The beautiful night sky was filled with beautiful stars as an easy listening musics starts to play from a set of speakers, surrounding a dozen of round tables where new age idols mingle with their friends. The ‘97 popular kids were the ones who initiated a party for the new generations kids to come. Each person can bring a plus one as their friend to make the party bigger, and to make more friends among the new generations idol. You know, the more the merrier, right?

 

Anna was personally invited by the party organizer and was planning on asking Candy to come as her plus one. Surprisingly though, it seems like she was too late because when she went to her room, her friend was already wearing a casual dress with her makeup on--just as prepared as Anna is to go to the party. “Wait a minute, where are you going?” Anna furrowed her eyebrows, scanning Candy who had her hair curled, wearing a white off shoulder blouse along with a black leather skirt plus a pair of plain black heels, showing her slender legs.

 

“Same question goes to you, where are you going?” Candy asked her only same aged friend in the group, equally scanning Anna from head to toe.

“Actually, I was going to ask you to be my plus one in a 97 liner group party, but I can see that you’re going somewhere else?” Anna raised her eyebrow as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaning onto the door frame before flashing a smirk. “Going on a date?” she continued her question, her voice were filled with both curiosity and playfulness.

 

“What-? No-” Candy’s words were stopped by a ring on their dorm’s doorbell.

“I wonder who’s that?” Anna chuckles and runs to the door, followed by Candy who was going to stop her but she was too late, Anna was already laughing at the door. “Well, if it isn’t Jeon Jungkook, the golden boy of our 97liner group. So Candy is your plus one?” she asked in a playful tone, teasing the boy whose ear turned slightly red.

 

“Oh- Anna!” Jungkook scratched the back of his head and looked nervously at his friend before he caught Candy’s figure, standing behind Anna, and that was when he realized how dazzling Candy is.

“Jongkook-ah!” Candy smiled, waving at the male and looked at Anna. “I guess I’m a plus half for each,” she said with a smile while looking at both of her friends.

 

--

 

Anna ended up with pulling Sujeong as her plus one for the 96liner. The four finally arrived at their destination. They needed to wear a lot of disguises. Jungkook’s manager even had to secure the area to make sure that there's no sneaky paparazzi was there and when the coast was clear, they immediately went inside the car and went to the party’s location. The two pair immediately join the groups of people they know, which of course means Jungkook went to Yugyeom’s table, where Bambam, Ten from NCT and a couple of Seventeen members also sit together. There was also Jihyo from Twice, Eunha and Yuju from Gfriend, although the group of girls sit slightly farther away from the guys. Yugyeom and Jungkook did their handshake and the girls bowed at them. There're still ALOHA’s sunbae, after all. The group started talking with one another and get to know each other, where it turns out they had a lot of in common with each other.

 

“Candy? Is that you?” upon hearing her name being called, the female looked around--to find a familiar face which she hadn't seen in years.

 

“Ten oppa? Hey! How are you?” turns out, Candy was close with Ten during SM’s audition. Unfortunately, Candy didn’t pass the audition and caused her to lose any sort of contact with him.

“You two know each other?” Bambam pointed back and forth at the two, confused. “Yeah, I met her during SM’s audition,” Ten answered, showing his widest smile when he finally get to saw Candy in flesh again. “I was so happy you debuted, but I never got a chance to meet you and congratulate you myself, I can’t believe this is really happening,” he took a step closer towards her to get a better view of his old friend, smiling even wider than he already is.

 

“I lost your contact because my phone broke, and I thought we were never gonna meet ever!” Candy showed her wide smile as well. Let’s say Ten was her first crush back then. “How are you?” and with that, their flow of conversation started.

 

Jungkook, on the other hand, was clenching his fist. Candy was his date, not Ten’s, but Candy seemed to be putting all her attention on Ten rather than to Jungkook. “Ten hyung!” Jungkook forced a smile on his face and walked over between them. “I can see you’re getting very carried away with my date?” He didn’t knew exactly what happened, but these words went out from his mouth. He was jealous.

 

“Oh?” the older male looked at Jungkook, slightly tilting his head as a subtle gesture of mocking at the younger as he quickly caught on with the situation.  “I heard it was supposed to be a plus one, not a date?” he calmly asked Jungkook. He’s right, after all. A ‘plus one’ doesn’t count as a date, does it?

 

“I brought her here, so that makes her my date.” Jungkook answered, slightly snapped at the older with Candy standing between the two, feeling awkward because the two were fighting about her.

 

-meanwhile in the dorm-

 

“Younghee-ya! Where is everyone?” Rae stepped outside of her room, looking around to find her younger sisters as she find it unusually quiet at the dorm.

 

“You know that feeling of a mom when her child is growing up? That's what I'm feeling right now. The girls left for a party or something,” Younghee was literally rolling on the sofa, doing nothing, waiting for the kids while scrolling through a lot of puppy videos on her SNS.

 

“Uh- Younghee-ya~” Rae slowly walked towards the door, trying to make up some reason but she decided to just hint on her secret schedule. “I’m sorry but I have somewhere to go, so...” Rae shot Younghee an apologetic grin the moment she shifts her sharp gaze at the half Canadian before bolting towards the door. The leader just heaved a deep sigh since she knew what was Rae up to.

 

“Just don’t get caught!” Younghee shouted right before Rae closed their dorm’s door. She’s now all alone in the dorm doing nothing but browsing on what she should do when this happens again next time.

 

--

 

“So basically you were fighting over Candy with her own teammate?” Ten was now between Candy, Anna, Jungkook and Bambam, in a mission to interrogate Jungkook. He knew that Candy possibly have something going with Jungkook, but he knew as well that there’s still a chance for him to get Candy’s heart.

 

“Yeah, I’m popular ha ha ha,” Candy let out an awkward laugh. She's sitting between the two guys who were sending glares on each other, and the center of attention is her! Out of all people! Can it get more awkward than this? Candy, not being able to stand the growing tension, decided to plan an escape.

 

“I need to use the restroom.” She said, sending a look at Anna before walking away from the group. Anna immediately catch her codes and followed her behind.

 

“Girl, spill out! What was that? Why is Ten acting like that?” Anna started to shot a bunch of questions at her friend the moment the restroom door is closed. Candy brushes her hair back with both of her hands, sighing. “The reason why my stage name is Candy was not because I like candies.” she shook her head and looked at herself in the mirror. “He used to call me ‘candy’ because I was too hyper during our audition. It was a minor crush, but what he said was memorable for me and I just picked Candy as a stage name. It just stuck.” it was relieving that Candy could let her secret out, but instead of a suggestion or comforting words, she was instead shocked by a Anna’s hysterical laugh.

 

“HAHAHAHA, so my friend is stuck in a love triangle?!” she continued to laugh, clutching onto her stomach, “Wow, now you just have to choose one guy.” she chuckled and lightly patted Candy’s back, baffling the latter.

 

“What- why are you laughing?! I’m in a dilemma now!” Candy was trying to be mad, but she couldn’t help but laugh with her friend. She suddenly found it funny that she’s stuck in such a dramatic situation.

 

“Wait a minute,” Anna suddenly stopped laughing and held onto Candy’s arm.

 

“Where’s Sujeong?”

 

--

 

Sujeong was sitting at the bar, away from the tables of idols, taking a deep breath before drinking the beer in front of her. She wasn’t that good in drinking so she went for a 3% alcohol beer. She need to be the responsible one anyway, knowing that the two younger girls might get a little carried away in terms of not wanting to part with their friends and ‘friends’ here. She propped an arm on the bar and rest her chin on the palm of her hand, feeling so bored and awkward. The party was filled with most of the famous idols who had already known each other before. She was really a newbie there and she couldn’t find Anna or Candy anywhere. “I shouldn’t have come.” she spoke under her breath, pursing her lips in regret.

 

“Hello there!”

 

Sujeong jumped on her chair as she immediately looked at the figure next to her, wide eyed as she she was both startled and had no idea about the cheerful guy next to her.

 

“H-hi?” she stuttered her words, making the male grin. “Park Sujeong right?” the guy asked. “Don’t you remember me?”

 

“Eum… we’ve met before?” she asked again, trying hard to recall any memories about the face she's looking at now, making the male purse his lips in disappointment.

 

“Noona~ how could you? We used to pass by each other a lot in JYP building, then you moved agencies!” Sujeong was trying to hold her squeal, this boy is so cute. Sujeong tilted her head and grinned, finally getting a hint on who the male in front of him is.“I guess we rarely actually met back then so I couldn’t recognize your face, are you from GOT7?” she carefully asked, making the tall male facepalm in disbelief.

 

“Noona! I’m Yugyeom! Are you trying to tease me?” It wasn’t a tease, but Sujeong really forgot because those days when she became a trainee was Yugyeom’s debut preparation weeks.

 

“Oooh!” and now she remembered, tho it still wasn’t clear enough. Sujeong hopped down from the bar stool to greet Yugyeom with manners as a hoobae, but she ended up looking up because of the 22cm height difference between them. Sujeong bowed and smiled.

 

“Sunbaenim?” the two started laughing at the remark and smiled at each other. “I swear, I just have a really bad memory, I couldn’t remember your face,” the confession made Yugyeom laugh. He smiled at the small figure. “I was surprised when you debuted with ALOHA.” he took the same drink as Sujeong and started walking with her.

“That makes the two of us. But the members have been treating me like a family already.” she said with a smile, remembering her rough days and her happy days with the members. There was a silence between them as Yugyeom contemplated on asking the older female, but then he thought, ‘fxxk it,’

 

“Noona, do you have a phone?”

 

--

 

“We better head home now, it’s getting late, we wouldn’t want any scandals.” Sujeong gathered her members. Since she was the oldest among the three who came, she had to be responsible one for the other two. Earlier Sujeong had asked her manager to come and pick them up. Good thing the paparazzi aren't around when the three head back to the dorm.

 

On the way back it was a very quiet trip--until the manager decided to sound his thought, “Candy, we need to  talk with you, once more about scandals.” Candy furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head to the side as she looked away from her phone.

 

“Is something wrong?” she asked out of curiosity. She knew that she was being extra careful on talking with other idols now, so there's no way people knew which idols she hung around with. “I’m pretty sure you’re very careful, but we were blackmailed. Someone said he will spread scandals about you and Jungkook from BTS.”

 

The manager sighed. If it was Dispatch trying to get a confirmation for a scandal, he wouldn't get worried at all. After the last scandal, Younghee managed to make those paparazzi shut their mouth. But this time, it’s a blackmail. He wouldn't know how deep this person’s evidence regarding to the matter so he had to be very careful about their steps.

 

“I swear I was being really careful!” Candy whined in disbelief. She didn't want to stop talking with Jungkook. “I have nothing going on with him.” and it was true, they’re not lovers. Of course they did got something going on, but she was sure that they’re just friends--nothing more.

 

“I know, we’re going to report this to the police and tell Dispatch to confirm that it was a false rumour. The picture that they sent was blurred. You’re currently safe, but it would be better for you to stop seeing him. For your sake and his.” Their manager had to change a couple of times because of their scandals, but this manager cares about the girls the most. He’s willing to protect them no matter what, and telling Candy to forget her stuff with Jungkook was the best thing for her.

 

“Okay oppa, I’ll be more careful. And thank you.” she gave him a half smile through the rear view mirror. It will be hard, but she's grateful that the manager reminded her ahead of time so she didn't fall inside the same hole twice.

 

--

 

The breeze of December weather are always so dry, but that feeling of first snow always brings joy to everyone in Korea. The girls of ALOHA have finished their promotions. Only three wins, but that was more than enough. They were all learning on how to go slow but steady to get to the top. This was just the next level after rookie for them, and since it’s December, it was time for the Gayo Daejuns to air-- thus they need to prepare special stages and new dance moves.

 

The company have scheduled their comeback in the first half of 2018 which was going to be about summer that really suits ALOHA’s concept but as a present for the fans, the company decided to give one member of ALOHA a Christmas duet project with a male idol.

 

“Hyunmi-ssi, will you do the honor and have a duet with a male idol? And knowing your reputation, I’m pretty sure you’ll be safe and there would be no scandals. It’s also a great chance to expose and explore your talent to the public,” the CEO explained about the future project in front of the manager and the members of ALOHA.

 

“Really?” Kimi blinked with her eyes wide. Looking over shoulder, she saw her members there, smiling  as they squealed and cheered for Kimi’s first project outside of ALOHA. The 7 girls looked at Kimi and nodded at her. Her heart felt warm, knowing that her family supports her every single step. Looking back at the CEO, Kimi put on her brightest smile. “That would be lovely! I’d be honored!” she smiled and bowed to their CEO.

 

“Then, how about a meeting tomorrow? With JB from GOT7 and a couple of staffs and songwriters to work on the christmas song for December.” Kimi held open. She was going to meet her ‘partner’ back then when ALOHA was with GOT7. Knowing that JB is such a serious person, she was so happy to work with him once more.

 

But knowing the name JB came out of their CEO’s mouth, Younghee’s smile quickly faded. She tried to force a smile because she was proud of her member, but at some point she was a bit sad.

 

What are you thinking, Younghee?

 

--

 

“So basically JYP threw us here because he was going to take care of the boy trainee and make a new generation of the younger girl trainees.” Zhu was snacking around with her fellow magnae friend while watching a new survival, Stray Kids. Most of their friends are there, Chaeryeong, Yeji, Ryujin and much more.

 

“Where’s Somi? I thought she’d be in there.” Jinnie also took a bite on the chips that Zhu was eating. “Oh, she said that she was still thinking on debuting with a girlgroup or not. I mean it’s pretty tough, and she’s living a great live now doing variety. I’m happy for her.” Zhu remembered the days when she was still really close with Somi before ALOHA was moved to a new company. As a close friend, Zhu was really happy for her.

 

Jinnie noded and formed an ‘O’ with . But as soon as the TV show started, “Oh look it’s Chris oppa!” the two clapped and was stunned with Chris A.K.A. Chan. I mean, who doesn’t know him? He was taller, and more handsome than the last time they saw him. There were also a lot of new trainees that they couldn’t recognize.

 

“The family grew big.” said Jinnie when she looked at the whole JYP team. “And here we are, the eight of us, making a new family in a new company, starting from zero.” Zhu was quite disappointed when she moved to Collapsedone Ent., but the offer was to finally debuting, and that made up her mind.

 

On the other hand, Jinnie was more ambitious. She sees TWICE and Stray Kids as rivals. Actually, after the big fight with Jinyoung, she sees all the JYP artists as rivals. She wanted to top them, she wanted to win and show them that she was more than just a trainee who moved company, she wanted to show people that ALOHA will succeed, no matter what.