge grin from his friend. He couldn't help but melt at her adorableness.
Shortly after that, the members were given a five-minute break so that the crew could set up the chairs. Some members decided to help set up but Alice took the initiative to place her right arm on top of Jaehyun's shoulder and closed her eyes.
"Yah" A whisper was shouted toward the pair and Alice instantly recognized who it was.
"What?" She mutters, not budging from her position
"Let go"
Alice shook her head in response making her personal assistant, Hana let out a loud sigh.
"I'll kill you if the camera records you"
"So cover it up"
"Come on Alice"
Alice stood back up and held her hands up in defeat. Jaehyun ruffles her hair as he continued to watch the two women bicker.
"Everyone take position" The director calls out and waited for each member to be seated before they could proceed to film.
Alice made way to the seat in front of Kun, but was stopped by none other than Hana.
"Don't even think about it" Hana firmly spoke "Not next to Ten, go sit somewhere else"
"I wasn't" She said "I was going to go sit next to Jisung"
Once again, Hana shook her head.
"There is really no way to make you happy is there." Alice sighed.
The reason why her assistant is giving her restrictions is because prior to this, her A-Team had a board meeting with S.M's directors. They didn't want the female artist to be too seen with any members that fans ship Alice with.
Why?
Simply because S.M doesn't want to any spilled water for it might burn their fingers when cleaning up.
"Between Doyoung and Jaemin" The PA points out the seat and waits for Alice to oblige.
"You're lucky I love you Unnie"
"Yes. I know." She stepped back and watched French idol walk toward the seat she was assigned too. Usually, Alice would give out a protest and go sit wherever she wanted however, she decided to comply because she knew that her team already had their hands full as a result of her shuffling between groups.
"Wait. Alice no, come back" Hana called out, grabbing everyone's attention. She bowed down apologizing and then motion for her idol to come to the corner. Alice shook her head 'no' and stuck out her tongue in response because she knew that Hana realized her mistake. What was that you asked? Let's just say that Hana united the biggest ship of the group, the one she was suppose to separate for the time being, 'MARLICE' aka the KIM-LEE couple. That's right folks, Alice is finally able to sit down next to Mark without any manager interfering.
"Salut Twain" She taps his shoulder as she took her seat behind him. She smiled as she watched his confused face beam up at her sudden appearance. Before having the chance to have a proper conversation, recording started.
"We're here with NCT and we are now playing NCT unit battle, 'Beat NCT'." Doni read directly from the cue-card and the members clapped to show their excitement. Alice taped her blue NCT-Dream and yellow NCT-U stickers on the left side of her shirt.
"We're doing a unit battle and if you win, you'll win a gift." Doni said "Now the first game is Beat NCT: Speed quiz"
"You all know what's a speed quiz right" Everyone replied in sync. However because this would air, the MC proceed to give out a brief explanation about the game.
"But there is a rule because NCT is made up of many different countries".
"Instead, the foreign members will be given the question and the Korean members will have to guess the right answer"
A sudden wave of burden fell on the foreigners. Unlike Johnny, they were not long-term residents of the country.
"We will see who will get the most answers in a 100 seconds" A glint of amusement flickered in Doni's eyes.
"Ready and Begin"
Staring with NCT127, Winwin was at the start of the line but he was already having trouble because it hasn't been long since he started learning the language. Next up was Mark. The Korean members were able to successfully obtain 4 right answers.
Soon after, NCT Dream was up in the sequence of Renjun, Chenle, Alice and then Mark. Chenle was having the most trouble however the female idol was proud to see them all trying their best including herself in the list. The Dreams completed the game with 6 correct answers, making them take the lead.
Last but not least was NCT-U. When it was Lucas's turn, Alice watched as his soul left his body. But at the end, the subunit was able to get 5 right answers.
In the end, the Dreamies won first place and was now in the lead.
"Next in Beat NCT, this battle is Cover Dance Battle"
"Normally, you do cover dances of your senior's songs?" Coni asked and they nod.
"Haechan does a it a lot more than us" Johnny points, making the camera zoom in on them
"NCT127 and NCT Dream will have an advantage since he's in both of them"
Coni went on to explain the concept of the game. "Okay, we will start. Give us the music"
First song was 'Monster' by EXO. All of the Dreamies except for Jeno, Jaemin and Alice, ran up to dance. The sight brought a smile to the others as the watched in awe. Super Junior's 'Sorry Sorry', EXO's 'Growl', 'Sherlock (Clue + Note)' by Shinee and 'Move' by Taemin followed afterwards making all but Alice occupied the dance floor because she was too busy recording the event herself.
"If you all come out at the same time, it's hard to judge" The MC sighed as if it was too much to handle. "Let's have two members from each team come out so we can confirm by teams. Okay?"
All eyes fell on the female member when 'Red Flavor' blasted through the room. She ran up and did a mirror-image performance and everyone cheered on. Along with her was Johnny, who was trying his best to copy her moves but was a beat off.
She went up to her seat but when 'Cheer Up' by Twice started playing, she had no choice up to shuffle up to the dance floor again. Two of her best friends, Momo and Daehyun, are from that group so she had seen them preform it countless of times.
"I don't know this one" Alice sighed when 'As If It Was Your Last' by BlackPink started ringing but she danced to it effortlessly, amazing the audience. Thinking that this was really the last song, she went back to her seat. 'Bboom Bboom' by Momoland starting playing, she danced in her seat, unaware that some eyes was lingering on her because she was too focus on watching Haechan in astonishment.
Haechan had the choice to choose which group he will give his point too, as he danced to all of the songs, and he ended up giving it to NCT127 to make the game fair.
"Haechan, how do you know all of them?"
"I practice with Alice often" He huffed out of breath
The last game was NCT Magic Hands, which was about the members figuring if they knew the others by a face feature. From each unit, one member had to go into the box and wait for the other unit guess the correct answer.
NCT127 started the game off by letting Winwin go into the box and the rest hid behind the divider. The other subunits placed turned around to place their hands on the white wall. Alice decided to sit down on the floor through the game and laughed along when both of her team failed to guess who it was.
Next up was NCT-U. Lucas put his hands out and Alice grabbed up as he pulled her up. "Merci". The pair walked on over to the divider and listened in as the other members decided which member will go in there box. Having decided on Jungwoo, everyone waited as Renjun and Yuta attack his face with their hands but Alice peeked through the small gap.
"Mark"
"Ah NO" Renjun changed his answer "Jungwoo-Hyun"
"Jungwoo? Why?"
Renjun explained "I touched his ears but it didn't feel like Mark-hyung "
Automatically, Alice's hands went up to Mark's ear to caress it. Yuta went on to say that the person under the box skin felt like Mark's because of the moistness however Johnny was quickly to disagree. Their disagreement once again made Alice feel her group mate's cheeks.
"Come out friend"
Jungwoo slid out of the box, getting a cheer from the maknaes and disappointment from the 127 members.
"Great job Renjun" Alice gave her fellow member a high five as they came behind the divider.
Jaemin made his way over and got inside the box.
Behind the scene, Alice linked her arms with the Canadian idol and tapped her feet to count down from 10.
Jaehyun was quick to let go of the 'unknown' person's face and said that he had already figured out who it was. Lucas on the other hands took his time until time came to a stop.
"Haechan" Jaehyun rubbed his hands in confidence "Haechan and I are roommates. I knew from his nostrils"
Haechan scoffed, making a face in response and shrugged his shoulder while Alice gently rubbed his back, trying to comfort him but also trying to muffle out her laughter. Lucas went on to express why he chose Jisung.
"Haechan. Come out" Jaehyun slammed the table, shouting for his roommate. Doni went on to bring the younger member from the divider, making Jaehyun fall in humiliation and embarrassment. Winwin took the chance to run to NCT-U's side, hoping that there's still a chance for them to succeed. He became more disappointed when Jaemin popped out and said hi. He then proceed to move back to 127 team.
"Today's winner is NCT Dream"
The members were baffled. They all piled up to do a group hug with Alice stuck right in the middle.
"What present will you have. Honestly, we don't know either"
Everyone waited a in anticipation. They knew that this show was known to give out Korean Beef as prizes. Unlike the rest, Alice was curving fruits. She didn't know why, she just really wanted to eat it.
Everyone's smile fell into disappointment when the staff ran out with a large watermelon. All except Alice, who cheered.
"Is it just one?" Coni was baffled "How are they suppose to eat only one?"
"I'm sorry" Doni bowed down bewildered. Soon after came the second bow. Every one of the idols returned his actions as it was only right to do so.
"I heard that everyone like this" Doni flipped it around to air out the distress
"Especially Alice" The members mentioned.
It's true, she really likes watermelon. That's one of the many things she had in common with Mark. Alice accepted the gift with bright smiles as the MC's said their closing calls. With that, they all waved bye to the viewers and the camera was cut off.
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A/N
It took me two weeks to write this chapter. 😔.
I go sleep now. Bye Bye. 👋
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