Taking a deep breath, I gripped my bag in my hand and opened the door into the outside. Bright light shone from sun and dewy trees and bushes filled the garden.

"Woah." I whispered under my breath as I began walking down a narrow path.

The path soon took the two other girls and I to a dark box-like building where we knocked on the door and waited. Feeling a little nervous, I held my hands together. Soon enough, there was a eye-piercing squeal from the door.

"OMG IT'S THE ILANDERS!"

I giggled as the door soon revealed a large group of adorable girls with open mouths.

"HOLY CRAP! PARK SOOJIN?"

"Isn't she the ace?"

"What's she doing in the GROUND?!"

The girls all spoke at once with widened eyes. Hearing only the sound of gasps, the room went quiet.

Feeling a little flustered, I took it into my own hands to introduce myself as the two other new GROUNDERS followed.

"Nice to meet you guys, we look forward to working with you all." we bowed as the girls clapped still in a state of shock.

Soon we were given a little time to settle in, and the new GROUNDERS and I were changed into black clothes and soon began practising.

Holy moly.

Even at the I-LAND we didn't practice this much.

These girls are so committed.

I watched the girls in admiration as they continually danced and sang non-stop.

My zoned-out state was then interrupted my a tap on my shoulder.

"Hi Soojin!" chimed an adorable girl as she jumped up and down.

Why are all these unnies so cute?

I don't feel like the youngest at all.

I gave the girl a bright smile before speaking.

"Hi! May I know your name?" I asked politely.

"I'm Jung Haeun!" she replied.

I grinned as the girl pull me by the arm and brought me to the other GROUNDERS. One by one, each girl introduced them-self to me.

After getting to know the girls for a bit, all of a sudden the small TV at the front of the room flashed on.

"Hello GROUNDERS, please gather and prepare yourself for an announcement." spoke a deep voice.

The girls and I all sped our way to the TV and watched the screen attentively. The large black screen flashed bold lettering.

All of the sudden there was an uproar of cheers among the girls as they began expressing their happiness.

"OMG! I remember they did this last season!"

"We actually get to make our own PR video!"

"This will surely get me into the I-LAND!"

Huh?

PR video?

What the hell is that?

Feeling a little lost among the wild energy in the room, the voice suddenly spoke again.

"Your task is to compose a five minute video of yourself to appeal your charm and talents to the viewers. You have four hours. Your task begins now."

Within seconds the GROUNDERS all disappeared in a bundle of squeals. Feeling a little confused still, I quickly spotted my new friend and ran to catch up with her.

"Haeun!" I called.

The girl whipped her head around and gave me a kind smile.

"What's up Miss Ace?! Holy moly! You have no idea how excited I am for this task! I have so many ideas my mind is running wild!" she rambled as her mouth expelled words at the speed of light.

"Whoa whoa wait. Do you mind explaining to me a little bit about what to do? I'm slightly confused." I spoke twirling my fingers timidly.

Luckily the friendly girl smiled reassuringly and nodded her head with enthusiasm.

"Of course! So basically, we have to make a short video of us doing something that will catch the viewers attention and make them vote for us. To give you an idea, since I like baking, one of my ideas is to bake a cake and with each ingredient, I'll share an interesting fact about myself!"

I opened my mouth in admiration.

"Haeun! That's so creative! I'd kill to see you do that." I responded to the smiling girl.

The girl suddenly gasped as her eyes lit up presuming the thought of an idea.

"I know! How about we film each other's PR videos? That way I can help you a little and you can watch me carry out my epic baking video!"

I nodded my head up and down agreeing and we both soon made our way to the couch to discuss our ideas.

•••

The past two days have been rough. Not seeing Soojin around the I-LAND has been killing me internally. I miss her so much. On top of that, one of the applicants, Misun, has been talking to me non-stop. To be honest I did find her extremely annoying in the beginning, but honestly she's been taking my mind off Soojin's absence. Damn. I just hope I get to see that adorable girl again soon.

"Hey Jake! Take a look at this!"

I lifted my head up and locked eyes with NIKI holding his phone in the corner. The other boys slowly gathered around his screen as well watching with hearts in their eyes.

I jogged over to them and crouched over NIKI's shoulder.

No way.

The applicants are already doing their PR videos?

Damn Soojin looks so pretty.

"Yah Jake. Is this triggering your past memories?" Sunghoon teased as the rest of the boys broke out in giggles.

Oh boy.

Here we go again.

"Once there lived a little Aussie boy named Jake..." mocked the members as I rolled my eyes at their remarks.

I swear to God.

That will never die down.

I scolded the boys for being annoying dumb asses and fixed my eyes back onto the phone screen.

"Hi it's ya girl Soojin. I'm 16 years old and I am from Australia. My favourite thing to do is sleep and eat..." the girl spoke in English with her adorable Aussie accent.

With each piece of information, she bounced a basketball in between her legs with ease.

"Damn! She's a baller!" exclaimed Jungwon as he nodded his head in an impressed manner.

Wow.

Just when I thought she couldn't get any better.

I stared at the girl through the screen in a trance as her speech soon came to close.

"Oh no! My five minutes is nearly up! Crap uhm. Please vote for me and I promise to show you guys my best!

As she quickly wrapped up her little talk, the camera panned to a make-shift hoop on the top of the wall and the girl shot the basketball straight through it.

"AYEEEEEEEEEEE!" the boys all hooted as they clapped in adoration.

NIKI placed his phone back into his pocket and turned to face me and the boy a few metres away.

"Sooooo Jake and Heesung. I wonder which one of you will take the heart of this absolute legend of an applicant." He spoke wriggling his eyebrows up and down.

I eyed the other boy standing up as he looked at me with a stern gaze.

"OOOOOOOOOOOO." noised the boys.

I shook my head at the other members as they watched the tension between Heesung and I begin to rise.

"I'm actually going to go visit her in the GROUND later tonight." the older boy finally spoke, breaking the silence.

My eyes widened at his words as a slight smirk formed on his face. The boys once again up-roared in 'ooos' as they patted his shoulder commending him.

Okay Heesung.

I see how it is.

I'm not giving up this easily.

Just you wait.