The week passed quite fast and the weekend came quickly. It was Saturday and we just returned to the company after the music show ended. We are supposed to have a meeting with the CEO, B.A.P and the trainees. I wonder what it's about..

When we reached the company, there were several fans outside. Jinu and my group members entered the building after bowing while I stopped in front of the fans.

"Hello." I greeted them warmly. "Are you waiting for B.A.P?" I asked. They didn't seem like our fans and they were acting indifferent when they saw us..

"Yeah." A cute girl said.

"Do you want me to call them?" I offered. "They should be inside.."

"Really?" another girl asked.

"Yes." I smiled. "Wait a moment, I'll call them."

I took my phone and dialed Daehyun's number because he will probably be the happiest to meet his fans.

"What's up, Hyeri?" Daehyun answered the call.

"Your fans are waiting outside the company." I said.

"I'm coming." He said and I could tell that he was smiling. Cute.

"Daehyun is coming." I informed the fans.

"Only Daehyun?" the cute girl asked. She looked disappointed.

"I don't know. Maybe he'll call the others as well." I tried to smile.

"Hyeri." Daehyun called in a perfect timing. He came with Jongup. I thought it would take them longer to get here, so I guess they were close to the entrance.

"Oppa!" the fans squealed and I chuckled. They are so different when they see B.A.P.

"I'm going to leave you with your fans." I told Daehyun and Jongup. "Have fun."

"You are coming to the meeting, right?" Daehyun asked.

"Do I have a choice?"

"No." Daehyun laughed. "I'll see you there, then. And thank you."

"No problem." I smiled and entered the building. Inside, I saw Yongguk.

"Aren't you going out as well? Your fans will be happy to see you." I asked.

"Both of them can handle it." Yongguk said and pointed at Daehyun and Jongup, who were currently taking gifts and fan letters from the fans.

"We should go to the conference room." I said.

"Babe." Yongguk called.

"What?"

"Don’t I deserve a good morning kiss?" he asked, pouting.

"It's 18:00." I stated.

"It just means you are late." He stuck his tongue out. "I'm waiting."

"We are in the company and your fans are outside."

"They are busy with Daehyun and Jongup and everyone here knows we are dating." He reasoned. "Come on."

"Fine." I tiptoed and kissed his cheek quickly.

"That's not it." He stated.

"Yah, don't push it." I warned.

"We are dating, though. We did more than that, why are you so shy suddenly?"

"I'll give you more than a good morning kiss after the meeting, okay? We will be late."

"Okay." Yongguk smiled and wrapped his arms around my waist. We started walking towards the conference room. On the way, he sniffed my hair and neck and it was tickling.

"You are kinda smelly, though. Didn't you shower after the music show?" he asked and I fumed. I stopped walking and Yongguk's chest bumped into my back because of the sudden halt.

"Bang Yongguk." I raised my voice.

"I was just teasing you." He said softly and buried his face in my neck. "You always smell amazing."

"That's not funny." I said dryly, still annoyed because of his comment.

"I'm sorry." He kissed my neck. "I love the way you smell." He planted another kiss on my neck, a little higher than the previous one. "It's addicting." Another kiss.

"Stop sweet-talking to pacify me."

"But it works." He grinned and kissed my cheek.

"I'm going." I declared and started walking again. Yongguk followed me, still hugging my waist.

Actually, we didn't have a lot of private time since the day at my dorm. I was busy with schedules and practice and Yongguk was working on a few songs he wanted to put in B.A.P's next album so we barely met. We talked on the phone, but it's not the same. When we did meet I was too tired to do anything so I fell asleep in the middle. Yongguk didn't complain, though, and just woke me up when he was done so he could walk me home and I'll sleep at my own bed.

"I miss you." Yongguk said, cutting me off from my thoughts.

"I know. I miss you too."

"We'll go on a date after you'll finish promoting?" he asked.

"Yes."

"I can't wait." He smiled.

"Me neither."

~

"Honey." Himchan called sweetly.

"You are too sweet. What do you want?" Sey questioned and Himchan frowned.

"Nothing. Can't I be nice to my girlfriend?" he asked, pretending to be hurt.

"You are only acting like that when you want ." She pointed out.

"Well, I miss you." He tried to act cute.

"I'm on my period, so it won't work." She notified him and kept walking, leaving Himchan behind.

"Is that why you are weird today?" Himchan asked. He followed her but didn't touch her because there were people around and he didn't want to get caught.

"I'm not weird!" She exclaimed, raising her voice from annoyance.

"Easy there.." he trailed off. "Okay, you are not weird. I'm the weird one."

"At least you know that."

"Do you want me to get you anything?" Himchan asked. "My sister always wants chocolate.."

"Chocolate would be nice." Sey finally smiled.

"Then I'll get it for you after the meeting."

~

The meeting has finally started after everyone gathered in the conference room.

"I'm happy to see that everyone is here." The CEO said after scanning the room.

"It's not like we had a choice." Sumi muttered and Jinu glared at her, signaling her to stay quiet.

"Last week I told you that we will have a new project soon and I asked you who do you want to work with." The CEO continued talking. "For some reason everyone chose Hyeri as a partner.."

I blushed while everyone cheered. Why is everyone so interested in me? I didn't think I'll be this popular because I was never popular in the past.

"I didn't." Sumi commented.

"I asked to work with you. I thought we will be able to give a good performance if we put our personal issues aside." I said.

"I'm not going to work with you." She declared.

"Girls, be quiet." The CEO said. "Even though everyone mentioned Hyeri, it's not going to work like this. I'm going to let Yoona explain everything."

The CEO sat down and Yoona stood up and opened a presentation on her laptop. The presentation was shown on the big screen in the conference room so all of us could see it.

"Hey everyone." Yoona smiled. "We wanted to do something in order to let you explore your personal style and try new things. This project is also going to help strengthen your bond and help us promote everyone here, including the trainees. We want to introduce them to the public before debuting so their debut will go smoothly when it happens."

"So you are only doing this for them." Sumi commented bitterly.

"No. Everyone will get equal exposure." Yoona said.

Now a new slide appeared on the screen and the word "Jukebox" appeared on it. Beneath the word there was question – "What's your mood?".

"You probably know SM's 'Station' project and Woollim's 'W project', right?" Yoona asked and we nodded. "The 'Jukebox' project is going to be similar. It's more like a mix of both with a few adjustments that suits us better."

"So there will be a song released every week?" Sey asked.

"No. We are going to do it once a month. We want to let you explore and discover new things and just have fun with different combinations and genres. You can experience how it's like working outside of your original group and music style or in a sub-unit within the same group. Our goal is to release a song in the beginning of each month, followed by a week of promotions. Besides recording the song you'll also have a music video and a dance practice, so you'll have to put some effort in this."

"What if we have a group promotion at the same time?" I asked.

"If you are promoting the 'Jukebox' song while you are having a comeback, you'll just perform two songs on music shows for a week. That's the only promotion you'll have to do so treat it as a gift for your fans. Also, we will release the songs digitally. There is no physical album." Yoona replied.

"Can't we have physical album if we gather several songs? Like every half a year or something.." Himchan offered.

"That's a good idea." Yoona smiled. "We will think about it."

"How do we decide who performs what?" Daehyun asked.

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk about now." She said and a new slide appeared on the screen, titled 'The first collaborations'. "We took your offers and considered what we wanted to show and what we think will be the best for you so we made a list of the first collaborations. You saw the title 'What's Your Mood?' that was shown earlier, right?"

"Yes." We said together.

"This is the main concept of the project. We are trying to create different atmospheres so everyone can find something to listen to." Yoona said. "I'm going to reveal the first ones now."

She typed something on her laptop and now we could see a list:

Cute October: Sey x Zelo – Noona

y November: Sumi x Himchan feat. Hyuk – Down

Emotional December: Hyeri x Daehyun – Lonely

Groovy January: Yujin x Eun Hee – Ugly Duck

New February: Two male trainees – One

Comments and complaints were heard from different parts of the room.

"We will go over all the songs on the list and I'll explain everything." Yoona said. "We have already thought of songs. You can work on them and change them, but it has to be approved like any other song you write. In the future you will be able to submit your own songs and create your own collaborations but it has to be approved as well. We made the list in order to make things easier because we are just starting. As time goes by you'll have more freedom."

"How can October be cute?" Sey asked, pointing at the first song on the list. "It's winter."

"It's going to be a cute song about a guy trying to hit on an older girl and the girl rejects him because of the age difference. Through the song he is trying to convince her to date him even if she is older than him until she agrees in the end." Yoona explained.

"This is ridiculous." Sey claimed. "Hyeri is cuter than me."

"Hyeri is supposed to do a different song and we think that you suit this song." Yoona said, smiling warmly.

"Is it a rap song?" Zelo asked.

"It combines singing and rapping but you can change it according to your taste. You can also write your own lyrics."

"What about me?" Sey asked.

"You are bad at writing your own lyrics, don't jump over your head." The CEO said before Yoona responded and Sey tried not to show that she was hurt. Her fists clenched under the table and she released it only when Himchan touched her back lightly.

"y November is a y EDM song." Yoona moved on to the next song on the list. "We chose Sumi and Himchan because of them are in charge of iness in their group and we think it will be a good combination. Hyuk is added because his rap can add to the song and it's a good opportunity to introduce him to the public."

"I don't want to do that with Himchan." Sumi said and all of us glared at her. "He is ugly. I can't understand how he is the visual of his group when there are members that are more handsome than him."

"It's funny that you are complaining when you being the visual of your group is a scam. Hyeri took every position you had because she is better than you so they gave you the visual role as a consolation prize. Everyone in your group is prettier than you." Himchan retorted.

"I thought that was your case?" she mocked, not backing down. "You got the visual position because you don't have any talent."

"He has more talent than you'll ever have." Sey commented, glaring at Sumi.

"Why are you getting involved? I was talking to Himchan." Sumi smirked.

"I'm allergic to idiots so I can't keep quiet when I see one."

"If that's the case, I'm surprised you can handle yourself because you're the biggest idiot I know."

"Girls, stop it." Jinu growled.

"You are doing the song together one way or another so you better find a way to work together." The CEO said dryly.

"Good luck, bro. It's going to be hell with those two." Junsu told Hyuk, patting his back.

"Tell me about it.." Hyuk sighed.

"The third song is a powerful ballad sung by Daehyun and Hyeri. The theme is post-breakup and the focus will be on your honey vocals. I think you will match well together." Yoona said.

"I can't wait to work with you." Daehyun told me, smiling, and I high-fived him.

"I can't wait either." I smiled. Being able to sing with Daehyun is amazing because he is such a great singer.

"Next are Yujin and Eun Hee. It's going to be a song with a 70's feel to it." Yoona continued her explanation.

"Why 70's?" Eun Hee asked curiously.

"We think it matches the two of you."

"Sounds like fun." Yujin said, smiling.

"The last song for now is for two of the male trainees." Yoona said. "We haven't decided who will perform it yet, it depends on the results of your evaluations. We will decide it after watching your results in the next few months, so work hard."

"Yes ma'am." the trainees said together.

"I told you that I'll have a good surprise for you." Clara said, smiling.

"You're the best!" Hyuk exclaimed, doing a thumbs up.

"What about the ones that are not on the list?" Youngjae asked.

"They will appear in the months after that. We don't want to neglect anyone and we are going to give everyone equal exposure." Yoona smiled.

"So this is a long term project." Youngjae said.

"Yes."

"Does anyone have questions?" the CEO asked. No one said anything. "In this case, thank you Yoona. You did well."

Yoona bowed and went to her seat while we clapped. The CEO stood up and all of us looked at him curiously.

"As you all know, Peppermint is almost finishing their first promotion cycle." The CEO said and B.A.P and the trainees clapped and cheered. "I'm sure you noticed that their debut was terrible and their result was embarrassing. Their debut is the worst out of all the rookie debuts this year."

I could feel the tears in the corner of my eyes. Does he have to be this mean? We did our best, it's not our fault we couldn't make it..

"However, we still have the chuseok specials that might help boosting your popularity, as well as the 'Jukebox' project. We are also going to send Hyeri on a few shows so we still have hope." The CEO kept talking.

"Why only Hyeri?" Sumi asked, frowning.

"Because she is your only hope and she can actually make it." He said with a straight face and I felt uncomfortable. I didn't ask for this special treatment. "Show me you are worth it and I might send you on shows as well."

"Disgusting bastard." Sey hissed under her breath.

He really is too much.. He is making it look like they are my backup dancers or something and I hate it. We are a group and I'm not a soloist. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to shine. Besides, the other girls have talent as well and they can do well in shows if they'll only get the chance.

"Anyway, I'm going to ignore this failure if you'll do well in the future. But if you'll mess up in your next comeback there will be consequences." The CEO said.

"What consequences?" Sey asked.

"I have zero tolerance for failures. There is no reason for B.A.P to work their off to support a failing group. If you want to flop, do it with your own money."

"Do you actually think that we want to flop?" I asked.

"It's your fault for not doing well."

"You are unbelievable." I said in disbelief. "Fine. If we'll do well in the next comeback we want more power to decide on our career and an apology in front of everyone here."

"If you'll fail I'm disbanding you." He counterattacked.

"Deal."

"Hyeri.." Sey touched my arm. "Don't be reckless."

"What would be a good result for you?" I asked the CEO, ignoring Sey.

"Get a win on a music show and you'll be treated like queens from now on and you'll get your apology. If not – I'm disbanding you."

"Fine. But you need to promote us better in the next comeback."

"I'll do as much as I can to promote your next album so if you'll fail it's solely because of you." The CEO said.

"Okay. We have witnesses." I said.

"It's a deal." He smiled and it gave me the chills because it was creepy. "The meeting is over."

~

"Hyeri is really fearless." Daehyun commented when he and B.A.P left the conference room.

"But I'm worried for them." Youngjae said. "The CEO was really harsh."

"The thing he hates the most is losing money so right now he only sees the girls as people that causes him to lose money."  Himchan said.

"Do you think they can make it?" Jongup asked.

"Honestly? No." Youngjae said. "But if the CEO really tries his best to promote them then they might have a chance."

"Hyeri is talented, though." Daehyun commented. "Hyeri can make it big, but the group is pulling her back."

"Somehow it feels like they weren't ready to debut when they did.. Like the CEO just wanted to debut Hyeri so he used her to 'get rid' of all the other female trainees.." Youngjae said.

"I'm going to check on Hyeri." Yongguk said and left the group.

~

"What are you doing?" Sumi exclaimed. "We are in big trouble thanks to you."

"Maybe you don't mind being treated like , but I do." I said.

"Treated like ?" Sumi mocked. "You are the only one that actually gets things to do beside the group activities."

"And I'm getting for it as well. Did you forget how many times I got scolded for not doing well enough?"

"If we are disbanding thanks to you, I'm going to hunt you down." She threatened.

"If you don't want us to disband, work harder from now on. I don't care if it hurts or if you're tired, we have to do well. Let's take the chuseok vacation as opportunity to rest and gain back our energy so we'll be able to work harder afterwards."

"Easy for you to say." Yujin muttered. "You are never tired and you are good at everything."

"I'll carry the group as much as I can but you have to do your part as well. I can't do everything on my own." I said softly. "I know it's hard but it will be worth it once we see the CEO's face and get his apology, right?"

"It's for our own good as well. We want to do well and we should treat this as motivation to work harder. The CEO also promised to promote us better so we should trust him. If you want to keep going, we just have to work our off. B.A.P worked hard as well, and they are still working hard." Sey said and I was relieved that she is on my side. Three more to go..

"Maybe you are right.." Yujin said quietly.

"Let's work hard starting tomorrow, okay? We only have tomorrow to finish this promotion cycle and then we have the chuseok holiday to rest and recharge." I said.

"Okay." The other girls agreed.

"It's really do or die for us from now on. We can't mess up." I said.

"Let's do this." Sey said, putting her hand in the center.

"We need to work a hundred times harder from now on in everything." I said, adding mine.

"Let's make it a thousand." Eun Hee said, smiling. She placed her hand on top of mine. "We are not disbanding."

"Let's get that apology and erase that mocking smile from the CEO's face." Yujin said, joining us as well.

We waited patiently for Sumi to join. She just stared at us without doing or saying anything.

"Are you in or out?" I asked.

"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for me." She said and placed her hand on top of Yujin's.

"Mint forever!" we did our regular cheer.

~

"They really are something.." B.A.P's manager commented while watching the girls.

"Hyeri is the best leader they could have." Jinu said, staring fondly at the girls.

"Do you think they'll make it?" B.A.P's manager asked.

"Depends on their determination and if the CEO will actually keep his word."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see then.."

"It will be interesting."

~

I decided to go gym to vent my anger and frustration on the punch bag. It's better taking it out on this instead of real people. I just need to imagine that I'm beating the CEO up instead of the bag of sand.

"Have I told you that you are y when you are mad?" I heard Yongguk's voice from behind me.

"Too many times." I said and kicked the bag.

"Let me help." He said and stood behind the punch bag, holding it.

"You'll get hurt."

"Try me." He smirked. I kicked the bag again, expecting Yongguk to waver. To my surprise, he held it firmly.

"I'm not that easy to break down." He commented, smiling.

"Good for you." I punched the bag.

"I'm proud of you." Yongguk said, staring at me.

"I'm scared to death." I admitted, struggling to keep a straight face.

"You will make it. You are determined and you have everything it takes to make it. The only thing stopping you is the CEO."

"That's encouraging." I said bitterly, punching the bag again.

"You should believe in yourself a little more. And you have my support. The boys are on your side as well, and I'm sure that the trainees are also cheering for you."

"What if we'll fail?" I asked.

"You won't. You only have one chance, you know.."

I hit the bag again, this time close to Yongguk's face. He flinched, surprised.

"You are not helping." I stated dryly.

"You won't fail." He said, holding the punch bag firmly in place.

"Is it fine if we won't meet much because of schedules and practice?" I asked. "I need to work harder from now on.."

"Yes. I'll cheer for you even if we won't see each other much."

"You'll still date me even if I'll fail?"

"I need to think about it.." Yongguk said and I glared at him. "I'm joking. Of course I'll date you. But you are not going to fail."

"Thank you."

"If you are thankful then do well." He ruffled my hair.

"Yes sir."

~

"How are you?" Himchan sat next to Sey in the playroom.

"Feeling like ." She said and closed her eyes, hoping it will decrease the pain from her cramps.

"Here." He held a few chocolate bars and a pack of pain killers in front of her.

Sey opened her eyes and stared at Himchan's stretched hand. "Thank you." She hesitantly took the chocolate and unwrapped it. The taste was heavenly and it distracted her from the pain in her stomach. Himchan smiled while watching her.

"Better?" he asked.

"A little bit." She said while eating.

"Honey.."

"What?" Sey turned her attention to Himchan.

"Are you worried?"

"About what?"

"The thing with the CEO.." he said softly. Sey is already sensitive because of her period so if he is not careful it will backfire him.

"We either make it or disband. Nothing to be stressed about, right?" the sarcasm was evident in her voice.

"It will be alright." Himchan tried to stay positive.

"It must be nice being the CEO's favorite and getting whatever you want."

"We are not his favorites."

"You make money, so he obviously loves you."

"He cancelled our comeback." He reminded her.

"Because you defended Hyeri. It was because you crossed the line and disobeyed him by getting involved in his work." She said and Himchan frowned. "I'm not saying you were wrong, but in this case the CEO just wanted revenge because you went against him."

"He is an ." Himchan commented. "He was mean to us in the past as well. It took us time to get where we are."

"But he never threatened to disband you." Sey pointed out. "You always did well, you don't know how it's like to be in our position."

"Maybe I don't but I know you and I know what you are capable of." Himchan smiled, trying to reassure his girlfriend.

"We are only capable of this much." She said bitterly.

"You will appear a lot of TV next week because of the holiday, so it can help boost your popularity. And you don't know how your next comeback will be.. You might hit it big with a good song."

"Do you trust the CEO to give us good songs?" Sey asked.

"Maybe he will because he wants to make money." Himchan said although he wasn't sure himself. You can't really tell with their CEO.. It depends on a lot of things, including his mood. "Either way, I'm here for you."

"Thank you." She wrapped her hands around his waist. "I'm going to work harder so we won't embarrass you."

"You are not embarrassing us." Himchan ruffed Sey's hair. "The CEO should be embarrassed for treating you like this." Sey giggled and rested her head on his chest.

"Do you want to go rest at your dorm?" Himchan asked, moving a few hairs from Sey's face.

"No. I want to stay with you like this." She hugged him tighter and Himchan smiled.

"We will do whatever you want."

~

Yujin was walking down the hallway absentmindedly when she heard someone call her name. She looked at the voice's direction and saw Jongup standing at the end of the hallway, hiding something behind his back.

"Oppa?" Yujin asked softly.

"I choose you!" Jongup called and threw a giant pokeball doll at her. Yujin froze in her place, trying to digest what just happened. She wanted to say something but Jongup disappeared before she could utter a word.

"What the.." she muttered, embarrassed. She picked the doll the landed near her feet and stared at is. While she touched it, she noticed a note was attached to the back of it. It had two sentences written on it – I like you. Will you be my girlfriend?

Yujin felt her cheeks heat up. She held the doll tightly and started searching for Jongup. He couldn't have gone that far since it has only been moments since he left. She turned the corner and saw a little Snorlax doll on the floor. She picked it up and kept walking. After a few more steps she noticed a Pikachu doll and picked it up as well. A few more dolls appeared while she walked and she collected all of them, knowing it will eventually lead her to Jongup.

Yujin stopped when she reached the rooftop. It was her first time going there, but she trusted Jongup. He was standing in the center, smiling sheepishly.

"You made it." He said.

"Yes." She smiled shyly.

"Did you like my surprise?"

"I did. I like it a lot."

"I'm happy to hear that." He said and approached her. "I believe you owe me an answer.."

"I.. Like you too. For a while now." Yujin admitted, feeling her cheeks heat up. "I will be happy to date you."

Jongup smiled sheepishly and slowly leaned in. When their lips touched both of them could feel the electricity. Their kiss was magical. When they parted, both of them smiled happily.

"So.." Jongup was the first to break the silence. "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

"Yes." She smiled shyly. "I would love that."

"I will pick you up at nine. Dress comfortably."

"Umm.. Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." He poked her forehead.

"Right.." she mumbled. It was stupid to ask.

"Are you scared of anything?" he suddenly asked.

"Me? N.. No." Yujin stuttered.

"Cute." Jongup chuckled because of her reaction.

"I.. Need to go." She muttered, feeling embarrassed.

"Let me walk you."

"No, it's okay. I can handle by myself." She waved her hands frantically.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She was determined. "I collected your dolls."

"It's a gift for you, just like the pokeball doll."

"Then I'll take them with me." She hurriedly grabbed them, but she barely handled everything. Jongup took a few dolls from her hands, carrying it for her. She looked at him confused.

"You can ask for my help if you are struggling. That's why I'm here." He stated and started walking towards the exit and the stairs. Yujin followed him.

"I'm sorry. It's just.. Weird for me." She managed to say. "I can't believe it's really happening."

"Then should I kiss you again so you'll know it's real?" he offered, staring at her, and she blushed furiously.

"No, that's fine." She quickly said and Jongup frowned.

"So you didn't like my kiss?" he asked.

"That's not it!" she exclaimed, flustered. "I liked it, but.. It’s weird."

"I liked your kiss as well." Jongup smiled and Yujin felt hear heart beating faster.

"We should go." She quickened her steps and Jongup followed her, chuckling. She is really something.. But he has a feeling that it will be fun dating her.

Author's Note:

I hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter..

Thanks for reading commenting, subscribing, etc.

M.