|JuHee's POV|
"JuHee!" An all too familiar voice calls from one of the closest dressing rooms.
"Ryeong!" I feel my heart skip a beat as I'm pulled into a warm embrace by one of my best friends.
"You did amazing out there. Don't worry about what any of the audience said. You guys are just a rookie group that's starting off on the wrong foot. I know how talented you guys are. You're going to blow everyone away. Trust me." ChaeRyeong releases me and ruffles my hair before turning toward the other girls.
"It's nice to meet you." NaHee grins as she and the other girls casually bow their heads.
"We'll be seeing a lot of each other. I'm waiting for you guys to kick our butts on an award show." ChaeRyeong states as she glances over her shoulder to see the others hurrying away. She offers us a wave before rushing after them.
"If someone as talented as her thinks we're good enough, we have nothing to worry about. Right?" NaHee turns to face us as we continue to stare at our feet in defeat.
"They get claps and cheers when they go on stage. We have people calling us losers." SunMi groans as she slips passed NaHee to stumble into our dressing room.
"It didn't get to you, did it? I know it was rough, but we just have to give it some time. They'll warm up eventually." NaHee frowns as she wraps her arm around my shoulders and guides me into the room after the others.
"Sun isn't wrong, they did call us losers. That's a little hard to ignore. If they think I'm a loser, what about the kids at school? I thought our performance was the best we've done yet, but it apparently wasn't as good as I thought." I fall down on the couch next to JiSu as she snaps a sad selfie.
"NaHee is right, we aren't bad. We aren't perfect, but no group is. We can do this. You have me!" Aera throws her arms up in the air playfully.
"You're the only one with fans. If we didn't have you we'd be worse off than we are now." SunMi tosses her head back against the wall and closes her eyes.
"Actually—before we left the house earlier, I put a poll out on our twitter—the one with the most fans according to the results is you, SunMi." JiSu holds her phone out for SunMi.
"You're kidding, right?" Aera mumbles as she hurries toward SunMi to read over her shoulder.
"Sun Slayer is bomb as hell. Didn't know she could rap. Never saw Sun Slayer's face before—didn't realize I was on a team with a goddess. Are these people insa—" Aera rolls her eyes as NaHee slaps her arm to stop her from saying something she'll regret.
"Looks like your gaming family banded together to help us trend, too. Look—someone posted a video of our performance already—they must've been in the crowd." NaHee motions for us to crowd around her as she pulls up the clip and the comments.
"Who's the cute one with the short hair? That girl can dance—what's her name? Is this a new group? Haven't seen them before. The vocals are amazing." JiSu begins reading off some of the comments, skipping over the bad ones.
"If you're going to read them, read them all. That one looks like her pants did to go up two sizes. The girl with the weird outfit needs to get off the stage, she's only making it worse. That girl in white should jump out of a plane without a parachute." SunMi stops after the last comment, everyone's eyes fall on me.
"We shouldn't look at this. We have to get changed back into our street clothes." NaHee quickly locks her phone and sets it on the table before hurrying to find her bag.
I stare down at my outfit. Is it the dress? Is that why people are saying those things about me? Or is it me? Am I a bad singer? Am I ugly? Am I really too immature and young to be a part of Candi? Should I give up before we even really started?
"Don't let them get to you. You're perfect the way you are, JuHee. They're all just jealous you have what they'll never get. You get to stand on stage and show the world who you are while they hide behind a username." SunMi hugs me from behind and rests her chin on my shoulder.
"She's right, besides, we have more important things to do than listen to them. We have some practicing to do—and you missy have homework." NaHee hands me my bag and smiles brightly.
"What kind of homework? I'm looking to spice up some of my thinking skills." JiSu questions as she zips her skirt up.
"The beloved math homework." NaHee chuckles as I groan in disgust.
"In that case—it's all you." JiSu buries her face in her phone as she plops down on the couch to wait for the rest of us.