"Thank you so much, Rachel," she said softly, holding out a homemade poster for me to sign. The fan was maybe eleven years old-the same age as me when I first started training with DB Entertainment-lanky and a little self-conscious, but all smiles to meet me, her eyes sparkling like the rhinestone studs on her T-shirt that spelled out my name: RACHEL KIM. It was a year after I debuted with Girls Forever, and we were promoting our comeback single, "Sweet for You." The music video hit fifty million views on the day it released, and the pastel bucket hats and pearl-frame sunglasses we wore in the video were sold out everywhere within a week. The first time a fan told me that I changed her life, I cried. I've come a long way from the trainee girl who used to freeze like a deer in headlights at the first sign of a flash bulb. As we reach the glass doors of the Peninsula Hotel Shanghai, I look over my shoulder and wink at a camera flashing in my direction, giving them one last dazzling grin. The girls and I take our time walking down the carpet, pausing to pose, lips glossed, hands on hips, literally sparkling like the sun in brilliant rose-gold outfits. It's such a far cry from how I felt around these girls for so long, but a lot has changed in the past five and a half years. This is what power looks like!! I think about that sometimes. I once saw someone share a group photo of us on social media with the caption, There's something about having all nine of us together that makes a certain kind of energy radiate.
As we pose, the cameras start clicking in a frenzy, catching us from all angles. We balance each other out, the tall girls and the shorter girls finding their spots in the formation so no one looks out of place. Like we've done a thousand times before, the girls assemble for the photo-each of us instinctively knowing where to stand so that our best features are shown off. "How about a group shot?" a photographer yells. Fans scream when they see us, clamoring to get closer through the wall of paparazzi. Mina is close at my heels, and seven girls emerge from the limo behind us, lifting their hands in queenlike waves. I subtly smooth down my outfit-a glittering wrap dress with a strapless sweetheart neckline-as I step onto the red carpet. Cameras flash in my direction before my champagne-colored stilettos have even touched the ground.
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